Division .. .3^ S-3 £.5.8 Shelf. Section. Number DE PAUW UNIVERSITY SERIES. MANUAL OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY SHOWING THE EVOLUTION OF METHODISM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS AND GENERAL READERS BY GEORGE L/CURTISS, M.D., D.D. Professor of Historical Theology School of Theology of De Pauw University NEW YORK : HUNT & EATON CINCINNATI : CRANSTON & CURTS 1808 Copyright, 1892, by XJHSTT EATON, New York. PREFACE. This book does not profess to be an exhaustive history of the Methodist Episcopal Church, much less of Methodism. It is a Manual of Methodist Episcopal Church History in America in a continuous story from 1766 to the close of 1892, a period of one hundred and twenty-six years. It aims to give, as far as possible, the leading facts in the history of the Church in chronological order and in such a manner as will enable the student to readily see the relation existing between those facts. The secessions from the Church, with the causes producing and the events leading to them, have been clearly stated. That most difficult of all periods in the history of American Methodism — the period of the great disruption of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with the suits that followed — has been treated in as del- icate a manner as possible to be true to history and consistent with the facts. The necessity for this work has been felt by the author as instructor in Methodist Church History in the School of The- ology of De Pauw University. After trying two works for a text-book it was found that one ended with 1843 and the other with 1866. Here was a gap of nearly fifty years in one case and twenty-six years in the other. This gap was filled by a series of lectures. Following this, it was found necessary to prepare a work, on the same general plan, from the commencement of Methodism. As a Manual, it is thought this book will be of value to young preachers and other persons who may desire to PREFACE. know the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Should life be prolonged and opportunity offered it is the purpose of the author to prepare, on a similar plan, the history of the * branches of Methodism in the United States and Canada. Methodist history is not complete. A growing Church has a growing history, which will, we trust, never be completely written. * CONTENTS. PERIOD I. PLANTING OF METHODISM— 1766-1784. CHAPTER PAGE I. Statement of its Origin 1 II. Methodism in America 10 III. The First Methodist Conference in America 15 IV. Methodism During the Revolutionary War 19 PERIOD II. ORGANIZATION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH— 1784-1812. V. American Methodism Organized 24 YI. First Work of the Organized Church 35 VII. Presiding Eldership— The Council — Questions Settled 42 VIII. -The General Conference of 1792 50 IX. The General Conferences of 1*796 and 1800 60 X. General Conference of 1804 69 XI. General Conference of 1808 75 PERIOD III. CONTROVERSY AND DIVISIONS— 1812-1848. XII. First Delegated General Conference, 1812 83 XIII. Methodism During the War of 1812, and General Conference of 1816 87 XIV. The General Conference of 1820, and its Work 98 XV. The General Conference of 1824 106 XVI. The General Conference of 1828— Events to 1832 115 XVII. The General Conference of 1832— Events to 1836 120 XVIII. The General Conference of 1836— Events to 1840 130 XIX. The General Conference of 1840 — Events to 1844 142 XX. The General Conference of 1844 — Its Doings 160 XXI. Events Following the General Conference of 1844 181 CONTENTS. PERIOD IV. NEW LIFE — 1848-1872. CHAPTER PAGE XXIL The General Conference of 1848 — Events of the Quadren- NIUM 190 XXIII. The General Conference of 1852 — Events Following 205 XXIV. The General Conference of 1856 — Events to 1860 213 XXV. The General Conference of 1860 — Events to 1864. . . . 221 XXVI. The General Conference of 1864— Events to 1868 235 XXVII. The General Conference of 1868— Events to 1872 253 PERIOD V. THE TWO ORDERS— 1872-1892. XXVIII. The General Conference of 1872 — Events to 1876 269 XXIX. The General Conference of 1876 — Events to 1880 287 XXX. The General Conference of 1880— Events to 1884 304 XXXI. The General Conference of 1884 — Events to 1888. 319 XXXII. Proceedings of the General Conference of 1888 333 XXXIII. Events Following the General Conference of 1888 343 XXXIV. Second Ecumenical Methodist Conference 351 XXXV. The General Conference of 1892 and its Acts 357 MANUAL OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. PERIOD I. PLANTING OF METHODISM. 1766-1784. CHAPTER I. STATKMENT OF ITS ORIGIN". Methodism is the name of an organized moral and religious force tliat arose in England in the early part of the eighteenth century, that has produced a spiritual revolution in its native land, and has spread in widening circles to other lands, produc- ing like results. The relation of Methodism to the Church of England is similar to that of the Reformation under Luther to the Roman Catholic Church. Methodism has been defined to be " Christianity in earnest." When Methodism originated, formality in worship and blind assent to creed had lulled the Church into a state of spiritual apathy that was but little removed from death. It is true that the Church of England was not persecuting heresy or spirituality with the sword, fagot, and torture, as did the Romanists in the Reformation ; yet the Church rested in carnal security and blind indifference. Souls were sinking into a hopeless condition, and no one cared for them. The Holy Spirit at this juncture called John Wesley to a new life, and after clearing his heart of sin and his eyes of blindness sent him out to arouse and save the multitudes. 2 MANUAL OF The Rev. John Wesley was born June 17, 1703, 0. S., in the parsonage of Epworth, Lincolnshire, England. His father, Rev. Samuel Weslev. was rector of the parish, " a man of John Wesley. . _* . * more than ordinary mental power, but a poor finan- cier." Susannah Wesley, the mother of John, one of England's most beautiful and most talented women, was the daughter of Dr. Annesley, an Independent minister of ability. Her culture was only excelled by her piety, and in " domestic qualities " she was a model. Xine of her nineteen children died in in- fancy, while ten lived to be trained intellectually and spiritually by her, and went into active life feeling the molding influence of their godly mother. John was her seventh son. The par- sonage at Epworth was burned when lie was six years old, and lie was barely saved from perishing in the flames. The mother dedicated this son to the service of God, and when he was five years of age she began to instruct him in knowledge of spiritual as well as material things. John was admitted to the Charter-House School, London, when eleven years old. His teachers were able, and he learned John wesiey rapidly. At seventeen " he was elected a student in at school. Christ College, Oxford," founded by Wolsey. From seventeen to twenty-two he continued a faithful student, em- ploying his time to the best advantage. At the end of this period Mr. Wesley received his first ordination, and began to preach the word. In another year, or on March 17, 1726, he was elected a fellow in Lincoln College, Oxford. Yery soon he was recognized as one of the most scholarly men in college, and his " pure classical taste" greatly admired. The position, scholarship, and zeal of John Wesley soon gathered around him "a number of thoughtful and earnest The Holy YOUn g men." Several of these, together with him- Club - self, joined the "Holy Club," which his brother, Charles Wesley, four years his junior, had formed at Oxford in 1720. They read frequently the New Testament in Greek; conversed on religious subjects ; engaged in prayer, fastings, and watchings; religiously visited the almshouses, and sought out the poor. These men lived by rule. Probably for this reason, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 3 their fellow-students called them "Methodists." They were not ashamed of the title. In the course of time it became the name of a great and honored religious body. Mr. "Wesley became a curate to his father at Epworth for a short time. He could not consent, however, to remain in so circumscribed a sphere while all the world was wesieyin dying. Governor Oglethorpe, having founded a America, colony in Georgia, in the New World, sought for missionaries to preach to the colonists, and also to bring the Indians under religious influence. In 1735 John and Charles Wesley went out to Georgia on the invitation of the Governor. The life of John Wesley in the colony was one of constant labor, prayer, and self-sacrifice. " He held services not only in English, but also occasionally had prayers in German and French. His strictness of religious life, and especially his severity of relig- ious discipline, excited against him the opposition of leading families, and, becoming embarrassed by them in his ministry, in about two years he returned to England." This coming of Wesley to America was, in the providence of God, one of the fortunate events for his future usefulness. On his voyage hither he had for fellow-passengers Mee ts Mo- some devout Moravians. A storm of great severity ravians - overtook them. Death seemed imminent. They were in per- fect "tranquillity," while he could not feel such calmness. The scene, and subsequent conversation with them, produced a marked impression upon his mind. While in Georgia he met other Moravian ministers and freely conversed with them upon the soul's perfect rest. One of them asked him, " Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God \ " Wesley knew not what to answer. After Wesley returned to London he and Charles often visited the Moravian meetings. Peter Bohler, afterward bishop, was their minister. Charles was soon soundly con- witness of verted, and began to write poems of the new life. toespmt. John continued some days longer in doubt. At last, on the evening of May 24, 1738, while attending the Moravian meet- ing and listening with a penitent heart to the reading of 4 MANUAL OF Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, the change came. " I felt my heart strangely warmed ! " wrote Wesley. " I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner de- spitefully used me and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart." In the course of that summer Wesley went over to Herrnhut, the center of the Moravian Church, to study its genius, disci- visit to Herm- P^ ne ? an d order. At Marienborn he met Count but - Zinzendorf. At Halle he met Francke, and exam- ined his orphan asylum. The things he saw and learned made a deep impression upon his mind, and doubtless did much to influence him and give shape to the work upon which he en- tered on returning to England. Here is found the first element of the genius of Methodism. It is " evangelical life : " a clear knowledge, through First element & ' fa ' & of the genius the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the heart, of sins pardoned and the soul's acceptance by Jesus Christ. A second element soon revealed itself in a clear doctrinal second eie- statement of the processes of salvation. Justifica- ment - tion, regeneration, holiness, and faith are terms to be definitely stated and scripturally established. On January 1, 1739, Wesley held a watch-night or love-feast First love- meeting in Fetter Lane, London. John and Charles feast. Wesley, with Whitefield and three other ministers and sixty brethren, were engaged in this meeting, which proved to be full of power and the precursor of wonderful events.* On January 7 another of these meetings was held, even more powerful than the first. Societies of professed converts were soon formed for aiding each other in a religious life. Mr. Wesley saw the need for strict methods of living, and drew up his " Rules of the Band Societies " on December 25, 1738, which were eventually followed by the " General Rules " of the Methodist societies in England and America. * Hundred Years of Methodism, p. 20. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUIICH HISTORY. 5 In 1739 John and Charles Wesley were re-enforced by George Whitetield, who had been a member of the "Holy Club" at Oxford. Whitefield, moved by the Holy Ghost, had gone out to preach to the people. Immense audi- ences attended. These three great men united and went to the fields when driven out of the churches. They preached at the "fairs and merry-makings of Moorfields and Kennington Com- mons." From twenty to sixty thousand people attended their ministry. The Kingswood and Newcastle colliers, the besotted miners of Cornwall, and the " peasants of Yorkshire " heard the word of God gladly. The country was moved with excite- ment over this " new and wonderful work." Mr. Wesley's account of the first society and the mode of its foundation is unique : " In the latter end of the year 1739 eight or ten persons came to me in London and desired Acc0 unt of that I would spend some time with them in prayer, flrst societ y- and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come." Mr. Wesley appointed Thursday evening as the time for the first meeting. Twelve persons came the first night, forty the second, and soon there were a hundred present earnestly inquiring how to be saved. The foundation of the first church in Methodism was laid in Bristol, England, May 12, 1739. The Old Foundry was opened in London for worship November 11, 1739. From Firs tMethod- this place has gone out, in widening circles, the great ist Cburch - work of this most wonderful and providential Church to the whole world. This year is recognized as the beginning of Methodism. The societies of Methodism increased far more rapidly than ministers. Mr. Wesley could not be every-where preaching and organizing. In London, while Mr. Wesley was Laypreacn- away, the hungry congregation desired the word, ing - and Thomas Maxfiekl, a man of God, but not a recognized minister, began to preach. Wesley heard of it, and hastened home to put a stop to this irregularity ; but the far-seeing Su- sannah Wesley called to him to halt, with this caution, " Take care what you do with respect to that young man, for he is as 6 MANUAL OF surely called of God to preach as you are. Examine what have been the fruits of his preaching, and hear him yourself." Mr. Wesley did hear and see, and became convinced of the genu- ineness of the call. This began the lay preaching in Methodism. The growth of Methodism was not the working of a precon- Metnodisman ceived plan, but the seizing upon those things provi- evoiutiou. dentially presented as helps to the successful advance of Christ's cause. Thus the officers and parts of Methodism known as stewards, classes, and class-leaders, the itinerancy, and Conferences, grow up. The third element in the genius of Methodism was its or- Third eie- ganization. This has remained in the Church in ment. a ^ ] anc [g to the present day. The fourth element in the genius of Methodism was the Fourth eie- itinerancy and Conference. ment - From the first Mr. Wesley, as well as his brother Charles, and Whiten 1 eld traveled extensively through England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, preaching every- where this new gospel, and witnessing conversions. As preachers multiplied he sent them from place to place, changing them as he saw fit and suiting men to localities. This was an " irregular itinerancy." In 1744 3 June 25, Wesley called his preachers together and First confer- held the ^re* Annual Conference. It was in Lon- ence. don. At that time there were no circuits or stations organized. Each society was independent of all others. Soon, however, the system of circuits was arranged, for at the Conference of 1746 the circuits are mentioned as organized. The preachers as well as members increased rapidly. In 1755 there were three lists of preachers: 1. The itinerants. 2. The half-itinerants. 3. The chief local preach- ers. Alexander Mather was the first married preacher. He was a man of talents and valuable to the societies, but would not travel unless provision was made for his wife. He was willing the allowance should be but four shillings sterling — about one dollar — a week. At first it was refused, but afterward allowed. " Here began the allowance for preachers' wives." Mr. Wesley early began to write, translate, and print tracts, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 7 books, and a magazine, which he circulated freely in all parts of the kingdom. The literature he created was . ° . . Publishing. clean, pure, and interesting. It became an immense power in the early years of Methodism. The catalogue of his productions is something wonderful. Even before a single society had been organized, in 1739, in connection with Whitefield, "Wesley had organized Kingswood the Kingswood School for the education of the school, children of poor colliers. Its first building was completed in 1740. It became too small, and in 1748 he enlarged the building, and " opened a school for the education of the sons of preachers." While the school was a great care to him he found it amply repaid the outlay, as he began to be furnished with better qualified ministers than at first. Here we find a fifth element in the genius of Methodism — its educational work. From Kingswood School . -n i ii *ii Fifth element. has gone out a power to all the world, and hun- dreds of strong schools have been founded in Methodism. The preachers went through the United Kingdom preaching the Gospel to dying men. Eevivals followed, new societies were formed, houses of worship built. Here was the sixth element in the genius of Methodism — revivals. Persecutions followed. Mr. Wesley was ». . .-. j, i . I.- n liii Sixth element. otten m peril ot Ins hie trom mobs led by men who professed to be servants of the Most High, but who acted more like servants of the devil. He was " frequently hooted and hissed by the rabble ; he was pelted and covered with mud ; his clothes were torn nearly off him ; he was stoned and sometimes severely injured ; dragged before magistrates ; the doors and windows of the houses in which he lodged were broken, and in some instances his chapels were destroyed. His preachers were thrown into prison, and some died of the wounds which they received." In all the time of persecution, k ' so far as known, the persecuting clergymen were never de- graded or severely censured by their superiors," and only when the cases were brought before the Court of King's Bench was there any protection. 8 MANUAL OF These societies were not recognized as yet even as a dissent- ing Church, but as members of the Church of England, from unrecognized whose clergymen they received the sacraments, asacnurcn. 'p} ie ass { s tants of Mr. Wesley were simply unor- dained lay preachers. On February 28, 1781, Wesley executed the " Deed of Dec- laration," placing in the instrument the names of one hundred ministers, who were to become the incorporate body 41 Deed of Dec- ' 1 < J laration" or of Methodism, and were, as a body, to be perpetual. This document was properly executed and recorded in the records of the court, to take effect on Wesley's death. This event occurred March 2, 1791, whereupon the " Legal Hundred " came forward and assumed the burden, and the Church became duly and legally recognized.* That it may be known how lost to spirituality the times were when Mr. Wesley came to his work, we may quote from a few wickedness contemporaries. Bishop Burnet, in 1713, when sev- of the times, enty years old, said: "I see the imminent ruin hang- ing over this Church, and by consequence over the whole Reformation. The outward state of things is black enough, God knows, but that which heightens my fears rises chiefly from the inward state into which we are unhappily fallen." f Bishop Gibson, 1728, writes : " Profaneness and impiety are grown bold and open." \ Bishop Butler, 1736: "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted by many persons that Christianity is not so much as a subject of inquiry ; but that it is now, at length, dis- covered to be fictitious." § Archbishop Seeker, 1738 : " An open and professed disre- gard to religion has become, through a variety of unhappy causes, the distinguishing character of the present age ; that this evil is grown to a great height in the metropolis; is daily spreading through every part of it ; and, bad in itself as any can be, must of necessity bring in all others after it. . . . * Simpson's Cyclopedia of Mdhodism. \ Pastoral Care, preface to third edition, 1713. \ Pastoral Letters. § Advertisement to first edition of Analogy. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. hi nej because of the Protestant character of the people. It is recorded that the " Elector Palatine could see from the towers of Manheim, his capital, no less than two cities and twenty-five villages on fire at once." Queen Anne of England sent ships to Rotterdam and took over six thousand of these wretched homeless ones to England. About fifty families settled in Ireland, in Court Mattress, County Limerick. Here Mr. Wesley's preachers found them, and here he also visited and preached to them. In 1760, August 10, a company of these Palatinates landed in New York. There were from eighteen to twenty-five persons in this company. It is thought that Philip Embury, who was a recognized leader among them, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. H kept up religious services for a while ; but the most of them fell into sin under the new conditions of this strange and wicked country. Embury, becoming discouraged, ceased to hold serv- ices. Thus matters continued till 1765, when several former acquaintances of the Irish Palatinates arrived in New York. Some were Wesleyans. On one occasion, it is said, Barbara Heck, a cousin of Philip Embury, found a party of them engaged in card-playing. Her righteous soul was tried. Seizing the cards, she hurled them into the fire, and soundly lectured them upon their sinful course. There is no evidence, either directly or indirectly, to show that any of these card-players were Meth- odists. She went to the house of Philip Embury and laid upon him the salvation of their lost friends. When he began to make excuses for not preaching she urged him to be no longer silent, but to preach the word. She called the people to meet at Embury's house. A few attended, and Embury preached. The members increased rapidly. Soon two " classes" were formed, and a larger place was found necessary for worship. In 1767, they rented on William Street a rigging loft sixty feet by eighteen. One day, about February, 1767, • ±1 -I,. C • ir 1 i a • BlSKinUlaft m the midst or services, a soldier appeared, clad m and captain full regimentals, and devoutly engaged in the relig- Webb - ious service. It was Captain Thomas Webb, an honorable officer of the British army. The little band of Methodists were at first suspicious of this stranger; but very soon they became satisfied as to his integrity and purity of character. He frequently preached to the people with great power and acceptability. He was accustomed to preach with his sword lying across the open Bible. A larger place for worship being required, Captain Webb entered heartily into the plan and subscribed £30. . , _ -r -i n • -n-,r%r* i John Street. A site was leased on John Street m 1768 and pur- chased in 1770. The first-named trustee was Philip Embury, who was also the first class-leader, first treasurer, and first preacher. On this ground a stone chapel was erected, "faced with blue plaster," sixty feet long by forty-two in breadth. To meet the prejudice and law against dissenters building "regu- 12 MANUAL OF lar churches," a " fire-place and chimney " were put in one end and it legally became a house. This, the first Methodist church, was dedicated October 30, First church 1768. The sermon was by Embury, from Hos. x, 12. dedicated. T ] ie preacoer built the pulpit. The church was called " Wesley Chapel." Within two years the place was filled to overflowing with people anxious to hear the word of God. The names of three of the persons thus connected with the planting of Methodism in America are historic — Mrs. Heck, Embury, and Webb. Barbara Heck removed to Upper Can- ada, and was instrumental in planting Methodism in that prov- ince. Philip Embury removed to Camden, Washington County, N. Y., where he preached often, and planted the Church in Ashgrove, now within the Troy Conference. While engaged in mowing in his field in 1775, he injured himself so severely that his death soon followed. He was about forty-five years of age. Captain Webb founded societies in Long Island, Hew Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. He had great influence with the Methodists in England. His appeal to the Conference in Leeds brought added help. When the Revolutionary War broke out Captain Webb returned to England, where he afterward died, greatly respected for his godly life and Christian integrity. The first preachers sent by Wesley to America were Richard First preach- Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor, who arrived at Phil- ers sent out. a( Jelphia October 24,1769. Boardman was thirty- one years old, and had been six years a preacher. Pilmoor was educated at Wesley's Kingswood School, and had been a preacher four years. In the same year Robert Williams, a local preacher, with Wesley's consent, came to America of his own will. He was accompanied by his friend Ashton, who u paid the expense of his voyage." They landed in New York in 1769, about two months before Boardman and Pilmoor landed in Philadelphia. Williams proved an excellent workman, a clear thinker, and an ardent Methodist. For six years he labored in the colonies as an effective " pioneer of American Methodism." Wakeley records that he was u the first Meth- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 13 odist minister in America that published a book, the first that married, the first that located, and the first that died." His labors extended as far south as Norfolk, Ya. Under his preaching Jesse Lee was converted. There were other early preachers and laymen who did heroic work for Methodism in America : among them, Ashton, for whom "Ashgrove Methodist Society" was named; John King, who came in 1769, preached in Philadelphia, and "first threw the banners of Methodism to the people of Baltimore," standing on a " blacksmith's block for a pulpit;" Richard Owen, con- verted under Strawbridge's preaching, and who became "the first Methodist local preacher raised up in America." Whitefield visited America seven times, and traveled from Georgia up the coast into New England, preaching whitefleid's with the same eloquence that distinguished him in death - England. He greeted the Methodists and their preachers warmly. He died of asthma at Newbury port, Mass., ex- hausted from his great labors, September 30, 1770, and was buried under the pulpit of the Federal Street Presbyterian Church. Mr. Wesley continued to love American Methodism, and planned largely for its advancement. Mr. Francis Asbury and Asbury and Richard Wright were sent out in 1771. Wri s ht - Asbury was twenty-six years of age, and had been about five years in the ministry. He was " thoughtful, studious, and en- ergetic," and a preacher of great power and method. Married to the Church, he remained single, believing that in that state he could accomplish the greatest good. Few men in any Church ever excelled Mr. Asbury in all the elements that go to make up a great and successful man. What Wesley was to British Wesleyanism Asbury w r as to American Methodism.* Richard Wright did not measure up to Asbury in any thing but toil. He labored in Maryland and Virginia, and in 1774 returned to England. When Asbury reached New York, November 12, 1771, he received a hearty welcome from Boardman and the members. * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Abridg., pp. 60, 61 14 MANUAL OF God was with them. He soon found that Boardman and Pil- moor were almost confining their labors to the two cities, New York and Philadelphia. They were loath to itinerate. Asbury held fin nly to the itinerancy. He said, "I have not yet the thing which I seek — a circulation of preachers. I am fixed to the Methodist plan ; I am willing to suffer, yea, to die, sooner than betray so good a cause by any means." Mr. Asbnry set himself earnestly to work a reform in these matters. He met with opposition. His zeal was abundant, his judgment perfect, his words persuasive, his life a living witness to the high purpose of his soul, and his influence overpowering. At last he succeeded in his heart's desire, and established an itinerancy that has endured with unabated strength for over a century. In 1772, at the Conference at Leeds, England, Captain Webb made a strong: appeal for missionaries for America, Captain . > Webb's plea then a foreign field. George Shadford and Thomas for America, j^],-^ 0 fj ere( ] themselves, and were accepted by Mr. "Wesley and commissioned for America. Thomas Rankin was a superior man, and was appointed by Wesley as " General Assistant or Superintendent of the American Societies." He was the senior of Asbnry and a strict disciplinarian. These two men were choice spirits. They were endowed with native ability, and had acquired great grace. They reached America June 1, 1773, and landed at Philadelphia June 3, where they were welcomed by Asbnry. Asbnry at once resigned all au- thority into the hands of Rankin. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 15 CHAPTER III. THE FIRST METHODIST CONFERENCE IN AMERICA. The first of a long list of Methodist Conferences assembled for its sessions in Philadelphia the 14th of July, 1773, holding from Wednesday to Friday. Rankin presided. There were nine preachers present. Asbury was detained in New York until the second day, when there were ten members. It was twenty-nine years after Wesley's first Conference in England, and had present the same number of ministers. All the mem- bers were European. Their names were Thomas Rankin, Rich- ard Roardman, Joseph Pilmoor, Francis Asbnry, Richard Wright, George Shadford, Thomas Webb, John King, Abra- ham Whitworth, and Joseph Yearbry. There were one thou- sand one hundred and sixty members reported. Asbnry dis- covered some preachers had not followed Mr. Wesley's order regarding classes. Asbnry contended that American Method- ism must conform to Wesley's rule. The question of Wesleyan discipline was an absorbing one. Would American Methodism be Wesleyan or form a new type ? Two great minds were there shaping matters — Rankin and Asbury. At last six rules were formed.* At this Conference commenced a discussion that did not end until the full organization of the Church in 1784 — Discussion on the question of the sacraments. Mr. Wesley was sacraments - loyal to the Church of England as the Establishment, and ad- vised his people to go to her for the sacraments. Mr. Rankin attempted the same in America. The premonitions of the ap- proaching Revolution led the people to restlessness. Many of the English clergymen were abandoning their posts and return- ing to England. As a result, the people were without the com- forts of the sacraments. The Methodists felt it a hardship that * See Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, p. 162. 16 MANUAL OF their own ministers were not permitted to consecrate the ele- ments and administer the sacraments. Robert Strawbridsre contended for the right, and neither Eankin nor Asbury could prevent him from administering the ordinance. The agreement finally reached was, that all should desist from administering the sacraments except Mr. Strawbridge, who, under u the particular direction of the assistant," might continue their administration. When the Conference adjourned, ten men went out to their respective fields of labor, William Watters and Robert Straw- bridge having been added to the list of those present at the com- mencement of the Conference. Boardman and Pilmoor did not receive appointments, and in about six months sailed to England, " after commending the Americans to God." In the societies they left 2,073 members, 10 circuits, and 17 preachers. In 1774 Wright returned to Europe. William Watters was the first American-born itinerant Meth- odist preacher. He was a Baltimorean by birth ; born Noted native 1 , . evangelists 1751; powerfully converted in 1771; a preacher in appear^. 1772; located in 1782; re-appeared in appointments in 1801 ; again located in 1806 ; and died in 1833. Philip Gatch, a Mary lander, was born near Georgetown in 1751, received exhorter's license in 1772, and entered the min- istry in 1773. His conversion was a remarkable one; his spir- itual life was vigorous and clear ; his zeal was tempered with knowledge. He was a man of excellent judgment. Benjamin Abbott in 1773 came into notice as one of God's chosen vessels. He was an eccentric man, a powerful preacher, a wonderful revivalist, and an " evangelical Hercules." In his wicked days he was a terror to the country : in his Christian days he was a flame of fire, a magazine of blessings to men. His conversion, after a period of overwhelming darkness, was extraordinary. As a preacher he possessed some of the most wonderful characteristics, that went with him to the grave. Daniel Ruff was converted in 1771, in Harford County, Md., and the next year his home became a " preaching-place/' The METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 17 next year lie became an exhorter, and soon a local preacher. He is characterized as "a man of sterling integrity, great sim- plicity, and remarkable usefulness." In 1774 Ruff joined the Conference, and started upon his great work. One of his con- verts was Freeborn Garrettson, who was also by him called into the itinerancy. Ruff was the "first native preacher appointed to Wesley Chapel, New York." Asbury and his fellow-itinerants went out from the first Con- ference to fields white to the harvest, though there Asbury and were mutterings and thunderings in the political otterbein. horizon. Asbury took up the work in Baltimore. Rev. Mr. Otterbein was pastor of the new Lutheran Church in that city, while Rev. Mr. Swoop was at the old Lutheran Church. As- bury as yet had no chapel in Baltimore, though one had been begun. After a friendly conversation upon the subjects of doctrine and discipline Otterbein was led to found the Church of the "United Brethren in Christ." He adopted the Wesleyan doctrines and much of Mr. Wesley's church govern- ment. The Church has also been called " The German Meth- odists." This Otterbein was a learned, godly man, a great preacher, and a ripe theologian. He enjoyed the fullest confi- dence and esteem of Asbury and Coke, and in 1784 assisted Coke in ordaining Asbury as one of the superintendents or bishops of Methodism. The second Conference of American Methodism was held at Philadelphia, May 25, 1774. Rankin was present as second cou- chairman. Seven preachers were admitted to the ference - itinerancy. There were reported 2,073 members. In this Con- ference the chief thought was to stir each other up in " min- isterial gifts." It was seen that strong men were needed to enter the widening field of Methodism. They realized the power of the itinerancy and Mr. Wesley's methods of govern- ment. Very few sought to change them. Asbury hastened to New York as his appointment. Some additional missionaries arriving from England to Asbury at assist him, in the latter part of February, 1775, he re- New York - turned to Baltimore, where he wielded a gigantic influence. 3 18 MANUAL OF At this time Mr. Henry Dorsey Gongh, a man of fortune, was soundly converted, and allied himself with the Perry Hall. , Methodists. His spacious mansion was known as " Perry Hall," and was located about twelve miles from Balti- more." From this time " Perry Hall " became a resting-place for Methodist itinerants and a regular preaching-place. The great influence of this layman in the infant Church is beyond our power to estimate. During this year revivals followed the preaching of the Methodist preachers in all directions. But as they neared 1775 the clouds of war grew darker, the pros- pects for peace died out, and men began to fear the bursting storm. Most of the preachers who had come from England had returned, leaving a few men to stem the tide and keep to- gether the frightened, scattered people. Asbury was the only English preacher left. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 19 CHAPTER IV. METHODISM DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. The population of the American colonies was a heterogeneous mass of unassimilated peoples. From the nooks and T-i _ _ . Heterogene- corners of Europe had been gathered representatives ous popma- of many nationalities and tongues, with many shades tlon ' of religious and non-religious belief. These were endeavoring to live in some sort of harmony. Puritans, Quakers, Presby- terians, Reformed Dutch, Episcopalians, Huguenots, Roman Catholics, Methodists, besides openly avowed skeptics and infi- dels, deists and scoffers, here found a home, a place for thought, and an opportunity to live or die as they might desire. A common language was being adopted, common customs obtained, common laws enacted. Geographical separation from the Old World ; slow and uncertain communication with the home governments ; the rapid pulsation of hearts beginning to feel the enjoyment of religious liberty and to taste the sweets of freedom of thought and will ; the development of the latent fires of a noble manhood that had been smothered in the hearts of men for centuries of kingly government and priestly tyr- anny ; and the bright future ever dancing before the eyes of these grand pioneers, coupled with the unwise, impolitic, cruel acts of the mother-country in a tyrannical enforcement of un- just parliamentary enactments, led to a revolt of the people and a strike for liberty and self-government. A revolution was inevitable. The Western World must be a nation by herself. Independence in every thing became the watchword. As soon as the sounds of war became alarming most of the English preachers abandoned their people and fled to Europe. Any thing else could hardly have been expected, since nearly all were more or less attached to the crown. 20 MANUAL OF Mr. Wesley's " Calm Address," reprinted and circulated in America, made enemies for the Methodist preachers. They were rapidly abandoning their posts of duty. Asbury and Shad ford, when the days were darkest, agreed to have " a day of fasting and prayer," that the divine mind might direct them as to the right course. Shadford deemed it best to return to England, while Asbury saw the clear light of duty and said to Shadford, "If you are called to go I am called to stay; so here we must part." Asbury became fully identified with the cause of American independence and the struggling infant Church. During the Revolution the history of Methodism clusters Methodism's almost entirely around the noble Asbury. In 1775 trials. j ie visited Norfolk, Ya., preaching with great accept- ability. Near Norfolk he buried that excellent preacher, Robert Williams. Early in January, 1776, he met at Philadelphia Jarratt, the godly rector of the Church of England, and together they held a watch-night meeting. Jarratt administered the sacraments in many quarterly meetings. In March Asbury was at Perry Hall, where he administered the bread of life to many hungry souls. Here he met Otterbein, and was edified by the holy conversation of this eminent servant of God. Mr. Gough and himself went to the Warm Sulphur Springs of Virginia, where, while resting for six weeks, he preached to large con- gregations and prayed with and comforted the afflicted. On his return to the Baltimore Circuit Asbury did all he could for the spiritual help of the people while the horrors of war were upon the country. A few weeks in 1777-78 Asbury was some- what secluded. In March, 1778, he was at the house of a noble •layman, Judge White, of Kent County, Del., who, though a stanch friend, was too far advanced in life to render much public service. He was one of nature's noblemen. The Light 'Horse Patrol came to his house April 2, 1778, and, seizing Judge White, carried him off, leaving his wife and children with As- bury. The family, led by Asbury, observed the next day in fasting and prayer. On April 6 Asbury, trusting in God, retreated to a safe place of concealment, where he remained METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 21 about a month, and then returned to the hospitable home of Judge White. During this time Asbury was not idle. lie was doing all in his power for the infant Church. By correspondence he touched all the preachers remaining in the country. After the greatest terror had passed he came out and started on his mission among the churches. As he came to be better known as a true patriot he had greater access to the people. Large congregations came to hear him. Many were convicted of sin and turned to Christ. Methodism owes to such laymen as Gough, Judge White, Judge Barrett, Blchard Bassett (one of the signers Grand lay _ of the Constitution of the United States), and others men - unnamed, a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid, for their warm friendship, earnest defense, and faithful adherence in the darkest hour of the nation's peril and the Church's trial. Asbury fully appreciated the value of these men. Often he pronounced upon them his commendations. Freeborn Garrettson, of Maryland, who had been awakened through, the preaching of Daniel Ruff, was, in 1776, . 1 . Garrettson. received into the traveling connection and appointed to Frederick Circuit. He was a man of unusual ability, of. position and influence, of good culture, and soundly converted. His call to the ministry was marked. His family opposed him, but with that steadiness of purpose that ever characterized him he cast in his lot with the despised Methodists and became a power. He was born August 15, 1752. He was sorely per- secuted during the Revolution, and at one time was nearly killed by a ruffianly assailant. The delivery of Garrettson from the hands of an infuriated mob was next to a marvel, and; his story reads like a romance. God surely took care of his chosen vessel. He traveled extensively as a Methodist preacher through the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, even to Lake Champlain, and in western Connecticut. We meet him at many points in the early history of Methodism. He was ordained at the Christmas Confer- ence. His death occurred in New York city, September 26, 1827. 22 MANUAL OF In 1779, at the house of Judge White, Asbury held a Con- ference in a very private manner. Not many p reach- Conference n „ . at Judge ers were present, for only a few remained in the country. Rankin having fled to England, the office of superintendent was vacant. Asbury was appointed to it by his brethren. Having shown his steadfastness while his British co-laborers had abandoned the field, the native preachers loved and revered him. lie was about entering upon a new career, and beginning those journeys over the American continent, in the superintendency of the work, that were to astonish the world and plant Methodism upon an enduring founda- tion. Asbury went south and there prevented a schism regarding the Danger of administration of the sacraments. It is no wonder schism. that a people deprived of the sacraments for years, and wiio connected their observance with a great blessing from the divine Spirit, should clamor that their preachers might be permitted to administer them. The people had unbounded con- fidence in their preachers, and could not see why they were not worthy to administer the holy sacraments. The intolerant spirit of the clergy of the English Church, except now and then one, kept the Methodists away from their communion. Asbury, however, allayed the excitement and restored peace. On returning from the Carolinas to the north Asbury preached extensively with marked results. In May, 1781, he hastened south again, and continued thus traveling and preaching until 1784. In November of that year, "weary and worn by travel and preaching, he arrived on Sunday, during public worship, at his friend Barrett's chapel." Asbury found the pulpit oc- cupied by "a man of small stature, ruddy complexion, brilliant eyes, long hair, feminine but musical voice, and gowned as an English clergyman." The man was Thomas Coke, LL.D. As- bury knew, as if by inspiration, that this man must be a mes- senger from Wesley, who had come as the clouds of war broke away, and that his message was one of peace and love. Ascend- ing the pulpit, after the sermon, he embraced Coke and kissed him in the presence of the congregation. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 23 Dr. Thomas Coke was born in Brecon, Wales, September 9, 1747. He was educated at Oxford University, Jesus Dr Thomaa College, and, after graduating, became rector of South Coke- Petherton. Here he became acquainted with the Methodists, and immediately became a follower of Wesley and preached a full and free salvation to such an extent as to "excite much opposition." He was dismissed from his church, and a mob rang the bells to drive or " chime" him from town. He was a fine out-door preacher. Great crowds of people attended his ministry. Mr. Wesley, in 1780, made him "superintendent of the London Circuit." When Mr. Wesley was preparing his " Deed of Declaration," and obtaining its record in chancery, Dr. Coke gave him great help. When Mr. Wesley determined, in 1784, to organize the American churches as an independent Methodist Church he selected Dr. Coke to be the first superin- tendent. After carefully and prayerfully considering the mat- ter for two months Coke accepted Mr. Wesley's proposition as the call of God. The detailed results of Dr. Coke's connection with the organ- ization of American Methodism will begin in the next chapter. MANUAL OF PERIOD II. ORGANIZATION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 1784-1813. CHAPTER V. AMERICAN METHODISM ORGANIZED. The organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America was one of the early momentous events growing out of the American Revolution. This great change made necessary a corresponding one in the relations of American Methodism and Mr. ^Vesley. Ic is apparent that the great leader had given ranch thought to the situation, and had formed his plan, which he had partially communicated to Dr. Coke. Between the close of the war in 1781 and the adoption of the Constitution of the United States came the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784. At the British Conference in Leeds, England, 178-1, the sub- ject of the work in America was carefully consid- discussed in ered. The American States were no longer colonies, tributary to England, but a free and independent na- tion. The chief matter of concern was that of ordination. Wes- ley and Coke were both presbyters. The case of the Alexandrian Church, which provided its own u bishops through ordination by its presbyters " for two hundred years, was cited. It ap- peared to be a valid ordination. Mr. "Wesley abandoned all the claims of virtue from M apostolic succession." Soon the decision was made. There met, at Mr. Wesley's instance, at Bristol, Rev. James Creighton, a presbyter in good standing in the Church of England, together with Dr. Coke, Mr. \Vhatcoat, and T. Vasey. Wesley, Creighton, and Coke, lawful presbyters or elders, or- dained Whatcoat and Vasey as deacons, September 1, 1784. The next day they ordained \Vhatcoat and Yasey elders or METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 25 presbyters. On September 3 Wesley, assisted by Creighton, Whatcoat, and Yasey, ordained Dr. Coke Superintendent of the Methodist Societies in America, and he, with others, subse- quently ordained Asbury. By this stroke the " Gordian knot" of ordination was cut, and the American Methodist Episcopal Church was furnished with bishops first of all the Protestant Churches in the New World. Mr. Wesley, who never hesitated when fully determined as to the line of duty, remodeled the Thirty-nine Articles ii. i ArticlesofRe- of the Anglican Church, leaving out the one apper- iigionand at- taining to predestination, and reducing them to twenty-four articles. Having also abridged the liturgy so as to make a proper " Sunday service," and compiled a hymn- book, full-freighted with Methodist theology, he sent ihem by the hands of Coke to America. Mr. Wesley also provided Dr. Coke with a letter to Mr. As- bury and the ministers of the Methodist societies, setting forth what he had determined upon, and what he wished them to do toward the full organization of the societies into a separate Church. Dr. Coke, Mr. Whatcoat, and Yasey landed in New York November 3, 1784, and were hospitably entertained Landingoftne by Stephen Sands, one of the worthy members and messen g ers - trustees of the John Street Church. The preacher w r as John Dickins, who warmly welcomed these strangers. To Dickins, first of all, the scheme of Mr. Wesley was unfolded. He re- ceived it with gladness and thanksgiving. Dickins urged that it should at once be made known ; but Coke decided that it was better to consult Mr. Asbury first. Dr. Coke and his compan- ions set out southward that week, and reached the home of Bassett at Dover, Delaware. Garrettson was there, and was admired by Coke as a noble Christian minister. Thence Coke and Whatcoat went to Barrett's Chapel, where, on Sunday, November 14, while preaching, Coke first saw Asbury. At that service Coke administered the sacrament to over five hun- dred communicants. That Sunday afternoon Dr. Coke, in a private conversation, 26 MANUAL OF unfolded to Mr. Asbury the plan of a Church in America. The subject being: afterward submitted to the preach- Meetingof . coke and ers present, it was decided that there should be a Conference held at Baltimore, at Christinas, when the whole matter should be settled. Garrettson was sent out to call the preachers to Baltimore at Christmas. Most admir- ably did he perform liis mission, traveling over twelve hundred miles on horseback to accomplish it. In the meantime Dr. Coke was engaged in preaching, admin- istering the sacraments, and strengthening the churches after the apostolical order. On December 17 all the travelers, except Whatcoat, reached Perry Hall. Whatcoat arrived on the 19th. Four days were spent in this hospitable house in a " revision of the Rules and Minutes," and in other preparations for the great Conference. The conversations at this time held between Coke and Asbury would, doubtless, could they be recalled, prove a splendid contribution to the historical literature of Methodism, and would throw light upon many obscure passages in connec- tion with the organization of Methodism. The 24th of December, 1784, arrived. Perry Hall was astir, conference at These men of God left this delightful retreat and Lovely Lane. r0( j e ^ 0 Baltimore. Arriving there, they went at once to " Lovely Lane Chapel," the church destined to be as historic in Methodism as is St. Peter's in Romanism, and St. Paul's in Anglicanism. Here at 10 A. M. opened the first " General Conference." Garrettson's twelve-hundred-mile horseback ride brought nearly sixty preachers to the first meeting out of some eighty-three who were eligible to attend. Among these men were intellectual giants, far-sighted statesmen, self-sacrificing philanthropists, and splendid preachers of the Gospel. Let us see what American Methodism was at that moment. Methodism at The Minutes show that there were 83 ministers and the time. 14,988 members. These had been gained since 1766, when Embury preached his first sermon in New York. A few had come from England and Ireland, but the greater part had been gathered on American soil. As to how many places of worship there were we have no means of knowing. The METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 27 larger cities of the States, from New York to Georgia, were occupied, and throughout the country the sound of singing, preaching, and shouting was heard. When Dr. Coke and his companions came into that General Conference in Lovely Lane Chapel they found a goodly company of ministers, representing a constituency of laymen of whom no man or country need be ashamed. At that assembly of nearly sixty preachers Dr. Coke read Mr. Wesley's letter, written at Bristol, September 10, Wesley's 1784. It was addressed as follows : letter * "Bristol, September 10, 1784. " To Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and our Brethren in North America : " 1. By a very uncommon train of providences many of the provinces of North America are totally disjoined from the British Empire and erected into independent States. The En- glish government has no authority over them, either civil or ecclesiastical, any more than over the States of Holland. A civil authority is exercised over them, partly by the Congress, partly by the State Assemblies. But no one either exercises or claim* any ecclesiastical authority at all. In this peculiar situation some thousands of the inhabitants of these States de- sire my advice, and in compliance with their desire I have drawn up a little sketch. " 2. Lord Kind's Account of the Primitive Church convinced me, many years ago, that bishops and presbyters are the same order, and, consequently, have the same right to ordain. For many years I have been importuned, from time to time, to ex- ercise this right, by ordaining part of our traveling preachers. But I have still refused, not only for peace' sake, but because I was determined as little as possible to violate the established order of the National Church, to which I belong. " 3. But the case is widely different between England and North America. Here there are bishops who have a legal jurisdiction ; in America there are none, neither any parish ministers : so that for some hundred miles together there is none 28 MANUAL OF either to baptize or to administer the Lord's Supper. Here, therefore, my scruples are at an end ; and I conceive myself at full liberty, as I violate no order and invade no man's right by appointing and sending laborers into the field. "4. I have accordingly appointed Dr. Coke and Mr. Francis Asbury to be joint superintendents over our brethren in North America; as also Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey to act as elders among them, by baptizing and administering the Lord's Supper. "5. If any one will point out a more rational and scriptural way of feeding and guiding these poor sheep in the wilderness I will gladly embrace it. At present I cannot see any better method than that I have taken. " 6. It has, indeed, been proposed to desire the English bish- ops to ordain part of our preachers for America. But to this I object, (1) I desired the Bishop of London to ordain only one; but could not prevail. (2) If they consented, we know the slowness of their proceedings ; but the matter admits of no delay. (3) If they would ordain them now, they would like- wise expect to govern them. And how grievously w r ould this entangle us ! (4) As our American brethren are now totally dis- entangled both from the state and from the English hierarchy, we dare not entangle them again, either with the one or the other. They are now at full liberty simply to follow the Script- ures and the primitive Church ; and we judge it best that they should stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has so strangely made them free. John Wesley." This document made a profound impression on the members impression °^ the General Conference. In accordance with made. j ts suggestions " it was agreed," says Asbury, " to form ourselves into an Episcopal Church, and to have superin- tendents, elders, and deacons." " The preacher who suggested the name of the Church was John Dickins." All the action of this body was under a sense of the divine guidance and with a single eye to God's glory. At noon of each day, " except ordination days and Sundays," Dr. Coke preached, two of METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 29 the sermons being upon the ministerial offiee. In the morning and evening others preached. In other churches also, and especially at Otterbein's, were these Methodist preachers wel- come. Methodism arid the Churches generally in and around Baltimore received a great blessing during this Conference, and an impression was made for good never to be effaced. Mr. Asbury refused to be ordained a superintendent, as ap- pointed by Wesley, unless the Conference should CokeandAs _ elect him, whereupon the Conference formally blir r elected elected Coke and Asbury to the superin tendency. Asbury was ordained a deacon, says Whatcoat, on the second day of the session. On Sunday, or the third day, he was or- dained an elder by Dr. Coke, assisted by Whatcoat and Yasey. On Monday he was ordained a superintendent or bishop by Dr. Coke, assisted by Otterbein, of the German Church, and Whatcoat and Yasey, the two elders of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The sermon of Dr. Coke, delivered on the occasion of the ordination of Asbury, was published.* When deliv- Coke , s ger _ ered it produced a marked impression. After describ- mon. ing a good bishop and his power, he spoke of a bad one as fol- lows : " You may now perceive the dreadful effects of raising immoral or unconverted men to the government of the Church. The baneful influence of their example is so extensive that the skill and cruelty of devils can hardly fabricate a greater curse than an irreligious bishop." Turning to Asbury he said : " But thou, O man of God, follow after righteousness, godliness, pa- tience, and meekness. Be an example to the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Keep that which is committed to thy trust. Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, but a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry, and thy God will open to thee a wide door, which all thy enemies shall not be able to shut. He will carry his Gospel by thee from sea to sea and ♦See Methodist Quarterly Review, 1840, p. 241. 30 MANUAL OF from one end of the continent to another." Then, reverently appealing to God, he said: "O Thou who art the Holy One and the True, consecrate this thy servant with the fire of divine love; separate him for thy glorious purpose; make him a star in thine own right hand, and fulfill in him and by him the good pleasure of thy goodness!" The General Conference elected, and Coke and Asbury or- dained, Freeborn Garrettson and James O. Crom- Ordinations. well elders for Xova Scotia, where faithful Method- ists were calling for fully ordained ministers. Ten others were ordained to the office of elders and three others chosen to the office of deacons for work in the States. While there has not been preserved a journal of the proceedings of the Christmas Conference, the Church is well supplied with information as to what was clone in the printed volume, " A Form of Discipline for the Ministers, Preachers, and other Members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church in America." This was published in 1785 at Philadelphia, and the next year it was re-issued under the direction of Mr. Wesley in London. The principal work of the Christmas Conference was: 1. The organization of the Methodist Societies of America into an " independent Church, to be known as the Methodist Episcopal Church." 2. The election and ordination of Francis Asbury to be a superintendent or bishop. 3. The election and ordination of elders for Nova Scotia. 4. The election and ordination of preachers to the office of elder. 5. The election of three other preachers to the office of deacon.* 6. The adoption of the twenty-four Articles of Religion sent by Mr. Wesley. The " Christian Conference " added one article — the present twenty-third — making the whole number twenty- five. 7. The recognition of the "Large Minutes" as authority in * John Dickiris was ordained at that time, but Ignatius Pigman and Caleb Bozer were not ordained until the next June. (McTyeire's History of Methodism, p. 349.) METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 31 the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which were added some special enactments suited to America. 8. The adoption of the "Sunday Service" and "Hymns" sent over by Mr. Wesley as part of the liturgy of American Methodism. 9. The consideration and publication of a denunciation of slavery in very strong terms, requiring emancipation of slaves held by Methodists at specified age. 10. The fixing of the allowance of preachers and their families. 11. The defining of the persons who might attend the communion. 12. The settlement of the question of the mode of baptism, by giving candidates the choice of either of the modes. 13. The exclusion of members who "persistently neglect their class-meetings," and who do not mend their lives after suitable admonitions. 14. The discouraging of members from marrying " unawak- ened persons" by the expulsion of offenders ; which in 1804 was changed to " putting back on trial for six months." 15. The adoption of Article XXIII, " Of the Rulers of the United States of America," thereby as a Church fully recog- nizing the government of the United States. 16. The adoption of the plan for founding Cokesbury Col- lege, the first educational institution in the history of American Methodism. The doctrinal character of American Methodism was clearly marked in the acts of the Christmas Conference. Doctrinal The twenty-four Articles of Religion sent over by Methodism. Mr. Wesley were an abridgment of the thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. The reduction was largely by an elimination of those things objectionable to Mr. Wesley. 1. He eliminated the article on "predestination and elec- tion." Though reared in and ordained under those Calvinistic doctrines, his mind, after long and careful study of God's word, had undergone great changes. He repudiated Augustine's pre- destination and Calvin's reprobation. While he greatly admired 32 MANUAL OF these teachers and their general orthodox)', here he widely differed from them. 2. Wesley introduced a pure Arminianism. He distinguished between the thought of free grace and personal responsibility as taught by James Arminius and the " elaborations of his sys- tem by Episcopius and Limborch." Well has Stevens said, " His Arminianism was far from beinor that mongrel system of semi-Pelagianism and semi-Socinianism which for generations was denounced by New England theolo- gians as Arminianism, until the most erudite Calyinistic author- ity of the Eastern States (Stuart, of Andover) rebuked the base- less charge, and bade his brethren be no longer guilty of it." * 3. Wesley struck out all " traditional opinions" of the Roman Catholic Church which were retained by the men who formed the thirty-nine articles. He was in a much clearer light than they. The shackles of unscriptural dogmas had been broken from his mind, and he had a clearer perception of the folly of these traditions. 4. While the Wesleyan doctrines of " assurance " and " sanc- tification," or, as Wesley chose to call the latter, "Christian Perfection/' are not in the Articles of Religion except infer- entially, because they were so clearly scriptural, and taught in the Greek, Roman, and Protestant Churches, and by the great divines of the age, yet Mr. Wesley had amplified them in the Large Minutes, and as they were a part of his system he did not specially need to mention them. He made these somewhat peculiar and special in Methodism by emphasizing them as no preceding theologian had done, thus stamping upon the great heart of Methodism a belief in and love for these fundamental doctrines which were destined to give a peculiar character to this people of God. The success of Methodism lias largely depended upon three things, namely : 1. The scripturalness and purity of her doctrines. 2. The perfectness of her disciplinary system, when duly carried out. * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, p. 209. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 33 3. The blessing of God upon the preaching of scriptural truth and the consecration,- spirituality, and enthusiasm of a converted ministry and people. "The Christmas Conference was the first General Confer- ence," says Stevens ; * " that is to say, all the Annual ' J ' J7 The first Gen- Conferences were supposed to be there assembled. It erai confer- was, therefore, the supreme judicatory of the Church. It was not yet a delegated body, but the whole ministry in session. It made no provision for any future session of the kind, but for some years legislative enactments of a general character were made as heretofore, every new measure being submitted to each Annual Conference by the superintendents, and a majority of all the Conferences being necessary to its validity. A second General Conference was held, however, in 1792, no official minutes of which are extant. The third session was held in 1796, a compendium of the minutes of which was published. Thereafter a session has been held regularly every four years and the minutes of each preserved. In the session of 1808 a motion was adopted for the better organization of the Conference as a 'delegated' body. In 1812 it met in New York city as a 'delegated General Conference,' under consti- tutional restrictions, which gave it the character of a renewed organization." This Christmas Conference continued in session tea days. The view Dr. Coke took of the members he expressed as fol- lows:' "I admire the American preachers. . . .. They are in- deed a body of devoted, disinterested men, but most of them young." The people at large were delighted with this organization of the Methodist societies into a Church. Says Lee : The church fck The Methodists were pretty generally pleased at our ^tented, becoming a Church, and heartily united together in the plan which the Conference had adopted, and from that time religion greatly revived." William Watters says : " We became, instead of a religious society, a separate Church. This gave great satis- faction through all our societies." That clear writer, Ezekiel * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Churchy, vol. ii, p. 219. 4 34 MANUAL OF Cooper, says : Ct This step met with general approbation, both among the preachers and members." * The general superintendents were called "bishops" from the Tbe general year 1787, for the reason set forth in the Discipline : superintend- « As tll translators of our version of the Bible have ents called bishops. used the English word bishop instead of superintend- ent, it has been thought by us that it would appear more script- ural to adopt the term bishop." f Mr. Wesley gave Dr. Coke a proper letter or certificate of Wesley's let- ordination as a superintendent for the people of North tertocobe. America who desired to "continue under" his care. Bishop Coke furnished Mr. Asbury with a certificate of con- secration to " the office of a superintendent in the said Meth- odist Episcopal Church," dated and sealed December 27, 1784. The Christmas Conference adjourned on the third day of January, 1785, and the Methodist societies were launched upon the world as the Methodist Episcopal Church, independent in every respect of State authority and the influences of other Churches, depending wholly and solely upon divine grace, a holy faith, and a burning zeal. ♦Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church,, vol. i, pp. 165, 166. f Ibid., p. 154, note. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 35 CHAPTER VI. FIRST WORK OF THE ORGANIZED CHURCH. When Methodism commenced its independent march in the New World in 1785 it was with more than 14,988 . • -I i i i • i i Statistics. members, eighty-three preachers, two bishops, and two elders — making a ministerial force of eighty-seven. Of the members, 1,607 were north of what is now known as " Mason and Dixon's line," and 13,381 south of it. Methodism had a system of doctrines that could be preached in their entirety without a blush or apology. The Church had a system of gov- ernment wholly apostolical, somewhat military, altogether free in its exercise, endowed with possibilities beyond the surmise of the most sanguine, and equally successful in the largest cities and the most sparsely populated country. While it had suf- fered greatly during the depressing scenes of the Revolutionary War it had since recuperated, so that its congregations were the largest in the land. The English Church was now almost bereft of its clergy, and its members were obliged for a season to de- pend on the ministry of other denominations. There was an arrangement for three Annual Conferences for the year. Asbury preached his first sermon after Three Annual being consecrated a bishop January 3, 1785, at Bal- conferences, timore. His text was an index of the man (Eph. iii, 8) : " Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Coke left Baltimore for Perry Hall, thence going northward to minister to the people. Asbury started to the south, preach- ing every-where as before, with great acceptability, and laying the foundations of Methodism at Charleston, S. C. Coke after- ward met Asbury at Conferences in North Carolina and Vir- ginia. He then went westward to the Blue Ridge, and thence 36 MANUAL OF to Mount Yernon, where occurred a memorable interview with General Washington. After dining with Washington the sub- ject of slavery was introduced, and the great patriot expressed himself in strong language as being desirous of the extirpation of the evil. The two bishops met the preachers in Conference at Balti- Baitimore more June 1, 1785. It had been thought expedient conference f 0 r Bishop Coke to return to Europe, and as he was of 1785. . r . • . ii to leave the next day he preached at noon a sermon on ministerial faithfulness. The Conference continued its session until midnight. The next morning he again delivered a sermon on St. Paul's exhortation to the Ephesian elders (Acts xx). The two bishops had planned an educational institution for Methodism, for which Coke and Asbury collected funds? On Sunday the 5th day of June, 1785, Bishop Asbury laid the corner-stone of Cokesbury College, at Abing- don, Md., about twenty-five miles from Baltimore. The place selected for the college was one of the most eligible and pictur- esque in the East. An elaborate plan for the government of the school was drawn by Bishop Coke, sanctioned by the Con- ference, and published jointly by the bishops on the adjourn- ment of the Christmas Conference. The plan was a masterly grasp of all the needs and work of a great Christian college appropriate to the times. It is worthy of careful study. * The building erected was 108 feet long by 40 in breadth. It was well arranged for lodging students and for recitation-rooms. It was opened December 8, 9, and 10, 1787, by Bishop Asbury, with appropriate religious ceremonies. His text at the dedica- tion was 2 Kings iv, 40 : " O thou man of God, there is death in the pot." This school became a great favorite with the Church. It was a school of the highest grade. Coke and Asbury Cokesbury f i • • e , a college a occasionally conducted the examinations ot the classes. After eight years of service, on the night of December 7, 1795, it took fire and was destroyed. Greatly dispirited by * See Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. i, pp. 230-240. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 37 this accident, Asbury was for abandoning the enterprise; but some friends in Baltimore subscribing generously toward the purchase of a vacant building in that city it was bought, and a school duly opened. A church was built on a part of these grounds. This school opened with even better prospects than the former; but in a short year from the former conflagration fire again swept all away. Then Methodism let the matter of higher education rest for a few years. From the time that Bishop Coke sailed for Europe in 1785 until his return, March, 1787, Asbury w r as alone in the care of the churches and exercise of the epis- Asbury aIone copal office. His travels extended back and forth from New York to Charleston, S. C, and every-where he was the same tireless, watchful worker for the Master, careful of every inter- est of the Church. In March, 1787, Coke met Asbury at Charleston, where he dedicated a new and spacious chapel, and found Coke , s return Methodism flourishing. Together they proceeded toAm erica. north. Coke gives a graphic description of the journey, over bad roads, fording streams, wading through " swamps and mo- rasses," and often " on horseback till midnight." When they reached Philadelphia it was thought necessary that Coke should again visit Europe ; consequently he embarked June 25, 1787. After Bishop Asbury had visited the Churches in the north he went south to Georgia, holding Conferences and preaching constantly. In 1788 he took a north-west course through the wilderness and ascended the Alleghanies, crossing the mountain barrier which he called the "steel," "stone," and "iron" mountains, and entered the Mississippi valley. Soon he met John Tunnell, a preacher of no mean ability. He hastened to Half Acres, Term., where he held the first Conference in the great West; it w r as in May, 1788. Asbury says, "We held our Conference three days, and I preached each day. The weather was cold, the room without fire, and otherwise uncom- fortable." The Tennessee and Kentucky preachers who com- posed this first " ultramontane Methodist Conference" impressed 38 MANUAL OF Asbury as being such as would push the cause of souls to the utmost success. Turning eastward, Asbury crossed into North Carolina, from whence he went north through Virginia to Uniontown, Pa. Here he held a Conference, commencing July 22, 1788, with Whatcoat and eleven other preachers. Rev. Michael Leard was ordained by Bishop Asbury. assisted by Whatcoat. This was the first ordination west of the Alleghanies. For about a year Whatcoat was Asbury's traveling compan- ion, after which he went to a district which extended from Maryland to the Redstone, and from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. Methodism was introduced into the great West in 1781 by Methodism in R° Der t Wooster, a local preacher of talent, who the west. labored in the Redstone country. Souls were con- verted by his preaching and societies were formed (Quinn's Life). A call was made for a preacher. Jeremiah Lambert penetrated the Holston country in Tennessee in 1783, having been appointed to that work. The same year Francis Poy- thress, who was traveling the Alleghany Circuit in Pennsyl- vania, crowded his way over the mountains to the waters of the Youghiogheny, where were a few Methodists among the sparse population, and many other persons who needed conversion. The names of Cooper, Breeze, Moriarty, and Wilson Lee are intimately connected with this country and the planting of the Church. In 1785 there were reported 523 members. Then came William Phoebus, John Wilson, and E. Phelps. Red- stone grew in importance in Western Methodism, so that in 1787 there were 756 members. From the Holston center Methodism extended with the rest- less population to the West and South-west. The names of the worthy men who went into these w T ilds to preach to the hardy and bold pioneers have been lost, or can only be conjectured. They were brave and godly men, and their " works do follow them." The names of the preachers who formed the first Con- ference held by Asbury at Half Acres in Tennessee, in May, 1788, are preserved, and all the men were heroes. They were Edward Morris, elder, Jeremiah Mastin, Joseph Doddridge, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 39 Daniel Asbury, Thomas Ware, and Jesse Richardson. The company was small, but the men were great. Daniel Boone was in advance of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Kentucky about ten years. As early as Methodism iu 1784 local preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Kentucky. Church followed the settlers to this beautiful country and preached Christ. Tucker, a local preacher, in 1784, descended the Ohio River " in a boat with a number of his kindred, men, women, and children." They were fired upon by the Indians, and Tucker was mortally wounded. Falling upon his knees, he " prayed and fought till, by his self possession and courage, the boat was rescued. He then immediately expired, i shout- ing the praises of the Lord.' " Methodism was ever spiritually restless. As soon as the standard of the cross was planted in one locality, the Methodisra in eyes of the ministry were lifted to a destitute field Nova scotia. beyond. It is recorded that the first Methodist preaching in Nova Scotia was in 1766, by Laurence Coughlan. After a short time, and without much fruit, his health failed, and he returned to England, where he died of paralysis. John McGeary was sent out to take his place, but after a time aban- doned the field. William Black had better success, and became the real founder of Methodism in the province. William Black was at the Christmas Conference pressing the needs of Nova Scotia. The great heart of Coke was enlisted. Freeborn Garrettson and J. O. Cromwell were set apart for that special work. These two apostles sailed for Halifax in Feb- ruary, 1785. At once Garrettson commenced to preach in a house hired by a "Mr. Marchington, a true friend to the Gos- pel." Souls were awakened and converted, and in a few days Garrettson formed the first Methodist society with about eight members. His comrade, Cromwell, pushed on to Shelburn, where like results attended his ministry. John Mann, a convert of Board- man in New York, and for a time during the Revolutionary War pastor of John Street Church, went to Nova Scotia and be- came a faithful preacher, where he died triumphantly in 1816. 40 MANUAL OF Barbara Heck, the foundress of Methodism in New York, Barbara Heck * n 1784, went with her children and the widow and in Canada. children of Embury to Canada, where she died Au- gust IT, 1804.* The names and works of this noble woman and the accompanying families are to be found "from Augusta to Quebec. 1 ' Samuel Embury, son of Philip, was class-leader, and Barbara Heck and her three sons were members of the class. A local preacher named Tuppey, of the British army at Quebec, preached for about three years. The Canadians regard him " as the first Methodist preacher in Canada." An Irish local preacher named George Neal, a major of cavalry in the English army, was the second preacher. The doctrines and spirit of Methodism penetrated the English army, and raised up some noble, godly preachers, who aided greatly in the plant- ing and extension of Methodism in the New World. The names of Captain Webb, Commissary Tuppey, and Major Neal may well be held in grateful remembrance by Methodists. In 1788 James McCarty, an Irish preacher from the United States, entered Canada to preach, and great success attended his labors. The Churchmen (mostly Romanists) having seized and bound him, placed him in a boat with four hired Frenchmen ; these took him down the St. Lawrence to the Rapids, where they left him on a desolate island. Whether he perished by starvation or was drowned in an attempt to reach the main-land is not known. In January, 1790, William Losee, preacher on Lake Cham- plain Circuit, crossed the St. Lawrence, probably at St. Regis, and began to preach with marked success in Canada. At New York, April 30, 1789, George Washington was Washington inaugurated President. In May the New York addressed in Conference held its session in that city. Asbury, the name of . . . ~. . . , . the Method- the patriot and Christian, suggested trie propriety pai church °^ presenting to President Washington " a con- by the wsh- gratulatory address," in which " should be embodied our approbation of the Constitution, and professing our allegiance to the government." The Conference highly * Letter of Rev. W. H. Withrow, D.D., in The Epworth Herald, March 7, 1891. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 41 approved the measure, and the two bishops were appointed to draw up and present such a paper to the President. The paper was a sincere congratulation to Washington on his election, and a cordial recognition of his eminent qualifications for the high office. It bears the date, " May 29, 1789," and is signed by Coke and Asbury in behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church. President Washington made a suitable reply. « 42 MANUAL OF CHAPTER VII. PRESIDING ELDERSHIP — THE COUNCIL — QUESTIONS SETTLED. After the adjournment of the Christmas Conference the Origin of pre- appointments were so arranged that the elders were siding eiders, distributed to points accessible, from which they could reach the whole Church and " administer the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and perform all the other rites prescribed by our Liturgy." This was found very help- ful to the spiritual life of the people. When the next Confer- ences were held, in 1786, these elders were limited to certain territory for each. It was then said the elder was " to exercise within his district, during the absence of superintendents, all the powers vested in them for the government of our Church, provided that he never act contrary to an express order of the superintendents." When the Conferences of 1787 came it was found that these elders were eminently useful in the manage- ment and government of the Church, and out of this came the office of presiding elder. The title appears for the first time in the Discipline of 1792. The Christmas Conference made no arrangement for the assembling of another body like unto itself for the purpose of legislation. Measures for church govern- ment were adopted, which, after being presented to the several Annual Conferences, provided a majority of the preachers in their sessions voted for the proposed rules, became laws and regulations. Before four years had passed it became evi- dent that in some body must be lodged legislative power, instead of the present cumbersome and uncertain mode. A proposition was submitted by Bishop Asbury to the Conferences beginning in the spring of 1789 to form a "Council," whose powers were to mature every thing they shall judge expe- dient. "1. To preserve the general union. 2. To render and METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 43 preserve the external form of worship similar in all our societies through the continent. 3. To preserve the essentials of the Methodist doctrines and discipline pure and uncorrupted. 4. To correct all abuses and disorders. 5. To mature everv thing the j may see necessary for the good of the Church and for the promoting and improving our colleges and plan of education."* It was provided that the acts of the Council, to be authoritative, should be unanimously adopted by the Council and agreed to by a majority of the Conference in which the act was to be appliedo The Bishops were authorized to summon the Council at such time and place as they should " judge expedient." The first Council met at Cokesbury College, December 4, 1789. Bishop Asbury presided. There were pres- ent Richard Ivey, of Georgia ; P. Ellis, of South Carolina ; E. Morris, of North Carolina ; Philip Bruce, of north district of Virginia; James O'Kelly, of south district of Virginia ; L. Green, of Ohio ; Nelson Reed, of western Mary- land ; J. Everett, of eastern Maryland ; John Dickins, of Penn- sylvania; J. O. Cromwell, of New Jersey, and Freeborn Gar- rettson, of New York. These eleven men, with the bishop, formed the first Council of Methodism in America. Bishop Asbury says : " All our business was done in love and una- nimity." Of this there can be no doubt. Nevertheless, there were in the plan elements that necessarily conspired to break it down ; only one other session was held — that of 1790. The causes for this unpopularity were, first, "Nothing was to be decided without a reference to the Conferences, Council un _ who had a full veto power;" second, the council popular, was composed of presiding elders, who, as Lee wrote, " were appointed, changed, and put out of office by the bishop, and just when he pleased." According to American democratic ideas this was not representation ; and while there was no pos- sible connection between Church and State, still the political notions of American patriots rejected "taxation without repre- sentation." * JBanga's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. i, pp. 302-304. 44 MANUAL OF An attempt was made to remedy these defects by substituting Attempt at ^ or presiding elders as members of the Council remedy. « experienced elders," elected by ballot. It was also determined that the Council " should have power to direct and manage the printing, to conduct the plan of education, to appoint teachers and fix their salary, and to preserve the gen- eral union of the preachers and people." Among those present at the first council was James O' Kelly, from the south district of Virginia, a strong, restless, O'Kelly. influential, determined man. He had heartily favored the organization of the Council, and was present and took an active part in the proceedings. But he became wholly opposed to the existence of the body, and as openly hostile to it as he had been formerly favorable. Jesse Lee attributes this sudden and radical change to the fact that O'Kelly " went to the first Council with some expectation of being promoted in the Church, but, finding himself disappointed, he returned home greatly mortified." In his Annual Conference O'Kelly threw his influence against all the measures proposed by the Council. As a result not one of these measures was adopted. He also allied himself with some others in strongly advo- cating a call for a General Conference. While he was doubt- less unwise in his methods he did well in urging the assembly of a body whose personnel would justly represent the entire Church, and which should legislate with full authority for the Church. Bishop Asbury, coming to the conclusion that a General Conference offered the only solution of the embar- Call for a Gen- » erai confer- rassments of the Church, submitted a plan which was approved by the preachers. The call was made for the assembling of the preachers in such a General Confer- ence ^November 1, 1792, at Baltimore. Mr. Wesley, very early in the religious movement which he directed, discovered the great value of the press in carrving forward an intelligent revival. The Church in America was also in no wise slow to recognize its importance. In 17S9, official provision was made " for the publication of books METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 45 for the Church." The right man for publisher was found in the person of John Dickins, who, in addition to his work as preacher in Philadelphia, was appointed "book steward." Philip Cox was not appointed to a circuit, but was made " book steward at Large." The honor of planning the work of the Book Concern, obtaining means to carry it forward, and stamping upon it the character of permanency, justly belongs to John Dickins. As early as 1786 Bishop Asbury formed a Sunday-school "at the house of Thomas Crenshaw, in' Hanover _ ' First Sunday- County, Va.," the first ever formed on the Ameri- school in can continent by any Church. This was only five Amenca - years after Robert Raikes organized the Sunday-school in Gloucester, England, at the instigation of a "young Methodist woman," afterward the wife of Rev. Samuel Bradburn. The Conferences of 1790 distinguished themselves by ordering that "Sunday-schools, for the instruction of 'poor children, white and black,' " be established. The minutes read, " Let us labor, as the heart and soul of one man, to establish Sunday-schools in or near the place of public worship. Let persons be appointed by the bishops, elders, deacons, or preachers to teach [gratis] all that will attend and have a capacity to learn, from six o'clock in the morning till ten, and from two o'clock in the afternoon till six, where it does not interfere with public wor- ship. The Council shall compile a proper school-book to teach them learning and piety." * The Sunday-schools commenced thus early in the history of American Methodism were destined to become an ever-increasing agency of usefulness. The most difficult field for Methodism to enter was New En- gland. The " Standing: Order" — the Congregational JL . . °, . . /5 t t Methodism Church — had been recognized as a State Church. Jt entering New tolerated the Presbyterians, w r ho to some extent EngIand - catered to the Congregationalists. These in common held to the Calvinistic faith, the Presbyterians the more tenaciously. The early settlers of New England had fled from the Old World on account of religious and political intolerance, and in turn, after * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. i i. pp. 503. 504, quoted from Lee's History, p. 162. 40 MANUAL OF enjoying religions and political freedom in the Xew World, Lad themselves become intensely intolerant. Methodism taught a pure Arminian doctrine, which, if admitted, must entirely change the teachings of the established churches. The staid Xew Englanders could not brook change. They believed them- selves doing God service in antagonizing this new preaching. It was under such circumstances that our early preachers found their way into Xew England, and there planted the Methodist Episcopal Church. Jesse Lee is the hero of Xew England Methodism. A few sermons from Methodist preachers passing to and Lee the hero. . from Nova ocotia had been preached, but no lasting effect had. been produced. Jesse Lee arrived in Connecticut June IT, 1789, preached at X or walk that day, and afterward at Xew Haven and elsewhere. His first class was formed at Stratfield, about September 26, 1789. The second class was formed at Redding the last of December, 1789, and had two members. After about three months Lee went into Rhode Island, where his heart was cheered by finding " a great many Baptists in this part of the country" who were "lively in re- ligion." " They are," says Lee, " mostly different from those I have formerly been acquainted with ; for these will let men of all persuasions commune with them if they believe they are in favor with the Lord. I think the way is now open for our preachers to visit this part of the land. It is the wish of many that I should stay, and they begged that I would return again as soon as possible, although they never saw a Methodist before. I am the first preacher of our way that has ever visited this part of the country." * Lee continued to preach in Connecticut in school-houses, in court-houses, occasionally " in the more liberal vil- Leeswn. churches," in private houses, in groves, and by the highway. His preaching was clear, strong, and persuasive. The people heard him gladly, but " the pastors and deacons valiantly resisted him as a heretic, for he was an Arminian.' 1 AVhen these men attempted to turn his preaching into ridicule, * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, p. 429. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 47 by tact and logic "he confounded them." When the wags and wits attempted to bring him into derision Lee was always ready with an apt repartee that scattered them and left him the victor. It was sometimes said he was not educated, and the wise ones quoted Latin and Greek to test him. Lee an- swered back in Dutch, which they thought to be Hebrew, and were forced to admit his " culture." Lee preached powerfully and exhorted with irresistible force. When he prayed the heavens and earth seemed to meet ; and when he sang Zion's songs the multitude was charmed and heard him gladly. But Lee had not yet attacked sin in Boston, which even then was New England's head. He reached Boston July 9, Lee in Bos _ 1790. The day was spent in the vain effort to find ton - a place in which to preach. The next clay, in the afternoon, he took a table to the Commons, where people were frequently passing. Lee at this time was about thirty-two years of age. His dress w r as simple in style, resembling that of the Quakers. His face was attractive, eye clear, and voice resonant. He placed his table under a tree, mounted it, and began to sing a hymn. Only four persons drew near at first to see the novelty. The preacher kneeled and poured out his soul in prayer. His manner was that of one deeply in earnest. By the time the prayer Was concluded masses of people were coming from every direction toward this table and its occupant. It was estimated that three thousand people were thus quickly assem- bled. Lee opened his pocket Bible, announced his text, and preached without notes. It was a plain, pointed sermon. Many hungry souls heard it gladly, and received the message as corn- ins: from above. The story of Lee's efforts to find a place in which to gather a congregation and preach to them the Gospel, the oft-repeated repulses and denials, the persistent effort to obstruct his way, and his ultimate success, together with his providential call to Lynn, and the open door there, make a brilliant passage in the romance of Methodist history. The great heart of Lee for- gave men their rudeness. His love for dying sinners led him 48 MANUAL OF to work prodigies. His indomitable energy enabled him to persist until lie conquered. As Lee passed through Massachusetts and Connecticut his Lee and Na- preaching received frequent and severe criticism, than Bangs. Sometimes an unconscious influence was exerted that required years to determine itself. In Connecticut was " an honest and intelligent blacksmith " who stood by the " Standing Order" and Calvinism. He would not suffer his family to hear Lee preach, but he could not prevent the discussions in the family about the wonderful man and bis preaching. One of his sons, only twelve years of age, was greatly impressed with what he heard in the family and shop. Though not permitted to hear Lee then, when he became a man and acted for himself he sought out the Methodist preachers, heard them gladly, was soundly converted, and became the great Dr. Nathan Bangs. It is said by Dr. Stevens that he did more important service for American Methodism than any other man recorded in its history except Asbury.* At the Conference in New York, October 4, 1790, Lee Lee re-en- pleaded eloquently for laborers for New England, forced. jj e ] ia( ] a ] rear ]j formed Stamford or Redding and the New Haven circuits. He could show a chapel at Stratfield, Conn., known as Lee's Chapel, the first Methodist church built in New England ; a chapel, partly finished, in Dantown ; and a good prospect for work in Lynn. He could also point to bit- ter opposition, a cold reception, and antagonisms from sturdy New Englanders. He received ministerial re-enforcement in John Bloodgood, John Lee, N. B. Mills, and Daniel Smith. Lee received word of the death of his mother while at Con- Death of Lee's ference in New York. His great heart of affection mother. was 1110V ed to go and mourn with his loved ones, but perishing sinners in New England called loudly to him for salvation. He therefore decided to send his brother home while he, with his assistants, hastened to New England. From this time there was no lack of strong Methodist preaching, earnest evangelical exhortations, and stirring gospel singing. * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, p. 435. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 49 Revivals occurred, societies were formed, circuits arranged, preachers found for the growing work, and church buildings erected. The next year twelve preachers were sent from the Conference in New York to New England. Bishop Asbury visited New England for the first time in 1791. Entering Connecticut June 4, his reception Asbliry ln by the Methodists was most hearty at Redding, New England. Stratford, and elsewhere. By others his reception was cold and inhospitable, especially at Boston. He left Boston saying, " The Methodists have no house, but their time may come." At Lynn he found a " Methodist chapel raised." Asbury was greatly cheered, and in a prophetic spirit he predicted that " God would work in these States, and give us a great harvest." The work of Lee and his coadjutors was so crowned with success that in May, 1792, Bishop Asbury returned to Lynn and held the first Conference in New England. There were present eight preachers besides the bishop. In 1784 there were eighty-three, ministers : in 1792 there were two hundred and sixty-six of them. In 1784 there t ^ An Growthofthe were 14,988 members. In 1792 there were about church to 65,980 members. In eislit years the Church had cl0se H ° f tbis ' o J period. more than three times multiplied her ministry and more than four times increased her membership. In church buildings there had, doubtless, been a corresponding increase, though the facts are nowhere given upon which to base a calcu- lation as to how many churches Methodism then possessed. 5 ♦ 50 MANUAL OF v CHAPTER VIII. THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1792 TO THE FIRST DELEGATED GENERAL CONFERENCE, 1812. The Annual Conferences, excepting the South Virginia, second Gen where O'Kelly exerted his greatest influence, having emi confer- acceded to the request of the second Council, Bishop Asbnry called a General Conference to assemble in Baltimore, November 1, 1792, to be composed of all the elders of the Church. It is not definitely known whether Bishop Coke's name was appended to the call, as he was absent in England at the time it was officially mode. Having heard of Wesley's death, April 29, 1791, lie had hastened to England to settle matters connected with the Wesleyan Conference. The fact that he was the first designated in the " Poll Deed," or u Deed of Declaration," led to the expectation that he would take a leading part in the adjustment of the unsettled affairs of Wesleyan Methodism. There was one restless, disloyal spirit sowing the seeds of o'Keiiy'sdis- discord among the preachers in America and seek- loyaity. j n g ^ 0 ^ rea ^ clown the influence of Bishops Asbury and Coke and to wholly change the genius of Methodism, if not destroy it altogether. This was James O'Kelly. We have seen his disappointment in the Council of 1789. In the absence of Bishop Coke, O'Kelly and his supporter, Mr. Allen, by letters to Coke in England, had violently and unrighteously assailed the character of Bishop Asbury. O'Kelly had spent two years in " alienating the affections of the young preachers from Bishop Asbury by representing him as a tyrant and as being ambitious and mercenary." O'Kelly was a man w T ell calculated to lead men away and demoralize the chu>*ches. Among others who were misled by him was William McKendree, a man who afterward became famous both as preacher and bishop. Not METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 51 until lie met Bishop Asbury personally, and studied his char- acter critically, did he come to appreciate the nobility of the man he had been taught to undervalue. Bishop Asbury found that by these letters of O'Kclly and Allen Bishop Coke had been turned somewhat against i . i • i r t at Error of Coke. him, which was one ot the severest afflictions expe- rienced by Asbury in this controversy. As early as April, 1791, Bishop Coke, fearing that Methodism could not stand firm amid the contending elements of a new country, wrote a letter to Bishop White, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, suggest- ing the possibility of a union of the two Churches. This becoming known some years afterward, he was severely and justly censured by Bishop Asbury and the Methodists generally. A people wdio had fought their way through untold difficulties and opposition until they were much larger than the Protestant Episcopal Church were in no mood to quietly sit by and see such a union consummated. Bishop Coke afterward saw his error and acknowledged it. The second General Conference assembled in Baltimore on the morning of November 1, 1792. Bishop Coke Lee , g accoimt arrived from England the night before. No official of theconfer- record has been found of the doings of this Confer- ence ; but Jesse Lee has preserved a fair account of the proceed- ings, and, having been present and a member of the body, his statements are taken as authority. The General Conference was composed of the elders of the Church. How many were present he does not state, but they were " from all jJarts of the United States where we had any circuits formed." . The first day was spent in determining the rules to govern the Conference in its deliberations. The principal restrictive rule adopted required a two-thirds vote of all the members voting to "abolish an old law or make a new one, but that a majority might alter or amend any existing law." On the second day O'Kelly precipitated the action which led to his secession from the Church. The O'Kelly o'Keiiy's Ave party had a platform with five planks : " 1. The P lanks - abolition of the arbitrary aristocracy (the Council). 2. The 52 MANUAL OF investing of the nomination of the presiding elders in the Con- ferences of the districts. 3. The limitation of the districts to be invested in the General Conference. 4. An appeal allowed each preacher on the reading of the stations. 5. A General Conference of at least two thirds of the preachers as a check on every thing." * On this day O'Kelly embodied what was probably his strong- Dangerous est point in the following amendment to the Dis- demand. cipline : " After the bishop appoints the preachers at Conference to their several circuits, if any one thinks him- self injured by the appointment he shall have liberty to appeal to the Conference and state his objections; and if the Con- ference approve his objections the bishop shall appoint him to another circuit." This question immediately brought on an animated and strong discussion. Asbury, being sick, and greatly depressed by the possible results of this discussion, re- tired, leaving Bishop Coke in the chair. " It was the first of those great parliamentary debates which have given pre-emi- nence to the deliberative talent " of the General Conference in its entire history. O'Kelly led in the discussion. He was sharp and censorious. Ivey, Hull, Garrettson, and Swift took sides witli him in the discussion, though not in his extreme measures. But equally strong and eloquent men opposed these. Willis, Lee, Morrell, Everett, and Eeed especially defended Method- ism as it was, and clearly showed the destructive effects of the proposed movement. Coke was greatly impressed with the brilliancy and power of the debate. He had heard noth- ing in the Old World to surpass it. The debate commenced on Friday, the 2d, and continued to Monday night, the 5th, being relieved by solemn religious services on Sunday, at which Bishop Coke, O'Kelly, and Henry Willis preached. Lee writes : " On Monday we began the debate afresh, and continued it through the day ; and at night we went to Otterbein's church and again continued till near bed-time, when the vote was taken and the motion was lost by a large majority." * Simpson's Hundred Tears of Methodism, p. 72. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 53 On Tuesday morning O'Kelly and a few kindred spirits sent to the General Conference a letter declaring their 0 ' Kelly » s se _ withdrawal from the body " because the appeal was cession, not allowed." An effort was made to reconcile these malcon- tents. Garrettson, who was one of the committee, speaks of the effort as a failure. " Many tears were shed," says he, " but we were not able to reconcile him [O'Kelly] to the decision of the Conference. «His wound was deep and apparently incur- able." O'Kelly soon left Baltimore for southern Virginia, and be- gan to uproot what he had planted. A few preachers followed him. William McKendree went, but did not stay long, becom- ing convinced of his error. O'Kelly called his asso- McKendree ciation the " Republican Methodists." Divisions, followed, strifes, and discords arose in the body. Peace was a stranger. O'Kelly ordained preachers and exercised the very functions he had so bitterly antagonized in Asbury. In 1801 lie pub- lished a pamphlet calling his organization the "Christian Church." His party dwindled, and after his death, October 16, 1826, went to pieces. v After O'Kelly had withdrawn he secured an interview with Bishop Coke, but used his privilege to " criminate " him and the Conference. Lee, in describing the withdrawal of O'Kelly and the preach- ers who followed him, writes that the motive of his action was not brought out in the debate. He was heterodox regarding the Trinity. " O'Kelly denied the doctrine of the Trinity, and preachecL against it, by saying that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were characters, and not persons, and that these char- acters all belonged to Jesus Christ ; that Jesus Christ was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." A member of the General Conference had intended to prosecute him before the Conference for " the false doctrines which he had been preach- ing;" but O'Kelly's withdrawal from the Conference and Church prevented the necessity for such a trial.* It ma} 7 be well to remember that about this time began those * Stevens's History of the Methodist Ejnscopal Church, vol. iii, p. 26. 54: MANUAL OF warm debates on the constitutional rights of the itinerant preacher in the Wesleyan Connection in England which grew out of the changed relations arising from the death of Mr. Wesley. The day following the secession of O' Kelly the General Conference settled down to a state of tranquillity. Asbury was asked to preach, which he did from 1 Pet. iii, 8. " Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compas- sion one of another ; love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous." This godly man, who had during all this strife illustrated this text in his conduct, could, with unusual power, preach it in words from the pulpit. Among the acts of the General Conference of 1792 are a revis- ion of the Discipline ; a providing for regular General Acts of Gen- . . erai confer- Conferences ; designation of the Annual Conferences enceof l.fc. ^ ^ name u District Conferences," to distinguish them from the General Conference; the authorization of the bishops under certain restrictions to set the boundaries to the Conferences, and to fix the times of the annual sessions; the definition of the term " supernumerary preacher the provision for "the election, ordination, and trial of bishops;" the defini- tion of the presiding eldership, with its powers and duties; the limiting the appointment of the elders in one district to four years ; the ordering that preachers should not receive presents for baptisms or burial of the dead; a rule for settling disputes between brethren "concerning the payment of debts" without going to law ; the prescribing of a form of church letter ; a provision for the trial of preachers for " immorality or improper conduct, and also for heresy," and an addition to the rule of an earlier date regarding the trial of members who should inveigh against the "doctrine and discipline" of the Church, or sow dissension in any of the societies. On November 15, the business being accomplished, the Gen- eral Conference adjourned, with a sermon bv Bishop Adjourned ' , 1 with asermon Coke. The preachers went out with a deeper con- sciousness of the value of Methodism than they had before. The impression of the Conference upon Coke was METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 55 profound. "I had always entertained," says he, " very high ideas of the piety and zeal of the American preachers, and of the considerable ability of many ; but I had no expectation, I confess, that the debates would be carried on in so very mas- terly a manner ; so that on every question of importance the subject seemed to be considered in every possible light." Bishop Coke started northward and soon sailed for Europe. Bishop Asbury went south to counteract, as much as r J 1 Asbury quell- possible, the O'Kelly schism. lie traveled exten- ingtneo*Kei- sively in Virginia, where O'Kelly had the greatest lyschism ' influence ; preached, held Conferences, class and band meetings, and love-feasts ; wrote letters to those likely to be affected by the O'Kelly movement, and used every means for counteracting it. By this prompt action the bishop and the preachers who remained faithful to Methodism averted any wide spread disaffection. Bishop Asbury soon went to Charleston, S. C, where he found a trouble which had culminated in a small secession, and threatened for a time the total destruction of the Methodist Church in that city. Rev. William Hammett was a missionary sent by Bishop Coke to the West Indies. By some Hammett 's means he had come to the United States and was in secession, charge of the Methodist Church in Charleston. As a thinker and preacher he was gifted and eloquent. He soon became restless and fault-finding, accused Coke and Asbury alike of tyranny, and sowed dissension among the people. He headed a secession in Charleston about the close of 1791, anticipating O'Kelly by a few months, and probably giving some encourage- ment to the O'Kelly secession. Hammett erected a large build- ing on Hasel Street, calling it Trinity Church. His followers took the name " Primitive Methodists." A fter a time another building was erected. Troubles arose among themselves. Of the few local preachers who joined him many abandoned his cause, lie died in 1803, and the whole movement vanished from sight. Bishop Asbury was constantly engaged in the oversight of the churches during the quadrennium, making nearly Asbmy's a circuit of the Church each year. lie closed the ,abors ' ecclesiastical year of 1792 in South Carolina, where he enjoyed 56 MANUAL OF the best hospitality of a great-hearted people. Afterward we see him "wrestling with floods" and living on "Indian bread and fried bacon " in North Carolina ; next crossing the Al- leghanies amid perils, and spending several weeks in the settle- ments of Kentucky and Tennessee, enduring great privations; then among the heights of the Virginia mountains, preaching, administering the sacrament to the hardy mountaineers, and resting under the hospitable roof of the widow of General Rus- sell, whose wife w T as a sister of Patrick Henry ; then to Ferry Hall ; next we find him at Boston, where he edifies all who at- tend his ministry ; then off to Vermont and New York ; and so in a ceaseless round of episcopal visitations to the Churches, preaching, holding Conferences, and blessing the people every- where. Four years of such work, following the victory of 1792, could not be lost upon the Church. In May, 1795, Asbury was called to mourn the death of Judge Death of White, the noble layman who defended and sheltered judge white. hi m j n the d a y S 0 f the Revolution. Judge White died aged sixty -five. The news was a shock to the good bishop. He records of him : " He was a friend to the poor and oppressed. He had been a professed Churchman, and was united to the Methodist Connection about seventeen or eighteen years. His house and heart were always open, and he was a faithful friend to liberty, in spirit and in practice ; he was a most indulgent husband, a tender father, and an affectionate friend. He pro- fessed perfect love and great peace, living and dying." Bishop Asbury was in contact during this period with some some remark- remarkable men. Benjamin Abbott was remarkable able men. f or eccentricities and revival power. His death, which occurred August 11, 1796, was triumphant. For What- coat, then one of the presiding elders in Maryland — grave, fervidly pious, and full of good sense — Asbury conceived the highest regard. Henry Smith, who came to a ripe old age, having served the Church faithfully for over fifty years and left many published letters full of reminiscences of early Methodism, dated from "Pilgrim's Rest," was just coming into the minis- try. One of the most remarkable men was William McKen- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 57 dree, who had been influenced by O'Kelly, and, conceiving ;i dislike for Bishop Asbury before knowing him, had withdrawn from the Church. Soon, however, he saw his folly, returned, carefully studied Asbury in every attitude, came to love and revere him as God's chosen messenger, and finally became him- self a bishop and a worthy successor of Asbury. Enoch George, who had been soundly converted under the ministry of Jarratt, volunteered to go into South Carolina as a missionary, and so impressed himself upon the Church as afterward to become one of its bishops. The two brothers, Coleman and Simon Carlisle, "successful evangelists of the South," and Stephen G. Koszel, - a young itinerant in Virginia, for fifty years a "chieftain of the Church in Virginia and Maryland," a strong debater, "a leader in his Annual Conference," a powerful preacher, and a great revivalist — these men were among Asbnry's best labor- ers in the South. In the North Asbury had such able men as Garrettson, who had by marriage and fortunate purchase of land become wealthy, and gave liberally of his means to the Church ; George Picker- ing, one of the most devoted and conscientious men [1769-1846], " tall, slight, and perfectly erect," clothed with " energy, shrewd- ness, self-command, and benignancy ; " Ezekiel Cooper, a "rep- resentative" man, cultured, "a living encyclopedia," a strong theologian, a keen debater, a powerful preacher ; John McClas- key, full of Irish wit and the grace of God [1756-1814] ; Thomas Morrell, a Revolutionary soldier, honored by Congress with a commission us major [1747-1838], an able preacher, the per- sonal friend of Washington, and the one who introduced Coke and Asbury on their visit to the President in 1789 ; Thomas Ware, whose autobiography is valuable in historical reminis- cences ; Valentine Cook, educated at Cokesbury, acquainted with Greek and Latin, and so skilled in German that he could preach in it as fluently as a native. Such men, in the Middle and Northern States, were constantly going forth as preachers of righteousness. In the great West Bishop Asbury found equally strong men to march to the front at the bidding of the Church. Barnabas MANUAL OF McHenry (1767-1833) was "the first Methodist preacher raised up west of the mountains." William Burke, a man of dauntless courage, born to lead, who never tired of preaching nor of leading penitents to Christ, was the first stationed preacher in Cincinnati, in 1811. Thomas Scott (afterward Judge Scott) brought many to Christ. Marrying in 1796, he located and studied law. Subsequently as lawyer and judge he dignified Methodism. Dr. Edward Tiffin was converted under Scott's preaching and became a powerful lay member. As governor of Ohio and as a senator at Washington, he threw all his influence on the side of godliness. These are a few of the mighty pioneers of the wilds of the West whose heroic conduct was the admiration of Bishop Asbury, and whose annals would require volumes to set forth all their worth. The history of this period may well be closed by a reference character of to Bishop Asbury. He was a close thinker and a Asbury. profoundly conscientious man and officer. lie was ever inquiring as to the moral quality of every thought and act. Ofttimes this introspection, affected by physical ailment, made him unduly sensitive. Asbury was naturally an energetic man, and as such he was restless without movement and achieve- ment. When he sowed the seed he desired to see the growing Crop ; when he preached he must see sinners converted ; when he administered he must see the Church advance. Judging from his Journal, Asbury seems to have been of an exceedingly morbid temperament. " There is scarcely a page," writes Stevens, " in which we do not witness the heroic strug- gle of his invincible will with this formidable physical draw- back. And the evil grows as he advances in life. He mentions oftener than ever his inward conflicts, alternations of joy and sadness, of mental freedom and oppression in the pulpit. He at last perceives the fact that his melancholy is 'constitutional,' and will end only with his life. This brave struggle with an unconquerable physical evil enhances inexpressibly the great- ness of his character and of his unparalleled life. lie had not, however, the sagacity or the scientific knowledge to perceive that his excessive occupation'caused much of his sufferings. It METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 59 may be soberly affirmed that through all his ministerial career he was doing the work of ten if not twenty ordinary men. No human strength is adequate to such labors as his — journeys on horseback over the worst roads, thirty, forty, fifty miles a day, with almost daily preaching, class-leading, visits from house to house, frequent and laborious sessions of Conferences, a corre- spondence of a thousand letters yearly, for most of the year the poorest fare of log-cabins, with no other luxury than tea, which he always carried with him and often prepared himself beneath a tree, and almost continual sickness, chills, fevers, and rheumatism. Aristotle taught that the vices are the excesses of the virtues. Asbury erred in this respect. His life, effect- ive as it was, might have been more effective if more health- ful, physically and mentally. Johnson remarked to Boswell that to interpret the Scripture command, 'be instant in prayer,' literally were to abuse it ; that no one could thus obey it with- out becoming a maniac. Asbury, besides his other extreme habits, was almost a literalist in this respect. He usually prayed with families at the close of each meal, at taverns, or wher- ever else he stopped. He prayed in all his pastoral visits. For years he prayed for each of his preachers by name daily ; at every Conference he prayed privately over each name on the list of appointments ; on his rides he prayed ten minutes each hour, and he records that there were few minutes in the day in which his thoughts were not absorbed in prayer. He fasted every Friday, besides going without food from early morning till late evening several days in almost every week. "We can- not wonder, then, that his life became abnormal, and we cannot but wonder that it was so mighty in spite of that fact." * In 1795 the Annual Conferences recommended a " general fast " to be observed by all Methodists on the first General fast Friday in March, 1796, and also that the Church ordered - observe the last Thursday in October, 1796, as a day of " holy gratitude and thanksgiving." f The days were carefully ob- served. There followed great revivals. * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. iii, pp. 119, 120. f Banga'a History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, pp. 22-24. 60 MANUAL OF CHAPTER IX. GENERAL CONFERENCES OF 1796 AND 1800. The Church had grown in importance and spirituality dur- Tturd General m » * ne quadrennium. The third General Confer- cooference. eilce assembled in Baltimore, the "cradle of Amer- ican Methodism," October 20, 1796. Bishop Coke had returned after an absence of nearly four years, reaching Chesapeake Bay October 3, 1796. He had traveled in England, Ireland, Hol- land, and the West Indies. His heart was burdened regarding missionary work, to which he gave great attention. He was also preparing his Commentary at the request of the British Conference, and was unceasing in preaching. Coke brought as a traveling companion Pierre de Pontavice, a French nobleman who had been converted from Romanism to Christianity. About one hundred and twenty preachers attended this Gen- eral Conference. Many from the West who were entitled to attend could not do so, and many in Xew England were also prevented from attending. Thus it began to be discovered that the entire Church was not represented, and the foundation was laid for what ultimately came — " a delegated General Confer- ence." Great harmony prevailed in this gathering, and the business was transacted with dispatch. The acts of the General Conference may be summed up as follows : 1. A letter was brought by Bishop Coke from the British Con- a letter from ference addressed to the General Conference, off er- Engiand. ing fraternal greetings to the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, which they esteemed as one with them- selves, and congratulating the Church on its " amazing success." To this an address was returned which voiced the feeling in the entire Church.* * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. iii, p. 343 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 61 2. The Church was divided into six Annual Conferences. They were the New England, Philadelphia, Balti- Six Annual more, Virginia, South Carolina, and Western, and conferences, their boundaries were quite well fixed. The persons permit- ted to attend were all those in full connection, and those to be received from trial into full connection. The bishop was also to hold a Conference in the province of Maine if it became desirable. 3. It having become necessary to secure uniformity in titles to church property a form of " Deed of Trust" was Tit ies to prop- drafted and inserted in the Discipline, by which all ert y- church property was to be conveyed to trustees in trust for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the place where the property is located, guaranteeing the use of the pulpits to the authorized ministry. 4. A " Chartered Fund " in the hands of trustees, for the re- lief and support of the itinerant, the superan- a chartered nuated and worn-out ministers and preachers of the Fund - Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of Amer- ica, their wives and children, widows and orphans, was estab- lished.* It was provided that this society should be char- tered, which was done by the Legislature of Penn- Trav eiing Sylvania. deacons or- ^ ' dained to be 5. A rule was adopted that "a deacon should eiders after serve two years before his ordination as an elder, }^ ^iaco- except in missions." nate - 6. It was provided that local preachers might be ordained deacons upon the recommendation of the Quarterly Local preacn- Conferences to which they might belong after serv- ordaineTdea^ ing as local preachers four years. Provision was cons. also made for trying local preachers before their peers when accused of crime. . 7. The care of the Book Concern was largely placed upon the Philadelphia Conference, and the Concern was The Bool£ located at Philadelphia. A monthly periodical, to concern. be called the Methodist Magazine, was ordered. * Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, pp. 45-50. 62 MANUAL OF 8. A strong enactment regarding temperance was adopted. " If any member of our society," it reads, " retail Temperance. ... . or give spirituous liquors, and anything disorderly be transacted under his roof on this account, the preacher who has the oversight of the circuit shall proceed against him, as in the case of other immoralities, and the person accused shall be cleared, censured, suspended, or excluded, according to his con- duct, as on other charges of immorality." 9. Strong language was put into the enactment on the sub- ject of slaverv, declaring the evil of American slav- Slavery. J & ery. " No slave-holder shall be received into the so- ciety till the preacher who has the oversight of the circuit lias spoken to him freely and faithfully on the subject of slavery." Members selling slaves were to be excluded from the society, and in the case of members purchasing slaves the Quarterly Conference was directed to determine the number of years the slave should work for his purchase-price, and the penalty for failure to sign the paper of manumission.* 10. The consideration of the subject of education Education. . . tor the ministry. 11. The marriage of members with "irreligious persons" was prohibited. In "a doubtful case" the person was to be put back on probation. 12. As Bishop Asbury's health was so poor many members of the General Conference thought an assistant bishop should be elected. Coke, however, to relieve the case, wrote a letter to the Conference pledging himself to remain in America so long as needed, which he honorably did until released. The General Conference, after fourteen days' session, closed in peace and love. Coke described it as follows : " All was unity and love. There was not a jarring string among us." Asbury wrote: "There Ajere souls awakened and converted. No angry passions were felt among the preachers. We had a great deal of good and judicious talk." It was found that the membership of the Church had de- creased by 9,316 members, owing to the heated controversy of ♦Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. iii, pp. 341, 342. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. <;:>> the O 1 Kelly ites in Virginia, and Hammettites in South Caro- lina, but there had been an increase of 27 preachers. -P, . , . . Statistics. lu-om tins year there was a steady increase in mem- bership, together with a decrease of locations among the minis- ters. Tin's last indicated a better support for the preachers. Coke and Asbury started on their journey to the South to hold the Conferences and comfort the churches. The permission British Conference having asked for the return of sivencoke " to return to Coke to England, the Virginia Conference by vote England, consented, though the Conference and Bishop Asbury in their letter stated that the final settlement of the matter must be with the General Conference.* Coke sailed from Charleston, S. C, February 6, 1797. f Not long after this Asbury was forced to abandon his severe and tedious journeys on horseback and use a sulky. Asbury , 8 He started back to the North, reaching Perry Hall, feebleness, where he rested and recuperated for some time. Soon after this it became Asbury's wish that assistance be given him in his great work. He communicated to the Conference at Wilbraham his desire, and it was proposed that Whatcoat, Poythress, and Lee should be elected "assistant bishops in the United States.":); Since the General Conference was not yet a " delegated body " Asbury held that the consecration of bish- ops would be legal by order of ail the Annual Conferences. On the recommendation of the Conference at Wilbraham, where Lee had presided with great acceptability, § he left New England to accompany and aid Bishop Asbury. ' The Virginia, Conference urged Bishop Asbury to rest, which he did, and Lee went on and held the southern Conferences. The General Conference of 1800 was appointed to meet October 20, but in consequence of the prevalence of Fourth Gen- • ••»»*« it i -i* eral Confer- yellow fever m Baltimore and elsewhere during the e nce. previous year it was deemed unsafe to attempt to meet at the * Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, p. 89. f Drew's Life of Coke, pp. 273, 274; and Stevens's History of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, vol. iii, p. 365. % Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. iii, p. 369. § Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, p. 61. 64 MANUAL OF time designated. Bishop Asbury, by the advice of certain judi- cious Mends, presented the matter to the Annual Conferences. They judging the alteration necessary, Bishop Asbury called the General Conference to assemble at Baltimore, Tuesday, May 6, 1800. Xicholas Snethen acted as secretary. The second day of the session this action was f iilly sanctioned by the Gen- eral Conference itself. There were 115 members present during the session and voting for bishop. Asbury records that there were 116 mem- bers in attendance. As yet it was a General Conference, and all preachers in full connection had membership therein. After this the requirement was that a preacher should travel four years and be an elder. The following were among the acts of the Conference : 1. Bishop Coke, after the General Conference was opened, read the address of the British Conference, and Address of _ > ( ' British con- explained the passages respecting his return to Europe, adding that he had not been consulted re- specting the request. The matter caused a warm discussion, but at last the Conference decided that he might return to Europe, but with the proviso that he was to return to " Amer- ica as soon as his business will allow, but certainly by the next General Conference." 2. On the second day, on the motion of Ormund, an attempt Presiding was maae to revolutionize the presiding eldership eldership. }jy providing that the yearly Conferences be author- ized to " nominate and elect their own presiding elders." When the matter came up for a vote there was some feeling devel- oped, but the motion was negatived. 3. The Conference asked Bishop Asbury to communicate to them " what he had determined to do in future." They knew how feeble was his health, and wished to know to what extent he desired the episcopacy to be strengthened. He recounted the facts of his infirmity, the necessity of traveling with a colleague, that now he must travel with a carriage, and frequently to rest for a time to recruit. He did not know that this was satisfactory to the General Con- METiionrsT episcopal church history. 65 t\ rence. Led by Ezekiel Cooper the Conference expressed themselves as fully satisfied with Bishop Asbtiry's course, and entreated him to continue his services as one of the general superintendents of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 4. When the election of a bishop by ballot was proposed several attempts were made to embarrass the new Attempt to bishop at the outset of his administration. Even embarrass a new bishop. Bishop Coke proposed that the new bishop, when- over he presided at an Annual Conference in the absence of Bishop Asbnry, should read the proposed list of stations of the preachers in the Conference, that he might "hear what the Conference has to say upon each station." So unpopular was this that the next day Bishop Coke himself withdrew the proposition. Another handicapping process was to determine "the powers of the new bishop, whether he shall be equal to Bishop Asbnry or subordinate to him." The discussion on this was animated, and the movement to make him subordinate was so unpopular that consent was given to withdraw it. Joshua Wells proposed that " the new bishop, in stationing the preachers, be aided by a committee of not less than three nor more than four preachers, chosen by the Conference." The discussion evinced some slight remains of the O'Kelly leaven, but the vote was against this. The proposition to require that eligibility to the office of bishop be made to depend upon the proposed candi- EI1 lbilIt for date having traveled as an itinerant for fifteen years the episcopal was advocated by R. R. Roberts, but seeing the tide offlce ' largely against him he withdrew it. As a last attempt Mansfield proposed, first, that the bishops shall have " full and equal juris- diction in all and every respect ; " second, they shall both attend the Conferences and "mutually preside and station the preach- ers," and if either were absent the other should have full power to act ; and, third, they should mutually agree upon their routes to the several Conferences. These propositions were negatived after a full canvass. All questions being out of the way, on. May 12 the Confer- ence cast their votes for a., bishop* and on the first ballot there 66 MANUAL OF was a tie between Jesse Lee and Richard Whatcoat. On the second ballot Richard Whatcoat received fifty-nine Whatcoat «/ elected a votes, Jesse Lee fifty-five, and one blank. Lee took his defeat good-naturedly. Whatcoat was con- secrated a bishop on May 18, and entered upon his duties with great zeal and faithfully met the requirements of the office. 5. The rule respecting presents made to preachers was by a majority of two thirds stricken out of the Dis- Presents. , ciplme. 6. It w T as determined that every child of a traveling preacher a should receive sixteen dollars per annum until seven Allowance for 1 preachers' years of age, and from seven to fourteen years twen- ty-four dollars. This continued the rule until 1860. 7. A most important item in criminal jurisprudence was . ■ introduced by William McKenclree — that when in a Preacher dif- J fering in trial the preacher differ from the judgment of the from commit- society or committee concerning the innocence or tee - guilt of a person the minister might refer the case to the next Quarterly Conference. 8. It was provided that there should be seven Annual Con- seven Annual ferences — New England, New York, Western, South conferences. Carolina, Virginia, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. The boundaries were quite well defined. 9. The question of African slavery came up, and the mem- bers of the Conference expressed themselves as wholly opposed to slave-holding. Ezekiel Cooper introduced a resolution, which was agreed to, " that a com- mittee be appointed to prepare an affectionate address to the Methodist Societies in the United States, stating the evils of the spirit and practice of slavery, the necessity of doing away the evil as far as the laws of the respective States will allow ; and that the said address be laid before the Conferences for their consideration, and, if agreed to, be signed by the bishops in behalf of the Conference." An address was prepared and sent forth as ordered. The Annual Conferences were directed to appoint committees to memorialize " the State Legislatures from year to year for a gradual abolition of slavery." The METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 07 Methodist Episcopal Church even then gave no uncertain sound regarding u the sum of all villainies." 10. Provision was made for keeping the records conference records of the Annual Conferences, and an examination of them by the General Conference. 11. The question of " raising annual supplies for the propa- gation of the Gospel, for the making up the preach- er's allowance, and to assist in the support of the ^ e g inff sup ~ widows and orphans of preachers," absorbed a large portion of time. It was found that the inadequate support of the ministry compelled many to locate, and most of those who remained were obliged to endure hardships and pinchings of poverty untold. Two sources w T ere looked to for relief, the preachers and the collections from the people. Each preacher was to pay into a common fund on being admitted to full connection $2.67, and $2 each subsequent year, and mar- riage fees. The surplus in the hands of the stewards, after paying their preachers, should go to this fund, and also col- lections at Conference, and " the annual produce of the Char- tered Fund." The great thought of the fathers of Methodism was that the ministry formed a common brotherhood, and they should receive share and share alike. 12. The month of May proving to be an auspicious time for holding the General Conference, it was ordained . . . Next General that the next be held in Baltimore, commencing conference to May 6, 1804. belnMay - 13. The Book Concern and its business absorbed considera- ble attention. Ezekiel Cooper was appointed " the superintendent of the book business." The Philadel- Con ~ phia Conference was to appoint a book committee, who should have power to determine what books should be published. Three things were found desirable : 1. That the best books and at the cheapest prices should be published. 2. These books should be scattered through all the Church, and thereby the Church become well-informed concerning lit- erary and religious matters. 3. That the money for these should be faithfully collected and returned to the Book Con- G3 MANUAL OF t 0 cern. Tlie fathers understood well the need for commercial returns and business integrity. Presiding elders and the preachers were made the authorized agents of the Concern. This was the first time the term ''Book Concern" was used. Four years before it was called the " Book Fund," and the agent was the " book steward." All profits arising from the Book Concern, after reserving a sufficient capital for carrying on the business, were to be paid to the Chartered Fund, thereby aiding in the support of the preachers and their families. 14. The bishops were authorized to ordain colored preachers as local deacons. At Charleston, S. C, about 1802, some northern pamphlets m-treatment on slavery were publicly burned in the presence of at cnarfestoi£ the mayor; and one of the Methodist preachers, tfeansof dav- Dougharty, for "the antislavery action of the Gen- ery - eral Conference " was assailed by being held under a pump by the mob one winter day, and water pumped on him until he contracted a cold that caused his death. The assault occurred in the winter of 1801, and he lingered until 1807. After a profitable session the General Conference adjourned May 20, 1800. A great revival occurred during the session. Asbury records that more than a hundred persons, at different places, professed conversion at this time. The Church at large had not quite recovered from the O'Kelly secession, but still there were 64,894 members and 287 ministers. Among the colored people the work had greatly prospered, their numbers amounting to 13,452. Of these 5,497 were in Maryland. The larger portion of the member- ship was in the South, both of white and black. Nothing of special importance occurred during the quadren- nium from 1800 to 1804. The same heroic zeal was evinced by Asbury and his fellow-laborers as in former times. Bishop AVhatcoat relieved Asbury of many burdens. Asbury seemed to somewhat recover. To the utmost of his strength he was instant in season. Bishop Coke was absent all the time either in England or on the European continent. He was every- where an earnest w T orker for Methodism and Christ. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 69 CHAPTER X. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1804. The fifth General Conference assembled in Light Street Church, Baltimore, Md., May 7, 1804. Bishop Coke, as senior, presided in the opening session. There were present 112 members : from New England Conference, 4 ; from the Western, 4; South Carolina, 5; Virginia, 17; Baltimore, 29; Philadelphia, 41 ; New York, 12. This was not a delegated Conference, and all ministers in full connection who had traveled four years were entitled to seats. But from the more distant Conferences it was impossible for many to attend. The proximity of Philadelphia and Baltimore Conferences en- abled all, or nearly all, of their preachers to be present. The distant Conferences not being fully represented were practically powerless in influence. These things paved the way for a del- egated General Conference, without which the Church must soon have been divided into factions. Among the members of this Conference were some men already distinguished, and others who attained to great distinc- tion a few years afterward, and became leaders of thought and religion. John Wilson was elected secretary, and rules for the order of the Conference were adopted the first day. It was found that the past quadrennium had been one of unusual prosperity. The increase in membership had been over 49,000, so that in the Church there were 113,134 members and 400 preachers. The Church had now extended to every State in the Union, and the brave itinerants had penetrated to regions beyond, even to Florida and East Louisiana, and to the Natchez country. In the territory since developed into the three key -stone States of the Union— Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois — there w r ere the germs of churches destined in three fourths of a century to TO MANUAL OF embrace nearly 500,000 members, and to manage seminaries, colleges, and universities, the peers of the best in the country. By the General Conference of 1804 many important meas- ures were adopted, as follows : 1. Ezekiel Cooper proposed an alteration of phraseology in the Twenty-third Article of Religion, so that the Kecognition ^ . of the gov- term " General Act of Confederation " be changed to emment. u c ons titution 0 f the United States," and the words " are a sovereign and independent Nation " were inserted after " States." This was adopted, and the Methodist Church marched in advance in recognizing " the supreme " sovereignty of the Nation " over all its States." " It was at a period of no little political agitation on the question of State sovereignty that this change was made ; the ' Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 ' and those of Virginia, 1799, had become the basis of a States' Rights party." Political excitement ran high ; families were greatly divided ; but Methodism stood by the doctrine that the Union of States was no longer a Confederation, but a Nation. By this act of 1804 the Methodist Episcopal Church has stood, and has pleaded the " loyal duty of all its people." Each confer- 2. Each Annual Conference was to be permitted to ence might . . , sit a week. sit a week, at least, it so much time was required. 3. When a bishop was necessarily absent from a Conference he had the power to appoint a presiding elder to Presiding offl- ... . cer in absence preside in his place. In case no such appointment was made, or the elder did not attend, the Confer- ence was to elect its own president from among its presiding elders without debate. 4. A time limit to the appointment of a preacher to the same charge was fixed at two years ; but it was not to Time limit. ° ^ apply to presiding elders. 5. Again the European Conference asked, by letter, that Bishop Coke might be permitted to return to them, British Con- 1 . . ference asks which was agreed to, provided that he held himself in readiness to come back to America at the request of three Annual Conferences, and to return before the next General Conference. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. fl 6. Regarding eligibility to the trusteeship of the Chartered Fund, it was held that in the case of a candidate Eligibility to for this trusteeship, which required a certain nam- chTrtelred ber of years of membership for eligibility as a Fuud - candidate for the office, if he had at any time withdrawn from the Church and had rejoined, the date from which eligibility commenced must be reckoned from the last time of joining the Church. 7. Ezekiel Cooper was given charge of the Book Concern, with the title of " General Book Steward." By a cooper atBook vote of thirty-six to twenty-six the Book Concern Concem - was removed from Philadelphia, and by a vote of thirty-eight to thirty-six New York was chosen as the new location. The Book Committee of five were to be appointed by the New York Conference. After paying all expenses and reserving a sufficient capital, the balance of money was to be applied to u the support of the distressed traveling preachers and their families, and the widows and orphans of preachers." The Conference recommended the following thirteen books to be published, namely, Methodist Repository, Por- Bookg recom . trait of St. Paul, Life of Rev. P. Dickinson, the mended, general Irish Hymn Book, five volumes of Mr. Wesley's Ser- mons, the Ecclesiastical History to be prepared by Bishop Coke, Wesley's Appeal, Wesley's Notes on the New Testament, Benson's Life of Fletcher, The Mourner, Cowper's translation of Guy on, Nineteen Conversations on the Death of Lgnatius, and the second volume of Wesley's Journal. Near the close of the Conference John Wilson was elected "assistant book steward," and in case of the death or resig- nation of the principal in office he was to take the place until the next session of the New York Conference, which might supply the vacancy. 8. The subject of slavery was brought up on several motions and discussed, and many propositions were advanced. The conclusions reached were, (1.) The continued conviction of the great evil of slavery. (2.) Slave-holders hereafter, in case of admission to official station, must give 72 MANUAL OF security for the emancipation of their slaves either immediately or gradually. (3.) Traveling preachers, on becoming owners of slaves, must emancipate them if possible, or forfeit their ministerial character. (4.) Slave-holders are not to be admitted to full membership in the Church until the preacher of the charge has spoken to them faithfully on the subject of slavery. (5.) Penalties were affixed for selling slaves. (6.) The rules must be suspended in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia on account of the strictness of the State laws. The preachers were frequently to admonish the slaves to be respect- ful and obedient " to the commands and interests of their re- spective masters." The General Conference adjourned on the afternoon of May 23. The record is for the first time signed by all the bishops, and in the following order : " Francis Asbury, li. Whatcoat, and T. Coke." Jesse Lee says the Conference " closed in peace, and the preachers parted in much love." In a few days Bishop Coke departed for England. He never returned. The Methodist Church was now regarded throughout the Methodism a ^ an( ^ as a ris i n g power. There had been raised up a rising power, large band of itinerant preachers who commanded attention and respect ; a body of local preachers whose unpaid labors can never be estimated ; and a multitude of members of the best character the country had ever known. The Philadel- phia Conference took the numerical lead, Baltimore was next, and Virginia followed. The more cold and sturdy northern people were taking hold of Methodism, and the South was los- ing its prestige in having the greatest Methodist population. Great revivals were in every part of the land. Methodism from 1804 to 1808 was no less active in the United Methodist States and Canada than in former years. It is worth activity. our wm ^ e to mention a few names of great workers. Lorenzo Dow preached the first Methodist sermon in Alabama in 1803, and was still there in 1804. In 1807 Josiah Handle and Matthew P. Sturdevant went over the Tombigbee Circuit. William M. Kennedy entered South Carolina Conference in METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 73 1805, continuing to 1840, when he died from apoplexy. Lovick Pierce, the father of Bishop George F. Pierce, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, entered the South Carolina Con- ference in 1805, and lived till 1879. Samuel Dunwoody, a Pennsylvanian, entered the South Carolina Conference in 1806 and died in 1854. Alfred Griffith, in 1806, entered the Balti- more Conference — a man of great ability and marked force of character. John Early entered the Virginia Conference 1807, and in 1854 became a bishop in the Church South. In 1808 William Capers became connected with the South Carolina Conference. A " vivid, brilliant, and generous" man. In 1828 the Church sent him as its representative to England. He be- came a bishop in the Church South, and died in 1855. In 1804 Beverly Waugh was converted, and in 1809, when nearly twenty years old, entered the Baltimore Conference. He rose to eminence, and in 1836 was elected a bishop. He was a man of dignitied bearing, tk calm," " benign," u prompt," and " cautious." In the Middle and Northern States John Emory, a lawyer of rising fame, commenced to travel under the elder about 1809 ; afterward entered the Philadelphia Con- ference, was elected a bishop in 1832, and died, by accident, in 1^35, in the midst of great usefulness. Nathan Bangs commenced to preach in 1807, and Marvin Richardson in 1808. Bangs was the "father of the Missionary Societv " of the Methodist Episcopal Church. These were giants. It is a rare treat to write the names of Charles Giles and George Lane, of 1805 ; Peter P. Sandford, Phineas Rice, and George Harmon, of 1807. Brave men penetrated into northern and w T estern New York, and with fellow-laborers equally as honorable planted the standard of the cross in that then wild and trackless country. In the New England States men were rising to do unfalter- inglv the work of the Church. Here were such men . . -r • -r^ . - ^ . T , „ -i ✓-nii New England. coming m as Lewis Bates, m 1804 ; Joel Steele, Caleb Eogg, Solomon Sias, in 1806 ; Charles Virgin, Joseph S. Merrill, in 1807; Isaac Bonney, David Kilbourn, in 1808. 74 MANUAL OF In the West some wonderful men appeared. Peter Cart- in western wright entered Kentucky Conference in 1804. states. There never was another like him. David Young, in 1805 ; John Collins, who founded the Church in Cincinnati ; William Beauchamp, Samuel Parker, Moses Crume, Samuel H. Thompson, Jesse Walker, James Axley, McCormick, Gatch, and Finley, with a host of others. Bishop Whatcoat discharged the work of a bishop until the wnatcoat's spring of 1806, when infirmity and sickness compelled death. him to retire. His warm friend, Governor Richard Bassett, in Delaware, gave him a home and the best of care. His sickness lasted thirteen weeks, when he died, July 5, 1806, in great triumph. He was buried "under the altar of Wesley Chapel, in the outskirts of Dover." Whatcoat was born in Quin- ton, England, February 23, 1736. " As a preacher his discourses were plain, instructive, and highly spiritual. As a presiding officer he combined simplicity and dignity. In his private life he was remarkable for his entire devotion to the cause of God." Said Laban Clark, " I think I may safely say if I ever knew one who came up to St. James's description of a perfect man — one who bridled his tongue and kept in subjection his whole body — that man was Bishop Whatcoat." Bishop Asbury being now left alone desired the election of another bishop. It was proposed that each of the Annual Con- ferences elect seven delegates, to form a delegated Conference to meet in 1807 and elect a bishop. All the Conferences ap- proved, except the Virginia Conference. It was urged that such a movement would forestall a delegated General Conference. Afterward Lee continually urged the expediency and legality of a General Conference composed of delegates, whereby the distant Conferences might have j)roper representation. Bishop Asbury was under the necessity of having an attend- ant, who could take from him much of the work of the Confer- ences, and in every way, except in ordinations, meet the demands of the Church until the session of the General Conference in 1808. It is generally thought that the Church was not injured or the cause retarded by this course. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 75 CHAPTER XL GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1808. The General Conference of 1808 is memorable as being the last of the non-delegated General Conferences. It ° t Last non-dele- assembled in Baltimore on Friday, May 6, 1808. gated confer- Bishop Asbury was the only bishop present. Bishop ence * Whatcoat had died and Coke was in Europe. There were 129 members. Of these New York Conference had 19, New England 7, Western 11, South Carolina 11, Virginia 18, Baltimore 31, Philadelphia 32. Baltimore and Philadelphia thus had enough votes within two to control the action of the Conference and change the entire character of the Church. This, it will be seen, caused great restlessness, and led the minority to heroic action before they averted the peril of the hour. William P. Chandler and Francis Ward were elected secre- taries. A question of eligibility to membership being laised, it was decided that as a pre-requisite a preacher must have trav- eled four full years under the direction of an Annual Confer- ence. 1. The first question that arose in the General Conference and absorbed its attention for three days was Bishop Case of Bisn . Coke's case, involving the adjustment of his rela- °P Coke - tion. On the afternoon of the first day's session Ezekiel Cooper laid before the Conference the communication from the British Conference, and two letters from Bishop Coke. Bishop Asbury, from a sense of delicacy, retired during the reading of the letter from the British Conference, because of compliment- ary references to himself, and Freeborn Garrettson was called upon to preside. By the preceding General Conference Bishop Coke had been permitted to be absent in England during the quadrennium, 70 MANUAL OF but was to return by the General Conference of 1808. While coke's mar- absent he had married a most estimable lady. His riage. attachments for England and British Methodism were very strong. In some respects he had taken the place of Mr. Wesley. Besides, he was greatly devoted to the develop- ment of the foreign missionary work. The British Conference was desirous of retaining him and his services. Bishop Coke had, after his marriage, proposed to Bishop Asbury to return to America and make it his permanent home, on condition that the continent be divided as nearly equally as possible between him and Bishop Asbury, he taking one part and Asbury the other. This plan was wholly distasteful to the American preachers ; scarcely one was favorable to it. They preferred general superintendency. We have already referred to Dr. Coke's letter to Bishop White proposing a union of the Protestant Episco- Coke s letter . to Bishop pal and the Methodist Episcopal Churches in Amer- ica. This matter, during the quadrennium, had come to light, and was a disturbing element both to Cuke and the Conference. The letter to Bishop White was dated Richmond, April 24, 1791, and Bishop White's reply soon followed." These letters had been kept secret. But in 1804 it became whispered by some of the Protestant Ejinscopal clergymen that such letters had passed between Coke and White. Methodists demanded them, and they were produced. Their contents startled the Church. Many felt that Coke's action would be a bartering away the interests of Methodism, and demurred. It is prob- able that these two things deterred Bishop Coke from coining to the General Conference of 1808. Bishop Coke addressed two letters to the General Conference. The first was dated " City of Durham ["England"], Coke's letters J i i . to the General November 16, 1807." This was really a plea that in conference. case returned to America he should be given full episcopal authority. f But the General Conference had never denied him such authority when in America and acting under * Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, pp. 201-205. f Ibid., p. 197. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 77 the orders of the Conference. He seems to have misconstrued the spirit of the American preachers. The second letter was dated "Near Leeds [Yorkshire], January 29, 1808," and was an attempt at a defense or explanation of his letter to Bishop White in 1791. Bishop Coke, in this letter, sought to estab- lish two things. First, that in proposing this scheme to Bishop White he had feared for the permanency of Methodism. It was in his sight an experiment, and the Society, "taken. as an ag- gregate, was almost like a rope of sand." Second, that he was not questioning the validity of his or Bishop Asbury's ordina- tion. Even if in the union of the two Churches it became nec- essary, in order to please the Protestant Episcopal Church, that there should be a re-ordination, it would be " perfectly justifi- able for the enlargement of the field of action." * These letters and their contents were thoroughly discussed. It was not in the least doubtful what was the con- Let t e rs dis- sensus of the General Conference regarding Bishop cussed. Coke. His candid explanations, acknowledgment of error in conduct, especially in communicating with Bishop White, and desire to be retained in the good graces of the American Church, softened the asperities of many members of the Coirference. But the feeling could not be wholly allayed. There was a set- tled conviction that his usefulness was ended in America. A letter to Bishop Coke was drawn up, couched in excellent lan- guage and breathing a kindly spirit, and adopted by the Con- ference. It frankly and clearly set forth the affectionate regard of the people for him, their grateful remembrance of his labors of love, and their obligations for his "disinterested services, dangers, and difficulties" while serving the American brethren. f The Conference agreed that he remain in Europe " till he be called to the United States by the General Conference or by all the American Conferences respectively." To the letter of the British Conference J an appropriate answer was made showing how closely the American Church was knit to the British Connection. § * Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, pp. 207-211. \Ibid., pp. 212-215. % Ibid., pp. 216, 217. § Ibid., pp. 218-220. 78 MANUAL OF 2. The matter of Bishop Coke being out of the way, other business was taken up. William McKendree was McKendree 1 elected bish- elected a bishop by ninety-five votes out of one hundred and twenty-eight. He was born in King William County, Ya., July 6, 1757. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was present when Cornwallis surren- dered. Converted in 1787, he entered the Conference in 1788, became a presiding elder in 1796, was elected bishop in 1808, and became senior bishop in 1816. In this relation he con- tinued nineteen years, and died March 5, 1835. 3. The most important business of the General Conference The General °f 1808 was the provision for a change from a conference strictly general Conference to a delegated body. hereafter to m , . ~ P be a deiegat- The matter came before this General Conference on a memorial of the New York Conference, which memorial had been concurred in by the New England, Western, and South Carolina Conferences.* These four Con- ferences represented forty-eight votes. It was a masterly memorial, that well deserved and received the most careful and candid consideration. It was referred to a committee of four- teen, being two from each Conference. This committee con- sisted of Cooper, Wilson, Pickering, Soule, McKendree, Burke, Phoebus, Randle, Bruce, Lee, Roszel, Reed, McCloskey, Ware. These men were not of uncreative minds, but were great in intellect, statesmen in ability, and true to convictions. The committee presented a report providing for a delegated Mode of eiec- General Conference, the delegates to be chosen by tion - ballot by each Annual Conference, at the ratio of seven elders for each Conference, and one for every additional ten members of the Conference above fifty ; the General Conference to meet on May 1, 1812, and every four years thenceforward on the first day of May perpetually, at place determined ; two thirds of the delegates to form a quorum ; a bishop to preside. The powers of the General Conference were to be limited by what are now known as the " Restrictive Rules." This report was discussed for a session, when it was * General Conference Journals, vol. i, pp. 7G-78. METEIODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 79 postponed to consider the question of the election of presiding elders, which had been brought up by Ezekiel Cooper and Joshua Wells. The proposition to elect presiding elders was lost by a vote of fifty-two to seventy-three. The vote was then taken to constitute a delegated General Con- ference. It was lost, the vote standing fifty-seven • • mi 11. Lost at first. for and sixty-iour against. The result was dispirit- ing to the more distant Conferences, for the votes of Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences were the ones which defeated the measure. The New England members asked leave of absence, as did also most of the western members. They urged that their presence was wholly useless in the General Conference. Matters were in a desperate condition. Asbury and McKen- dree mourned over the sad state of affairs, knowing well the spirit of the Conferences whose members demanded a delegated General Conference. In a private interview with those who had retired, and with members of other Conferences, they so presented the condition of affairs that many of the mem- bers of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Conferences agreed to vote for the plan of a delegated Conference if these breth- ren would remain. The next day they appeared in their places. On Monday, May 23, the order was made Ratloof rep _ by a large majority that " the General Conference reservation, shall be composed of one member for every five members of each Annual Conference." It was also voted that these delegates might be selected "either by seniority or choice." This prac- tically settled the fact of a " delegated General Conference," wherein a small and distant Conference should have its pro- portionate influence in the councils of the Church. Another difficult matter w r as to so arrange legislative action that there should be a proper check to hasty legis- Check t0 leg _ lation. Men like George, Koszel, Pickering, Lee, teiation. and Burke were competent to the task. It was determined that two thirds of the representatives of all the Annual Confer- ences should form a quorum for business in the General Confer- ence, and that one of the bishops should preside, but if no bishop were present the Conference should elect a president pro tern. 80 MANUAL OF To the General Conference was given power to legislate under six restrict- six definite restrictions. These are the well-known ive rules. « Restrictive Rules " of the Discipline. It was then ordered that the next General Conference he held at New York, May 1, 1812, and every four years thereafter perpetually, at such place as the majority should determine. Ezekiel Cooper, editor and general book steward, presented Book stew- an elaborate report of the Book Concern. In 1799, ard's report w ] ien } ie took charge, it was with a capital of $4,000, but with debts amounting to 83,000. In 1808 he turned over to the General Conference a Book Concern worth $45,000, and no debt. With this report he tendered his resig- nation and declined to be a candidate for re-election. John Wilson, who had for four years been an assistant to Cooper, was elected book steward, with a salary of 8750 a year, and Daniel Hitt was elected assistant. The Conference voted to Cooper $1,000 by way of extra compensation for the past five years. At this Conference a motion prevailed to print an edition of one thousand copies of the Discipline for use in the Expurgated 1 1 edition of the South Carolina Conference, " in which the section Discipline. oS g ] averv ^ Q ] e f£ 0ll ^" ^ n effort was made, but without success, to strike out the first two paragraphs of the section on slavery in the Discipline, but the General Conference authorized each Annual Conference to "form their own regulations relative to buying and selling slaves." The bishops were permitted to ordain local preachers to the office of deacon on passing a required examination, Ordination of 1 a 1 local preach- election by an Annual Conference, and a testimonial, after proper examination, from the Quarterly Con- ference of which the local preacher is a member, signed by the president and secretary. For raising supplies each Annual Conference was left at full Raising of liberty to adopt and recommend such plan as might supplies. ] je |i eem ed advisable. But in ca.ies where allowances to preachers were not paid in full the deficiencies were not to be accounted as a debt. The preacher must sustain the loss. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 81 The General Conference adjourned May 20, 1808, and the names of Francis Asbury and William McKendree were at- tached to the records as bishops presiding, but Bishop Coke's name did not appear. This quadrennium closed with 144,500 members and 516 preachers. Bishops Asbury and McKendree went out to a united Church under circumstances of great encouragement. Travels of the Asbury realized that in McKendree he had a faith- bisb()I>s - ful, zealous, courageous work-fellow, who was fully able and willing to take his part of the burden and responsibility of the Church. Said Asbury : " The burden is now borne by two pairs of shoulders instead of one, the care is cast upon two hearts and heads.-' They traveled together the first year. Though McKendree had large experience as a presiding elder, especially in the Western Conference, still Asbury thought it best for them to travel together, as the so-doing gave them opportunity for maturing plans for extending the work. They passed through several parts of Pennsylvania, and then over the mountains into the valley of the Mississippi. Here McKen- dree was at home. His influence as a presiding elder had been great, but now as bishop his word was with power, and his very presence an influence. They visited many camp-meet- ings, exhorting, preaching, comforting, and strengthening the people. What a wonderful year that was for McKendree, to travel from Georgia up the entire Atlantic States to Maine, into Vermont, through New York, west by the lakes, down the Ohio, through Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee to the Cum- berland, "ascending the hills and crossing the intervening valleys, lodging sometimes in log-huts and not infrequently in the w r oods, attending the Conferences, preaching almost every day, receiving visitors, writing letters, and hearing the griev- ances of discontented individuals ! " Such an experience was worth much to McKendree, and still more to the Church. There followed some gracious revivals, especially in the West. Some notable persons were converted and united with Methodism. Others came in who grew to be persons of great prominence as the years went by. In 7 -2 MANUAL OF Richmond, Ya., in New York city, in various places of New England, and in other parts of the Church sweeping revivals occurred. In 1810 the Church had so extended in western New York Genesee con- tna ^ tne bishops formed anew Conference, calling ference. it the Genesee Conference. In 1810 Asbury and McKendree held the Western Conference in Cincinnati, com- mencing on Thursday, November 1. The Indiana District, formed the previous year, had grown into numbers not antici- pated. John Strange commenced to preach in 1811. A wonderful Notice of and eloquent preacher, he traveled in the greatest j. strange. peril from Indians, often carrying his rifle from one appointment to another. He died at Indianapolis in 1832. Bishop Asbury visited Canada in 1811, crossing the St. Law- .Asbury in rence about the 1st of July at St. Regis, and Canada. stopped at Evan Hoy's, in Cornwall, where one of the oldest Methodist societies in the province was located. On landing in Canada Asbury wrote: "My strong affection for the people of the United States came with strange power upon me when I was crossing the line. . . . Why should I have such new feelings in Canada?*' Possibly they were caused by a retrospect of the growth and changes of Methodism since he landed in America, whither he had been sent by Wesley to the few Methodists in this wild country. On he went to Kingston, preaching the word and cheering the Church. He crossed the eastern end of Lake Ontario from Kingston to Sackett's Har- bor in an open boat, greatly to his discomfort, but all was forgotten when he met Bishop McKendree at Paris, Oneida County, X. Y., to hold the Genesee Conference. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. S3 PERIOD III. CONTROVERSY AND DIVISIONS. 1812-1848. chapter xii. FIRST DELEGATED GENERAL CONFERENCE. Methodism is just entering the period of permanency and ad- vance in a " delegated General Conference." It was to go into history as the seventh General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America and the first delegated General Conference. It convened in John Street Church, New York city, May 1, 1812. The two bishops, Asbury and McKendree, were present. Bishop Coke had not been asked to return. Asbury opened the Conference. There were 13 delegates from the New York Conference, 9 from the New England, 6 from the Genesee, 13 from the Western, 9 from the South Carolina, 11 from the Virginia, 15 from the Baltimore, and 14 from the Philadelphia, or 90 in all. Daniel Hitt was elected secretary. This being a delegated body it became necessary to adopt new rules for its government. Business proceeded harmoni- ously, and the following was the result : 1. The question of the rights of reserve delegates was settled. The New England Conference elected three dele- - _ a & # Rights of re- gates more than were necessary, so that in case any serve deie- died or were prevented from attending another gates ' would be ready to go and be there legally. Two of the first delegates could not attend, and two of the three extra ones attended. They demanded admission. After a careful exami- nation of the principles involved it was decided that they were entitled to sit in the places of the absent ones. Thereby was settled the question for a century, and probably longer. 84: MANUAL OF 2. Bishop McKendree, as a bishop, presented to the General Bishop's ad- Conference an address, which was read. This was dress. the first time a bishop had presented an address, or pointed out what in his judgment ought to come before the General Conference. The reason for doing this now was that heretofore the bishops were members of the body, with a right to present motions and resolutions, and advocate any point just as might any of the members ; but under the new rule the bishops were only presiding officers, and there was no other way to bring their advices before the General Conference. The address * was a calm and dispassionate presentation of the bishop's views regarding the needs of the Church for greater efficiency, a clear review of the Church's work during the past four years, and an earnest exhortation to greater work in the years to come. In the address Bishop McKendree asserted a principle of Bishop a serv- the utmost importance to the full meaning of the ant of the relation of a bishop to the Church, namely, that he is a servant of the Conference, and as such his acts are subject to a careful review by that body. Ik is found in the following paragraph : " Before I conclude, permit me, my dear brethren, to express a few thoughts concerning the views I have of the relation in which I stand connected with this body. It is only by virtue of a delegated power from the General Conference that I hold the reins of government. I consider myself bound, by virtue of the same authority, to exercise discipline in perfect con- formity to the rules of the Church to the best of my ability and judgment. I consider myself justly accountable, not for the system of government, but for my administration, and ought, therefore, to be ready to answer in General Conference for past conduct, and be willing to receive information and ad- vice, to perfect future operations." This address of Bishop McKendree was referred to proper committees, which from this time took the order of standing committees. * Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, pp. 308-312. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 85 1. Three days after this address Bishop Asbury addressed the Conference orally, reviewing the history and Asbury . s ad growth of Methodism. No man was more compe- dress, tent to the task. 2. The Book Concern affairs were referred to a committee. John Wilson, the book steward, had deceased dur- ing the quadrennium, and Daniel Hitt, the assistant, C em. had carried on the enterprise. The republication of the Methodist Magazine was ordered, the volume to commence January 1, 1813, to be Methodist reckoned as the third. An attempt was made, but Magazine, failed, to remove the Book Concern to Baltimore. Daniel Hitt was elected editor and general book steward, and Thomas Ware assistant book steward. 3. Bishop McKendree introduced the special call for memo- rials and petitions from the Annual Conferences, _ „ f £ > Call for me- and their reference to proper committees. His moriais intro- mind grasped almost intuitively wdiat was the best ' v method for facilitating business. 4. The Conferences were, New England, New York, Gene- see, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Bal- Nine confer- timore, and Philadelphia. ences - 5. The General Conference provided that a local deacon should be eligible to the office of an elder when he ° Local deacon had preached four years as a deacon and was recom- eligible to eid- mended by two thirds of the Quarterly Conference er ' sorders - where he was a member, he receiving a testimonial certifying his qualifications in doctrine and discipline, talents and useful- ness, and that his services are needed in that official capacity. But " no slave-holder," the law said, " shall be eligible to the office of a local elder in any State or Territory where the civil laws will admit emancipation and suffer the liberated slave to enjoy his freedom." 6. The question of the election of presiding elders by the Con- ferences was brought up on a motion by Laban Clark. Election of It was thoroughly discussed for nearly a day, and g ld e r s g ldinff then the Conference adjourned without a decision. so MANUAL OF 7. An address, the first of its kind, was sent out to the pastoral ad- Church by the General Conference,* which tended dres8, to infuse spiritual life into all true Methodists. 8. Bishop Coke was appareptly left in the same relation to Relation of the Conference which he had sustained during the coke. previous four years. After a session of nineteen days the General Conference ad- journed May 22. The Church had a membership of 195,357, and of preachers 688. At this time there was no means of knowing the number of local preachers in the Church, but according to McKendree they amounted to 2,000, and the majority of these were preach- ing whenever opportunity offered. * Bangs's History of the Mtthodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, pp. 325-330. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 87 CHAPTER XIII. METHODISM DURING THE WAR OF 1812, AND CONFERENCE OF 1816. The Church, from the adjournment of the General Confer- ence of 1812, was for two years to suffer greatly, not on account of any disturbance within itself, but on account of the war with England. But out of that conflict she emerged stronger than ever, because she had been constantly true to herself and her avowed principles. Along the line between the United States and Canada, and along the sea-coast, the war occasioned serious disturbances, so that but little there could be done toward religious progress ; but in the middle and southern States there were extensive revivals of religion, even when the war was most severe. In 1813 Pliny Brett, of the New England Conference, lo- cated. He was a disturber of the peace of the Church. Brett a dis . After locating he withdrew from the Church and ^re- organized a party who called themselves "Reformed Method- ists." He commenced his operations in Cape Cod Society, and drew away from the surrounding societies a number of local preachers and several members, so that some small societies were nearly broken up. This caused great uneasiness. He went into Vermont, and was joined by a local preacher by the name of Baily. " They succeeded in raising up a con- siderable party, which for a short season made some inroads upon our Church." Yet for want of unity of action and that amount of piety and talent necessary to command public con- fidence they gradually declined in influence ; and, being appar- ently more anxious to reform Methodism than to turn sinners from the error of their ways, they finally sank into obscurity, and have long since ceased to exist as a distinct denomination. During the war a question arose as to the duty of minis- ters of the Gospel to pray for the country and their rulers. 88 MANUAL OF The matter was discussed extensively. The people who were Duty of mm- opposed to the war and in favor of Great Britain for er the°coun- found fault with the ministers who prayed for the tr y- success of the country. This led Bishop Asbury, who had fully adopted the United States as his country, and " most cordially loved its institutions," to declare, " plainly and pointedly, on the floor of an Annual Conference, that he who refused, at this time especially, to pray for his country deserved not the name of a Christian or a Christian minister, inasmuch as it was specifically enjoined on all such not only to honor magistrates, but to 'pray for all that are in authority, that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty.' " * Bishop Asbury was very desirous that a true history of History of Methodism in America should be written and pub- Methodism. ijg} ie< i j n isio Jesse Lee published a work of this sort, and thereby gained the honorable title of "first historian of American Methodism." His work was defective in style and order, but was excellent in preserving dates and facts. While not an impartial historian he was animated, and his pages glow with his own invincible force. He was especially good regard- ing New England Methodism, for he was the cen- Lees History, figure in its planting and growth. His delinea- tion of Asbury could not be otherwise than good, since he was for a time his traveling companion, and in a number of instances held the Conferences for him. During 1814 Methodism, in common with the country, suf- war hindered fered most from the war. The burning of Wash- rehgion. ington and the attack upon Baltimore were inten- sified by the threatening of New York and Boston by the English forces. As is usual, the one thought of repelling an invading foe took possession of every mind, so that "for a season," says Bangs, "the spirit of religion seemed to be absorbed in the feeling of patriotism, and the war-whoop took the place of thanksgiving and prayer to God." But the preachers did the best they "could in keeping together the smitten flocks, and in * Banks's History of the Mttltodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, p. 356. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 89 many places revivals occurred. Many found " the pearl of great price," and rejoiced in a Saviour's love, and in spite of war, confusion, and sin the Church made some advance. The deatli of Bishop Coke occurred about midnight of May 2, 1814, while on his way to plant a mission in Death of Ceylon and India. The ship was at the time in the Coke - Indian Ocean. From the time the General Conference re- leased him, in 1808, from all obligations to the Church in America he devoted his time, talents, and property chiefly to the cause of missions. Having had his attention called to the spiritual destitution of the British possessions in India, he determined to go there and seek their moral elevation. He made the proper arrangements, offering to furnish out of his own means $30,000 to meet the expenses; on December 30, 1813, he bade adieu to friends, and on January 1, 1814, in com- pany with six missionaries and two of their wives, sailed from Portsmouth. Bishop Coke appeared to be in excellent health ; he spent his time in reading, writing, conversation on spiritual matters, and preparations to print the Scriptures in the Portu- guese. At night, May 2, he complained of slight indisposition, but retired as usual. In the morning the servant found the body of Bishop Coke "stretched lifeless upon the floor." From its "stiff and cold condition" it was supposed he had been dead for some hours, and that he had died of apoplexy. His body was, " with suitable religious ceremonies," buried in the Indian Ocean. Coke was in his sixty-seventh year, had been married twice, was an eminent scholar, was made a doctor of laws by Oxford, wrote and published much, preached almost as often as Wesley, traveled extensively, was ordained bishop in 1784, and after Wesley's death wisely managed every interest of the Irish and British Conferences. Bishop Asbury, in his funeral sermon, said of him: "He was of the third branch of the Oxonian Methodists, of blessed mind and soul, a gentleman, a scholar, and a bishop to us. As a minister of Christ, in zeal, in labors, and in services the greatest man of the last century." * *Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, p. 380. 90 MANUAL OF After the adjournment of the General Conference in 1812 Bishop Asbury could do but little in the way of travel- infirmity of ing and holding Conferences. The once strong Asbury. man wag now bowing low, not so much with age as from the excessive labors of the past and the oft-repeated exposures to hardship. As a result nearly all the care of the churches devolved upon Bishop McKendree. It seemed as if the mantle of Asbury had fallen upon him, and a double por- tion of strength was given to perforin the work now devolving upon him. McKendree traveled extensively each year, visited camp-meetings, preached and exhorted often, and held the Con- ferences and stationed the preachers with great acceptability. During the war, in some portions of the West and South-west, McKendree was in danger from savage Indians. As an illustration of the heroism of that day this will serve. In 1814 Rev. Richmond Xolley was sent to Attaka- A hero. t . ' , pas Circuit, Louisiana. He labored amid great diffi- culties, hunting up the pioneer families and preaching to them life and salvation. It became necessary for him to visit some distant appointments. In order to reach them lie must ford a stream much swollen. "Leaving his saddle-bags, valise, and some books with his Indian guide, he mounted his horse and attempted to ride through the creek. The current bore his horse down below the usual place of landing, so that when they arrived at the other side the bank was so precipitous that the horse could not ascend it, and in the struggle he and his horse were separated, the horse swimming back to the shore lie had left and Xolley landing on the opposite bank. He then walked on with a view to reach the first house, which was about two miles distant. The wet and cold, however, so prostrated his physical strength that he was able to proceed only about one mile, where he was found next morning a lifeless corpse." * Bishop Asbury, in extreme feebleness, reached the house of Death of his old friend George Arnold, in Sputtsylvania, Ya., Asbury. March 29, 1816, where he spent a restless night. In the morning his friends desired to call a physician, but he * Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. ii, p. 390. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 91 told them it was useless, his end was nigh. The next day, Sabbath, he asked his traveling companion, Rev. John W. Bond, and the family to come into the room. Bond sang, prayed, and expounded the twenty-first chapter of Revelation. After this Asbury sank rapidly, and about noon, March 31, 1816, aged seventy, he ceased to live. A great man was dead ! Iirs remains were buried at Spottsylvania, but the General Conference of 1816 had them disinterred, taken to Baltimore, and placed under the recess of the pulpit of the Eutaw Street Church. At a later date the remains were placed in the Olivet Cemetery, where they now lie. Bishop Asbury was born August 20, 1745. He entered the ministry when but seventeen years of age. He came to Amer- ica as a missionary in 1771, was ordained a bishop in Balti- more, December 27, 1784, died at Spottsylvania, March 31, 1816. The estimate placed upon Bishop Asbury was very great, but none too great. Bishop Asbury gave in his Journal his reasons for never marrying.* They are so weighty that the careful student of history may profitably read and ponder them. The second delegated General Conference assembled in Bal- timore, Wednesday, May 1, 1816. Bishop McKen- General con- dree, the only living bishop of Methodism, presided. ference - There were delegates present from the following Conferences : from New York, 16 ; New England, 12 ; Genesee, 10 ; Ohio, 9; Tennessee, 6; South Carolina, 14 ; Virginia, 10; Baltimore, 14; Philadelphia, 13 — a total of 104. Lewis R. Fechtig was elected secretary. Bishop Asbury had prepared an address to the General Conference, which Bishop McKendree read. This was followed by his own address. Following the suggestions of Bishop McKendree, the Con- ference in an orderly way provided for standing com- * t J 1 " Standing mittees, clearly defining the duties of each, such as committees committees on the State of the Episcopacy, Book ordered ' Concern, Ways and Means, Review and Revision, Safety, and Temporal Economy. The directions given to these committees, * Asbury's Journal, vol. iii, p. 143. 92 MANUAL OF by which they were to be governed, demonstrated that a mind was at the head of affairs fully capable of grasping the situation, discovering what was the true course to be pursued, and able to direct in its accomplishment. The results of the legislation of this General Conference are history. 1. Enoch George and Robert Richford Roberts were elected New bishops bishops. They proved to be most excellent selec- tions. 2. The subject of the election of presiding elders was brought a up, and parts of the session were given to its discus- Election of / ' 1 m & presiding eid- sion. One new thing in the question, as now pro- posed, was that the presiding elders elected should be elected for four years, and could only be removed from office, during that period, for cause. After the fullest debate the General Conference voted against it, leaving the appointment with the bishop. 3. The difficulty between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the London Methodist Missionary Society regarding Canada was adjusted to the satisfaction of all parties.* 4. There was provision made for the first time for a course of study " to be pursued bv candidates for the ministry." Course of . . . . study pro- The presiding elders were to direct candidates to these studies, and before reception into full connection the candidate was to give " satisfactory evidence respecting his knowledge of these particular subjects." The studies, at first, were only for two years ; but at a later date extended to four. 5. The capital of the Chartered Fund was shown to be 820,651.56. 6. There were formed two new Conferences — the Missouri and the Mississippi. 7. The bishops' salaries were to be met by the Book Concern. 8. For the first time the expenses of delegates to and from Expenses of the General Conference, amounting to $1,419.75, delegates. were paid. Collections had been taken amounting to $731.39, and from the Book Concern was paid $688.36. * General Conference Journals, vol. i, pp. 151, 152. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 93 9. There was an effort to remove the Book Concern from New York ; but the General Conference ordered Attempt to that it remain at New York. Joshua Soule was [fmovethe Book con- elected editor and general book steward, and Thomas cern. Mason was elected assistant. It was shown that the Concern had a clear capital of about $80,000. It was ordered that the Book Concern publish a monthly periodical to be called The Methodist Missionary Magazine. 10. The practice of renting pews having come into vogue among the New England churches, the subject was , , , ~ i'z-n * i i Pew-letting. canvassed by the General Conference, and resolutions of disapproval were passed. It was the general desire that the seats in all Methodist churches should be free. The membership of the Church was 214,235, and the number of the preachers in the itinerancy 695. The General Conference adjourned May 24, 1816. The next General Conference was again to be held at Baltimore, Md. Bishop McKendree's health being in a broken condition, he found it necessary to yield much of his work to McKendree younger men, and to retire somewhat from his for- resigned •> ft ' much of his mer active life. But Bishops George and Roberts work, were strong men, capable of bearing great burdens, and wisely doing the work of the Church. Bishop Roberts was the first married man who had been elected a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He settled his wife on a farm which he owned in western Pennsylvania, but subsequently removed to a farm in Lawrence County, Ind. The bishops entered upon their work and prosecuted it so successfully that it was impos- sible to bring just criticism against them. At this point in Methodist history we enter a period of un- usual activity in somewhat new lines — the organiza- period of tion of societies having certain and definite lines of activity, work laid down and acting as great auxiliaries to Christian work. In the ministry were some creative minds, who looked out upon the world and saw the forces that might be utilized for human salvation. Among them were Nathan Bangs, Elijah Hedding, Joshua Soule, Martin Ruter (the first man in Amer- MANUAL OF ican Methodism to be honored with the title of D.D.), John Emory, Wilbur Fisk, Laban Clark, besides many others. These men organized great connectional societies, which have been blessings to the Church and to the world. The educational enterprise of the Methodist Episcopal Church was taken up anew about 1818, when some "Method- Education. . . . . _. _. . ist ministers ot JNew England established a seminary at New Market, N. II. Rev. Martin Euter, D.D., was the successful principal. It was established " for young men who designed to enter the ministry," though it also received other students. This seminary was removed to Wilbraham, Mass., and incorporated in 1821. Wilbur Fisk, D.D., was its first president. A line of successors, among Methodism's great men, have there aided in the education of over eighteen thousand students. In 1819 Nathan Bangs was instrumental in opening a school in New York city, but afterward it was removed to "White Plains, 1ST. Y. These schools did not propose more than a sem- inary education ; but they were fine stepping-stones to higher schools which have since been established in Methodism and blessed the race. The origin of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Epis- Missionary copal Church was unique. One Sabbath in 1816 society. Rev. Marcus Lindsey was preaching in Marietta, O. In the audience was one John Stewart, "an inebriate colored man." The preaching was to the point, and the Holy Spirit sent it home to his heart in conviction which led to sound con- version. He was moved by the same Spirit to preach the Gos- pel. He was led to go to the North-west through the forests, and landed among the Wyandot Indians. Here he found a fugitive slave, Jonathan Pointer, from Kentucky, a backslidden Methodist. Said Stewart, " To-morrow I must preach to these Indians, and you must interpret." Pointer now realized his spiritual backsliding. A night of agony and prayer was spent. In the morning he faithfully interpreted Stewart's sermons to his congregation of one squaw. His next congregation consisted of two, an old man and a squaw. On Sunday eight METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 95 or ten attended. Soon crowds came. Stewart faithfully preached the word, and souls were convicted and converted, among them a captive white boy, Robert Armstrong, and four chiefs — Between-the-Logs, Mononcue, Hicks, and Scnteash. This news went out to the East. Christian hearts were stirred. Much was done by individuals. In the early part of 1819 Gabriel P. Disosway, a young dry-goods merchant of New York and a member of the John Street Church, was so moved by the seeming necessity for some action that he went to Dr. Bangs and pleaded " for the immediate organization of a missionary society, such as other denominations had formed." Dr. Bangs and Joshua Soule took the matter into considera- tion, and decided that such an organization must be under the control of the General Conference. Some local missionary soci- eties were already formed. In 1818 Laban Clark, in a meeting of the Methodist preachers in New York city, moved "for the organization of a Bible and Missionary Society for the Meth- odist Episcopal Church." There were present nine preachers. They determined, after a full discussion, to organize, and Laban Clark, Nathan Bangs, and Freeborn Garrettson were appointed to draft a constitution. When all was ready a meeting was called at the Forsyth Street Church April 5, 1819. Then and there the society took a permanent form. Bishop William McKendree, President. Bishop Enoch George, First Yice-President. Bishop Robert P. Poberts, Second Yice-President. Pev. Nathan Bangs, Third Yice-President. Mr. Francis Hall, Clerk. Mr. Daniel Ayres, Recording Secretary. Eev. Thomas Mason, Corresponding Secretary. Pev. Joshua Soule, Treasurer. The managers were laymen in and around New York, who generally entered heartily into the enterprise and' gave it full and material support. It had, first of all, to overcome many objections raised to its existence, and to educate the Church as a whole to the fact that it was God's design that the Church 96 MANUAL OF should employ all lawful means, and go out to all the world, to bring sinners to Christ. The bishops entered into this society heartily. The Balti- more, Virginia, and Genesee Conferences fell in line with the society. Several auxiliary societies were formed, and the finan- cial result of the first year was $823.64. The first anniversary was held in John Street Church, New York, April 17, 1820, Nathan Bangs presiding and delivering an address. At the General Conference, May, 1820, the society was society adopted as a part of the economy of Methodism, adopted. ^ an( j was located at New York, in close relation to the Book Concern, so that the book steward might serve the society as its treasurer.* For two or three years a preacher of the New York Confer- ence, William M. Stilwell, had been restless, censorious, and fault-finding with the economy of the Church. He inclined to Congregationalism in church government, and embraced the first favorable opportunity that presented itself to secede from the Methodist Episcopal Church. When the New York Con- ference moved in the matter of better security for church prop- erty he seized upon the movement as opportune for his pur- pose. He appealed to the membership of his own and other societies, charging that the ministers were seeking to gain con- trol of all church property. He induced about three hundred members to secede with him. Some local preachers also went with him. He used every effort to extend the secession, but only a few societies were induced to follow his example ; among those who did so was a colored church of about a thousand members. Stilwell organized his followers into an independent or con- gregational body. They were called Stilwellites. But the bet- ter class among them soon became dissatisfied with the move- ments of Stilwell and returned to the old Church. A large number were received back by Rev. Samuel Merwin, preacher in charge of the churches in New York. A few remained and * Reid's Missions and Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. i, pp. 14-25. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 97 continued to be known as the " Stilwellite Methodists," an "anomalous sect," who dwindled until they wholly disap- peared from public notice, and now are gone from the memory of living Methodists.* Notwithstanding the above-noticed secessions the quadren- nium closed with a handsome increase in membership. The members and probationers numbered 259,890, and preach- ers, 904. * Stevens's Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, pp. 234, 235. 8 98 MANUAL OF CHAPTER XIY. THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1820, AND ITS WORK. The third delegated General Conference assembled in Eutaw Street Church, Baltimore, May 1, 1820. Bishop McKendree, though in ill health, took the chair and presided during the religious services, after which Bishop George presided. There were delegates from New York Conference, 13 ; New England, 10; Genesee, 7; Ohio, 8; Missouri, 3; Mississippi, 2; Ten- nessee, 6; South Carolina, 9; Yirginia, 8; Baltimore, 9; Phil- adelphia, 14 — 89 in all. Rev. Alexander McCaine was elected secretary. The address of Bishop McKendree was presented and read in his absence. Bishop George addressed the Conference regarding the work in Canada, as did Bishop Roberts on parts of the Discipline and economy of the Church. Among prominent acts of the Con- ference were : Bishop 1- Joshua Soule was elected bishop, May 13, 1820. elected. 2. After mature deliberation the General Confer- ence "recommended to all the Annual Conferences to estab- lish, as soon as practicable, literary institutions under their own control," and voted that it be made the special duty of the bishops to bring this before the Conferences, and use their influence to carry out the design of the General Conference in establishing literary institutions of a high grade. The whole Church seemed to feel the quickening influence of this advanced action. 3. The Canada question, which it was supposed had been Canada ques- settled four years before, came up again. There tion. were in England and in Canada some Methodists who were opposed to the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church having any jurisdiction in Canada, or making any appointments of preachers to that country. The British Conference had METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 99 appointed some of their number to labor as missionaries in Lower Canada. The General Conference decided upon two things : first, " That it is the duty of the bishops of the Method- ist Episcopal Church to continue their episcopal charge over our societies in the Canadas, except Quebec;" and, second, to append as a note to Article XXITI the following: "As far as it respects civil affairs we believe it the duty of Christians, and especially of all Christian ministers, to be subject to the supreme authority of the country where they may reside, and to use all laudable means to enjoin obedience to the powers that be; and therefore it is expected that all our preachers and people who may be under the British or any other government will behave themselves as peaceable and orderly subjects." The bishops were empowered, if they found it necessary, to form an Annual Conference in Canada before the next Gen- eral Conference. Out of this legislation grew the appointment by the bishops of Rev. John Emory, afterward a bishop, as a dele- jotm Emory gate to the British Conference from the General J^BMtuh Conference in America. He was heartily received conference, in England, and in time delegates were appointed to America, which custom continues. 4. The formation of the Missionary Society was Formation of approved, and it was embodied as a part of the Missionaryso- economy of the Church. 5. The " presiding elder question " again came up, and was discussed for several days. A . resolution offered Presiding eld- by Ezekiel Cooper and John Emory read: "fie er question - solved, That the bishop or the president of each Annual Con- ference shall ascertain the number of presiding elders wanted, and shall nominate three times the number, out of which nomi- nation the Conference shall, without debate, elect by ballot the presiding elders." The debate took a wide range. There were strong and capable men on both sides. The resolution was not adopted. Bishop McKendree had, by leave of the Conference, gone to the country for needed rest. It was during this absence, and 100 MANUAL OF after the election of Soule as bishop, that resolutions on the election of presiding elders were introduced. " After consider- able discussion it became apparent that they would be defeated. An intimation was given by one of the members that the bishops had a compromise plan in view, and a committee was appointed to wait upon and to confer with them. It was well known that Bishop George was in favor of the election of pre- siding elders ; Bishop Roberts considered it an infringement of the constitutional provision of the Discipline, but had no personal objection to the plan, and felt unwilling to interpose any episcopal influence. Bishop George, after consultation, informed the committee that all hopes of agreement were at an end. The next morning he invited the committee to meet him on the adjournment of Conference at noon. " He met them alone, and explained his views, and they re- ported the resolutions to the Conference, which, understanding it was a joint agreement of the bishops and of the committee, adopted them without debate by a vote of sixty-one to twenty- five. Hearing of this action, Bishop ATcKendree returned to the Conference and called the bishops together. He expressed to them his decided conviction that the action was in violation of the third Restrictive Rule, as it changed the plan of general superintendence Bishop Roberts concurred with him in this view, but did not wish to make any personal opposition. "Bishop George declined to express any opinion as to its in- fringement of the restriction, but expressed himself in favor of the plan. Bishop Soule, whose opinions were well known, had been elected by a majority of nine over Dr. Bangs, who at that time represented the party in favor of election. Being a man of decided convictions, and believing the action to be un- constitutional, he informed the bishops that he was unwilling to administer under it. This information Bishop McKendree communicated to the Conference. Considerable discussion fol- lowed, during which Bishop Soule declined to be ordained, and resigned the office of bishop. The majority of the Conference, finding that their action had been taken in consequence of incor- rect information, or of misunderstanding, voted to suspend the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 101 resolutions for four years, and they directed the bishops to ad- minister under the Discipline as it had previously stood. An effort was then made to establish some plan by which the con- stitutionality of measures might be properly considered. A res- olution was passed recommending the Annual Conferences to so alter the Discipline that if a majority of the bishops judged a measure unconstitutional they should return it to the Conference with their objections, and a majority of two thirds should be required for its final passage. This resolution, however, was not adopted by the constitutional majority of the Annual Con- ferences. After Bishop Soule had declined to be ordained the bishops expressed their desire for another election to be held, as they greatly needed the assistance of an additional colleague. The majority at once expressed their purpose to re-elect Bishop Soule, and the minority, finding them resolute, petitioned the bishops to withdraw their request and let the election be de- ferred for four years. Whereupon Bishops George and Rob- erts agreed that they would undertake to perform the extra labor." * This action closed the discussion for the present. 6. It was through the influence of this debate that the pre- siding: elders became " the advisory council of the ^ ° The presiding bishop or president of the Conference in stationing eiders made the preachers." Thus was established what has council^? the since been called the " bishop's cabinet." The bish °P- wisdom of this course has never been questioned nor its con- stitutionality disputed. 7. The Book Concern was to be continued at New York; the agents were authorized, with the concurrence of Book Con . the bishops and Book Committee, to purchase lots cern - and erect suitable buildings; the bishops, in conjunction with the book agents, were directed to obtain a proper incorporation of the Concern ; the agents were authorized to insure property, and to publish new books approved and recommended by the Book Committee. A branch of the Book Concern was also ordered to be established in Cincinnati. The Magazine ordered to be published was directed to be kept prominently before the * Simpson's Hundred Years of Methodism, pp. 107-110. 102 MANUAL OF Church. All preachers and presiding elders, as agents of the Book Concern, were to labor to increase the sale of books. Nathan Bangs was elected editor and general book steward at New York, and Thomas Mason assistant. Martin Ruter was elected book agent at Cincinnati, O. 8. The great question of slavery was brought up by a part of Bishop McKendree's address. A carefully pre- Slavery. 1 _ " 1 pared report was presented, with several resolutions, but all were rejected, and the matter was left as it appeared in the Discipline of 1816. The next General Conference was ordered to consist of one delegate for every seven members of the several Annual Con- ferences. The General Conference adjourned May 27, 1820. The next session was appointed to be held at Baltimore May 1, 1824. The episcopacy and ministry of the late General Conference returned to their exacting fields with renewed deter- Activity of ° tbe bishops mi nation to labor earnestly in the cause they had so andmmistrj. } iear ^ Bishop McKendree, though feeble, issued an address to the Annual Conferences, " expressing his strong conviction of the unconstitutionality of the provision regarding the election of the presiding elders ; but he recom- mended to the Annual Conferences such an alteration of the Restrictive Rule as would allow the plan which had been voted upon in the General Conference to be adopted."* Seven out of twelve of the Annual Conferences u expressed their judg- ment that the resolutions were unconstitutional, and recom- mended the Annual Conferences, in accordance with Bishop McKendree's advice, to so alter the Bestrictive Rule "as to enable the General Conference to pass the suspended resolu- tions." There were five Annual Conferences which refused to con- cur in the recommendation of Bishop McKendree. Hence his plan failed, as did ultimately the whole proposition to elect pre- siding elders. This subject produced great discussion. In the Annual Con- * Simpson's Hundred Years of Metliodism, p. 111. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 103 ferences, at all the gatherings of preachers, and by firesides and every-where that laymen and ministers gathered, Discussions in the subject was discussed in all its phases. The toe church, power of the episcopacy, lay representation, the veto power, representation of local preachers in General Conference, were discussed. There was started at Trenton, N. J., then in the Philadelphia Conference, a monthly paper called Wesley an Repository, devoted to securing changes, especially in restrict- ing the powers of the episcopacy. " In its pages inflammatory articles were published, and severe attacks were made upon the economy of the Church. The English system was represented as superior to the American, and it was claimed that the excite- ment was sweeping over the Church. The combination was a formidable one. The dissatisfied traveling preachers had suc- ceeded in exciting a large proportion of the local preachers on their right of representation, and a part of the membership on lay delegation. They determined also to carry the question into the election for delegates to the ensuing General Confer- ence, where they expected to have a decided majoritj'." * Their hopes, however, were disappointed, a majority of the delegates being opposed to the contemplated changes. Bishops George and Roberts were actively engaged in trav- eling through the country and attending to the work of the episcopacy. They were in labors abundant. At the Book Concern the appointment of Dr. Bangs and T. Mason as the book stewards was followed by Book concern more vigorous plans for publishing and scattering ^creas^d Un- hooks and papers among the churches. The Mag- ergy. azine, commenced in 1818, took a new lease of life. The Wes- leyan Seminary property in Crosby Street was purchased and arranged for the Book Concern ; the old debts were paid off by increasing the debt so as to have more valuable products to throw out on the market, that by greater sales there might be greater profit ; "new and costly works were undertaken;" "a system of exchanges with other publishers was arranged;" and some "old stock" that had accumulated was sold at reduced * Simpson's Hundred Years of Methodism, p. 112. 104 MANUAL OF prices. Both Bangs and Mason were practical men. They threw all the force each had into the Concern, and very soon it began to show a life never seen before. When the property on Crosby Street was purchased there were men who croaked and complained about impending bank- ruptcy, but these wise men said, " If the General Conference do not wish to take it we will, and the Church shall lose nothing." In 1823 a new magazine was started, called YoutJts Instructor. It was a monthly paper. The Church owes a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Bangs for the brains, muscle, courage, faith, and energy he put into the Book Concern. Had he not been an unusually vigorous man, and thoroughly conse- crated to the Master and his cause, he never could have accom- plished the work which he performed. The year 1822 is marked in Methodist history as the time of Augusta tne founding of Augusta College, in Kentucky, college. overlooking the beautiful Ohio River, and owned jointly by the Ohio and Kentucky Conferences. There had been a county academy in operation at Augusta for some time, and on learning that these two Conferences were determined to found a college the citizens of Augusta tendered this build- ing and grounds to the Church for such a school. It was ac- cepted. The Rev. John P. Finley was elected principal in 1822, and that fall opened a school. The work grew. Jona- than Stamper, a man of power, went out as an agent, and called attention to the enterprise, and raised considerable money for it. John P. Durbin was in 1825 appointed professor of lan- guages, and Joseph S. Tomlinson professor of mathematics. In 1828 Dr. Martin Ruter was elected president. The faculty was increased in 1831 by II. B. Bascom and Burr II. McKown as professors. In 1832 Ruter went to Pittsburg, and Dr. Dur- bin to the editorship of The Christian Advocate. Dr. Tomlin- son became the president. A large number of strong men were educated at Augusta College who became illustrious in Church and State. The great secession of 1844 caused the death of this institution. Xevertheless, from its illustrious example many other schools have grown up and are flourishing with METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 105 great success. Methodism lias reaped from her educational enterprises an abundant harvest. At the end of this quadrennium there was found a great increase in membership in spite of all the agitation. Progress The increase in four years had been 71,642, making a total membership of 328,523, and of preachers, 1,272. These figures are almost fabulous, and the growth was marvelous. Methodism had "a well-defined ecclesiastical geography,'' writes Stevens, " covering all the settled parts of the Republic and Canada. ... It now possessed in a more or less organized form nearly a complete series of secondary or auxiliary agen- cies of usefulness — literary, educational, and missionary. It seemed thoroughly equipped, and had only to move forward." 106 MANUAL OF CHAPTER XV. THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1824. The providence of God had kept the three bishops in fair health, and with courage, faith, and love they discharged their duties in all the Church. On Saturday morning, May 1, 1824, the fourth delegated and tenth General Conference assembled in the " McKendrian Female Sunday-school room," Baltimore. All the bishops were present. Bishop McKendree opened the session. John Emory was elected secretary. There were pres- ent 125 delegates from Conferences, as follows : New York, 15 ; New England, 14; Genesee, 12; Ohio, 13; Kentucky, 8; Mis- souri, 5 ; Tennessee, 9 ; Mississippi, 3 ; South Carolina, 11 ; Vir- ginia, 9 ; Baltimore, 13 ; Philadelphia, 13. 1. Rev. Richard Reece,-late president of the British Confer- Present, r. eiice of Wesleyan Methodists, and Bev. John Han- f^Hannah nan > ms ministerial associate, were introduced to the of England. Conference as the accredited representatives of the British Conference to this Conference. The address of the Wesley an body was read, and Mr. Beece then addressed the Conference. It was demonstrated that the two denominations were in spirit one, and that a common object was before them. The visit of these brethren strengthened the bonds of union be- tween these two great and growing branches of Methodism. 2. The bishops presented a united address, covering among The bishops' other subjects that of a financial system and a better address. support of the ministrj T , the forms of church govern- ment, and the Canadian question. 3. An effort was made to divide the connection into episco- Diocesan P a l departments, thereby leading to a sort of diocesan bishoprics, episcopacy, but the opposition was so strong that the proposition was withdrawn. 4. There was an increase in number of Conferences from METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 107 twelve to seventeen. The mimes were the Maine, New En- gland, New York, Genesee, Canada, Pittsburg, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Holston, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. By the mak- ing of a Canada Conference the Canada question, which had its vexing and perplexing side, was placed in a fair way for settlement, which ultimated in a distinct Methodist Connection in Canada. 5. Lovick Pierce and William Winans presented a resolution providing for a veto power to be vested in the bish- ops, " but within three days, if their veto presented e ° power * to the General Conference together with their reasons shall receive a majority of two thirds of all the members, it shall become a law, but if it receive a majority less than two thirds it shall go to the Annual Conferences." This was ordered to be sent to the Annual Conferences for approval by a small majority. 6. At the last General Conference the action to elect presid- ing elders w T as suspended until it could be referred & r Presiding eld- to the Annual Conferences. At the Conferences it er question had not received the constitutional vote. At this settled> time it was declared that the former resolution " shall not be carried into effect." Another and a conflicting motion, how- ever, near the close of the General Conference, makes the sub- ject " unfinished business," and defers it until the next General Conference. 7. Joshua Soule was elected a bishop on the second ballot, and Elijah Hedding on the third. Two other men Soule a received large votes, William Beauchamp and John bishop. Emory. Bishop Hedding hesitated for a time about being con- secrated a bishop, but a resolution of the General Conference, showing their high appreciation of his ability, at last overcame his scruples. 8. Nathan Bangs was elected editor and book steward at New York, and John Emory assistant. Martin -r» nil rrn Editor, etc. Kuter was elected book agent at Cincinnati, lne net capital of the New York Book Concern was $221,459.78. 108 MANUAL OF The New York Conference continued to elect the Book Com- mittee for that Concern, and the Ohio Conference to elect the Book Committee for Cincinnati. 9. The General Conference authorized the bishops to " select Missionary for an d send a missionary or missionaries to the colony Africa. j n Afri ca " whenever the funds of the Missionary Society of the Church would justify. 10. The subject of slavery came up on numerous petitions and memorials. The former section on the subject of slavery was retained in the Discipline, to which was now added an exhortation to masters to teach their slaves to read the word of God and allow them time to attend preaching on the regular days of divine worship ; also a resolution that our colored preachers and official members have all the privileges in the District and Quarterly Conferences which the usages of the country in different sections will justify; that where they are in sufficient numbers the presiding elder may hold for them a separate District Conference, and that any Annual Conference may employ colored preachers when they judge their services necessary. 11. The question of Sunday-schools received attention and Sunday- their importance was declared. It was made the duty schools. 0 £ eac ] 1 traveling preacher to encourage the establish- ment and progress of Sunday-schools. Arrangements were made for the compiling and publishing of a catechism for the use of Sunday-schools and children in general. The book agents were instructed to provide books suitable for the use of Sunday-schools. This was the commencement of a great enter- prise that has been highly beneficial. 12. It was made the duty of the preacher to obtain the names children's °f the children belonging to his congregation ; to classes. form them into classes for religious instruction ; to in- struct them himself, and to secure suitable teachers for them. The Conference began to appreciate the value of this early care of the children. The value of higher education was set forth, and the necessity for securing as teachers in the schools per- sons whose " learning, piety, and religious tenets " could be METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 109 recommended. These fathers of the Church knew the real value of godly instruction. 13. The General Conference advised that the work of the itinerants should be so planned that the pastors should be allowed sufficient time to faithfully discharge all " pastoral duties in promoting family religion and instructing the children ; " directed them to observe the regular order of public worship ; to use the Lord's Prayer on all occasions of public worship ; and that at the Annual Conferences the preach- ers be especially examined as to the manner in which their duties are discharged. The Church had not yet come to publishing a weekty church paper. The Methodist Magazine was doing good Methodist work, but something more was needed. Martin Ruter Magazine, had in 1815 commenced to publish at Concord, N. II., The New England Missionary Magazine. Its career was short, for it ceased after " four quarterly numbers " were issued. The New England Conference in 1821 united in an association called the "Society for Giving and Receiving Religious Intel- ligence." This led to the publication of the Ziorfs Herald. Elijah Hedding was president of the association. Its first number saw the light January 9, 1823. Its size was 9x16 inches. It was a weekly publication. It was small at first, but from that humble beginning a great Methodist periodical literature has been built up.* In 1821 a monthly periodical was started at Trenton, K. J., called the Wesley an Repository, octavo in form, and wesieyan edited by W. S. Stockton. It was subsequently re- Re P° sitor y- moved to Philadelphia. It lived until 1824, when it was merged into The Mutual Rights, and published at Baltimore as the organ of the Reformers. " Its object was to promote changes in the economy of the Methodist Episcopal Church, embracing lay representation and the abolition of the episcopacy and presiding eldership." Shortly after the establishment of the Zioii's Herald the Wesieyan Jour rial was commenc d at Charleston, S. C. On * Stevens's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. iv, pp. 460, 461. 110 MANUAL OF September 9, 1826, the book agents at New York commenced the publication of The Christian Advocate. It was ably ed- ited by Dr. Bangs from the start, with B. Badger as assistant. After a time the Zwn's Herald of Boston and the Wesley an Journal of South Carolina were purchased by the Book Con- cern and merged in The Christian Advocate, and published under the name of The Christian Advocate and Journal and Ziorts Herald. The Zwn's Herald was afterward re-estab- lished. It wielded a power that was from the first widely felt. It has always been a strong, cultured, able, fearless religious paper. It was the progenitor of the great family of Advocates. The General Conference had scarcely adjourned when re- Renewed agi- newed agitation to modify the presiding eldership tation on pre- coirinieilcec L This question involved the whole siding elder 1 question. economy of Methodism. The leading and thought- ful men, when the General Conference had decided the question, acquiesced and recognized the unconstitutionality of the pro- posed changes ; " the more violent commenced the publication of inflammatory articles." The Mutual Rights, published at Baltimore, was especially distinguished for its violence and vitu- peration. It was doing great injury, inflaming many minds, and sowing the bitterest kind of dissensions. This led the lovers of the Church in Baltimore and vicinity to issue a local paper, The Itinerant, in defense of Methodism, of which Dr. Thomas E. Bond, a local preacher of great tact, good judgment, and intense loyalty, became editor. " His racy editorials exer- cised a wide-spread influence, and under his leadership the friends of the Church rallied vigorously to its defense. Those who were favoring reform turned their attention chiefly to the subject of lay delegation, as this was the only question in which they could, to any extent, interest the masses of the people. As some of the ministers had incurred grave censures because of articles which they published in the Mutual Rights, 'Union Societies' were formed among the membership, both to spread their principles and support each other in case of prosecution by the Church. As articles which were considered untrue and slanderous con- tinned to be published in the Mutual Rights, the character of METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. HI one of the ministers [Rev. D. B. Dorse y] was arrested by the Baltimore Conference. He refused to obey their di lec- tions, and was left for a year without an appointment. Still refusing to submit to proper authority, the next year he was expelled."* He appealed to the General Conference of 1828, and the expulsion was confirmed. Certain members of the so-called "Union Societies" exposed themselves to censure, because often their charges Union Socie . were slanderous and their language abusive. For ties - continuous disloyalty some of these persons were dealt with and expelled from the Church. This was followed by the withdrawal of some of their friends. Fifty-seven delegates from various parts of the constituency of these so-named " Reformers " met in Baltimore, November, 1827, and held a General Convention and aired their grievances. They framed a memorial to the General Conference to be held at Pittsburg in May, 1828. Not satisfied to wait the action of the General Conference, fourteen preachers, some local, and almost two hundred mem- bers organized themselves in January, 1828, under the name of " Associated Methodist Reformers." When the General Conference met at Pittsburg the memorial of the Reformers was introduced and the entire sub- Methodist ject discussed. There was no disposition to change Protestants, the economy of Methodism, but, in view of the hasty and extravagant action of the Reformers, it was proposed that if they would abolish the paper Mutual Rights, disband the " Union Societies " within the Church, and cease the assaults upon the usages of Methodism the expelled would be restored to the Church and favor. This they refused, and, spurning the offer, became more abusive than ever. ■ The disaffection wid- ened, and some timid members of the Church feared a great rupture, while the Reformers proclaimed the entire destruction of the Church. A convention of Reformers assembled at St. John's Church, Baltimore, November 12, 1828. The District of Columbia and eleven States were represented. It was presided over by Nicholas Snethen, and W. S. Stockton was secretary. * Simpson's Hundred Years of Methodism, p. 117. 112 MANUAL OF The action of the General Conference was read and discussed. At last they proclaimed : " We cannot in conscience admit the correctness of their [the General Conference] claims nor recom- mend the Reformers to abandon the prosecution of an object which we consider of vital importance to the future welfare of the Church." A provisional Church was organized. To it they gave the name u Associated Methodist Churches." To them the outside world gave the name of " Radicals," or " Radical Methodists." Often in their debates they applied this term to themselves. This convention provided for a general conven- tion November 2, 1830. When it was organized it was found that one hundred and fourteen ministerial and lay delegates had been elected, equally divided, though only eighty-three were present, representing about five thousand members, in- cluding eighty ministers. They agreed to call themselves the " Methodist Protestant Church," thereby discarding both former names. There were some strong men who seceded with the Reformers, such as Asa Shinn, Nicholas Snethen, Alexander McCaine, D. B. Dorsey, George Brown, W. C. Poole, and Fred- erick Steir. They adopted the polity of the Methodist Episco- pal Church excepting the episcopacy and presiding eldership, and introduced lay representation. At their first General Conference, held at Georgetown, D. C, May 6, 183-1, Nicholas Snethen president, they reported fourteen Annual Conferences, nearly twenty-seven thousand members, and about five hundred preachers. It may be said of the quadrennium from '1824 to 1828 that Period of dis- ^ was a P ei *iod of discussion, strife, heart-burnings, cussion. anc [ sorrow. Friends were estranged and often be- came bitter enemies. Communities were torn to j^ieces by feuds. Churches were rent, a part seceding. Occasionally a Church would go off en masse. Lawsuits were begun for title to church property, and prosecuted with all the rancor of bit- terest foes. Nevertheless, God graciously blessed the labors of those who remained true to the cause of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their word was with power. Gracious revivals occurred. The General Conference found a member- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH^HISTORY. 113 ship of 421,150, being an increase of 92,633 in four years, and a traveling ministry of 1,642 — an increase of 370. " The Church," said Bishop Simpson, when speaking of secessions, u united, compact, and powerful, was prepared for greater tri- umphs in the future. Thus history teaches us that the greatest misfortune that can befall any organization is to be divided within itself. Secessions, however large, are far less dangerous than contention and strife within." At the General Conference of 1824 the churches in Canada were organized into a Conference. It was hoped CanadaCon . that this would harmonize all the discordant elements ference. in that colder clime, and give perfect satisfaction. But in vain. Almost as soon as the General Conference adjourned m letter- ings and complaints were heard. Bishops George and Hedding determined to go through the Church in Canada and allay the excitement. Bishop George took William Case, crossed into Canada at Ogdensburg, " visiting the preachers and people in the lower part of the province." Bishop Hedding took Dr. Bangs, who had been instrumental in organizing the Church in Canada, and went into Canada by way of Buffalo. They visited many churches, "made explanations, held meetings, and satisfied the greater proportion of the people." At the Con- ference most of the members appeared satisfied with the ar- rangement of the General Conference in giving them a separate Conference. There was, however, expressed a great desire for a Canadian Church. " The plea they made for a separate organi- piea {or gep zation was that, as the Methodists in Canada ac- arate church knowledged an ecclesiastical head in the United States, they could not expect the favor of their own civil gov- ernment, nor the protection of the laws, for the government looked upon them with suspicion. The Methodist preachers were not allowed to consecrate marriage ; and it was said that forasmuch as their church property was deeded to the Method- ist Episcopal Church they could not legally hold it. The peo- ple still seemed very generally to wish a separate organization. On these accounts the bishops pledged themselves to use their 114 MANUAL OF influence to effect such an arrangement at the next General Conference. On this pledge peace was restored.'' * The New York Conference elected Freeborn Garrettson, among others, a delegate to the approaching General Conference. But, September 26, 1S27, he died in New York city, in the seventy-sixth year of his age and the fifty-second of his ministry. He was one of the most intimate friends of Asbury. He so greatly impressed Mr. Wesley u by his success in Nova Scotia" that "he [Wesley] sent a request to the Conference for his ordination as superintendent, or bish- op, for the British dominions in America." When Dr. Coke presented the request of Mr. Wesley to Garrettson he asked time to consider the matter. The next day he consented. But, strange to say, he was not ordained, but appointed to preside in the Peninsula. " Wesley," says Stevens, " was deeply grieve ! by this disappointment." f In 1793 he married Miss Catherine Livingston, a descendant of one of the most noted families of the State of New York. She was wealthy and a saintly woman, whose only ambition was to glorify God and help her husband to do the greatest amount of good in the ministry. Garrettson was a member of the celebrated Christmas Conference of 17S4. He was a good preacher, an " efficient and laborious" evan- gelist, and at his death there was great lamentation. * Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, p. 260. \ Stevens's History of the Methodist Ejnscopal Church, vol. ii, pp. 324, 325. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 115 CHAPTER XVI. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1828— EVENTS TO 1832. In 1828, for the first time, the General Conference held its session west of the Alleghany Mountains. This was an evi- dence that Methodism was rapidly spreading in the Missis- sippi valley, and taking deep root in the soil where, in years to come, it was to have a most wonderful growth. Thursday, May 1, 1828, the General Conference assembled in Pittsburg, Pa. Bishops McKendree, George, Roberts, Sonic, and Hed- ding were present to hold the fifth delegated and eleventh Gen- eral Conference. Martin Puter was elected secretary. There were one hundred and seventy-six delegates. The quadrennium had been one of great agitation, and a few of the delegates were in sympathy with the radical movements, though their number and influence were so small that they did not affect legislation. The aged and infirm McKendree was able to be present at times, and his words always produced a powerful effect upon persons who had learned to love and reverence him. 1. The General Conference was Compelled to give utterance to a denunciation of heresy. Joshua Randall, a mem- Heresy de- ber of the New England Conference, had preached nounced. doctrines wholly contrary to the teachings of the Scripture and of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was advised by his brethren of his error ; but he would not listen to their counsel, and continued to openly violate his ordination vows. In June, 1826, he was arraigned before his Conference and tried on a charge of "holding and disseminating . . . . . , Randall tried. doctrines contrary to the teachings of our Articles of Religion." The two specifications were, "1st, In denying that the transgressions of the law, to which we are all person- ally responsible, have had any atonement made for them by 116 MANUAL OF Christ." " 2d, In maintaining that the infinite claims of justice upon the transgressor of the divine law may, upon the condition of mere acts of the transgressor himself, be relinquished, given up, and the transgressor pardoned without an atonement." Having been found guilty, the Xew England Conference expelled Mr. Randall from the ministry and Church. He ap- pealed to the General Conference. Dr. Wilbur Fisk represented the Conference and Church. He made a clear, logical, and scriptural plea for the doctrine of the atonement as taught by the Church, and showed with equal clearness how the teachings of Randall were anti-scriptural and anti-Methodistic. The Gen- eral Conference, by a vote of one hundred and sixty-four to one, sustained the expulsion. 2. William Rverson, of the delegation of the Canada Confer- canada ai- ence, presented their memorial asking for a separa- lome^eS- tion from tlie ^ etnodist Episcopal Church, because rate church, they were in a foreign country. After full discus- sion the petition was granted. 3. William Capers, of South Carolina Conference, was elected Dr. capers a delegate from the Methodist Episcopal Church to delegated to . England. the British Conference. 4. Bishop McKendree, being in feeble health, and therefore not in condition to perform full work, was permitted to travel at his own discretion, and to take only such oversight and super- intendency as he might be able prudently to do. 5. John Emory was elected editor and agent at New York, and Beverly Waugh assistant. Charles Holliday was elected book agent at Cincinnati. Nathan Bangs was elected editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, and u such other periodicals as are assigned to that department." 6. The temperance question received its share of attention. The principles as set forth in the rules of the Church Temperance. . . . . . ,, .. . were emphasized, and a resolution passed that "it is important that we neither drink ourselves (except medicinally) nor give it to visitors or workmen." On the adjournment of the General Conference the bishops METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 117 matured their plans for work, and each started out for the full completion of his allotted work. " Man proposes, but Bishops 1 plans God disposes." In the early part of the summer of for work. 1828 Bishop George was apparently in good health, but in August he was taken seriously ill at Staunton, Va. His sickness was short, and culminated in death August 23, 1828. Death of Bistl . He was born in Lancaster County, Va., about 1768, op George, and reared in the Episcopal Church. He was an early attend- ant upon the ministry of Rev. Mr. Jarratt, the Episcopalian clergyman who was so friendly to the early Methodists, and the warm personal friend of Bishop Asbury. He was afterward thrown among the Methodists and was converted. He com- menced to preach in 1790. In 1800 he was presiding elder on the Potomac District; in 1816 he was elected and ordained bishop. He was one of the most faithful of Methodist preach- ers. Simpson says of him: " He was a man of deep piety, of great simplicity of manners, a pathetic, powerful, and successful preacher, greatly beloved in life and very extensively lamented in death." Cazenovia Seminary was projected by the old Genesee Con- ference, then including in its bounds all western New York, Upper Canada, and part of Pennsylvania, When the Genesee Conference was divided, and the Oneida Conference formed, the Seminary fell within the bounds of the new Conference. Nathaniel Porter was its first president. Larrabee, Allen, Johnston, Bannister, "Whedon, Andrews, and other like men have been among its instructors. Its record is a proud one. The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y., was proposed to be established at the first session of the present Genesee Conference in 1829, was opened in May, 1832, and in 1833 was incorporated by the Legislature. In the year 1832 Dr. Samuel Luckey was elected principal, and continued so to be to 1836. The career of this Methodist seminary has been illustrious. The Wesleyan University took its rise about 1830. A mili- tary academy had been established at Middletown, Conn., in 1825. It was not successful, and in 1830 was transferred to lis MANUAL OF trustees for a Methodist university, and a preparatory school was opened. In 1S31 it was chartered as a university, and that fall opened by Dr. Wilbur Fisk as the president. He died in 1S39. The next president was Dr. Bangs, who continued to 1842, when Dr. Olin came to the office. The career of this university is a brilliant episode in Methodist history. Madison College came under the patronage of the Pittsburg Conference at Uniontown, Pa., in 1827, and Rev. Henry B. Bascom was president, with Charles Elliott and J. H. Fielding professors. It was abandoned in 1832, and Alleghany College was accepted in its place. During its short life it educated some talented men, of whom Bishop Simpson was one. The year 1832 is distinguished in Methodist history as the one cox sent to m which tlie first missionary was sent by the Church Africa. to a foreign land. Melville B. Cox having offered himself as a missionary to Liberia, he was appointed to that field in 1832. He reached there March 9, 1833, and at once set about the work of gathering up the Methodists who had come as colonists from America. These he organized into a Church. He laid the foundations of the Monrovia Academy. The work was opening up finely, with every indication that a prosperous Church would be built up. In less than five months the fever of the climate seized him, and he died July 21, 1833, in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Cox was a true man of God, sweet in spirit, a good organizer, a man of culture, and an excellent preacher. His death did not, however, dampen the ardor of the friends of the Missionary Society or the Church, but seemed to lead them to think there was a duty they owed to the per- ishing which must be discharged. This was a period of controversy. The air was full of it. The radical movement, called by the misnomer the u Re- form," drew out most carefully prepared and vig- orous defenses from the best men of the Church. Not a real or supposed weak place in her economy but was assailed by her enemies and as vigorously defended by her friends. The press was made the vehicle for disseminating knowledge of the Church and her doings. Dr. Bangs, Dr. Thomas E. Bond, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 1 19 and many others, with clear insight into Methodism, wrote and published strong articles, which not only lessened the dam- age of the "Reform agitation," but really strengthened the cause of Methodism. A flood of light was shed upon the Church, her institutions, economy, and the results of her work, that opened the eyes of sister-Churches and led them to recog- nize that her mission was from the Lord. During this term a doctrinal controversy was commenced, full of excellent results for Methodism. The Chris- A cuivinistic tian Spectator, published quarterly at New Haven, controversy. Conn., and "conducted by professors of Yale College, com- menced an energetic attack on the theology and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Calvinistic papers generally copied its erroneous representations. The discussion became extremely acrimonious ; it lost itself in side issues ; new questions displaced the old ones ; new batteries were opened in unexpected quarters, and the confusion of battle raged generally. Methodism now learned the importance of its periodical press and the vigor of the man who had charge of that mighty instrument. Every serious blow against it was ably repulsed." * In after years Dr. Bangs reviewed this controversy, and summed up the result in these words: "The discussion tended to enlighten the public mind on these subjects, to make our doctrines, usages, labors, and successes more generally known and more justly appreciated, and thus strengthened the hands and cheered the hearts of the members and friends of our Church. It tended likewise to convince our opponents that if they presumed to misrepresent or to slander us we had the means of self-defense, and ability and disposi- tion to use them ; and that, when the facts were clearly stated, our doctrines and manner of propagating them fully explained, we should not be considered such dangerous heresiarchs as we had been represented to be. We are glad to know, however, that these clays of strife are past, and that a more friendly and amicable spirit prevails." f * Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, p. 275. f Ibid., pp. 275, 276. 120 MANUAL OF CHAPTER XV1L GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1832— EVENTS TO 1836. In 1832 the sixth delegated and twelfth General Confer- ence was held in Philadelphia. Only Bishops Soule and Hed- ding were present at the opening. The old patriarch, Bishop McKendree, still lived, but was feeble, and did not attend the Conference for several days. Thomas L. Douglass was elected secretary and Charles A. Davis assistant. The nineteen Con- ferences were represented by one hundred and ninety-seven delegates. There were present three visiting delegates from the Methodist Church in Canada — Case, Ryerson, and Metcalf. The bishops presented an address concerning the spiritual Address of the an( ^ temporal condition of the Church, and pointed bishops. ou t some needed legislation. At this time the standing committees took a more definite form, and the sub- jects they were to consider were clearly defined. There were committees on Episcopacy, Itinerancy, Bounda- conference Ties i an( ^ Book Concern, composed of one from each committees. Conference. The committees on Privileges and Elections, Missions, Education, Revisals, the part of the bish- ops' address referring to the Bible, Tract, and Sunday-school Societies, Temperance, Slavery, and Rights and Privileges of the People of Color, were of a limited number. There was a large number of memorials and petitions on the spirituous subject of " spirituous liquors " from every part of liquors. -(-he Church. The rapid growth of public sentiment against drunkenness was apparent. On the fifth day Bishop McKendree appeared in the Confer- ence room, having been too feeble to meet with his brethren earlier. He delivered a short address, but, from indisposition and weakness of body not being able to sit in the Conference room, he soon retired to his lodgings. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 121 At this Conference (1832) the following measures were adopted : 1. Mr. Samuel Williams, of Cincinnati, O., an enterprising layman, petitioned the General Conference to pub- Methodist lish a " Methodist almanac." The matter was re- almanac, f erred to the Book Committee, and from the year 1834 until the present the Church has published a Church almanac. It became a popular enterprise, for it furnished a large amount of valuable church, national, business, and social statistical infor- mation. 2. It appearing that the required constitutional vote of the Annual Conferences had been given for a change of , . ( . „ . . « , . i j Proviso of Re- the proviso ot the liestrictive Kules, it was altered strictive Rules so as to provide that u upon the concurrent recom- chan ^ ed - mendation of three fourths of all the members of the several Annual Conferences who shall be present and vote on such a recommendation, then a majority of two thirds of the General Conference succeeding shall suffice to alter any of the above re- strictions, excepting the first article ; and also, whenever such alteration or alterations shall have been first recommended by two thirds of the General Conference, so soon as three fourths of the members of all the Annual Conferences shall have concurred, as aforesaid, such alteration or alterations shall take effect. 3. It was shown that the original charter of the Chartered Fund only allowed the trustees to have an income of chartered five hundred pounds, and that now, as its income Fund - exceeded that amount, it was necessary to secure a change of the charter. Objection also being made to the title of the so- ciety as being complex, it was ordered that the name also should be made more simple. 4. As an evidence of the growth of Methodism in the United States it became necessary to arrange the work into New Confer . twenty -two Annual Conferences. Troy, Alabama, ences - and Indiana were new Conferences. The latter was formed by the division of the Illinois Conference, the State of Illinois be- ing placed in one Conference and the entire State of Indiana in the Indiana Conference. 122 MANUAL OF 5. James Osgood Andrew, of Georgia Conference, and John Andrew and ErnorV, of Baltimore Conference, were elected bish- Emory elected 0 ps. At a meeting of delegates to consider candidates William Capers, of South Carolina Conference, de- clined, stating that he was " unwillingly a slave-bolder." He had inherited slaves and had tried to send them to Liberia or remove them to another State where they could be emancipated, but they were so intermarried that he could not buy the husbands or wives, and so remove them. He had put them in the hands of a trustee, and they received the reward of their own labor. While he could not be a bishop he recommended J. O. Andrew, who was not a slave-holder, nor was his father, and therefore there appeared no danger that he would inherit slaves. Andrew, on the strength of this plea, was elected. Alas ! how short- sighted is man, and how treacherous his heart ! Let us observe in 1S44 the sequel. Twelve years will work a mighty change. 6. Another evidence of the growing interest of the Book rook con- Concern and press of Methodism was seen in the cera. elections of men to fill the places in the Concern. Beverly Waugh was elected agent and book steward, and Thomas Mason assistant, at Xew York. Nathan Bangs was elected editor of the Quarterly Review, the title "Magazine" having been dropped, and of books generally. John P. Durbin was elected editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal and ZiorCs Herald, Youth's Instructor, the Child's Magazine, and tracts and Sunday -school books. Peter Akers was elected as- sistant editor of the Christian Advocate, but declined the office, whereupon Timothy Merritt was chosen to the position. Charles Holliday was elected book agent, and John F. AY right assistant, at Cincinnati. Provision was made for pub- lishing a religious paper at Cincinnati at such time as the agents and Book Committee should determine. There were to be two book committees, one at Xew York, to be appointed by the Xew York Conference, and one at Cincinnati, to be chosen by the Ohio Conference. A book depository was established at Xew Orleans, and William M. Curtis was elected the ajrent. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 123 The Concern was in a prosperous condition, its total capital above all liabilities being $413,566.93^. 7. Petitions came from Philadelphia, Dorchester, and other places asking of the General Conference some de- Petitions cided action on secret societies, but after the Com- against secret societies mittee on Itinerancy had inquired into the merits of the case declined any action, believing that the "very at- tempt might involve serious difficulties." 8. The Conference made the clearest statement at this time regarding the design and work of Methodism in the Design and world that it had ever given. It was written, workofMetn- most probably, by Laban Clark, and said : " Our itinerant system is not only missionary in its character, explor- ing the dark and dismal wastes of human wretchedness, pene- trating the habitations of the poor, and tracing out the abodes of misery, but it possesses in itself the ample means of devel- oping the resources of Christian charity and carrying into com- plete success all those benevolent institutions of our Church which are of such vital importance to her best interests." 9. There was a desire in certain quarters of the Church that the General Conference should pronounce on the Attempt to reception of the degree of doctor Of divinity by ^tor? de- Methodist ministers. The first memorial came from gree. Philadelphia, Strange as it may appear, this subject was dis- cussed for a considerable portion of a session, when it was laid on the table, and, so far as history speaks, still lies there. 10. Provision was made for the appointment by the bishops at each Annual Conference of committees of ex- committees of animation to examine all preachers on trial and can- examination, didates for deacons' orders on the course of study prescribed. At the close of this General Conference Methodism had in the United . States 548,593 members, and an army StcVtistics. of 2,200 traveling preachers and many local preach- ers. There had been an increase in the qnadrennium of over 127,000 members. The secessions had not seriously affected the number of members. Simply studying statistical Method- ism of the time, there is not discernible any "secession," 124 MANUAL OF The book agents in 1830 found it advantageous to change Quarterly tne Methodist Magazine to the more stately form Review. 0 f a Quarterly Review. Dr. Emory took the edi- torial charge of it until Dr. Bangs was elected its editor in 1832. The prospectus, probably written by John Emory, was a bold, clear, and strong statement of facts indicating the need for such a periodical, and followed by as clear a statement of what the Quarterly would attempt. " For this class of peri- odicals," he writes, "there is certainly a greater vacancy in the department of theological journals at the present day than in any other, and particularly in our own denomination. There is danger, too, of satisfying ourselves on one hand with light and transient reading, and on the other with light and transient writing. We yet need a journal which shall draw forth the most matured efforts of our best writers, whether in the minis- try or among other intelligent and literary contributors; where, also, they may have room for ampler and more exact discussion in a record which shall endure for the inspection of posterity. There are very many, also, in the wide circle of our friends, who have both taste and adequate means for patronizing such a work ; and one such is highly desirable, as well for their satis- faction as to lead others to the cultivation of a similar taste." * Dr. Bangs, as the successor of John Emory, placed the Re- view among the first periodicals of that class in the land, and it has ably maintained its rank. As an illustration of the dangers to travelers in the days of Dangers of tne stage-coach, it may be well to give the account traveling. 0 f Thomas A. Morris, afterward bishop, and the ac- cident which endangered the lives of seven delegates and Bishop Soule. They were on their way from Philadelphia, where the General Conference had just been held, to Cincinnati. "The company consisted of Bishop Soule, J. B. Finley, J. Edmond- son, D. Young, A. W. Elliott, Jesse Green, and T. A. Morris. They were crossing the Alleghany Mountains on Stockton's fast line of passenger mail-coaches, from Baltimore to Wheel- ing. It was a very hot day, the 1st of June ; but, being home- * Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, pp. 281, 282. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 125 ward bound, and all on the best of terms with each other, the time was agreeably occupied with religious and general conver- sation. As they came down the west side of Polish Mountain, while passing a train of heavy wagons, the team took fright and ran off, dashing at full speed down the mountain. After run- ning about a fourth of a mile the coach was upset, and at the same time precipitated, with team, passengers, and baggage, down a rough and steep embankment, a distance of thirty-two feet. The driver saved himself by jumping off his box as soon as he saw that the coach must go over. Rev. Jesse Green, who sat with him, attempting to follow the driver's example, broke his arm. The coach brought up against a new and strong fence of oak-rails with such a terrible concussion that it was reduced to a wreck. The shock to the passengers was terrible, of course, and was soon followed by the outcries of the wounded. Bishop Soule was the first to extricate himself ; he had received some slight wounds, and had lost part of one thumb. The next one who emerged from the debris was Rev. J. B. Finley, with his face cut and bleeding, and his whole system so shocked that he soon became quite sick and faint. Mr. Morris then crawled out un- injured. Rev. A. W. Elliott was heard calling for help, and was got out by the efforts of those who were least damaged — his shoulders being so wrenched by the fall that for years after- ward he could not get his coat on without help. Rev. Joseph Edmondson was next recovered from the ruins, very much in- jured — his face being fearfully cut from chin to forehead, and the blood streaming down into his bosom. Last of all, they re- covered Rev. David Young, whose unconscious moans were truly distressing ; his collar-bone was crushed, several of his ribs were broken, and other injuries more or less serious received. They were on the south side of the hill, and the only shade available was the imperfect one afforded by the fence, in the corners of which the wounded were placed. There lay Finley, Elliott, Young, and Edmondson. As Mr. Morris was wiping the dust from the face of Young, Bishop Soule came up with Jesse Green in his arms, carrying him like a child from the hot and dusty pike where he fell ; and he, too, was placed 120 MANUAL OF in the extemporized hospital in the fence corner. One of the company had a thumb-lancet, with which Bishop Soule bled Rev. Mr. Young pretty freely, and he soon revived." * The Western Book Concern arranged for the publication of western a weekly paper at Cincinnati, and elected Thomas A. Advocltees"- Morris tlie ^ r?t editor. The paper first appeared in tabiished. 1834, and was christened Western Christian Advo- cate. It started with a liberal patronage and a high moral and literary tone, and has maintained both. It has been fortunate in having excellent editors. Morris was succeeded by Charles Elliott ; then came Simpson, Elliott again, Kingsley, Reid, Merrill, Hoyt, Bayliss, and Moore. Bishop McKendree, the senior bishop, was called to his high Death of reward March 5, 1S35, dying at Nashville, Tenn. McKendree. jj e stands next to Bishop Asbury as having given shape and stability to Methodism in America. McKendree was a native American, being born in King William County, Ya., July 6, 1757. In the Revolutionary War he was a patriot, vol- unteering as a private, but was advanced on account of merit to the rank of adjutant, and placed in the commissary department, where integrity and skill were greatly needed. When General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at Yorktown, and the liberty of the States was acquired, McKendree was present. He was a man that would be recognized as valuable in whatever place found. His conversion occurred in 17S7. In 178S he was received on trial in the traveling ministry. OTvelly had great influence over him, by whom, for a time, he was led away ; but discover- ing his error he frankly confessed it and came back to Method- ism and became one of its stanchest friends. He was ap- pointed by Asbury, in 1796, a presiding elder, and in 1S01 was sent west of the Alleghany Mountains "to take the supervision of the societies in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Western Yir- ginia," a part of Illinois, and, in reality, all the unexplored region to the north and west. He was abundantly prepared for the work of a bishop when, in 1808, he was elected. From * Life of Bishop Morris, pp. 121, 122. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 127 1810 to 1835 lie was the senior bishop, lie was a man of genius and energy, and became a cultured man in the best sense. "His mind was clear and logical, his knowledge varied and ex- tensive, his imagination lively but well regulated, and his elo- quence was unusually powerful." In spiritual life few ever excelled him ; he was pure-minded, tender-hearted, merciful to the penitent, but of iron will when convinced of the right. " lie was careful in the administration of discipline, and intro- duced system into all the operations of the Church." When he preached his memorable sermon before the General Conference his personal appearance was against him ; but his wonderful eloquence — his great power and unction — carried every thing before him. Asbury immediately said, " That sermon will make McKendree bishop." McKendree, like Asbury, never mar- ried. He never gave, so far as we can discover, as did Asbury, any reason for his bachelorhood. He traveled extensively through the whole Church, until at last he reached his brother's, at Nashville, Tenn., where he died, saying, " All is well ! " Another death caused great sorrow in the Church — Bishop John Emory, D.D., was killed December 16, 1835. B j Shop Emor y Emory was born in Queen Anne County, Md., kilIed - April 11, 1789. He completed an academic course in Wash- ington College in 1804, and the next year began the study of law. Converted in 1806, he united with the Methodists. He entered upon the practice of law in 1808 ; but the next year, though greatly opposed by his family, he entered the Methodist ministry. He was a spirited writer, a born controversialist, and an editor of great tact. He was one of the strongest defenders of higher education. In 1832 he was elected a bishop, and served his Church well. He prepared a u course of study " for candi- dates for deacons' and elders' orders. On the morning of De- cember 16, 1835, he started from his home in a light carriage to go to Baltimore. A wagoner found him by the roadside insen- sible, about two miles from his home. The skull was fractured. It is supposed his horse ran away, and that he was thrown from his carriage. He did not return to consciousness, but died that evening. " Bishop Emory was a man of unflinching integrity, \ 123 MANUAL OF of great strength of will, and of more than ordinary discretion. . . . Few ministers have equaled him in accuracy of scholarship, broad and comprehensive views, fertility of genius, and in administrative ability." A great calamity fell upon the Book Concern at New York, New York February 18» 1836, just preceding the General Con- Book concern ference. " The buildings, with the entire stock, were consumed by fire, the estimated loss being 8250,000." But a small amount was realized from the insurance. " Public sympathy was excited, and a collection was made amounting to 888,316.09, which, added to the insurance collected, the value of the ground, etc., made an amount of 8281,650.77." As soon as possible new and admirably built accommodations were erected, the necessary presses and other machinery furnished, and the agents, editors, and employees busily occupied in en- deavoring to repair the loss sustained and to give increased im- petus to the business. The Missionary Society was in a condition in 1834 to found and maintain a mission amon^ the Flat-head Indians Mission & among the in Oregon. When the tidings went out to the Fiat-heads. Qjnu^jj 0 f the earnest request of this people for the Gospel, and the efforts of the Missionary Society to plant a mis- sion among them, funds began to flow into the treasury, and prayers ascended to Heaven for success to attend this work. In one year the collections went up one hundred per cent., or from $17,097.05 in 1833 to 8-35,700.15. Jason and Daniel Lee and Cyrus Shepard were sent out as missionaries to these Indians. The Church looked toward u our South American cousins," and desired their salvation. Rev. Fountain £. Pitts Mission in south Amer- was commissioned to visit South America and ob- serve the country, and determine on the places where missions might be successfully planted. Mr. Pitts, in 1835, visited and examined the three great South American cities — Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Ayres, and Montevideo. In the two first-named cities missions were soon after established : the one at Rio de Janeiro early in 1836 under the charge of the Rev. Justin Spaulding, of the New England Conference; the other METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 129 at Buenos Ay res, in December of the same year, under the charge of the Rev. John Dempster, of the Genesee Confer- to ence In 1833 the Pittsburg Conference established at Pittsburg a paper, with Dr. Charles Elliott editor. It was called r 1 ' Pittsburg Ad- Pittsourg Conference Journal, and afterward was vocate estab- adopted by the General Conference as The Pitts- llshed * burg Christian Advocate. In western Pennsylvania the inhab- itants were quite largely Irish or Scotch immigrants, and Calvin- istic in faith. They often bitterly attacked the doctrines and usages of Methodism, in consequence of which the preachers were greatly embarrassed. Dr. Elliott clearly and fully stated in his journal the doctrines and customs of Methodism. Thus many prejudices were broken down. Correct information go- ing out to the people overcame their opposition, and Method- ism was greatly built up in that region. In 1833 the Methodists came into possession of the property of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. It had been Dickinson chartered in 1783, and was more under Presbyterian college, influence than any other. Dr. ISTesbit, called from Scotland, was the first president. The enterprise was not successful, chiefly because of financial embarrassments. In 1833 it was offered to the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences, and by them accepted. Dr. Durbin was called from The Christian Advocate to become its first president. It has been a prosper- ous college, and many men have been educated there who have come to prominence in Church and State. Randolph-Macon College was founded by the Virginia Con- ference in 1832, at Mecklenburg County, Ya. It R an doiph-Ma- since has been removed to Ashland. cou college. Alleghany College, at Meadville, Pa., incorporated in 1817, and originally under Presbyterian management, passed to the control of the Pittsburg Conference in 1833. Yerrnont Methodist Seminary and Female College was founded in 1834 10 130 MANUAL OF CHAPTER XYIfl. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1836— EVENTS TO 1840. The General Conference of 1836 was the thirteenth general and seventh delegated. It assenihled Monday, May 2, in Cin- cinnati. Bishop Roberts, now senior, opening the services, assisted by the other bishops, Sonle, Hedding, and Andrew. Thomas L. Douglass was chosen secretary, and Thomas B. Sargent assistant. There were one hundred and fifty-one dele- gates elected from twenty-two Conferences. This was the second General Conference held in the great Mississippi valley. Al- ready th's wonderful valley, in the center of the United States, was demonstrating its resources and foreshadowing what it was destined to become for Methodisnl and the country. 1. Foreign delegates were received on the first day. Rev. Foreign dele- William Lord, delegate f rom the Wcsleyan Method- gates received. j st Conference in England, and president of the Canada Conference, and Rev. William Case, delegate from the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Upper Canada, were introduced by Bishop Soule, and addressed the Conference. The address from the British Conference gave a little offense to a few dele- gates on account of its allusion to slavery. Slavery was just beginning to be a question of moment in the councils of the Church. The British Conference was decidedly antagonistic to slavery and all who were in any way connected with it. A guarded reply to the British Conference was prepared by Bangs, Capers, and Morris. 2. During this General Conference the excitement on the slavery agita- slavery question became very great. The act which tlon - fired the opposition occurred on Tuesday evening, May 10. At an abolition meeting held in Cincinnati George Storrs and S. Morn's, " members of the General Conference, attended" and u delivered addresses.' 1 Storrs was from the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 131 New Hampshire Conference ami Morris from Maine. This was deemed by must of the General Conference as very unwise and impolitic at such a time. Two days after, S. G. Roszell introduced resolutions which called forth much discussion. They were under discussion for about two days. During the time Rev. Orange Scott spoke very fully in setting forth the spirit and principles of extreme abolitionism. The resolutions as adopted show the drift of the conservative party in the Church. They are : "Resolved, hy the delegates, etc. 1. That they disapprove in the most unqualified sense the conduct of the two members of the General Conference who are reported to have lectured in this city (Cincinnati) recently upon and in favor of modern abolitionism. " 2. That they are decidedly opposed to modern abolitionism, and wholly disclaim any right, wish, or intention to interfere in the civil and political relation between master and slave as it exists in the slave-holding States of this Union. " 3. That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be published in our periodicals." These were adopted, one hundred and twenty in favor of and fourteen against the first resolution, and one hundred and thirty- seven for and none against the second. From this time for- ward there were two distinct parties on the slavery question in the Church. One was conservative and the other strongly in favor of the abolition of slavery. Some time prior to this there had been established in New York a paper called Ziorfs Watchman. It was a zion's watch- fiery, spirited paper, and quite ably edited in the man " interests of abolitionism. It published " an exaggerated view of the action of the General Conference, and added to the antislaveiw agitation within the borders of the Church. In a short period it commenced also an assault upon church discipline and order, and was ultimately instrumental in producing a se- cession from the Church." The real condition of the Church under slavery at this time is admirably stated by Bis'iop Simpson : "In the early history 132 MANUAL OF of the Church very stringent rules had been adopted and a condition of str0D g protest had been entered against slavery ; but the church as it was believed to be impossible to execute those undersiavery. ru i es j n ^ Q South they were soon suspended. The utterances of the Church ever remained strong against the evil of slavery, but as the membership increased in numbers and in wealth they became more or less connected with it. At first its members became slave-holders by inheritance, and gradually by purchase, professing a benevolent aim. Some of its ministers also became slave-holders by inheritance or by marriage. As the laws of many of the Southern States forbade emancipation, both mem- bers and ministers were tolerated. But where the law allowed the minister to free his slaves he was required to do so. The spirit of slavery, however, like evils of every kind, became aggressive. Its influence extended both in the Church and in the State. The North was compelled, under constitutional provisions, to return fugitive slaves, and scenes were enacted which stirred the hearts of many. As the subject was discussed more widely, petitions were circulated and signed for the resto- ration of the early rules, while abolition societies, were organ- ized in many of the Northern States to secure political action. Some were also organized in the churches to influence church action in the same direction. It is not surprising that the dis- cussion of this subject created intense excitement in the South, where the slave-owners supposed their property and their lives were in jeopardy. It is surprising, however, that so much feel- ing was excited in the North. Antislavery meetings were fre- quently broken up by violence ; antislavery lecturers were mobbed ; antislavery presses were broken up and thrown into the river; and in some cases houses and public halls were burned. Notwithstanding the opposition agitation increased, and the antislavery sentiment of the country constantly received accessions." * From this General Conference in 1836 until 1864 the subject of slavery was an ever-disturbing element in the Church, and the constant subject of discussion and legislation. * Hundred Years of Methodism, pp. 133-135. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 133 At this General Conference the action on slavery was : " That it is inexpedient to make any change in our book of Discipline respecting slavery, and that we deem it improper further to agitate the subject in the General Conference at present.' 7 3. The condition of the Missionary Society was thoroughly considered, and its original constitution altered and „. . ~ Missionary amended so as to place it more fully under the con- society's con- trol of the General Conference. Provision was made for a corresponding secretary, who should devote all his time to the work. Dr. Nathan Bangs was elected to this office and an appeal made to the entire Church for an increased spirit of liberality. 4. From the time the Canada Conference was set up as an independent Church there was a question as to CIairnof Cana _ its claims upon the funds of the Book Concern, dian church. At this time it was mutually adjusted by the Book Concern furnishing catalogue-books at a reduced rate from wholesale prices, and also approved rates on Sunday-school books and tracts, the contract to be binding until 1852, after which it shall be void. 5. The rule which limited the tenure of office of book stew- ards, agents, and editors to eight years was rescinded. 6. There were formed six new Conferences, making twenty- eight in the United States and one in Africa, "The Liberia Mission Annual Conference." The new Conferences were Black River, Erie, Michigan, Arkansas, North Carolina, and New Jersey. 7. The Church in Western Africa asked for the appointment of a bishop to reside in that country, but the Gen- Request for a eral Conference deemed it inexpedient at present, bishop for Africa. The board of bishops was advised to select one of their number to go at some time during the coming four years and visit that work, the Missionary Society paying the expense. 8. Three bishops were elected — Beverly Wangh, of the New York Conference : Wilbur Fisk, of the New England ' . . , . Bishops. Conference, and Thomas A. Morris of the Ohio Conference. The first named two were elected on the first 134 MANUAL OF ballot; Morris on the sixth. Dr. Fisk was absent in Europe, but arrangements were made for his ordination on returning. Dr. Fisk declined to be ordained, on account of poor health and because he believed that his services were more needed as president of Wesley an University than as a bishop. Waugh and Morris were ordained. 9. Thomas Mason was elected agent of the Book Concern at New York, and George Lane assistant. Charles Elections. , ° Elliott was elected editor of the Western Christian Advocate, and William Phillips assistant. John F. Wright was elected book agent, and Leroy Swormstedt assistant,at Cincinnati. Samuel Lrcckey was elected editor of Christian Advocate and Journal and Quarterly Review, and John A. Collins assistant. The Book Committee at Cincinnati was instructed to purchase ground and " erect a suitable building for a printing-office, book-room, and bindery." The New Orleans depository was discontinued. Papers similar to the Western Christian Advo- cate were ordered to be established at Charleston, S. C, Rich- mond, Ya., and Nashville, Term. These were to be under the direction of a publishing committee appointed by the respective Annual Conferences within whose bounds they should be established. 10. Appeals came up from the Missouri, Kentucky, and In- diana Conferences, from their action in locating men Appeals. without their consent for unacceptability. The cases were well and fully argued, and after mature deliberation it was decided, 1. That an Annual Conference may locate a member without his consent. 2. Such a person, under the Dis- cipline, is not allowed an appeal. 3. That when a member of an Annual Conference does not perform his work according to the requirements of the Discipline, habitually neglecting his duties when he has the ability to perform them, he is subject to location for these causes, even without the consent of the member. At the close of this General Conference the Church had 650,678 members and 2,781 traveling preachers, Statistics being an increase of 102,085 members and 581 preachers. It had been a quadrennium of great agitation. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 135 In the educational work the .Methodist Episcopal Church planted one of her most enduring schools, which has 4J , * t . Educational wielded a wide influence in the councils of the Church. work. The Indiana Asbury University (now De Pauw) was opened in the fall of 1836 with a preparatory school under . M 11 J Indiana Asbu- the principalship of Rev. Cyrus Nutt, A.M., after- ry university, ward the President of Indiana State University. Bev. Matthew Simpson, A.M., was elected president, and entered upon his duties April, 1839. The presidents have been Simpson, Berry, Curry, Bowman, Andrus, Martin, and John. This university was founded by the Indiana Conference, which at that time included the State. As the Conference has divided, it has re- mained the property of the Conferences in Indiana. It has in late years received some admirable gifts, which have enabled it to develop in a gratifying manner. The bishops started out from the General Conference to visit the entire Church. This must be accomplished each year. For the experiences of Bishop Morris the reader is referred to Marlay's Life of Bishop Morris, pp. 141-151, where, in his own words, are given his experiences in getting to and organiz- ing the Arkansas Conference. The year 1836 is memorable in the fact that the " German Mission " of Methodism was established. Professor German Mis- William Nast was "a young German scholar of S10a - thorough but rationalistic education." He arrived in the United States in 1828 and became a private tutor. Next he taught German at West Point. By reading he became interested in Methodism. He taught modern languages at Gettysburg Seminary, and afterward was professor of Greek and Hebrew in Kenyon College, Ohio. In 1835 he was licensed to preach, and in the fall was received on trial in the Ohio Conference and sent to look after the Germans in Cincinnati and vicinity. The German Missions were recognized by the Missionary Society in 1836, and from that time they were an assured fact. William Nast is their recognized founder. This arm of service in the Methodist Episcopal Church has extended over the entire coun- try and to Germany and Switzerland. The Germans have never 130 MANUAL OF sought to set np a denomination by themselves. They have, however, German Conferences. In the course of the third generation they usually become Americanized. The Christian Apologist (Der Christliche Ajjologete), the German Methodist weekly paper, was projected the last of 1838, and its first issue was January, 1839, at the Western Book Concern, Cincinnati, O. Rev. William Xast was the editor. It did not pay its way for some time, but friends helped it, believing it would ultimately have a large subscription-list among the Germans. Their faith triumphed, and it proved to be a great power for good among this people. Bishop Hedding, at the Xew England Conference which sat Hedding and June 7, 1837, met the extreme abolition movement abolitionism. anc j was compelled to make a decision on a constitu- tional question of unusual importance. From the General Con- ference of 1836 Orange Scott, George Storrs, and others went home with a stronger determination than ever to force their extreme abolition views on the Church and at last upon the country. In a convention of a few of these men it was deter- mined that they would refuse to allow any business to be done by the Conference until memorials on the subject of slavery had been received by the Conference and discussed and referred to a select committee. To compel this action every other motion was to be laid on the table. Bishop Hedding was informed of this decision. Conference convened. The question was sprung. The bishop took till the next day to answer, when in writing he notified them that "he could not admit the right of a committee to re- port on the memorial, and of the Conference to act on any report from such committee." He agreed that the Conference might act provided they confined their action on slavery to " a respect- ful petition to the General Conference of 1840, and that this action should not be published to either the civil or religious community, so as to keep up excitement." * But to this the agitators would not agree. He then declined to put to vote any motion on the subject. Business of the Conference was greatly embarrassed, but finally was concluded. * Elliott's Great Secession, p. 174. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 137 Mr. Scott and Mr. Storrs went to the Maine Conference and " commenced a regular course of lectures on slavery during the Conference. Indeed, it became the fashion of the times for Scott and others to go from Conference to Conference, and do their utmost to engage as many as possible in the ultra proceed- ings of the times." At the New Hampshire Conference, July 5, 1837, the same effort of the abolitionists was made as at the New England and Maine Conferences. Bishop lledding addressed the Conference somewhat extendedly, and gave them in writing a proposition of six points, on agreeing to which he would entertain their motion. They would not agree to his plan, and " there the matter rested for the present." At a later date Bishop lledding gave six reasons for not put- ting such motions to vote as were demanded by the HeddinK's abolitionists : " 1. Such business does not properly reasons, belong to the Annual Conferences. 2. It would be injurious to other Conferences. 3. It would injure the slave. 4. It would produce agitation contrary to the advice of the General Conference of 1836. 5. It would be contrary to onr ordination vows. 6. The admission would completely prostrate the gov- ernment of the Church and throw all her great plans and inter- ests into confusion." * The discussions continued. The New England mind was much stirred. The New England Antislavery Society kept the subject in its most exciting character before the people. Scott and Storrs, and quite a number of other Methodist preachers, were rank, and many thought unguarded, in their expressions. The mass of the preachers, while strongly antislavery and hon- estly wishing its last hour had come, did not believe these extreme ultra views and acts were the best means for bringing freedom to the slave. The Pittsburg and the Genesee Conferences passed resolu- tions denouncing slavery, not upon its political and civil so much as its moral character, and held that it was premature to now petition the General Conference. * Elliott's Great Secession, p. 178. 138 MANUAL OF A picture of the times, by Dr. George Peck, will clearly peck'spicture give an idea of the spirit of the age. "This year of the times. t j ie antislaveiy excitement in our Church," says Peck, " reached a fearful height. Zion's Watchman, a weekly jour- nal published in New York and edited by Rev. Le Roy Sun- derland, a superannuated preacher of the New England Confer- ence, did some good and much evil. It helped to stir the national conscience on the subject of slavery, and so far was right ; but its spirit was bitter and its style inflammatory beyond description. It denounced the bishops, the General Conference, and the Annual Conferences. It assailed private character, it violated the sanctities of private life, seeming to aim not so much to win men to the advocacy of real reform as to compel thein to accept its leadership and adopt its methods. The jus- tice of the cause which it represented gave it influence and ren- dered its errors the more mischievous." * Tiie abolitionists assumed and demanded six things, and who- Aboiitionists' soever questioned the propriety of any one of these demands. was denounced in the most harsh and cruel manner. " 1. Slave-holding is a sin under all circumstances. 2. Imme- diate and unconditional emancipation. 3. No fellowship with slave-holders. 4. Conference and church action all through the connection. 5. War upon church councils and church officials who refuse or hesitate to act in harmony with the lead- ers of the reform. 6. No toleration of the Colonization Soci- ety or sympathy with its designs." " This," says Peck, " was the image which the Watchman set up and called upon bishops, preachers, and people to fall down and worship, or be cast into its fiery furnace of slanderous denunciation. Such were the spirit and the measures of the agitators whose errors Dr. Fisk, Dr. Bangs, and Bishop Iledding opposed." Rev. Luther Lee, of the Black River Conference, has given an account of the antislaveiy agitation from the stand-point of one who gloried in being an abolition- ist of the strongest kind. He speaks of a convention held in Utica, N. Y., May 2, 1838, "composed of Methodist ministers * Life and Times of Rev. George Peck, p. 191. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 139 and laymen." Orange Scott was present and gave an address on "the connection of slavery with the Church," and Luther Lee on the " sinfulness of slave-holding." These things caused great excitement among the pro-slaveryites — such he calls all who were conservative, though strongly opposed to slave-holding — and gave comfort to the abolitionists.* At the New York Conference of 1838 charges were pre- ferred against Rev. Charles K. True, James Floy, and David Plumb. The general charge was " contumacy and insubordina- tion," with three specifications : " 1. Violation of his pledge made at the last Conference not to agitate the slavery question. " 2. Aiding in the publication of an antislavery tract. " 3. Attending an antislavery convention at Utica." Mr. True's case was first called for trial. The case was prose- cuted by Peter P. Sandford, and Luther Lee, of Black River Conference, defended. Lee, in his defense, attempted to bring in his principles of abolitionism in the question of the sinful- ness of slavery, but the bishop ruled him out of order, and the Conference sustained the bishop. When the case was submitted to the Conference, True was found guilty and suspended. Mr. Floy's case being called, he made his own defense — said by Lee to have been " an able one." Floy was convicted and suspended. The same was the result in the case of David Plumb. The Conference then proposed that if these brethren would pledge to the Conference not to agitate the slavery ques- tion the suspension would be removed. All of them having given the pledge they were restored. The Utica Convention appointed Lee to visit the Canada "Wesleyan Conference in the interest of the abolition movement. He himself says : " The president, the venerable father, said they were with the abolitionists in principle, and that we might rest assured of their sympathies and their prayers, but that he thought it would be improper to receive me in a Conference capacity as an antislavery delegate, lest it should disturb the friendly relations between the two bodies." f * Autobiography of Luther Lee, p. 141. f Lbid., p. 161. 140 MANUAL OF Charges were preferred against Lee by Jesse T. Peck at the Black River Conference of 1838, but by the earnest request of brethren were withdrawn. Lee then located, and as a local elder remained in the Church. From this time he continued to advo- cate the abolition cause to his utmost in New York and New England. This discussion continued through the quadrennium. Scott and Storrs were united with Gerrit Smith and others in their inflammatory proceedings. Gerrit Smith in most unmeasured terms assailed the Methodist Episcopal Church, " vilifying her councils and her leading men." In the South there was some discussion and excitement re- garding the acts of the extreme abolitionists, but the Some excite- » o ? ment in the great heart of the Church was steadily holding on its settled course — the friend of the slave, and urging the slave-holder to rid himself of the evil as soon as possible. In many parts of the Church there were extensive revivals of religion, and many flocked to the Church, while in other parts, as a consequence of the great abolition agitation, there was a falling off. The total increase for the year 1839 was 43,910. Rev. John Dempster — afterward the father of Methodist John Demp- theological schools — had been sent in 1836 to the ster. South American Mission. He succeeded in doing good work and strengthened the Church. But most of all he obtained a large amount of information concerning these countries which has enabled the Church to more intelligently carry forward this work since his day. Dr. Wilbur Fisk died at Middletown, Conn., February 22, Death of Dr. 1838. He was " one of the purest men, and one of Flsk * the most intellectual and eloquent preachers the Church has ever possessed." He was a great writer and supe- rior college president. The year 1839 was the centennial of Methodism in the world, centennial of In ^39 John Wesley founded unwittingly the great Methodism. movement which lias been called Methodism. In one hundred years it had gone out to most' parts of the world, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 141 and was established, in obedience to Christ's dictate, " Go ye into all the world." In the United States it had succeeded beyond all calculation, and had grown to be one of the great Churches of the nation. It had in its communion over 700,000 members, as many as the largest denomination then enrolled, unless, possibly, the Baptists. Arrangements were made by the authorities of the Church, and the 25th day of October, 1839, was observed as a day of "festive religious observance throughout the Methodist churches in all parts of the world." The contributions on that day to Methodism in money were marvelous. It had never before been exceeded. In England the Wesleyans gave $1,080,000, while the American Methodists gave $600,000. "A very general pulsation," writes Dr. Bangs, "was felt throughout the entire Methodist community in favor of the celebration, and the several Annual Conferences adopted meas- ures for its observance on the day appointed. . . . The manner in which the celebration was conducted had a hallowing influence upon the Church generally, and tended very much to increase the spirit of devotion. Sermons were preached and addresses delivered in almost every society throughout the con- nection, both on the 25th of October, the day on which the foundation of Methodism was laid by forming the first class, and on previous days, for the purpose of taking up collections for the objects specified. It was, indeed, a sublime spectacle to contemplate the assemblage of more than one million of people, joined by perhaps three times that number of friends, uniting to offer up thanksgiving to God. It gave us an opportunity of renewing first principles, of estimating anew the blessings be- stowed upon us as a people, of praising God for the past, and of clustering together motives for future trust and diligence."* * Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, p. 327. 142 MANUAL OF CHAPTER XIX. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1840 — EVENTS TO 1844. The fourteenth General and eighth delegated Conference as- sembled in Baltimore May 1, 1840. Bishop Roberts, the senior bishop, presided at the opening. Bishops Hedding, Andrew, Wangh, and Morris were also present, and in turn presided during the sessions. There were one hundred and forty-three delegates in attendance. The largest delegation was from New York Conference, which had 10, led by Dr. Bangs. The Ohio and Baltimore had each 8; New England, 7; New Hamp- shire, Troy, Oneida, Genesee, Illinois, and Georgia had each 6 ; Maine, Pittsburg, Erie, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Philadelphia, and New Jersey Con- ferences each had 5; Black River, 4; Missouri, Holston, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia, each 3 ; and Arkansas Conference, 2 delegates. John A. Collins was elected secretary, with James B. Honglitaling and Thomas B. Sargent as assistants. Sargent was not a member of the General Conference. Rev. Robert Newton, as the representative from the British visiting rep- Wesleyan Methodist Conference ; Rev. Joseph Stin- resentatives. ^ president of the Wesleyan Methodist Confer- ence, Upper Canada; Rev. John Ryerson, representative from Canada Conference; and Joseph Sowter, Esq., of Castle Don- ington, traveling companion of Dr. Newton, were introduced and addressed the Conference, bringing fraternal greetings from their various bodies. The bishops' address was presented and read by Bishop The bishops' Wangh. It reviewed the growth and success of address. Methodism, that had just completed its first cent- ury ; the difficulties attending the settlement of the slavery question ; the constitutional powers of the bishops in their METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY". 143 relations to the Annual Conferences; the rights of Annual and Quarterly Conferences in their official capacities ; the subject of collegiate education ; the necessity for a regular and uniform course of study for the under-grad nates in the ministry, recom- mending that it extend to the time of ordination as elder, and the propriety of extending the requirement to the local minis- try ; a careful review of the process prescribed in the Discipline in the provision for locating a preacher without his consent; to what classes of schools the bishops were authorized to appoint preachers; the purely literary, scientific, and religious character of our periodicals ; advice not to meddle with politics; a rule for the admission without probation of members of other de- nominations who desire to enter the communion of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church ; the need for strengthening the board of bishops, where only three of the six were effective, and the other three "enfeebled by labor, age, and infirmity;-' the ef- forts of the parent Missionary Society to establish a central Indian manual labor school; and the w r ork in Africa, which was regarded witli " deepest solicitude." The address gave a remarkable statement of what are requi- sites for a Methodist bishop. "To minds capable . , . r. . . Requisites for of grasping this vast machinery of our itinerant a Methodist system it will readily appear that an effective super- blshop ' in!endency is indispensably necessary to keep it in regular, en- ergetic, and successful operation. It must be effective, not imbecile ; general, not sectional ; itinerant, not local. Destitute of either of these prerequisites, the probable result would be a disorganization of the system and weakness and inefficiency in all its parts." * The following were among the important actions of the General Conference of 1840 : 1. The subject of a periodical for women — "the mothers and daughters of the land " — was fully discussed, and _ _ , . & J ' Ladies' pe r.i- the book agents at Cincinnati, O., were instructed odicai p:u- . jected. to commence to publish such a periodical as soon as in their opinion and the judgment of the Cincinnati Book Com- , * Journal, vol. ii, p. 148. 144 MANUAL OF mittee there would be sufficient patronage. Dr. L. L. Ha inline was elected assistant editor of the Western Christian Advocate, and also assumed the editorship of this new periodical in January, 1841, when the first number of the Ladies' Reposi- tory was issued. It took a high rank as thoroughly Christian and highly literary. It had a list of grand men for editors. Leonidas L. Ham line, Edward Thomson, Benjamin F. Tefft, William C. Larrabee, Davis W. Clark, Isaac W. Wiley, Erastus Went worth, and Daniel Curry were men of the finest culture and grace as writers. Four of them were elected bishops — the highest office in the Church. 2. The design and work of the American Colonization Society were indorsed as a " noble and philanthropic enter- American colonization prise," and the Annual Conferences were authorized to arrange that collections be taken to aid the so- ciety. This action was very distasteful to Orange Scott and his friends, for they esteemed it only tending to perpetuate slavery. 3. Memorials had been presented concerning colored mem- bers p'ivinof testimony against white persons. It Testimony of o o . . . colored per- was enacted "that it is inexpedient and unjustifiable for any preacher among us to permit colored per- sons to give testimony against white persons in any State where they are denied that privilege in trials at law." 4. The General Conference, after full discussion, decided Declined lay that it was inexpedient to change the form of our GenSicon^ church government by the introduction of lay dele- ference. gation into the General Conference. 5. The Church was arranged in thirty-four Annual Con- Thirty -four ferences, the Liberia Mission Annual Conference conferences, making the last. The new Conferences were the Providence, North Ohio, Rock River, Memphis, and Texas. 6. Bishop Soule was the delegate to the Wesleyan Methodist Conference of 1842, and on his nomination T. B. Sar- Bishop Soule ' ; a dekgate to gent was elected as his traveling companion. Bishop Hedding was requested to be the representative to the Wesleyan Methodist Conference of Upper Canada, in 1841. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. H", 7. The Committee on Education presented the following as a full list of the schools that were under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1840. The list is valuable as information. New York Conference: Wesleyan University, White Plains Academy, and Amenia Seminary. New England Conference : Wesleyan University, Wilbraham Academy. Maine Conference : Maine Wesleyan Seminary. New Hampshire Conference : Newbury Seminary, South New Market Seminary. Troy Conference : Troy Conference Academy. Pittsburg Conference : Alleghany College. Erie Conference : Alleghany College. Black River Conference : Gouverneur High School. Oneida Conference : Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary. Michigan Conference: Norwalk Seminary. Genesee Conference : Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. Ohio Conference : Worthington Female Seminary, Augusta College, Blendon Young Men's Seminary, Canton Female Seminary. Missouri Conference: St. Charles College. Illinois Conference : McKendree College. Kentucky Conference : Augusta College. Indiana Conference: Asbury University. Holston Conference : Henry and Emory College, Holston College. Tennessee Conference : LaGrange College. Mississippi Conference: Elizabeth Female College, Emory Academy, Yicksburg Academy, Woodville Female Academy. Alabama Conference : LaGrange College. Georgia Conference : Emory College, Georgia Female College, Georgia Conference Manual Labor School, Collingsworth Insti- tute, Wesley Manual Labor School. South Carolina Conference : Cokesbury Manual Labor School, Randolph Macon College. North Carolina Conference : Randolph Macon College, 11 140 MANUAL OF Clemonsville Male and Female Academy, Greensborongli Fe- male College, Leesburg Academy. Virginia Conference : Randolph Macon College, Female Col- legiate Institute. Baltimore Conference : Dickinson College. Philadelphia Conference : Dickinson College. New Jersey Conference: Dickinson College, Pennington Male Seminary. Regarding a course of study for the colleges and universities the General Conference said they chose not to lay Course of * / > J study for these down a course that should be uniform. Trustees institutions. an( j faculties must exercise discretion in this. " There is a wide and allowable difference of opinion upon the subject, and an attempt to produce uniformity would be most likely to cause dissatisfaction without accomplishing the object." One thing they highly recommended : " That the commonly received English version of the Bible should be introduced into every school and college, and that it should be studied accord- ing to some system which may be adopted by the different boards of instruction in their several institutions; and in those institutions which embrace the ancient languages they recom- mended that the Old and New Testaments be studied in the originals critically. They also recommended that the Evidences of Christianity and Ecclesiastical Ui story constitute a part of the regular course in all our colleges and universities." * The standard raised by this General Conference for the schools of the Church was fairly high, and has since been greatly ad- vanced. 8. The book agents were instructed to open a depository at Boston, Mass., Pittsburg. Pa., and at Charleston, S. C. Depositories. , ..' ^ ' ~ r T The Virginia and JSorth Carolina Conference Jour- nal was accepted and ordered to be published under the name Richmond Christian Advocate. The Pittsburg Conference Journal was accepted and called Pittsburg Christian Advocate. It was directed that the Quarterly Review be enlarged and called the Jfethodist Quarterly Review. The Xew York Con- * Journal, vol. ii, p. ICC. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 147 ference was authorized to appoint the Book Committee at New York, and the Ohio Conference to appoint that at Cincinnati. The Book Concern was to continue to pay dividends equally to the Annual Conferences for the superannuated preachers and widows and orphans of those that had died in the work. Nathan Bangs, E. H. Ames, and William Capers were elected general secretaries of the Missionary Society. Thomas Mason was elected book agent, and George Lane assistant, at New York ; Jolin F. Wright book agent, and Leroy Swormstedt assistant, at Cincinnati. George Peck was elected editor of the Quarterly Review, general books, and tracts. Dr. Thomas E. Bond, a layman, was elected editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, Youth's Magazine, and Sunday-school books, and George Coles assistant editor. Dr. Charles Elliott was elected editor of the Western Christian Advocate and books at the Western Book Concern, except of the books published in the German language ; and Leonidas L. Ilamline was chosen assistant editor. William Nast was editor of the Christian Apologist and of the German publications at Cincinnati. Charles A. Davis was elected editor of South- western Christian Advocate, at Nashville, Tenn. ; William M. Wightman editor of Southern Christian Advocate, at Charles- ton, S. C. ; and Leroy M. Lee editor of the Richmond Christian Advocate, at Richmond, Ya. In the quantity and quality of periodical literature the Meth- odist Episcopal Church even then excelled all other Churches in the world. She has never been left behind in this regard. The result of this has been seen in many ways and at every advance of the Church. 9. The power of a presiding officer in an Annual or Quar- terly Conference as to the entertaining of a motion Power of an was defined. He "has the right to decline putting STL^ the question on a motion, resolution, or report, tain a motion, when, in his judgment, such motion, resolution, or report does not relate to the proper business of a Conference;" but the Conference by vote, without discussion, may record their dissent, which, as a part of the Journal, goes to the General Conference. 148 MANUAL OF When the president of an Annual or Quarterly Conference finds the business prescribed by the Discipline completed he has a right to adjourn the Conference. 10. The Sunday-School Union recently formed in Xew York s. s. union was now recognized as a part of the working force adopted. 0 f Church, and its constitution adopted. 11. The Westmoreland petition was the last important westmore- matter acted upon by the General Conference of land petition. ^§49^ Under the rule that local preachers who were slave-owners could not receive ordination, all the local preachers within the bounds of the Baltimore Conference living in Vir- ginia were barred from ordination. Fifteen official members of the Westmoreland Circuit in Virginia, and about thirty others, official members in Virginia, petitioned the General Conference for relief. The sal ject was considered, and Dr. Bascom pre- sented the report and resolution, which were adopted. The resolution claimed that the provisional exception of the gen- eral rule of the Church on the subject of slave-holding, where slaves could not be emancipated, applied in this case, so that mere slave-holding was no bar to " the election or ordination of ministers to the various grades of office known in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church.'' This General Conference adjourned June 3, 1840, having Three parties been in session from May 1. It was an important iathecnurch. sess j orL There were three parties in the Church, the extreme South, or pro-slavery believers ; the extreme Xorth, or ultra-abolitionists; and the conservative element, a large body of the Church, who stood between the fiery extremes and sought to bring about a permanent peace. The times were trying, but had not reached the limit of forbearance. Years must pass and thousands of men perish before that "good time" should come. The Church had, at the close of the Conference, as re- ported, 580,098 members — a number doubtless less 'than the actual amount ; 2,101 traveling preachers, and 4,935 local preachers. The bishops went out to the Church seeking, as peace- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CIIlTiCII HISTORY. 149 makers, to bring all the factional elements into harmony. But it will be seen how signally they failed. There were great revivals in some parts of the country, notably where the agitation on the slavery ques- .Tii 111 Millerites tion was not prominent. It has been thought that and their the second advent movement under Miller, which influence, about this time swept like a great wave over the land from east to west, had something to do in turning the attention of many to the need for salvation. " Mr. Miller had predicted that the per- sonal coming of Christ, and the destruction of the world, would take place in 1843. He had studied the prophecies with great care, and had so arranged a table of dates and events as to make his statements appear quite plausible. The natural love of the marvelous and the supernatural inflamed the public curiosity, and, especially when united with an indefinite fear of the in- visible which instinctively rises in the mind, had greatly ex- cited many communities. Many thought they saw indications in the skies of coining changes, and every sight or sound unusual was seized upon as an omen of impending events. The churches were more than usually frequented, and many, no doubt, were seriously affected." * While many came into the Church during these occurrences there were others who made complete shipwreck of faith, abandoned the Church, and w T ent to ruin. This discussion, added to the other regarding slavery, kept the public mind in a state of continual excitement. In many respects it was a sitting-time for the Church. Bishop Morris, after a toilsome journey to reach the place, formed the Texas Mission Annual Conference at San Bishop Morris Augustine, December 23, 1841, in the Republic of iaTexas - Texas. Several missionaries had been here for four years. The Conference opened with fifteen members ; it was re-enforced with four transfers, one re-admitted, and three admitted on trial. This gave them a body of twenty-three, though seven of these were on trial. This Texas Mission had formerly had as its superintendent * Simpson's Hundred Tears of Methodism, p. 144. 150 MANUAL OF Dr. Martin Enter, who left the honorable position of presi- Dr. Martin dent of Alleghany College, Meadville, Pa., for the Ruter. hard toil and fare of a frontier missionary's life. Here he died May 16, 1838. On his return journey Bishop Morris visited the grave of this great, scholarly, godly man. The work of the Liberia Mission did not run smoothly. It rue nbeiia became involved in a difficulty with the colonial Mission in government. The colony "was financially weak, trouble. our Mission had been liberally supported, and the superintendent of it had more money than the governor." * Rev. John Seys was the superintendent. He asked the Church for machinery for a saw-mill as the thing then most needed. It was sent to him, but the impecunious governor seized it and demanded regular duty. This was contrary to agreement. The board refused to pay the duty and suspended further efforts. The Colonization Society took the matter up against the Mission and Rev. Mr. Seys. They demanded that he should be recalled. They intimated that if he was not recalled he would be forcibly compelled to retire. Dr. Peck met the officers of the society and showed them that Mr. Seys was not the aggressor. Peace was restored at home and in the colony. The Mission, however, had received such a blow that it was years in recovering. The Missionary Society has spent much money on Africa, and the returns are small. Still the cry of Melville B. Cox is heard ringing in Methodist ears, " Though a thousand fall, let not Africa be given up." Complaint was raised against the Oregon Mission among the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains. It Missionin Oregon great- was " accused of having become too secular in its measures." The superintendent, Rev. Jason Lee, a man well adapted to the work, had secured land to quite an extent for the Mission. Greedy explorers, who saw the pos- sessions of the Mission, and coveted them, raised a cry against the Mission. An attempt was made to create dissatisfaction with the administration of mission funds. Falsehood and every other means possible were employed to break down this * Life and Times of George Peck, p. 233. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 151 work of God among the dusky race. There soon occurred great changes in Oregon. The country was good. Iin migra- tion poured in. The Mission, as such, proved a present failure, but the work became the nucleus of the Oregon Conference, with its excellent churches, its university, and seminaries, its thousands of members, and its happy Christian homes. During these years Methodism was not idle in her educa- tional movements. At Delaware, O., was founded, „ . _ . ' ' ' Ohio Wesley- in 1842, the Ohio Wesleyan University. The citi- an university zens offered a handsome property known as " White Sulphur Springs," with $10,000 in cash, to the Ohio and North Ohio Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church as the location for a college. The offer was accepted. The school was chartered as a university November 13, 1844, and the doors Avere opened with a number of students. Rev. Edward Thom- son, D.D., LL.D., was the first president. An efficient faculty was selected. For sixteen years Thomson served them, going then to The Christian Advocate as editor. He was succeeded by Dr. Frederick Merrick, who was followed by Dr. L. D. McCabe as acting president, he by Dr. C. II. Payne, and he by J. W. Bashford, D.D. It is one of the great schools of western Methodism. The hope that the agitation concerning abolitionism and slavery would cease was altogether delusive. It was dissipated very soon after the adjournment of the General Conference. Even before the General Conference of 1840 the vain hope for early planted seeds of secession sprang up and gave P eace - indications of fruit. Some lesser conventions of abolitionists were held ; but the great one was held in New York, October 6, 1840. Some desired to bring extremes together, and " harmonize the many views." The results showed the equal propriety of harmonizing two cyclones ! Within the New Hampshire Con- ference had been formed the " Wesleyan Antislavery Society," which saw the tendency of the ultra-agitators to secession ; but still they were abolitionists. Garrison, in Massachusetts, led the " American and Foreign Antislavery Society," into which it was desired to introduce the doctrines of " woman's rights, 152 MANUAL OF non-resistance, the. Church as apostate, the ministry, the Sab- bath." Here was jargon confounded ! This society declared that " the American Church has given its undisguised sanction and support to the system of American slavery." There was also the " Massachusetts Abolition Society." The New York Abolition Convention was held October 6, 1840. About two hundred delegates were present. Abolition con- . vent ion in lhey met in the .Baptist Church id Macdougal Street. Newiork. Orange Scott was president. In this convention was organized the " xYmeriean Wesleyan Antislavery Society." It was not chary about giving publicity to its tenets. The second article in the constitution reads : " The objects of this society are the entire extinction of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, and thereby to aid in that great national enterprise now in successful progress — its entire extinction in the United States." Secession from the Church was advocated. A few were hoping that this society might be the nucleus around which they might gather as a new Church. A few congregations had, even earlier than this, seceded. In Cleveland, O., in 1839, a small secession occurred Sec6ssions. on account of abolitionism. Another at Monroe, O., in 1839, and another at Williamsfield, O., in 18-10. In Michigan, the first, in 1839, was confined to individuals. In February, 1811, five classes in Wayne County seceded. These seceders in Michigan met in convention May 13, 1841, and called them- selves " Wesleyan Methodists." It is a wonder that any revival spirit was abroad in these times. "With the New England Christian Advocate, edited by Luther Lee, at Lowell, Mass. ; Orange Scott and Leroy Sunderland writing in Zions Watchman, at Boston ; The Wesleyan Observer and Watchman, hardly knowing what to advocate and what to condemn ; Zioiis Herald, under Abel Stevens, manfully striving for the old paths and former faith ; the Christian Advocate and Journal, at New York, always loyal to the Church as expounded by the General Conference, " were enough to confound the intellect and jumble the judg- ment" of more than men. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 153 From this time to the 8th of November, 1842, the discussion was carried on in the fiercest maimer. All preliminary steps had been taken for a secession. On that date Jotham Ilorton, Orange Scott, and Leroy Sunderland withdrew from the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. The same month the True Wesley an was issued, with Ilorton and Scott as editors. On its first page was the document entitled, "Withdrawal from the Meth- odist Episcopal Church." The reasons alleged for withdraw- ing were: "1. The Methodist Episcopal Church is Reasons for not only a slave-holding, but a slavery-defending secedin &- Church. 2. The government of the Methodist Episcopal Church contains principles not laid down in the Scriptures nor recognized in the usages of the primitive Church — principles which are subversive of the rights both of ministers and laymen." * Mr. Scott let only a few choice friends into the secret of his withdrawal until he had it so completed, and bridges scott's witn- so burned behind, that there was no opportunity for drawaL retreat. Even Luther Lee, who had been one of the stanchest abolitionists, and had left the traveling ministry on account of it, was not informed of or consulted about the movement of Scott. This was one of Scott's methods. However, Lee and a number of others followed Scott and Sunderland into secession. The same paper that announced the " secession proclamation " of Scott, Sunderland, and Ilorton, contained a call for a con- vention of all Methodist abolitionists to assemble at Utica, JS r . Y., May 31, 1843, for the purpose of organizing a new Church on antislavery abolition principles. The time from the issue of the call for the convention was taken up with lesser assemblages in different parts of New England and New York, by the de- livery of lectures, addresses, sermons, and the publishing of fiery articles from week to week in the abolition papers, of tracts sent like a flood over the country, and by an unusual amount of individual chimney-corner discussion. Within the New England Conference an abolition conven- tion was held in Boston, January 18, 1843. Eighteen resolutions * The Great Secession, p 240. 154 MANUAL OF were adopted. It was attempted to show that none need join the Scottites, as thev could be good abolitionists Abolition , * " convention and stay in the Methodist Church. The conven- in Boston. ^ n ^ Harwell, Me., February 22, was no better than the Boston convention. A layman afterward contended that the lay members of Maine did not wish to secede. At Claremont, X. II., a convention was held March 22, but this had little influence. To gain a good idea of the confusion existing in New En- Dr. Stevenson gland at this time, and the amount of unrestrained the confusion. fanaticis[n t j iat inflamed the public mind, read Dr. Abel Stevens's editorial of March 29, 1843. " Never was there, perhaps," writes Stevens, " on any equal portion of the globe, more religious distraction and novelties than at present infects Xew England ; and a fearful result is now arresting the atten- tion of observing men, namely, that in this most free, most en- lightened, most moral, and — in pecuniary respects — most competent portion of the earth, is found a larger ratio of insan- ity than is to be found anywhere else on the globe ; and that among the States of New England, Massachusetts, the best off of them all, presents a larger ratio than any of the others. Any species of humbug, whether it relates to science, religion, or business, can command its champions. In such a state of the jmblic mind nothing is secure ; no one can predict how far the agitations in our own Church may extend." Let it be remembered that within the ranks of the extreme abolitionists there were discord and very diverse opinions. There were godless, worldly, secularized, political abolitionists who were not of the Church, who linked anti-Sabbath, anti- clergy, and woman's rights with abolitionism, and secured a place in the conventions. They sometimes called them- selves " Come-outers." Some of them petitioned the Massachu- setts legislature to do away capital punishment, or " to transfer the office of hangman from the sheriff to the clergy.''' * But the abolitionists in the Church must not be charged with all these novelties. * The Great Secession, p. 253. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 155 The convention called by Scott, Sunderland, and Ilorton assembled at Utica, N. Y., May 31, 1843. Orange utica con _ Scott was elected president of the convention, lie vention - was a recognized leader and a moving spirit. He was an ad- vocate of an episcopacy limited in power. A portion of the convention favored Congregationalism, deeming that the abso- lute independence of each congregation was the panacea for all church ills. Luther Lee led a party favoring a medium ground combining the excellences of itinerancy and Congre- gationalism as far as possible. Unexpectedly a new element of discord was injected. From Pittsburg came Rev. Edward Smith, who demanded a rule in the Discipline, " excluding all members of secret societies from the Church." Scott, Leroy Sunderland, and Horton were Freemasons. When Smith and these men met in the debate it was the meeting of " steel to steel." Smith, finding that he could not carry his project into the Discipline, called upon his followers to secede from the seceders. Luther Lee, who was a Mason, but had been quiet during the discussion, now came forward with a compromise proposition advising the people not to join secret societies. "This I offered as a compromise," says Lee, "and enforced it by the best speech I was capable of making. My extreme solicitude to secure an organization enabled me to throw some pathos into my effort, and by shedding a few tears — some others shed tears because I did — my rule was adopted by a handsome majority." * The proposed Church was formally organized. It was called the " Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America." Wesley an Afterward it was called the " Wesleyan Methodist church or- i •« * i • . t t ganized. Church. At this convention was adopted a disci- pline" and plan of church government. Many of I he Articles of Religion and General Rules of the Methodist Episcopal Church, were adopted. Their chapter and rule on slavery was very strin- gent. The episcopacy and presiding-eldership were discarded. They provided to elect a chairman for a district and a president for an Annual and General Conference. A stationing committee * Autobiography of the Rev. Luther Lee, p. 249. 156 MANUAL OF was to make the appointments, the Conference making final decision. Negotiations for preachers were granted the congre- gations. Ministers, local preachers, and laymen had their own representatives. The convention formed six Annual Confer- ences, and appointed presidents in each. There were about three hundred ministers and local preachers claimed as adhering to the new Church, and about six thousand members. The True Wesley an was recognized as the church organ, and Orange Scott was the editor, and also became the head of their Book Concern. The first General Conference of the "Wesleyan Methodist First General Church " was held in Cleveland, O., October, 1844, conference of over which Luther Lee was elected president. The the Wesleyan . • . Methodist secret society question was again sprung, and came church. near causing another secession. Luther Lee was elected editor of the True Wesleyan. Orange Scott died at Newark, K J., July 81, 1847. The second Wesleyan General Conference was held in 1848, M m in New York. Daniel Worth w-as the president, Second Wes- * leyan General and L. C. Matlack secretary. Lee was again chosen Conference. » ,-, . •, -, editor oi their church paper. The third General Conference was held in Syracuse, N. Y., in October. 1852. A question came to this from the ThirdWes- ' 1 leyan General former General Conference which caused great dis- conference. turbance. The question was as to the relative powers of the laymen and ministry. One party held to the superiority of the ministry, the other to the equality of laymen with them. The fourth General Conference of the Wesleyan Church was Fourth wes- held in Cleveland, O., October, 1856, and Luther levan General T . , . conference. Lee was again president. „ - ilu „ The fifth Wesleyan General Conference was held Fifth Wes- J leyan General in Fulton, N. Y., October, 1860, L. C. Matlack, pres- Conference. . , , ident. sixth wes- The sixth General Conference w r as held in Adrian, leyan General conference. Mich. Luther Lee was elected president. We have followed this Church in its history from the time of its secession in 1842, on account of slavery, until the mon- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 157 ster evil and cause of trouble was entirely broken by the ar- bitrament of war, and the "Emancipation Proclamation" of Abraham Lincoln in 1864. The Methodist Episcopal Church had remained firm to its early principles, and had come at last to be free from slavery. Now what will the Wesleyan Connec- tion do ? In 1867 Luther Lee and a number of the Wesleyan preach- ers returned to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and L.Lee returns were received by the Detroit Conference of the e°p op a i Methodist Episcopal Church at Saginaw City, Mich, church. In 1843 the Church lost its senior bishop, R. R. Roberts, who died March 26, at his farm in Lawrence County, The d Ind. His remains were removed to Greencastle, Ind., of Bishop and interred on the university campus. The Methodist preachers of Indiana erected a marble monument over his grave? which stands as an evidence of the great respect in which he was held in the Church. Bishop Robert Richford Roberts was born in Frederick County, Md., August 2, 1778. When about fifteen years of age he was converted and became a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His first sermon was preached in 1801, and in 1802 he entered the Baltimore Con- ference. Lie was deemed a diligent pastor and a good though not brilliant preacher. As a presiding elder he was remarkably successful. After Bishop Asbury's death he was appointed to preside over the Philadelphia Conference at its session in 1816. The same year the General Conference elected him a bishop. Mild but firm, never in a hurry but always busy, simple in manner, plain in speech, careful in giving an opinion, he endeared himself to the Church. No man was held in higher respect, and to no one's opinions were given more weight in its councils. During the years of the Wesleyan secession in New England and New York, the South had been comparatively TheSoutnand tranquil. In the periodicals there had been some the slavery defense of slavery as against the ultra views of Scott, Lee, Sunderland, and others. The criticisms on the Utica Con- vention and on the formation of the Wesleyan Methodist Church 158 MANUAL OF were severe. Dr. Wightman, in the Southern Christian Ad- vocate, Charleston, S. C, in a strong- article, claimed that the Southern Conferences en masse maintained the principles set forth by the South Carolina Conference in 1838 in her reso- lution "that the subject of slavery in these United States is not one proper for the action of the Church, but is wholly appropriate to the civil, and not to ecclesiastical judicatories. The Conference regrets that it has ever been introduced in any form into any one of the judicatories of the Church." Regard- ing this as the universal sentiment of the Southern Conferences Mr. Wightman strongly urged them to stand by it. "This resolution," says he, " maintains the doctrine of the unmixed spiritual organization of the Church; it affirms the exclusively spiritual and religious nature of its designs." At the close of this quadrenninm Dr. Elliott sums up the state of affairs in this clear manner: 1. "There was Elliott s re- view of af- what may be called the Church proper, or the Con- ferences in the Middle States — New York and the "West — who maintained the Discipline as it is, and were deter- mined it should not be altered or practically nulli- fied. These were strongly antislavery, but not abolitionists in the recent American use of that term. They were not pro-slavery, or apologists for slavery; though they believed men might be slave-holders without being sinners on that account. 2. "There was the abolition party in the Church, confined principally to the New England Conferences. These, Abolition. \ , . f „ , , , ,. tor the most part, believed all slave-holding to be sin, and all slave-holders to be sinners; or they so taught, defined, and made abstract distinctions of such kind, that they virtually, if not intentionally, placed all slave-holders in the class of sin- ners. They also thought the Church to be greatly corrupted in the South with the sin of slavery. 3. "There was also the Southern party, who, as a whole, at this period we cannot place in the list of pro-slavery Pro-slavery. 1 x 1 men. Uut they were not truly antislavery. lhey seem to have yielded to the pro slavery influence around them METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 159 so far as to give up, or liold loosely, their ant isla very senti- ments. They yielded, or began to yield, the things of God to Caesar, overlooking our Lord's command, ' Render to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the tilings of God.' They ceased to claim as a right the great principle that the civil power is supreme only in civil matters, and the ecclesiastical power is supreme in moral and religious matters. As a claim, too, they set up the plea for a slave- holding hishop. " * Numerically the Church had advanced during the four years astonishing v. There had been an increase of 590,000 i rm 1 i 1 • i . ,^ ' n Statistics. members, lhc total membership stood, 1,171,356. The traveling preachers were 4,021, local preachers, 8,087. Church-building under the stimulus of the centennial celebra- tion of October, 1839, had taken a start which has not ceased to the present. Men of means were learning the spirit of lib- erality. The missionary, Sunday-school, tract, and Bible causes were receiving money as never before. The ministry were feeling very graciously these enlarged views of duty in better support. In the older Conferences the work was strength- ened. In the new Conferences the pioneering was extending the borders until every foot of land occupied by the hardy pioneer was occupied by the Church. * The Great Secession, pp. 284, 285. 160 MANUAL OF CHAPTEE XX. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844 — ITS DOINGS. The fifteenth General, and ninth Delegated Conference met in New York city May 1, 1814. It is one of the most memorable in the history of the Church. Historically it was a pivotal point not only in the history of American Methodism, but in the religious controversies of the nineteenth century, and in the gigantic secessions in Church and State, and the begin- ning of the end of one of the most stupendous domestic insti- tutions that has ever enchained a land or enslaved a race. The General Conference was composed of 180 delegates from the Conferences as follows: New York, 11; Baltimore, 10; New Hampshire, Genesee, Ohio, Indiana, each 8 ; Maine, Troy, Oneida, Pittsburg, each 7 ; Kentucky, Georgia, Philadelphia, each 6 ; New England, Erie, North Ohio, Illinois, South Caro- lina, New Jersey, each, 5 ; Providence, Black Piver, Michigan, Pock Piver, Missouri, Tennessee, Memphis, Mississippi, Ala- bama, Virginia, each 4 ; Holston, Arkansas, North Carolina, each 3 ; and Texas, 2. From slave-holding States, counting Texas, 62 delegates; from non-slave-holding States, 118 dele- gates. Bishop Soule was now the senior bishop, and presided at the opening. The other bishops, Hedding, Andrew, Waugh, and Morris, were present, and presided in turn during the sessions. Thomas B. Sargent was elected secretary and James B. Hough- taling and Wesley Kenney assistant secretaries. On the second day Bishop Soule presented and read the address of the bishops," which is an interesting document, espe- cially as it is a statement of the condition of the Church imme- diately succeeding the Northern secession and preceding the Southern secession. * Journal, vol. ii. pp. 151-172. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 161 The delegates were counseled to remember moderation in deal- ing with delicate questions, since they were not le have a home or retreat. The first real movement took place in New York March 26, 1850. In June following the Ladies' Aid Society was organized with this thought in view. " A house was hired on Horatio Street, and, on the 19th of November, 1850, was opened for the reception of inmates." This work grew upon the hands of these godly women, and larger quarters were sought. A building capable of accommo- dating one hundred persons was erected, which was used for many years ; but this proving too small another, larger and finer, was built a few years ago. The ladies in Philadelphia organized June 14, 1S65, to ac- in PMiadei- complish the same noble work. Mrs. Bishop Simpson phia. was t] ie president and leader in the movement. The enterprise was pushed and a building erected and dedicated June 11, 1870, which cost 8100,000. It is impossible to esti- mate the good done by this enterprise. Methodist ladies in other cities have inaugurated, or are inaugurating, similar en- terprises. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 199 Bishop Elijah Iledding was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., June 7, 1780, and died at Poughkeepsie April 9, tteamet Bisft- 1852. In 1799 lie was an exhorter, and supplied the op place of Lorenzo Dow, who had left his circuit. lie was ad- mitted to the Conference in 1801. In 1807 he was presiding elder on New Hampshire District, and was elected a bishop in 1S24. He was from the first of his preaching a prominent actor in Methodist affairs. As the senior bishop he conducted himself and the affairs of the Church through the great seces- sion of 1845 with most perfect self-possession. His administra- tion was with justice, candor, and such thoughtful ness as arises from the consciousness of acting in the immediate presence of God. " For clear and strong intellect, broad and commanding views, administrative ability, and deep devotion, combined with amiability and gentleness, Bishop Iledding has had few equals, and possibly no superiors, in the Church." By the order of the General Conference the bishops organized the work on the Pacific coast into a Conference, calling it the Oregon and California Mission Confer- Oregon con- ence. Rev. Isaac Owen, of Indiana, was the first ference - regularly appointed missionary, receiving his appointment in the spring of 1849 ; and Rev. William Taylor, of the Baltimore Conference (now bishop), soon became the second. Owen went across the plains with farm- wagons, drawn by oxen," and Taylor purchased a ' church and shipped it by way of Cape Horn to San Francisco. Rev. S. D. Simonds, of Michigan, E. Bannister, of Genesee, and M. C. Briggs, of Erie Conference, reached California in 1850. Bannister opened a school at San Jose. Other ministers soon arrived. The work enlarged. October 10, 1851, the first number of the California Christian Advocate appeared. The editors were Briggs and Simonds. In 1852 Oregon was constituted a separate Conference. The growth of Methodism in California has been remarkable. Most of the Indian missions lay within the territory claimed by the Church, South, and as a consequence that The Wyan . Church considered them as properly belonging to dotte s. its communion. But this displeased the Wyandottes. They 200 MANUAL OF originally resided in Ohio, and J. B. Finley was their mission- ary several years from 1S23. In 1843-44 the band was re- moved to the Indian Territory. On July 29, 1S48, eighteen of their official members addressed a letter to Rev. J. B. Finley from the Wyandotte Nation, Indian Territory, claiming to be members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and not of the Church, South. They asked that a missionary be sent to take charge of the Church among them. All those who signed the letter were official members but three, who were chiefs of the tribe. A missionary was accordingly sent them.* Threats had been made that unless the Methodist Episcopal Church divided the Book Concern and Chartered The suits. Fund the Church, South, would enter suit. The General Conference did not believe that it had authority to divide these. Its reasons for refusing to do so were as follows : 1. The Annual Conferences had refused to change the sixth Restrictive Rule, and therefore did not sanction a division. 2. To divide the property without the sanction of the Annual Conferences was unconstitutional. 3. The resolutions of the General Conference of 1844, designated by Dr. Capers as " Plan of Separation," was not apian, for it lacked the requisite concurrent vote of the Annual Conferences. 4. " Voluntary arbitration," as proposed, was decided by legal gentlemen to be illegal unless sanctioned by the Annual Conferences. 5. The General Conference proposed to secure the proper sanction of the Annual Conferences, so that the arbitration would be legal, provided the Church, South, did not commence suit. August 20, 1849, Drs. Bascom, Green, and Parsons gave notice that as commissioners of the Church, South, they had entered suit in the United States circuit courts for New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The suit in Ohio, filed July 12, 1849, was heard before Judge Leavitt. It was entitled, "William A. Smith and others vs. Leroy Swormstedt and others." The counsel for the Church, South, were R. M. Corwin, Henry Stanberry, and Judge Brien ; counsel for defense, Adam JS". * Great Secession, p. 679. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 201 Riddle, Judge Lane, and Thomas Ewing. The case was well handled by these attorneys. It opened at Columbus, O., June 24, 1852. Argument closed July 2, 1852. Judge Leavitt ren- dered his decision adverse to the Church, South. The seven points made by Judge Leavitt are worthy of careful study by the student of Methodist Church history. They are as fol- lows : " 1. That the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church is a delegated or representative body, with limited constitutional powers, and possesses no au- ut'sTecisfon. thority, directly or indirectly, to divide the Church. " 2. That in the adoption of the Plan of Separation, in 1844, there was no claim to or exercise of such a power. " 3. That as the General Conference is prohibited from any application of the produce of the Book Concern except for a specified purpose and in a specified manner ; and as the Annual Conferences have refused to remove this prohibition, by chang- ing or modifying the sixth Restrictive Rule, the General Con- ference has no power to apportion or divide the Concern, or its produce, except as provided for by said rule. " 4. That said Book Concern is a charity, devoted expressly to the use and benefit of the traveling, supernumerary, and superannuated preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, their wives, widows, and children, continuing in it as an organ- ized Church ; and any individual, or any number of individ- uals, withdrawing from and ceasing to be members of the Church, cease to be beneficiaries of the charity. " 5. That it is the undoubted right of any individual preacher or member of said Church, or any number of preachers or members, or any sectional portions and divisions thereof, to withdraw from it at pleasure ; but in withdrawing they take with them none of the rights or property pertaining to them while in the Church; and that the withdrawal of the Southern and South-western Conferences in 1845 being voluntary, and not induced by any positive necessity, is within the principles here stated. " 6. That the defendants, as trustees or agents of the Book 202 • MANUAL OF Concern at Cincinnati, being corporators under a law of Ohio, and required by such law ' to conduct the business of the Book Concern in conformity with the rules and regulations of the General Conference,' in withholding from the Church, South, any pait of the property or proceeds of said Book Concern, have been guilty of no breach of trust, or any improper use or application of the property or funds in tl>eir keeping. "7. That this is not a case of a lapsed charity, justifying a court of equity in constructing a new scheme for its application and administration ; and that the complainants and those they represent have no such personal claim to, or interest in, the property and funds in controversy as will authorize a decree in their favor, on the basis of individual rights.'' * The suit in Xew York was brought by H. B. Bascom and suit in New others against George Lane and others, before Judges York. Nelson and Betts, in the United States Circuit, Court for the Southern District of New York, May 17-19, 1S51. The counsel for the Church, South, were D. Lord, Beverdy Johnson, and Mr. Johnson, Jr. The counsel for the defendants were Bufus Choate, George Wood, and E. L. Fancher. The consti- tutional question was well discussed. Judge Kelson rendered his decision against the Methodist Episcopal Church. After reviewing the arguments he said : " As it respects the action of this body [the General Confer- Decision of ence of 1844] in the matter of division, no one can judge Nelson, p^gtend but that it proceeded upon the assumption of unquestioned power to erect the Church into two separate ec- clesiastical establishments. Independently of this question of property the power of severance is written on every page of its proceedings. " The separation having taken place in pursuance of the action of the competent ecclesiastical authority — by the action of the founders of the fund themselves — how can it be maintained that the Conferences, falling within the new organization, have forfeited the character which entitles them to its enjoyment \ * See Elliott's Great Secession, pp. 794, 795. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 203 "For this purpose two distinct ecclesiastical organizations, we may say identically the same, have taken the place of the one — the same Discipline, faith, and doctrine — and all united in spreading the same Gospel and teachings throughout the land. "Assume, therefore, that the General Conference was dis- abled on account of the sixth restrictive article from appor- tioning this fund, the law steps in and enforces the right." It will be seen that Judge Nelson wholly misunderstood the facts connected with the act of the General Conference of 1844 and the secession of the thirteen Southern Conferences. He assumes that two Churches were amicably formed out of one, than which nothing can be further from the truth. This de- cision of Judge Nelson was most thoroughly reviewed and criticised. The suit in Ohio having been decided against the Church, South, it appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. The case was heard at Washington in April, 1854. Judge Nelson was chosen to deliver the decision, which he did April 25, 1854. It was substantially the same as he had de- livered in the New York case, and was founded on the same principle, namely, that the General Conference of 1844 de- stroyed one Church and made two. This decision of Justice Nelson was as severely criticised by the public and press as the former. His errors were clearly pointed out by jurists, but it was too late to remedy the evil. To the honor of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church the order of the Court was carried out to the letter; and while it was believed that a great wrong was done, the Church bowed to the decision of the Court and performed, after a long legal battle, what it had itself sought to do in a peaceable manner by arbitration. During this quadrennium three schools of high grade were established. The Mount Pleasant Collegiate Insti- tute, located at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, w r as chartered Education - by the Territorial Legislature in 1849, and was opened for st\> dents in 1851. In 1854 it was chartered as a university, and the name changed to that of the Iowa Wesleyan University. It has been favored with distinguished names on its list of 204 MANUAL OF presidents. James Harlan, L. W. Berry, Charles Elliott, George B. Jocelyn, Charles A. Holmes, John Wheeler, Wesley J. Spaulding, and J. T. McFarland have filled the office. In connection with it is a German college founded by John Wheeler in 1873. The University of the Pacific was chartered in 1851 as the California Wesleyan College. Tt stands midway between Santa Clara and San Jose, Cal. Dr. Bannister opened the prepara- tory school in 1852. In 1855 it was rechartered as the " Uni- versity of the Pacific." Its presidents have been Edward Bannister, M. C. Briggs, J. W. McClay, T. H. Sinex, A. S. Gibbons, A. C. Hirst, C. C. Stratton, and Dr. Crook, the present incumbent. It is doing an admirable work in the line of Chris- tian and scientific education. The Hamline University was founded at Bed Wing, Minn., in 1854. Bishop Hamline gave it $25,000. It is now located midway between St. Paul and Minneapolis. It has had a hard struggle for existence, but it has survived all opposition and is on the highway to success. The terrible depletion in numbers in 1845 had not been re- gained by 1852, but, nevertheless, there had been a respectable growth. There were 728,700 members, 4,513 traveling preachers, and 5,767 local preachers. In church property there had been a handsome increase. The character of the more recently built churches was very much improved. Style, size, and architectural beauty entered into the construc- tion of the new churches. The membership of Methodism by industry and thrift were rapidly gaining property, and with it came the opportunity to gratify a taste for the beautiful. This was not a subject for censure. In the Sunday-schools were 93,311 officers and teachers and 473,311 scholars, 1,260,558 volumes in the libraries. In five years there had been an increase of 32,741 officers and teachers and 152,681 scholars. During the same time there were 47,327 conversions. The missionary contributions had increased §60,000 over those of the year 1848. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 205 CIIAPTEK XXIII. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1852— EVENTS FOLLOWING. The eleventh delegated and seventeenth General Conference met in Bromfield Street Church, Boston, May 1, 1852. Bish- ops Waugh, Morris, and Janes were present. Hedding had died, and Hamline was disabled by failing health. The Con- ference was composed of one hundred and eighty-eight dele- gates. Joseph M. Trimble was elected secretary, and C. Adams, B. Griffin, and W. M. Daily were elected assistants. The bishops' address referred to Bishop Hedding, deceased, in highly appreciative terms, pronouncing him an Bishops' administrative officer " unrivaled in the soundness address, of his opinions, the correctness of his constitutional views and legal decisions, and the dignity and urbanity of his manner." It maintained the character of the episcopacy as a general superin- tendency and not diocesan. The worldly-mindedness of many in the Church was deprecated, and the General Conference was urged to give special attention to the spirituality of the Church. The spiritual care of the children was urged. The change of ministerial probation from two years to four years was discussed, and its many advantages presented as follows: "1. The time of probation, as it now exists, is too short to allow such a development of candidates as to enable the Conferences to judge soundly of their suitableness for the itinerant ministry. Neither mental, nor religious, nor moral qualifications can be so fully exhibited, especially in the case of the traveling preacher, as to furnish reasonable data for an enlightened judgment on the part of an Annual Conference as to his fitness to be received into the regular pastorate of the Church. 2. The period is too brief to admit of physical developments so fully as to show that the candidate for the ministry has constitutional energies adequate to the work which is to be performed. 206 MANUAL OF 3. It will be in harmony with the established usage of our elder brethren, the Wesleyan Methodist Church, than whom, perhaps, no Christian Church lias a more efficient organization and well-adjusted system of operation." Many of the acts of the General Conference of 1852 were of unusual importance. Among them we notice : 1. Bishop Hamline, who had been elected inl814, after his mas- _ . .. terly constitutional argument in the General Confer- Resignation J » of Bishop ence of that year, now tendered his resignation of that office. In that speech he had held that it was not true that "once a bishop, always a bishop;" and that Bishop Andrew could be legally relieved from his office. As long as health permitted Bishop Hamline had performed his work to the entire satisfaction of the Church; but now heart disease and nervous prostration wholly unfitted him for labor. His physician forbade any attempt to work. Consequently he sent to the General Conference on May 10, 1852, a letter tendering his resignation as bishop, accompanying it with his parchment of ordination as such. The letter of resignation was exceed- ingly delicate, tender, and sweet-spirited. It stood firmly by the principles which he had so forcibly advocated eight years before. It was the utterance of a heart that bore nothing but love and affection for his peers. The young Methodist may read it as a most remarkable production, and as an excellent example of epistolary literature. The General Conference w r as at first reluctant to accept the resignation of Bishop Hamline, but at last it was accepted. Dr. Ilibbard, his intimate friend and biographer, brings for- ward some reasons for this action. " The discussion of this report," says Ilibbard, " prior to action, presented a scene of dignified sorrow, delicate appreciations, personal sympathies, and stern adherence to church principles rarely equaled in any deliberative body. On the one hand, to accept the resignation would settle forever the doctrine that a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church was an ecclesiastical officer, not representing a distinct priestly order', while, on the other hand, such an act would be a great loss to the Church and her episcopacy, and a METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 207 seeming disrespect to the retiring bishop." There was a feel- ing that in the offer and acceptance of this resignation Bishop Ilamline and the Church were indorsing the low church prin- ciple as to the orders in the ministry. It was establishing a precedent that in future years would be of great importance to the Church. It would meet the argument that Methodism holds to three orders of ministry, because she ordains her bishops. The bishops were instructed to address a letter to Bishop Ilamline stating the regret of the Church at the neces- sity of this resignation. "The resignation of Bishop Ilamline," says Ilibbard, "was the subject of criticism not entirely friendly by the Church, South. The case of Bishop Andrew, at the General Confer- ence of 1844, as we have seen, forced the Southern delegates upon the ground of at least moderate Puseyism. Indeed, they never denned, logically or theologically, their own doctrine further than that it was assumed that in ordination the epis- copal candidate received something which he thenceforward held through life, or till 6 excommunicated by clue process of trial.' According to this his rank must be priestly, not simply ecclesiastical; held jure divino, notjitre Jiumano; belonging to the essence, not the economy, of the Church; made to stand upon exact parity with the order of elder, only a grade higher. . . . There was a moral grandeur in the act of Bishop Ilamline in ' resigning, of great significance, and while the Church regretted the fact they approved the principle involved in it. The right to resign, and of General Conference to accept, was accord- ing to the doctrine of Wesley, of Asbury, and of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church; and no act, simply ecclesiastical, has ever occurred in the history of our Church of broader import or more decisive influence upon its polity in the generation to come." * 2. In northern Ohio, from 1845 to 1848, there had been sharp discussion on the question of secret societies. Secretsocie . One party held that it was wholly incompatible with ties. Christianity to belong to a secret society. The other party *Hibbard's Biography of L. L. Hamline, pp. 354, 368, 369. 208 MANUAL OF denied this, and to a greater or less extent upheld the existence of these societies. The discussion waxed warm. It was finally taken up by the Church, and the North Ohio Conference in 1845 passed resolutions advising the ministers against uniting with secret societies. The particular society aimed at was the Masonic fraternity. Some of the ministers having subsequently united with such societies, in 1848 their character was inves- tigated, and they were found guilty of imprudent conduct in disregarding the advice of the Conference. The matter was brought before the General Conference, which decided that the action of the North Ohio Conference " was unauthorized by the Discipline." 3. The book agents at Cincinnati were instructed to estab- Nortn-west- ^ sn a -depository at Chicago and publish a weekly em christian paper there. At first it was proposed to call the paper the Prairie, but finally, to be in harmony with the family of Methodist papers, it was named the Worth- western Christian Advocate. 4. In balloting for bishops four men were elected on the first ballot, namely, Levi Scott, Matthew Simpson, Osmon C. Baker, and Edward P. Ames. Scott was from the Philadelphia Conference; Baker, from the New Hampshire; Simpson and Ames, from the Indiana. Never be- fore had two bishops been elected at the same time from one Conference. Thomas E. Bond was elected editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal; J. P. Durbin, missionary secretary; John McClintock, editor of Quarterly Review; William Hosmer, editor of Northern Christian Advocate; D. P. Kidder, editor of Sunday-School Advocate ; William Nast, editor of Christian Apologist ; Charles Elliott, editor of Western Christian Advocate ; Leroy Swormstedt and Adam Poe, book agents at Cincinnati ; T. Carlton and Z. Phillips, book agents at New York; J. Y. Watson, editor of North- toestern Christian Advocate ; S. D. Simonds, editor of Cal- ifornia Christian Advocate; Homer J. Clarke, editor of Pittsburg Christian Advocate; William C. Larrabee, editor of Ladies^ Repository. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 20'.) 5. There were formed nine new Conferences. The South- east Indiana Conference was formed from the Conferences. Indiana, and the North-west Indiana from the North Indiana. The Kentucky, Wyoming, Cincinnati, South- ern Illinois, Arkansas, Oregon, and California Conferences were the other new Conferences. The Liberia Mission was left, as before, unrepresented. The total number of Conferences, including the last, was thirty-nine. 6. A new Catechism had been authorized in 1848, and the work was now presented and adopted as being sat- New Cat _ isfactory, and presenting what the Church desired. eewsm. While not a copy of other existing catechisms, yet it was found that their " chief excellences have been combined and harmo- nized." It was commended because it was Arminian in theol- ogy, and "one Catechism" in plan, though issued in different numbers for the use of different periods and conditions of intel- ligence. 7. So much importance was attached to the relation of the Sunday-school to the Church that the male super- Sunday- intendent. when a member of the Church in full 8Chools and ' the Tract So- connection, was made a member of the Quarterly ciety. Conference, " with the right to speak and vote on. questions re- lating to Sunday-schools." After a few years he was made a member with full power in the Quarterly Conference.. It was also voted that there be established an organization, to- be known as the Tract. Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, " to diffuse religious knowledge, by the circulation, of religious tracts and books, in the English and other languages, in our own and foreign countries." 8. " The question of pewed churches was brought to the attention of the Conference by an appeal from the rewed action of the Ohio Conference in censuring one of churches, its ministers. After considerable discussion the rule forbid- ding their erection was rescinded, and another adopted ex- pressing the decided judgment of the Church in favor of free churches."* * Simpson's Hundred Years of Methodism y ]). 164. 15 210 MANUAL OF It had been customary in reporting the membership of the „, ._ ,. Church to classify them as white and colored; but Classification •» " of member- this General Conference ordered that all members ship omitted, gj^jj De c ] asse( j lm der the same head. Since then the Methodist Episcopal Church has not in its publications distinguished as to the color of its members, but has considered them as being all of one color in the Lord. After an unusually harmonious session the General Confer- ence adjourned June 1. In the city where Jesse Lee, less than seventy-five years before, could find no place where lie might preach except on Boston Common, and where he had wandered day after day in the effort to find a room he might rent in which to hold religious services, the General Conference of the same Church had been royally entertained. The influence of the Conference upon Boston Methodism was excellent. It gave it a forward movement that has borne fruit in many ways. This quadrennium was not noted for any great movement in Events of the Methodist ecclesiastical matters. The Church had quadrennium. reac } ie( j a point where it could grow without embar- rassment from the secessions of former years. The question of la}' representation was agitated. Some conventions were held. Public sentiment was being manufactured and the Church edu- cated to feel that possibly the admission of lay representatives in the General Conference would be beneficial. At any rate it be^an to be conceded that it mio-ht be tried without damage to O o o the Church. The North-western University, at Evanston, 111., commenced its brilliant career during this period. It was pro- jected in 1850. A charter was obtained in 1851. In 1853 Clark T. Ilinman, D.D., was elected the first president. Land was purchased, and a temporary college building erected. A faculty was chosen in 1854, and the school opened November 1, 1S55. Dr. Ilinman dying, Rev. R. S. Foster, D.D., now bishop, was elected president in 1850. In 1860 Henry S. Noyes, A.M., became acting president, and served until 1869, when Rev. E. O. Haven, D.D., LL.D., afterward bishop, was elected president. Since then its presidents have been : Dr. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 211 (now Bishop) C. II. Fowler, 1872-76; Dr. Joseph Cumin ings, formerly president of Wesleyan University, who died in 1890; and Dr. Henry Wade Rogers, the present incumbent. Methodism was horn in a college, and hns fostered higher education from the first, and has not fo. gotten the theological education of its ministry. In 1S55 the Legislature of Illinois granted a charter for a theological seminary to be located at Evanston, 111. Mrs. Eliza Garrett, the widow of Augustus Garrett, by her will provided liberally for the endowment of this school. In the summer of 1856 a faculty was selected. Dr. John Dempster was, until his death in 1863, the senior pro- fessor, and among the other professors have been Drs. D. P. Kidder, Henry Bannister, F. D. Hemenway, Miner Raymond, and Dr. (now Bishop) Ninde. There was some opposition to the name of theological seminary, and it was therefore called, as a sort of concession, the Garrett Biblical Institute. The " name has grown respectable by honorable wear and use," and there can be no reason now for a change. As a biblical institute it has wrought a good work, educated many ministers who have taken high positions in the Church, and sent out godly men to cultivate Iminanuel's land. In 1879 Dr. Ninde became j)resi- dent, and was followed by Dr. Ridgaway in 1884, who, with an able faculty, is doing grand work. In 1851 Borden town Female College, Bordentown, N. J., was founded; in 1853, Beaver College, Beaver, Pa.; in 1854, Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, Fort Edward, N. Y., Pitts- burg Female College, Pittsburg, Pa., Moore's Hill College, Moore's Hill, Ind., and Umpqna Academy, Wilbur, Ore. ; and in 1856, Chaddock College, Quincy, 111. — the last for some years being conducted merely as a seminary. Other institutions of less note were also founded during this period. During this quadrennium many Scandinavians came to America, many of whom, after a time, were brought Scandinavian under the influence of Methodist preachers. Soon Mission - they began to write back to friends in Europe, and now and then a converted Scandinavian returned to his native land, his heart full of his new-found treasure. The simple story of the cross of 212 MANUAL OF Christ, and the Holy Spirit coming into the soul, touched their hearts, arid some were converted. They then asked Methodism to send them preachers. In 1853 the first Scandinavian Mission was begun in Norway. From Norway the work spread to Den- mark. Next it reached Sweden. Now all three of these countries hear the preaching and teaching of Methodism, churches are built, souls are converted, and the kingdoms are feeling the gracious power. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 213 CHAPTER XXIV. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1856— EVENTS TO 1860. The twelfth delegated and eighteenth General Conference assembled in the State House of Indiana at Indianapolis, May 1, 1856. Bishops Waugh, Morris, Janes, Scott, Simpson, Baker, and Ames were present. William L. Harris was made secretary, and Benjamin Griffin, S. D. Simonds, John S. Martin, Jefferson Lewis, and James Hill assistant secretaries. Simonds declined to serve. From the British Conference came Rev. John Hannah, D.D., and Rev. Frederick James Jobson, two most worthy Foreign visit- and cultured gentlemen, fine representatives of the ors * Methodism of England. They were the first delegates since the visit of Dr. Dixon in 1848. Dr. Hannah was tutor at the Theological Institute at Didsbnry, and was greatly es- teemed as an able expounder of the Scriptures. Mr. Jobson was a much younger man than his companion, but " he was an earnest and powerful preacher, standing high among his breth- ren." After returning to England he was sent to Australia as the representative of English Wesleyanism. The public service of these men in America was highly edifying to Americans, and equally creditable to the Church they represented. Rev. Robinson Scott was the representative from the Irish Conference. Dr. Scott was also commissioned to solicit money in America to aid in the establishment oi the Methodist Col- lege, the Wesleyan connectional school at Belfast, Ireland. His efforts were crowned with success. The building was erected, and a college opened with Rev. William Arthur, A.M., as first president, and Dr. Scott as theological tutor. Mr. Arthur had been detached from the Wesleyan Church of England in order to undertake this work. 214 MANUAL OF Rev. John Ryerson and Rev. Richard Jones represented the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. An ad- Address from , - ■, -n ^ a the French dress was received irom the French Conference, m church. which the progress of Methodism among the French people was well depicted. They showed how many doors were open for the entrance of Methodism in the south as well as the north of France, and that the want of men and means was all that hindered a large advance in the spread of the Methodist Church in that Roman Catholic country. The bishops' address at this time was more of a detail of the Bishops' ad- condition of the Church than had been given iif dress. previous addresses. They spoke of Bishop Scott's visit to Africa in 1852-53, to hold the Liberia Conference, which was followed by a long period of sickness contracted on the coast. They pointed out some changes of Discipline which would add to the efficiency of Methodism. They entered a strong plea for the establishment and building up of Methodist schools, and suggested that biblical schools for the training of young preachers be made responsible to the General Confer- ence, so that their teaching and management should be in har- mony with the Doctrines and Discipline of the Church. The publishing interests were carefully reviewed, showing that the Methodist periodicals had 295,401 subscribers, and that 9,097,840 single copies had been sent out in a year, and the Sunday-School Advocate had reached an unprecedented circu- lation of 114,692 subscribers. They presented the great work of the Missionary Society, recommended that provision be made for more efficient episcopal supervision in Africa, and lamented the difficulty of obtaining missionaries. Before closing they referred to the action of the Troy, Erie, North Ohio, and Wis- consin Conferences 4n asking for a change in the general rule on slavery, and discussed the question of the administration of the Church in territory where slavery existed. The spirit of the address was most excellent, and it was received in the same spirit by the General Conference. At this session of the General Conference there were thirty-five petitions presented, representing about four hundred METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 215 private and official members, praying for changes in the func- tions of presiding elders. Some wanted the presid- presiding ing elder appointed to a charge and made chairman eldership, of a district ; others, that each Annual Conference be left to regulate its own policy in regard to the matter ; others, that Brooklyn, New York, and other large cities be left without presiding elders. There were also five remonstrances from Quarterly Conferences against any change. The deliberations resulted in no change being made.' There was much discussion on the propriety of an extension of the time that a preacher might remain in one The time charge from two years to three years or more. The limit " committee reported against a change, and their report was adopted by a vote of 127 to 91. This was only a case of hope deferred. Permission was granted to the Liberia Conference to elect an elder in good standing to the office of Bishop for bishop, and the bishops, or any one of them, w T ere Africa, to ordain the man so elected, to have episcopal jurisdiction in Africa only. The bishops were instructed to organize the German mis- sionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church in German Mis _ Germany into a Mission Conference. In September, sion confer- 1856, the Mission Conference was organized by Rev. L. S. Jacoby, the superintendent of the Mission, with 9 traveling and 7 local preachers, 428 members, and 99 probationers. The next year (1857) Bishop Simpson made the first episcopal visita- tion. He greatly strengthened the cause and advanced its standing among the better class, and imparted to it a unity of spirit and concentration of purpose greatly needed. At first it had not the right of representation in the General Conference ; but in 1868 it was granted the full rights and privileges of an Annual Conference, under the title of the Germany and Switzerland Conference, its territory including, besides Ger- many, the German-speaking sections of Switzerland and France. The influence of Methodism on Germany is steadily increasing. 216 MANUAL OF A paper was ordered to be 'published at Cincinnati for German sun- tue nse °^ tne German Sunday -schools. The Sonn- day-schooi pa- tagsckul-Glocke was soon started, and has reached a circulation of 40,000 copies. A course of study for the German traveling preachers was adopted, which, while not including Greek and He- course of brew, was intended to give a full and clear knowl- study. edge of systematic, historical, and practical theology. It served its purpose well, and has only been slightly modified since. It being the fact that the colored youth were without Negro educa- means or opportunity for education, even in most of tion - the free States, the question of how they should be educated was of serious import. The matter was duly con- sidered by the Conference, and this body determined to indorse certain plans already proposed. The Wilberforce University ^ which was just coming into existence, became the center of this movement. Hev. Dr. John F. Wright, of Cincinnati, was one of its prime movers. In 1863 the university was trans- ferred to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Bishop Payne was given the general supervision. It has been greatly useful. Thomas Carlton and James Porter were elected book agents at New York ; Leroy Swormstedt and Adam Poe, at Cincinnati ; Abel Stevens, editor of Christian Advocate and Journal / Calvin Kingsley, editor of Western Christian Advocate; D. D. Whedon, editor of Quarterly Review : Daniel Wise, editor of Sunday-School Advocate; James Floy, editor of National Magazine; D. W. Clark, editor of Ladies' 1 Repository / John P. Durbin, corresponding secretary of Missionary Society; F. G. Hibbard, editor of Northern Christian Advocate / Isaac 1ST. Baird, editor of Pitts- burg Christian Advocate ; James Y. Watson, editor of North- western Christian Advocate ; William Kast, editor of Chris- tian Apologist / Thomas II. Pearne, editor of Pacific Christian Advocate ; Eleazer Thomas, editor of California Christian Advocate ; Joseph Brooks, editor of Central Christian Advo- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 217 cate. The California Christian Advocate, at San Francisco, had been provided for in 1852, published for some time, and discontinued. It was now revived. The Pacific Christian Advocate, at Portland, Ore., and the Central Christian Advo- cate, at St. Louis, had been started as private enterprises, and were now adopted by the General Conference. Bishop Simpson and the Rev. Dr. John McClintock were elected delegates to the British Conference. During the quadrenninm there had been an amicable di- vision of the Chartered Fund with the Church, chartered South, thereby obviating litigation and scandal. Fund divided. This action of the trustees was especially approved, as well as the principles on which it was effected. After a long and tedious effort there was effected a settle- ment between the Western Book Concern and the Settlement commissioners of the Church, South. The commis- wl "i church, sioners from the South, W. A. Smith, A. L. P. Green, and C. B. Parsons, made at last a proposition to J. F. Wright, E. Thomson, M. Marley, L. Swormstedt, and A. Poe, the commissioners of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to take $80,000, and the debts owing by the preachers in the Southern Conferences. This was accepted February 15, 1855, and a payment made on that day of $15,000. On November 1, 1856, and on the same day thereafter, for three successive years, a payment of $10,000 was to be made, with interest at six per cent. Books, to the amount of $20,000, were to be delivered within two years, and the final payment of $5,000 was to take place November 1, I860. The debts of the Southern preachers were $1.2,926.61. A large number of these were outlawed, and many pronounced worthless. The General Conference fully approved of the acts of the commis- sioners, and the agreement was carried out to the letter. It was agreed that the New York Concern should pay $191,000 to the Church, South, and transfer the printing establishments at Richmond, Charleston, and Nashville, and the debts due from preachers residing within the geographical limits of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, South. 218 MANUAL OF A strong and earnest address was sent to the people on the subject of missions. Lay representation was again before otter legisia- the General Conference ; bnt as there was no indi- tlon * cation that any considerable portion of the Church desired it, any change at that time was considered inexpedient. A committee of five was appointed to revise the rituals of the Church, under certain restrictions and limitations. During; the ensuing quadrenniurn the rituals were accordingly revised and published, though not adopted until 1864. Several new Con- ferences were formed, making forty -seven in all, besides the Liberia and German Mission Conferences. General Conference adjourned June 3, 1856. Never had a grander or more cultured body assembled in Indianapolis. A great blessing resulted to the Churches. Besides the delegates there were several hundred visitors from all parts of the coun- try. Methodist laymen were taking a deep interest in the acts of the General Conference, and the power of the Church was being felt in every quarter. At the session of the Liberia Conference in January, 1858, . „ Francis Burns was selected to be ordained mission- Francis Burns bishop for Af- a ry bishop. lie came to the United States for his ordination, which occurred at the sessiuii of the Genesee Conference, October 14, 1858, Bishops Janes and Baker performing the ceremony. Bishop Burns was a native of Albany, ~N. Y., and was of pure African descent. His parentage was poor. "When five years old he was sent to live with a farmer, who sent him to school for two winters and occa- sionally in the summer time. He was converted when fifteen years old. He was early impressed with the idea that he must preach, but could not follow the call until he was twenty-one, as he was bound to his master. AVhen Rev. John Seys went to Liberia in 1S34 Mr. Burns accompanied him as a " missionary teacher." He joined the Mission Con- ference in 1838, and was made its superintendent in 1851. Immediately upon being ordained bishop he returned to Liberia and entered heartily upon his work. Death over- took him at Baltimore, April 18, 1863, while on a visit to METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 219 this country for the benefit of his health. Bishop Burns was a strong man, a Christian gentleman, and left his impress upon Liberia. Bishop Waugh was a Virginian, having had his birtli in Fairfax County, Ya., October 25, 17*9. His death Death of Bish- occurred in Baltimore, Md., February 9, 1858. °P Wau * n - When fifteen years of age he became a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and entered the Baltimore Conference in 1809. He was elected assistant book agent in 1828, with John Emory. Both of them afterward became bishops. He became principal agent in 1832, and in 1836 was elected bishop. For twenty-two years he served the Church faithfully in that high office ; for six years as senior bishop. He was a man of strong constitution, of great power and influence, and abundant in labor. Rev. J. Y. Watson, editor of the North-western Christian Advocate, died October 17, 1856." He was born in Death of Dr. England, but when quite young was brought to In- Watson - diana. He was a man of unusual force of character, preaching with great acceptability. As a writer on church polity he was clear and liberal. His sun set in the glory of a well-ordered life. On the death of Dr. Watson Dr. T. M. Eddy was elected editor and served until 1868. The North-western Christian Advocate has been recognized as one of the strong papers in Methodism, and has wielded a large influence in the North- west. It having been decided to open a Mission in India, Dr. William Butler was appointed to that work in 1856. .» • n i India Mission. He arrived with his wile at Calcutta m September. After careful inspection and consultation with the missionaries of other Churches already in India it was thought best that our Church should occupy as its special field the territories between the Ganges and the Himalayas. Work was accordingly begun at Bareilly, but was interrupted by the Sepoy rebellion of 1857. That, however, having been suppressed, the work was renewed and continued to spread until finally organized into a Mission Conference. 220 MANUAL OF During this quadrennium began the existence of the ill- Troy univer- fated Troy University at Troy, Y. It was in- 8ity * tended to be " a university in the broadest sense of that term." A building u incomparably superior to any other collegiate edifice belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church " was erected in a commanding position, where it was visible for many miles. Dr. John McClintock was chosen president and nominally served in that capacity throughout the whole existence of the institution, but without a residence there. The acting president was Dr. James Strong. A faculty of unusual excellence was elected, and the university opened with brilliant prospects of success September 9, 1858. The financial panic of 1857 and the opening of the civil war in 1861, however, among other causes, plunged it into difficulties, and it was sold in 1863 to private parties and eventually found its way into the hands of the Roman Catholic Church. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 221 CHAPTER XXY. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF I860— EVENTS FOLLOWING. The thirteenth delegated and nineteenth General Conference convened at St. James's Hall, Buffalo, K Y., May 1, 1860. The bishops, Morris, Janes, Simpson, Scott, Baker, and Ames, were present, and presided in turn. William L. Harris was made secretary. There were two hundred and twenty-one delegates. Several of these had been members of the memo- rable General Conference of 1844, and knew the trials through which the Church had come. Here were Alfred Griffith, of Baltimore Conference; John T. Mitchell, of Cincinnati; Henry Slicer and T. B. Sargent, of East Baltimore; F. G. Hibbard, of East Genesee ; Peter Cartwright, of Illinois; J. M. Trimble, of "Ohio; J. P. Durbin, of Philadelphia ; and George Peck, of Wyoming. These men had not only beheld the battle from afar, but had taken part in it ; and now, when there were ominous mutterings in the air, of political secession and civil war, they were not dismayed, but were ready at all hazards to obey the dictates of their consciences. The address of the bishops was, as always, a valuable docu- ment, calmly and dispassionately reviewing the his- Bishops' ad- tory of the past quadrennium, and pointing out such dress " changes and improvements as it might be advisable to make. They expressed their belief that the Church, though now com- posed of forty-seven Annual Conferences, was still E Pluribus Unum. They referred in tender terms to the death of Bishop Waugh and of twelve members of the General Conference of 1856, who " were all good men and good ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ." They spoke of the visit of Bishop Simpson and Dr. McClintock to the British and Irish Conferences, and of Bishop Simpson to the French Conference, and of the appoint- ment of a missionary bishop for Africa. They presented the 222 MANUAL OF work of education, with a recommendation that a general edu- cational board be established ; of the Sunday-school depart- ment, under whose supervision there were 732,592 scholars in the Sunday-schools ; of the publishing interests, which repre- sented a capital of §762,933; of the Tract Society, and the need of the publication of tracts in foreign languages; and of missions, both home and foreign, laying particular emphasis upon the fact that "the great hinderance in civilizing and sav- ing the aborigines of the country arises from the destructive influence of vicious white men." They regretted the existence, especially in some large cities, of a system by which churches and ministers sometimes negotiated their own appointments without any consultation with the appointing authorities and without due regard to the state of their own Conferences or to what might be the disadvantages to other Conferences or churches or ministers, declaring this course to be un-Methodistic and fraught with unhappy consequences. They discussed the question of lay delegation, calling it a matter of expediency. They thought that there existed "great if not insuperable diffi- culties in the way of introducing lay delegates into the Annual Conferences as co-ordinate members of those bodies," but were of opinion that lay delegation might be introduced with safety, and perhaps advantage, into the General Conference in the form of " a separate house, the General Conference being com- posed of a house of clerical and a house of lay delegates, delib- erating together, but voting as separate houses, and no action being valid without a majority of each, separately obtained." Finally, they laid before the Conference the vexed question of extending the pastoral term, deprecating a change, while frankly confessing that they did " not regard this as a matter of vital importance either way." Eev. Robinson Scott, D.D., was received as a delegate from visiting dele- the Irish Conference ; Rev. Thomas Webster and gates. James Gardner from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. In place of delegates the British Conference sent an address ; and an address was also received from the French Conference. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 223 Among the proceedings of this General Conference we may mention : 1. John P. Durbin was elected secretary of the Missionary Society, and William L. Harris assistant ; Edward Thomson, editor of Christian Advocate and Journal; D. D. Whedon, editor of Quarterly Review; Daniel Wise, editor of Sunday-school books and papers ; Calvin Kings- lev, editor of Western Christian Advocate ; D. W. Clark, editor of Ladled Repository ; William Nast, editor of the Christian Apologist ; Thomas M. Eddy, editor of the JVorth-w ester n Christian Advocate; Charles Elliott, editor of Central Chris- tian Advocate ; Isaac S. Bingham, editor of Northern Christian Advocate; Samuel H. Nesbit, editor of Pittsburg Christian Advocate; Eleazer Thomas, editor of California Christian Advocate ; and Thomas IT. Pearne, editor of Pacific Christian Advocate; Thomas Carlton and James Porter, book agents at ]S r jw York ; and Adam Poe and Lnke Hitchcock, book agents at Cincinnati. 2. At this period political excitement inflamed the public mind, and in it the Church was necessarily involved. The s i av ery The slavery question became again one of unusual question, magnitude. The Methodist Episcopal Church began, after 1S4S, to push its way into the border slave States, and soon Conferences were therein formed. These border Conferences had more or less contention on the subject of slavery. Some individuals left the Church, and either united with the Church, South, or deserted Methodism altogether. That the question greatly agitated the Church is shown by the fact that from every section — east, west, north, and south — petitions and memorials were received, some asking that the rule on slav- ery remain unchanged, while the majority petitioned for a change. There had been sent to the Annual Conferences for their indorsement or rejection three plans or propositions for a change, known as the Cincinnati, Providence, and Erie prop- ositions, because they originated in those Conferences. There were also received, opposed to a change, 137 direct memorials to the General Conference, signed by 3,999 persons, and peti- tions from forty-seven Quarterly Conferences ; in favor of a 224 MANUAL OF change, 811 memorials, signed by 45,857 persons, and petitions from forty-nine Quarterly Conferences. The matter was care- fully considered by a strong committee, of which Calvin Kings- ley, afterward bishop, was chairman, and two reports, a majority and a minority report, were presented to the General Confer- ence. The change of rule had not been sanctioned by the requisite number of Annual Conferences; but by a vote of 155 to 58 the General Conference amended the chapter on slavery in the Discipline to read as follows : w Question. — Whatshallbe done for the extirpation of the evil of slavery? Answer. — We declare that we are as much as ever convinced of the great evil of slavery. "We believe that the buying, selling, or holding of human beings, to be used as chat- tels, is contrary to the laws of God and nature, inconsistent with the Golden Rule and with that rule in our Discipline which requires all who desire to continue among us to 'do no harm, and to avoid evil of every kind.' "We, therefore, affec- tionately admonish all our preachers and people to keep them- selves pure from this great evil, and to seek its extirpation by all lawful and Christian means." 3. Xew Conferences were formed, making a total of forty- nine, besides the Liberia and German Mission Con- Conferences. 7 , , - ferences, and provision was made for forming a Rocky Mountain Conference at such time as the bishops might decide to be advisable. Within slave States were located the Baltimore, East Baltimore, Western Virginia, Missouri and Arkansas, Kentucky, and a part of the Philadelphia Confer- ences. The preachers and members within these bounds had many difficulties to contend with and hardships to endure. There were perils by day and night from the slave-holding oligarchy. The political conflict on the slavery question neces- sarily affected the Church and its friends. 4. The temperance question was fully considered, and the com- mittee reported that in their opinion " the General Temperance. _ . Conference should at this particular juncture in the history of the Church and the country speak upon this subject in a way not to be misunderstood." They regarded it the duty METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 225 of ministers to preach expressly on the subject, and of both ministers and members to co-operate to secure laws prohibiting the traffic in intoxicating drinks. They recommended that un- adulterated domestic wines be used for the sacrament, and con- demned the use of wine or ale in the family ; and they declared the renting of buildings for the sale of intoxicants, and the selling of grain where it is known to be used for the manufact- ure of intoxicating liquors, to be " contrary to sound Christian morals, and violating that rule which enjoins on us ' to do no harm, and avoid evil of every kind.' " 5. The growth of the Book Concerns, both at New York and Cincinnati, for the four years had been remarkable. ^ Book Concern; At New York the sales reached $1,175,867.29, being $175,133.11 over those of the preceding qnadrennium. At the Western Concern the sales had been $877,214.68, or at the two Concerns $2,053,081.97. The circulation of periodicals and books bearing the Methodist imprint is only comprehended when it is remembered that behind the Concern is one of the most efficient agencies — the Methodist ministers — the world has ever known. Mr. Wesley early saw the value of a sanctified literature to the Church. This conviction he left to Method- ism at large, and she has made herself famous, not only as an evangelical and spiritual Church, but as a reading people. 6. The Mission Board had given close attention to the foreign mission work in Germany, in every way seeking to Mls . give success and strength to the work. They re- sion Biblical » ,. ; \ , M %. . . . t « Institute. ported the founding oi a biblical institute in the city of Bremen, " for the better preparing of young men for the work in Germany," which was approved and adopted by this General Conference. This institute grew out of a great neces- sity. Three young Germans in Bremen desired to enter the Methodist ministry, but could not. obtain the preparation they desired. The Methodist church in Bremen in 1858 deter- mined to open such a school on condition that the Mission Board should sanction it. A school of three students was opened. The German missions responded well to its support. The Missionary Board at New York gave their sanction. Dr. L. 16 J 6 226 MANUAL OF S. Jacoby became director and Rev. "William Schwartz pro- fessor of theology. Seven students were enrolled in 1859, and a building was dedicated in 1860. In 1861 Dr. W. F. Warren, of the New England Conference, became professor of theology in the institute. The school was eminently success- ful, and larger quarters being required, Mr. J. T. Martin, of Brooklyn, N. Y., gave §25,000 for a building.. It was erected in Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1867, the school transferred from Bremen, and the name changed to "Martin Mission Institute." Dr. (now bishop) Hurst became professor of theology in 1S66. The institute is in a flourishing condition, has accomplished untold good, and has been the place where " most of the preachers of the Germany and Switzerland Conference have received instruction." The institute has made in the past twenty-five years a marked impression upon the German theol- ogy. It is a leaven, and is leavening the whole lump. 7. The New York book agents were instructed to publish Sunday-school monthly a paper for Sunday-school teachers. This journal. was commenced in 1861, with John II. Yincent, now bishop, as editor. It was first published as an eight-page quarto, but now contains fifty-six large octavo pages. It has a large circulation, not confined to the Methodist denomina- tion. 8. Methodism was planted in America about 1766. A cent- centenary of ur 7 nac ^ now near lY passed. The matter of properly American observing the centennial anniversary was considered, and recommendation made to the Annual Confer- ences and membership to appropriately celebrate the occasion. All ecclesiastical bodies included in the Methodist family in the United States and British possessions in North America were invited to unite in such celebration. A committee of corre- spondence was appointed to make preliminary arrangements for the event by correspondence with other Methodist bodies. As there would be another General Conference before the oc- casion of the celebration, the details were laid over to await the action of that body. 9. For several years the subject of lay representation in the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IILSTOItY. 227 Annual and General Conferences had been agitated, From 1828, when the Methodist Protestant secession oc- L ayre P resen- curred, there had existed an element which favored it. tation - Every advantage had been presented and urged in its strongest light. Many memorials and petitions praying for its adoption were sent to this General Conference, which were carefully considered. Majority and minority reports were presented. The majority report proposed a plan for lay delegation in the General Conference, which was to be submitted to the several Annual and Quarterly Conferences. If sanctioned by these bodies it was then to become a law "upon the concurrent action of a majority of the next General Conference." The plan proposed was very nearly that which was adopted in 1872, and is still in operation, but differed from it in providing for an equal repre- sentation of lay and clerical delegates. The minority report was opposed to any attempt to introduce lay delegation, " in view of the general satisfaction of the laity with the govern- ment of the Church," and of the small desire of the Annual and Quarterly Conferences for its introduction. These reports were referred to a committee of three, who substituted a report which was adopted. It affirmed a readiness to introduce lay delegates into the General Conference when satisfied that the Church desired it. A method was provided for ascertaining the desire of the Church, through a vote of the male members of the Church, over twenty-one years-of age, in full connection. Due notice of this election was to be given on two successive Sundays. It was to occur between the Annual Conferences of 1861 and 1862, and to be by ballot. The Annual Conferences of 1862 were also to vote on the subject. The results of these votes were to be laid before the General Conference in 1861. 10. The desirability of a board of education, to have a general oversight of all the educational work of the Church, ° , , Education. was stated by the Committee on Education. Com- petent persons were appointed to mature and present to the next General Conference a plan for the organization of such a board. The undue " multiplication of literary institutions " of a high grade without suitable endowments, by which existing and 228 MANUAL OF established institutions had been seriously crippled ; the want of some established and responsible means of communication between teachers desiring employment and those needing their services, and the "neglect of young men of piety and promis- ing talents who are without the necessary means for securing a thorough intellectual training," were among the reasons which demanded this new movement in Methodism. 11. In Western New York, about 1855, there arose " an- » Nazari te" pleasant contests" in several churches "in reference movement. ^ 0 organization of societies in the Church, which professed to desire its purification, but which were conducted in opposition to its Discipline and its economy. The members of these associations were usually distinguished by the term 1 Xazarites.' Several ministers had been tried for matters growing out of these associations, some of them for insubordi- Members tried nation and others for falsehood, had been expelled by and expelled. f-i ie Genesee Conference, and had given notice of their appeal to the General Conference." It was in the year 1857 that Rev. B. T. Roberts was tried in the Genesee Con- ference for u immoral and unchristian conduct," and, being found guilty, the Conference sentenced him to be rebuked by the bishop. The next year, having repeated his offense, he was charged with contumacy and expelled. Also a like charge was brought against Rev. Joseph McCreerv, and, being found guilty, he also was expelled from the ministry and the Church. u Notwithstanding their expulsion they had continued to preach and to organize societies in defiance of church order." This conduct greatly disturbed many circuits and stations. Their appeal was presented to the General Conference, and « ,u ^ strongly advocated by eloquent ministers, but thev Free Method- c «< •* 1st church or- had so flagrantly violated the church law after their trial and appeal that it was not entertained. August 23, 1S60, at a convention held at Pekin, Niagara County, X. Y., the Free Methodist Church was organized. Their convention was " composed of laymen and ministers who were then, or had been, members of the Methodist Episcopal Church." The Free Methodists discarded the episcopacy and substituted METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 2%) a general superintendent elected for four years. They have General, Annual, District, and Quarterly Conferences. The lay representation is equal to that of the ministry. Class- meetings are retained, and attendance is made a test of member- ship. Instead of the presiding elder there is a " district chair- man." The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Episcopal Church are retained, with two additions, the first on entire sanctitication, the second on future rewards and punishments. Members of the Free Methodist Church are required to lay aside all superfluous ornamentation in dress, not to unite with any secret society, and not to use intoxicating liquors or to- bacco, except as medicine. In a short time after the adjournment of the General Con- ference there was started in JSTew York a weekly » The Meth- paper, called The Methodist, in the interests and for odist -" the advocacy of lay representation. It was ably edited from the start, and filled a niche unoccupied in the field of independent religious journalism. It ably advocated the cause in every pos- sible manner. JSTo one can tell what it might have accomplished had not the rebellion broken out and turned the public attention to the salvation of the country. " National questions, for a time, took precedence of all others." When the vote ordered by the General Conference upon the question of lay delegation was taken only a small proportion of the members of the Church participated, 28,884 voting for the change, and 47,855 against it, while the ministers were even more largely against it. In 1882 The Methodist was purchased by the New York Book Concern and merged in The Christian Advocate. Mr. Lincoln was nominated for President of the United States in May, 1860, by the Republican party. Mr. \ i.i ~\~r i Clouds of war. Douglas was the candidate of the Northern Democ- racy, and Mr. Breckinridge of the Southern. The ever trouble- some question of slavery was the central thought in these parties. The action of the Methodist Episcopal Church in taking an advanced position on the question necessarily drew her into the conflict. The extremists of the South went to great lengths in their antagonisms and in persecution of the mem- 230 MANUAL OF bers, and especially the preachers, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On September 13, 1860, Rev. Anthony Bewley, a member of the late General Conference, was hung at Fort Worth, Tex., by a mob, for no other reason than that he was a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. On March 13, 1859, while Bishop Janes was holding religious services at the Arkansas Conference, and just as he was announcing his text, on Sabbath morning, Judge Roberts, with a crowd, entered the church and ordered the bishop to leave within two hours, an- nouncing that if the Church did not cease to operate in Texas " blood would be shed, and the responsibility would be on the bishop and Conference." The clouds gathered blacker and thicker. Mr. Lincoln was elected President in November, 1860, and on the 4th of March, 1861, was inaugurated. Treason was every-where. Friends became suspicious of each other. Who was loyal? Sumter was fired upon and fell. South Carolina seceded from the Union. One after another of the slave States of the South followed. These elements gravitated toward a common center, and the Southern Confederacy was formed. Thus had been done for the Union what had been done for the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844 and 1845. There was a secession in each case. In 1845 the Church had only moral and spiritual weapons with which to resist its enemies ; but in 1861 the government had arms, patriotism, and moral power to crush rebellion and root out slavery. The times were dangerous ; but, " inspired by patriotism, de- soidierstotbe y oted to the government of their country, and op- front, posed to slavery, which had already rent and torn their Church, it is not surprising that a very large number of the young men of the Methodist congregations, as well as of all the other Churches and of the community generally, volun- teered for the army. Through these dreadful years of bloody contests large numbers of the members and friends of the Church fell while supporting the banner of their country." * Said M. F. Odell, member of Congress from Brooklyn, X. Y., u that among the most patriotic in the land were the members of the Meth- * Simpson's Hundred Years of Methodism, p. 176. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 231 odist Episcopal Church." He had been informed by the Presi- dent that no Church had given its ministers and men more freely than the Methodist Church all over the land."* Colonel J. II. Perry, of New York East Conference, fell at his post at Fort Pulaski, Ga. Colonel Granville Moody, of Cin- cinnati Conference, whose stirring words at Murfreesborough have become historic, did good service. Colonel M. McCarter, of the Philadelphia Conference, Chaplain J. II. Lozier, of South-eastern Indiana Conference, Chaplain A. Eddj T , of North Indiana Conference, and a half thousand more, with two hun- dred thousand laymen and ministers in the rank and tile, might be mentioned. They were an honor to the Church and country. They were pious and patriotic. They were unflinching in time of greatest peril. Their memory is fragrant, and their example is inspiring. "This era w T as remarkable for one of the most wonderful facts of history." It was one in which all the -I -ii __ _. . Emancipation. Churches, and especially the Methodist Episcopal, as well as the country, were deeply interested. " The Procla- mation of Emancipation was issued by President Lincoln in September, 1862, conditioned on the continuance of the re- bellion ; and on the 1st of January, 1863, that proclamation was made final. Thus the manacles were struck from nearly four millions of human beings, and from that time forth they were to some extent employed in the army. It was the gen- eral conviction that God had permitted this great struggle to occur to end the system of slavery. Statesmen had anxiously sought, but were unable to find, a proper mode of relief. Instead of gradual emancipation advancing, as had been hoped, slavery had assumed a more aggressive attitude, and had shown a bolder determination to extend its area, So far as human vision can perceive, in no other way could this evil have been so speedily and so successfully terminated. It was permitted to become the agent of its own destruction. The rebellion was com- menced by the South. A leading orator had boasted that he would call the roll of his slaves on Bunker Hill. The South * Methodist Quarterly Eeview, 1863, p. 436. 2o2 MANUAL OF fired the first gun, made the first attacks, and precipitated the nation into the fearful struggle which resulted, under the bless- ing of God, in the abolition of slavery, and in the strengthen- ing and consolidation of the general Union. In this issue the Church most heartily rejoiced." * The period of the rebellion was not favorable to the work of the development and planting of educational enter- Education. r prises, but nevertheless some good work was wrought during these dark days. At Jackson, Mich., as early as 1835, the Spring Arbor Seminary had been established, but in 1839 it was removed to Albion, and the name changed to Wesleyan Seminary. In 1850 it was again changed to Albion Female Collegiate Institute and Wesleyan Seminary. In 1S61 the institution took its present name, Albion College. It has grown to be a power in Methodist education in Michigan. For some years there had been at the Baldwin University, Berea, O., a German department designed especially for the education of German candidates for the ministry. This depart- ment prospered, and in 1864 German Wallace College was or- ganized under the charter of Baldwin University. Within its sphere it has exerted a wide influence. During the war many German children were left orphans. German or- The German Methodists cared for them. At War- phanasyiums. rent0Ilj m 0#j an asylum was opened in 1864. This was soon filled with about one hundred German children whose fathers had fallen in the defense of the Union cause. The German Orphan Asylum at Berea, O., was established about the same time. It has a fine property, owned by the Central German, Chicago, and East German Conferences, and located near the German Wallace College. It has accom- plished an untold amount of good, and has reared many orphans in a groat Christian family, educated them, and sent them out to the world to be useful Christian citizens. Union Chapel was organized in Cincinnati, O., in 1S1:9. The property was deeded to trustees in trust for the society, and not to the Methodist Episcopal Church. This fact did not * Simpson's Hundred Yearn of Methodism, pp. 177, 178. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 233 appear at the time. There seems to have been an avowed purpose to change some of the customs of Meth- UnlonCnape , odism. It was supposed to be a Methodist Epis- Cincinnati, copal Church. In 1859 Rev. George C. Robinson was appointed pastor, and served for some time acceptably. Health failed, and Rev. W. A. Snively, a supernumerary of the East Baltimore Conference, finished out the year. Bishop Morris was besought to transfer Mr. Snively to the Cincinnati Conference, and appoint him to Union Chapel. This the bishop declined to do. The official board had declined to aid in the support of the presiding elder, "on the ground that the services of that officer were not required." Rev. G. C. Crum, D.D., was appointed pastor. The church refused to receive him. Bishop Morris then ordered the church to be left off the list of appointments in the Cincinnati Conference. The offi- cial board appealed to the General Conference of 1864. The case was brought before that body, and it indorsed the action of Bishop Morris as being in perfect accord with the law of the Church. One thing in Methodist history during this period is gratify- ing to loyal Methodists — the great influence of our _ _ , & J , . . Y . Influence of bishops abroad in giving a right understanding of the bishops in the causes of the great rebellion and the success of Europe * the government in maintaining the Union. Bishops Janes and Simpson during this time visited England and the Continent. Both of these strong men, by addresses and sermons, publicly presented the cause of the United States. They stated clearly the situation of affairs, the resources of the nation, the resolute determination of Union men, the steadiness and valor of the army. In private they constantly demonstrated the necessity for upholding the Union in the interests of public morality, the Church, and humanity in general. They won friends for the Union wherever they went. Their earnest eloquence charmed listening thousands into real sympathy. The subject of lay delegation gathered force. . On the 18th of May, 1864, a convention of representative laymen Lay deleRa _ assembled in Philadelphia, Pa. The subject was tion - very fully discussed in a calm and brotherly manner. On MANUAL OF May 19 a committee from this convention was received by the General Conference, and Dr. James Strong, secretary of the laymen's convention, presented an admirable address, which was received and referred to the Committee on Lay Delegation.* The Methodist was constantly publishing strong articles, presenting in the best light every aspect of the sub- ject, and the desirableness and need of laymen in the councils of the Church, and also admitted articles advocating the oppo- site view. Conventions were held in various parts of the country, and, as the great disturbance of war was being some- what allayed, this cause gained ground. It took much argument to root out the sad influence of the secession of 182S and the unfortunate discussions that had grown out of that movement for lay representation. The friends of the movement were now proceeding on a more sensible and commendable ba-is than in former years. At the close of this quadrenninm the Church had 928,320 members, showing a decrease of 66,127, which could Statistics. 7 ° easily be accounted for by the prevalence of the civil war. There were 6,821 traveling preachers — a decrease of 166. Of local preachers there were 8,205 — -an increase of 17. One cannot remember the fearful condition of the country dur- ing these three years, and see how well the Church maintained herself, without praising God for the Church and for Chris- tianity. * See Appendix to General Conference proceedings of 1 864, pp. 409-411. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 235 CHAPTER. XXVI. THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OP 1864— THE EVENTS OF THE QUADRENNIUM, 1864-68. On Monday morning, May 2, 1864, the fourteenth delegated and twentieth General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church assembled in Union Church, Philadelphia. The bishops, Morris, Janes, Scott, Simpson, Baker, and Ames, were present. William L. Harris was elected secretary. The Conference sat amid the closing months of the great rebellion, though at the time it looked as if the civil w T ar might continue for two or three more years. The awful gloom that had been over the land from 1861 had in part lifted, for men saw that the Union was sure ultimately to triumph. Within the nation were forces capable of self-preservation. Those who had fought the great sin of slavery, and had expected to die before the day of its abolishment should come, had been glad- dened by the full emancipation of the thousands who had so long wailed in bondage. The changed relations of the slave and master had placed upon the Church new responsibilities. Territory that had been necessarily closed to the Methodist Episcopal Church was now thrown open, and into this the Church must go. There was a consciousness of responsibilities and duties toward those whose life had been that of bondage, and the Church took them up with a will, planned admirably, set forces at work to accomplish its purposes, and trusted God to give success. The bishops referred in their address to the sad state of the country during the quadrennium, but rejoiced in Bishops' ad- the loyalty of preachers and people. All the Con- dress - ferences had met at the time and place designated, except two — the Missouri and Kentucky. While on the extreme war border there had been some derangement of the districts and 236 MANUAL OF circuits there had generally been a most cheering and wonder- ful progress. In some parts of the Church there had been a falling off of membership, but all this was accounted for by the war. The value of church property had somewhat in- creased, so that it amounted to $20,830,554. The missionary interests of the Church were never in so prosperous a condi- tion. "While the country was in a state of civil war not a mission field had been abandoned or a missionary called home. Bishop Burns, the missionary bishop for Africa, had died in Baltimore, April 18, 1863, w T hich left an important field to be supplied. The Book Concern at the breaking out of the re- bellion appeared to be in great danger, but God had blessed the efforts made in its behalf. Some old fields had ceased to be productive, but other fields were opened, and the publishing interests were never in a more prosperous condition. The Book Concern was able in 1863 to declare a dividend to each Annual Conference of $100. They spoke encouragingly of the Garrett Biblical Institute and the noble work it was doing. While they lamented the death cf John Dempster, the pioneer of Methodist theological education, they were satisfied that this work would go on to the glory of God. The bishops recom- mended that advanced steps should be taken for the increased efficiency of the Church among the colored people. The cen- tennial of American Methodism was again brought before the General Conference, and recommendation made that it be properly observed. The venerable senior bishop, Morris, was invited to deliver Bishop Mor- a semi-centennial sermon before the General Con- centenrfiai 1 * ference, as he had just completed half a century in sermon. the Methodist ministry. On the 10th of May, before this honorable body, he preached one of his characteristic ser- mons. The text was Isa. lix, 21. His closing words were full of prophetic instinct. " TTe believe, also," said he, " that the Southern rebellion will be crushed, slavery abolished, the union of the States restored, a permanent peace established, and last, though not least, after all this, we shall have such a revival of the work of Gcd as the world has never seen. We have the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 237 dawning of this glorious day already, and we believe the sun wil! soon arise in full splendor, and from every hill and valley will go up the shout, 4 Halleluiah ! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.' " The official visitors were highly cultured and leading men in their various denominations. Rev. W. L. Thornton, official visit- A.M., came from the British Conference ; Rev. Rob- ors - inson Scott, D.D., from the Irish Conference ; Revs. James Gardiner and Samuel Morrison, from the Methodist Episcopal Church, Canada; and Rev. John Carroll and Rev. Dr. S. S. Nelles, from the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Canada. The addresses of these representatives showed that Methodism had no need to fear that either grace or culture was dying out in any of her branches. Among the proceedings we mention the following : 1. For several years there had been an agitation of „ . d ° Extension of the question of extending the term of ministerial ministerial service in the same charge. Origin-ally there had been no limit. In 1804 a limit of two years was imposed. In 1864 the term was extended to three years. No further exten- sion was made until 188S, when the term was finally lengthened to five years. 2. The necessity for some provision for holding certain properties that w r ere left to the Methodist Episcopal Trustees for Church led this General Conference to provide for tQeCn »rch. a board of trustees to be properly incorporated. Soon after- ward they were incorporated by the legislature of Ohio. 3. A long-felt want of some properly equipped society for the supervision of the work of church-building, and church ex- the extension of the Church into destitute and front- tension - ier portions of the country, was supplied at this time by the formation of the Church Extension Society. Rev. S. Y. Monroe, D.D., was its first corresponding secretary. After his untimely death Rev. Dr. A. J. Kynett, of Upper Iowa Conference, was appointed. The career of this society has been one of un- paralleled success. There have been built thousands of churches through its instrumentality. It has created a style of architect- 23S MANUAL OF ure which lias greatly beautified the churches of Methodism. Its good work has only been bounded by its resources. 4. The question of slavery, which had so long troubled the Slavery Church, and especially the General Conference, arose again. There were two reports, but the majority re- port was adopted by a vote of 207 to 9. The rule on slavery was made to forbid " slave holding, buying or selling slaves." 5. Bishop Ames, Joseph Cummings, George Peck, Charles Elliott, and Granville Moody were appointed a corn- Address to . . . _^ . . . 1 1 president niittee to visit W asliiiigton, bearing an address to Lincoln. ^ p^gj^t 0 f t } ie United States, with the assur- ances of the loyalty and steadfastness of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. They proceeded to that city, called on President Lincoln, and presented to him the address. President Lincoln made a short but excellent reply, which was received with de- light by the whole Church. The address of the General Con- ference was as follows : u To his Excellency Abraham Lincoln^ President of the United States : " The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now in session in the city of Philadelphia, representing nearly seven thousand ministers and nearly a million of members, mindful of their duty as Christian citizens, takes the earliest opportunity to express to you the assurance of the loyalty of the Church, her earnest devotion to the interests of the country, and her sympathy with you in the great responsibilities of your high position in this trying hour. "With exultation we point to the record of our Church as having never been tarnished by disloyalty. She was the first of the Churches to express, by a deputation of her most distil* guished ministers, the promise of support to the government in the days of Washington. In her Articles of Religion she has enjoined loyalty as a duty; and has ever given to the govern- ment her most decided support. " In this present struggle for the nation's life many thou- sands of her members, and a large number of her ministers, have METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 239 rushed to arms to maintain the cause of God and humanity. They have sealed their devotion to their country with their blood on every battle-field of tin's terrible war. t% We regard this dreadful scourge now desolating onr land and wasting the nation's life as the result of a most unnatural, utterly unjustifiable rebellion, involving the crime of treason against the best of human governments, and sin against God. It required our government to submit to its own dismem- berment and destruction, leaving it no alternative but to pre- serve the national integrity by the use of the national resources. If the government had failed to use its power to preserve the unity of the nation and maintain its authority, it would have been justly exposed to the wrath of Heaven and to the reproach and scorn of the civilized world. " Our earnest and constant prayer is, that this cruel and wicked rebellion may be speedily suppressed ; and we pledge you our hearty co-operation in all appropriate means to secure this object. " Loyal and hopeful in national adversity, in prosperity thank- ful, we most heartily congratulate you on the glorious victories recently gained, and rejoice in the belief that our complete triumph is near. "We believe that our national sorrows and calamities have resulted in a great degree from our forget fulness of God and oppression of our fellow-men. Chastened by affliction, may the nation humbly repent of her sins, lay aside her haughty pride, honor God in all future legislation, and render justice to all who have been wronged. " We honor you for your proclamation of liberty, and re- joice in all the acts of the government designed to secure free- dom to the enslaved. "We trust that when military usages and necessities shall justify interference with established institutions and the re- moval of wrongs sanctioned by law, the occasion will be imr proved, not merely to injure our foes and increase the national resources, but also as an opportunity to recognize our obliga- tions to God and to honor his law. We pray that the time 240 MANUAL OF may speedily come when this shall be truly a republican and free country, in no part of which, either State or Territory, shall slavery be known. " The prayers of millions of Christians, witli an earnestness never manifested for rulers before, daily ascend to heaven that you ma} T be endued with all needed wisdom and power. Actu- ated by the sentiments of the loftiest and purest patriotism, our prayer shall be continually for the preservation of our country undivided, for the triumph of our cause, and for a permanent peace, gained by the sacrifice of no moral principles, but founded on the word of God, and securing in righteousness liberty and eqnal rights to all. ' ; Signed in behalf of 'the General Conference of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Joseph Cummixgs, Chairman" The President replied as follows: u Gentlemen : In response to your address allow me to attest Lincoln's accuracy of its historical statements, indorse the re P ly - sentiments it expresses, and thank you in the nation's name for the sure promise it gives. " Nobly sustained as the government has been by all the Churches, I would utter nothing which might in the least ap- pear invidious against any. Yet without this it may fairly be said that the Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is, by its greater numbers, the most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven, than any. God bless the Methodist Church ! bless all the Churches ! and blessed be God ! who in this our great trial giveth us the Churches. " [Signed] A. Lincoln." G. An important paper was presented to the General Con- state of the ference regarding the state of the country. The country. Church fully realized the perils which threatened the nation. The action of the Conference cannot be better told than in the words of the resolutions: METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 241 " Resolved, That in this hour of the nation's trial we will re- member the President of the United States, all other officers of the government, and our army and navy, in never-ceasing prayer. u Resolved, That it is the duty of the government to prose- cute the war with all its resources of men and money till this wicked rebellion shall be subdued, the integrity of the nation shall be secured, and its legitimate authority shall be re-estab- lished, and that we pledge our hearty support and co-operation to secure this result. " Resolved, That we regard our calamities as resulting from, our forgetfulness of God, and from slavery, so long our nation's reproach, and that it becomes us to humble ourselves and for- sake our sins as a people, and hereafter, in all our laws and' acts, to honor God. " Resolved, That we will use our efforts to secure such a change in the Constitution of our country as shall recognize the being of God, our dependence on him for prosperity, and also his word as the foundation of civil law. "Resolved, That we regard slavery as abhorrent to the prin- ciples of our holy religion, humanity, and civilization,, and that we are decidedly in favor of such an amendment to the Con- stitution and such legislation on the part of the States as shall prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime, throughout all the States and Territories of the country. "Resolved, That while we deplore the evils of war that has filled our land with mourning we rejoice in the sublime mani- festations of benevolence it has developed, as seen in the Sani- tary and Christian Commissions, and in the associations formed to aid the vast multitudes who have recently become freemen, and that we pledge to these institutions our hearty co-operation and support." 7. It was recommended that the first regular prayer-meeting of each month be set apart as a concert of prayer for missions. It was resolved that our foreign missions should be Mlaslona and organized into Annual Mission Conferences as soon Mission con- as their condition should render such organization practicable. But three limitations were placed on the privi- 17 242 MANUAL OF leges of these Mission Conferences. They were not to send delegates to the General Conference, were not to draw divi- dends from the Book Concern, and were not to vote on consti- tutional questions. The Liberia Conference was authorized to elect, by a two-thirds vote, an elder in good standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the bishops were to ordain him a bishop, his episcopal jurisdiction to be expressly confined to Africa. Rev. John Wright Roberts was afterward elected to this office. He came to the United States, was ordained in St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, June 20, 1806, and on the 25th returned to Liberia. 8. The subject of education was carefully canvassed, and an effort made to devise a uniform system. A committee ap- pointed by the General Conference of I860 to pre- pare a plan for the organization of a permanent board of education had studied the situation for four years, and collected by correspondence full statistics of the schools of the Church, but had found themselves unable to fix upon any practicable plan for the organization of such a board, and no definite steps for such organization were taken by this General Conference. Educational conventions had been held in various parts of the country with marked success, and considerable pub- lic interest was awakened in this department of church work. The relation between sanctified education and the spread of the Gospel was brought by the action of the General Conference prominently before the minds of Christians. The duty of sup- porting these educational enterprises by gifts of money was emphasized. The necessity for aid to be extended to needy and deserving young men who were preparing for the ministry was urged with great power. The Biblical Institute at Concord, X. II., and the Garrett Biblical Institute at Evanston, 111., were commended. The Church was fully committed to the cause of ministerial education. It was made the duty of each preacher in charge to preach on the subject of education once each year, and distribute tracts or other literature on this sub- ject. Collections were recommended to aid this work. 9. The question of lay delegation had been agitated to some METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 243 extent during the four years. During tlie present session a convention of lay men was held in Philadelphia to Laydeiega- f'urther the movement, and an address, signed by tUnu Thomas Kneil as president and James Strong as secretary, was presented to the General Conference. It clearly discussed the subject from a layman's stand-point, and insisted that the suc- cessful carrying forward of the plans of Christ rests " upon the mutual concurrence of the ministry and the people." i The General Conference re-affirmed its approval of "lay represen- tation in the General Conference whenever it shall be ascer- tained that the Church desires it," but could as yet see no such declaration of the popular will as to justify the taking of ad- vanced action in relation to it. 10. The German Methodists had asked the General Confer- ence of 1860 to provide a new and more suitable hymn-book for their use. C. Yost, J. Rothweiler, G. L. Mul- Ger man finger, J. L. Waltlier, J. II. Earth, and William bymu-book. Nast were appointed to prepare such a hymn-book. At this General Conference they presented their work, which was ac- cepted and afterward published. The book contained seven hundred hymns, so arranged as to present a systematic classifi- cation based upon the theology of Methodism. 11. The German work had so grown in magnitude and im- portance that it became necessary to erect the work into distinct Confer ences. Up to that time it had been customary Q erman c on . to arrange the German work in an American Con- fences, ference so that one or more German presiding elders should serve all the German charges within its bounds. This was distasteful to the Germans, and they petitioned the General Conference for separate Annual Conferences. Three German Conferences were accordingly formed, and provision was made for the eventual formation of a fourth. 12. For some years a feeling had existed that the ritual of the Church might be advantageously revised. While Method- ism is far from being a ritualistic Church, still it is Revision of necessary that there shall be some forms for the rituaL proper celebration of the sacraments, ordinances, and certain MANUAL OF other services of the Church. The ritual in general is an abridgment of that of the Church of England. A committee, with Dr. (afterward bishop) Clark -as chairman, had been, by direction of the General Conference of I860, at work upon a revision, which was presented at this session. The revised ritual was examined, carefully considered, and at last adopted, and still continues to be the authorized ritual of the Church. 13. Davis W. Clark, Edward Thomson, and Calvin Kingsley were elected and consecrated bishops. They were three of the strong men of American Methodism; Thomas Carl- Blecticms. _ _ _ ton and James rorter were elected hook agents at New York, Adam Poe and Luke Hitchcock at Cincinnati ; J. P. Durbin, corresponding secretary, and W. L. Harris and J. M. Trimble, assistant corresponding secretaries of the Mis- sionary Society; Daniel Curry, editor of Christian Ad rotate and Journal ; D. D. Whedon, editor of Methodist Quarterly Review; Daniel Wise, editor of Sunday-school books and papers; William Nast, editor of Christian Apologist; B. F. Crary, editor of Central Christ tan Advocate; S. II. Kesbit, editor of Pittsburg Christian Advocate ; E. Thomas, editor of California Christian Advocate ; T. M. Eddy, editor of North-western Christian Advocate ; J. M. He id, editor of Western Christian Advocate; L W. Wiley, editor of Ladies'' Repository ; Stephen D. Brown, editor of Pacific Christian Advocate; J. T. Peck, editor of Northern Christian Advo- cate. The last two declined, and II. C. Benson and D. D. Lore were respectively elected in their places. 1L The bishops were authorized to appoint members of Annual Conferences as chaplains to hospitals, prisons, and in other legisia- tne ann J or »*vy for a longer period than three Uon - successive years. It was enacted that no mem- ber of the Church should be allowed to preach without a license. It was ordered that ministers of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, desiring to unite with the Methodist Episcopal Church, be received on the same conditions as those from other branches of Methodism, " provided they give satis- factory assurances to an Annual or Quarterly Conference of METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 245 their loyalty to the national government and hearty approval of the antislavery doctrine of the Church." The session closed with fifty-four established Conferences and provision for an- other — the East German — besides the Mission Conferences. The General Conference adjourned on May 27, 1864, after a most profitable session and a thorough canvass of the Church in all of its multiplied departments and interests. While the fortunes of war had been antagonistic to Christianity the Meth- odist Episcopal Clmrcli stood firm, and grew even stronger during those troubled times. Never for a moment was the Church disloyal to the national government. As early as 1864 several ministers who had left the Method- ist Episcopal Church, South, were admitted to the work in the traveling connection in the Kentucky Conference. South - Tennessee was still unsettled. Both armies were tramping there ; " but loyal Methodists besought the Church to come to them." The Mount Sterling District of the Kentucky Confer- ence was formed in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee in 1864, and D. L. Barrow was made presiding elder. The preachers who first entered the work in Tennessee, " and others who joined them afterward, engaged actively in traveling through the country, as they had opportunity, preaching and delivering addresses, set- ting forth the purposes for which they were there, and what they proposed to do. They invited all who desired to belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church as it was before the division of 1844, to come together and become so enrolled, with no other tests or conditions than those laid down in the Discipline. They were well received by the loyal portion of the people, who constituted a large majority of the whole. . . . The mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church in East Tennessee, and in- deed in all the South, was to a people asking for her ministra- tions — to sheep without a shepherd — and her ministers came not as intruders, but as invited by the people to whom they came. Many were even then still living who had been con- nected with the Church before the separation, and who had always been opposed to slavery, and had been carried over to the Southern Church against their decided and earnest protest. 246 MANUAL OF They hailed with joy the privilege of returning to the old fold ? and of course were ready to receive with open arms the men who came to receive them back again." * Bishop Clark went into the South, valiantly striving to reconstruct the Church. He writes from Nashville, Tenn., May, 29, 1865 : " On Saturday we had interviews wtt^Govern^ with Governor Brownlow and various other persons. orBrowniow p> llt none was , nore no t a ble than that with Kev. J. and others. # B. McFerrin, D.D., the book agent of the Church, South. lie was for two years in the rebel service, and was sur- rendered with Johnston's army. He had reached Nashville and taken the amnesty oath only the day before. Our interview was protracted four hours. He seeks the consolidation of the whole Church, but wants the Church, South, to be received back as a whole, with the bishops and other officers in their official posi- tions. He says the South thought they were right, and made a gallant fight, but are subdued, and slavery is gone, and now they mean to submit as good citizens/' f Bishop Clark organized the Holston Conference at Athene, Tenn., in June, 1865. The circumstances attending Holston Con- ... . & ference or- its assembling and its work made the occasion one of unusual interest. Six men from the North had been transferred there as a nucleus of a Conference. Forty-two new men were admitted, of whom thirty-two came directly from the Church, South. Six of these were supernumeraries and four were superannuates. The Conference represented fifty -five local preachers and six thousand one hundred and ninety-seven church members, who welcomed the old Methodist Episcopal Church. Many of these had been in the Church when it " knew no North, no South." They were loyal men who be- sought the Methodist Episcopal Church to return to their hills and valleys, so that they might again be within its folds. The next year Bishop Clark was again sent to hold the Holston Conference. The year had been one of great trial within the Conference, but at the same time there had been gracious revivals, and many had been added to the Church. This * Curry, Life Story of Bishop Clark, pp. 204, 205. f Ibid., p. 205. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 247 Conference adopted a report on the "state of the Church," in which these loyal men stated clearly, yet without bitterness, their loyalty to the Church and government. On this " plat- form of the newly regenerated principles of the American people'' they placed themselves. They hailed the return of peace and the reign of righteousness. The Church was now fully established in East Tennessee, and there was a reaching out for greater educational advantages than they had ever be- fore possessed. October 11, 1866, Bishop Clark organized the Tennessee Conference at Murfreesbo rough. This was a Conference com- posed both of white and colored members, and so Tennessee remained until ten years later, when the colored conference , .' , . n £ organized. members were organized into a separate (Jonterence. There was some criticism at the course of the Church in thus entering Southern territory, but lapse of time and the excel- lent results of the enterprise have demonstrated the wisdom of the movement. At the session of the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in September, 1865, eighteen of its members, including some of its ablest ministers, with- Kentucky drew, and were received as local preachers in a Quar- conference, terly Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Kentucky Conference of our Church met in February, 1866, Bishop Clark presiding. These men were received into full connection as members of the Conference and were given reg- ular appointments.* The great measures that most bless mankind are born of necessity. When the freed men became a charge upon the sympathies of the Christian people of America the Freedmen's Methodist Episcopal Church began to meet her Aid Societ y- part of this responsibility by the formation of the Freedmen's Aid Society. Previous to 1866 the Church had worked in harmony with undenominational societies. But the settled belief was that denominational effort would accomplish far more toward the education and Christianizing of the dark * Life Slory of Bishop Clark, pp. 217-219. 248 MANUAL OF wards of the nation. This view led a number of prominent Methodists, at a convention in Cincinnati, to organize what has since been known as the Freed men's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. An appeal was made to the Church. The response was not at first as great as desired, and yet the first year's collections amounted to $37,139.89. This was applied solely to educational work among the freedmen. During the first school year, which began in November, 1866, forty -two teachers were employed, the number increasing to seventy-five before the close of the second year. In 1868 the General Conference recognized the society, and recommended for it an annual contribution in each charge. Dr. B. S. Rust was appointed corresponding secretary. He was an efficient organizer. The cause appealed to the sympathies of the peo- ple, and teachers offered themselves for the Southern field. There was a general feeling that the freedmen must be spir- itually and educationally cared for to prevent their becoming a condition of source of most terrible danger. Freed from the re- tne freedmen. B traints of masters, enjoying an unaccustomed lib- erty, giving free play to pent-up passions, tasting of sweets never known before, these millions were a dangerous element of society, and might at any moment break away from all re- straint and commit depredations upon innocent people. The Freedmen 's Aid Society, with kindred societies in other Churches, has taken up the work of cultivating both head and heart of the black race. Most wonderful results have followed. Large and flourishing churches have been built, good congrega- tions gathered, schools for higher education of teachers, preach- ers, physicians, and men of science founded and admirably equipped. The " brother in black " has ascended many de- grees in the scale of respectability and godlikeness. It has been the pleasing thought with some philanthropists that Africa's continent is to be regenerated through the Africans in the United States. u Providence has two modes of evan- gelizing," said Bishop Thomson — " sending Christians into pagandom and sending pagans into Christendom. Behold our providential African mission ! " METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 249 Soon after Lincoln's assassination Bishop Janes sailed from New York to England as the official representative of our Church to British Method ism. lie left the loyal Bj sn0 p janes portion of the country bathed in tears for the mar- in England, tyred president. He found great numbers of English Christians who were deeply moved by the sad calamity, and who had no words but those of execration for the assassin and of sympathy for the bereaved nation. The Wesleyan Missionary Society was holding its anniversary in Exeter Hall, London. Bishop Janes addressed the vast concourse, and spoke of the assassina- tion of Lincoln, the feeling of spontaneous sympathy with which Christian England had received the news, the ties which bound the two nations together, and his belief that, while ' ; the permissive providence of God is to us a strange one," neverthe- less "the wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder of wrath will he restrain." He spoke also of the work of the Church, especially its new work in the South, and of its pur- poses and hopes for the future. The words of Bishop Janes at that time in England did a service to our nation and our Church which can never be fully appreciated. Recognizing 1766 as the year in which Methodism was born in America, the General Conference had made ample arrange- ments for the proper observance of the centennial centenary anniversary in 1866. It was proposed that contribu- yean tions should be made of not less than two million dollars for educational and connectional purposes. The bishops, twelve ministers, and twelve laymen were appointed by the General Conference a committee to properly appropriate and distribute the money which should be collected. The Annual Confer- ences were also authorized to select for themselves more special objects for their contributions. The year opened with suitable commemorative religious services, and from that time until October many great gatherings were held in honor of the an- niversary. The attention of all Methodist people throughout the world was turned to this commemoration. During the month of October the final and most important celebration took place. " The churches, however," says Simpson, " pre- 250 MANUAL OF f erred local enterprises, such as the erection of edifices of wor- ship and the removal of debts on church property and the establishment or endowment of local seminaries or colleges." "When the results of the centennial celebration were announced the Church was much surprised and encouraged. Many new churches had been erected, old churches had been freed from debt, new schools had been founded and wholly or in part en- dowed, a " connectional educational fund " had been established, together with a " children's fund," which became a nucleus of the Board of Education, one of the grandest schemes inaugu- rated for the future welfare of the Church. Altogether the contributions amounted to about eight million dollars. There had also been great spiritual revival and advancement in the Church. Under the stimulus of the centennial year a number of im- portant educational enterprises were inaugurated. Drew Theo- 1 r o logical semi- Drew Theological Seminary was founded in 1866 by Daniel Drew, of New York. He proposed to give $500,000 for this purpose. Said President (now bishop) Hurst : " This generous benefaction, afterward largely in- creased, was gratefully accepted by the Church. The gift was a surprise to the whole country, for it was the first of its mag- nitude, for a similar purpose, in American history." Eighty acres of land, commodious buildings for the seminary, and res- idences for the professors were included in this princely gift, besides a sum of $250,000, intended as a permanent endowment, the principal of which was never paid, but the interest on which was paid annually for nearly ten years. Reverses of fortune prevented Mr. Drew from fully carrying out his plans. Yet, acccording to President Hurst's report to the General Conference of 1880, his total gifts amounted to about $600,000 ; and he advanced the enterprise to such a point that its future success was certain. The school was formally opened in No- vember, 186T, with Dr. John McClintock as president. Many noble men have received their theological education here. Two of its presidents have been elected to the episcopacy. Money has been given, until now it possesses a good endow- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 251 ment. But the mission of this seminary, the third in our Methodism, seems but begun. The enthusiasm of the centennial year also added to the Garrett Biblical Institute a much-needed building to Heck Hall. for recitation and dormitory uses. It cost about $£0,000, and was erected by an association of ladies formed for that purpose and was presented to the institute. It was named Heck Hall, in honor of Barbara Heck, who has been called 44 the mother of American Methodism." It was dedicated July 4, 1867, Bishop Clark delivering the principal address. There were those who opposed the efforts for a thorough education of the ministry, and predicted that because of it the Church would lose its simplicity, spirituality, and power. Bishop Clark, in an admirable manner, vindicated the past and com- mended the present policy of education as eminently wise. Nashville, Tenn., was a promising center for religious and educational work, from which the influence of both Central Ten _ could go forth on many lines and reach the whole of lessee coi- the central South. It had been the head-quarters of Iege ' the Union army during a large part of the war, and great num- bers of negroes had gravitated there. " Their poverty and ignorance roused the sympathy of Christians and the fears of patriots." Teachers went there with " primer and spelling- book, and sought to help the poor Africans." In 1865 Bishop Clark was intrusted by the Missionary So- ciety with $10,000 to establish a freed men's school in the South-west. He decided to locate it at Nashville ; and in January, 1866, it was opened in Clark Chapel, with Rev. Dr. John Seys and Rev. O. O. Knight in charge. It grew in a wonderful manner. The chapel being too small to accommo- date the pupils that thronged to it, an armory, which had been abandoned by the Confederates upon the approach of the Union army, was fitted up by the government and turned over to the school by the trustees of the Freedmen's Bureau. In its second year the school enrolled eight hundred pupils. In the meantime the city of Nashville had provided public instruction for colored children. The Church, thus relieved of the neces- 252 MANUAL OF sity of teaching the primary brandies, resolved to transform the school into an institution for the higher education of the Negro. A charter was obtained in 1866, and in September? 1867, the Central Tennessee College began its work, under the auspices of the Freedmen's Aid Society. With the exception of one year Rev. Dr. John Brad en has been its president from the beginning. Besides affording an opportunity to acquire a thorough English, as well as collegiate education, it contains theological, medical, law, and industrial departments, and dur- ing the year 1890-91 was attended by 613 students. This in- stitution is not to be confounded with Fisk University, which is also located at Nashville, but is not under the supervision of our Church. This educational work of the Freedmen's Aid Society in the other schools South has developed into large proportions. There in the south. are now (1892) about forty schools. In grade they are from the academy to the university. Some of the schools organized since 1880 are for the education of white students. It was found necessary to change or add to the original idea, and extend aid to white students. The number who have availed themselves of these educational advantages since the work was first organized is not definitely known, but cannot be less than one hundred thousand. This cjuadrennium closed with a large increase over the statistics of 1861. There were 1,255,115 members — Statistics. an increase of 326,795 ; 8,481 traveling preachers — ■ an increase of 1,660 ; 9,899 local preachers — an increase of 1,694. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 253 CHAPTEK XXVII. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1868— EVENTS OF THE QUADRENNIUM. The fifteenth delegated and twenty-first General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church assembled in the city of Chicago, 111., May 1, 1868. Its sessions were held in the First Methodist Episcopal Church. All the bishops were present, namely, Morris, Janes, Scott, Simpson, Baker, Ames, Clark, Thomson, and Kingsley, but Bishop Baker, because of sickness, took no part in the Conference. There were two hundred and thirty one delegates. W. L. Harris was re-elected secretary. At the outset of the Conference came up the question of admitting delegates from the Mission Conferences Delegates organized in the South during and after the war * wm f Mission o o Conferences under the act of 186i. The bishops had formed admitted, the Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Holston, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and North Carolina, and Washington Conferences. Eleven delegates from these Con- ferences were present, with credentials, asking for admission. On the ninth day of the session these Conferences were recog- nized as Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and "vested with all the rights, privileges, and immunities usual to Annual Conferences" of the Church. On May 29 the same action was taken in the case of the Liberia, Germany and Switzerland, and India Mission Conferences, and J. T. Gracey was admitted as a delegate from the latter. Twelve delegates were thus added to the roll of this General Conference. The bishops presented their usual quadrennial address, re- counting their labors, the difficulties surrounding the Bishops' work, and the success of the Church. The address address, was read by Bishop Simpson. They rejoiced in the fact that the condition of the country had greatly improved since the last General Conference, when the tide of war was still high and foes were meeting in deadly conflict on the battle-field. 254 MANUAL OF They referred to the death of Rev. L. L. Ilaniline, D.D., once an honored and beloved bishop in the Methodist Death of 1 Hamiine and Episcopal Church, who had resigned his office be- others cause his declining health prevented his fulfilling its duties. Born in Burlington, Conn., May 10, 1797, he studied law and was admitted to the bar at Lancaster, O. In 1S28 he became a Methodist, was soon licensed to preach, and joined the Ohio Conference in 1832. He was elected assistant editor of the Western Christian Advocate in 1S36, and re-elected in 1810, but became the editor of the Ladies' Repository in January, 1841. At the General Conference of 1814, during the great controversy on the slavery question, he delivered the remarkable address which made him famous. He was elected bishop at that time, but resigned in 1852. He died February 22, 1<%5. His dying words were, " O, wondrous, wondrous, won- drous love ! " Four members of the last General Conference had died: C. B. Tippett, a former book agent at Xew York; Isaac Owen, the religions " pathfinder of the West ;" Samuel Y. Monroe, correspondii.g secretary of the Church Extension Society ; and Henry M. Blake. Bishops Janes and Kingsley had visited the missions in En- Mission con- ro P e > an d Bishop Thomson had organized the India ferences. Mission Conference. The work in the South was referre 1 to, and the organization of Mission Conferences in that section duly approved. Two of these, the Delaware and the Washington, were colored Conferences, and their creation " was hailed by our colored ministers and membership with great joy, and has, we believe, been productive of much good." These Mission Conferences had elected delegates to the Gen- eral Conference, who were present waiting admission. The bishops in their address said, "If, in your wisdom, any mode for their legal admission can be found, such action would greaily advance the interests of the churches in the localities represented." We have already seen that these delegates were admitted, and the Conferences they represented recognized as full Annual Conferences. The address showed a gratifying increase in membership and METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 255 in the number of churches and value of church property. The increase in the number of churches was 1,691, Growth of and in their value $15,054,885, or over seventy per »e Church, cent, in four years, so that the total value was $35,885,439. The number of parsonages had increased 717, with an increase in value of $2,571,145. While a fraction of this increase was owing to a general rise in the value of property, most of it was due to the acquisition of new property by means of the volun- tary donations of the people. The results of the centenary contributions were presented, with their happy effect upon the educational inter- church inter- ests of the Church. The old school at Concord had ests - been removed to Boston and was now the Boston Theological Seminary. Upon the death of Dr. Dempster, of the Garrett Biblical Institute, Miner Raymond, D.D., had been elected to liis chair. The foundation of Drew Theological Seminary and the charter placing it under the control of the General Conference were referred to. The bishops heartily indorsed the movement for the education of young ministers, not believing that better education would make them unpractical or less useful preachers. The publishing interests, the Sunday-school, tract, freedmen's aid, and church extension causes were shown to have greatly prospered. The Sunday-school Teachers' Institute had been of great service in the awakening of interest in Bible study, in- creasing the attendance of older persons, and providing a better class of teachers. In the missionary society the increase of contributions had been unparalleled, notwithstanding the ex- traordinary centenary contributions. At the same time the fields oj)ening to the Church among the heathen had so multi- plied that it had been impossible to enter upon all of them. It was suggested that an Annual Conference be formed in China. The Conference boundary question had been referred to the bishops four years before. They reported that the civil boundaries had been too often ignored in fixing the lim- its of Annual Conferences. This had sometimes caused jeal- ousies and inconveniences, which could be avoided if greater attention were paid to the civil boundaries. They were pre- 25G MANUAL OP pared to give suggestions and furnish data to further any re- adjustment of the lines. Lay delegation was mentioned as likely to be a prominent issue before the General Conference. Bishop Janes, in his report to the Conference on his mission Report of as fraternal delegate to the Methodist Churches of Bishop janes. Eiirope, presented a thoughtful survey of the condi- tion of Methodism in France and Great Britain. He had also visited nearly all our missions in Switzerland, had inspected the work in Denmark, and had presided at the Mission Conference at Bremen. He emphasized the need for closer connectional bonds between the various Methodistic bodies throughout the world, and hoped that the time would come when there should be a " General Conference " representing all these bodies. His words were prophetic of the meeting of the two Ecumenical Methodist Conferences already held. " In those times," said he, " how will it encourage the hearts and strengthen the hands of those who may compose the General Conference (and I believe there are men here who will be there) to have present, if not legal, at least corresponding, sympathizing members from England, Ireland, France, Germany, Turkey, India, China, Africa, South America, and the islands of the sea ! . . . Where that General Conference shall meet, whether in Chi- cago, or Xew York, or San Francisco, or London, or Home, or China, I do not know. But, meet where it may, it will be a grand power for the transformation of the world." Bishop Thomson, by order of the General Conference of 18G1, had visited India, China, and Bulgaria. His Report of ' . Bishop Thom- report, though not written until after delivery, was a valuable paper. He left the country in the midst of war, and found abroad great sympathy for the Southern Confederacy. After surveying the entire field of our Indian missions he organized at Lucknow the India Mission Confer- ence, and ordained on the same platform "white and black, Americans and Hindus." This was a blow at caste system. At Calcutta he dined with the governor-general, u who ex- pressed great interest in our missions ; and while he doubted whether much could be done with adults, he had great confi- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 257 dence in the schools, and to them we must look for India's redemption." He then proceeded to China, visited the mis- sions there, and returned home by way of Egypt, Syria, Con- stantinople, and Bulgaria. The following were among the other important acts of this General Conference : 1. The Sunday-schools were ordered to be organized into missionary societies by the pastors and superintend- Missions. ents. As April 4, 1869, would complete the first half century of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal. Church it was determined to hold a missionary jubilee in all the churches under the direction of the pastors. The bishops w r ere to arrange for suitable visitation of the foreign missions during the next quadrenniurn. 2. In 1836 the General Conference passed resolutions cen- suring certain of its members " for lecturing on and in favor of modern abolitionism." Some of these men had taken part in the secession of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection in 1842. Among them was the Rev. L. C. Matlack, who had been presi- dent of the General Conference of that body. lie had now returned, with several of the others, and was pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Elkton, Md. With fifteen of his official members he petitioned this General Con- ... -i Slavery res- ference to rescind the resolutions of 1836, and this, oiutions re- after due deliberation, was done. 3. Rev. William M. Punshon, M.A., was the delegate from the British Wesleyan Conference ; Dr. Ryerson, from. Fraternal the Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church: in deleffates - Canada ; Dr. Matthew Richey, from the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Eastern British America ; Rev. William Pirritte and Rev. George Abbs, from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada; Rev. R. Dubs and Rev. T. G. Clewcll,, from the Evangelical Association ; and Bishop S. T. Jones, from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. An address was received from the Irish Wesleyan Conference. The relations between these Churches and the Methodist Episcopal Church were of the most fraternal character. Mr. Punshon delivered, 18 258 MANUAL OF by request, before the General Conference, a sermon of " rare interest and power, on the courage, the gentleness, and the wis- dom of Christianity." At once he took a high place in the heart of the American Church. 4. Under the old rule a presiding elder had no authority to appoint another elder to hold a quarterly meeting and preside Presiding ei- * n a Q uarter Iy Conference. There were times when der's substi- this caused inconvenience. It was now enacted that any elder in his district might be appointed by the presiding elder to hold a Quarterly Conference, and in case of the absence of both presiding elder and of such appointee the preacher in charge should preside. 5. Children who had been baptized had been recorded on Baptized cmi- special lists on the church books since 1856, but pro- dren. vision had not been made for their reception into full connection, for they were not regarded as probationers. Now it was enacted that " whenever they shall have attained an age sufficient to understand the obligations of religion, and shall give evidence of piety, they may be admitted into full membership in our Church on the recommendation of a leader with whom they have met at least six months in class, by pub- licly assenting before the Church to the baptismal covenant, and also to the usual questions on doctrines and discipline." Baptized children of the Church were also ordered to be organ- ized by the preacher into classes " at the age of ten years or younger," and thus were recognized as probationers in the Church. " Rebaptism, whether of tho?e baptized in infancy or adult age," was declared "entirely inconsistent with the nature and design of baptism, as set forth in the New Testa- ment." 6. The attention of this General Conference was largely oc- Layrepre- cupied with the question of the admission of lay dele- semation. g a t e s. It was fully discussed in all its bearings, and some little acrimony was exhibited ; yet, on the whole, the dis- cussion was calm, dignified, and courteous. A committee of conference, consisting of E. O. Haven, D. Curry, J. B. Dob- bins, R. S. Foster, Q. E. Fuller, J. T. Peck, J." McClintock, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 259 S. M. Merrill, W. H. Hunter, and C. Hunger, was appointed, who rendered a report which, after some amendment, was adopted May 29 by a vote of 231 to 3. It was provided that certain changes in the Discipline in the chapter on the General Confer- ence he submitted to the action of the Church at large. The General Conference was to he composed of ministerial and two lay delegates from each Annual Conference, except from Con- ferences having only one ministerial delegate, which were to have also but one lay delegate. Lay delegates were to be elected by an Electoral Conference, composed of one layman from each charge within the Conference, such Electoral Con- ference to be held during the session of the Annual Conference next preceding that of the General Conference. In the Gen- eral Conference "the ministerial and lay delegates shall sit and deliberate together as one body, but they shall vote separately whenever such separate vote shall be demanded by one third of either order, and in such cases the concurrent vote of both or- ders shall be necessary to complete an action." During the month of June, 1S69, the members of the churches were to vote upon these changes, and at the next session thereafter of each Annual Conference the ministers were to vote upon a corresponding change in the second Restrictive Rule. In case a majority of church members, actually voting, should favor the changes in the Discipline, and a two-thirds majority of ministers voting should favor a change of the Restrictive Rule, the subject was to come before the next General Conference, when a two-thirds majority would complete the change and the lay delegates be admitted. 7. The Methodist Episcopal Church had become so large and powerful that the matter of filling' the General Conference offices was attended with considerable excitement. Luke Hitchcock and J. M. Walden were elected book agents at Cincinnati, Thomas Carlton and John Lanahan at New York; Daniel Curry, editor of Christian Advocate* S. M. Merrill, editor of Western Christian Advocate; D. D. Whedon, editor of Quarterly Review / I. W. Wiley, editor of Ladies' 1 Repository ; J. M. Reid, editor of North-western 260 MANUAL OF Christian Advocate ; S. H. Nesbit, editor of Pittsburg Chris- tian Advocate • B. F. Crary, editor of Central Christian Ad- vocate ; D. D. Lore, editor of Northern Christian Advocate / E. Thomas, assistant book agent at New York, to reside at San Francisco; II. C. Benson, editor of California Christian Advocate; Isaac Dillon, editor of Pacific C hristian Advocate ; William Nast, editor of Christian Apologist / D. Wise, editor of Sunday-School Advocate and library books ; and J. H. Yin- cent, editor of Sunday -SchoolJournal and books of instruction. J. P. Durbin was elected corresponding secretary of the Mis- sionary Society, and W. L. Harris assistant ; A. J. Kynett was elected corresponding secretary of the Church Extension Society. 8. There had been heretofore two book committees, appointed from the Conferences contiguous to the two Book Concerns. Book com- ^ ow > however, it was provided that there be but one mittee. committee of fifteen, to have supervision over botli Concerns, said Book Committee to be elected by the General Conference. The two Concerns were regarded as the common property of the whole Church, and it was not considered advis- able that they be conducted in any sense as competing publish- ing houses. 9. There were at the close of the Conference seventy-one Annual Conferences instead of fifty-five, as at the Con f Grcnccs opening of the session. Several of these had been formed in the South out of what had been slave territory. The Church authorities believed the open door to the South- land to be as free to them as to any one, and they entered that section, and, under the direction of God, accomplished great good. 10. After much deliberation a Board of Education was Board of Edu- formed, comprising both ministers and laymen. It cation. had four objects in view: 1) To aid young men preparing for missionary work in foreign fields ; 2) To aid young men studying for the ministry ; 3) To aid biblical or theological schools of the Church ; 4) To aid universities, colleges, and academies of the Church. The board were METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 201 to be consulted in the planting of new institutions of learn- ing, if such schools were to receive aid from the board. This provision was eminently wise, since in the planting and locating of certain schools there had been exhibited neither heavenly wisdom nor worldly sense. As a result some had never attained much success, and some had been discontinued. It became a question of the survival of the fittest; but much valuable effort and money were wasted in these useless experiments. 11. The General Conference of 1864 had appointed a board of trustees who should obtain a charter under the incorporation laws of the State of Ohio, so that the Church, as a ofthecnurch. corporate body, might have legal recognition in the courts of all the States, and that these trustees might become the lawful custodians of such property of the Church, acquired by donation, bequest, or otherwise, as could not legally be held by local trustees. Accordingly the board had been incorporated under the name and title of " The Board of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States." Some imperfections having been found in this charter it was ordered that a new charter be obtained, and that the board be re- incorporated as "The Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church." 12. The General Conference adjourned June 2, 1868. We may mention here that during the General Conl'er- " ° Adjournment. ence of 1848 at Pittsburg there had been published a Daily Christian Advocate, which had fully reported its pro- ceedings, and had contained the reports of committees, special addresses, and such other matter as might be of interest to the Conference. At the next session, in 1S52, a Daily Ziorfs Her- ald was published, at the session in Boston, containing similar reports. Since that time the Daily Christian Advocate has been quadrennially issued at each session of the General Con- ference. From 1868 to 1872 the Church was unusually active, not only in supporting and developing her existing , , . . . . . . , Education. schools, but also m establishing new institutions ot learning both at home and in the missionary fields. In India, MANUAL OF in addition to schools of lower grade, a theological school was opened at Bareilly, in April, 1872, through the liberality of Rev. D. W. Thomas, one of the missionaries, who gave $20,000 as an endowment. This sum was much increased afterward by benefactions from the United States. In this school native candidates for the ministry are instructed, not only in the usual theological studies, but also in the Hindu and Mohammedan philosophies and religions, that they may be well equipped for work in a land where these systems prevail, and may be quali- fied to battle against them. This was soon followed by the establishment of a biblical institute at Foochow, China. In the newly-opened Southern section of our own country the Freedmen's Aid Society did much important in the south. WQY ^ « n establishing schools for the education of the Negro. Rust University, at Holly Springs, Miss., and Claflin University, at Orangeburg, S. C, the latter with the Baker Theological Institute, which had been begun a few years pre- viously at Charleston, as its theological department, were both founded during this quadrennium. During the same period began the existence of Haven Normal Academy, at Waynes- borough, Ga., and the Centenary Biblical Institute, now Morgan College, at Baltimore. Nor was there less educational activity in the West. In California, in 1870, was founded the Napa Collegiate In the West. _ 7 1 . . . , -, T ~ ,f Institute, which in 1885 became JNapa College. Schools were established in Utah, in the very heart of Mormon- ism. A German-English Normal School, now the German- English College, was begun at Galena, 111., for the education of young men and women of German parentage ; and a Swedish Theological Seminary was opened at Galesburg, 111., and after- ward removed to the grounds of the Garrett Biblical Institute, at Evanston. Many other schools also came into existence during this period. But the crowning enterprise of the quadrennium was the Syracuse um- founding of Syracuse University, at Syracuse, N. Y. versity. charter was obtained in 1S70, and the first sessions began in 1871. It contains colleges of liberal arts, of medicine, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 263 and of fine arts, and registers nearly eight hundred students of both sexes. It has property valued at $800,000 and an endow- ment of $700,000. In 1887 Mrs. Dr. J. M. Eeid purchased the library of the celebrated German historian, Leopold von Ranke, and presented it to the university. Mrs. Harriet Leavenworth has also given "the celebrated Wolff collection of engravings, containing twelve thousand sheets of rare and costly engravings, representing the great masters of the art in all ages." The chancellors of the university have been the late Alexander Winchell, the eminent geologist ; Dr. E. (). Haven, formerly president of Michigan and North-western Universities, and afterward bishop; and the present chancellor, Charles N". Sims, D.D., LL.D. Bishop Thomson, while engaged in attending the West Vir- ginia Conference in the spring of 1870, was seized Death o£ Bish . with pneumonia, and died at Wheeling, W. Va., op Thomson. March 22, 1870. Bishop Thomson was a remarkable man in many ways — as a teacher, preacher, college president, editor, and writer. He was born in Portsea, England, October 12, 1810. The family removed to America in 1818. On the sea their ship was captured by a pirate vessel, but was allowed to continue her voyage. The family settled at Wooster, O. Young Thomson graduated in medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical College; but in 1831 he was converted, and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, although his parents were Baptists and being moved to preach, entered the Ohio Conference in 1832. In 1838 he became principal of Nor walk Seminary ; in 1844, editor of the Ladies' Repository ; and in 1846 he was called to the presidency of the Ohio Wesleyan University, having declined an offer to become the first presi- dent of Michigan University. In 18G0 he was elected editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, which he conducted with rare ability, and the power of his pen was felt through the Church. In 1864 he was elected a bishop, and "began his closing career by going as first of his colleagues round the world to look with his seer-like eyes upon the great parish of John Wesley." As a writer, few excelled him. "His style 264 MANUAL OF was clear, classical, and beautiful." He has been called the Addison of Methodism. AY hen it was flashed over the wires in 1870 that Bishop Death of Bish- Kingsiey had died the day before in Bey root, Syria, op Kingsiey. t i ie Church could hardly realize that he was dead — he, the youngest and most robust of the bishops, who had always looked the very picture of health. But the strong man had fallen, though not ingloriously, while still in the thickest of the fight. Bishop Kingsiey was a native of New York, being born at Annsville, Oneida County, September 8, 1812. "When eighteen years of age he was converted. A thirst for learning seemed to consume him. Poverty, however, pre- vented him from acquiring a thorough education until he was twenty-four years of age, when he entered the Allegheny Col- lege, and partly paid by his own labor his way through that institution. He graduated in 1841, and was at once chosen a professor in his alma mater, and joined the Erie Conference. In 1856 he was elected editor of the Western Christian Advocate. In the General Conference of I860 he was recognized as the leader of the antislavery movement. The report on the subject of slavery was written by him, and is a paper of remarkable power. In 1864 he was elected a bishop. In 1869 he was appointed to visit the missions in China and India. He accomplished this work with great acceptability. On his return trip to Europe he turned aside to visit the Holy Land. The tour had been com- pleted, and he had reached Beyroot and was preparing to sail for Constantinople. " On the morning of April 6, 1870, about to sail, he arose in good health, and with Bev. Dr. Bannister, of the Garrett Biblical Institute, who was then in Beyroot, he ascended the house-top to enjoy a view of the snowy heights" of Lebanon. After breakfast he was seized with neuralgic pain in the left breast, and in a few minutes fell to the floor, and, though immediately lifted to his bed, his heart and pulse were still." He was buried at Beyroot, and American Methodists have erected a suitable monument over his grave. Bishop Kingsiey was a clear writer, a strong and powerful preacher, and a master on the platform. He was outspoken in the defense METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 265 of doctrinal Methodism. "His executive power was of a superior order, and each successive year his talents were un- folding. The Church expected him to live long, and to be a prince among his associates." The Church was afflicted at this time by the loss of an unus- ual number of her chief ministers. Bishop Clark died D ea thof iMsh- at Cincinnati, O., May 23, 1871. He was born at °pciiu*. Mount Desert, off the coast of Maine, February 25, 1812. He was converted when a boy ; graduated at Wesleyan University in 1843; became a member of the New York Conference; was made editor of the Ladled Repository in 1852 ; and elected a bishop in 1804. In his episcopal labors he was abundant, giving especial attention to the reorganization of the work in the South after the clouds of civil war passed away. His health remained good till the spring of 1870 ; then his system began to fail rap- idly. As fall approached he rallied somewhat, and presided at his Conferences. He opened the New York Conference at Peekskill, April 6, 1871. The Lord's Supper was adminis- tered, " followed with a brief but very affecting address, in which he referred, in very affectionate terms, to his original Conference home, and associates." He then called Bishop Simpson to the chair and retired, never again to enter a Con- ference. He was taken to his home in Cincinnati, and lingered until May, when death relieved his sufferings and took him heavenward. Bishop Clark was a scholarly and Christian gen- tleman. In his editorial work he achieved marked success, lie also published several valuable w^orks, such as Mental Dis- cipline, Elements of Algebra, Lfe and Times of Bishop Iledding, and Man All Immortal. These evinced great re- search, care in preparation, and painstaking in construction. His Mental Discipline and Man All Immortal are standard works. Until after his election to the episcopacy Bishop Clark confined himself in the pulpit very closely to the manuscript. His sermons were finished, thoughtful, and accompanied with power; and he preached with increased effectiveness when, in his later life, he adopted the habit of extemporaneous speaking. 266 MANUAL OF At the General Conference in 1868 Bishop Baker was known Death of Bish- *° ^ e * n ^P^red health. It was a question whether op Baker. h e would be able to do any effective service during the quadrennium. Some were of the opinion there ought to be a re-enforcement of the episcopacy. Says Bishop Simpson : " The majority of the bishops in 1808 desired an increase in the episcopal board, but the opponents of lay delegation earnestly opposed such increase, alleging that the majority of that Con- ference was accidentally in favor of lay delegation, and that no bishop ought to be chosen until the sense of the Church on that measure had been decided." * Bishop Baker had been attacked with partial paralysis while on the way to attend the Colorado Conference in 1866. He continued in a feeble state until December 8, 1871, when the fatal stroke came. A few days later lie died, December 20, 1871. Bishop Baker was born in Marlow, X. II., July 30, 1812. He was educated at Wilbraham Academy. While there he was converted, and Dr. Wilbur Fisk received him into the Church. He entered Wesleyan University in 1830, and re- mained three years. Just as he was entering the senior year sickness came, and he was compelled to relinquish all thought of graduating. At the university he was licensed to preach. He afterward taught at Xewbury Seminary in Vermont and became its principal. He then entered the itinerancy, was presiding elder of the Dover District of the Xew Hampshire Conference, and in 1847 became a professor in the Concord Biblical Institute. In 1852 he was elected a bishop. The memoir in the General Minutes for 1872 thus speaks of him : " In estimating his abilities and character prominence must be given to their regularity and symmetry. JSio faculty of his in- tellect was conspicuous for either its strength or its weakness. His temperament w r as even and quiet. With readiness of ap- prehension, soundness of judgment, retentiveness of memory, and a somewhat deficient imagination, he combined calmness, gentleness, simplicity of purpose, firm religious convictions, and an all-controlling conscientiousness. He did nothing osten- * Simpson's Hundred Years of Methodism, p. 188. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUIiCII HISTORY. 2G7 tatiously or impetuously or with eccentricity. As a teacher he was assiduous, full of material, and clear. As a preacher he ascended no lofty height of eloquence, but in well-chosen words, with a persuasive manner, and often with a divine unction, he unfolded the testimony of the word. As a bishop he was painstaking, impartial, judicious, and his administration was marked by a thorough knowledge of the constitution and laws of the Church. His work on the Discipline displays all these characteristics in an eminent degree." Dr. Heman Bangs, for fifty-four years a minister, and a well- known character in Methodism, who had been asso- ^ ^ ciated with most of the important movements in the Church for forty-five years, passed away November 2, 1869. John McClintock, D.D., LL.D., a man of versatile talents, of strong character, a professor of eminent teachiitg ability, a writer of Latin and Greek text-books, co-translator of Keander's Life of Christ, editor of the Methodist Quarterly Review, fraternal delegate to the British Wesley an Conference, editor, with Dr. Strong, of the Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Eccle- siastical Literature, and president of Drew Theological Semi- nary, died at Madison, K J., March 4, 1870. Charles Elliott, D.D., LL.D., was an Irishman, warm-hearted, intense, ever ready to defend Christianity. lie was converted in 1811, emi- grated to America in 1814, was admitted to the Ohio Confer- ence in 1818, became missionary to the Wyandotte Indians in 1822, and professor in Madison College in 1827. He served with much ability as editor of the Pittsburg Christian Advocate, editor of the Western Christian Advocate, president of the Iowa Wesleyan University, and editor of the Central Christian Advocate. Nine times he was a delegate to the General Con- ference, lie died at Mount Pleasant, la., January G, 18G9. As a writer he was clear and strong, using few superfluous w r ords, and leaving little ambiguity in his sentences. He was the author of the History of the Great Secession, Delineation of Roman Catholicism, and South-western Methodism. One of the desires of his heart was to see a great spiritual revival in Roman Catholic countries. 268 MANUAL OF The General Conference of 1868 appointed a commission to New York purchase property in New York more centrally and kC Mi^ion l° cate( l better adapted to the needs of the Rooms. Book Concern and the Missionary Society than the premises then occupied. E. L. Fancher, Thomas Carlton, J. P. Dnrbin, W. W. Cornell, Daniel Carry, W. L. Harris, A. V. Stout, John McClintock, George I. Seney, Daniel Drew, Oliver Hoyt, Cornelius Walsh, and Harold Dollner constituted the commission. The Missionary Society also appointed a com- mittee, consisting of II. J. Baker, II. M. Forrester, Stephen Crowell, Isaac Odell, J. H. Taft, S. D. Brown, and M. D'C. Crawford, to co-operate with the commission. The old quar- ters at 200 Mulberry Street, which had been occupied for more than thirty years, were still retained as a printing-office and bindery ; but in 1SG9 the commission purchased, for 8900,000, a building known as 805 Broadway, which for twenty years furnished •accommodations for the salesrooms, agents, editorial and other offices connected with the Book Concern, and for the Missionary Society and other connectional interests of the Church. This building was occupied in 1869. During the month of June, 1869, the members of the Church Lay deiega- voted upon the question whether lay delegates should tion - be admitted to the General Conference. Of those voting a majority of more than two to one was in favor of their admission. The object of this vote was to discover the opinion of the Church at large. But before the change could be made constitutionally it was necessary that a two-thirds majority of the members of the Annual Conferences actually voting should also favor it. The Conferences voted during 18B9 and 1870, and approved the change by the requisite majority. At the close of the qnadrennium there were 10,212 traveling preachers — an increase of 1,759 in four years ; 11,961 Statistics. local preachers — an increase of 2,065 ; and 1,458,111 church members — an increase of 203,326. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CIIUIICII HISTORY. 200 PERIOD V. THE TWO ORDERS. 1872-1892. CHAPTER XXVIII. GENERAL CONFERENCE OP 1872. EVENTS OF THE QtJADRENNIUM, 1872-76. The sixteenth delegated and twenty-second General Confer- ence met in the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, N". Y., May 1, 1S72. This was one of the most important in the history of Methodism since 1844, for a new departure was made in the constitution of the General Conference by the admission of lay- men on equal terms with the ministerial delegates. This marks an era in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Five bishops were present, namely, Morris, Janes, Scott, Simpson, and Ames. Bishop Morris was in very feeble health, and the burden of the work fell upon the other bishops. At the opening of the session there were present 292 ministerial delegates ; but when the lay delegates, 129 in number, were admitted, the total number of delegates was increased to 421 — a large body for legislative purposes. William L. Harris was elected secretary. 1. As soon as the Conference was organized Bishop Simpson declared the result of the vote of the Annual Con- Tott „ a „ a Lay repre- ferences upon the proposed change in the second sentatives ad- Restrictive Rule providing for the introduction of lay delegates. It was found that 4,915 voted for the change and 1,597 against it, which was more than the two-thirds majority required before any change in the Restrictive Rules could con- stitutionally be made. The following resolution was then introduced : " Resolved, That this General Conference does hereby concur with the Annual Conferences in changing the second Restrictive Rule, so as to read as follows : ' They shall 270 MANUAL OF not allow of more than one ministerial representative for every fourteen members of an Annual Conference, nor allow of less than one for every forty-five, nor more than two lay delegates for any Annual Conference.'" This was passed by a vote <»f 2S3 to 6. The plan proposed in 1868 for the introduction of lay delegates into the General Conference was then ratified by a vote of 252 for and 36 against. The lay delegates were called by Conferences, and admitted to seats in the different delegations, and the wheels of Methodism rolled on without jar or noticeable friction. Laymen's ad- The lay delegates, upon taking their seats, presented dress. t] )e following address to the General Conference, through their chairman, Dr. James Strong : " Dear Brethren : An occasion so memorable as this, which brings together for the first time in the select council of our beloved Zion the clerical and lay elements by direct representa- tion, calls for more than a passing interchange of views or feelings. It is fitting that we, the lay delegates, especially should formally recognize the gravity and responsibility of the hour, and the train of Divine Providence, as well as of eccle- siastical adjustment, that has led to it. We desire, therefore, to respond to the summons which invites us to share in your deliberations and decisions by an expression at once of our ap- preciation of the privilege and of our sentiment in accepting it, and to do so in a manner appropriate for permanent record. "First of all we devoutly thank the great Head of the Church for the eminent degree of harmony and brotherly love that has characterized the movement in favor of May delega- tion' which has thus happily been consummated. Rarely, if ever, has history chronicled so fundamental a change in church polity effected with so little of acrimonious controversy ; seldom or never before has the world seen a voluntary surrender of power by any body of men long possessed of it by constitu- tional right ; and not oftea has there been known such modesty in acquiring it as our laity have generally exhibited. It has frequently been alleged that Methodism exhibits in her form of METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 271 government some features of usurpation and despotism ; we may now mutually congratulate ourselves upon this signal refu- tation of the calumny. "In the second place, in behalf of the lay portion of our Church, thus called upon to assume the gravest obligations, we invoke the gracious assistance of our heavenly Father, that we may so engage in and discharge the important duties imposed upon us as to meet the divine approval and secure the greatest good of the Church at large. We feel that an assuming spirit would be in the highest degree unbecoming those who enter for the first time upon a share of authority thus deferentially ceded to them by their colleagues ; and we hope to prove, by a cordial and judicious co-operation with our ministerial brethren in this new relation, that their confidence, and that of those who have sent us hither, is not misplaced. "Thirdly, we would deprecate any separation of the so-called temporal and spiritual powers of this joint body as between its lay and its clerical members. While we recognize the peculiar functions of the ministry in the pulpit and the pastorate, their exclusive right, as a rule of ecclesiastical order, to administer the w r ord of God and the sacraments of the Church ; and while, on the other hand, we equally acknowledge as the special charge of the laity, in the pew and the community, to maintain the pecuniary interests of our Zion and to be the custodians of its church property ; yet, as delegates here assembled, we con- ceive, and suppose it to be conceded, that we all have a common and equal interest and obligation in every question that may come before the Conference for discussion and determination. Bishops, people, and preachers are, in our economy at least, the elementary constituents of the one body of Christ, and what- ever affects either of these three elements truly and sensibly concerns all the rest. Whether, therefore, we meet here as presiding officers or as members consulting together, and finally voting either promiscuously, or, if it becomes requisite for a due balance of members, by separate count, we trust that no schism shall be made in this regard. So only can we achieve the entire benefit of the maxim that Union is strength. 272 MANUAL OF " Lastly, we do not enter this body to propose any sudden or radical change in the practical machinery of our Church. Hap- pily, we see no tendency among us to any considerable diver- gence on doctrinal questions. We hope that no hasty or serious experiments will.be made in our ministerial policy. We should especially regret to find the introduction of the lay element into our councils made the occasion of materially modifying the functions or contracting the sphere of the clergy, whether bishops, elders, or pastors. We laymen, as being compara- tively inexperienced in our present capacity, must naturally be expected to feel our way cautiously along if we would tread securely and advantageously in the exercise of our new powers. At the same time we do not wish to be understood as standing committed against any advance in any legitimate and prudent direction, nor in favor of any state of things merely on account of its antiquity. Whatever measures have proved themselves in time past to be wise and useful we would retain if they still continue efficient, or restore to their former usefulness if they have in any way or degree unnecessarily lost it ; and any modes of operation which experience may have shown to be erroneous or defective, or which altered circumstances may have rendered practically obsolete and inapposite, we would freely — but gradually and not violently — exchange for sounder and more improved ones. In short, we profess ourselves at once conservative in principle and progressive in action, thor- oughly true to that Methodism which has ever followed the guidance of Providence — the same always and every- where in spirit — but able to adapt itself in form to the varying exigencies of time and place. We recognize its one grand aim still to be to ' spread scriptural holiness over these lands,' and we trust that from this hour it shall receive a fresh impulse in its mission throughout the globe." 2. There were elected eight new bishops : Thomas Bowman, Bishops William L. Harris, Randolph S. Foster, Isaac W. elected. Wiley, Stephen M. Merrill, Edward Gr. Andrews, Gilbert Haven, and Jesse T. Peck. They were consecrated METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 273 to this high office by the imposition of the hands of the bishops and of assisting elders in the presence of the General Conference and as large an audience as could crowd into the Academy of Music. It was an imposing scene, without any of the ostenta- tion and show of high church ritualism. 3. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church was organized March 22, woman's 1869, at Boston, Mass. It originated with Mrs. JJJJJjy Kev. E. W. Parker and Mrs. Dr. William Butler, ety. These ladies had spent some years in India, and they were familiar " with the needs of the women of the East, and realized that no spiritual help could reach them through the instru- mentality of male missionaries. The strict habits of seclusion practiced by the wives, mothers, and daughters of Asia, pre- cluded the entrance of any influence from the Christian men whom the Church had sent to do its work." A number- of Boston ladies determined to prosecute missionary work among these heathen women, and a society was formed which was soon extended throughout the Church. At this General Con- ference it w r as recognized as one of the official institutions of the Church, and the Annual Conferences were instructed to publish in their Minutes reports of the moneys raised by its efforts. It was thought advisable, however, that the parent missionary board should hold in trust all real estate acquired by the AY Oman's Foreign Missionary Society in foreign, coun- tries. It was at first feared that the new movement would cause a decrease in the contributions to the parent society, but time has proved the contrary. This society has done much important educational, medical, and religious work among women in foreign lands ; has distributed to the Church a large amount of printed information concerning missions, and pub- lishes three periodicals — The Heathen Woman's Friend, Der IIciden-Frauen Freund, and the Heathen Children's Friend — which are filled with intelligence from all quarters of the globe. 4. The Freedmen's Aid Society was also recog- rreedmen's nized at this time as a regularly constituted society of Aid Societ y- the Church, and its head quarters fixed at Cincinnati. It was to 19 274 MANUAL OF direct its efforts to "the education and special aid of freedmen and others, especially in co-operation with the Missionary and Church Extension Societies." 5. For twenty-two years Dr. Durbin had been corresponding Dr.Durbin secretary of the Missionary Society, and had faitli- sZ™yl jj e studied at Hartwick Seminary ; was con- verted when fifteen years old, and entered the itinerant ministry in 1838, in the Oneida Conference. In 1844 he founded the Wyoming Conference Seminary at Kingston, Pa., and was its first principal. This position he held for twenty-eight years, excepting one which he spent as presiding elder. Dr. Nelson was a strong preacher, a cultured gentleman, an excellent busi- ness man. lie died February 20, 1879. Sandford Hunt, D.D., was elected by the Book Committee on March 3, 1879, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Nelson. Bishop Edward R. Ames, D.D., was a native of Ohio, born Death of m Amesvillc, Athens Co., in that State, May 20, Bishop Ames. 1806> jT e com pl e ted his education at the Ohio Uni- versity, While there he w T as converted and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1827. From college he went to Illinois and engaged in teaching. He entered the Illinois Conference in 1830. When the Indiana Conference was formed he fell within its bounds. In 1810 he was elected a missionary secretary. In 1848 he was called to the presidency of Indiana Asbury [now De Pauw] University, but declined. He was a member of the General Conferences of 1840, 1844, and 1852. In the stormy slavery times he was a strong adherent of the Church, and opposed the secession. In 1852 he was elected a bishop, and served faithfully and acceptably up to his decease. During the civil war Bishop Ames was frequently called to METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 301 the AVhite House in conference with President Lincoln. He was wise in counsels and strong in action. When offered im- portant positions in the government he declined them because of the higher claim of the Church. He died in Baltimore, April, 1879. Daniel Drew w r as a leading business man of the city of New York. He was a native of Carmel, JS". Y., and was Death of Dan- born July 29, 1797. Early left dependent upon his ielDrew - own energies, he became a cattle-dealer, and later was inter- ested in steam-boats and railroads, and a heavy stock buyer, lie amassed a fortune. When in middle life he became a member of the Mulberry Street Methodist Episcopal Church. He was the founder of the Drew Theological Seminary at Mad- ison, ~N. J., and of the Drew Ladies' Seminary at Carmel, Y. He was a liberal contributor to all the church enterprises. While not a scholar himself, he had the happy faculty of draw- ing to himself those who were cultured. Among these we may especially note Dr. John McClintock. In all he gave to the Drew Theological Seminary about seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. His death occurred September 18, 1879. Bishop Gilbert Haven, D.D., was a native of Maiden, Mass. ; born September 19, 1821. His parents were Meth- Death of odists, and trained him in that faith. When a lad he Bishop gu- attended as a pupil the Wilbraham Academy, and bert Haven# was converted while there in 1839. He was graduated at Wes- leyan University in 1846. From this until 1851 he was en- gaged in teaching. In 1851 he joined the New England Con- ference. When the war broke out he became the chaplain of the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment. His was the first com- mission issued after the war began. In 1867 he was editor of Ziorfs Herald, and in 1872 was made a bishop. His duties took him to the Mexican missions in 1873, and to Africa in 1876-77, where he held the Liberia Conference. The pen of Bishop Haven was facile. He had thoughts, and could put them on paper so that men read them with delight. He was the author of The Pilgrim? s Wallet, National Sermons, Life of Father Taylor, the Sailor Preacher, and Our Next-Door 302 MANUAL OF Neighbor ; or, A Winter in Mexico. His death was triumph- ant. It occurred at Maiden, Mass., January 3, 1S80. The Metkodlit Advocate, that liad been published by order Methodist °^ General Conference at Atlanta, Ga , since 1808, Advocate at had been a financial loss. Consequently the book Atlanta . agents in 1883 suspended its publication. Soon after its suspension the Chattanooga Methodist Advocate was started as an independent religious paper, Dr. Carter being its editor, which has met with favor and a fair amount of success. Dr. Robert L. Dashiell was born at Salisbury, McL, June. 1 S26. He was educated at Dickinson College, graduating Dr. Dashiell. ° ' ft s in 1846. In 1848 he joined the Baltimore Conference, and was transferred to the Newark Conference in 1860. In 1868 he was president of Dickinson College. In 1872 he was elected a missionary secretary, and re-elected in 1ST6. In this field Dr. Dashiell was a faithful and successful officer, and his presence and power were felt in every part of the Church in awakening an interest in the missionary cause. Ilis death resulted from a cancer, which was removed by the surgeon's knife, but his system was too depleted for recovery. Dr. Dashiell was a strong man, a devoted worker in Christ's vineyard, an eloquent preacher, and a fast friend. He died March 8, 1880, too young to have developed all that was in him. The quadrennium was one of great peace in Zion, and suc- Revivais and cess in every department of the Church. Church- increase. building had been a notable field of great growth. The Church all over the land had added many new and costly edifices, and Methodist Church architecture was assuming distinct characters. The Church had discovered that in order to meet the needs of Methodist worship and teaching the old styles of building no longer serve the purpose. There must be an adaptation of the house to its intended uses; the class- meetings, Sunday-school, prayer-meetings, and public services must have something to meet the demands of each. Splendid churches had been erected at Akron and Cincinnati, O. ; Mt. Vernon, at Baltimore ; the Metropolitan, at Washington, D. C. ; Meridian and Roberts Park, at Indianapolis; at Morristown. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 303 N. J. ; Christ Church, at Pittsburg; Grace Church, at Wilming- ton. Del., besides fine churches in Cleveland, St. Paul, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Boston, and elsewhere. Great revivals had visited the Church during the quadren- ninm ending 1S80, the returns for that year being 11,630 traveling preachers, 12,475 local preachers, and 1,700,302 mem- bers and probationers — an increase of 713 traveling preachers and of 119,743 members. At the close of the quadrenniuin there were 10,955 churches, and 5,089 parsonages, valued at $70,955,509. This was an increase u in the number of churches of 1,322, or more than one church for every working-day in the four years ; and an increase of 072 parsonages, or more than one for every two days in the same period." In Sunday-schools there was a corresponding progress. There were 19,106 schools, with 200,013 officers and teach- sunday- ers, and 1,398,731 scholars. There were 280,805 sch00ls - conversions ill the four years. The advanced methods of Bible study introduced into the schools, the Internat ; onal Lessons, and the great assemblies held in the interests of the Sunday- school work, together with the renewed' consecration to the cause, had much to do with this advance. In the missionary field the Church had abundant reason to be thankful on viewing the results. The South India *r> i i Missions. Conference was organized m 1870, and soon extended its borders into Rangoon, Burmah, closing the quaclrennium with 37 traveling, 45 local preachers, and 2,109 members. In Japan and China the results were excellent. North and Cen- tral China Missions also gave evidences of satisfactory growth. In Italy Dr. Yernon had gathered around him sixteen good and strong native Methodist preachers, who were giving full proof of their ministry. In Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Swe- den inviting fields were opening. Mexico, one of the most difficult portions for missionary work, yielded signs of a harvest. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society had sent missionaries to India, China, Japan, Mexico, and South America. Truly, God has blessed Methodism and her plans for evan- gelizing the world. 301 MANUAL OF CHAPTER XXX. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1880 — EVENTS FOLLOWING. On a bright May morning in 1880 the delegates elected assembled in Pike's Opera House, in the Queen City of the West, Cincinnati, O., to hold the eighteenth delegated and twenty-fourth General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The bishops were all present, namely, Scott, Simp- son, Bowman, Harris, Foster, Wiley, Merrill, Andrews, and Peck. During the cjuadrennium Bishop Janes, the sweet-spir- ited and gentle senior ; Bishop Ames, the strong, common-sense statesman ; and Bishop Haven, the versatile, genial, daring min- ister, had gone. A fragrance of splendid memory lingered about their names and places. The Conference was composed of 218 ministerial and 151 lay delegates, making 399 members. Among the ministerial delegates every grade, rank, and de- partment of ministerial talent and attainment was represented. Among the lay delegates were representatives from all the learned professions and from many callings and occupations. The ages of the delegates greatly varied — from thirty years up to seventy -five.. The complexion was strongly marked. The white predominated, but the colored, or negro, w T as largely and well represented. India sent Babo Ram Chandra Bose, a na- tive Hindu, a scholar and philosopher. Germany and Switzer- land sent Ludwig Nippert. Martin Hansen came from Nor- way ; J. M. Thoburn from South India. From Liberia came James S. Payne, a native of the African coast. Bengt A. Carl- son represented the new but vigorous Swedish Conference. 1. A superior paper was presented by the bishops and read Bishops' ad- by Bishop Simpson. It placed in a crystallized form dress. ti, e W01 fc 0 f the Churcli for the past qnadrennium, and enabled the Conference at a glance to see where Methodism stood. It recounted the travels of Bishop Andrews to hold the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 305 Conference of Germany and Switzerland and his organization of the Annual Conferences of Sweden and Norway, the annual meeting of the missions in Denmark and Bulgaria, the state of the North India and South India Conferences, and the meeting of the missionaries in Italy; of the visit of Bishop Haven to Africa; of that of Bishop Wiley to Japan and China, and the formation of the Foochow Annual Conference in December, 1877; also of Bishop Bowman visiting Europe and India, hold- ing those Conferences with great profit to the Church. Bishops Merrill and Harris visited the missions in Mexico. The bishops reported the forming the North-w T est 1 1 to North-west Swedish Conference out of the Swedish charges in Swedish con- Central Illinois and Minnesota Conferences in 1876. ference * This movement unified the Swedish work and made the minis- terial supply much easier. The Western New York and East Genesee Conferences had united during the quadrennium, though without an conferences enabling act so to do. The General Conference united, sanctioned this act. This set a precedent by which contiguous Conferences may unite in the interim of the General Confer- ence, even if there has not been provided an enabling act.. The address gave a full review of the connectional interests^ of the Church. The propositions to change the second and Propoged third restrictive rules had not received the constitu- change of sec- tional approval of the Annual Conferences. Hence: restrictive both propositions were lost. rules lost. It was recommended by the bishops, 1. To extend 1 the period of probation in an Annual Conference to four years.. Recommenda . 2. That the matter of preachers retiring to enter sec- tions by the ular pursuits, and when these are a failure returning, blshops ' to the Conference and demanding work, be carefully considered and relief provided. 3. To define the position of the Church regarding ministers entering the political field and becoming candidates for office. 4. To inquire as to what can be done to advance Methodism in the cities. 5. To determine 1 whether there ought to be some extension to the time- limit to meet " cases of great exigency " for a longer pastoral term.. G.. That 21 306 MANUAL OF there should be no change i:i the presiding eldership. The bishops add : " We desire to express our firm and deliberate judgment that the presiding eldership is essential, in a Church constituted as is ours, to the efficiency of the itinerancy, and to the uniformity of the administration." 2. On the third morning of the General Conference it was „ , a announced that one of its members, Dr. John Ii. Murder of Dr. ^ 7 John b. Good- Goodwin, a lay delegate of South-east Indiana Con- ference, had suddenly died. He had been brutally shot, from which he died in a few hours, by a brother crazed with alcohol. This occurred at Brookville, Ind. The General Conference appointed four laymen to attend the funeral of Dr. Goodwin at Brookville. Dr. Goodwin was a native of Indiana, a graduate of Indiana Asbuiy University, a graduate in medi- cine, a trustee of the university, a banker at Brookville, Ind., a valuable layman, and a devoted Christian. On his death-bed he requested his son to give to the university 810,000, which he had aimed to do if he had lived. Dr. Goodwin was a good man, and fell an innocent victim to the demon alcohol he had so long and persistently fought. 3. Among the questions for admission into Conference, qnes- Tobaccoques- ^ on ""Will J ou wholly abstain from the use of tion - tobacco V] was new. It provoked discussion. Some speeches were strong and pertinent. It was several times ex- pressed that the ministers ought to be of a "clean mouth" physically, as well as pure in morals. When it was asked what was to be done with the ministers now in Conference wdio use tobacco, it was replied, " Let them alone, and they will soon die off. Keep the young men coming in clean from the use of the weed." The Board of Education refused to loan money for the purpose of acquiring an education to a man who uses tobacco. The indications are that the next generation of preachers, from bishops down, will be free from the habit of using tobacco. 4. There were four men elected and consecrated bishops, Bishops namely, Henry W. Warren, D.D., pastor of Spring elected. Garden Street Church, Philadelphia; Cyrus D. Foss, D.D., president of Wesleyan University; John F. Hurst, D.D., METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 307 LL.D., president of Drew Theological Seminary ; and Eras- tus O. Haven, D.D., LL.D., chancellor of Syracuse University., They were consecrated May 19, 1880. 5. At the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church of 1876 plans were laid and arrangements made for the holding of an " Ecumenical Conference ^th^Ecu- of Methodism." It was thought that as the different Inenical Con - for6nc6» branches of Methodism in the United States, and Great Britain and its possessions, hold to the "Arminian theol- ogy, and maintain usages which distinguish them to some ex- . tent from every other denomination of Christians," it would be greatly to the advantage of our common Methodism to hold an Ecumenical Conference. A strong committee of bishops, min- isters, and laymen was appointed to consider and execute such an undertaking. Bishop Simpson was the chairman. They corresponded with various Methodist bodies in the world, and received answers pledging all their Churches to a hearty co- operation in this matter. The committee reported to the General Conference of 1880. They also presented the action of the joint committee making the call for a council. The call was made for August, 1881, at City Road Chapel, London. In the call were six suggestions of great practical value: 1. The Conference is not for legisla- tive purposes. 2. It will consider certain matters vital to all Methodism, namely, the duty of Methodism in respect to pop- ery, paganism, pauperism, skepticism, intemperance, and kin- dred vices; education ; means of evangelization ; Methodism as a missionary movement ; use of the press ; resources of Method- ism ; the spiritual unity of Methodism, and such other topics as may suggest themselves as of importance to the Church. 3. The membership of the council shall be four hundred. Of these two hundred are assigned to British and Continental Method- ism, and two hundred to the United States and Canada. The delegates shall be as nearly as possible equally clerical and lay. 4. There shall be a general executive committee, which shall have charge of the details of the Ecumenical Con- ference. 5. Each Methodist body to arrange for the ap- 308 MANUAL OF pointment of its own delegates during that calendar year. 6. Each Methodist body to provide for the expenses of its own members. 6. The elaborate report of the Book Committee showed the Publishing financial standing of the Book Concerns of the Church, interests. ^ t t ] ie Eastern House the sales were 82.650.236.07 — an increase in the quadrennium of $213,192.93 ; but at Buffalo, Boston, Pittsburg, and San Francisco there was a total of sales of but 8764,780.68— a decrease of $13,788.75. The greatest shrinkage was at Boston. At Cincinnati the sales were $1,574,991.19 — a decrease of $150,701.05. At Chicago, St. Louis, and Atlanta the sales were $1,100,134.63— a decrease of $4,269.80. Combining the accounts, the sales at Xew York and the Eastern House depositories were $3,415,016.75 ; at the West- ern House and its depositories, $2,675,125.82;* total amount, $6,090,142.57, which was an increase of $44,433.33 over the previous quadrennium. The assets of the Concerns were: At New York 81,080,568 36 At Cincinnati 474,178 47 Total $1,554,746 83 It is not possible to estimate the power of this Methodist Christian literature. It is going out to all the earth. It ought to be greatly increased. 7. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society at this time was woman's For on ^ e ^ even J ears °f a g e > Dut its growth was phe- eign Mission- nomenal. It did not reduce the collections of the ary society. p aren t b oar d ; "but increased them. The society occu- pied fields within the missions of the parent board, supplement- ing that strong arm of service. In the four years closing w^ith May, 1880, the society collected and disbursed $278,874.54. Of this sum $31,000 was put into buildings in foreign fields nec- essary for the carrying on of the work most efficiently. The * Of this sum $340,059.49 were the proceeds of the sales of German publi- cations. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 309 society had sent out twenty-six single ladies as missionaries, and nearly two hundred native women were employed, mostly as Bible readers. The Zenana work in India had greatly devel- oped. The society had at that time seven boarding-schools, more than one hundred day-schools, and numerous Sunday-schools. In Bareilly, Lucknow, and Paori, in India; in Peking, Kiu- kiang, and Foochow, in China ; in Mexico, Japan, Africa, Bul- garia, and Italy this noble society had able representatives well supported and doing a wonderful work for Jesus. While this society had not had large contributions, nor salaried agents traversing the continent, preaching, addressing great concourses of people, they had a steady stream of mites flowing in, and the treasury was supplied. Peter's pence is the glory of Rome. The two cents a week is the glory of the "Woman's Foreign Missionary Society when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit in answer to the prayers that accompany these contri- butions. 8. In the report of the Sunday-School Union to the General Conference occurs a clear statement of the purpose + m Chautauqua. oi the Chautauqua movement : " lhe whole Chau- tauqua scheme is but the realization on a very large scale of Mr. Wesley's own theory concerning secular education, and of his plan for promoting it among the humblest people. The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, with its membership of seventeen thousand, pledged to a four years' course of study, is a permanent plan of public culture for parents, for Sunday- school teachers, for young people who have lacked early oppor- tunities, for busy people who need intellectual food, who will find recreation in change of thought and occupation, for all of whom no provision is made by the schools." The report furthermore continues : " The heart of the whole Chautauqua idea is Methodistical. It was organized by Method- ists, on a Methodist camp-ground. Its charter recognizes its denominational origin and fealty. A majority of its board are and must be Methodists : but Chautauqua has opened its broad doors to every other Christian Church and placed the repre- sentatives of all evangelical doctrines on its platform, allowed 310 MANUAL OF different schools of thought to discuss their distinctive opinions face to face with those who differed from them, encouraged the holding of separate denominational Sunday school con- gresses on its own grounds, introduced some of the strongest thinkers of our own Church to Churches outside, and intro- duced to Methodist people some of the strongest thinkers from other Churches, thus admirably illustrating the true basis of Christian union ; not a union of persons who ignore their doc- trinal and denominational peculiarities, but of persons who, in- tensely and uncompromisingly loyal to their own, join hands with others in worship, in thoughtful, honest discussion, and in practical co-operation against the powers of evil that are in the world, seeking thereby the true unity of the Church, for which the great Master prayed. 9. John M. Phillips and Sandford Hunt were elected book agents at New York ; John M. Walden and William P. Stowe agents at Cincinnati; Daniel D. Whedon was elected editor of the Methodist Quarterly Review and books of the general catalogue; James M. Buckley, editor of The Chris- tian Advocate J John H. Vincent, of Sunday-school publica- tions and corresponding secretary of the Sunday-School Union and Tract Society ; Orris II. Warren, of the Northern Chris- tian Advocate; Alfred Wheeler, of the Pittsburg Christian Advocate / Francis S. Hoyt, of the Western Christian Advocate / William Nast, of Per Christliche Apologete • Henry Liebhart, of Ilaus und Herd y Arthur Edwards, of the North-western Christian Advocate y Benjamin St. James Fry, of the Central Christian Advocate y Benjamin F. Crary, of the California Christian Advocate y Erasmus Q. Fuller, of the Methodist Ad- vocate y and Joseph C. Hartzell, of the South-western Christian Advocate. John M. Reid and Charles II. Fowler were elected corresponding secretaries of the Missionary Society ; Alpha J. Kynett, of the Board of Church Extension ; Richard S. Rust, of the Freedmen's Aid Society; and Daniel P. Kidder, of the Board of Education. The Pacific Christian Advocate was dis- continued as a General Conference publication, and its publish- ing committee was permitted to publish it at their own risk. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 311 In May, 1831, a charter was granted for the founding of a school of high grade to he known as "The Wesleyan semi-centen- University." A board of trustees had been ap- gJ^JJJJJ; pointed the year before, and these met August 24, sifc y- 1830. Before the close of 1831 the school was formally opened. Dr. Wilbur Fisk was president. On his death, in 1839, Dr. Stephen Olin was elected president, but on account of absence abroad and ill-health he did not enter on its duties, and re- signed in February, 1841. This university has made a good record. Some of the greatest names in the Church have been graduated at the Wesleyan. The semi-centennial celebration of the university was held on June 29, 1881. For an excellent historical address on this occasion, made by Bev. James M. King, D.D., see The Christian Advocate, September 1, 1881, page 547. The missionaries in Mexico, knowing the power of music in the realm of Christianity and the Church, in the New Spanish early part of 1881 published a hymnal in Spanish. H y mnal - It was entitled Ilimnario de la Iglesia Mctodista Episcopal. It was prepared under the care of Dr. William Butler. The hymns are chiefly translations from well-known authors, in- terspersed with some original poems. There are no uncertain doctrines taught, but a pure Christianity from the Methodist stand-point is here sung. The singing of theology in Spanish will do the same good as when sung in English or any other language. The attention of the Church having been called through The Christian Advocate to hospital work, Mr. 1 7 Proposed gen- George I. Seney sent Dr. Buckley, the editor, a erai Method- pledge of $200,000 to fuund a Methodist general isth0SpitaL hospital, afterward increasing the amount to $410,000. The Church has since given $300,000 more, and the hospital, opened in Brooklyn, December 15, 1887, is in successful operation, and has attained a high reputation. The preliminary steps for the holding of the first Methodist Ecumenical Conference were taken in the General Conference of 1876. Chancellor E. O. Haven suggested that the most suit- 312 MANUAL OF able place for the gathering was City Road Chapel, London. Methodist ^ t required a large amount of correspondence among Ecumenical the Methodist organizations in the world in order Conference in ^ session at city to arrange ior such a Pan-Methodist assembly. The Road chapel. var [ ous branches of the Methodist family entered heartily into the plan. The Committee of Arrangements, after most carefully sur- veying the field, decided what topics were most needful to the interests of a world-wide Methodism, and so assigned them to competent parties to prepare papers and addresses. The following Churches of Methodism were represented, namely : Wesleyan Methodist, Irish Methodist, Metliodist New Connexion, Primitive Methodist, Bible Christian, United Meth- odist Free Churches, Wesleyan Reform Union, United Free Gospel Churches, French Methodist, and Australian Methodist Church. These were all in Great Britain excepting the last two, and all were known as in the Eastern Section. In the Western Section, including Canada, were the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Metliodist Episcopal Church, South, the Metliodist Protestant Church, the Evangelical Association, the United Brethren, the American Wesleyan Church, the Free Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodist Church in the United States, the Independent Metliodist, Congregational Metliodist, African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Colored Metliodist Episcopal Church of America, Metliodist Church of Canada, Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada, Primitive Metliodist Church of Canada, Canadian Bible Christians, and British Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada, being eighteen different bodies in the United States and Canada, and ten in the Eastern Section, making twenty-eight different branches of the Methodist family of Christians. Here were the representatives of nearly six million communicants in Methodism and of a population of twenty -five million people, all gathered into Church relations since 1739. The first session w T as held in City Road, London, Wednesday, September 7, 1881. After the opening . exercises, which were METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 813 conducted by Rev. George Osborn, D.D., president of the Brit- ish Weslcyan Conference, Bishop Matthew Simpson delivered one of his grandest and most powerful sermons from the text, " The words that I speak unto you, they are, spirit, and they are life." This sermon was followed by the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in which this great representative body of Christian ministers and laymen from all parts of the world participated. The themes presented and discussed during the session of the Conference were numerous and wide-reaching, embracing almost every topic of general interest to Methodism. The ' varied topics were thoroughly considered in essays, addresses, and brief discussions by men who had carefully studied them. As literary productions they may be read with profit, while as exponents of Methodist doctrine, usage, and spirit they are worthy of study. The first session of the Ecumenical Conference was held September 7, and sessions were continued by adjournment from day to day to the afternoon of September 20. On the evening of September 15, 1881, in Exeter Hall, Lon- don, was held a Fraternal Meeting, at which time and place delegates from other Christian bodies were received. Bishop Simpson presided over «the Conference. Delegates were re- ceived from the "Pan-Presbyterian Council," the Presby- terian Church of England, the United Brethren Church, the Baptist Churches of Great Britain, Congregational Churches of England, and British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews. The gentlemen, ministers and lay- men, who were members of these delegations were large- hearted men, of learning, culture, and piety. They evidenced that Christian union and Christian success were not dependent upon organic unity, but on the unity of the faith in the bond of the Spirit. The press of England generally commented favorably on the Ecumenical Conference. The articles were as varied in character as the editors of the papers. One editor or corre- spondent saw one excellence, another took a different view, MANUAL OF but all saw the excellences, growth, virtue, and power of Meth- odism ; all prognosticated a grand future. The London Times, that old conservative sheet, contrasted it with the Pan-Angli- can Synods at Lambeth. As to the question of the absorption of Methodism into the Anglican Church, the Times said it would be impossible now. If it were once absorbed it would furnish the elements of "another vast internal convulsion," which in a short time would a^ain burst out. The Daily Chronicle spoke of the marvelous growth of Methodism in all lines. This was evidenced in the circum- stance that the Lord Mayor of London, Mr. McArthur. was an ardent Methodist, and the son of a Methodist minister, and his wife, the Lady Mayoress, was the daughter of another Wesleyan Methodist minister. Said the editor, " This wondrous system — Methodism — is of comparatively recent growth, and there is no sign of lessened vitality." These are but samples of the attention called to Methodism in Great Britain by this first Ecumenical Methodist Conference. To it the eyes of millions were turned. From it went out living forces which, refreshed by the Spirit and quickened by communion, should do more for the glory of God and the sal- vation of immortal souls than hitherto. A Methodist preacher in Chicago, Rev. II. "W. Thomas, D.D., The Thomas a member of the Rock River Conference, had for tnai. several years been charged by hearers with preaching heresy. At last charges of heresy were preferred against him, which were investigated before a committee, and he was sus- pended until the session of his Conference. At the Conference of 1881 he was formally put on trial, found guilty, and expelled from the ministry and membership of the Church. Dr. Thomas was ably defended by legal and clerical counsel, while their equal as counsel was retained on the side of the Church. The case was examined in all its phases. The ques- tions involved were : 1. " Is it right to exclude a minister from the Methodist Episcopal Church for preaching contrary to its fundamental principles ? " The Church settled that in its organization by teaching that it is right. 2. " Has Dr. Thomas METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 315 preached against any of the essential principles of Methodism ? " The committee of investigation answered that he had. These two points being settled, there could be no other result than his expulsion, at least from the ministry. Dr. Henry Foster, of Clifton Springs, N. Y., having reached aline somewhat past middle life, and having built a Methodist up a large sanitarium, determined to perpetuate the sanitarium, institution by presenting it to trustees mostly of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with Bishop Simpson at the head, and with the provision that a Methodist bishop should always fill that position. The trustees met December 28, 1881, and accepted the trust. Bishop Scott was born at Odessa, Del., October 11, 1802, and died at the same place July 13, 1882. His father Deathof Blsn . became a member of the Philadelphia Conference opscott. in 1803. Bishop Scott was converted in 1822, joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1826, in 1834 was presiding elder. In 1840, at the solicitation of Dr. Durbin, he accepted the office of principal of Dickinson Grammar School, Carlisle, Pa. In 1848 he was elected assistant book agent at ~New York. In 1852 he was elected bishop. The next winter he went to Africa and held the Liberia Conference. After his return he suffered from the effects of the African climate for many years. Bishop Scott was a most excellent man, a gentleman of high character, and a preacher of power. In the councils of the Church Bishop Scott was a man of great influence. In the month of October, 1882, the independent weekly newspaper so long and favorably known as The Purchase of Methodist was purchased by Phillips & Hunt, agents The Metuod- of the Book Concern at New York. The paper had been in existence twenty-two years, being founded in 1860. Its first editor was Dr. George P. Crooks, one of the ablest men in Methodism. When projected it was designed to meet a sup- posed w T ant in Methodism, namely, a high-grade independent journal to advocate some supposed needed reforms. It strongly advocated lay representation, some modification in the presid- ing eldership, some changes in class-meetings, and some inci- 316 MANUAL OF dental modifications. The paper was well managed editorially. It was strong, clear, loyal to country and state. Xo question was ruled out of its columns that in any way bore upon the success of Methodism. It held high rank and exerted great influence in the connection. Bishop Jesse T. Peck, D.D., LL.D., one of the strong men Death of Bish- °^ Methodism, died May 17, 1883, at Syracuse, X". Y. op Peck. jj e was a native of the State, being burn at Middle- field, April 4, 1811. In 1832 he joined the Oneida Confer- ence. He became principal of Troy Academy in 1S41, and president of Dickinson College in 1848. He went back to the pastorate in 1S52. He was transferred to the California Conference in 1858, and remained there eight years. After his return east he was largely instrumental in founding Syracuse University. In 1872 he was elected a bishop. As a preacher and administrator he stood in the front ranks. lie was a warm and genial friend. As an author he was ''clear, with much power of elaboration." Altogether Bishop Pock was a man of mark and power. Methodism, by her Missionary Board, determined on a care- ful visitation of all the missions in Europe and India Dr. Reid's vis- . * 1 it to Eastern by one of the missionary secretaries m 18S3. Dr. J. M. Peid was sent. He visited the stations in Europe, saw the work as it progressed, and sought to make suggestions such as would aid the cause there, and give the board a better understanding of the needs of the missions. As to the Bulga- rian Mission, Dr. Peid took the ground "that our confessed failure in Bulgaria is chiefly to be ascribed to our evil adminis- tration from the beginning." In India Dr. Peid attended the "convocation of missionaries of all denominations, which assembles once in ten years to dis- cuss the work of God throughout the empire." After visiting all the principal Methodist stations, carefully examining the things done and their results, he summed up his impressions as follows : 1. He was impressed with the " immensity of the field and how much has been done." 2. With the great amount of real estate of which we have become possessed, " all of which is METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 317 most eligibly situated," the Methodists having acted as wisely in this respect as the Roman Catholics. 3. By the employ- ment of natives by the Missionary Society, especially by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. Such visits by the officers of the Missionary Society cannot but prove of great advantage to their cause. The visit also of Dr. Butler to India, the scene of his early labor, and of the terrible sufferings of the Sepoy rebellion, did not fail to enlist great interest when, on his return to America, he told the story of what he had seen, and the marvelous development of the work. The Committee on Ways and Means of the Missionary So- ciety called the presiding elders of fourteen districts A Comraittee contiguous to New York to meet in council. They of the Mission- met at the residence of J. B. Cornell, a layman, De- and me^pre- cember 19, 1883. Bishop Harris presided. The sidin * elders 7 r r of four Con . New York, New York East, Newark, and New Jer- ferences meet sey Conferences were represented. Mr. J. B. Cor- for counseL nell, a member of the missionary board, presented, in seven interrogations, the design of the board in asking for this meet- ing. These represented the necessities of the work, and hinted strongly at methods for helping to extend the missionary work. The points were all carefully and fully discussed by the pre- siding elders, some of whom were veterans in the work. Among other things it was said that there was needed, 1. More of a missionary spirit diffused among our members, so that each one should feel the burden of souls upon him. 2. A strong conviction of duty. 3. A stimulation of the ministry to realize the value of the work and the importance of hastening to its performance. 4. The need of a human inspiration from the missionary secretaries. 5. The aim to be the conversion of the world. 6. The obligation ministers and members are under to keep the Discipline. The Anglo-Chinese college movement, in the interest of higher education for the Chinese, was inaugurated at Angio-cni- Foochow, China, in 1881. It is in connection with nese college - the Foochow Conference, with a most noble object in view. 31S MANUAL OF The missionaries Lave become satisfied that a move must be made to give Christian Chinamen the advantages of a better education. In 1883 the Gammon Theological Institute was founded by Gammon The- -^ ev * ^- H. Gammon, at Atlanta, Ga. It is organ- ologies insti- i ze d under the charter of the Clark University, tute. . . T . though it is distinct id its government. It is prima- rily designed for the education of young Xegroes for the Meth- odist ministry. It lias a good corps of instructors, its course of study is up with the times, and it is wielding a great influence for good in the South. The Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at Cincinnati, O., Home Mis- July 6, 1880, by Christian ladies of that city and ciety 17 S °" v ^ c " nt J- It has since been placed in the same rela- tion to the General Conference as the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. Its affairs are administered by a board of managers, a corresponding secretary, and one delegate from each Annual Conference. Its object is "to enlist and organize the efforts of Christian women in behalf of the needy and destitute women and children of all sections of our coun- try without distinction of race, and to co-operate with the other societies and agencies of the Church in educational and mis- sionary work." It has a field in the South and "West where are multitudes of degraded and ignorant women. It seeks to lift these up, and guide them into the paths of purity and Christian civilization. It has in twelve years of existence accomplished good work and been a blessing to hundreds of souls. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 319 CHAPTER XXXI. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1884. The nineteenth delegated and twenty-fifth General Confer- ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church assembled in the Young Men's Christian Association Hall, Philadelphia, Pa., May 1, 1884. The bishops were present as follows: Simpson, Cowman, Harris, Foster, Wiley, Merrill, Andrews, Warren, Foss, and Hurst. Bishop Simpson, though feeble, presided at the opening. The Conference was composed of 2G1 ministerial and 156 lay delegates, or in all 417. David S. Monroe was elected secretary. After the organization Bishop Harris presented to the Gen- eral Confer ence a Bible having a remarkable his- presentation tory. It had belonged to John Wesley, and in it he of a Bible - had written the initials of his name. It was presented by Mr. Wesley to Rev. Joseph Benson, the commentator; from Mr. Benson it descended to his son, Mr. S. Benson. Subse- quently it came into the possession of Mr. Samuel Darks W addy, Queen's Council, Temple, London, who now presented it to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Accompanying the Bible was an interesting letter addressed to the Conference through Bishop Simpson. The General Conference received the Bible and ordered that it should be kept in the custody of the bishops, to be by them brought to the sessions of the General Conference for use in the opening services and in the ordination of the bishops, and should also be used at the Centennial Conference at Baltimore. The address of the bishops was a masterly church-state paper, clear in thought, strong in expression, and of Bishops' ad- great importance to the whole Church. One thing dress - rendering this General Conference of unusual importance and 320 MANUAL OF interest was tliat it met in the centennial year of Method- ism as an organized Church in America. The interest was doubled from the fact that the first Annual Conference held in America occurred one hundred and eleven years previous to 1S84 in Philadelphia, when only ten ministers received ap- pointments. Within five years the Revolutionary War had broken out, and most of these ministers had returned to En- gland, Francis Asbury only remaining. The saintly and cour- ageous Asbury may well be called " the apostle and father of American Methodism." The bishops' address refers to the marvelous success of the early itinerants, and attributes this to three causes : 1. "The tireless zeal and holy living of the early Method- ists." 2. "The doctrines proclaimed by the earlier ministers were chiefly the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel — the fall and ruin of man, his need of a Saviour, the atonement of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the witness of the Spirit, per- fect love, and all the blessings of a free and full, a present and eternal, salvation." 3. " The itinerancy." The bishops commended to the consideration of the Confer- The Judicial ence the question whether the Judicial Conferences conferences, "ought to be lunger permitted to reverse the find- ings of the 6 select number,' or of an Annual Conference, or to remand a case for a new trial on merely technical grounds, or because of errors in the proceedings of the court below, which errors do not materiallj T affect the question of the guilt or inno- cence of the appellant." The address commends the efforts of the literary institutions to pay their debts and obtain additions to their en- dowments. In the theological schools they show how marked has been the advance. The address, in looking to the future of the Sources of 7 ° < success in the work in the Church, and inquiring for the forces to produce success, presented three considerations as important : " 1. An earnest, indefatigable, and consecrated ministry. " 2. A devoted and actively co-operating membership. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 321 "3. The rich baptism of the Holy Spirit which God has promised to his true servants." The allusion of the address to these points showed how im- portant they were, and how under the plan of Methodism and its usages they were most efficient in accomplishing the ends de- sired. The Missionary Society was prospering in its Benevolent work. The Church Extension was "affording help to societies, many churches throughout the land, and especially in the South and West." The Freedmerfs Aid Society was extending in the South. The Sunday-School Union was increasing its literature.. The Board of Education was educating a number of promising; young men and women. The report of the Book Committee showed that during the- quadrennium the sales in the East amounted to Bookcommit- $3,534,595.75, and at the West to $2,920,891.53, or a tee's report, total of $6,455,487.28. This was an increase in four years of $3G5, 344.71. The net capital of all the Book Concerns was $1,017,450.30. When the new building, 805 Broadway, lew York, was purchased in 1869 bonds for $500,000 were issued at seven per cent. In 18S4 these were called in — about one half paid, and new bonds at five per cent, issued for the re- mainder. Eev. W. X. Emde, D.D., LL.D., president of Garrett Bibli- cal Institute, Rev. John M. Walden, D.D., LL.D., one Election of of the agents of the Book Concern at Cincinnati since bistlo P 3 - 1868, Eev. Willard F. Mallalieu, D.D., presiding elder of the Boston District, New England Conference, and Eev. Charles II. Fowler, D.D., LL.D., missionary secretary, were elected and consecrated bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On the 17th day of May, 1884, the Committee on Missions presented a report to tli3 General Conference, reeom- 1 > A 7 Missionary mending "the election of a missionary bishop for- bishop for Africa/' It was ordered printed, and on the 21st of Afnca " May was adopted. The feeling in the General Conference as expressed in the various addresses was that this bishop should be clothed with all the power in Africa that any of our bishops posses, and that he should bo left perfectly free. 1 to- wage a 09. 322 MANUAL OF spiritual war on the forces of the Dark Continent. The Rev. William Taylor, D.D., lay delegate from India, was elected to this office. Dr. Taylor was born in Rockbridge County, Ya., May 2, 1821. He entered the Baltimore Conference 1843. In 1819 he went to California, where he labored as street preacher and evangelist, under the direction of the Missionary Society, for seven years. After that he traveled extensively and labored as an evangelist, spending three years in Australia, JS^ew Zea- land, and Tasmania. Then he went to Africa among the Kaf- firs, where the missionaries reported seven thousand converts. Then he labored in England and Scotland. He next visited the West India Islands, British Guiana, and South America. Then again he went to Australia, where a revival followed, and also in Ceylon. In 1870 he visited India. For about a year and a half he labored in the India missions. In 1872 he com- menced in Bombay the work of founding self-supporting mis- sions. This work spread, especially among the Eurasians, and resulted in the South India Conference. His next field was the western coast of South America, where in progress at the time of his election was a flourishing educational and evangelizing work employing forty-three preachers and teachers. The election of Dr. Taylor as bishop for Africa resulted in the raising and discussion of many intricate questions in the Church in the United States, and in the planting and extending of the work of Methodism in the continent of Africa. Some of the discussions of these questions was in a fault-finding spirit, but in general they were on a high plane, and exhibited a spirit of " brotherly love." Bishop Taylor entered upon his mission fully prepared to do his work well, if left to his own way. He did not permit interference. The story of his African experi- ences reads like a novel. At Upper Sandusky, O., in November, 1816, was established the Wyandotte Indian Mission. The Council of the sTon™^ tribe, by Harry Jacques, principal chief, conveyed upper san- grround to the mission upon which the church and dusky, O. school were erected. James B. Finley was the first regularly appointed missionary, though Stewart, a colored man, MKTIIODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 323 Lad been at work before as a volunteer missionary. Here was, in fact, t'ie birthplace of the Missionary Society of the Method- ist Episcopal Church. Many red men were converted, and the mission was prosperous. Stewart died and was buried here; also chiefs Between-the-Lcgs, Gray-Eyes, and Simundewat, who had all been converted. The old church and the tomb-stones were dilapidated and marred. The march of civilization had forced most of this Indian tribe to the west. Only a remnant was left. The Missionary Committee recommended that the Church at Upper Sandusky should be made the legal custodian of this property, and that the Missionary Society should pay the expense of putting in proper form and preserving these relics of the work of other days. The General Conference approved the recommendation of the committee. A change was about this time made in the duration of a certificate of church membership. Heretofore a Members' cer- church letter was considered as never dead. Hence tiflcat e- some letters were carried ten or twenty years without being deposited in the Church. In this way there was a sort of a Church in the pocket. Now the life of a letter is only one year, but under certain circumstances it may be renewed. It was also enacted that a member's responsibility remained in the Church from which he received his letter. Joseph M. Trimble, D.D., of the Ohio Conference, was in- vited to a seat on the platform with the bishops, in Jose pb m. recognition of his being the senior member of the Trimble. Conference. He had been a member of all the General Con- ferences from 1844, eleven in all. He had seen the Church in its struggling days as well as now in its strength. A number of memorials reached the General Conference asking for more explicit legislation regarding the im- . » o Divorce. portant subject of divorce. An elaborate report was adopted, and the following was ordered to be embodied in the Discipline : " No divorce shall be recognized as lawful by the Church except for adultery. And no minister shall solem- nize marriage in any case where there is a divorced wife or husband living ; but this rule shall not apply to the innocent 324 MANUAL OF party in a divorce for the cause of adultery, nor to divorced parties seeking to be reunited in marriage." John M. Phillips and Sandford Hunt were elected book agents at New York ; Earl Cranston and William P. Stowe, book agents at Cincinnati ; Daniel Curry, ed- itor of the Quarterly Review and books of the general catalogue ; James M. Buckley, editor of The Christian Advocate ; John H. Yincent, editor of Sunday-school publications and corre- sponding secretory of the Sunday-School Union and Tract Soci- ety ; Jeremiah H. Bayliss, editor of the Western Christian Advocate ; Arthur Edwards, of the J¥orth-western Christian Advocate ; Benjamin St. James Fry, of the Central Christian Advocate; Orris H. Warren, of the Northern Christian Advo- cate ; Charles W. Smith, of the Pittsburg Christian Advocate ; Benjamin F. Crary, of the California Christian Advocate; William Xast, of Der Christliche Ajpologete ; Henry Liebhart, of Haus und Herd ; Marshall W. Taylor, of the Southwestern Christian Advocate; Richard S. Post, secretary of the Freed- men's Aid Society; Alpha J. Ivynett, secretary of the Board of Church Extension ; John M. Peid and Charles C. McCabe, missionary secretaries ; Daniel P. Kidder, secretary of the Board of Education. On the 28th of May the General Conference adjourned, close of the Bishop Simpson, though very feeble, and hardly able conference. \ 0 oe present, gave the closing words. They were full of pathos and evinced his great love for Methodism. They were his last public utterances. When he pronounced the benediction his public work was practically ended. Scarcely had the General Conference adjourned and the DeathofBisn- members reached their homes and fields of work op Simpson. wne n the sad words were flashed over the wires that the venerable senior bishop — the great, the immortal Simpson — was dead. This event occurred June 18, 1884, at his home in Philadelphia. He was born in Cadiz, O., June 20, 1811. He had reached within two days of seventy-three years of age. He was well educated, a graduate in medicine as well as in the arts, a skillful college professor and president, an editor of i METnODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 325 marked ability, and a bishop of excellent parts and unbounded influence. Loyal to his country, he wielded a commanding influence over men high in authority. In England his burning words of eloquence won back many from a desire to join in alliance with Southern rebels. He was one of the great men of American Methodism. Bishop Wiley died at Foochow, China, while holding the Foochow Conference, November 22, 1884. He was not quite sixty years old, having been born at Lewiston, Pa., March 29, 1825 ; lie was a graduate in medicine from the medical depart- ment of New York University in 1846. He settled D ea thof Biso- in the practice of medicine. In 1851 he arrived in °P wlle y- China as a medical missionary. At Foochow he commenced his work. After a time his own health failed, and his wife died and was buried there. In four years he returned to the United States. In 1858 he was elected principal of Penning- ton Seminary ; in 1864 he was elected editor of the Ladled Repository, and in 1872 he was elected a bishop. In 1884 he was appointed by his colleagues to visit the missions in China and Japan. "In lucidity," says The Christian Advocate, "he had no superior among his brethren. In self-restraint he was one among many; in prudence he reached, without passing, the limit of rational caution ; in knowing when to speak and when to be silent in order to influence his brethren in the general committees of the Church he had nothing left to learn ; as an administrator he was faithful in the little as well as in the great." He was buried by the side of his wife in Foochow. A great gathering of delegates from all the Methodist bodies in America assembled in Baltimore, December 9-17, 1884, to celebrate the close of the first hundred years SonferVnci of organized Methodism. This was an event of no of American # , Methodism. small importance to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to Methodism in all the world. The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, had the honor of first proposing the centennial celebration of 1884. They made the proposal in 1878 in their General Conference in Atlanta, 326 MANUAL OF Ga. Not much was done looking to arrangements until the Ecu- menical Conference, when the American delegates in London signed a paper drawn up by Dr. (now Bishop) Walden, and cir- culated for signatures. There were eighty-one names attached to this paper. In May, 1882, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, appointed a committee of correspondence, and provided for representatives in the Con- ference. Meanwhile the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church appointed a committee of twenty-six " to consider the matter of holding a Methodist Centennial Conference," and to co-operate with the committee of the Church South. After full consultation a proper basis of representation was fixed and a programme arranged. To Bishoj} Andrews, chairman of the General Executive Committee, may be given the meed of praise for the success of the Conference. The speakers and essayists were on the ground and ready to do their work, except in three or four instances, when the bishop was able to draft men to step in and fill up the vacancies. There were two hundred and thirty-one delegates from the Methodist Episcopal Church ; one hundred and twenty-seven from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South ; fifty -one from the African Methodist Episcopal Church ; sixteen from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church ; ten from the Col- ored Methodist Episcopal Church of America; two from the Primitive Methodist Church ; two from the Methodist Church of Canada ; two from the Independent Methodist Church ; also four fraternal delegates from the Methodist Protestant Church, and one from the Bible Christian Church, being a total of four hundred and forty-six delegates. These were about equally divided between the ministry and laity. Almost all the occu- pations of the business world were represented among the laity, and well-nigh every shade of culture and position was found among the ministry. At an informal gathering December 8, in the First Method- ist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, the " lineal successor of Lovely Lane Chapel, in which the Christmas Conference of 1784 assem- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 327 bled," the delegates were received and welcomed. The address of Bishop Andrews on that occasion was very able, as were also the addresses of Dr. J. 13. McFerrin, of the Church South, and of Professor J. C. Price, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The first session opened in Mt. Yernon Place Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore. After religious services Bishop J. C. Granbery, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was called to preside. After the formal organization of the Centennial Conference Bishop R. S. Foster, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, preached a masterly sermon, r 1 71 t J 7 Sermon of which occupied over two hours in its delivery. The Bishop fos- text he chose was 2 Chron. xxxii, 2, 3, and Psa. ter * lxviii, 12, 13. The sermon must be read to be appreciated. The topics discussed were various and far-reaching, im- portant to every branch of Methodism. The speak- subjects dis- ers represented several branches of the Methodist cussed - family. The general tone of the meeting was highly conducive to fraternity. As the closing exercise a Conference love-feast was held. The veteran Dr. Joseph M. Trimble presided. The great church was filled with an audience of Christian men and women. The hymn, " There is a fountain filled with blood,'' was sung with hearty good-will. Then testimonies were given by an Indian, by Negroes, by men of the Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, by Germans and Englishmen. It was a time to be remembered in the history of Methodism. A stranger could not have told that these men were members of different denominations. By agreement Dr. Frederick Merrick, of Ohio, one of the patriarchs of Methodism and of Methodist education, ' . Dr. Merrick. gave a short address, which left a very deep impres- sion on the Conference. After referring to the Conference and its discussions, to the doctrines of Methodism and their truly catholic and highly liberal spirit, he uttered a most timely and solemn warning. " Methodism," said he, " is still on probation, and peccability is a condition of probation. Other Churches 328 MANUAL OF have fallen away ; Methodism may. Our prosperity as a church organization brings with it many subtle and powerful temptations. "We need to watch and pray that w T e be not led into them." These sound and fitting words fell upon the ears and touched the hearts of that vast audience. It seemed as if age and experience were talking to an incoming century of youth. Dr. Trimble led the Conference in a solemn prayer. After the doxology he pronounced the benediction, and the first Centennial Conference of American Methodism was a sub- ject of history. In 1885 the call of the Missionary Society on the Church a minion for was made — "A million for missions in 1885." The missions. ca ][ Avas somewhat unexpected. Many said, "Im- possible ; " but others said, " Yes, it can be done." Dr. Charles C. McCabe led on in the watch-cry. It was shown how much could be done in extending the mission work if contributions could be increased from $600,000 to 81,000,000. While there was a grand increase all along the line it did not quite reach the round 81,000,000. On June 8, 1885, died at Atlantic Highlands, N. J., Death of Dr. Dr. D. "Whedon, who had been for more than a D. D.whedon. quarter of a century editor of the Methodist Re- view and chief editor of the books published by the Book Con- cern. He was a native of Onondaga, N. Y., born March 20, 1808. He graduated at Hamilton College in 1828, and studied law, but entered upon teaching in the Oneida Conference Sem- inary. In 1833 he was elected professor of ancient languages and literature in "Wesleyan University. In 1813 he entered the pastoral work, and in 1815 he was professor of rhetoric, logic, and history in the University of Michigan. The Gen- eral Conference in 1856 elected him the editor of the Methodist Quarterly Review, which he edited for twenty-eight years. Dr. Whedon was a man of colossal mind, acute, strong, vigor- ous, and earnest ; a Christian of strong convictions, and a loyal Methodist. Combining these powers he brought the Review to the highest excellence. As an author he was in the first rank. His work on The Freedom of the Will is a masterpiece METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 329 of reasoning. His commentaries are of the highest order. The Church has produced few such men as Whedon. The General Conference ordered the publication of a Man- ual, quarterly, giving " information concerning the benevolent work of our Church." The first nuin- MeTifodVst ber was issued October, 1S80, and it continued to be Episcopal j ' Church. published up to May of 1888, when by order of the General Conference it was suspended. The Manual was a live and valuable history of the societies and interests represented. It condensed the facts of general interest to the whole Church into a very small space. Rev. George C. Haddock, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Sioux City, la., a great temperance advo- Murder 0 f catc, was brutally shot in cold blood by the conspiracy Haddock, of saloonists in Sioux City, August 3, 1886, for no other fault than that he was actively engaged in seeking to restrain the rum traffic and enfranchise the drunkard and his family. Had- dock was as much a martyr to the cause of temperance as w T as Hiiss, or Jerome of Prague, or Ridley, or Latimer to the cause of Christianity. His death, it is thought, had much to do in making Iowa a prohibition State. In April, 1887, a proposition was made by the trustees of City Road Chapel, London, to permit the Method- • v 1 . . Memorial win- ists of America to put in their church a memorial dowto Bishop window to Bishop Simpson. It is known in art as Sirapson - a Georgian window, 18 by 6 feet, and cost $1,200. It is a splendid tribute to the memory and w T orth of the great bishop. It is another of those imperishable links binding British and American Methodism to each other. Dr. Daniel Curry was born near Peekskill, !N. Y., Novem- ber 26, 1809. He graduated at Wesleyan Univer- Dea thofDr. sity in 1837, and for a while taught in the Troy Curr y- Conference Academy. In 1839 he became a professor in Geor- gia Female College, at Macon ; in 1841 he joined the Georgia Conference, and was transferred to New York Conference in 1844. He became president of Indiana Asbury (now De Pauw) University in 1854; editor of The Christian Advocate in 1864, 330 MANUAL OF which office he continued to hold until May, 18TG ; editor of the National Repository 1876, and in 1884 editor of the Meth- odist Review. He was a member of eight General Conferences. Dr. Curry was a strong, cultured, angular, positive man. He had strong convictions, and was intensely loyal to the Church and Christianity. His pen was always sharp, strong, and enter- taining. He followed his convictions in every way of life. He died August IT, 1887, having reached his seventy-eighth year. Bishop W. L. Harris was a great and good man. He was a Death of Bish- native of Ohio, born November 4, 1817 ; converted op Hams. j une 10, 1834; was a student at Norwalk Semi- nary; licensed to preach in 1S30; in 1S37 entered Michigan Conference; principal of Baldwin Institute, now University, 1848-51; professor in Ohio \Yesleyan University 1S51-60; elected corresponding secretary of the Missionary Society and served to 1872, when elected bishop. Bishop Harris was a man of strong mind, of earnest convictions, and of an indomit- able will. Self-educated under the greatest of embarrassments, lie had no patience with those who said they could not get an education. He was secretary of five General Conferences. As a bishop he was a parliamentarian and an administrator. His judgment was sound, his will firm, his decisions prompt, and his spirit generally kind, though his natural abruptness of speech often gave the impression that he was incensed or irri- tated, which was rarely the case, and when it occurred soon passed away. Bishop Harris, as a preacher, " in his early days was full of energy and fervor. More recently, also, he was dignified and edifying, frequently interesting, and occasionally imbued with mental pathos and unction." In church law he reigned without a rival. He loved this study, and knew all its sharp and weak points. He traveled around the globe in his work for Methodism. On returning it was a feast to hear his account of God's work and triumph in the dark parts of the world. He seemed to see with many eyes and to plan with many minds how to carry forward the work of the Church in saving souls. He died in Kew York, September 2, 18S7. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 331 Marshall W. Taylor, D.D., was a colored man who rose from poverty and ignorance to be a soul-saver and a Marshall w. leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Born Ta y lor » D - D - July 1, 1846, in Louisville, Ky., of free parents, he became a man of culture. He was a member of two General Conferences and presiding elder of Louisville District. In 1844 he was elected the editor of the South-western Christian Advocate at New Orleans. This he ably conducted till his death at Louis- ville, Ky., September 11, 1S87. The Indiana Asbury University w T as founded at Greencastle, Ind., in 1837. Its career was one of marked sue- Derauwuni- cess. In 1881 the Hon. Washington C. De Pauw, death oVwlc! of New Albany, when about to leave the United De Pauw ' its , , , great bene- States for travel in Europe and Asia, determined factor, on founding a school of high grade and giving it ample en- dowment. This design he casually communicated to Dr. Plight, of Cincinnati, Colonel J. "W. Ray, of Indianapolis, and Dr. J. C. Ridpath, of Greencastle. After a time Mr. De Pauw deter- mined to make the Indiana Asbury University his beneficiary. After proper correspondence the matter was arranged, and on October 15, 1883, the thing w T as practically and successfully completed. The trustees then determined to change the name of the university. Mr. DePauw opposed this to the last. The name was legally changed by decree of the Putnam County Court, May 5, 1884. After this date the university was known as De Pauw University. While Mr. De Pauw lived he gave constantly to aid the university. Money, time, counsel, and hard work were given in no stinted measure to advance the enterprise. His whole soul seemed wrapped up in it. He desired its complete success. On the evening of May 5, 1887, just three years after the change in the name of the university, Mr. De Pauw and his son, N. T. DePauw, were on the train in Chicago about leaving for their home in New Albany. He was suddenly stricken with apoplexy. He was carried to the Palmer House in Chicago, where he died before midnight. W. C. De Pauw 332 MANUAL OF was a native of Indiana. He descended from a noble Hugue- not family. His grandfather came to America with General Lafayette and fought for American independence. Mr. De Pauw was a noble Christian gentleman. He was an exten- sive manufacturer and banker. By his will forty per cent, of his vast estate went to the enlargement of the university which bears his name. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CIIUIICII HISTORY. 333 CHAPTER XXXII. PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1888. The twentieth delegated and twenty-sixth General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Clmrch assembled in the Metropol- itan Opera House, in New v York, May 1, 1888. It was com- posed of 288 ministerial and 175 lay delegates, making a total of 463. It was an imposing body, of culture and intelligence. The bishops present were Bowman, Foster, Merrill, Andrews, Warren, Foss, Hurst, Ninde, Walden, Mallalieu, and Fowler. After the religious services Bishop Bowman presented the General Conference with a paper setting forth the Q ues ti 0 ns of judgment of the Board of Bishops regarding ques- organization, tions arising for the first time in the history of Methodism affecting the legal organization of that body. There had been elected by certain lay electoral Conferences women as delegates to tbe General Conference. These women were present and demanded admission to seats. The question of embarrassment was as to what was their legal status. Hence this paper from the bishops. "Who shall decide as to the qualification for a seat in the General Conference % Not the secretary, for he is only a clerk, and may only place on the roll such as are unquestioned and unchallenged. ISTot the bishops, who alone are authorized to cnperintend the organization according to constitutional provis- ions. They might decide in all cases where there arose no question as to title to sit. But where grave questions do arise, it is the true method to organize with those who are unques- tionably duly qualified to sit as members of the General Con- ference. Then, when a quorum is present, leave the decision of qualification of others or questioned cases to be determined by the body itself.* * Journal, 1888, pp. 11-73. 334 MANUAL OF Bishop Bowman called on the secretary of the last General Conference to call the roll in accordance with this principle, which having been done David S. Monroe was elected secretary. The General Conference was thus fully and legally organized. There were two classes of delegates concerning whose eligi- Twociassesof bility there was question — women, and men who did d.ubtfui ell- not regide ^fljjjj t i ie bounds of the Conferences hav- glbllity as del- egates, ing elected them. Of the last class John M P Phil- lips, elected by the Mexico Conference, was a resident of New York, and Robert E. Pattison, elected by the North India Conference, was a resident of Pennsylvania. These two classes were referred to separate committees. The minority report of the committee was adopted, and John M. Phillips and Robert E. Pattison were not admitted to seats. The protests against the admission of women were sustained by the Discipline, and they were not admitted to Protests. seats. The women thus not admitted were Amanda C. Pippey, of the Kansas Conference; Mary C. Nind, of the Minnesota Conference; Angie F. Newman, of the Nebraska Conference; Lizzie D. Van Kirk, of the Pittsburg Conference ; and Frances E. Willard, of the Pock Piver Conference. Pev. Charles J. Clark, D.D., ministerial delegate from the Maine Conference, who was one of the secretaries Death of Chas. j. Clark and of of the General Conference, suddenly died while in Leavitt Bates. a ^ en( ] ance U p 0 n the General Conference, May 6. Leavitt Bates, also, a lay delegate from the Xew England Southern Conference, died the same clay. These were good men and true, and their brethren mourned their loss. The address of the bishops carefully reviewed the condition Bishops 1 °f *' ie Church in a condensed but very clear man- address. 11Gr# The membership had increased in the quad- rennium about 450,000, so that the total number was 2,093,935. Great advance had been made in "the seating capacity and in the architectural excellency " of many of the church edifices. The connectional agencies of the Church were brought out in a clear light. The publishing houses, the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Board of Education, the Mis- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 335 sionary Society, the Church Extension Board, the Freedmen's Aid Society, and the Sunday-school and Tract causes were shown to be working in the most perfect harmony in a system that is unique, and accomplishing the greatest good for all men. The address pointed out three considerations urging young men to a thorough preparation and full equipment for the min- i-fry : "First, The demand for such men is quite in excess of the supply. Missions all over the world hunger for them, and the number of intelligent Churches in the home field has in- creased more rapidly than the number of pastors well qualified to fill them. Second, The subtle and ever-varying forms of skepticism rife in our times; the astounding self-assurance with which philosophical vagaries long since exploded are dealt out as brilliant novelties; the amazing effrontery and flippancy witli which all things serious are treated; the perpetual dissem- ination of pernicious sentiments by the press; and a manifest loosening of the traditional bonds of popular respect for the Sabbath, the Bible, and the Church, are startlingly suggestive of the qualifications for the ministry which the times demand. Thirds The swift development of secular forces in this country ; our unprecedented material prosperity, fraught with unknown possibilities of moral evil; the ominous mutterings of discon- tent from multitudes of the poor ; the grasping exactions and political power of the enormously rich ; the elements of evil inseparable from so vast an influx of foreign populations; the rapid fixing of the trend of popular thought in Territories soon to blossom into States holding the balance of power in the re- public — ail these point to collisions of sentiment and culmina- tions of forces sure to mark the closing decade of the century as an epoch in our national history of incalculable importance." Then the bishops exclaim, " What trained, consecrated leader- ship does the Church need in such a time ! " In the twelve theological seminaries, fifty-four colleges, one hundred and twenty seminaries and academies, with buildings and endowments and other property amounting to $25,000,000, Methodism must wield an immense influence. The efforts of the Freedmen's Aid Society to carry forward 336 MANUAL OF the two arms of the service — the education of the Negro and the Freedmen's simultaneous uplifting and culture of the poor whites Aid society. 0 f t } ie g ou th, was an herculean task, and the society ought not to be censured for the occasional friction that arose. After speaking of the success of the missionary work, the Bishop Tay- address discusses two vital questions. The first is the lor'swork. question of supervision of missions by the visit of hishops from the home land, or, second, by missionary bishops. These propositions are surrounded with perplexing questions that are more easily asked than answered. Of Bishop Taylor's work in Africa the bishops say, " For all his representations we bespeak your most considerate judgment, and for himself per- sonally your sympathy and your prayers." The difficulties for the first time presented to the General The eligibility Conference regarding the eligibility of women to sLte^GetN membership in that body were not few nor insig- tme as°deS- uihcant. The address took its position on the his- gates. torical fact that when the restrictive rule was so changed in 1872 as to admit laymen it did not include women. The bar to her admission was a constitutional one, which could not be removed by a simple resolution of the General Confer- ence, but must be changed, if changed at all, in a constitutional manner. The Annual Conferences must consent to the change or it cannot be constitutionally effected. The address discussed the matter of what was the constitu- constitution tion of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and how it ofthechurch. m ight be changed. The suggestion was advanced that provision is therein made for changing every thing but the Articles of Religion and the mode of changing. Hsow would it not be wise to determine a mode for changing this last clause ? The evil of a variety of forms of worship in different parts Uniformity of °^ tne Church was stated.. "In traveling through worship. the Connection at large we often," say the bishops, "experience embarrassment upon discovering that we do not know how to conduct public worship in the congregation. We either sit as spectators, joining in the worship as best we can, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 337 while the pastor leads the introductory service, or put ourselves under his instructions, or keep before us a written programme, and proceed with grave apprehension lest a blunder be perpe- trated. The remedy is a form of public worship which shall he uniform and imperative in its essential features." The discussion of the labor problem and its relation to Chris- tianity, the Church, and especially to the Methodist The Iabor Church, evinced a clear comprehension of the magni- problem, tude of the problem on the spiritual side. It was the repeti- tion of the old epiestion " of the relation of the Church to the masses, especially to the poor." " Nothing is more alarming to the philanthropist and the patriot than the alienation of the laboring people from the evangelical Churches." The lan- guage of these wise men of the Church is truly startling. In a manly, straightforward, and logical manner the address brought forward the great so called moral questions Moral ques . of the day — the sabbath observance; the "tippling tioas - houses and dram-drinking," together with the viciousness of " license, high or low ; " " the blight of polygamy ; " marriage and divorce, and their relation to Christian morality; and gam- bling, perjury, bribery, and licentiousness, which are so abun- dant in the land. From these the Church must be freed and kept forever clear. The bishops suggested strong and wise legislation on these points. After a full discussion of the subject the time limit for pas- toral appointments was changed. The pastoral term Pastora i term was extended to five years in ten, while a presiding extended, elder might be appointed to the same district six years in suc- cession in twelve. There were many questions arising from the election, of Rev. William Taylor, bishop for Africa, at the General Q Uestions on Conference of 1884, which now came up for solu- episcopacy, tion. After a careful examination of the questions, and the study of the law under which he was elected and acted,, the General Conference gave utterance to their conclusions in nine propositions : Hesolved, 1. That a missionary bishop is a bishop elected for • 23 MANUAL of a specified foreign mission field, with full episcopal power?, but with episcopal jurisdiction limited to the foreign mission field for which he was elected. 2. That a missionary bishop is not, in the meaning of the Discipline, a general superintendent. 3. That a missionary bishop is not subordinate to the general superintendents, but is co-ordinate with them in authority in the field to which he is appointed, and is amenable for his con- duct to the General Conference, as is a general superintendent. 4. That the election of a missionary bishop carries with it the assignment to a specified foreign mission field, and that a missionary bishop cannot be made a general superintendent ex- cept by a distinct election to that office. 5. That a missionary bishop should receive his support from the Episcopal Fund. G. That a missionary bishop should, in his field, co-operate with the Missionary Society of the Church in the same way that a general superintendent co-operates in the foreign mission field over which lie has episcopal charge. 7. That when a missionary bishop, by death or other cause, ceases to perform episcopal duty for the foreign field to which he was assigned by the General Conference the general super- intendents at once take supervision of said field. 8. That in the matter of a transfer of a preacher from a field within the jurisdiction of a missionary bishop to a Conference under the episcopal supervision of a general superintendent, or from a Conference under the episcopal supervision of a general superintendent to a field within the jurisdiction of a missionary bishop, it shall require mutual agreement between the two bish- ops, and a similar agreement shall be required between the two bishops having charge when the proposed transfer is between two foreign fields over which there are missionary bishops. 0. That in the matter of a complaint against or the trial of a missionary bishop the preliminary steps shall be as in the case of a general superintendent ; but the missionary bishop may be tried before a Judicial Conference in the United States of America. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 339 The General Conference arranged the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church into one hundred and eleven Con- . , .. .ixT«-in Conferences. ferences, and twelve missions in the United States. The largest Conference was the " Africa Conference," which included "the whole of Africa." The next largest was the Bengal Conference, which included Bengal and Burmah and such portions of India as were not included in the North In- dia and South India Conferences. The House of Bishops and House of Clerical and Lay Dele- gates of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the & i r Protestant United States, by Rev. II. C. Duncan, secretary of Episcopal the commission appointed by the Convention of that Churcn - Church, sent a paper to the General Conference "upon the subject of the organic unity of the Church." The evidence was presented that this was sent in good faith and Christian candor. The matter was carefully considered. A carefully prepared report was adopted containing these points : 1. The Methodist Episcopal Church is " ready to fraternize and co-operate with the Protestant Episcopal Church, . . . and to extend to it and accept from it all Christian courtesies which are common and proper among servants of our common Lord." 2. The bishops were recommended to appoint one bishop, one minister, and one layman as a commission, " who shall hold themselves ready to enter into brotherly conference with all or any Christian bodies seeking the restoration of the organic unity of the Church or the increase of Christian and Church fraternity." There was a restoration of the ancient order of deaconesses in the Church. The movement had been in progress for some months, but at this General Conference it was given official recognition. The duties of the deaconesses were definitely pointed out : " To minister to the poor, visit the sick, pray with the dying, care for the orphan, seek the wandering, comfort the sorrowing, save the sinning, and, relinquishing wholly all other pursuits, devote themselves in a general way to such forms of Christian labor as may be suited to their abilities." 340 MANUAL OF ~No vow is exacted of a deaconess. The Annual Conferences, by a committee of nine, at least three of whom shall be women, have control of this work within their bounds. Deaconesses are put on a probation- of two years before receiving a certifi- cate of qualification. The deaconesses shall not be under twenty-five years of age. They work under the direction of the pastor of the church where they are members when they are working singly. When in a home they are "subordinate to and directed by the superintendent placed in charge." All former deliverances on the questions of temperance and prohibition were re-affirmed, and possibly stronger ut- Temperance x 7 1 ^ ° and pronibi- terances were made. The Conference indorsed total abstinence; recognized the value of scientific tem- perance instruction ; condemned the raising of grapes for wine, hops for beer, and grain for whisky ; urged the enforcement of liquor laws ; expressed gratification at the decision of the Su- preme Court of the United States in December, 1887, " fully vindicating the most radical legislation against the liquor traffic in our most advanced prohibitory States;" urged "national constitutional amendments for the suppression of the manu- facture and sale of alcoholic beverages;" and memorialized Congress to abolish the liquor traffic in the District of Co- lumbia. The decision of the Supreme Court legalizing the shipping of intoxicating liquors in original packages into and through prohibition States was esteemed a great evil, and Congress was memorialized to " adopt such legislation as will secure to States with prohibitory liquor laws the undisturbed benefits of the restrictive and prohibitory provisions enacted for their self-defense against a most noxious and destructive evil." The transportation of rum to the heathen whom Chris- tian people were seeking to civilize and Christianize was de- nounced as an outrage ; this trade in rum was worse than the slave trade, which " desolated the west coast of Africa," and caused her ebony Rachels to mourn for the children who met a fate worse than death; "worse than chains for innocent babes ; worse than the prostitution of mothers ; worse than the wailing caravan ; worse than the sweltering bar. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 341 racoon ; worse than tlio stifling slave-ships ; worse than the shameless auction-block ; worse than the fetter, the whip, and the separation of families ; worse than the traffic in human muscles and souls." John II. Yincent, D.D., James N. FitzGerald, D.D., Isaac W. Joyce, D.D., John P. Newman, D.D., and Daniel rivebish0 p8 A. Goodsell, D.D., were elected and consecrated bish- elected - ops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. James M. Thoburn, D.D., for many years a missionary to India, was elected missionary bishop for India and Missionary Malaysia. bishop ' John M. Phillips and Sandford Hunt were elected agents of the Book Concern at New York ; Earl Cranston and other ele& . W. P. Stowe, agents of the "Western Book Concern ; tions - C. C. McCabe, J. O. Peck, and A. B. Leonard, missionary secre- taries i A. J. Ivynett, corresponding secretary of the Board of Church Extension ; J. L. Ilurlbut, corresponding secretary of Sunday-School Union and Tract Society; C. II. Payne, corre- sponding secretary of Board of Education ; J. C. Hartzell, cor- responding secretary of Freedmen's Aid and Southern Edu- cation Society ; J. W. Mendenhall, editor of Methodist Review ; J. M. Buckley, editor of The Christian Advocate • J. II. Bay- liss, editor of Western Christian Advocate / Arthur Edwards, editor of North-western Christian Advocate y B. St. J. Fry, editor Central Christian Advocate y Charles W. Smith, editor of Pittsburg Christian Advocate; O. II. Warren, editor of Northern Christian Advocate ; B. F. Crary, editor of Califor- nia Christian Advocate y A. E. P. Albert, editor South-western Christian Advocate y William Nast, editor of Der Christliche Apologete; Henry Liebhart, editor of Ilaus und Herd; T. C. Carter, editor of Methodist Advocate. The addresses of the fraternal representatives from the vari- ous Churches were unusually interesting. They dem- Addresses of onstrated the increase of the fraternal spirit, the pos- the £rater ° al r ? I representa- sibility of unity without uniformity, the increase of tives. the Churches in material, intellectual, and spiritual power, and the greater care for the early religious culture of the young. 342 MANUAL OF Rev. Charles II. Kelly represented the British Conference; Rev. Wesley Guard, the Irish Methodist Conference ; Rev. S. A. Steel, A.M., D.D., the Methodist Episcopal Church, South ; Rev. E. A. Stafford, A.M., the Methodist Church of Canada ; Charles J. Baker and Rev. J. T. "Wightman, D.D., the Maryland Association of Independent Methodist Churches ; Rev. C. T. Shaffer, M.D., the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The addresses of these fraternal representatives will well repay the time and labor of perusal. After a session of twenty-seven days, and a complete review of all the interests of the Church, the General Con- ference adjourned. Bishop Bowman, senior bishop, gave a short but interesting address. The doxology was sung and the benediction was pronounced, and the General Confer- ence of 18S8 became a matter of history. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 343 CHAPTER XXXIII. EVENTS FOLLOWING THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1888. John M. Phillips, senior agent of the Book Concern at New York, died at his home in Brooklyn, N. Y., January Death of Joha 15, 1889. He was elected book agent in 1872 and m. Phillips, proved himself admirably adapted to the work. From his boy- hood until his election as agent at New York he was connected with the Book Concern at Cincinnati. The Book Committee on the 13th of February, 1889, elected Dr. Homer Eaton book agent in place of John M. Dr. Homer t-v, . mi r - Eaton, succes- Phillips, deceased. The name of the firm was made sorof jonnM. to read Hunt & Eaton. PMlips * In 1882 a movement was made in Brooklyn, N. Y., toward providing a home for aged Methodists. It sprang Brooklyn from a scathing rebuke made to Rev. Thomas Ste- Methodist t> Home for the phenson, pastor of Pacific Street Church, when he Aged, was trying to find a home for one of his worthy parishioners. The remark was : " You Methodists ought to have a home of your own." A movement was at once started, and in a short time a cheerful refuge for twenty inmates was secured. In May, 1889, an excellent building was dedicated, capable of accommodating sixty guests, besides matron and servants. It has two hospital-rooms, sitting-rooms, and all the modern im- provements belonging to such an institution. It is an honor to Brooklyn Methodism. Rev. Jeremiah II. Bayliss, D.D., died at Bay Yiew, Mich., August 14, 1889. His age was fifty-four years. j> eatn 0 f j) r An Englishman by birth, he commenced his minis- J- h. Bayiiss, try in the Genesee Conference in Western New e m christian York ; from thence he was transferred to Chicago ; Advocate - and after the great fire was appointed to Roberts Park, Indi- anapolis. Fie was afterward a pastor at Detroit, Mich. In MANUAL OF 1884 lie became editor of the Western Christian Advocate, which lie conducted with marked ability. In September, 18S9, the Book Committee elected Rev. David Rev. d. h. H. Moore, D.D., late chancellor of Denver Uni- wiXr^west- versity, editor of the Western Christian Advocate, em christian to fill the place made vacant by the death of Dr. Advocate. * ^ Bayliss. The John Crouse Memorial College for Women was formally John crouse 0 P ene d September 18, 18S9, as one of the depart- Memoriai Coi- ments of Syracuse University. This is a magnificent building, one hundred and ninety feet long by one hundred and sixty feet wide, and to the top of the tower is one hundred and seventy-two feet. It was commenced by Mr. John Crouse ; but on his death his son, Mr. D. Edgar Crouse, took up the enterprise and completed it to the memory of his father. It is a worthy memorial, and as a part of an educational system will accomplish untold good. ' ; The Epworth League was formed by a conference of the The Epworth representatives of five Methodist Young People's League of the Societies, held in Cleveland, O., May 14 and 15, 1889. Methodist T .. „ " . \. „ . Episcopal It was born ot a desire to unite the young hie ot church. Methodism for the attainment of the best spiritual gifts and the highest religious efficiency. During the first nine months of its existence, although the organization was necessa- rily provisional and somewhat incomplete, it grew until nearly two thousand chapters were enrolled at the central office. A Board of Control is now constituted, which held its first regular meeting at Clark Street Church, Chicago, February 6 and 7, 1890. It was composed of representatives from every section of the Church in the United States. Every feature of the organiza- tion was carefully considered by this body, the constitution remodeled, a special organ provided, and the work put upon a permanent basis." It proposes to form a league in each presid- ing elder's district, and an auxiliary league in each pastoral charge. It proposes as a positive work to help the young peo- ple of the Church to "attain to the highest New Testament standard of experience and life." As a negative work it pro- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 345 poses that its members shall abstain from all those forms of worldly amusements forbidden by the Discipline of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. For personal work it proposes that its members shall attend the religious meetings of the League and the Church, and " take some active part in them." The spirit of the Epworth League is sweeping over the Church in every part, and wielding an influence for the highest good. A few months later the form of the Epworth League was adopted by the authorities of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as their young people's organization for church work. The Epworth Herald is a sixteen-page weekly paper, pub- lished by the Western Book Concern, in the interest Epworth of the League. Its editor is J. F. Berry, D.D., of Herald - Michigan. The first number appeared July 1, 1890. It is an excellent, sprightly, bright, thoroughly Methodistic and Chris- tian paper. The possibilities of this paper and of the societies it represents are beyond safe prediction. In the month of April, 1890, it was announced that Bishop Hurst proposed to establish at Washington, D. C, a great National Methodist University for post- tionai under- graduate study. This, or a similar enterprise, was Wash " proposed by both Bishops Ames and Simpson. Bishop Hurst took hold of the enterprise with his accustomed zeal. lie made a purchase of what is known as the Davis prop- erty for a site for the university. "While he realized the mag- nitude of the enterprise he believed it one that will be crowned with success. The death of Dr. Joseph Cummings, president of the North- western University, Evanston, occurred May 7, 1890. Deathof Dr< He graduated at Wesleyan University in 1840. cummings. After serving as a pastor of several charges, and president of Genesee College, he. was elected president of Wesleyan Univer- sity in 1857. He served the Church in four General Confer- ences. Dr. Cummings was a strong man, an excellent disci- plinarian, and a good preacher. 346 MANUAL OF May 15, 1790, Bishop Asbury held the first Conference • of the Methodist Episcopal Church west of Centennial of 1 1 x Kentucky the Alleghany Mountains and in the Mississippi Methodism. tt fl ' m . ' . « j_- r ,-\ • \ alley, Exercises commemorative 01 this event were held May 15, 1890, in Lexington, Ivy. Two memorial services were held. One was by the Methodist Episcopal Church and one by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The old log-house where this Conference was held is still stand- ing at Masterson's Station. " It is a two-story log-house, about six miles from Lexington. The two rooms and stair-way re- main as they were a century ago, and the original wide fire- place, all in a good state of preservation." The noted Methodist layman, General Clinton B. Eisk, died at Xew York July, 1890. He was one of the best- Death of Gen- . erai ciinton known Methodist laymen in the United States. He was a brave soldier, a loyal citizen, an earnest phi- lanthropist, and thoroughly devoted to God and the Church. He had, as lay delegate, been a member of all the General Con- ferences from 1ST2 to 1888, excepting 1876. At the annual meeting of the Utah Mission in 1SSS a com- utah univer- m ittee of nine was appointed to locate a university sity - fur the inter-Rocky Mountain country. The sub- ject was carefully considered by the committee at their meet- ing in Salt Lake City. There were three places bidding for it. At last it was located at Ogden. The corner-stone of the Utah University was laid by Bishop Vincent August 19, 1S90. Rev. Samuel W. Small, D.D., had been elected president of the university, but retained the position only a few months. The dedicatory services of the new Methodist Publishing and Mission Building, 150 Fifth Avenue, Xew York, oc- Dedication of enrred on the evening of February 11, 1890. This concern B and was the third great building erected or purchased i^g Si a n t B xew for the use of the Methodist publishing interests and York - the Missionary Society in Xew York. The first was at 200 Mulberry Street, the second at £06 Broadway, and the third is at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Twentieth Street. The other buildings have been sold and the machinery and METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 347 interests of this great publishing interest consolidated in one place. William Hoyt was the president of the evening. After song, prayer, and responsive reading of the 122d Psalm ad- dresses were delivered by Bishop Andrews, Drs. Earl Cranston, M. D'C. Crawford, and G. S. Chadbourne. The cost of the ground on which the building is located was $430,000, and of the building $668,000, or $1,107,000 for the property. On the evening of February 13, 1890, a mass-meeting was held in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, at which addresses were delivered duly chronicling ^tL^ietr"- the historv of the Book Concern and Missionary P° litan °P era ■ » House. Society, and the great work these have wrought in the Church and for the Church. Bishop Andrews presided. Bishop Foss spoke on " Tongue and Type, Joint Agencies in Civilization ; " Dr. Sandford Hunt spoke of " The Work of the Book Concern ; " Dr. A. B. Leonard, of " The Missionary Society;" General C. B. Fisk, of "The Founders of the Meth- odist Book Concern ; " and Dr. J. M. Buckley, of " Methodist Literature.' 5 In October, 1890, was held in Boston the centennial of the introduction of Methodism into ]STew England. The ° Centennial of exercises were held in Faneuil Hall. Jesse Lee New England could not have anticipated, in his most brilliant day- Methodlsm - dreams, such a wonderful growth of Methodist Christianity as was here displayed. A Survey of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the Close of 1890. After one hundred and twenty-four years of Methodist life in America and one hundred and six years of the organized Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, it is proper to look back and out, to see where the Church stands. In the United States are 4,747,130 Methodists of all kinds. There are in the Methodist Episcopal Church alone 2,283,154 mem- bers and probationers and 14,792 itinerant preachers, making a total of members of 2,297.946. There are 14,072 local preach- ers ; 22,833 church buildings, valued at $96,350,482, and 8,563 MANUAL OF parsonages, valued at $14,450,264 ; 205 schools and colleges ; value of buildings, $13,397,578, and endowments, less indebt- edness, $8,707,522, or a total of church and educational prop- erty of §132,905,840. Comparing Methodism with other denominations it is found that the figures show : Sects. No. Members. Methodists 18 4,747,130 Baptists 15 3,974,589 Presbyteiiaus 13 1,259,234 Lutherans 1 1,05G,000 Congregationalists 1 475,608 Episcopalians 2 459,642 Reformed 3 277,732 Unionistic 2 270,000 Unitarians 7 206,500 Adventists 7 119,212 Mennonites 4 100,000 Quakers (Friends) 3 83,930 Universahsts 1 38,780 Moravians 1 11,219 78 13,079,576 The Roman Catholics claim to have 8,012,970 members ; but if the Methodists were to count their membership on the same basis as do the Romanists they could claim a membership of 11,807,725 ; or, if the Protestants of the United States as a whole should calculate their membership on the same basis as the Romanists there would be 32,698,790 Protestants. The Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church has not been inactive, but lias carried the work to all the con- tinents of the world and to some of the isles of the sea. Since the organization of the Missionary Board in 1819 the Church has received and paid out over §25,000,000 for missions, and lias sent out hundreds of men and women as preachers and teachers of the Gospel, and large numbers have been gathered into the Church. Conferences have been established in fields where forty years ago the Methodist Episcopal Church had not one member. The Church Extension Board, since its organization to 1890, MimiODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 349 a period of twenty-five years, lias received and paid out for church building $4,017,977.87. The number of churches built or aided in that time is 7,399. The Freedmen's Aid Society has been occupying the South- land and has sought the culture of both freedmen and white people. Schools, academies, and colleges have been built up, in which thousands of men and women have been, and others are being, educated. The great heart of the Church has been touched with a kindly sympathy for these people, and money, teachers, and preachers have been furnished in no stinted measure. The Sunday-School Union at the beginning of the year 1890 had 25,828 Sunday-schools, 286,768 officers and teachers, 2,188,077 scholars, 491,429 in the infant classes, 1,871,139 library books, 610,861 scholars members of the Church, and 119,654 conversions in the preceding year. The Tract Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church is doing, in a somewhat silent and unobtrusive way, an excellent work. During the year it printed at New York and Cincin- nati 1,339,500 copies of tracts containing 11,277,000 pages. These are in many languages. Prominent in foreign tongues is the German, whereof 250,000 tracts of 1,400,000 pages were printed. Publications in the Italian, Danish, Swedish, French, Bulgarian, Hindu, Chinese, Japanese, and other languages have been issued. There w r as formed in 1882, and continues to the present, the "Norwegian Loan Library," which provides boxes of selected books of the best moral and religious sort, which are placed " on board Norwegian and Danish vessels for the use of sailors on their long voyages." These books are carried all over the oceans and seas, and after being read in one ship are trans- ferred to another, and then to another. A proper report is made to the officer at New York, so that he knows at any time to what ship any particular box of books is loaned. With these reports come accounts of the great good that accrues from the perusal of these books. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society from 1870 to 1890 350 MANUAL OF lias raised and expended $2,333,650.48. It lias ninety-six mis- sionaries in the foreign field. It lias opened the departments of medical work in foreign countries, which the parent Mis- sionary Society has prosecuted with such success for many years. The paper published monthly by this society, The Heathen Woman s Friend, is a superior missionary paper, and is constantly freighted with missionary information. The Toman's Home Missionary Society is doing its share of work in the home field. It has not been so long organized nor had so full an opportunity to evidence its powers for spreading the Gospel and blessing the sorrowing as other organizations of the Church ; but it is moving on to as fine a success. The Board of Education, organized in 1868, has demonstrated that it has a large field in which to operate. Its collections have amounted to over 8250,000, which lias been loaned to young men and women in Methodist schools seeking an educa- tion. The Board reports in the Methodist Episcopal Church 205 schools of high grade, with buildings valued at $13,397,578, and endowment of $9,31:S,796, less an indebtedness of 8611, 271, employing 1,722 teachers. In these are over 34,656 students. From the beginning there have been about 350,000 students under special Methodist culture. At every point the Methodist Episcopal Church seems to be growing and strengthening. There is as yet no appearance of decay, change of doctrines, perversion of teaching, or less of the heroic spirit of the fathers among the sons. Revivals are common. Spirituality is found in every part of Zion. The Bible in its purity is preached. "While thousands are coming into the Church there are thousands going to heaven and enter- ing the Church triumphant. Mr. Wesley's words are still true, " Our people die well.'' METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 351 CHAPTER XXXIV. SECOND ECUMENICAL METHODIST CONFERENCE. John Wesley lived to a great age, and witnessed to some extent the remarkable growth of the Church he had Anniversary founded. But the growth of Methodism since his of the death day in all that constitutes a great Church has been i ey ,March2, something marvelous. In commemoration of the 189L centennial of his death, many churches held special and appro- priate services. Most of the papers of the Church devoted a large space to appreciative articles regarding Mr. Wesley and his work; his entire consecration; his system; the fact that he sought the best, not the easiest, way to success ; his intuitive understanding of the religious needs of the times; his making a Christian experience the sole condition of membership ; his love of souls; his power of concentration; his catholicity of spirit; his relation to Christian hynmology, etc. Dr. Daniel P. Kidder was one of the active men of Meth- odism for more than half a century. He was Death of Dp; born at Darien, H. Y., October 18, 1815, graduated D - Kidder - from Wcsleyan University in 1886, entered the ministry the next year, and went to Brazil as a missionary, where he preached the first Protestant sermon ever delivered on the Amazon. After returning to the United States he published, in connection with Dr. Fletcher, a book on Brazil and the Brazilians. Ho was elected editor of Sunday-school publications and tracts, and corresponding secretary of the Sunday-School Union in 181-1; became professor of practical theology in Garrett Biblical Insti- tute in 1856, and on the death of Dr. Dempster became presi- dent of the faculty. After fifteen years' service at Evanston he was elected to the same chair in Drew Theological Seminary. He served for a time as corresponding secretary of the Board of Education. Dr. Kidder was a strong man in many ways, 352 MANUAL OF and always filled his place and performed liis work with credit to himself and to the advantage of the Church. It was said of him, " No one ever heard of his doing or saying any thing incon- sistent with his moral character and religious profession." He died July 29, 1891, at Evanston, 111. The Second Ecumenical Methodist Conference assembled in second Ecu- Washington, D. C, October 7, 1891. Eor several menicaiMeth- mon t] ls the Committee on Programme and Arran^c- cdist Confer- o & ence. ments, at whose head was Bishop Hurst, had been busy, by correspondence, making ready for this great and eventful gathering, which was to be representative of all the Methodist bodies or Churches on the globe. Delegates were present from Europe, Asia, Africa, the islands of the sea, and from America. Oceans proved no barrier to such a gathering of enthusiastic workers in the Master's cause. The Committee on Programme laid out work for fourteen days, from October 7 to 20, consisting of sermons, essays, and discussions. The topics selected were designed to cover the live issues of the day of especial interest to a w r orld-wicle aggressive Methodism. The delegates had been apportioned, as nearly as practicable, according to the number of members in the Churches. To the Eastern section there were apportioned 184 del- egates : distributed to the Wesleyan Church, 77; Irish Meth- odist, 12 ; Methodist New Connexion, 12 ; Primitive Methodist, 31; Bible Christian, 10; United Methodist Free Church, 21; French Methodist, 2 ; Australasian Methodist, 10 ; Indepen- dent Methodist, 2 ; Wesleyan Reform Union, 4; South African Methodist, 1 ; and West Indian Methodist, 2. To the Western section were assigned 311 delegates : distributed to the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, 126 ; Methodist Episcopal Church, South, G4 ; Methodist Church in Canada, 24 ; African Meth- odist Episcopal Church, 19 ; African Methodist Episcopal Zion, 15 ; Colored Methodist Episcopal, 9 ; Methodist Protestant, 9 ; United Brethren in Christ, 7 ; American Wesleyan Church, 6; Union American Methodist Episcopal, 3; African Union Methodist Protestant, 3 ; Free Methodist, 3 ; Congregational Methodist, 3; Primitive Methodist, 3; British Methodist Epis- METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 353 copal j 3 ; Independent Methodist, 2 ; and United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution), 2. At 10:30 A. M., October 7, 1891, the senior bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Thomas Bowman, 1 * 7 t 7 Organization called the great audience gathered in Metropolitan of tbe con- Church to order, and announced the hymn com- ference " mencing — _ • , . . „ ° "Jesus, the Name high over all. After the singing of this hymn Bishop Keener, senior bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, led in prayer, clos- ing with the Lord's Prayer, which was repeated by the vast assemblage. After the prayer Bishop Wayman, of the African Episcopal Church, led the audience in the recitation of the Apostles' Creed. Bev. William Arthur, who may well be styled the patriarch of British Wesleyan Methodism, had been ap- pointed to deliver the opening sermon. lie had made full preparation, but found that his voice was insufficient for the task of delivery. The sermon was read by Bev. Dr. Stephen- son; president of the Wesleyan Conference. This sermon was worthy of the occasion, the author, the reader. Following, the sermon was the administration of the holy communion,, con- ducted by Bishop Foster and others, to a large number of com- municants representing the world-wide Methodism. At the afternoon session Bishop Keener presided. Bishop Hurst, chairman of the committee, delivered an ad- 7 ( Addresses of dress of welcome ; and as he referred to the different welcome and countries of the world represented in that Methodist resp0Ilses - Conference it sent a thrill through many hearts as they realized how far Methodism had gone and how wide was its extent. Dr. James II. Carlisle, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, followed with an eloquent review of the advance of Methodism. Bev. George Douglass, D.D., of the Methodist Church of Canada, followed. To these eloquent addresses of welcome replies were made by Dr. Stephenson, president of the Wesleyan Conference ; Mr. George Green, a layman of the Primitive Methodist Church; and Bev. B. Abercrombie, M.A., of the United Methodist Free Church. 24 354 MANUAL OF The Committee on Programme had arranged each day's work subjects dis- under special topics as follows : Ecumenical Method- cussed. j sm . Xhe Christian Church, its Essential Union and Genuine Catholicity ; The Church and Scientific Thought ; The Church and her Agencies ; Education ; Temperance ; Social Problems ; Missions ; War and Peace ; The Church and. Public Morality; and, The Outlook. These topics were ably presented in essays and discussions, and held the attention, not only of the delegates, but of the immense audiences from all parts of the country which attended the sessions of the Conference. A synopsis in this place of the papers read and addresses delivered would be interesting and profitable; but we refer our readers to the full record of the proceedings issued by the Book Concern. President Benjamin Harrison, the honored chief magistrate The confer- of the' United States, received and entertained the ence enter- Ecumenical Conference at the White House Octo- tamed at the white House, ber 12. The reception occurred in the "East Room.'' Bishop Hurst introduced each member of the Con- ference to President and Mrs. Harrison, who received them in their most cordial manner. The English delegates were greatly surprised at the marked " simplicity and absence of formality in the reception." The evening of October 12 was set apart for the public re- Fratemai del- ception of fraternal delegates from other religious ofherchiT bodies - Dr. Stephenson, of England, presided, es. The credentials of Dr. Chambers from the Pan- Presbyterian Council were read, and he delivered an address. He was accompanied by Pev. Dr. John Hall, who also ad« dressed the Conference. Dr. W. Hugh Merkland was intro- duced from the Presbyterian Church, South, and Pev. Mr. Green, representing the Baptist Churches of the District of Columbia. The addresses of these gentlemen bore fraternal greetings and good-will from some of the greatest and best workers of sister-Churches. In a truly democratic manner President Harrison visited the session of the Conference October 17 and was introduced to METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 355 the Conference by the president. The delegates received him with great respect and enthusiasm. Ho addressed President the Conference in a short, happy, and appropriate ^"tlTtite manner. The subject that was under discussion in conference, the Conference was "International Arbitration. 1 ' He touched upon this important question, which was of such vital interest to all the nations of the world, "in so felicitous a manner as to leave nothing else to bo said as to substance or doctrine." It was again a matter of astonishment to the English delegates that the chief executive of the United States should be able so freely to attend and mingle with the citizens. Their ideas of the chief executive of a nation were of royalty surrounded by such environments as prevent him from coming in contact with the people and the people with him. They were not pre- pared for such freedom as w T as seen on the part of President Harrison. A Pastoral Address was adopted, signed by all the presidents of the Conference and the four secretaries, and sent _ . . . . 7 Pastoral Ad- out to the whole Church. After rendering glory to dress of sec- God for all the prosperity which he had given the ica i confer- Churches it recognized the substantial unity which ence - exists anions the various Methodist Churches. " The time has come for a closer co-operation of the Methodist Churches, both at home and abroad, which shall prevent waste of power and unhallowed rivalry." The address eloquently pleads for the sal- vation of the millions who have a hard lot in life; the bringing them into sympathy with the Church ; the purity of woman ; care for the Christian Sabbath ; the sanctity of home ; the uprooting and extermination of intemperance, "the fruitful mother of a brood of evils ; " the discountenancing of betting and gambling ; reckless speculation in business ; unfair competi- tion ; and for courts of arbitration to take the place of " aggress- ive war." The address gave wise counsel concerning economy of Methodist resources, as in the pastoral work of class-leaders, local preachers, the young men and women of the mission bands, and the delicate sensibilities, the tact, the tenderness, and the persuasive power of holy women. The care for the 35G MANUAL OF children of the Church, the Ep worth League, the education of the young people, and the foreign missions of Methodism were highly commended. To accomplish God's great purposes the Church was recommended to use " the pulpit and the press, the school and the university, science and art, social influence and the ballot-box." The address was a strong, well-conceived, and finely constructed paper. Arrangements were made for the holding of a Third Ecumen- Ammgements ical Conference early in the next century. An umenicafcon- executive committee was provided, with a raember- ference. ship on the basis of the membership of the second Ecumenical Conference, having eighty members, divided into the Eastern section of thirty members and the Western of fifty members. The several Churches were to appoint the members of the Commission. To this Commission was given definite powers and rules under which they may act in arranging for the next Ecumenical Methodist Conference. This memorable Conference of Methodists, having com- pleted its programme of exercises and discussions, Adjournment. ,. , . . ,.. ~ adjourned with appropriate religious exercises Oc- tober 20, 1891, and its members went forth with a renewed consecration and enthusiasm to their work. Dr. Benjamin St. James Fry died at St. Louis, Mo., February Death of Dr. 5, 1892. He was born in Rutledge, Tenn., in 1824 ; b. st. j. Fry. was educated at Woodward College, Cincinnati, O. ; entered the ministry in the Ohio Conference and engaged in pastoral work; was president of the "Worthington Female Col- lege ; chaplain in the army three years ; went to St. Louis to take charge of the Book Concern interests ; in 1872 was elected editor of the Central Christian Advocate, and continued in that office to the time of his death. Dr. Fry was a member of the Gen- eral Conference of 1872 and of each succeeding General Con- ference to 1888, and of the Second Ecumenical Conference. He was an excellent editor and a firm defender of the principles of Methodism. His early education had not been neglected, and his love for Christianity and the Church made him one of the most faithful and useful men of the Church. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 357 CHAPTER XXXIV. THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1892 AND ITS ACTS. The delegates met Monday, May 2, 1892, in Boyd's Opera House, Omaha, Neb., to hold the twenty-first delegated Gen- eral Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Thomas Bowman, senior bishop, presided. All the bishops were present at the Conference, namely, Bow T man, Foster, Merrill, Andrews, Warren, Foss, Hurst, Ninde, "Walden, Mallalieu, Fowler, Yincent, FitzGerald, Joyce, Newman, and Goodsell. Missionary Bishops Taylor and Thoburn were also present. The opening religious exercises were of a delightful and spirit- ual character. Dr. David S. Monroe, secretary of the last General Confer- ence, called the roll of delegates-elect, and there , . . Organization. being a majority of clerical and lay delegates present the organization was completed by the election of Dr. D. S. Monroe as secretary, and M. S. Hard and Charles G. Hudson as assistant secretaries. After the first day the Conference adjourned to Exposition Hall, and all subsequent sessions were held in that Hall. The motion to arrange the sittings of the lay delegates separate from the ministers, but under the same presidency, separate sit- w r as discussed and adopted. tings * The General Conference of 1888 appointed a Commission to prepare "a formal definition or identification of the - 1 A #> Report of the organic law of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and constitutional the Constitution of the General Conference." The Commisslon - Commission consisted of three bishops, seven ministers, and seven laymen. They reported " The organic law of the Methodist Episcopal Church " under three parts. A minority report was also presented by John W. Ray. After much discussion the matter was referred to the next General Conference. 358 MANUAL OF Bishop Foster presented and read the address of the bishops, which was a careful and masterly review of the Church for the past quadrennium and an outlook to the future. The lives of the bishops had been spared, though four General Confer- Bishops' ad- ence °ffi cers and other prominent laymen and min- dress. isters had fallen. The episcopal visitation of foreign missions and Conferences showed the extent of the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and how thoroughly foreign fields were being cultivated. The address noted the growth of Church literature, especially of the large family of Advocates, the Meth- odist Review, Sunday School Journal, with its circulation of 189,- 420 copies in 1891, the Berean Lesson Leaves, with a circulation of 2,963,020 copies in the year 1891, and the numerous independ- ent journals more or less Methodistic. Ko schisms or outbreaks had occurred either with respect to doctrine, economy, or ad- ministration. Regarding the spiritual state of the Church the address said : " If there is less emotional experience, there is reason to believe there is an increase of religious stability. . . . Heart power is still the great want." The humanitarian work of the Church in the erection of hospitals, old people's homes, and orphanages was commended. " The revivals are at- tended with less excitement," said the bishops, " but with more stable results, as a rule, when revivals occur under the direct labors of the pastors themselves." The net increase in the mem- bership of the Church during the four years was 442,000, mak- ing an aggregate of 2,292,614 souls. The benevolences of the Church had increased in the quadrennium from $6,162,339 to over $8,000,000. The work of education was carefully re- viewed, and strong words were spoken regarding advanced ministerial study. The need for the best of theological teachers and teaching, and of the best men as students, and the best cult- ure possible in the ministry, was emphasized. The valuable services of local preachers, the need for self-discipline of those who are set to be pastors to the Christian flock, women's work as deaconesses, the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, and the "Woman's Home Missionary Society, were fully presented, and their importance enforced. The Epworth League, " as a very METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 359 notable and providential outgrowth," was commended in strong terms, with advice that " this new legion " be put in its proper place and given "opportunity for the best use of its powers." The American University and Woman's College of Baltimore were commended. Carefully worded and strongly expressed views of the questions of "foreign populations" and the "Chinese immigration" were given in the address, the spirit of which could not be misunderstood. Social and economic questions were treated from the stand-point of the new com- mandment, " Love one another." The unchanged position as a foe to the " drink habit and the saloon " was stated ; also that Christian fraternity remains in the Methodist Episcopal Church, , as always, "one of the broadest catholicity and most genuine fraternity." When the address touched upon the "race prob- lem" it was to show how much "twenty-five years of labor and sacrifice among them (the Negroes of the South) had increased our interest in their welfare." On the matter of popular amuse- ments the bishops gave reasons why the Methodist Episcopal Church was so constantly opposed to those amusements and recreations which cannot be taken without offense to conscience and " deadening of spiritual sensibilities." The address, taken as a whole, may be classed with former addresses as a church- state paper of great breadth of thought, superior purpose, and elegant diction. The report of the Book Committee, charged with the care and direction of the Eastern and Western Book Book con- Concerns, was a showing of great work during the cerns * quadrennium. The net capital of the two Concerns was $3,130,956.19. The sales at the two Concerns were $7,328,898.90. , This amount of business is almost beyond our ability to com- prehend. It rivals the great book-houses of the world. Bishop Thoburn, of India, presented to the General Confer- ence his report of work in India. It was a clear his- . , - * B Bishop Tho- torical account of one of the great religious move- burn's work ments of the age, which is gathering strength to in India " move forward at a greatly accelerated rate. lie referred to the formation of the central organization called a Delegated Con- 360 MANUAL OF ference, and the imperative need for such an organization to do much of the work that would be done by the General Confer- ence if India was nearer to the United States ; to the North India, the South India, and Bengal Conferences attempting to cover so vast a territory, with so many millions of people ; to the Sunday-school, with over 55,000 scholars; to the- work of education, with 1,039 schools and 29,083 pupils, of whom 11,656 are Christians; to the training of a native ministry ; to the fact that "nearly every Indian member" of the Annual Confer- ences " has passed examination upon a course of study extend- ing over twelve consecutive years," and to many other matters interesting and profitable to know. Bishop Taylor, the hardy man of toil, gave a full and inter- M t m esting; account of his bishopric in the Dark Continent. Bishop Tay- ° ... lor's report of He had so fully studied Africa and its resources and the people as to give an intelligent account of them. He said: "The native people of Africa are, in available resources, the richest people in the world. Their debasing heathenism keeps them down on the dead level of hand- to-mouth subsistence." He started his mission work on the principle of teaching the natives to " develop and utilize the indigenous resources of their own country." Hence he teaches farming, trades, and various forms of manual labor, together with proper religious truth. The work he has laid out, though in its infancy, has developed in every line satis- factorily. The bishops in their address presented the results of the votes vote on the on the three constitutional questions sent out by the constitutional Genera i Conference of 1888. First, " Shall women questions of ' 1888. be eligible as lay delegates in the Electoral and Lay Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church?" received from the laity 235,668 votes for and 163,813 against. On the same question the vote of the ministry stood 5,609 for and 5,141 against. Second, on the proposition to change the second restrictive rule by inserting the words, "and the said delegates may be men or women," the vote of the min- istry stood 5,777 for and 1,765 against. Third, to equalize METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 361 the number of ministerial and lay delegates in the General Conference, the vote of the ministry stood 2,89G for and 5,491 against. The Philadelphia Conference submitted a proposition to the Conferences that the ministerial and lay delegates in the Gen- eral Conference shall be equal ; they shall deliberate and vote as one body and never separately ; the basis of minis- Philadelphia terial representation shall be not more than one for proposition, every fourteen members of an Annual Conference, nor less than one for every forty-five members, and for a fraction of two thirds the number fixed for the ratio of representation there may be an additional delegate. The vote of the ministry stood 2,310 for and 4,849 against. There were no bishops elected. Sandford Hunt and Homer Eaton were elected agents of the Book Concern at JSTew York, and Earl Cranston and Lewis Curts agents at Cincinnati ; J". "W". Mendenhall, editor of the Methodist Review; J. M. Buckley, editor of The Christian Advocate • D. H. Moore, editor of Western Christian Advocate ; Arthur Edwards, editor of North-western Christian Advocate • C. "W. Smith, editor of Pittsburg Christian Advocate; Jesse B. Young, editor of Central Christian Advocate ; J. E. C. Saw- yer, editor of Northern Christian Advocate ; B. E. Crary, edi- tor of California Christian Advocate ; E. W. S. Hammond, editor of South-western Christian Advocate / A. J. !Nast, edi- tor of Der Christliche Apologete ; II. Liebhart, editor of Ilaus und Herd ; C. C. McCabe, J. 0. Peck, and A. B. Leonard, corresponding secretaries of the Missionary Society ; "W. A. Spencer and A. J. Kynett, corresponding secretaries of the Church Extension Society ; C. H. Payne, corresponding secre- tary of the Board of Education ; J. C. Hartzell and J. "W. Ham- ilton, corresponding secretaries of Freedmen's Aid and South- ern Education Society ; J. L. Ilurlbut, corresponding secretary of the Sunday-School Union and Tract Society ; J. E. Berry, editor of Epworth Herald. Pev. "William E. Moulton, D.D., from the British Wesleyan Conference, England ; Pev. Dr. A. Carman, from the Meth- 362 MANUAL OF odist Church, of Canada ; Rev. Dr. E. Cottrell, from the Col- Fratemai ored Methodist Church of America ; Rev. Dr. J. T. delegates. Jennifer, from the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Dr. W. M. Beardshear, from the United Brethren in Christ; Charles J. Baker, from the Independent Methodist Churches of Baltimore; Bev. Dr. William X. Golas, from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; Bev. Dr. John J. Tigert, from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, were re- ceived with every mark of cordial fraternity. The addresses they made were excellent reviews of the condition of their sev- eral Churches, and are valuable as showing how Methodism is going out to evangelize the world. An address was received from the Irish Methodist Church. There was a mass-meeting held in Exposition TIall American during the session of the General Conference, at university. which general and Methodist education were pre- sented by speakers who had thoroughly studied the subject in all its bearings. The addresses were learned and eloquent. The plan of the American University as a post-graduate school under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church was fully shown. Its location at Washington, D. C, will be most advan- tageous in view of the close proximity of the vast and costly scientific collections of the government. A " Deaconess Mass-meeting " was also held on May 10, Deaconesses presided over by Bishop Warren, at which the or- consecrated. ganization, growth, and design of the deaconess movement was freely explained. The story of the work of the deaconesses was graphically told. During the exercises three deaconesses of the Omaha House were consecrated to the work, and license was conferred upon them by Bishop Xew- man. This work, only four years old in Methodism, has yet to be tested. So far it is productive of good, and has in it im- mense capabilities. The Epworth League, which had been organized within the Epworth preceding quadrennium, was after careful consider- League. ation adopted by the General Conference as a special organization for the young people of the Methodist Episcopal METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. 3G3 Church. A constitution was adopted, making tho organization a part of the Church. The president of an Epworth League chapter must be a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected by the chapter and approved by the Quarterly Confer- ence. He is made a member of that body. The chapters are required to make reports of their work to the Quarterly Con- ference. This organization is destined to become a great and useful agent in the work of the Church„ Much of the talent now unimproved will be brought into active exercise. Dr. William Nast had for fifty-three consecutive years served the Church as editor of Der ChristlicJie Avoloqete and TT 1 J Honor to German books. He now declined re-election in con- whom honor sequence of his advanced age. His son, Professor Al- bert J. Nast, was chosen to succeed his father. The General Con- ference passed complimentary resolutions concernino; r 1 J ° Dr. Nast. Dr. Nast, and elected him honorary editor of Der ChristlicJie Apologete and German books. Dr. John M. Reid, in recognition of his long and faithful services as corresponding secretary of the Mission- Dr Jobn M a:y Society, was made honorary secretary of the Reid - same. Dr. Richard S. Rust, who was the first corresponding secre- tary of the Freedmen's Aid Society, and continued in the service actively until 1888, was made honor- Dr - R - s - Rust - ary secretary of the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society. The General Conference honored itself in honoring these faithful servants. The usual hurry to close the Conference sessions was mani- fested during the day of May 26, 1892. Many re- ports of more or less importance from the standing Ad -> ournment - committees had been presented and published in the Daily Advocate, and awaited action. The usual "sifting committee" had been at work bringing forward the reports which seemed to them the most important, and some had been accepted and others rejected. A number more that had cost much thought and discussion were awaiting action when the hour for ad- journment came. The roll was called and record made of 304: METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH HISTORY. those who were present. The Journal was read and approved. Two verses were sung of the hymn : " And let our bodies part. To different ciimes repair; Inseparably joined in heart The friends of Jesus are." Bishop Bowman led in a touching, fervent, and simple prayer. The lono; meter doxoloew was suns:, and the benediction was pronounced by Bishop FitzGerald. With this act the General Conference of 1892 was adjourned sine die. Its history was recorded, and soon the millions of eyes that had looked with anxiety and interest toward the General Conference at Omaha were permitted to look out to the coming quadrennium of the Church and its work and success. In history this General Conference will be named the most conservative of all, and the shortest in session of any for fifty years. May God's blessing continue to attend this beloved Methodist Zion ! INDEX. Abbott, Benjamin, 16, 56. Abercrombie, Rev. R., 858. Abolition conventions, 152, 153, 154. Abolitionism and Bishop Heckling, 136. Abolitionists' demands, 138. Abstract of M Plan of Separation," 176. Action of local churches in 1844, 182; of Northern Conferences, 182; of Southern Conferences, 183. Activity of the bishops and ministry, 102. Acts of the General Conference of 1792, 54. Address from British Conference in 1833 gave ofTense, 130. Address from the British Conference, 222. Address of bishops to General Conferences, 106, 120, 161, 205, 214, 221, 235, 253, 275, 319, 334, 358. Address of British Conference to General Conference of 1800, 64. Address of Coke and Asbury to General Wash- ington, 40. Address of Dr. Dixon to General Conference of 1848, 192. Address of Southern delegates in 1844, 182. Address of the French Conference in 1856, 214. Address to President Lincoln, 238. Africa and Melville B. Cox, 118. Akers, Rev. Peter, 122, 175. Albert, Rev. A. E. P., 341. Albion College, 232. Alleghany College, 129. Allowance for preachers' children, 66. Almanac, Methodist, proposed, 121. Alverson, Rev. J. B., 194. American Colonization Society, 144. American University, 362. Ames, Rev. Edward R., 147, 208, 345. Andrew adheres to the Church, South, 186. Andrew and Soule invited to be bishops in the Church, South, 185. Andrew, Rev. James O., 122, 166, 170, 183. Andrew's name to stand officially with church publication, 177. Andrews, Rev. E. G., 272, 326, 347. Andrus, Rev. Reuben, 1&5. Anglo-Chinese College movement, 317. Apologist, The Christian, 136. Appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, 203. Appeals to General Conference of 1836 against locating preachers, 134. Arminianism in the Articles of Religion, 32. Arrangements for a third Ecumenical Confer- ence, 350. Arthur, Rev. William, 213, 353. Articles of Religion, 25, 32, 70. Articles of Religion of the Free Methodist Church, 229. Asbury sent to America, 13 : received at New York, 13 ; and Otterbein, 17 ; appointed to New York, 17; at Judge White's, 20; at Perry Hall, 20; and Conference at Judge White's, 22 ; and Gough at Warm Springs, 20; and American Independence, 20; elect- ed superintendent^ ; preventingaschism, 22; meets Coke at Barrett's Chapel, 22; elected a superintendent or bishop, 29; ordained, 29 ; first sermon after consecra- tion, 35; laid the cornerstone of Colcesbury College, 36; and Coke again meet, 37; holds Conference at Half Acres, Tenn., 37 ; holds Conference at Uniontown, Pa., 38 ; and Coke address Washington, 41; and the Council, 42 ; called a General Confer- ence, 44; formed first Sunday school in America, 45; in New England, 49; and the O'Kelly schism, 51; counteracts the O'Kelly movement, 55 ; of a morbid tem- perament, 58; in poor health, 62 ; desired help in the episcopacy, 63; allowed an at- tendant, 74 ; re-enforced by the election of McKendree, 81 ; visited Canada, 82 ; open- ing General Conference of 1812, 83 ; died at Spottsylvania, 91. Ashton, 13. Assistant bishops proposed, 63. "Associated Methodist Reformers," 111; " Methodist Churches," 112. "Assurance" and "sanctiflcation," why not in Articles of Religion ? 32. Augusta College, Ky., 104. Badger, Rev. B., 110. Baird, Rev. Isaac N., 216. Baker, Rev. Osmon C, 188, 208, 218, 266. Baldwin University, 187. Bangs and Mason, their vigorous measures in the Book Concern, 103. Bangs, Rev. Nathan,73,113,116,118,124,147,175. Bangs, Rev. Heman, 267. 366 INDEX. Bannister, Rev. E., 199, 204. Bannister, Rev. Henry, 211. Baptized children, 258. Barrett and Bassett, 21. Barrow, Rev. D. L., 245. Barth, Rev. John H., 243. Bascom, Rev. Henry B , 104, 118, 148, 175, 183, 184, 186, 2C0. Bashford, Rev. J. W., 151. Bates, Leavitt, death of, 334. Bayliss, Rev. Jeremiah H., 324, 341, 343. Beaucharap, Rev. William, 107. Beaver College, 211. Benson, Rev. H. C, 244, 260. Berry, Rev. J. F., 345. Berry, Rev. Lucian W., 204. Bewley, Rev. Anthony, 230. Bible of Mr. Wesley, 319. Biblical Institute, Foochow, 262. Bingham, Rev. I. S., 223. Bishop for Africa, 133, 215. Bishop, the, a servant of the General Confer- ence, 84. Bishops Iledding and George attempt to con- ciliate the Canada Conference, 113. Black, Rev. William, 39. Board of Control of Epworth League, 344. Board of Education, 260, 350. Boardman, Rev., 12. Bohler, Rev. Peter, 3. Bond, Rev. Thomas E., 110, 147, 179, 208. Book Committee, 108, 122, 260. Book Committee, report of, 1884, 321. Book Concern, 44, 61, 67, 101, 122, 225, 236. Book Concern at Cincinnati ordered, 101. Book Concern at New York burned, 128. Book Concern at New York dedicated, 346. Book Concern moved to New York, 71. Book Concerns report to General Conference of 1892, 359. Book steward, 45, 80. Bordentown Female College, 211. Boston Theological Seminary, 255. Bowman, Rev. Thomas, 135, 272. Braden, Rev. John, 252. Brett, Rev. Pliny, a disturber, 87. Briggs, Rev. M. C, 199, 204. Brooks, Rev. Joseph, 216. Brown, Rev. S. D., 244. Brownlow, Governor, 246. Buckley, Rev. J. M., 324, 341, 347. Burke, Rev. William, 58. Burns, Rev. Francis, 218. Burnett, Bishop, statement of, 8. Butler, Bi.shop, statement of England's sinful condition, 8. Butler, Rev. William, 219, 311, 317. . California Christian Advocate, 199. Calm address of Mr. Wesley, 20. Calvinistic Controversy, 119. Canada Conference, 113, 116. Canada question, 98. Capers, Rev. William, 73, 116, 147, 164, 165, 186, 200. Capital of Book Concern at New York, 107. Card playing, 11. Carlisle, Dr. James H., 353. Carlton, Rev. Thomas, 208, 216, 223, 244, 259. Carroll, Rev. John, 237. Carter, Rev. T. C, 341. Cartwright, Rev. Peter, 74, 221. Case, Rev. William, 113, 13ft Catechism, 209. Causes for the success of Methodism, 32. Cazenovia Seminary, 117. Centenary of American Methodism, 226. Centenary year, 249. Centennial Conference of American Method- ism, 325. Centennial of Kentucky Methodism, 346. Centennial of Methodism in 1839, 140. Central Tennessee College, 251. Certificate of membership, 323. Chaddock College, 211. Chambers, Rev. Dr., of the Pan-Presbyterian Council, 354. Chartered fund, 61, 71, 121, 217. Check to legislation, 79. Children's classes, 108. China Mission founded at Foochow, 187. Choate, Rufus, 202. Christian Advocate, 110. " Christian Perfection," 32. Christmas Conference at Lovely Lane, 26: work of, 30 ; the first General Conference, 33. Church Extension Society, 237, 348. Circuits, 6. Claims of the Church in Canada, 133. Clark, Rev. C. J., death of, 334. Clark, Rev. Davis W., 216, 223, 244, 246, 265. Clark, Rev. Laban, 85, 95. 123. Clarke, Rev. Homer J., 208. Classification of membership as to color omit- ted, 210. Clouds of civil war, 229. Club, Holy, 2. Coke and Asbury meet, 22. Coke visits America, 22; selected to organize the Church, 24; Whatcoat and Vasey, 25; at Barrett's Chapel, 22, 25 ; and Asbury at Perry Hall, 26 ; sermon at Asbury 's ordi- nation, 29; certifies to Asbury's ordina- tion, 34; at Mt. Vernon with Washington, 36; and Asbury at Charlestown, S. C , 37 ; embarked for Europe, 37; sermon at close of General Conference of 1788, 54 ; pledge, 62; and Asbury together journey to the South, 63 ; again sailed for Europe, 63; preside at the openimr session of 1804, 69; marriage, "6 ; letter to Bi.shop White, 76; letter to the General Conference, 70 ; letter discussed, 77 ; death on the sea, 89. INDEX. 3G7 Cokesbury College, 31, 36, 37. Coleman, Rev. Mr., 169. Coles, Rev. George, 147, 179. Collins, Rev. J. D., 187. Collins, Rev. John, 74. Collins, Rev. John A., 134, 142, 163. " Come-outers," 154. Commission on organic church unity, 339. Commissioners of the Church, South, 194. Commissioners of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 217. Committee of Conference on lay representa- tion, 258. Committee of nine in 1844, 175. Committees for examination, 123. Concord Biblical Institute, 266. Condition of the freedmen, 248. Conference, first, held in England, 6. Conference, first, in America, 15. Conference, General, of 1796, 60; called to meet in May, 1800, 64 ; satisfied with ad- ministration of Asbury, 65; of 1804, 69; of 1808, 75 ; of 1816, 91 ; of 1820, 98 ; of 1824, 106 ; of 1828, 115 ; of 1832, 120 ; of 1836, 130; of 1840, 142; of 1844, 160; of 1848, 190 ; of 1852, 205 ; of 1856, 213 ; of 1860, 221 ; of 1864, 235 ; of 1868, 2:>3 ; of 1872, 269 ; of 1876, 287 ; of 1880, 304 ; of 1884, 319 ; of 1888, 333 ; of 1892, 357. Conference, second, in America, 17; at Judge White's, 22 ; work of Christmas, 30 ; num- ber of Annual in 1796, 61 ; records, 67. Conservatism, 158. Coustitution of the Church, 336. Constitutional Commission report, 357. Constitutional questions, vote, 360. Controversy, the Methodist Protestant Church, 118. Controversy and Divisions, period of, 83. Convention at Louisville in 1845, 183. Convention of Reformers at Baltimore in 1828, 111. Cook, Rev. Valentine, educated at Cokes- bury, 57. Cooper, Ezekiel, 57, 65, 67, 71. Cornell, J. B., and a missionary meeting, 317. Corwin, R. M., 200. Coughlan, Rev. L., 39. Council, the origin of, 42; members, 43; un- popular, 43; a remedy proposed for its unpopularity, 44. Course of study for Methodist schools, 146. Course of study for preachers, 92, 178. Cox, Rev. Melville B., and Africa, 118, 150. Crandall, Rev. Phineas, 166. Cranston, Rev. Earl, 324, 341, 347, 301. Crary, Rev. B. F., 244, 260, 324, 341, 361. Crawford, Rev. M. D'C, 347. Creamer, David, 194. Crouse Memorial College, 344. Crowder, Rev. Thomas, 169, 175. Crum, Rev. George C, 233. Crume, Rev. Moses, 74. Cummiritfs, Rev. Joseph, 211, 345. Curry, Rev. Daniel, 244, 259, 324, 329. Curtis, Rev. -William M., 122. Curts, Rev. Lewis, 361. Dailey, Rev. David, 194. Dangers of travel in 1832, 124. Dashiell, Rev. R. L., 278, 294, 302. Davis, Rev. Charles A., 147. Deaconesses, 339. Deaconesses consecrated at Omaha, 362. Dedicated, First Church, 12. Dedication of Book Concern at New York, 346. Deed of declaration, 8. Deed of trust, 61. Delegated General Conference, 79, 83. Delegates from Mission Conferences, 253. Delegates, second Ecumenical Conference, 352. Delight of people with new organization, 33. Dempster, Rev. John, 129, 140, 188, 211, 236, 255. Denver University, 344. De Pauw, Hon. W. C, 331. De Pauw University, 135, 331. Depositories for the Book Concern, 146. Dickins, Rev. John, 25, 30, 43, 45, 180. Dickinson College, 129. Dickins's motion, 28. Differs from the committee in a trial, when a preacher, 60. Dillon, Rev. Isaac, 260. Diocesan bishoprics urged, but not accepted, 100. Discussion of the presiding elder question, 103. Discussion on Cooper and Emory's resolution, 99. Discussions on the sacraments, 15. Disosway, Gabriel P., interested in missions, 95. District Conferences, 274. Divorce, 323. Dixon, Rev. Dr., delegate from British Meth- odism, 192. Doctor's degree, attempt to regulate, 123. Doctrinal Methodism, 31. Dorsey, Rev. D. B., expelled, 111. Dougharty, Rev. Mr., ill-treatment at Charles- ton, 68. Douglass, Rev. Dr. George, 353. Dow, Rev. Lorenzo, 72. Drew, Daniel, 250. Drew Theological Seminary, 250. Durbin, Rev. John Price, 104, 129, 170, 175, 178, 197, 208, 216, 221, 244, 2C0, 274. Duty of ministers to pray for the country, 88. Early, Rev. John, 73, 194. Eaton, Rev. Homer, 343, 301. Ecumenical Conference, 312, 352. Eddy, Rev. A., chaplain in army, 231. 368 INDEX. Eddy, Rev. Thomas Iff., 219, 223, 284. Education, 62, 94, 117, 145, 187, 195, 203, 210, 227, 232, 242, 261. Education, list of schools, 145. Educational work of the Freedmen's Aid So- ciety, 252. Edwards, Rev. Arthur, 324, 341, 361. Elections, 98, 107, 122, 134, 196, 208, 216, 244, 259, 272, 361. Eligibility of women to membership in Gen- eral Conference, .336. Eligibility to membership, doubt as to, 334. Elliott, Rev. Charles, 118, 129, 134, 147, 158, 178, 179, 204, 208, 223, 2G7. Emancipation, 231. Embury, Philip, 11, 12. Emory, Rev. John, commenced to preach, 73 ; the first fraternal delegate to England, 99 ; elected a book agent, 107 ; elected a bish- op, 122; editor Quarterly Review, 124; killed, 127; Episcopacy, proposal for eligibility, 65. Episcopacy, questions concerning, 337. Epworth League organized, 344; Herald, 345 ; League adopted by General Confer- ence, 362. Excitement in the South, 140. Exeter Hall, London, 313. Expenses of delegates, 92. Expurgated edition of the Discipline, 80. Extension of ministerial term, 237. Fancher, Hon. Enoch L., 202. Fast, general, observed by Methodists, 59. Feeling of the Church, both North and South, iu 1844, 181. Fielding, Rev. J. H., 118. Filmore, Rev. Glezen, 175. Finley, Rev. J. B., 169, 170, 200. Fisk, General Clinton B., 346, 347. Fisk, Rev. Wilbur, 94, 110, 118, 133, 140. FitzGerald, Rev. J. N., 341. Flathead Indians, 128. Floy, Rev. James, 139, 194, 216. Foochow Mission, 187. Foreign delegates, 130. Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, 211. Foss, Rev. Cyrus D., 306, 347. Foster, Dr. Henry, 315. Foster, Rev. R. S., 210, 272, 327. Foundry Church, 5. Fowler, Rev. Charles H., 211, 321. Fraternal delegates, 257, 276, 361. Frazer, Rev. John, 190. Freedmen's Aid Society, 247, 273, 349. Free Methodist Church, 228. Fry, Rev. B. St. James, 324, 341, 356. Gammon, Rev. E. H-, 318 ; Theological Insti- tute, 318. Gardiner, Rev. James, 237. Garrett, Mrs. Eliza, 211. Garrett Biblical Institute. 21L Garrettson, Rev. Freeborn, 21, 26, 39, 52, 53, 114 ; calling the preachers to the Christ- mas Conference, 26 ; and Cromwell in Nova Scotia, 39. Gatch, Rev. Philip, 16. General Conference, a call for one to be held, 44 ; the second, 50. Genesee Conference, 82. George, Rev. Enoch, 57, 92, 103, 117. German and Swedish work, 187. German hymn book, 243; Conferences, 243. German Mission Conference, 215; Sunday school paper, 216 ; Mission Biblical Insti- tute, 225; department Baldwin Univer- sity, 232; orphan asylums, 232 ; "Wallace College, 232. Goodsell, Rev. D. A., 341. Gough, conversion of, 18. Government of the United States, recognition of, 70. Granbery, Bishop J. C, 327. Green, George, 353. Green, Rev. A. L. P., 186, 194, 200. Gibson's statement as to England's condi- tion, 8. Griffith and Davis — resolution regarding Bishop Andrew, 168. Haddock, Rev. George C, murder of, 329. Hall, Rev. John, 354. Hamline, Rev. Leonidas L., 144, 147, 170, 175, 177, 179, 185, 190, 204, 206, 207, 254. Hamline University, 204. Hammett's secession, 55. Hannah, Rev. John, 106, 213. Harding, Rev. Francis A., 162, 164. Harlan, Hon. James, 204. Harris, Rev. William L., 213, 221, 244, 260,269, 272, 330. Harrison, President, visit to Ecumenical Con- ference, 354. Hartzell, Rev. J. C, 341, 361. Haven, Rev. Erastus O., 210, 263, 306, 311. Haven, Rev. Gilbert, 272, 301. Heathen Woman's Friend, 350. Heck, Barbara, 11, 40. Heck Hall, 251. Hedding, Rev. Elijah, 107, 171, 190, 199. Heading's reasons for his administration, 137. Hedstrom, Rev. O. G., 187. Hemenway, Rev. F. D., 211. Heresy of Randall denounced in 1828, 115. Hibbard, Rev. F. G., 206, 216, 221. Hickock, Rev. Henry, 187. Hight, Rev. J. J., 331. Hill, Rev. James, 213. Hioman, Rev. Clark T., 210- Hirst, Rev. A. C, 204. History of the Great Secession, 2T. Hitchcock, Rev. Luke, 223, 244, 259. Hitt, Rev. Daniel, 80, 8n. ' Holliday, Rev. Charles, 116, 122. INDEX. 309 Holmes, Rev. C. A., 204. Holston Conference organized, 246. Home for the Aged, Brooklyn, 348. Home for the Aged in New York, 198. Horton, Rev. Jotham, 153. Hosmer, Rev. William, 196, 208. Houghtaling, Rev. James B., 142, 100. Hoyt, Rev. F. S., 278, 294, 310. Hunt, Rev. Sandford, 300, 310, 324, 341, 347, 361. Hunt and Eaton, 343. Hunter, Rev. William, 179, 196. Hurlbut, Rev. J. L., 341, 361. Hurst, Rev. John F., 250, 306. Hymn Book revised, 194, 295. Incorporation of the Church, 261. India Mission, 219. India Mission Conference, 256. Indiana Asbury University, 135. Influence of Simpson and Janes in England, 233. Iowa Wesleyan University, 203. Irregular itinerancy, 6. Itinerancy, 109. Itinerant, The, 110. Ivey, Rev. Richard, 43. Jacoby, Rev. L. S., 215. Janes, Rev. E. S., 179, 190, 218, 249, 254. Jobson, Rev. F. J., 213. Jocelyn, Rev. George B., 204. John, Rev. J. P. D., 135. John Street Church, 11. Jones, Rev. Richard, 214. Joyce, Rev. Isaac W.,341. Judicial Conference, 320. Keener, Bishop, 353. Kentucky Conference organized, 247. Kidder, Rev. D. P., 179, 196, 208, 324, 351. Kilbourn, Rev. David, 73. King, Rev. James M., 311. King, Rev. John, 13. Kingsley, Rev. Calvin, 216, 223, 244, 254, 264. Kingswood School, 7. Knight, Rev. O. O., 251. Kynett, Rev. A. J., 237, 260, 324, 341, 361. Labor problem, 337. Ladie^ Repositori/, 143. Lambert, Rev. Jeremiah, 38. Lanahan, Rev. John, 259. Lane, Rev. George, 134, 147, 179, 196. Larger Minutes authority in American Meth- odism, 31. Larrabee, Rev. William C, 208. Latta, Rev. Samuel A., 186. Lay delegation in General Conference, de- cline of, 144 ; representation, 227, 233, 258, 268, 269. Laymen's address, 270. Lay preaching, 5. Leard, Rev. Michael, 38. Leavitt, Judge, decision of in Church case, 201. 25 Lee, Rev. Jesse, the hern of New England Methodism, 46 ; in Boston, preaches on the Common, 47; and Bangs, 48; re-en- forced, 48; his mother dies, 48; account of General Conference of 1792, 51 ; presid- ing in Conferences for Asbury, 63 ; history of Methodism, 88. Lee, Rev. Leroy M., 147, 179. Lee, Rev. Luther, 138, 139, 140, 152, 153, 156, 157. Leonard, Rev. A. B., 341, 347, 361. Letter of J. O. Andrew to the Committee oa Episcopacy, 166. Lewis, Rev. Jefferson, 213. Liberia Mission Annual Conference, 133, 150. Library of Ranke at Syracuse University, 263. Liebhart, Rev. Henry, 324, 341, 361. Lincoln, President, 238, 240. Lindsey, Rev. Marcus, 94. Local preachers ordained deacons, 61; dea- cons eligible to elders' orders, 85. Longstreet's declaration as to agitation, 174. Lord, Rev. William, 130. Lore, Rev. D. D., 244, 260. Losee, Rev. William, 40. Lovely Lane Church, 26, 326. Louisville Convention, 181, 183. Lozier, Rev. J. H., 231. Luckey, Rev. Samuel, 117, 134. Maclay, Rev. R. S., 187. Madison College, 118. Mallalieu, Rev. W. F., 321. Manual, The, 329. Marlay's Life of Bishop Morris, 135. Marriage, 62. Martin, Mr. J. T., 226. Martin, Rev. Alexander, 135. Martin, Rev. J. S., 213. Martin Mission Institute, 226. Mason, Rev. Thomas, 122, 134. Mass meeting at the dedication of Book Con- cern, 347. Mather, Rev. Alexander, 6. Matlack, Rev. L. C, 156, 257. Maxfield, Rev. Thomas, 5. McArthur, Mayor of London, 314. McCabe, Rev. 0. C, 324, 341, 361. McCabe, Rev. Lorenzo D., 151. McCarter, Rev. Colonel M., 231. McClaskey, Rev. John, 57. McClintock, Rev. John, 196, 208, 217, 220, 250, 267. McFarland, Rev. J. T., 204. McFerrin, Rev. J. B., 173, 177, 179, 246, 327. Mcllenry, Rev. Barnabas, 58. McKendree, Rev. William, 78, 81, 84, 85, 90, 91, 93, 95, 99, 102, 106, 116, 126. Membership of General Conference, 1800, 64. Memorial window to Bishop Simpson, 329. Mendenhall, Rev. J. W., 341, 361. Merkland, Rev. W. H., 354. Merrick, Rev. Frederick, 151, 194, 327. 370 INDEX. Merrill, Rev. Stephen M., 259, 372. Merritt, Rev. Timothy, 122. Methodism, origin, planting, causes, etc., 3, 11: an evolution, 6; in America, 10, 14; has possibly two centers in America, 10 ; organized, 24; discussed at Leeds, 24; strength at organization, 26; in Ken- tucky, 39 ; in Nova Scotia, 39 ; in New England. 45; a rising power, 72 ; in the war of 1812, 87; design and work, 123; at the close of 1890, 317 ; in comparison, 348. Methodist almanac proposed by S. Williams, 121. Methodist General Biblical Institute, 188. Methodist hospital, Brooklyn, 311. Methodist Magazine, 61, 85. Methodist Protestant Church, 112. Methodist sanitarium, 315. Methodist, the, 229, 315. Methodist university, national, 345. Methodists, first meeting, 4 ; first society, 5 ; first church, 5. Millerites, 149. Million for missions, 328. Ministerial probation, 205. Ministers, how received from the Church, South, 244. Mission iu South America, 128. Missionaries sent to the Flathead Indians, 128. Missionary Bi-hop for Africa, 321. Missionary Society, 94, 133, 348; adopted by General Conference, 90. Missions and Mission Conferences, 241, 254, 257. Mitchel, Rev. John T., 179. Monroe, Rev. S. Y., 237, 254. Monrovia Academy, Africa, 118. Moody, Rev. Granville, 231. Moore, Rev. D. H., 314, 361. Moore's Hill College, 211. Moral questions in the General Conference, 337. Morris, Rev. Thomas A., 124, 133, 149, 188, 190, 233, 236. Morris, Rev. S., 130. Morris and Mastin, 38. Mount Union College, 187. Mulflnger, Rev. G. L., 243. Mutual Rights, 109, 110. Names of those at first Conference in Amer- ica, 15. Napa College, 262. Nast, Rev. TVilliam, 135, 147, 179, 196, 208, 216, 223, 243, 244, 260, 324, 341, 363. Nazarite movement, 228. Negro education, 216. Negroes, testimony of, 179. Nelles, Rev. S. S., 237. Nelson, Judge, decision of, 202. Nelson, Rev. Reuben, 278, 294, 300. Nesbit, Rev. Samuel H., 223, 244, 260. New bishop, attempt to embarrass him, 65. New England antislavery society, 137. New England Missionary Magazine, 109. New England Christian Advocate, 152. New York Book Concern and Mission Rooms, 268. Newbury Seminary, 266. Newmau, Rev. J. P., 341. Newspaper discussions, 182. ewton, Rev. Robert, delegate from England, 142. Ninde, Rev. W. X., 211, 321. Nolley, Rev. Richard, 90. No member allowed to preach without license. 244. Non-assignment of work to Bishop Andrew, reasons, 191. Northern delegates affected by the secession of 1644, 174. Northwestern Cliristian Advocate, 208; Uni- versity, 210. Norwegian Loan Library, 349. Noyps, Rev. Henry S., 210. Nutt, Rev. Cyrus, 135. Odell, M. F., 230. Ohio Wesleyan University, 151. O'Kelly's disloyalty, 50 ; letter to Bishop Coke, 51 ; five planks, 51 ; resolutions, 52 ; seces- sion, 53; interview with Bishop Coke, 53: heterodoxy, 53. Old Foundry, 5. Olin, Rev. Stephen, 118, 165, 175, 198. Opinion of the bishops as to the case of Bishop Andrew, 191. Ordination of colored local preachers, 68 ; of local preachers, 80. Ordination of Garrettson and Cromwell for Nova Scotia, 30 ; first, west of the Alle- ghany Mountains, 38. Ordinations, 24. Oregon, mission in, 150. Organization question at General Conference, 1888, 333. Osborn, Rev. George, 313. Otterbein, 17. Owen, Rev. Isaac, 199, 254. Owen, Richard, 13. Pacific Clwistian Advocate, 217, 310. Paine, Rev. Robert, 175, 186. Palatinates, 10. Pan-Presbyterian Council, 313. Parsons, Rev. Charles B., 194, 200. Parties in the Church regarding slavery, 148. Pastoral address of 1812, S6. Pastoral address of second Ecumenical Con- ference, 355. Patten, Rev. David, 194. Pattison, Governor Robert E., 334. Payne, Rev. Charles H., 151, 341, 361. Peace impossible between slavery and anti- slavery, 151. INDEX. 371 Pearne, Rev. Thomas H., 216, 223. Peck, Rev. George, 147, 178, 196, 221, 294. Peck, Rev. J. O., 341, 361. Peck, Rev. Jesse T., 177, 190, 244, 272, 316. Peck's picture of the time about 1836, 138. Period of activity, 93. Period of discussion regarding the "Radi- cals," 112. Perry, Rev. J. H., 231. Perry Hall, 18, 26. Pew-selling and pewed churches, 93, 209. Philadelphia Conference, propositions voted upon, 361. Philips, Rev. William, 134. Phillips, John M., 324, 334, 341, 343. Phillips, Rev. Zebulon, 208. Phoebus, Rev. W., 38. Pickering, Rev. George, 79. Pierce, Rev. Lovick, 73, 183, 186, 193, 194. Pilmoor, Rev. Joseph, 12, 15. Pitman, Rev. Charles, 179, 197. Pitts, Rev. Fountain E., 128. Pittsburg and Genesee Conferences denounce slavery, 137. Pittsburg Christian Advocate, 129. Pittsburg Female College, 211. Plan of adjustment, 177. "Plan of Separation," so-called, 175. Plan of Separation overthrown, 196. Plea for a separate Church in Canada, 113. Plumb, Rev. David, trial of, 139. Poe, Rev. Adam, 208, 216, 2-^3, 244. Population heterogeneous in America, 19. Porter, Rev. James, 175, 216, 223, 244. Power, Rev. John H., 197. Power of a presiding officer to refuse to enter- tain a motion, 147. Poythress, Rev. F., 38. Preachers, native-born, 16. Preachers, the first, sent to America, 12. Preachers in the Conference at Half Acres, 38. Preachers required to use the order of wor- ship, 109. Predestination and election eliminated from Articles of Religion, 31. Presents, legislation regarding, 66. Presiding elders, attempt to elect, 85 ; ques- tion of, 92, 107, 215 ; made advisory coun-' cil of the Bishop, 101 ; renewed agitation, 110 ; may send a substitute, 258. Presiding elders, origin of, 42. Presiding eldership question, 64. Presiding officer in absence of a bishop, 70. Press notices of first Ecumenical Conference, 313. Price, Professor J. C, 327. Progress, 105. Proposition of Slicer regarding Bishop An- drew. 174 ; of Capers for two General Conferences, 174. Proslavery, 158. Protest of Henry B. Bascom, 175. Protest to admission of women to General Conference of 1888, 334. Protestant Episcopal Church, organic unity, 339. Publishing, 7. Punshon, Rev. William M., 257. Quarterly Review, 122, 124, 146, 147. Ralston, Rev. T. N., 186. Randall, Rev. Joshua, his heresy denounced, trial, 115. Randolph-Macon College, 129. Rankin, Rev. Tnomas, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22. Ratio of representation, 79. Ray, Colonel John W., 331. Raymond, Rev. Miner, 211. Reasons given by the abolitionists for seced- ing, 153. Reece, Rev. Richard, delegate in 1824 from England, 106. Reformers in convention, 111. Refusal to receive Dr. Lovick Pierce as a del- egate, 193. Reid, Rev. J. M., 259, 278, 294, 310, 316, 324, 363. Reply of General Conference of 1S48 to the British Conference, 192. Reply of Mr. Lincoln, 240. Reply to the protest, 178. Report of Committee on Organization of the Church, South, 184. Report on the declaration, 176. Reports of Bishops Janes and Thomson, 256. Republican Methodists, 53. Request for a bishop for Africa, 133. Requisites for a Methodist bishop, 143. Resignation of Bishop Hamline, 206. Resignation of Bishop Hamline criticised In the South, 207. Resolutions of 1836, 131. Resolutions of Capers and Olin as to Harding's case, 165; regarding Bishop J. O. An- drew, 166; of Griffith and Davis, 168; of Finley and Trimble, 109 ; of McFerrin and Spicer, 175. Restrictive rules, 80. Revision of the ritual, 243. Revivals, 7, 81, 140. Revolutionary war, effects, 19. Richmond Christian Advocate, 146. Riadle, Adam N., 201. Ridgeway, Rev. Henry B., 211. Ridpath, Dr. John Clark, 331. Rigging loft, 11. Rights of reserve delegates, 83. Roberts, Rev. R. R., 92, 103, 157. Roberts's proposal for eligibility to the epis- copacy, 65. Robinson, Rev. George C, 233. Rogers, President Henry W., 211. Roszell, Rev. Steven G., 131. INDEX. Rothweiler, Rev. Jacob, 243. Rounds, Rev. Nelson, 179. Ruff, Rev. Daniel, 16. Rule limiting tenure of office rescinded, 138. Rules formed at first Conference in America, 15. Rust, Rev. Richard S., 248, 324, 363. Ruter, Rev. Martin, 11)4, 107, 150. Ryerson, Rev. John, 142, 214. Sacraments, discussion upon, 15, 16. Sand ford, Rev. Peter P., 139. Sargent, Rev. Thos. B., 142, 144, 160, 175. Scandinavian Mission, 211. Scott, Rev. Levi, 196, 208, 315. Scott, Rev. Orange, 131, 152, 153, 165. Scott, Rev. Robinson, 213, 237. Scott, Rev. Thomas, 58. Secession, History of, by Charles Elliott, 197. Secession of abolitionists, 152. Secret societies, 207. Secret societies, petitions against, 123. Seney, George L, 311. Separate sittings demanded in General Con- ference of 1892, 357. Sermon of Dr. Coke at the adjournment of Conference, 1792, 54. Settlement with the Church, South, 217. Seys, Rev. John, 150, 218, 251. Shadford, Rev. George, 20. S'.iinn, Rev. Asa, 112. Simonds, Rev. S. D., 199, 20S. Simpson, Mrs. Bishop, 198. Simpson, Rev. Matthew, 135, 196, 208, 215, 217, 313, 304. Simpson's remarks regarding secession, 113. Simpson's view of the Church under slavery, 132. Sims, Rev. Charles N., 263. Slavery, 62, 66, 71, 83, 102, 108, 130, 133, 223, 238, 257. Slicer, Rev. Henry, 169, 174. Small, Rev. Samuel W., 316. Smith, Rev. C. AY., 324. 341, 361. Smith, Rev. Henry, 56. Smith, Rev. W. A., 163, 164, 200, 217. Snethen, Rev. Nicholas, 111. Snively, Rev. W. A., 833. Soldiers to the front, 230. Soule elected a bishop, 98 ; declined ordina- tion, 101 ; again elected a bishop, 107 ; a delegate to England, 144 : addressed the Conference regarding the Andrew case, 168, 170; invites Andrew to preside in Conference, 183, 192; not allowed to pre- side in the Ohio Conference, 185 ; letter to the General Conference of 1848, 194. South, the attitude toward the abolition move- ment, 157. Southern Convention at Louisville, 131. Southern General Conference at Petersburg, Va., 186. Sowter, Joseph, 14\ Spanish Hymnal, 311. Spaulding, Rev. Justin, in South America, 128. Spaulding, Rev. W. J., 204. Spicer, Rev. T., 175. Spirituous liquois, 120. Stanberry, Henry, 200. Standing committees ordered in 1816, 91. State of the country, 240. Statistics, 86, 123, 134, 148, 159, 188, 204, 234, 252, 255, 268. Stephenson, Rev. Thomas, 343; Rev. Dr., of England, 353. Stevens, Rev. Abel, 154. Stilwellites, 96. Stinson, Rev. Joseph, 142. Stockton, Rev. W. S., 111. Storrs, Rev. George, 130. Stowe, Rev. W. P., 324, 341. Strange, Rev. John, 82. Strawbridge, Rev. Robert, 16. Strong, Rev. James, 220, 234, 270. Subjects discussed at Second Ecumenical Con- Conference, 354. Success, how produced, 320. Suit in New York, 202. Suit in Ohio, 200. Suits against the Book Concern, 200. Summers, Rev. T. O., 183. Sunday school, first one formed in America, 45. Sunday School Advocate established, 189. Sunday School Journal, 226. Sunday School Union, 148, 349. Sunday schools, 108. Sunday schools and Tract Society, 209. "Sunday Service 1 ' and " Hymns, 1 " 31. Sunderland, Rev. Leroy, 138, 153, 155. Superintendents called " Bishop, 11 34. Supplies, raising of. 67. Swedish Theological Seminary, 262. Swedish work, 187. Swoop, Rev. Mr., a Lutheran pastor, 17. Swormstedt, Rev. Leroy, 134. 196, 200, 208, 216. Syracuse University, 262. Taylor, Rev. Marshall \Y., 324, 331. Taylor, Rev. William, 199, 321, 336, 360. Tefft, Rev. Benjamin F., 196. Temperance, 62, 116, 179, 195, 224, 340. Tennessee Conference organized, 247. Testimony of colored persons, 144, 179. Texas Mission, 149. Theological education urged, 335. Theological school at Bareilly, India, 262. Thoburn, Rev. J. M., 341, 359. Thomas, Rev. E., 216, 223, 244, 260. Thomas, Rev. H. W., trial, 314. Thomson, Rev. Edward. 151, 179, 223, 244, 263. Thornton, Rev. AA\ L., 237. Tiffin, Governor, 58. Time limit, 70, 215. INDEX. Tippett, Rev. C. B., 179. Tomlinson, Uev. Joseph S., 104. Tract Society, 349. Tranquillity in tlieCnurch, 54. Travels of the, bishops, 81. Trimble, Rev. Joseph M., 190, 205, 221, 244, 323, 327. Troy University, 220. True, Rev. Charles K., trial, 139. True Wesleyan, 153. Trustees of the Church, 237. Tunnell, Rev. John, 37. Tuppey, a local preacher at Quebec, 40. Two episcopal plans, 191. Umpqua Academy, 211. Unconstitutionality of proposition to elect presiding elders, 100, 102. Uniformity of worship, 33(5. Union chapel, Cincinnati, O., 232. Union societies, 110, 111. United Brethren Church, 17, 313. University of the Pacific, 204. Utah University, 346. Utica convention, 139, 155. Vail, Rev. Stephen M., 188. Vasey, Rev. Thomas, 24, 28. Vermont Methodist Seminary, 129. Veto power, 107. Vincent, Rev. John H., 226, 260, 324, 341, 346. Virginia and North Carolina Conference Journal, 146. Visiting delegates, 1860, 222. Visit of the Ecumenical Conference to the White House, 354. Vote on constitutional questions in 1892, 360. Vote on the Finley-Trimble resolution, 173. Vote on the Philadelphia Conference proposi- tion, 361. Walden, Rev. J. M., 259, 321. Walker, Rev. Jesse, 74. Walther, Rev. J. L., 243. Ware, Rev. Thomas, 39, 57, 78. Warren, Rev. H. W., 306. Warren, Rev. O. H., 324, 341. Warren, Rev. W. F., 2^6. Washington, President, 40, 41. Watson, Rev. J. V., 208, 216, 219. Watters, Rev William, 16, 33. Waugh, Rev. Beverly, 73, 116, 122, 1P3, 171, 190, 219. Wayman, Bishop, 353. Webb, Captain, 11, 40. Webb's plea for American Methodism, 14. Wentworth, Rev. Erastus, 144. Wesley Chapel, Washington, D.C., condemned secession, 182. Wesley, Rev. John, born, 2 ; at Charter House School, 2 ; and the Holy Club, 2 ; curate for bis father, 3; missionary to America, 3; met the Moravians, B ; return to England, 5; conversion, 3 ; visit to Herrnhut, 4 ; calm address, 20 ; letter to Asbury, 25 ; letter to Christmas Conference, 27; certificate of Coke's ordination, 34 ; Bible presented to the General Conference of 1884, 319. Wesleyan General Conferences, 156. Wesleyan journal at Charlestown, S. C, 109. Wesleyan Methodist Church formed, 155. Wesleyan Repository, 109. Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., 117, 311. West, Rev. R. A., 176, 194. Western Christian Advocate, 126. Westmoreland petition, 148, 163. Whatcoat, Rev. Richard, 24, 25, 26, 38, 66, 74. Whedon. Rev. Daniel D., 223, 244, 259, 328. Wheeler, Rev. John, 204. White, Bishops, and Coke, 51, 76, 77. White, Judge, 20, 56. , Whiteneld, 5, 6, 7, 13. Whitworth, Rev. Abraham, 15. Wickedness of the times, 8. Wightman, Rev. W. M.,147; articles regard- ing abolitionsim, 158. Wllberforce University, 216. Wilbraham Academy, 266. Wiley, Rev. Isaac W., 244, 259, 272, 325. Willamette University, 187. Williams, Rev. Robert, 12. Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, 187. Wilson, Rev. John, 38, 69, 78. Winans, Rev. William, 107, 175, 183. Winchell, Dr. Alexander, 263. , Wise, Rev. Daniel, 216, 223, 244, 260. Wolff collection of engravings at Syracuse University, 263. Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, 273, 349; Home Missionary Society, 318, 350. Wooster, Rev. Robert, 38. Worship, uniformity in, 336. Work in the South, 245. Wright, Rev. John F., 134, 147, 216. Wright sent to America, 13, 15. Wyandotte Indians and mission, 199, 322. Yearbry, Rev. Joseph, 15. Yost, Rev. Cm 243- Young, Rev. D„ 124. Youth's Magazine, 147. Zion's Herald, 109, 152. Zion's Watchman, 131, 152.