METHODIST 
 
 CONVENTION
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 // /- 
 
 ^•i^JKf -'^S,' T
 
 METHODISM 
 
 IN TIIK 
 
 STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 AS REPRESENTED IN 
 
 STATE CONVENTION, 
 
 HELD IN PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 OCTOBKR 18-20, 1870, 
 
 REPORTED BY S. M. STILES. 
 
 ISSUED BY THE PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 S. W. THOMAS, Agt. 
 MiETHODIST EPISCOP^Ij BOOlv ROOM!, 
 
 No. 1018 A roll Street.
 
 Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1S71 , l,y 
 
 ROBT. H. PATTISON, 
 
 In tlie office of tlie Librarian of ConKress, at Wasliinston.
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Methodism claims to liave had its origin and growth provi- 
 dentially for a specific purpose. " The philosophy of its his- 
 tory " is thus stated by its great living historian: "Any new 
 practical measures which may be rendered expedient, by the 
 ever-varying conditions of human history, for the effectiveness 
 of the Church in the moral regeneration of individual men, are 
 admissible, being in harmony with the original purpose and 
 simj)licity of the Gospel, however they may contravene ecclesi- 
 astical precedents or traditions." In all the "extraordinary 
 series of events" which mark its history there is this recurrence 
 to the first principles of Christianity. 
 
 Perhaps there is no more striking illustration of the general 
 truth of this statement than the origin and growth of Metliodist 
 State Conventions. The first experiment of such a meeting 
 " without authority and altogether irresponsible " was made 
 in Massachusetts within two or three years. But already the 
 plan has taken fast hold and been generally adopted. Our 
 Church papers, official and non-official, have found in them, so 
 far as we can bring to mind, nothing as yet to disapprove of, 
 and much in every way to commend. Their various issues are 
 full of reports of their proceedings or of announcements that 
 such Conventions are now being held or are anticipated, until 
 next year they will probably be held in every State. 
 
 Tiicre must have been a necessity in American Methodism 
 for such informal featherings. An idea could not expand so 
 rapidly without some good reason of explanation. We do not 
 have to go beyond Methodism in Pennsylvania to find the argu- 
 ment for such meetings, and the advantages arising therefrom. 
 
 In Pennsylvania, on account of the division of the State by 
 
 56718'?' '
 
 4 PEEFACE. 
 
 Conference lines and the fact that several of the Conferences ex- 
 tend beyond the State boundaries into the territory of adjoin- 
 ing States, the statistics and resources of Methodism have here- 
 tofore been unkno^vn, except to the careful plodding gatherers 
 of such information from sources Ivinjc out of the reach of the 
 masses of our communion. Intelligent Methodists have not 
 known the number in Ciuuvh fellowship, in our Sabbath-schools, 
 in our various educational institutions, the value of Church pro- 
 perty, etc., &c. 
 
 This volume furnishes such information. It does more; 
 questions of spiritual and business interest are hero discussed 
 with great ability, and although the conclusions reached are 
 without any legal power to bind, yet their moral force in direct 
 effects cannot but be very o-reat. 
 
 As a practical illustration of the working of lay delegation, 
 about to be introduced into our body, this, with similar volumes, 
 is of great value. Ministers and laymen met on common 
 ground of interest and influence, for mutual consultation in 
 matters in which each are interested equally, and the spectacle 
 presented was not that of the lion and the lamb lying down 
 together under the magnetism of some controlling influence 
 the withdrawal of which might have been the occasion for strife 
 and contention, but one of beautiful harmony and co-operation, 
 saying to those who may have feared the introduction of the lay 
 element into our Church councils: "Behold how beautiful it is 
 for brethren to dwell together in unitv." These Conventions 
 liave shown that there is nothing in ]\Icthodism )o prevent per- 
 fect co-o|)eration between its lay and ministerial element. 
 
 The Convention of Pennsylvania Methodists brou^iht toirethcr 
 laymen and ministers hitherto uid<nown (o each oIIkm-, now 
 known Mii'l loved JLS brcHii-en both in (lie (lesli and in (he Lord, 
 l^aeli anil all received (Voni (he contact ol" kindred mind new 
 impulse-; for practical work in the great fields white unto (he 
 harvest, and they went forth to their homes to pi'ay the I/ord of 
 the harvest to send forth more laborers into his vinevard. 
 
 I lieir words — words ol' wisdom ami <i|' hope, tims |)res(>nted 
 to til'- |iiil>lic will pi-i»ve a blessed inspiration U) otlu-rs as well 
 as a 8ourc(! of valuable information to all.
 
 PROCEEDINGS 
 OF THE 
 
 GENERAL COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 At <he sessions of the Philadelphia and Central Pennsylvania Conferencep. 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held at the same time in March last 
 committees were appointed to correspond with Methodists throughout the 
 State in reference to the propriety of holding a Methodist State Convention 
 in Pennsylvanin. These committees met on the 14th of April, in Wilkes- 
 barre, during the session of the Wyoming Conference, that body having also 
 appointed a committee. 
 
 Fresnit.—EQV. R. H. Pattison, D. D., Rev. G. D. Carrow, D.D., Col. John A. 
 Wright, Thos. W. Priue, Gen. Charles Albright — Philada. Conference. 
 
 Rev. Irwin H. Torrence, Rev. .John A. Gere, D. D., Rev. Francis Hodgson. 
 D. D., W. H. Woodin, Col. J. Sallade — Central Pennsylvania Conference. 
 
 Rev. Y. C. Smith, D. D., Rev. 11. Brownscombe, Rev. W. .J. .Judd, Daniel 
 Taylor — Wyoming Conference. 
 
 Rev J. A. Gere, D. D., was elected Chairman, and Rev. Y. C. Smith, Secre- 
 tary. The meeting wns opened with prayer by Rev. F. Hodgson, D. D. 
 
 After careful and earnest consideration, the following resolutions were 
 adopted : — 
 
 1. That it is the judgment of this General Committee that a Methodist 
 Episcopal State Convention be held in and for the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 2. That the Convention shall be composed of two <lclegates from each pas- 
 toral charge, the Bishop residing in the State, Presiding Elders, Presidents 
 and Professors in Colleges and St^minaries under our control. .Agents of bene- 
 volent societies, and Editors of Methodist papers published in the State. 
 
 3. That the delegates sliall he appointed by the respective charges, in such 
 way as they may select, and in case any charge fails to appoint delegates, 
 the Presiding Elder is requested to appoint the requisite delegates to fill the 
 vacancy. 
 
 4. That the Presiding Elders of districts in the Erie and Pittsburgh Con- 
 ferences, lying within the State of Pennsylvania, appoint three ministers anii 
 three laymen from each Conference, as members of the Committee, to mnke 
 arrangements for the proposed Convention; and tiiat the Presiding Elder of 
 the Tioga district. East Genesee Conferrncc, and one layman appointed hy 
 him, be members of the said Committee. 
 
 5
 
 6 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 5. That when we adjourn, we do so to meet on Wednesday, the eleventh 
 day of May, at 3 o'clock, p. m., at 1018 Arch Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 6. That Rev. I. II. Torreuce be appointed Corresponding Secretary of this 
 Committee. 
 
 7. That a committee of six, consisting of Revs. I. H. Torrence, G. D. Car- 
 row, J. W. Jackson, and Y. C. Smith, and Messrs. J. A. AVright, and Thomas 
 W. Price, be appointed to suggest appropriate topics to the General Commit- 
 tee at its next meeting, to be submitted to the State Convention; and they 
 may increase their number, by ajtpainting one member from each of the Con- 
 ferences not now represented in this Committee. 
 
 8. That the President of the General Committee shall be a member ex- 
 officio of the above sub-committee. 
 
 The General Committee met according to adjournment at 1018 Arch St., 
 Phila., May 11th, at 3 o'clock, P. M. 
 
 Rev. J. A. Gere, D. D., in the chair. In the absence of Rev. Y. C. Smith, 
 D. D., Rev. R. H. Pattison, D. D., was appointed Secretary. 
 
 The Committee continued in session for two days, giving very great atten- 
 tion to the work committed to their care. 
 
 Philadelphia was finally fixed upon as the place for the holding of the Con- 
 vention, and October 18th, I'Jih and 20th as the time. 
 
 The following general jjrogranime of business and assignment of topics for 
 the Convention was agreed upon : — 
 
 1. Tuesday afternoon, at 3 o'clock. The Organization. 
 
 2. Tuesday evening, 7i o'clock. Topic — '-Methodism, its Growth and 
 present Position in the State." Committee — Rev. I. II. Torrence, Rev. W. II. 
 Kincaid, and J. M. Maris. 
 
 3. Wednesday morning. 9 o'clock. Topic — " The Type of Piety necessary 
 to the highest prosperity of the Church." Committee — Rev. Geo. Peck, I). D., 
 Rev. G. D. Carrow, D. D., and Rev. F. Hodgson, D. D. 
 
 4. Wednesilay afiernoon, 2\ o'clock. Topic — " The Charitable Institutions 
 of the Church." Committee— Co\. .John A. Wriglit, i;. 11. Worne, and Rev. II. 
 Miller, D. U. 
 
 5. Wednesday evening, 7.1 o'clock. Topic — '• The Duty of tlie Cliurcli in 
 relation to the Ciirislian Sahbatli and the Cause of T«ni])erance." Committee 
 —The S'lUnith: W. W. Wyilics Ilnii. .Ii>s. McKnally, niul Rev. Wm. Samp- 
 son Tempcrtince : lion, .lohn McCalmont, James Black, Esi[., mid Rev. P. 
 Coomhe. 
 
 (). Tiiursday morning, o'clock. Topic — "The Kducalional Interests of 
 the Methodist Kpiscopal ('liurcli in Pennsylvania." Committee — Rev. Geo. 
 Loomis, D. 1)., Rev. R. L. Dashicll, 1). D., and Rev. I. C. Pcrsliing, D. 1). 
 
 7. Thursday afiernoon, 2^ o'clnck. 'I'npic — " The Public Sciiool tines- 
 lion." Committee— \\c\. A. Wliecler, 1>. D., Rev. J. W. Jackson, and P. W. 
 SliaediT, I'.sii. 
 
 H. Thur.'iday evening, ~ >, o'clock. To|)ic — " Tiie Duly of liif Cliri.slian 
 Citizen to the Stale." Commiltrr—W'ui. II, All.-n, LL. I)., Uou. 11. I-. Rich- 
 mood, and Rev. II. S. Nesbiit, b. I).
 
 LIST OF DELEGATES. 
 
 Bishops. — M. Simpson, D. D. 
 
 Pkesidknts and Pkofessoks of Colleges and Skmixabies. — Rev. Geo. 
 Loomis, D. D., Rev. Robt. L. Dashiell, D. D., Rev. I. C. Pershing, D. D., 
 Rev. T. P. Ege, Rev. S. L. Bowman, Prof. W. II. Shelly, Prof. D. \\. Bar- 
 tine. 
 
 Editors. — Rev. S. II. Nesbitt, D. D., Rev. A. Wallace, Rev. E. A. Johnson. 
 
 Secretaries and Agents. — Rev. J. P. Durbin, D. D., Rev. I. II. Torrence, 
 Rev. A. J. Kynett, D. D., Rev. P. Coombe, Rev. Jos. Horner, Rev. S. W. 
 Thomas. 
 
 Ministers. — Geo. Peck, Charles Cooke, John A. Gere, F. Hodgson, Joseph 
 Castle, N. S. Buckingham, H. C. Pardee, G. T. Ockerman, A. B. Leonard, 
 W J. Paxson, W. H. Burrell, J. Lindamuth, Alex. M. Wiggins, Thompson 
 Mitchell, B. H. Crever, H. Brownscombe, L. W. Peck, J. Walker Jackson, 
 C. F. Turner, T. Kirkpatrick, A. Manship, J. M. Wheeler, John Thrush, J. 
 H. Weston, E. M. Chilcoat, John Floyd, J. B. Sharer, John Stringer, S. A. 
 Heilner, M. H. Sisty, John Shields, T. C. Pearson, H. M. Ash, G. G. Rake- 
 straw, C. I. Thompson, L. B. Hoffman, C. V. Wilson, G. D. Carrow, Thos. C. 
 Murphy, J. R. T. Gray, Jesse R. Akers, Wm. A. Ilouck, B. B. Hamlin, James 
 C. Clarke, P. F. Eyer, L. C. Floyd, A. C. Bowdish, J. A. Krummer, J. Pil- 
 kinton, E. A. Squier, W. W. McMichael, D. M. Hollister, J. H. Conkle, T. 
 M. Reese, M. Barnhill, W. W. Reese, T. B. Miller, L. B. Hughes, E. I. D. 
 Pepper, J. A. De Moyer, P. J. Cox, AV. Mnjor, C. P. Masdcn, W. Cooper, Z. 
 S. Stevens, G. W. Izer, G. R. Hair, J. Mason, S. W. Weiss, H. Miller, H. L. 
 Chapman, C. W. Smith, I. T. Walker, R. Owen, W. L. Gray, S. C. Swal- 
 low, J. B. Cuddy, P. J. Gates, C. L. F. Howe, W. C. Robinson, E. W. Kirby, 
 John R. Bailey, W. P. Bignell, W. Cochran, F. B. Riddle, G. Heacock, G. 
 W. Lybrand, H. C. Cheston, E. M. Wood, J. P. Miller, J. E. Kessler, Joseph 
 Gregg, H. C. Beacom, W. J. Mills, J. M. Groves, H. Sinsabaugh, T. A. Fern- 
 ley, James Curns, S. Barnes, W. B. Wood, N. W. Colburn, J. B. Sumner, A. 
 R. Miller, J. B. McCuUough, E. F. Swartz, B. F. Stevens, G. W. Cranage, H. 
 B. Fort.ner, N. J. Hawley, J. F. Chaplain, J. J. Mcllyar, J. H. Alday, J. M. 
 Hinson. J. G. Eckman, AVm. Bixby, J. 0. Woodruff, C. II. Payne, D. C. 01m- 
 stead, B. G. Paddock, F. A. King, S. W. Kurtz, W. Vanderkerchen, R. Tur- 
 ner, H. F. Isett, M. A. Day, J. A. Cooper, Y. C. Smith, L. M. Hobbs, W. M. 
 Dalrymple, S. Pancoast, I. Mast, J. Cummins, M. D. Kurtz, Theo. Stevens. 
 A. L. Wilson, R. N. Stubbs, J. C. Scofield, R. M. Bear, J. Edwards, S. Lucas. 
 T. Montgomery, T. W. Simpers, J. T. Swindells, Thos. Harrison, A. S. Bow- 
 
 7
 
 8 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 man, J. F. Meredith, H. S. Mendenhall, J. J. F. Brunow, C. H. McDermond, 
 S. Hughes, W. C. Best, Jacob Todd, J. S. Crook, R. W. Humphries, W. A. 
 McKee, W. H. Fries, H. A. Cleveland, F. Gelman, F. L. Heller, S. Powers, 
 
 A. S. Dobbs, D. W. Gordon, A. Wheeler, S. Townsend, T. B. Neely, W. Swin- 
 dells, W. McCombs, J. W. Knapp, J. La Bar, S. G. Grove, S. H. C. Smith, 
 W. CoflFman, W. M. Ridgway, S. T. Kemble, D. L. Patterson, K. H. Pattison. 
 .lohn D. Stewart, John Bert, A. C. Crosthwaite, M. L. Smith, A. Brittain, 
 Samuel Creighton, F. E. Crever, J. S. Johnson, E. H. Slocum, G. W. Miller, 
 D. A. Beckley, S. F. Brown, R. J. Carson, S. H. Hoover, J. F. Crouch, W. 
 H. Elliott, S. R. Gillingham, L. D. McClintock, W. J. Stevenson, J. J. Pcarce, 
 J. J. Timanus, Samuel Irwin, II. E. Gilroy, G. T. Hurlock, J. Bawden, E. H. 
 HofTman, lion. I. S. Deihl. 
 
 Laymen. — Hon. H. L. Richmond, Col. John A. Wriglit, lion. J. S. McCal- 
 mont, Wm. II. Allen, LL. D., Hon. Eli Slifer, Thomas W. Price, Gen. C. Al- 
 bright, Col. Jacob Sallade, T. T. Tasker, Sr., S. Grove, J. F. Kreps, V. A. 
 Laffer, I. L. C. Miller, Wm. Kinsey, Hon. A. 0. Heister, J. S. Smith, Geo. 
 S. Snyder, M. W. Jackson, W. F. Kline, AV. A. Leary, Jacob Windolf, H. 
 NeaflFer, Thos. T. Mason, Jacob H. Walter, B. D. Biggs, D. H. Bowen, Henry 
 Gregory, W. F. Sadler, J. Wesley Awl, Ira D. Sankey, Henry Hill, S. W. 
 .Murray, M. Briggs, AV. S. Smith, J. AV. Fleming, S. J. Brisbin, J. Stillman, 
 
 B. F. Crawshaw, AV. Matthews, H. C. Shurtleff, S. S. Huff, S. J. Shoop, Geo. 
 Gleim, Samuel Graccy, F. Schluembach, James Black, Col. A. Cummings. 
 Daniel Slarkey, John J. John, AVilliam Downey, S. G. Cook, J. H. Smith, J. 
 W. Quiggle, N. .Slanship, John Hean, Jr., AV. Vates, S. Rodgcrs, J. Eshel- 
 man, P. Pettebone, AV. Murray, AV. Brown, Geo. S. Bennett, H. N. Powell, 
 A. Blakeley, J. C. AVilliams, I. Shallcross, E. Bull, AV. J. iNIadeira, 11. Jones, 
 
 C. H. Barnard, AV. H. Kincaid, John AVhite, O. Boice, J. Shepherd, H. R. 
 Mosser, Geo. Yeager, Col. G. F. McFarlund, A. Robeno, Jr., J. N. McCart- 
 ney, G. AV. Defrain, A. AVright, T. K. Peterson, J. L. Luckenback, Thos. 
 West, Josepli Parrish, M. D., Henry Dearr, Andrew Zane, Jr., G. F. Matter, 
 Lemuel L. Logan, Geo. L. Horn, tico. Slate, W. Hunt, J. H. Creasy. W. D. 
 Melick, J. S. Houch, S. Arnold, C. AV. Asiicorn, J. W. Rhoads, Thos. Lamb. 
 M. Turner, AV. McCarthur, Jas. Thomas, J. AV. Swartz, AV. R. Thomas, J. D. 
 I'atterson, J. AV. Glover. AV. Lefevre, W. B. Allen, AV. L. Lance, J. H. Rug- 
 gles, A. I'.runur, S. C. May, M. AV. Fricke, John Bone, Tiios. Gould, Geo. .\. 
 AVakerly, W. G. Spencer, M. llannum, J. M. Maris, David Clarkson, K. W. 
 Ciarkson, AV. C. Hesser, Aaron Breisch, R. Morrow, J. H. Nobbs, AVni. Free- 
 u.an. Jas. Ka.-son, J. AV. Higgs, S. Kelly, R. C. Scott, G, F. Flammer, F. A. Lou- 
 der, Wm. L. Hazlett, D. L. Briggs, R. Askcorn, Jesse Beaver, B. D. Beyea, IL 
 R. Breniser, C. Scott, C. E. Lytic, Enos F. Clound, David McGinness, James 
 M. West, C. F. Steinman, Geo. Thumlet, John Shullz, AV. A. Ruddack, W. 
 Perry, N. S. Briliain, AV. Hauck, AV. W. Headrick, Omcr J. Kingsley, J. Star- 
 rier, s! I'.cnn.-r, W. Hodgson, J. AVimer. F. A. Fidler, C. Perrine, T. B. Castle. 
 M. I»., J. T. (Jillon, P. Rudolph, E. McClain.John L.-nt. Ilonry Crousc, B. H. 
 Kendi'g, .M. D., David Care, John Hall. H. K. .Moore, IL Z. Zrigler, George 
 RouHe, J. ,M.;Cur<ly, J. D. Flousbury. W. Summers, W. B. Ilcilzel, (.'. B. Hare. 
 J. B Winer.
 
 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 FIRST SESSIOK 
 
 Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia, 
 
 Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 18th, 1870. 
 The Methodist State Convention of Pennsylvania was called 
 to order at three o'clock, P. M., by Rev. John A. Gere, D. D., 
 Chairman of the general Committee of Arrangements, who nomi- 
 nated Hon. H. L. Richmond of Meadville, as temporary Chair- 
 man. The nomination was unanimously confirmed. Mr. 
 Richmond, on taking the chair, made the following address : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Convention : The honor conferred upon me by yonr 
 vote is a very unexpected one, and I shall not attempt, as is sometimes cus- 
 tomary, to make a formal speech before taking the Chair. We should re- 
 member, however, that this is not a political Convention or organization. 
 We have heard in this country a great deal about such Conventions: we 
 know somewhat of them ; but, I repeat — and I hope it will be remembered 
 by this Convention — that we are not gathered together for any political pur- 
 pose; and yet, as perhaps you will learn before the Convention adjourns, 
 every Methodist should be, in a certain and particular sense of that word, a 
 politician. 
 
 We meet here as a religious Convention, as a religious body — not repre- 
 senting all the religious denominations in the country ; and while we hope 
 to do nothing here that will not have a tendency to promote our religious in- 
 terests as a denomination, we do expect to do good to the great community 
 that we represent. 
 
 The holding of these State Conventions is something new in our history a^ 
 Methodists. Properly conducted, with proper subjects before them for dis*- 
 cussion, tliey will become a mighty power in the land for good. I have been 
 greatly interested in looking over the history of the several Conventions thni 
 have preceded this, and, with a heart palpitating with joy, have I read the 
 sentiments, pure, elevating, religious, that have been proclaimed in all thot^c 
 Conventions. 
 
 Let me repeat, then, that we have met as a religious body, representing, 
 perhaps, numerically, and in many other respects, the most powerful reli- 
 gious organization in the Church of Christ. Why, I heard not long since an 
 Episcopal minister, while preaching a sermon on the centenary of Metho- 
 
 9
 
 10 MINUTES OF CONVEXTIOX. 
 
 diam, make the allegation, that the Methodist Church was nearer to being a 
 national organization than any other in the land. 
 
 Now there is one sense in which I know all of us would desire to have that 
 true: we would deprecate the day that the Methodist Church should be a 
 national organization in the European sense of the term ; but, so far as 
 preaching the Gospel is concerned, so far as tlie promulgation of a great re- 
 ligious sentiment is concerned, so far as she seeks to purify the morals of the 
 country, I pray that she may become a national organization. 
 
 Let us then, my friends, during the progress of this Convention, remem- 
 ber that we are here, not as a political but as a religious body; and while 
 we are here, let us cultivate that feeling of unity and harmony that belongs 
 to us in the relations we sustain to each other ; and let it be the united 
 prayer of every one, that this Convention may be a blessing, not only to the 
 Church represented, but to the Commonwealth, nay, to the nation itself. 
 
 On motion of Rev. Dr. Pershing, of Pittsburgh, Rev. R. 
 H. Pattison, D. D., of Philadelpliia, was chosen temporary 
 Secretary. 
 
 At the request of the Chairman, Rev. J)r, Nesbitt, Editor of 
 the Pittsburgh Christian Advocate, conducted the opening de- 
 votional exercises. Dr. Nesbitt announced the 175th hyiim — 
 
 " AH hail the power of Jesus' name," 
 
 which was sung by tlie Convention, under the leadership of 
 Professor Fischer. Dr. Nesbitt then offered an appropriate 
 ])rayer. 
 
 Col. John A. "Wright, of iPhiladelphia, offered the following 
 resolution, which was adopted, viz. — 
 
 Rexolved, That a CommiUee, composed of two Delegates from each Con- 
 ference represonlod in iliis Convention, be appointed by the Chair to nomi- 
 nate jteruianent Othccrs for tlie Convention. 
 
 "^Phe list of Conferences lying in whole oi- in part witliiii tJic 
 limits of the SUite was call (mI, and it, was found lli:i( the follow- 
 ing were n'j)rcs('ntcd, viz. : Philadelphia, Central I'ennsylvania, 
 Pittsburgh, Erie, lOast Genes<!e, ^\^•oming, East (Jerman and 
 Newark. 
 
 The Chair aiinoiuieed the lollowing comiiiiUcc,' to nominate 
 ( )llicers for the permanent organization, viz.: Col. J. A. Wright, 
 I{ev. .1. W. .l,i<lv-oii, llev. 11. i'.rownseond)e, Rev. Y. C. Smith, 
 1). ])., Rev. .las. (urns, C<»l. .1. Sallade, Kev. 11. Miller, 1 >. D.,
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. S. KRAMER. 11 
 
 J. F. Dravo, Esq., Rev. E. A. Jolinsoii, Uim. .1. S. M'Calmont, 
 Rev. C. L. F. Howe, Rev. R. L. Dashiell, D. D., Rev. J. J. F. 
 Brunow. 
 
 On motion of Gen. C. Albright, of Mauch Chunk, a com- 
 mittee of five on credentials was ordered. Gen. C. Albright, 
 Rev. H. C. Pardee, G. W. Cranage, Esq., Rev. W. Bixby, and 
 Rev. W. P. Bignell were appointed on the above committee. 
 
 On motion of I. C. Pershing, D. D., it was voted that the 
 Rules of Order of the last General Conference of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church be adopted, as far as applicable, for the govern- 
 ment of this Convention during its session. 
 
 A Committee from the Xational Local Preachers' Associa- 
 tion, holding its session in Union Church, in this City, was in- 
 troduced to the Convention. Rev. S. Kramer, chairman of the 
 Committee, addressed the Convention as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Brkthren beloved: We area Committee from \hv 
 Local Preachers' National Association, meeting in this city, in the Union 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. AVe have been appointed to convey to you the 
 fraternal greetings of that body, and to thank you for the kind invitation 
 that has been extended to us to meet with you this afternoon and evening ; 
 but as it was impossible for us to close our business in order to gratify our- 
 selves to meet M'ith you upon this afternoon, we have been appointed to re- 
 turn to you the heart-felt thanks of that Association for your kindness toward 
 them, and to extend to 3'ou an invitation to meet with us this evening at half 
 past seven o'clock, in our religious Jubilee. Our exercises will be closed 
 this afternoon, and it is a matter of regret that we could not be with you. 
 Anxiously desiring your presence, we have come to invite you to be with us. 
 but, from surrounding circumstances, we are constrained to believe that that 
 is impossible. We should be very liappy indeed if any of you can possibly 
 forego the privilege you might enjoy here this evening, to have you meet 
 with us. Again, in the name of the Local Preachers' Association, we return 
 to you our heart- felt thanks, and bid you God speed, praying that the bless- 
 ing of God may be upon you, and that this great movement, which you have 
 here inaugurated, may redound to the glory of God. 
 
 On motion of Rev. Dr. C. Cooke the thanks of the Conven- 
 tion were tendered to the Local Preachers' Association for their 
 fraternal invitation, and their regrets expressed that thi- 
 business before them woidd not allow their accepting it. 
 
 The Committee on Permanent Organization, through their
 
 12 MINITTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Secretary, Rev. J. W. Jackson, made the following nominations, 
 which were unanimously confirmed, viz.: 
 
 President. — Bishop M. Simpson, D. D. 
 
 Vice-Presidents.— K&\. H. Sinsabaugh, J. W. F. White, Esq., Rev. W. V. 
 Bignell, Hon. J. S. M'Calmont, Rev. W. Cochran. Mnjor B. S. Dartt, Rev. 
 Y. C. Smith, D. D., Payne Pettebone, E.sq., Rev. Thompson Mitchell, D. D., 
 Hon. Eli Slifer, Rev. Charles Cooke, D. D., William H. Allen, LL. D., Rev. 
 .r. J. F. Bruuow, F. Giklemier, Esq. 
 
 Secretary. — Rev. Robert H. Pattison, D. D. 
 
 Assistant Secretaries. — Rev. W. J. Paxson, J. TI. Walter, Esq , P. A. Laffer, 
 Esq., Rev. C. L. F. Howe, J. W. Rhoads, M. D., George R. Snyder, Esq. 
 
 On motion of Rev. J. W. Jackson, the officers of the tempo- 
 rary organization were requested to retain their positions during 
 the present session. 
 
 Rev. J. W. Jackson, Rev. I. C. Pershing, D.D., and Rev. 
 E. A. Johnson, were appointed a committee to wait upon 
 Bishop Simpson and inform him of his election as l*rcsident 
 of the Convention. 
 
 Thomas W. Price, Esq., of Philadelphia, offered the follow- 
 ing resolution, which w;is adopted, viz.: 
 
 Resolved, That a committee be appointed, consisting of one from each con- 
 ference represented in the Convention, to whom shall be referred all resohi- 
 lions, except those presented by committees, to whom topics have been 
 assigned. 
 
 The chair appointed the following as such committee : 
 
 Thos. W. Price, Esq., Rev. Wm. Bixby, M. W. .J.ackson, Esq., Thos. Snow- 
 dcn, E.<q., Rev. A. Wheeler, I). I)., Rev. C. L. F.JIowe, Rev. R. L. Dashiell. 
 I>. D., Rev. .1. .J. F. Bnino^v. 
 
 There being no hiisine.ss before the Convention, 
 
 Rev. George l*eck, D. D., the oldest Methodist preacher in 
 Pennsylvania, was called on for an address, lie resj)onded in 
 a brief speech, referring to interesting facts in his ministerial 
 history, now covering the period of fifty-fom- yetirs, and ex- 
 pressing a Wiirni interest in the ])rogress of the Redeemer's 
 cause, tiiid strong liojx's I'or the entire success of tlu; Convention. 
 
 At ihe conclusion ol' Dr. Pe(;k's rem:n-ks, 
 
 Re\'. (litirlcs Cooke, DA)., standing next in (he rank of 
 scnioritv, was called (o th(! ])la(form, and miuh; an interesting 
 addre.'^s, replete willi jiciiitd humor ;ind (,-hrislian hoi)e, and ex-
 
 ADDIIKSS OF lUSUOP .SIMPSON. 1,'J 
 
 pressing the strongest attachment to the work of the ministry, 
 in which he is still effectively engaged. 
 
 Rev. F. Hodgson, D. D., being called for, made some appro- 
 priate remarks, full of cheerfulness and devotion to the cause of 
 (Ihrist; and was followed by Rev. John A. Gere, D. D., whose 
 speech abounded with humorous facts and instructive incidents, 
 connected Avith his long and varied experience. He referred t^) 
 the first Methodist sermon he ever heard, having been preached 
 l)y Dr. George Peck, in 1817; and closed by expressing a good 
 Jiope of a final meeting with those present, in the heavenly land. 
 
 At the close of the address of Dr. Gere the Convention ad- 
 journed, to meet at half-past seven o'clock in the evening. 
 
 The doxology was sung, and 
 
 Dr. George Peck pronounced the benediction. 
 
 SECOND SESSION- 
 Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia. 
 
 Tuesday evening, Oct. 18th, 1870. 
 The Methodist State Convention met according to adjourn- 
 ment at 7| o'clock. 
 
 Hon. H. L. Richmond in the chair. 
 
 Relio-ious services conducted bv Rev. P. Coorabe of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Bishop M. Simpson, D. D., the President of the Convention, 
 was conducted to the chair, and made the following address: 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF BISHOP SIMPSON. 
 
 Brethren of the Convention, Ladies and Gentlemen : Called by your kind- 
 ness to take the chair on this occasion, I retuin to you niy thanks for your 
 fraternal confidence and courtesy. And, as this Convention is the first of 
 this character, held in the State, it may not be amiss to say a few words 
 louching its objects. 
 
 And, first, I do not understand it to be legislative in its character; it doe-s 
 not propose to discuss any question of church economy. There have been, 
 in different periods of our history, conventions having this object in view, 
 but I trust tliat day has forever passed away. The union between the min- 
 istry and laity, growing stronger from year to year, leaves no occasion for
 
 14 MIKUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 any outside issues to arise, or for any bodies other than those constituted in 
 tlie economy of the Church, to consider questions touching its legislation. 
 
 Nor is the onvention a political body. Our friends meet with the difiFer- 
 ent political organizations to select candidates for office and to adopt party 
 platforms; we are not here for any such purpose, or in the interest of any 
 political party. We recognize our brethren connected with the various par- 
 ties, and it is not to be expected that any question will arise here touching 
 the political views of any member. The Methodist Church is not, and never 
 has been connected with any political party; and I say it with all kindness 
 to both the great parties of the day, that, while the Methodist Church is 
 ready, in any righteous struggle, to stand by the country when its life is in 
 peril, yet it feels that it owes nothing to the leaders of either political parly. 
 The object of this Convention, if I understand it, is, first, to promote a 
 more free social intercourse and acquaintance between dill'erent sections of 
 the Church. Separated as we are, into diiferent Conferences, we have some- 
 times found it difficult, when we desired some general movement touching 
 educational and other kindred matters, to produce perfect unanimity of ac- 
 tion. Now, assembling here from the various Conferences which interlace 
 with each other in our State, ministers and members look each other in the 
 eye, take each other by the hand, learn to know how to appreciate each 
 other, ana then, as union gives strength, there will be a bond strong in its 
 character, that shall bind the Atlantic to western Pennsylvania, and the 
 northern sections of our State to the southern borders, ami, though separated 
 by Conferences into dirtci-ent bands, we shall be one body of Methodists 
 throughout the State. 
 
 Next to a social acquaintance and the friendship that arises from it, there 
 are general questions which interest us; and these you will find on the pro- 
 gramme made by the Committee. We shall be glad to consider the growth of 
 .Methodism in tiie Slate; and in its consideration we shall find that it has 
 grown more rapidly in some sections than in otiiers. We shall be led to ask 
 for the causes; to iiujuire what agencies may be used; ami probably the re- 
 sult of our deliberations may be to give an increased imjielus to some of our 
 movements. There are also questions touching our educational institutions. 
 We need to have more sympathy for our colleges and seminaries in all parts 
 of our (.'ommonwealth. And as these matters come before us in review, we 
 shall ]irobably love our institutions the better, and be ]iri']iarod to co-oper- 
 ate wiiii them more cordially. Then, as tiie era of chiiritablc instilutions is, 
 us I fancy, commencing to gain favor very rapidly with the pulilic miiid in 
 .Mir Ciiiin h, w(> hIiuU ..e led lo inquire what we can do in this respect ; what 
 more can he done for our widows anil orplians, for tiie sick and for IJie poor, 
 and our ciuirilies jxissihly may be, eitlicr directly or indirectly, jilaced upon 
 a broader basis, and possibly men of liberal feeling and generous views, re- 
 flecting upon I ill' pressing needs of tiie Ciniri'li, may be stimulated to liberal 
 action in time lo (tome. 
 
 Hlioiild liirre lie no direct resulls apparently flowing from this Convonlion, 
 still we cannot measure what its indirect inliiu'iices may be. Liglil and iieat 
 and electricity and magnetism permeating, to some extent, all bmlies, wo
 
 ADDRESS OF BISHOP SIMPSON. 15 
 
 cannot measure or weigh them ; moving to-day silently, to-morrow they may 
 accumulate for benefit or for destruction. So the thoughts started to-day, 
 kindled in a few minds here, may diffuse themselves until there shall be an 
 object presented around which they shall gather and exercise a potent in- 
 fiuence. 
 
 Such are some of the subjects which will come before us, and then we may 
 consider as citizens the great questions of the age in which we have a part, 
 and in which we can co-operate with our brethren of other Christian de- 
 nominations. How we can co-operate, upon what measures, and to what extent, 
 may be subjects for our consideration. I rejoice at least to think, that a body 
 of Methodist ministers and laymen are always ready to co-operate with any 
 other section of the Church of Clirist upon a broad and equal platform, and 
 ready to engage in all works of benevolence and mercy. 
 
 Assembled, as we are, in this year, 1870, the mind cannot, it seems to me, 
 but revert to the wonderful growth of our Church. I would not anticipate, 
 as the subject shall come before you, I trust, in an interesting manner, in a 
 very few moments, yet, in this commencement of our services, we may take 
 a bird's-eye glance. One hundred years ago Methodism in Pennsylvania 
 owned one church — a church that, for eleven years had no board floor in it, 
 but a simple earthen one ; a cliurch that for fourteen years remained un- 
 plastered, and was unfinished for more than twenty years ; this was the 
 Methodism of 1770. For ten years more there were but two little country 
 churches, insignificant in their dimensions, and not until 1784 was there an 
 extensive work far into the interior or possibly west of the Allegheny moun- 
 tains. To-day you look abroad, and Conference after Conference is mapped 
 out on our territory. 
 
 These brethren are meeting from all parts of the State, and we ask. What 
 has given this great growth ? While we may not tell precisely what has oc- 
 casioned our growth, I think I can understand very clearly what causes have 
 not contributed to it. 
 
 And first, we owe very little to emigration. It is true, we have received 
 some members from England and from Ireland — very valuable co-workers in 
 the kingdom and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ. But Methodism in those 
 countries is comparatively feeble. In Ireland to-day in a population of 
 7,000,000, we have a membership of only about 20,000, consequently the 
 emigration coming from Ireland brings with it scarcely a trace comparatively 
 of Methodism. Methodism in England is stronger, and yet, in one hundred 
 years past, it grew from a very small vine, to its present proportions. From 
 Scotland we have received no additions of moment, and, as to the continent 
 of Europe, there is now very little Methodism there save that which has 
 arisen by a re-action from our own country. So that as we look at the tide 
 of emigration pouring into our country, while it serves to augment other 
 Churches it has done very little for us. The tide pouring from England has 
 swelled the Protestant Episcopal Chui-ch ; Scotland and Ireland have aug- 
 mented the different branches of the Presbyterian Church ; the great emigra- 
 tion from Germany has swelled the Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches; 
 still the latter has received its immense contributions from the Catholic popu-
 
 16 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 l.ition of Ireland, but whatever growth Methodism may have had in this 
 country, it owes very little of it to tMiiigration. 
 
 In the second place, it owes nothing of it to Government favor. Other 
 (jhurches, in dilFerent countries, have been connected with the Government. 
 1 speak not now as a matter of complaint against them, but in some form, 
 they have been connected with the State, as the Catholic Church in all lands 
 of Europe, the Lutheran Church in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Swe- 
 den and Norway; the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and Ireland ; and the 
 Protestant Episcopal form of church government in England. All the.«e have 
 had Church and State connections, and they have known how to influence 
 ilie State and to make alliance with it. Whether to its credit or otherwise, 
 the fact stands out in history, that Methodism, in any of its forms, has n":ver 
 either sought or obtained an alliance with the State in any country on the 
 face of the earth. It has gained its conquests simply alone. It has received 
 the protection of citizenship from Government — and sometimes scarcely that; 
 it has received the protection of property as others ; but it has never been 
 looked upon with favor. From the beginning of our Government, as Wash- 
 ington was an Episcopalian, Episcopalian chaplains were selected for the 
 army and navy, and have controlled our army and navy chiefly from that 
 day to this — so much so that on a visit to West Point a few years ago, a 
 young cadet told me that he belonged to the State Church, and when only a 
 few years ago the President of the United States happened to select a Metho- 
 dist for chaplain, but who declined the offered position, some members of the 
 faculty declared that they would have none but an Episcopalian chaplain, 
 because the Episcopalians had the riglit to the army in this country. Now 
 I mention this, not .to complain, but simply to show that we have grown in 
 no case by Government favor. And to-day look abroad, and wliile we have 
 a citizenship, that certainly in the last great struggle was second to no other 
 denomination in its devotion to tlie country, read the lists of officers in Penn- 
 sylvania, selected by men of both parties, and you will scarcely find half a 
 dozen Methodist names among them. Now I mention this, I repeat, not by 
 way of complaint, but simply to show that, by whatever causes we have 
 grown, we have not grown by State or Government patronage. 
 
 In the third place — I speak witliout any invidious feeling — we liave not 
 grown by the special courtesy of our friends of other denominations. 1 
 would be the last in the community to attempt (o stir up prejudice or secta- 
 xian bigotry. Tlie day of Christian union, I trust, is dawning upon >is, and I 
 liope that all shades of bigotry will forever flee away; but I see old men here, 
 wlio remember the days of other years. I myself remember will the strug- 
 gle through whicli I, wlien a youth, was called to pass ; and we know the op- 
 position we endured. You who have love and leisure for such peru-al, can 
 find, in the I'hiladelpliia Uhrary, some pamjiiilels, rare and rich, that show 
 the spirit in which our views were i-i'ceived and liie inai.ncr in w liicli our 
 Church was treated. P.ut, as 1 8aid before, 1 trust tliose days are jmssing 
 away. OccaHU)nally there is a man in a society, here and there, which has 
 not roused up from its Kip Vau Winkle sU-eji, ami that is hardly aware of (he 
 progress of Iho age. Now we take brethreu of all dt iiomiiuilions by tho
 
 ADDRESS OF BISHOP SIMPSON. 17 
 
 hand. We invite them into our pulpits, and with the exception of one or 
 two denominations, others invite us into theirs. 
 
 The growtli of our Church by whatever means produced, was not because 
 we had early literary institutions or literary facilities. In the colleges of 
 this country, such as Harvard, and Yale, and Princeton, in the university of 
 this city, and Columbia College, of New York, institutions venerable with 
 age, grand in their character, and which have exercised a controlling influ- 
 ence on the public mind, we had no partin their control, and not until 
 about forty years ago had we respectable literary institutions established by 
 our own means and under the control of our own friends. 
 
 What then has been the occasion of this growth ? 
 
 I may answer, we recognise, first, and chiefly, the blessing of almighty God. 
 To Him we owe whatever we are, whatever we have been able to do. Under 
 His blessing I think we owe this growth, first, to our doctrines. Our minis- 
 ters have sent out no uncertain sound from the pulpit. The doctrine of free 
 salvation has echoed from the beginning up to this hour; and while we have 
 recognized our mission to every son of Adam and evei'y daughter of Eve, we 
 have been able to go with the consciousness in our hearts that God's mercy 
 was designed for every one of them. And this feeling has spread abroad : 
 it has given us, I believe, in part, the heart of the masses ; ministers 
 have gone to proclaim to every man, high or low, the riches of grace in Christ 
 Jesus, and the masses have gathered around them, and it may be said of our 
 ministers, as of the blessed Saviour, " the common people heard " them 
 "gladly." 
 
 Not only have we proclaimed a free salvation to all mankind, but our usages 
 breathe a spirit of fraternal love. We have set the Church at work every- 
 where, and Methodism has evoked the talent of the Church wherever found, 
 from the highest to the lowest. It has not left to the pulpit the work to be 
 done, but it has called upon the fathers in tlie Church and upon the babes in 
 Israel. And the moment divine grace has sought the heart and led a man 
 to the altar he has been urged to tell what God has done for his soul. Thus 
 the talent of the Church has been called into exercise, and long years before 
 there were Woman's Rights Conventions, long years before this question of 
 the relation of woman to society and the Church was being discussed, Method- 
 ism took our mothers and sisters and daughters by the hand and told them 
 of their inalienable rights in Christ Jesus, and our class-meetings and love- 
 feasts attested llie influence of Christian experience uttered by their lips. 
 Many of us in this assembly to-day, owe all we are and all we have been able 
 to do, to the teachings of just such Christian motiiers, whose prayers we heard 
 from our earliest infancy, and whose tears dropped warm upon our heads. 
 
 It is thus that, whatever may be its defects, Methodism, going with a 
 warm heart to the masses, and proclaiming salvation, has sought to enlist 
 their sympathies and active co-operation in the advancement of the Redeem- 
 er's kingdom. I trust the same spirit will ever continue. Our churches, 
 once small and plain, have been displaced by other edifices more beautiful 
 in architecture. Congregations, large and refined in character, are found 
 gathering here and there all over the country. I rejoice in this, chiefly, that.
 
 18 • MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 with every'external improvement, I believe tbe Spirit of God still dwells in 
 the bosom of the Church, and that in the midst of external prosperity we are 
 seeking to cultivate true piety and its manifestation in works of mercy and 
 love. I think a liberal spirit is developing in connection with religious experi- 
 ence; and the noble offerings, the generous donations, the sacrifices made, the 
 broad plans formed, the strong foundations laid for works of benevolence, at 
 once attest the faith and zeal which still operate in the Church in which God 
 
 has placed us. 
 
 And now, brethren, you have commenced this second century ; I trust a 
 glorious career is before you ; but this shall be only by the continued presence 
 of the Spirit of God among us ; only by humility, and love, and zeal ; only by 
 deep earnestness and increased activity. Shall we have that earnestness? 
 While I labor as I may for improvements in every form, my heart pants for 
 the old spirit of deep devotion to God, for the manifestation of Christian 
 earnestness in all our meetings and in all our labors. And to the young 
 men of the Methodist Church, as well as to the old men, I would say, the 
 strength of our organization, in its influence on society, will be the convic- 
 tion that God is still among us. Show it in your prayers ; manifest it in 
 your deep earnestness ; go talking to men everywhere, and labor to bring 
 sinners to Christ and prepare souls for His crown. 
 
 The minutes of the afternoon session were read and approved. 
 
 On motion of Ile\:. P. Coombe, Dr. George Peck was elected 
 a special Vice-President. 
 
 On motion of Dr. Robert H. Pattison, the progrannne pre- 
 pared and printed by the General Committee of Arrangements 
 was adopted as the order of business for the future sessions of 
 the Convention. 
 
 The President announced the topic of the evening to be 
 " Methodism, its growth, and present position in the State." 
 
 Committee — Rev. I. H. Torrence, Rev. W. II. Kincaid, and 
 J. M. Mari.s, Esq. 
 
 Rev. I. H. Torrence, chairman of the Committee, presented 
 and read the following report : — 
 
 Gll()\VTlI AND I'lUvSKNT POSITION OF MeTIIODISM 
 
 IN THE State. 
 
 Tlie edition of Christianity called Methodism, was introduced into Penn- 
 sylvania l)y Captain TliciiiuiM Webl), in I lie year IT'iM, if not in ITf.T. The 
 first class formed consisted of seven persons. He proaclied in a sail loft, at 
 the Boulh-cast corner of Dock Creek and Delaware Uiver. Here (lie class 
 met. In 176'J one hundred years ago, the Methodists bought the build- 
 ing ever since known as St. George's, located al the corner of Knuitli and 
 New Streets, where the present boanl of trustees cordially and uti.uiiniously
 
 GROWTH OF METHODISM IN THE STATE. 1 9 
 
 inTited this Convention to hold its sessions. But the growth of the Cliurch 
 since 1769 has been such that we find " Old St. George's " could not so well 
 accommodate the Church of 1870. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church in the State of Pennsylvania includes, in 
 part or in whole, twelve Annual Conferences: namely, Philadelphia, Central 
 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Erie, Wyoming, East Genesee, Genesee, Baltimore, 
 Newark, Central German, East German, and Delaware. Of these, Phila- 
 delphia and Central Pennsylvania only, lie wholly within the State. 
 
 In compiling these statistics great difficulty has been encountered, and 
 care taken to include only the statistics of those parts of the Conference 
 within the State. 
 
 Clerical Department. 
 
 The Ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania is composed as follows: 
 
 Resident Bishop, 1 
 
 Traveling Preachers, 761 
 
 Local Preachers, 783 
 
 Total, 1545 
 
 The Traveling Preachers may be classified thus: 
 
 Presiding Elders, 24 
 
 Piistors of Congregations, 630 
 
 Officers in Educational Institutions, 13 
 
 Editors, 2 
 
 Secretaries and Agents, 10 
 
 Chaplains, 3 
 
 Foreign Missionaries, 2 
 
 Supernumerary and Superannuated Preachers, 77 
 
 There are in the State 684 Circuits and Stations. 
 
 Membership. 
 
 The whole number of Members in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
 State is 132,642. Of these the members in full connection number 112,127, 
 and those on probation 20,515; to these add the clerical force of 1,545, and 
 we have a grand total of 134,187. 
 
 Estimating the population of the State at 3,500,000, and multiplying our 
 membership by three, that is to say, a Church with a membership of 100 
 would have 300 worshipers in the congregation, gives us a Methodist popu- 
 lation of 402,561, which is a fraction under one-eighth of the population of 
 the State. 
 
 Sunday-School Work. 
 
 The Sunday-school statistics present the following figures: 
 
 Whole number of Methodist Episcopal Sunday-schools 1,658 
 
 Officers and Teachers '. 23,162 
 
 " Scholars 144,243 
 
 " Volumes in Libraries 419,642 
 
 " Expenses of Schools for 1869 $89,348 
 
 The number of children in the State between the ages of 5 and 21 years is 
 950,000. Of this number 850,000 are in attendance at the Common Schools
 
 20 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 of the State. The Methodist Episcopal Church [has in its SunJay-schools 
 144,243, or a fraction oyer 15 per cent, of the whole number of children in 
 the State. It will thus be seen that we are large contributors to the educa- 
 tional interests of the youth of Pennsylvania. We are reminded here of the 
 memorable remark of our lamented late President, Abraham Lincoln: 
 " Nobly sustained as the Government has been by all the Churches, I would 
 utter nothing which might in the least appear 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 Chui-ch ! bless all the Churches ! and blessed 
 be God who, in this our great trial, giveth us the Churches.'" 
 
 By reference to the Annual Report of the Supcrintendant of Soldiers' Or- 
 phans, made to the Governor, in pursuance of law, for the year 1869, will be 
 found the following facts: "Of 3,715 children actually in school September 
 1, 1869, the fathers of 3,203 are reported as members of some Church, leaving 
 514 unconnected with Church or not reported." 
 
 Of 3,203 thus reported, there were of Methodist parentage, 1,269; Lu- 
 theran, 433; Presbyterian, 412; Baptists, 228; German Reformed, 166; 
 Catholic, 157; Episcopal, 157; Protestant (probably not intended to repre- 
 sent any particular denomination), 149; United Brethren, 75; Disciples, 35; 
 Evangelical, 29; Church of God, 26; Tunkers, 18; Universalists, 11; Con- 
 gregationalists, 8; Friends, 6; Albrights, 5; Winebi-cnai'ians, 5; Church of 
 Messiah, 4; Adventists, 4; Bethel, Puritan, Moravian, and Israelite, each, 1. 
 
 Church Property. 
 
 The present number of Churches and parsonages, with their value, is 
 shown by the following figures: 
 
 Number of Churches 1,250 
 
 Value of " $5,982,700 
 
 Number of Parsonages 304 
 
 Value of " $709,446 
 
 Total value of Churches and Parsonages $6,692,146 
 
 In addition to the above, there is located in tlic State the following Church 
 property, viz.: The Methodist Episcopal Book Room, No. 1018 Arch SlreeJ, 
 Phihidolpliia, is the property of the Philadelphia Conference Tract Society. 
 It has been in existence seventeen years. Its expenditures on benevolent 
 account exceed the receipts from collections over $10,000; tliis deficit is 
 met by profits of the book sales. Tlic properly cost over $35,000; the net 
 worth of the Society is about $70,000. The annual sales of books amount 
 to nearly $50,000. 
 
 The Society took the load in furnisliing first-class accommodations for all 
 Churcli Meetings in wliicli the various cliarges are interested. Societies, 
 Committees, and indeed all the Methodist family, find every facility to con- 
 centrate the various interests of tiie Church. The whole building is used by 
 the Chui-ch without cost.
 
 GROWTH OF METHODISM IN THE STATE. 21 
 
 The Metlioclist Book Rooms located in Pittsburgh : the property valued at 
 $80,000, and doing a great work, not only in Pennsylvania, but in Ohio and 
 Virginia. 
 
 Tlie Pittsburgh Christian Advocate, located in Pittsburgh, with a working 
 capital of about $30,000. 
 
 The Me/hodist Home Journal, located in Philadelphia, tliough not a Churcli 
 paper, is doing a fair proportion of the blessed work of spreading Scriptural 
 holiness over the land. 
 
 The Church Extension Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was or- 
 ganized by order of the General Conference, held in Union Church, Phila- 
 delphia, in 1864, and was incorporated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania 
 in March, 1805. 
 
 Though for a time it labored under the most serious embarrassments, it 
 has risen more rapidly in the favor of the Church, and in efficiency and power 
 for good, than any other of our Church Societies. 
 
 Since its organization it has received and disbursed over a quarter of a 
 million of dollai's, and has aided about five hundred different churches, 
 scattered from Maine to California and from the Lakes to the Gulf. 
 
 It now takes rank next to our great Missionary Society, of which it is the 
 most important auxiliary. 
 
 Benevolent Contributions. 
 
 The following are the amounts paid by the Methodist Episcopal Churches 
 in the State, as returned in the official statistics for 1869: 
 
 Raised for the Parent Missionary Society $97,723 
 
 " 'iConference Claimants 21,213 
 
 " American Bible Society 7,485 
 
 " Church Extension Society 11,143 
 
 «' Sunday-school Union 2,788 
 
 » Tract Cause 4,098 
 
 Total $144,350 
 
 These returns do not include the sums paid for the support of the Freed- 
 man's Aid Society, local missionaries and educational societies, and other 
 miscellaneous benevolent institutions. 
 
 The following resolution presented by the Committee was 
 unanimously adopted, viz.: 
 
 Resolved, That in view of the facts here presented, we should be profoundly 
 grateful to God, whose servants we are, and labor on in faith, depending, not 
 on our numbers or our wealth, but on the great Head of the Church, in 
 whom our beloved Wesley begun the work, and to whom he, in his dying 
 breath, said — " The best of all, God is with us." 
 
 The attention of the Convention was called to the omission
 
 22 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 in the Report of $50,000 already secured to the " Ladies' 
 United Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the 
 benefit of aged and infirm members;" to the absence of all 
 statistics relating to the Educational Interests of the Church 
 (for ^\-hich see Report of the Committee on the Educational In- 
 terests of the Church) ; and to the failure to notice the interest 
 held in the Pittsburgh Book Depository. 
 
 Mr. Torrence said there were probably more defects in the 
 Report, as the Conference Statistics were incomplete. 
 
 John W. Maris, Esq. : The Committee were requested, not 
 only to obtain certain statistics, but also to make a comparison 
 as to the growth of Methodism in the past ten years, but, with 
 the material at hand, found it impossible. 
 
 The information furnished by Conference Minutes is not uni- 
 form. One matter of great interest is ministerial support, but 
 we were not able to get the data. 
 
 After considerable discussion the following resolution was 
 carried : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee be requested to add any additional facts 
 that may come to their knowledge before publishing their report, 
 
 Durino- the session 
 
 Rev. J. Walker Jackson said : By the report just read it is 
 shown that we control one-eighth of the population of the State, 
 and, at the same time, are educating religiously one-sixth of the 
 children. This, he thought, was cause for devout gratitude. If 
 we control one-eighth of the population now and are educating 
 one-sixth of the children, that is one-twenty-fourth more of the 
 children than of the adult population, what may we expect in 
 half a century hence, as to our growth and relation to the po- 
 pulation ? 
 
 Captain Fred. Schluembach : Before the Convention adjourns 
 I wish to say a few words witli reference to a remark made by 
 our President, Bishop Simpson, in liis address. He said that 
 Methodism owes nothing of its growth to foreign emigration. 
 It is a great grief to my heart to know that this is so. They 
 have aided the oj)positioii l<. our Church. But I wish to im- 
 press upon 111"' minds ol' mem))ers of this Convention that we
 
 ESSAY OF DR. HODGSON. 23 
 
 could add a great many of them to our Church if we would go 
 after them. Many of them come to this country at least nomi- 
 nally religious, but, not finding the Church here what it is 
 at home, they do not connect themselves with it, and having no 
 Church-home arc lost. I hope the Methodist Church will look 
 after these people, and then they will not have it to say, at 
 least of the German emigration, that they have not been 
 strengthened by it. 
 
 The Convention then sang the doxology and adjourned. 
 Rev. Dr. Cooke pronouncing the benediction. 
 
 THIRD SESSION. 
 
 Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia, 
 
 Wednesday Morning, Oct. IMh. 
 
 The Methodist State Convention met according to adjourn- 
 ment at nine o'clock. 
 
 Bishop M. Simpson, D. D., in the chair. 
 
 Religious services conducted by Dr. Geo. Peck. 
 
 The minutes of the last session read and approved. 
 
 The Topic of the present session was announced by the Chair 
 to be — " The Type of Piety necessary to the highest prosperity 
 of the Church." 
 
 Committee — Rev. Geo. Peck, D. D., Rev. G. D. Carrow, 
 D. D., and Rev. F. Hodgson, D. D. 
 
 The Report of the Committee was presented and read by 
 Rev. Dr. Hodgson, as follows : 
 
 Essay of Rey. F. Hodgson, D. D. 
 
 We are reminded by the address and the discussions of yesterday of that 
 interesting scene depicted by Jewish history, in which a prophet — not Jew- 
 ish — was invoked by a jealous and fearful king to curse Israel; but instead 
 of cursing, as was desired, he broke out in inspired strains of gratulalion 
 and blessing. From a lofty eminence we have surveyed our Methodist ic Is- 
 rael, and have been ready to exclaim with him: " How goodly are ihy tents. 
 O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel!" 
 
 But we are not here to vie with each other in laudations of past successor of
 
 24 - MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 present greatness. The centenary celebration afforded us an ample oppor- 
 tunity for grateful retrospection. Our thoughts and anxieties are now turned 
 mainl}' toward the future. AVe feel that we have responsibilities in regard 
 to the future. "What will that future be? — the future, not only of that ab- 
 stract something which we call Methodism, but of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. Will the Church continue to prosper? Will our Zion continue to 
 lengthen her cords, and strengthen her stakes, and stretchforth the bounds 
 of her habitation? Will we, in proportion to our power and opportunity, co- 
 operate efficiently with the other general divisions of the Church of Christ? 
 We know that, if faithful, our future must be glorious. AVho can measure 
 the influence for good which, if true to itself and to God, our Church will 
 exert a century hence, or half a century, or a quarter of a century? Think 
 what Church edifices we shall have builded! what missions we shall have 
 founded! what trophies we shall have won for Christ in the great conflict 
 with Satan and his hosts! what multitudes of sinners converted from the 
 error of their way! what millions dismissed with white robes, and palms, 
 and songs triumphant, to the assembly of the glorified! 
 
 It is u'ise, then, in us, to ask ourselves tlie question — What type of piety is 
 necessary to the liighest prosperity of the Church? 
 
 Among the elements of Church prosperity we place numbers — ratio of in- 
 crease — numbers bearing an encouraging proportion, not only to other re- 
 ligious denominations, but to the whole population. A Church cannot be 
 said to be prospering that is not making good progress in this respect. Pe- 
 cuniary resources must also be included. Money is indispensable, and the 
 more there is of it in the Church the better it is for the Church, if it be 
 honestly obtained and consecrated to right uses. Another element is found 
 \n places of worship, adequate in numbers and well adapted to the wants and 
 tastes of those who are to occupy them. 
 
 Indispensable to the prosperity of a Church are educational facilities, suffi- 
 ciently under its control to protect its sons and daughters against infidel and 
 irreligious and otherwise antagoiiislic influences, and to afford means of pre- 
 paration for its young ministers. Very prominent among the elements of 
 success is a restless, irrepressible spirit of {iropayandisin, with effective means 
 thereof. Another is to be found in an ample supply of devoted and efficient 
 ministers. One, not by any means to be overlooked, is a creed, so obviously 
 Scriptural, and in accordance wiih llie suggestions and observations of com- 
 mon sense, as to command, not only tlie assent, but also the affections of its 
 ministers and people. Such a creed, thank God, is ours. Also a yovernmcnt, 
 wliich is mainly the outgrowth of the spiritual life of the body, and distin- 
 guished by its adaptation to the leading objects of corporate churcli existence. 
 .\nother is n yeneral harnumy, witli so much difference of opinion and agita- 
 tion of (jueslions as belong to freedom of thouglit and its brotherly and 
 Christian expression. Nor would wo omit to mention territorial expansion, 
 and Mil intention to occupy, nil iinalcly, all grmiiid nut already occupied by 
 organi/iil ions to which we can conscientiously entrust the spiritual interests 
 of the people. A prosperous Church is ever saying, "Give room that wo
 
 ESSAY OF DR. HODGSON. 2o 
 
 may dwell." But the chief element of prosperity — that without which all 
 the rest are of no avail — is the salvation of men upon a large scale, — their 
 salvation from sin, its guilt and condemnation, its power, its conse- 
 quences; their conversion and sanctificalion and final entrance into the 
 everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is for this that the Church was instituted. Other important objects may 
 be promoted by it, as the reinforcement of the State in its efforts to secure 
 social order, with a variety of interests of which the State takes no cogni- 
 zance; yet who does not see and feel and acknowledge that, though there 
 should be all other possible forms of success, a failure at this point would 
 be a failure of the great object for which the Church exists? 
 
 The question of the hour assumes, that piety is essential to the Church's 
 prosperity. 
 
 It 7Hust be real. 
 
 This proposition would be unnecessary and even without verbal pro- 
 priety, were it not that the term piety is often, by common consent, applied 
 to mere semblances of piety, and even substitutes for it. Its lowest mani- 
 festation is a fear of God, restraining from sin. with a deferential, if not 
 reverential, regard for the ordinances of God's house, and an effort, more 
 or less strenuous, to worship God therein, not omitting private devotions; 
 but all this without the peace and joy of assured acceptance with God. Mr. 
 Wesley, iu one of his sermons, characterizes this class as servants in contra- 
 distinction to sons. Probably a large proportion of the members of the 
 Christian Church consists of this class. But it is obvious that, whatever 
 services such may render to the Church — and some of them do render to it 
 very valuable services — they cannot advance it to its highest prosperity. 
 The experi.ence of its members must correspond with these apostolical de- 
 scriptions: "And such were some of yo'i, but ye are washed, but ye are 
 sanctified, but ye are justified iu the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 
 Spirit of our God." " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace 
 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we liave access, by 
 faith, into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hoJDe of the glory of 
 God." "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in 
 Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law 
 of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin 
 and death." "lam crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, 
 but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by 
 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." 
 " Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, 
 and touch not the unclean thing ; and I will receive you, and will be a Father 
 unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 
 " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 
 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have 
 received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit 
 itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." 
 Here is liberty ! Here is the peace which passeth understanding— the joy to 
 sensual minds unknown— the hope wliich is as an anchor to the soul both
 
 26 MINUTES OF CONVENTIOX. 
 
 sure and steadfast — the faith which invests with all the power of present, 
 visible, tangible realities, future, unseen, and eternal things, and thus over- 
 comes the world^the courage indomitable; and the strength which cometh 
 of " the joy of the Lord," as well as by direct supernatural impartation. 
 
 There are some things to be avoided, if we would leail on our division of the 
 great sacramental hosts of God's elect to complete triumph. We must guard 
 against the tendencies to ritualism. The Sacraments roust not be lightly 
 esteemed, but they must not be misunderstood. The Church must lose by 
 their neglect, but she may lose immeasurably more by their perversion. Is 
 there not a leaning in the minds of some Methodists to the doctrine of bap" 
 tismal regeneration? May God mercifully save us from a doctrine which 
 deposes faith from the office wliich Christ and His Apostles assign it, and 
 puts something between it and the sinner's justification ; which makes salva- 
 tion impossible to many who, nevertheless, have every thing necessary to re- 
 pentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ ; which repre- 
 sents God as having, by a solemn charter, put it out of His power to save the 
 believing applicant — to have mercy upon whom He has said lie will have 
 mercy — without the consent and official intervention of a man, wlio may be 
 sick and disabled, or lazy and indifferent, or drunken, or engaged in fox 
 hunting or card-playing, or bigoted,*or malignant and persecuting, ami may 
 veto the whole procedure, and send tlie Holy Spirit back to heaven with His 
 work undone, and the poor penitent to hell; which involves the doctrine of 
 infant damnation ; which has filled Churches with worldly, irreligious, and 
 even immoral members; v/hich paralyzes the arm of Church discipline; and 
 is one of the most fearful and effective engines of spiritual despotism and 
 tyranny ! 
 
 We must also guard against that dead formalism which may exist where 
 there are no tendencies to ritualism. Of this we have had many striking 
 examples. 
 
 There is also that form of religious cult\ire and manifestation which 
 magnifies un<luly the emotional pari. If the sensibilities are easily and 
 highly excited by sacred song, or fervid oratory, it is felt to be of less account 
 whether the tempers are governed, or the laws of veracity and fair dealing 
 observeil. 
 
 On tlie other hand, this part of the religious life may be disparaged and 
 depressed, to the great detriment of the Church, under tlie pretext of culti- 
 vating the conscience and the moral principles. Tlic religion of Clirist in- 
 cludes ileeply rooted principles, and a ((uick and vigorous conscience. It is 
 emphatically a religion of law. It loves the divine precepts and seeks to 
 know all of them, and also to do them; but it presses into its service alt our 
 emotions. It stirs tliem. Tlieir power is indispensable. Iain inclined to 
 tliink tliat experimental religion is intended to supply our nature with all 
 llie excitement it needs, ii inoposes to i)ut gladness into our lie;ii-is, .Hiid 
 bids us "rejoice evermore." It oilers us enterprises of sullicient ningnitude 
 and intcrcHl to exhaust all llie enlliusiasm we are cajjable of. It is the ab- 
 Boncc of religious joy and enthusiasm whicli makes tlio liieatre and the 
 opera and the hop of so much account with some professed Clirisliuns.
 
 ESSAY OF DK. HODGSON. 27 
 
 And if the feelings and their expression are to be kept under such imperi- 
 ous and majestic control in the house of God, as that there cannot be an 
 amen except it be read from the book, and hosannas and hallelujahs are 
 contraband and disorderly, except as they come from a godless and paid 
 quartette, human nature will generally assert and indemnify itself by wild 
 excitements elsewhere, and under other circumstances. The fervor, tho 
 highly excited sensibility, the joy, the rapturous exultation, and the demon- 
 strative character of Methodism, have given it much of its peculiar power in 
 the past. Should these cease, the Church will become worldly, and weak, 
 and some other embodiment of religious vitality will rise up to take its place. 
 Certain other defective types of religious character may be desci-ibed 
 thus: there are those who are ever ready to pray in public and bear their 
 testimony and visit the sick. They have a blessing for every good cause 
 and for all the poor. They say, " Be ye fed and be ye clothed," and to 
 Church debts and the minister, Be ye paid; but they do not give, or if they 
 give, they do it sparingly and grudgingly. It is understood that they can 
 do the praying, but others must do the paying. 
 
 These remarks have reference, of course, to those who can pay if they 
 will. There are those who, in the providence of God, have nothing but sym- 
 pathy and kind words, and prayers and blessings. For these they will be 
 rewarded at the resurrection of the just. They would do more. 
 
 On the other hand, there are those who seem to measure their piety, and 
 the piety of others, by the extent of their donations. They will not lead 
 class, or pray in public, or speak in love-feast, or attend the class-meeting. 
 It is a great cross to them to speak upon the subject of their personal re- 
 ligious experience. They will not visit the sick, or speak to their neigh- 
 bors on the subject of religion, but they will give large sums for the mis- 
 sionary cause and church-building, and the like. The minister has no ground 
 to complain of them in reference to his support. They do their full share of 
 giving; and they seem to think that in this way they have compensated for 
 all real or seeming deficiencies, and placed themselves near the apex of 
 Christian excellence. Let a brother, testifying to the power of divine grace, 
 claim to have gained a complete triumph over all sin, they will instantly 
 ask, " Does he give any more?" If not, he must not put his claims to holi- 
 ness in comparison with theirs. 
 
 There is a style of piety which aims at professing a good profession be- 
 fore many witnesses. No public occasion is lost. It is sure to be at the large 
 breakfast or the reunion of city churches. This is its great point; but pri- 
 vate religion is not scrupulously attended to. High profession suffers the 
 disadvantage of association with glaring defects of moral character. 
 
 There is another style which avoids profession. It has no religion to talk 
 about, or, if it attempt a statement of personal experience, it is in terms so 
 self-depreciating you might almost conclude that unsuccessful conflicts with 
 innate depravity were its loft'iest ideas of personal religion. The grace of 
 God is not honored by it. God is not thereby glorified. If it stood alone in 
 the world, the question might well be raised whether what the Scriptures
 
 28 MINUTES OF CONVENTIOlSr. 
 
 and the preachers say about peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and power 
 over sin, is not mere utopianism — a beautiful theory, but wholly im- 
 practicable. 
 
 There is also the periodic type. It comes on on Sundays and intermits dur- 
 ing the week, and sometimes entirely for mouths, and reappears at the pro- 
 tracted meeting, or the revival, with encouraging but delusive promise of 
 permanence. 
 
 The type of piety necessary to the highest prosperity of the Church must 
 unite what is good in all types. It must have its beginning in conviction 
 for sin — a painful conviction that sin begets trouble, that the way of trans- 
 gi-essors is hard, with a consciousness of personal condemnation. This 
 must graduate into repentance — a sense of dissatisfaction, not with God's 
 law and administration, but with our own condition and conduct as wholly 
 in the wrong, and with sin itself as an abominable thing, justly hated and 
 punished by God. This must eventuate in strong faith in Christ — a trust in 
 Him. — in His atonement as the only ground of salvation, and His power and 
 willingness to save to the uttermost; a faith bringing justification — a full 
 pardon, which is ever accompanied with regeneration and adoption, and an 
 impression made by the Holy Spirit, called the witness of the Spirit, that 
 these changes have taken place; an impression which removes the sense of 
 condemnation, and brings peace and joy and increasing confidence, and 
 which intensifies the love to God implanted in regeneration. It must be a 
 piety which practices self-denial, endures the cross, and despises the shame; 
 which loves the Church and its ordinances; which bears its testimony to 
 God's power to save, and its consciousness of personal salvation; which aims 
 at the conversion of the world to Christ; which loves the Church and its 
 ordinances above all other institutions, and yet, is highly patriotic ; which 
 is industrious, temperate, frugal, making money when it can honestlj^ and 
 giving it freely but judiciously, doing good to the souls and bodies of men. 
 feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick ; which despises a 
 slavish conformity to the world's fashions, condemns and repudiates its fol- 
 lies and wasteful expenditures, and yet is courteous, refined, and elegant. It 
 must be a piety which insists imperatively upon being present and presiding 
 over the parlor, the drawing-room, the dining-room, the nursery, the kit- 
 chen, the store, the counting-room, the office, the exchange, the field, the 
 barn, tlie political assembly, the hall of justice, the senate and all the high 
 places of national authority, as well as in the assemblies and judicatories of 
 the Church — a piety which is all-pervading ; which carries in its heart, and 
 exemplifies in its practice, the comprehensive law: "Whether, therefore, ye 
 eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 
 
 Perhaps some one is ready to say. Will the essayist nuikc no reference to 
 the doctrine of entire sanctification ? Does he not believe it ? I do. Yes, 
 I do — as firmly as I believe the doctrine of the divinity of Christ, or of 
 atonement by Christ, or of justification by faith, orof the resurrection of tlie 
 dead, or of future and eternal punishment, or of everlasting glory and happi- 
 ness for the righteous. 
 
 Jf the inspired writers pray that tiie people of God may be iiuide iiud kept
 
 ESSAY OF DR. HODGSON. 29 
 
 entirely holy in this life; if they declare it to be the design of God, in the 
 plan of salvation that Christians should be thus purified and preserved ; if, 
 in accordance with these facts, entire holiness is explicitly and peremptorily * 
 enjoined by the great Author of our salvation; if the Apostles exhort Chris- 
 tians to direct efforts to attain to it; if they propose it as the constant aim 
 of Christians; if they declare it to be the great object of all their teaching 
 and other labors; if entire holiness is the standard to which they sought to 
 conform their own experience; if divine influences, both necessary and suffi- 
 cient to place and maintain Christians in that state, are promised ; further, 
 if it is alleged to be a fact in the divine administration that God does confer 
 the promised grace on those that seek it; and if examples are recorded in 
 which it was attained and exemplified, what remains but that I must accept 
 the doctrine and maintain it? I love it. I love those that love it. And I 
 love them the more because they love it. That there are doctrines con- 
 nected with it which are not true, and imperfect expositions of it, and 
 measures employed for its promotion which are open to criticism, and dan- 
 gers to guard against, I do not deny, but I am determined not to be the mere 
 watch-dog of orthodoxy, barking and howling, and kept back by an invisible 
 chain, while my brethren, with some errors, as I suppose, go into the ban- 
 queting-house of the great King, and sit down to the feast of fat things. I 
 intend to go in with them and partake of the rich provision. I do not claim 
 to be better in this respect than any of my brethren of the Convention. 
 
 Finally, the inquiry resolves itself into this: "What is the will of God in 
 Christ Jesus concerning us? The question before us is not left to the dis- 
 cretion of the Church. Much has been said by writers and preachers about 
 elevating the standard of piety in the Church. That is fixed. We cannot 
 change it. We may improve greatly the average of the Church's piety, but 
 not its standard. There it is uplifted as a manifestation of the manifold 
 wisdom of God, to the ends of the earth and to all the coming ages. 
 
 The piety in demand unites diligent self-culture with a constant and com- 
 plete reliance upon the Holy Spirit, and does honor to the superior spiritu- 
 ality of the present and final dispensation. It asks to be ever filled with the 
 Spirit. It asks importunately. It says : 
 
 «' I will not let Thee go without Thy blessing. 
 Bv Thy great name I enter my protest, 
 Never to leave Thee till I see Thy word 
 Accomplished to my vows ; till then, with full 
 And cloudless demonstration, to my soul, 
 Confirm Thy promised grace." 
 
 It puts its aspirations into song. It is ever praying and singing : 
 
 «' My earth Thou wat'rest from on high, 
 But make it all a pool ; 
 Spring up, well, I ever cry. 
 Spring up witliin my soul !
 
 30 MIXDTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Come, my God, Thyself reveal, 
 
 Fill all this mighty void ; 
 Thou only canst ray spirit till. 
 
 Come, my God, my God ! " 
 
 This must be the experience not of a few only. For in every branch of the 
 Christian Church there are some exemplifying the highest stj'le of Christian 
 manhood and womanhood. It must be the experience of the masses in the 
 Church, of all its members, or with few exceptions. Discipline must do its 
 work. The rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, the old and 
 the young, must press towards the mark. Give us one such Church as this. 
 
 Lord, if it be Thy will, let it be the Methodist Episcopal Church— not to 
 stand alone but to lead oif — the rest will soon follow and stand abreast with 
 us. Then will the great Church militant move on to decisive victory. It 
 will set up the banner of the cross all over the earth. As a polished mirror 
 it will reflect the glory of God in vivid and flashing coruscations upon the 
 heavens, and the millennium will soon come. 
 
 After the reading of the essay an opportunity was given for 
 remarks upon the topic. 
 
 Hev. B. G. Paddock — This venerable father took tlie platform, and, with 
 a countenance radiant with joy, said: " I wish I could convey to tlie mem- 
 bers of this Convention the feelings that fill my soul. The essay to whit h 
 we have listened has lifted me up. 1 iiave got quite up above the surface. 
 
 1 have known something of this religion, to which refei'cnce has been made, 
 for sixty-six years." 
 
 Father Paddock proceeded feelingly to speak of bis early conversion and 
 call to the ministry, and said that if he had his life to live over again he 
 would rather be an itinerant iNIothodist minister than fill any oflice in tlie 
 gift of man. He found religion more and more precious as he advanced in 
 years, and had a higher appreciation of the value of the liumau soul in his 
 later years than ever before. He closed with an exhortation to liis brethren 
 in the ministry to be faithful in their great work. 
 
 Rev. 15. H. Cukvkh — Tlie subject before us is one of such overpowering 
 magnitude that I feel for one tiiat I cannot 8uff"er it to pass without con- 
 tributing at least a word. It was the expression of Junius, oven under a 
 pagan civilization, " Life is short liut art is long;" and hence the gn-at effort 
 to einlxidy the beautiful, to clothe the highest ideal of the beautiful, in some 
 permanent form that might be crystalized for all ages. Hence it is said of 
 the Greeks, that they were the apostles of the beautiful. The same remark, 
 in a higher sense, may be ofTereil to day. Life is still short, but there is the 
 i<leul of true beauty, founded upon moral and spiritual excellence, to which 
 it is the jirivilege of individuals, and of communilies, and (if ili(> Cliureh of 
 JcsiiH Christ, continually to aspire; and in view of the extreme brevity of 
 life, how are we called upon to lose no time in securing (he eiiibodiiiient of 
 this moral and H|)iritual excellence. I rejoice that we have an experii'iico of 
 thiM Hubject which fills the soul with its ravishing excell Micf ami with its 
 glorious fulness. I feel perfectly assured (hat every man who lias bci n hm ii
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. T^. ir. CREVER. 31 
 
 into the kingdom of Jesus Christ and who feels the inspiring consciousness 
 (if tiie Divine presence, as we profess to realize it, lias a pledge within liiin- 
 sclf that there is a power in the religion of Jesus Ciirist to Christianize the 
 world. It is the emphatic utterance of inspiration that there is a victory in 
 faith that overcomes the world; and it seems to me, Mr. President, that the 
 Church of .Jesus Christ ought never to lose siglit of the fact that cimquest, 
 moral, spiritual, universal, glorious conquest, is to be her watchword in her 
 march as a part of the sacramental host of God's elect. She must and ought 
 continually to feel that she stands in mysterious, strange, and wondrous alli- 
 ance with Him who is '-high over all, God blessed for evermore," and that 
 by virtue of her strange unity with the supreme Head of the Church, she 
 is clothed with a might and a power, compared with which all material 
 and other agencies and powers arc small, very small, indeed. The 
 subject, therefore, of the type of piety essential to the highest prosperity of 
 the Church is just precisely tliat which ought to claim our special attention. 
 It seems to me, sir, we are living under circumstances which commend this 
 subject to us in an eminent sense. 
 
 And it is well to consider, for a moment, that there are difficulties to be 
 mastered, which ought to be kept also in view. AVe are living in a land of 
 wonderful material development, a country which is by its very abundant 
 resources, by the strange success that crowns effort in the various fields of 
 material enterprise, in great danger of absorbing the public sentiment and 
 of estranging the public heart from spiritual interests; it is therefore to be 
 considered that the Church is to embody within herself a type of piety, a 
 measure of spiritual life, a power, that will be sufficient to counteract this 
 material tendency, this ambition for mere outward and material success, and 
 that the type of her piety will be such that the measure of this material suc- 
 cess that comes within her own limits shall be consecrated, as it rises, fur 
 the religion of Jesus. Especially that type of Christianity which we present 
 to men, calls them into such modes of action, such consecration of their 
 powers, as may result even in great material success. It is therefore of 
 great moment, going down as we do, to the humbler strata of society, feeling 
 among the roots of human organization, and lifting men up from compara- 
 tive unimportance and obscurity, and, under the blessing of God, presenting 
 them crowned with wonderful success, in the material aspect of the ques- 
 tion it is highly important that we should have a type of piety which should 
 give them to feel that, as they are elevated in this sense, they should lay all 
 their offerings upon the altar of Jesus Christ, that the Church migiit not be 
 straightened in herself, but might have at her command resources for occu- 
 pying those ever expanding fields which are so strangely inviting us onward 
 from year to year. 
 
 Again, it should be considered that this land is cosmopolitan in an import- 
 ant sense. We have been a missionary Church. This was true of our Churcli 
 from its inception until this hour, and we have been educated to feel a 
 strange interest in the ends of the earth, and our hearts go out in sympathy 
 toward men and women who are planted upon the outposts of our spiritual 
 Zion; but while we have been looking to these distant fields, God is sending
 
 32 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Iheir representatives here, and we have in this land types of all mankind: 
 anJ in connection with this representative character of our country, we 
 have the phases of thought, the beliefs and the unbeliefs, of all the world, 
 crowded within the stretch of land God has assigned to us as our place of 
 toil and spiritual opportunity. How important is it, therefore, my brethren, 
 when we consider that we are confronted by all these forms of error, by tlie 
 world's philosophies and religions— pagan. Christian, infidel— that we should 
 be able to stand upon the basis we have assumed beneath the standard of the 
 cross and exemplify to all the world that there is a sufficient power in the 
 glorious Gospel of the blessed God to over-master all these agencies by which 
 we are surrounded. It seems to me we are furnished with the opportunity 
 here of demonstrating, if we can, that power of the religion of Jesus Christ 
 that we have been claiming for it. We have gloried in the consciousness 
 that there was a power in the religion of Jesus Christ that could successfully 
 grapple with all other counter religions, and now the opportunity is pre- 
 sented us here of establishing this great and essential truth. How import- 
 ant, therefore, is it that we should realize this highest type of piety, sink in 
 the purple flood, washed and sanctified, and filled with the glorious spirit 
 of that Gospel we claim to be the evangel for all the world ! '' Christ for all 
 the world, and all the world for Christ '." 
 
 I trust, Mr. President, that we shall realize the greatness of this important 
 question, and that we shall dedicate ourselves here to-day more fully to tliis 
 great work of saving men than we have heretofore done. Oh, how my soul 
 expands with tlie precious conviction that we have within our grasp the 
 world's "reat cordial, and that we can satisfy, as instruments in the hands 
 of God, the longings of mankind! May God graciously aid us for His 
 
 name's sake. 
 
 Rkv. J. A. Gkuk— I believe in the victory of God's truth. Allow me to 
 tell one single incident of my early history ; it may convey an idea of the 
 depth of the convictions fastened upon my heart: My father was a farmer. 
 In the upper part of his garden I liad an answer to prayer, away buck about 
 sixty-six years ago. I went into fatlier's nursery, one warm summer day, 
 and was walking down toward the house, and suddenly I felt wonderfully in 
 my young heart. There was a great revival in the town at the time. I had 
 never felt so before. I got down on my knees in the liigli grass and lifted up 
 my little hands toward iieavcn, and really thought I saw the Lord Jesus 
 there. I never had one doubt of His essential divinity and Godhead from 
 that day to this. Glory to Jesus ! As I grew up to years of nnderslanding. 
 having found the Lord. I began to catechise others. I would ask them, "Do 
 you know God for Christ's sake has pardoned your sins?" "Yes." "Can 
 you tell the time wlien and il.e plaee where ?' " Yes, 1 can." Well, 1 beg.ui 
 to reason thus: If you liave gained tliat victory, I can ; and I went to work, 
 by llic blessing of God, and found it so by happy experience. I reasoned 
 from myself to others, and I reasoned llius: My heart is just as bad as any 
 man's liearl under heaven. 1 found there all llic corrupt passions 1 had ever 
 read in God's book,— tliat it was " enmity against God," "not subject to tlie 
 law ..f Gol," etc. Well, I felt I had obtained Hie victory, and I was going
 
 ADDRESS OF UEV. J A. GERE. 33 
 
 (o say, glory to God, I have it now. I don't shed tears because I feel unplea- 
 santly ; no, I feel liappy. 
 
 One word before I utter the thought I was about to express. I was brought 
 up to discredit a religion that affects your sympathies. Now, always God 
 lias given me to know if I am in pain ; I feel it ; and lie lias always given 
 me to know that I Iiave peace with Ilim, and that I am happy in Him; I 
 feel it. No pliilosopher can know it in any other way. If you don't feel it 
 in your soul it is not there. 
 
 Now I reasoned in this way : Under all the disadvantages of my nature, 
 common to all men, and under all tlie disadvantages of my early surround- 
 ings, with regard to tecluiicalities of doctrine, "This is a faitlifu! saying, 
 and worthy of all acceptation," worthy to be received by everybody. Why, 
 Paul? "Christ Jesus came into tiie world to save sinners, of whom I am 
 chief" I think he meant there, "to save me*" Well, I thus reasoned 
 against all the peculiarities of the five points of the creed under which I was 
 reared. Oh, it is the glory of my faith, my heart, my ministry, one of the 
 great glories, that " Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every 
 man," therefore for me. GoJ be praised ! I hiva no doubt of tiie victory, 
 none at all. 
 
 I want to say one word about that "standard." I feel under oblio-ations 
 to Dr. Hodgson for that essay, liut, as to elevating the standard, wiiy, it 
 cannot ba done. The standard is in God's own book. It is the commission 
 to the Church, as we all believe, and as our forefathers professed, "to spread 
 Scriptural holiness over all these lands;" that is our work; we hive no 
 otiier; and the grace we have now is nothing more than our forefathers pfo- 
 fessed to enjuy. I believe in making Christianity, as a wlule, a spef^ialty. I 
 believe in justificxtion, repentance, and that "if we walk in the light as He 
 is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and tlie blood of Jesus 
 Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Whatever can keep man out 
 of heaven, God Almighty has engaged to save us from. Glory to His name I 
 Christian holiness is notliing more, nothing less, than our forefathers professed 
 and enjoyed ; and, as long as we hold fast to this grand central point of our 
 holy religion — I was going to say, in the next hmidrel years, reasoning from 
 tiie analogy of the past — I think the Methodist Chiirch might take the world. 
 What do you think, bretliren? It seems to me if we take up the cross and 
 follow Christ, full of faith an 1 of tlie Holy Gho^t, we shall marcli forward, 
 with solid phalanx, to sure and certain victory, to universal con(iuest. 
 
 Rev. J. Walker J.vcksos. — Mr. President: One thought has struck me just 
 at this moment. I don't believe in the expression, "elevate the standard," 
 hut I think perhaps we may misumlerstan 1 the meaning of those who use that 
 phrase. I should just as soon talk about elevating Go 1, as elevating the 
 standard. He has " magnified [lis Word above all His name." But I sup- 
 pose that in speaking of "elevating the standard," those who use that phrase 
 mean the e'evating tlie people to the statuhird : and I go in for that sort of elo- 
 vation — the liTting up of believers to the standard itself, lifting up those that 
 
 profess the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, in tlieir lives and in their love 
 
 o 
 O
 
 34 MINUTES OF COXVEXTION. 
 
 to the blessed Redeemer. We are all in favor of that sort of elevating the 
 standard, and I presume that that is all any one means by the elevation of 
 the standard. I think there can be no difference about that. We don't mean 
 lifting up piety, our creels, the Word of God, but lifting »s up to that highest 
 platform of perfect and entire consecration to God. 
 
 Nothing his done my heart so much good since this Convention commenced 
 as this most lovely — for I can find no other word — report upon this most in- 
 teresting subject. Blessed be God, my heart is full this morning; the tears 
 run down my cheeks, and my soul swells within me. Glory be to the Father, 
 glory be to the Son, glory be to the Holy Ghost! 1 thought while these 
 brethren were standing here— old, venerable brethren, with gray hairs, 
 wrinkled faces, upon the very verge of the grave, and speaking about their 
 own Christian experience — that it would become a younger man, one tha' 
 might live longer, right after them, to say : Fathers and brethren, ye that 
 are passing away, we will follow in your footsteps. As you love the Lord 
 .lesus ('lirist with your whole hearts, we love Ilim, too ; and as you preach 
 llim as a perfect .Saviour, so will we. And if I would tell my experience it is 
 told for me. In the language of another : — 
 
 •' In evil long I took delight, 
 Unawed by shame or fear, 
 'Till a new object struck my sight 
 Aud sto;)])ed my wild career. 
 
 " 1 saw one hanging on tho tree, 
 In agony and blood, 
 Who seemed to fix Ilis eyes on nie, 
 As near His cross I stood. 
 
 "Sure never to my latest day 
 Can I forget that look ; 
 It seemed to charge me with His death, 
 Tho' not a word He spoke. 
 
 " My conscience felt and owned tho deed, 
 And lill'd nic with dcsjiair; 
 I knew my sins His blood had shed, 
 llail l]rl|ii'(l to niiil liiin llierc. 
 
 " Another look Ho gave, which said, 
 ' 1 freely nil forgive; 
 'J'his lilooil was for thy ransom shed, 
 1 die that thou ninyft live." " 
 
 t>h, brethren, wc didn't nieel iiere for inerelyiiolllie.il puriio.xos. 1 trust 
 llial thlH meeting i.s the culminating point, that we may more thorouglily con- 
 Bccratc oufHolveH to the great work <if our blcHsed lU'deemer, the .salvation of 
 I hi- world. 
 
 Ili;v. A. (ii iJM'.v, Pi-csi.lciil nfili.' I Ill Pi'caclicr.'^' Associ- 
 
 tioii, jil-l :i(ij<iiiiii((l, \\:i- iiilrixlijcccl, :iii<l s:ii(l ;
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. A. GURNEY. 3o 
 
 Mr. President: I came this raorniug to listen to the discussion, never hav- 
 ing attended a State Convention before, and Laving very little idea what form 
 the discussion would lake ; but I have been very much pleased with it. Voii 
 call it a discussion in Pennsylvania ; in Indiana we should call it a gen- 
 eral class-mceliDg. These brethren have been telling the same "old, old 
 story" of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The topic for discussion 
 is the type of piety necessary to the highest prosperity of the Church. It 
 seems to me, sir, if I may take up a few moments in telling these brethren 
 what we think in the West on this subject, tiiat the type of piety necessary 
 to the highest prosperity of the Church enters into every action' of the Chris- 
 tian ; that it makes him honest in deal ; that it makes him pay his debts, a 
 hundred cents on the dollar, when the law wouldn't do it ; that it makes liiin 
 as careful of the interests of the men with whom he deals as with his own : 
 that it enters into all the actions of men ; that it lays its hand on every mart 
 (if trade, every sort of business, and takes it all for Christ ; that it says to the 
 world : " We have a right to intermeddle with all the work of men and bring 
 all men everywhere to Christ; that it takes the cross of Christ into marts of 
 trade and courts of justice and halls of legislature, and everywhere erects 
 tli.nt cross as the stay and support of a sorrowing world; that is the type 
 of piety necessary in the Church, — a type of piety, sir, not censorious, not 
 fault-finding, not grumbling, willing to take just the pastor God sends them, 
 willing to take hold and help him; if he is not so good a preacher as he 
 ought to be, all the more, that his lack of service mny be made up to the 
 Church. AVhat the Church requires, is a type of piety that will make the 
 ministry of every pastor that is sent of God into the field the ministry of the 
 whole bodj of the membership under his guidance and direction. The min- 
 istry of one man, no matter how eloquent, how devote<l, how pious he may be, 
 can effect but little comparatively towards thebringing in of the beginning of 
 the millennial glory on this earth of ours; but we know that one man's 
 eloquence, piety, and devotion, supplemented by the earnestness of the whole 
 church — local preachers, class leaders, stewar<ls, membership, and, above all. 
 good sisters in Christ Jesus — when all preach, and preach Christ, under his 
 direction, then there is that type of piety in the Church that will make the 
 world say, "God is with you of a truth." 
 
 IJrethren, I tiiank God in Christ Jesus, I believe a brighter day is dawning 
 upon the world through the instrumentality of the Methodist Church. I hail 
 s an auspicious omen these gatherings of the servants of Christ Jesus in all 
 our States as they come together, ignoring Conference lines, and saying, " We 
 be brethren." brethren, let us seek individually for full consecration to 
 God ; let us seek, as churches, to be working churches. One brother hardly 
 dared to say, that in a hundred years Methodism can fake the world, but 1 
 tell you, if every Methodist on our records fo-day was a working Christian 
 we would fake this whole world in fifty years; I have no doubt of it. Goil_ 
 in Christ Jesus, would give us the world ; but there is too much laxity in our 
 work. May God give us this highest type of piety, and speed the millennial 
 dawn.
 
 3»} MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 I have only to say in behalf of the local preachers, whom I have the honor 
 to represent, that, under God, we mean to do what we can to save the world 
 and advance this type of piety ; and I bid you, traveling brethren and lay- 
 men, to look well to your laurels, for we mean, by the grace of God, to exceed 
 you, if we can, in self-denial and devotion to the cause of Christ. 
 
 Rkv. John Thrush — Mr. President: As I take it, the type of piety we 
 menu is experimental, practical, embodied and expressed in our "General 
 ilules."' I think we need something practical, just now, to carry to our 
 homes. There is Tract No. 581, containing our doctrines and rules, and all 
 that our probationers ought to know. I make it a practice to give that tract 
 to each probationer I receive into the Church, and exhort them to read and 
 digest it well, and practice it. These General Ilules require, first, that we 
 do no harm ; then that we do all the good we can; and, then, that we ob- 
 serve all the ordinances of the Church. If we live up to these rules we will 
 t:ikp the world, there can be no doubt of it. I desire to urge upon brethren 
 the importance of circulating this tract among our probationers. I am led 
 t.) make this remark because I have found probationers who, when asked 
 whether they had read our General Rules, did not seem to know anything 
 about thetn. It is important that our young people be properly indoctrinated, 
 that they know our rules and usages. Our Sunday-school literature to-day 
 docs not do this, and unless we do it, it will remain undone. 
 
 Rev. W. L. Gray — I desire to make a few remarks by way of response to 
 :iome passages in the essay. I would greatly prefer that some brother from my 
 locality had responded to this essay. I believe, sir, in the specialty of 
 Methodism. I cannot understand its providential history aside from the 
 itlea of a specially. The doctrines of the Gospel, as presented by Metiiodisra, 
 are a specialty. They are indeed clear and distinct expositions of the truths 
 of the gospel in a pointed and direct form. There is not one of the doctrines 
 of the gospel but is specially and particularly treated by those we profess 
 to follow ; and our success in the future will depend upon our following the 
 example of our fathers in this particular. Not that we are to allow ourselves 
 at any time, in the exercise of our ministry, to put undue stress upon any 
 one doctrine of the Gospel, but we are to be careful that each ami every one 
 of those doctrines has such a special direction that, at no liiiie, any of our 
 people among whom we have exerciseil our ininislry will be left in uncer- 
 tainty as Icj the viows we hold. 
 
 Now we think that we siioiild comnu'iul ourselves to every man's consci- 
 ence in the sight of (Jod, by preaching llie whole Gospel, not lo ininiCy any 
 portion of our doctrinal system, not so to throw it in as that it will 
 lose lis disliiictness ; but let each and every doctrine of Mellio<lism stand out 
 boldly before the jieople ; for we may bo assured, that, after all our study 
 and devotion, we will not be able to prcseni the truths of the Gospel more 
 transparently, more powerfully, than it w.is the good foituiie of our falhers 
 to present them. 
 
 Wo arc not, brethren, to expect that, in the earnest exercise of our minis- 
 try, we will ever be free from ihc clnirge of extravagance; we have nu)re to
 
 ADDRESS OF 14 EV. DR. PECK. 37 
 
 fear from (be influence of respectability. Tiie Church is more endangered, 
 alas, by her coldness than she is by her heat. 
 
 I wisli to say here, on behalf of those among whom I go preaching the 
 Gospel, that the time m^ver was, in our history, when there was so strong a 
 heart to take hold, and hold fast to the distinctive doctrines of Methodism, as 
 at the present day. And I wish here to say, in conclusion, that the time 
 never was, when the distinctive doctrine of Methodism, that of entire sancti- 
 tication, was so loved, and so fully responded to, by our people, as at the 
 present day. 
 
 We accept the doctrine of the essaj', that the standard is high enough, and, 
 by the grace of God, we will try to get up to it ourselves and lead the people 
 up to it. 
 
 At the close of Bro. Gray's remarks the congregation rose 
 and joined in singing, ''Forever here my rest shall be." 
 
 Hon. John McCai.mont in the cluiir. 
 
 Rev. Geo. Peck, D.D — The following note has been handed to me: 
 
 " Is it necessary for one to know llie time when, and the place where, one 
 was converted, in order to true conversion ?" I would have a short answer 
 to this question, and that is in the negative ; I don't believe it is. And yet 
 I remember the time when, and the place where, I was converted, and it is 
 a matter of great interest to me to look b ick to that time and place, and I 
 think it saves me from a great many misgivings and doubts ; but I have had 
 frequent intercourse with persons, of the genuineness of whose religious ex- 
 perience I had no doubt at all, who didn't know when nor where they were 
 converted, but who came (o the conclusion that they were converted some- 
 where and at some time. 
 
 I desire the indulgence of the Convention for a few moments upon the 
 matter of the essay. I was upon the Committee, upon this question, and 1 
 very freely and verj' cordially resigned to my friend. Dr. Hodgson-, the 
 work of writing the report presented, and since I have heard it I am more 
 satisfied with that decision than I was before. I consider it a very able and 
 almost exhaustive discussion of the subject; very orthodox; every word of it 
 There arc points in it which might admit of very much expansion, 
 )uld not have been consistent with the general object of the writer 
 in a mere essay. What impressed me very much was, one single position 
 which the essayist took in a sentence, that to this religion the spirit of pro- 
 pagandism is necessary. That is the type of religion required by the times. 
 Aggressiveness, propagandism, is essential to the present success of the Church 
 and the progress of religion. Enlargement is evidence of life in all depart- 
 ments, — in the Church, in the nation, in all great systems of moral reform 
 and improvement. 
 
 Religion is a war upon the civilization of the world; religion is an on- 
 slaught upon humanity in its corrupt and degenerate state. As it is said by 
 an old French writer, "Religion is the grandest controversy in the world." 
 It is a controversy, a grand controversy. It is represented by our Saviour 
 
 tri^. Thei 
 buf that wot
 
 38 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 by the leaven hid in tiie meal ; the leaven works and tui-ns the meal into lea- 
 ven; the meal turned into leaven works, and goes on working in this work of 
 transformation, until the whole mass is leavened. So religion in the world, 
 in the Thurch, is working and progressing, making demonstrations against 
 tiie civilization of the world, and going out among the nations, looking to the 
 final consummation of the gi'eat end of the Saviour's coming, — the universal 
 spread of the Gospel and of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now, if we want 
 one thing in the Church more than another, it is the spirit of aggression. 
 We have too many dormant, silent, quiet, inactive, members of the Church ; 
 we want all vivified, resurrected, baptized, filled with fire and with the Holy 
 Ghost; going out as instruments of God ; making aggressions upon the world ; 
 seeking the salvation of sinners, and waging nar against corruption, 
 against vice, against evil institutions which are established in our midst 
 and working death and ruin. 
 
 I hope that this CTonvention will be a mighty demonstration of spiritual 
 life and' aggressive power, and I believe tliat its utility, and the conviction 
 which it impresses upon the mind of the public, will depend upon tliis fact ; 
 and I wish and hope this morning to. receive more of that holy baptism which 
 will give us, in our hearts individually, that true type of piety, and which 
 will develop itself in our lives. 
 
 Prof. W^ G. Fischer led the Convention in singing — " Wait- 
 ing for the Master." 
 
 Rev. J. Walker Jackson offered the following resolution, 
 which was mianimoasly adopted by a rising vote, viz : — 
 
 Keaolvcil, That we have lieard with very great pleasure and satisfaction 
 the able report on the topic, "The type of piety necessary to the higiiest 
 prosperity of the Cliurch," and that we here and now adopt it as the declara- 
 tion of our sentiments upon that important subject. 
 
 Tli;v. R. ir. Pattiw(vn stated tliat tlic proceedings of the 
 (Convention ought to be pu1)li.shed in book Ibrni, and moved 
 that a committee be appointed^ consisting of one from each Con- 
 ference represented, to secure subscribers for the j)iiblishc(l jour- 
 nal of the Convention. 
 
 The motion being of the nature of a |)rivih'ged character, was 
 put and carried, ;iii(l a Committee tippointed as folk)ws: 
 
 llev. .1. If. Conklc, I'itl.sburg ("otifcrtMice. 
 
 " A. S. I)()1)»)M. Erie 
 
 " .f. W. Ockernian, Central i'cnn. " 
 
 '• I). C. Olnisleail, Wyoming " 
 
 " H. W. Thomas, I'liiladclphia " 
 
 " WeHlcy (^jchran, Kast (<eru>sne<> " 
 
 •' A. Flamiuan, " (»(iinan "
 
 ESSAY OF r.Kv. DR. Mir-T,i:i;. 39 
 
 JJisliop Simpson being in the chair, announced that tlie topic 
 for consideration in the afternoon was, " The; Charitable Insti- 
 tutions of the Church," and remarked, " \V\\'\\v. I trust our piety 
 will be of the highest character, I hope it will receive a practi- 
 cal ai)plication in our charitable institutions." 
 
 The doxology was then sung, and the Convention adjcnirned 
 to half-past two o'clock in the afternoon, Ilev. J. B. ^NlcCullough 
 ])ronouncing the benediction. 
 
 FOURTH SESSION. 
 
 Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia. 
 Wednesday Afternoon, Oct. Idtli, 1870. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment at 2h o'clock. 
 
 Bishop M. Simpson, I). D., in the chair. 
 
 Religious services conducted by Rev. B. H. Crever of the 
 Central Pennsylvania Conference. 
 
 The minutes of the morning session were read and approved. 
 
 The topic of the session was announced by the Chair to be 
 *•' The Charitable Institutions of the Church." Committee — 
 Col. J. A. Wright, E. H. Worne, and Rev. H. Miller, D. D. 
 
 Rev. H. Miller, D. D., of Pittsburg, presented the report upon 
 this topic. 
 
 ESSAY OF REY. II. MILLER, D. D. 
 
 To me has been assigned the duty of opening the discussion on •■ The Cliari- 
 table Institutions of the Church." "And though I speak with ihe tongues of 
 men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or 
 a tinkling cymbal. And though I liave the gift of prophecy, and understand 
 all mysteries and all knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could 
 remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I be- 
 stow all my goods to feed the poor, and though { give my body to be burned, 
 and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." The (jiiality of Uiis celestial 
 virtue, with which we are now concerned, is its disinterestedness. " Charity 
 seeketh not her own." God has established a principle of universal depend- 
 ence toward every part of Ilis intelligent creation. The dependence of a 
 creature on his fellows is not necessary, but the result of a wise and gracious 
 appointment. We can conceive of a universe of creatures, all holy and
 
 40 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 happy, each of whom might be distinct from the other. Among (hem, how- 
 ever, there could be no mutual love, for there could be no intercourse be- 
 tween them. Their heaven must be reduced to that of mere contemplation : 
 for if a sphere of perfection be assigned them, they must also be subjects of 
 action. If employed as ministers they must also be ministered unto. In that 
 case, cut off from each other, and occupied only with their own interests, all 
 the admiration they now feel in the displays of God's wisdom, power in the 
 creation and government of all things, all the concern they take in the atfairs 
 of each other and of men, could have no place in their hearts. New worlds 
 might arise from the dark abyss of night, but no morning stars would sing 
 together, and no sons of God would shout for joy. New creatures might peo- 
 ple the earth beneath and offer large opportunities for activity, but the iso- 
 lated beings in question could not enter into their experience. They would 
 not have ministered to our Saviour, nor carried Lazarus to Abraham's 
 bosom ; John never would have seen one of these angels flying in the midst 
 of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach upon the earth. This, 
 liowever, is not the order of God. He has intended that heaven and earth 
 should be connected ; that the golden chain of love should bind and har- 
 monize, in mutual relation and dependence. His universal family; whether 
 in heaven, about His throne, on earth. His foot stool, or in those distant 
 tracts of space, where His power has given being to creatures in His likeness 
 and image. By the principle of universal benevolence and mutual depend- 
 ence, created minds glow with fond emotion and find their happiness in 
 action. They give and receive and improve by participating in the common 
 stock of felicity. In this the angels set ns a bright example for our imita- 
 tion. Ev(n the Son of man cime not to be minii^tLred unto, but to minister. 
 And, addressing His disciples on a memorable occasion. He said : " 1 have 
 given you an example, that ye should do as 1 have done to you." 
 
 Among men, however, the principle of benevolence, which expresses itself 
 in readiness to minister to the necessities of others, is not only an arrange- 
 ment of wisdom and goodness, htif it lias in it the force of duty and obligation. 
 The fatiifrhood of God, the brotherhood of man, the nu'iiiation of .lesus — 
 the three grand fundamental doctrines of revealed religion — lie at tlie basis, 
 nay, indeed, constitute the basis of all philanthropic, evangelizing efforts; 
 while the spirit and sustaining power of benevolent actions are derived from 
 the cross. The love of (Jhrisl coiistraitietli us to live not unto ourselves, hut 
 unto Him who died for us and rose again, and to serve our fcUdw beings as 
 the representatives, on earth, of I lie man Christ Jesus. Christianity is based 
 upon the principle of Hivino sympathy, benevolence, and sacrifice. When 
 liie Apostle i'aul wotild enforce religious charily and sliiimlate to generous 
 giving in raising a collection fur the poor, lie calls uj) the exaiiijilc of Christ : 
 "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Ciirist, that, though He was ridi. 
 yet for your sakcH He became [lODr, that ye through His poverty might be 
 rich." 
 
 An address on the charitable institutions of the Clmrcli is, in fact, an ad- 
 dress on a type of devoted piety involving the consecration of property an<l
 
 ESSAY OF REV. DR. MILLER. 41 
 
 muiiificenf giving. Tlie Church is not only the depository of the truth, h\n 
 it is the embodiment of the Divine benevolence : and tiie universal and in- 
 ducing philanthropy, so att'ectingly exhibited in our redemption by Christ, 
 who, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man, is to be fostered and 
 nurtured by every consideration we can pay to the nature of our religion. 
 "We make known unto j'ou," says ihe apostle to the Corintiiians, " the grace 
 of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia ; how that in a great trial of 
 ■affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto 
 Ihe riches of their liberality ; for to their power I bear record, j'ea, and be- 
 yond their power, they were willing of themselves ; praying us with iimch en- 
 treaty." Did ever beneficence exceed that? "Praying us with much en- 
 treaty, that we would receive the gift." 
 
 Now, such is the type of piety necessary to the highest prosperity of the 
 Church — the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Methodism, leading 
 her million members to give their own selves to the Lord, after tlie example 
 of these Macedonian Christians, and to give their substance and property to 
 the cause of perishing humanity by the love of God. 
 
 Our missionary cause is the contribution of tiie Christianity of to-day to 
 the heathenism of to-day, and one of the most illustrious manifestations of 
 the genius of Christ's religion — universal love; disinterested, inducing love. 
 What God proposed by the mission of His Son was the recovery of this re- 
 volting portion of His vast empire unto Himself. AVhat the missionary enter- 
 prise contemplates, is the carrying out of God's design, in etfecting a moral 
 revolution in the whole human race. " The field is the world." The Gospel 
 is to be preached to every creature. All nations are to be discipled. The 
 principle of selfishness develops itself in the increasing disposition among 
 our people to give less abroad, for our foreign work, under a pretext of home 
 necessity. Now we take this to be simply a modified form of selfishness. Our 
 means are exhausted in building grand, expensive churches. And this is 
 not a fling. I don't want you to understand it as a fling. It is the deep, set- 
 tled conviction of our heart. Our means are exhausted in erecting grand, 
 expensive churches, while perishing millions are crying in vain, " Come over 
 and help us." If we are really unable to give more than we do now, we 
 ouglit to give more abroad and less at home. But, by the oft-repeated and 
 perverted saying, "Charity begins at home," we weaken the force of the calls 
 for foreign aid. 
 
 " Charity begins at home," but it does not stay there. If it did it wouhl 
 soon die. An infallible recipe for killing charity is to keep it at home. It is 
 like confining children in a tight room from which the light and air are ex- 
 cluded. They sicken and die, without relief. Our sickly piety, where it ex- 
 ists, may be speedily cured by an expansion of our sympathy and benevo- 
 lence. "There is that scattcreth and yet increaseth, and there is that with- 
 holdeth more than is meet and it tendeth to poverty." '• The liberal soul de- 
 viseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand." The decline of 
 Christian devotedness is the decline of Christian prosperity. From the very 
 constitution of the Christian Church its relative efficiency depends upon its
 
 42 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 entire consecration, and the slightest diversion of its influence is so much 
 taken from the very power that called it into existence, and accordingly it 
 might easily be shown that it has flourished or declined la every age in pro- 
 portion as it has fulfilled the missionary design of its origin. The moment 
 the Church lost sight of her expansive character she began to lose ground in 
 the ".vorld. The strength which ought to have been expended with foes with- 
 out was spent with fierce contentions within. M'hen she ought to have been 
 the almoner of God she became the great extortioner; when she ought to. 
 have been tlie birth-place of souls, and at the very time when she should 
 have been giving more public opinion and attained the mastery of the world, 
 she was the willing and accomplished agent of the vilest purposes. Now, 
 as every department of the Church from its missionary designs, is sure 
 to be avengeil, so we may expect every return to that character will be Di- 
 vinely acknowledged and blessed, and a full return in faith, prayer, consecra- 
 tion, and beneficen3e, to its first aggressive spirit and movement, to speak a 
 full return to its first prosperity. AVhen the disciples went everywhere 
 preaching tlie Word the hand of the Lord was with them, and the Word of 
 God mightily prevaiU'il, and the Lord added to the Cliurch daily such as should 
 be saved. May God baptize the Methodist Church with an increase of the 
 niissionarj' spirit ! 
 
 The Sunday-school was indeed, as we all know, a charitable institution in 
 the strongest sense of that word, in its inception and original organization, 
 seeking the cliildren of the poor and the unfortunate victims of parental ne- 
 glect, instructing them in the truths of the Bible and leading tliem to Jesus. 
 And what a striking illustration of the benign and disinterested spirit of our 
 religion do the Sunday-schools of the Christian Church present to the world 
 to-day in their hundreds of thousand of teachers, men and women, old and 
 young, who bestow their gratuitous labors on God's holy day for tlie religi- 
 ous education of the young! Its relation to the Church is most vital, both in 
 the actual accessioti to her ranks and in llie sound relijirious educaiinn of her 
 membership. And, not anticipating the relation of the citizen to tlie Slate — 
 wliicli is a topic for discussion — we may be allowed to observe, at tliis point, 
 tliat the value of tiiis charity to the State is too generally overlooked. Its 
 influence flows tliroughout tlic body politic, and communicates that aliment 
 If) the youtii of our country so essential to the safety and permanency an<l 
 perpetuity of our institutions. Democracy is a government of tlie people by 
 the people, for ihejieople; ami it is baseil on the principle of granting to 
 the indivitluai the l.irgcst possible freedom consistent witli tlie existence of 
 .'"ociety ; and its salViy depends, not on outside foi-ces, but tlio capiibilily of 
 its in<lividual members to govern tliomselves. Tliis ])ower, like the attrac- 
 tion of gravitation, in its quiet troail, liolds everything logetiier. 
 
 .Ml iiistory proves that there is no self-sustaining jirinciple in any form of 
 social <irgaiii/:ition. It is truth, moral truth, the Irutli as il is in Jesus, that 
 develops our iiieas orjuslice, quickens the moral sense into activity, and leads 
 men to Hubmil, of llieir own clioice, (o those rules of conduct on which public 
 law reposes. Free institutions promise slahilily only wlien rooted in tlie en-
 
 ESSAY OF REV. DR. MIIJ.ER. 43 
 
 lightened moral and religious conviction of the people. >lo virtue of the in- 
 dividual is of any avail in society. To tiiis the refined nations of antiquity 
 bear mournful but instructive testimony. And why, on a subject so solemnly 
 important to our youth and to the country, do we not regard the facts of his- 
 tory? She has written them reiined, learned, and mighty, but she has re- 
 corded their vices; and if learning could Lave preserved, why has their 
 siicience survived their existence — why do they live in every clime? They 
 were without perpetuity because without the elements of it. The fabric of 
 their grandeur has crumbled down because not combined with the imperish- 
 able principles of virtue, and their want of virtue resulted from their want 
 of religion. May God baptize the Sunday-school institution of our Church 
 with the spirit of love! 
 
 Our Church Extension Society, we rejoice to know, is growing more and 
 more every year in favor with the people. It is a great enterprise, essen- 
 tially missionary in its character and aims, and deserves^the warmest sym- 
 pathy and support of all our people. It is immeasurably important to our 
 work in the South and on the frontier. The very term itself imbodies a 
 grand idea. "Church Extension'" — it indicates the aggressiveness of the 
 Church — the propngandism of the Church. The conversion of the world was 
 a divine conception. Jesus Christ brought it to earth, incorporated it with 
 the life and institutions of His Church, and repeated it in the ears of His 
 disciples as He ascended to the excellent glory amid adoring myriads of at- 
 tending angels and spirits of the just made perfect. The apostles took it up. 
 Nay, it was burned into their very souls by tlie Holy Ghost. It was the 
 thought that filled Wesley's mind, the fire that burned in Wesley's soul, and 
 led him, for more than half a century, to unwearied toil and self-sacrificing 
 labor in the service of Christ. May this great thought never be lost sight 
 of by the Church! this fire never be extinguished from the heart of the 
 Methodist Church! 
 
 The Church should include in her charities a generous provision for the 
 poor. There is no mistaking the spirit of our religion in this regard. In 
 every age, under every dispensation, it has been the same, because it is of 
 God, partakes of His benevolence, and is as immutable as His will. 
 
 Job, cotemporary, perhaps, with Abraham, could make his appeal : " When 
 the eye saw me, it gave witness to me; because I delivered the poor that 
 cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. Tlie blessing 
 of him that was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's 
 heart to sing for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I 
 was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out.'' 
 What a beautiful and impressive picture of the spirit of our religion, even in 
 that early age. The poor are mentioned no less than one hundred and 
 twenty times in the Old Testament as enlisting the sympathy of Jehovah, or 
 as commended to the rich for help. " Thou shalt not forget thy poor bro- 
 ther as long as thou livest," was the the benevolent injunction of the Jewish 
 law-giver. " Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, 
 and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love
 
 44 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 of God in him?" "Be ready to distribute, willing to communicate," ex- 
 press the spirit of Christianity on this subject. There is more Gospel in a 
 loaf of bread sometimes than in many a sermon, and wc are beginning to 
 find that, in order to reach the poor by saving mercy and bring them into 
 the Church, wc must go to thcni with "the meat that perisheth,"' as well as 
 that which " endures unto everlasting life." There are two passages of 
 Scripture — one in the Old and one in the New Testament — which have a pe- 
 culiar significance and force to our minds: " The poor shall never cease out 
 of the laud." " The poor ye have always with you," said Jesus, probably 
 alluding to the above, " and when ye will ye may do them good." " I leave 
 them as my representatives, and your charity shall have on earth plenty of 
 objects for its exercise." God leaves the poor in mercy among men to ex- 
 ercise the feelings of compassion, tenderness, and mercy. Without occasions 
 afforded for their exercise, man would soon become a stoic or a brute. 
 The very culture of the earth and the manufacture of its produce in the 
 variety of human labor must produce riches, not of sufficient quantify tliat. 
 if equally shared, all would be saved from painful toil, for that would be to 
 contravene God's own decree: "In the sweat of thy face shaft thou eat 
 bread," but to exempt a part of society from tlie drudgery and affiiction of 
 the rest. When such customs, however, are made by divine Providence, 
 they impose duties and exemplify the system of mutual dependence. God 
 has, by tiicse distinctions, evidently thrown the care of the poor upon the 
 rich. Tlicy that tliink must govern them that toil, l)ut they are so to go- 
 vern as most effectually to promote the comfort of the laboring classes. 
 Every man who becomes rich is made so by tlic labor.s of the poor, and when 
 these laborers are interrupted by sickness, accident, or age, it then becomes 
 our duly to relieve our poor and suffering brethren. And the opportunities 
 are abundant. It is not required of us that we lavish our benefactions in- 
 discriminately on tiie idle and improvident, but that our hand be ever open 
 to the relief of the wortliy. Many are zealous for religious opinion and forms 
 of worship and unimportant and non-essential things, while they close the 
 heart and hand of charity against tiic calls of the destitute and the cries of 
 the suffering. These throw themselves open to the rebuke of Jesus : " Ve 
 pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier 
 matters of the law, judgment, mercy, ami failli." There is no occasion for 
 serious complaint against the (Church. Iiowever, as a wiiole, in this regard; 
 and tiicrc are many eminent personal examples of munificent giving. W »• 
 have preaciied about the dangers of riciies; and it has perils, no doubt, es- 
 pecially where not religiously used; but fiiere is more crime connected willi 
 poverty than with wealth. There are more and stronger temptatidus t<i 
 crime among the poor tiian among the rich, and the ciiarity of the ('linrcli 
 must imbody itself in institutions, must lake iipon it organized form. Much 
 has been <lonc, much is doing, but nuich more remains to be done in this re- 
 gard. The support of her Huperaiinuated |)reachers and the widows and 
 orphans of those wlio die in the work, has lor many years been a feature of 
 our Metliodislic cconotny. ilnincs Un- the ngcil, Iriendlcas, and fallen, arc 
 being provided and liberally HiiJlioricd. Tlic old Folks' llome. in this city.
 
 ESSAY OF REV. DR. MILI.KU. 45 
 
 w<> understiiiul, luis the heart of the people and is a success. Let sucb cliari- 
 lies be multiplied as the wants may demand, and let them he liberally sup- 
 ])i)rted by the whole Church. 
 
 But while we are doing something for the nged, wh:it are we doing for llie 
 young? Much has been said of an orphan asylum on a grand scale. The 
 tendencies of thu times are to project all enterprises on a grand scale. 
 Whether tliis is best in the matter of Church cliarities, however, may be 
 doubted. 
 
 Perhaps we ought to have two orphan schools, one east ami one west of 
 I ho mountains. This would be a credit to tlio Mctliodism of the Stale, 
 and the sooner the thing takes shape the better it will be. "I will not 
 leave you orphans," said Jesus, in affecting tenderness, to hi.s disciples 
 as they sorrowed at the prospect of his departure; and wlien he hung in 
 ilreadful agony on the cross, he said to the disciple whom lie loved, " Behold 
 thy mother, and from that hour tliat disciple look her to his own home." 
 Tlius it is .Tesus commends to us the orjihans and widows, the poor and the 
 Mged, and bids us take them to our hearts and cui- hemes. May the means of 
 ilie Church be contributed largely for a cause so benevolent and so com- 
 mended . 
 
 Now as to the nature and number of her institutions let tlie Ciiurch follow 
 the openings of divine Trovideiice and the leading of the Holy Spirit. "1 
 will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel," is jusr. as true of 
 religious institutions as of spiritual blessings, and prayer will ensure the 
 wisdom and success of our plans. Surely we cannot overlook nor forget the 
 providential inception and feature of our Melhodistic institutions and agen- 
 cies from the very first. We have what we call our church economy. Its 
 itinerancy, local ministry, annual conferences, class meetings, and the wiiole 
 iiKicliinery, were the suggestions of Pro>idence to the great executive mind 
 of Wesley, the founder of our cherished system, who laid hold of every form 
 which promised efficiency and success. This live, loving spirit of " Chris" i- 
 anity in earnest " has taken fortu in new means of blessing humanity, when 
 the indications of Providence and the exigencies of the times have demanded. 
 Our Church Kxtension Society, so strong already in its hold on the sympathy, 
 nffection, and support of our people, is not yet six years old. Thus will it 
 be throughout the coming century of Methodism if the Church is faithful and 
 devoted. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power," was pre- 
 dicted of the inauguration of Christianity and the successive triumph of the 
 Saviour's reign ; and when the tlames of Peu'ecost descended on the primi- 
 tive disciples and kindled the spark already tiiere into higher ardor, tliey 
 became men wholly consecrated to Clirist. So mighty, all-constraining was 
 the new affection, that, for a time, they had all things common, and sold their 
 possessions and goods and parted tliem to all men, as every man had need." 
 And when the community of goods was found to be impracticable — for it wa.s 
 not an ordinance of God — the apostles gave themselves continually to prayer 
 and to the ministry of the worvl, while honest men, full of the Holy Ghost 
 and of wisdom, were ordained deacons to take care of tiie widows and pro- 
 vide for the poor; and contributions were made by the poor to sufply the
 
 46 MIXUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 wants of the poorer, and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of 
 their liberality. Thus did Christianity triumph over human selfishness, and 
 thus will it ever triumph, erecting alms-houses, asylums for the aged, infancy, 
 aud the unfortunate. And may God baptize the Metliodist Church in her 
 entire ministry aud membership with the baptism of love and with fire, and 
 enlarge her gifts and increase her zeal in every good work; and may that 
 baptism fall upon us here in this Convention, that we may go out to prcacli. 
 to give, and to sacrifice, and to sutler, until Christ bhall come, and the great 
 end of his mission and death sliall be accomplished in binding the world to 
 his dominion in mercy. And, as the preacher naid, after preaching on the 
 inspiration and authority of the Bible, as he wound up with an exhortaiiou, 
 "I feel salvation," after talking to you on the charitable institutions of the 
 Church, I wind up by saying, 1 go in for lull salvation. May we have it 1 
 
 After singing, the subject was discusssed at considcrahle 
 length. 
 
 Col. Gko. F. IMcFari-and. — The brother who has addressed you so elo- 
 quently upon the -'Charities of the Church," alluded to the care of iier chil- 
 dren, and I have been rrquested to continue the subject by giving you some 
 facts upon this branch of it. My relation to the orphan cliildren of the 
 Church and of the Commonwealth for a number of years has been such as lo 
 familiarize me with these facts. Those that I shall give you are relial.Io. 
 Tiiough not given with the eloquence of the brotlier who preceded me, 1 trust 
 their important character may awaken you as Methodists to your duty in iliis 
 direction. 
 
 The Methodist Church sent to the army large numbers of her most valne<l 
 sons. 1 believe it was the boast of our presiding Bishop (Bishop Simpson i 
 iliat she furnished a liundred thotis.md men tu tlie armies of the nation. 
 Many of these men came from the iniddlini: or poorer classes, usual'y blesl 
 with large families. They were always found at (he front. 1 believe il is 
 admitted tliat Christian men make the best soldiers. As a consei|uei.ce hun- 
 dreds and iliousaiids of tln'in ftll. Tlicir (irjiliaii'^ are with U'* to-day. 
 
 Pennsylvania, in iier great magnanimily, and through some of lier large- 
 hearted legislators, and the earnest activity of her two good (uivernors, 
 Curiiii and (ieary lias made provision for these bereaved children, and there 
 are now nearly I], 700 of Iheni in the schools of the Ciunmonwealih, receiving 
 ihe care and training tiial will make tlu-m good and useful citizens, and an 
 lionnr lo the Stale. Of tliose in school wlieji tiie last report was publislicd. 
 !is yoM were informed by brolher Torrence last evening, 320:! were rei>orled 
 as having had religious pnrcnliigc. And of this number ihe large proporliou 
 of l^tl'.t are reported as of JA//(o</m/ parent jige. .Adding a fair proportion of 
 ihefil'J unreported, and of tiic ) V.) reported as I'rolestanl. only lo disliiigui-h 
 I hem from Itomaii Catholics, I presume, the i slonishing fact appears dial al 
 hast ■»■'< "'/' ofcrn-ft 100 HoMicrs' orplians umler ihe care of I 1m- stale are <if 
 MrthddiM piirnitiiiir! Tiie l-ulltcrans follow with ll!."., or sixlei'U out of each 
 hundred; the I'reybylerians with llli, or fil'ieen out of each hunilrfd: Vmy- 
 liKlH Willi :J'J8, and other dcnoniinalions with less numbers.
 
 ADDRESS OF COT.. m'fARI.AND. ^7 
 
 Let us now inquire what provision has been made by tlie several denomi- 
 nations for the care of these orphan children. Wiien I speak of Homes, I re- 
 fer to institutions established by denominational means for (lie care of 
 friendless children of the denomination, and tliat simply receive soldiers' 
 orphans at a stipulated rate per annum. "When I speak of schools, I mean 
 institutions established under the authority of the Commonwealth for this 
 purpose, and, consequently, not denominational. The Lutherans have Homes 
 sufficient to accommodate their entire number, 433. Two of the schools, 
 capable of accommodating at least 400 more, arc entirely under their con- 
 trol. They have a third interest in another school, and more or less interest 
 in three or four large Homes. They could probably accommodate under 
 Lutheran influence the entire number of Methodist children in addition to 
 their own. The Presbyterians have no distinct Home, but have a control, 
 ling influence in two that could provide for their entire number, 41:2 ; while 
 four of the schools, having accommodations for some 900 children, are under 
 Presbyterian principalship. The Episcopalians, with l')7 children, have 
 three Homes that can provide for at least 300, besides having the principal- 
 ship of a school of sufficient capacity for half as many more. The Catholics, 
 having 157 children, can provide good institutions for fully 1200 children. 
 The Baptists have no Homes, but have a school under their control that will 
 accommodate 228, the number of children they have. The Church of God, 
 with a less number of children, has control of a, school of similar capacity- 
 The German Reformed have two first-class Homes. Their number of chil- 
 dren is 1G6. The Methodists, wiih 1209 children, have no Home — no room fur 
 a single child! They have a third interest in one school, and the principal- 
 ship of the colored soldiers' orphans' school, containing 167 children, about 
 120 of whom are of Methodist parentage, has passed into the hands of a 
 Methodist within the year. Beyond this the Methodists have no part or lot 
 in the care and education of the orphans of our heroic dead, even thougii thi? 
 offspring of their own brethren. 
 
 In the Homes the denominational tenets of the Church having them in 
 charge are taught. This the Department cannot prevent. I do what I can 
 to prevent the children of one denomination from going to the Homes cl 
 another, but frequently cannot do so. The Methodists having no Homes or 
 schools, thtrc are to day cbildi-en of Methodist parentage in the Homes and 
 under the influence of every denomination in the State except lite Mcihcdist ! 
 They are in the Homes of the Lutherans, Episcopalians, German Reformed, 
 and Catholic, and under the influence of the Presbyterians, the Baptists and 
 others, hut none raider Methodist care! These are facts that need no conunent, 
 but that must come home to my Methodist hearers with considerablf 
 lorce. 
 
 I have been compelled, from time to time — and I do it most cheerfully — 
 to accord groat credit to the several denominations for the lively and active 
 interest tlioy have taken in this good work. They have never faileil to meet 
 every necessary requirement; to improve their buildings and increase their 
 accommodations as the wants of the orphans were presented to them, and to
 
 48 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 throw the weight of their influence in favor of the soldier's orphan when his 
 interests were in clanger. I have had many occasions for thankfulness and 
 gratitude to the several denominations for the earnestness and zeal with 
 which they have seconded every effort made in behalf of these interesting 
 children. 
 
 I cannot say that the Methodists have not sympathized with this work, and 
 spoken kindly of it. I nmst s&y, however, they never did anything towards 
 ])roviding for even their own children. I have often thought and said — and 
 you will pardon me for repeating it here — that a denomination as wealthy^ 
 as influential, as public-spirited, and abounding as much in good works as the 
 Methodist Church, ought to have some provision made for the lambs of its 
 flock, and thus spare me the pain of letting them go wherever circumstances 
 send them, wliether among wolves or among shepherds. As a Methodist I 
 ftel that the Church is not blameless. 
 
 The speaker having finished his remarks was about taking liis 
 scat when several questions were put to him, eliciting further 
 information, as follows, in substance : 
 
 Query. — How long will these schools continue? 
 
 Answer. — We have now over 3,G0O children in the Homes 
 and schools, ranging from six to sixteen years of age, Avlien they 
 are dismissed. There are probably enough children eleven 
 years of age and under, to continue several schools in ditferent 
 j)arts of the Commonwealth for five years or ra<n'e. Others will 
 clo.se sooner. 
 
 Query. — Are these schools simj/ly benevolent in their charac- 
 ter, (»r do (hey l"urnish a support that would be a motive to ac- 
 cept the charge of them wholly irrespective of their benevolent 
 character? 
 
 Answer. — The Homes now receive ^100, the primary schools 
 ^115, iind the advanced .schools $125 per anninn for each pupil. 
 The latlei- receive $25 ])er annum for each |)upil over leu years 
 in clothing; the others furnish their own elolhiiig. 
 
 (^uery. — Don't th(> children eoii(i-ii)iile in labor? 
 
 .\nswer. — I Relieving the edu<'alioi) of these dej)en(len( eliildren 
 would be very ineoni|iletc il" it only embraced intclleelual ai.d 
 jiioral enltnre, we have j)rovidc(l for two hotu's work each day 
 for each |iii|»il, lliiis seeuring both ])liysieal and industrial cid- 
 tiirc. Tile cliildK n lia\-e tlicir siipei-inleiidiiits in every braneh 
 ot" household and llirin ialioi-, and work for two |tiu"[)Oses — one
 
 ADDRESS OF DR. DASIIIELL. 49 
 
 educational, the other to reduce expenses of support. It is by 
 this means tliey are kept so low, and yet well kept and well 
 tau(i;ht. 
 
 Query. — I have understood that access to the inmates was 
 sometimes refused to persons of another denomination. Is 
 this so ? 
 
 Answer. — Access is provided for by regulations for ministers 
 of other denominations. But when the principal is a minister, 
 he, like any Methodist minister most likely would, usually loves 
 his own Church so well that the children, looking through 
 his spectacles, soon see it in a better light than any other. 
 
 Query. — When a school is under Lutheran influence, is it 
 only by courtesy that a Methodist has permission to enter? 
 
 Answer. — The rules adopted provide that the ministers of 
 each denomination may enter at specified times and meet and in- 
 struct the children of their faith in a separate room. It is not 
 done, however, — first, because ministers are generally too busy 
 to claim the privilege, and, secondly, because no one is there to 
 see the rule complied with. 
 
 Query. — Are the denominational schools distinct from the 
 State schools spoken of? 
 
 Answer. — There are some twenty-two Homes, &c., mostly 
 denominational, six primary schools, and thirteen advanced 
 schools. Three of the primary and eleven of the advanced 
 schools are private property, and not intended to be denomina- 
 tional, though they are so more or less. 
 
 Rev. R. L. Dashiell, D. D. — I think the exphinations given in answer to 
 the questions have settled two things in the mind of the Convention. In the 
 first place I understand that the State — I have no fault to find with this — 
 farms out the guardianship of her wards to those denominations who will 
 undertake to train them. The Presbyterians, Lutherans, and other denomi- 
 nations liave promptly stepped forward and assumed the instruction of their 
 own cliildrcn. The Methodist Church lias failed to do this. We have no 
 complaint to make of other denominations, but ought to make complaint 
 against ourselves. We have been so largely engrossed in the great material 
 development of our work, in the founding of our churches, in extending the 
 area of our Missionary, and Church Extension, and Sunday-school work — all 
 of vital importance to the Church — that we have neglected some of the great 
 humanitarian questions that ought to have touched the heart of the Church, 
 
 4
 
 50 MINUTES OP COKVENTIOX. 
 
 and ought (o liave sprung the Church, long since, to some noble doing in the 
 direction of caring for our orphans and for our aged and infirm oacs. 
 Now, sir, among the first things Wesley undertook was the founding of 
 an orphan house. This was contemporary witli the very coninienccnient 
 of Methodism upon this Continent. We have most wonderfully back- 
 slidden from the point where Wesley first introduced this question to us. I 
 have been convinced, sir, for years that we have been waiting too long upon 
 other denominations to provide for our orphans, for our aged, and for our 
 destitute, and I may say for the fallen ones that come within tlic range of 
 our gospel and the influence of our Church. 
 
 Now, sir, let me give a simple illustration in confirmation of our lack of 
 service in this direction. I have, at Carlisle, letters addressed to me from 
 superintendents in charge of these orphan schools inquiring if something 
 cannot be done by the iMethodist Church to provide for certain boys, bright 
 and vigorous in intellect, who are craving for an education advanced beyond 
 that which the orphan schools propose to give them. I learn from some of 
 these ministers, and some who are ministers of other denominations, that if 
 we will not provide for these lads, they will cheerfully provide for them. I 
 have been ashamed, Mr. Tresident, that there should fall to our lot th6 charge 
 of these orphan boys left by tlie soldiers of this Commonwealth, and that 
 there should be almost utter indiflfercnce, on our part, towards providing for 
 their necessities; and if this discussion to-day shall do nothing more than 
 to awaken the heart of Methodism in this great Commonwealth to^irocecd at 
 once to provide an orphan asylum for the sons of our deceased soldiers the 
 Convention will not have been called in vain. I hope, sir, it will be the 
 commencement of a movement in this direction. Brethren, let us wipe away 
 from us forever this reproach that the great Metiiodist Church of this Com- 
 moiiwcallh has for five years past cast the orphans of its citizen soldiery upon 
 other denominations to be reared and educated. 
 
 But, sir, it is not only with reference to orphans that I want to say a word 
 to-day. I understand that this topic is intended to include other charitable 
 institutions tlian the founding of orphan asylums. A few years ago it fell to 
 my lot to be stationed in the city of I'.aliimoie. Three or four pious ladies 
 undertook the work of founding a Protestant infirmary for the care of the 
 sick. Tlie hospitals of the city were in charge of tlie lloman Catholics. 
 Sisters ofCliarily were the only nurses, and instances were given, time and 
 again, of poor, dying men wiio craved the sympathy of those who believed in 
 the I'roleslant faitii, who loved the Protestant Bible; and these Protestant 
 ladies undertook the work of inaugurating a Protestant infirmary. What 
 are llie facts in the case ? There was but very little sympathy upon the j.arl 
 of Protestants with the movement. I have not been familiar w.ih ilie iiistory 
 of liie institution for the last few years, but during the time I was familiar 
 Willi its Iiistory it was in a starving condition ; there did not seem to be in- 
 terest enougli on the part of Protestant Ciiurchca to sustain it ; it does Udi 
 comiiare in vigor and strength with the oilier imspitala; ami, Mr. President. 
 I have lived long enough to come to this conclusion, that t/ic .Mrlhndi.U Chinch 
 it tlrorif/ cniju<)h Co lake care of her orphatiK, In jimrid,' unyluim for her infirm, tick
 
 ESSAY OF DR. DASIIIETJ.. 51 
 
 and dyhuj, and to provide homes for her arjad men and women. It is (ru(! tin- 
 we.iltli of the Cliurch was being diverted into these channels of cliarity and 
 benevolence; and I trust in God that the day is dawning when we shall arise 
 in our strength and speak upon this subject in tones that will not be mis- 
 understood, that we shall act as well as talk and plead in our Conventions. 
 
 Now, sir, let me give you one illustration before I sit down. Not in.lny 
 weeks since, a widow came to me, inquiring what should be done with lier 
 boys. She was the widow of a soldier, but not a soldier who belonged to any 
 regiment in Pennsylvania; she came, I think, from the West. She hud two 
 half orphan hoys. Said she, "What am I to do?" I asked her to what 
 church she belonged. She replied, "To the Methodist, that she had always 
 been a Methodist." Well, said I, what do you want to do with your boys? 
 " I want them put in an orphan asylum," she said, but with the big tears 
 rolling down her cheeks she added, "I would like if the boys could be kept 
 under Methodist influence; their father was a Methodist, and their grand- 
 father, and I would like to keep them under Methodist influence; " anil she 
 said it with a tender pathos that went to my heart, and I then felt that it was 
 time for us to do something in this direction. A few days afterwards I met 
 her, and she imformed me that no less than six members of the Roman 
 Catholic Church had visited her and absolutely entreated the privilege of tak- 
 ing her sons and providing for them — and this without any conditions. And, 
 Mr. President, this is only in accord with the spirit of that church: she don't 
 ask you tc^found orphan asylums. I Vv'ill venture the assertion that the arch- 
 bishop in charge of this diocese would come into this Convention to-morrow, 
 if the opportunity were given, and enter into stipulations, not only to take 
 charge of your Protestant orphans and provide liberally for them, but to pay 
 you a bonus for the-privilcge of having them under the influence of the Ro- 
 man Ciitholic Church. Wliy, sir, on one bright Sabbath morning I was pass- 
 ing to my appointment when I met a Catholic who said, " Where are you 
 going?" "To the Sabbath-school on Capitol Hill, a little mission," I an- 
 swered. "Oh tut, tut," said he, "that is all wrong: You Methodists go on 
 and convert the grown-up people and leave the children to us; we will take 
 care of them ; just turn them over to us." Yes, sir, they will be glad of the 
 opporl unity of taking care of them ; and, as I said before, they will pay you 
 for the privilege. Will you lei them have them? Will you? [Several voices— 
 "No, never! " ] No, you say, the Methodists of this Commonwealth will 
 never consent, I will not say for any other Protestant denomination to 
 rear her children— yes, I will say it: I think there is no bigotry in ray 
 soul; 1 think I have a kind feeling towards all my friends of sister denomi- 
 nations, but I do love the Methodist Church better than any other, just as I 
 love my wife better than any other man's wife; and while these other de- 
 nominations would do well by our orphans, if ever my boys ami girls are to 
 be left to the tender mercies of an orphan house, God grant that thoy fall 
 into the hands of Methodists, and nobody else. 
 
 Now, sir, let us do something practical. We have had a splendid general 
 class meeting, during the session of the Convention— a continuous love-feast, 
 full of rich Christian experience; but, brethren, let us this afternoon inau-
 
 52 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 gurate something that will tell practically upon this great question, extend 
 our influence in the direction of these Christian charities, and in a few 
 months on either side of the Alleghenys, let there rise a beautiful orphan 
 house that shall be crowded with those who are our children, and whom we 
 intend to train in the faith of Methodism and of Christ. 
 
 Rev. I. H. Toruence — Mr. President; I thought it was just the time, at 
 the close of this good experience meeting, to shape that part of our action 
 that looked at the practical — to do something. In order to give that practi- 
 cal shape I beg leave to ofl'er the following resolution, which 1 will ask the 
 Secretary to read. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolution, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That a commission of be appointed by this Convention, 
 
 to more fully consider the subject of establishing an orphan asylum in this 
 State, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to receive 
 contributions for thai purpose. 
 
 A. B. Leonard moved to amend the resolution by providing 
 for the erection of two homes^ one east and one west of the 
 mountains. 
 
 After discussion, in which Rev. I. H. Torrence, Rev. B. H. 
 Crever, Rev. Dr. Dashiell and Col. McFarland, participated, 
 the amendment prevailed, and the resolution as amended was 
 adopted. 
 
 A proposition to fill the blank with " one from each Con- 
 ference" was objected to as rendering the commission insufficient, 
 owing to the difficulty of persons living at a distance meeting 
 togetlicr. 
 
 CoL. Mc'F.\in,.\Ni) said on this head tluit, while it would be very pleasant 
 to have every Conference represented, yet every Conference would rejoice to 
 liave this commission composed of earnest men, who should bo easy of access 
 to each other. 
 
 A motion that the l)lank be filled and the Chair appoint a 
 committee of seven was at length agreed to. 
 
 Uev. S. W. Tjio.mas. — 1 tliiiiU we ouglit to have resjionses, and 1 am pre- 
 pared to subscribe $100. 
 
 Others proniplly followed, a.s follows: 
 
 A. I). Dobbs, $H)0 ; R. Ja Dashiell, .<i?l()0; Col. McFarland' 
 ^100; Rev. Dr. Di.rbin, ^lOO; Dr. Tliompson Mitchell, $100 ;
 
 ADDRESS OF BISHOP SIMPSON. 53 
 
 Mrs. Bishop Simpson, $100 ; Mrs. Dobbs, $100 ; :Mrs. S. W. 
 Thomas, $100 ; A. Blakcley (of Chester), $100; H. L. P(nvell 
 (of Chester), $100; llev. I. II. Torrence, $100; Joseph Lees 
 (of Montgomery Co.), $100 ; John Shepherd (of Darby), $50. 
 Others subsequently subscribed and about $2,000 were raised 
 before tlie close of the Convention. 
 
 Bishop Simpson remarked, as the subscription was being 
 taken, " This is a pleasant episode ; it is spontaneous combus- 
 tion ; it was not in the programme." 
 
 Bishop Simpson. — I have a deep conviction that there is no cause on which 
 God smiles more complacently than on efforts to educate orphan children, 
 and I have no doubt that if this thing be commenced in good earnest He will 
 raise up friends for it in very unexpected quarters. A few of our brethren 
 in New Orleans, where we were poor and weak, felt an interest in the orphan 
 children of our colored soldiers, and they commenced without means. The 
 Marine Hospital was offered them to commence their school in. A few gave 
 slight contributions. While they were doing what they could, having gath- 
 ered about thirty children, a gentleman came over from Paris, moved by a 
 desire to do something for these children, and not knowing what had been 
 done. When informed of what they bad undertaken, he told them that he had 
 come to do that kind of work, but as they were at it he would deposit $10,000 
 in the bank at New Orleans, and when they had deposited $20,000 they could 
 draw the whole $30,000 and purchase a property with it. When I visited 
 that city subsequently the $20,000 was not made up, and they wrote a letter 
 asking for time and sending a statement that this school was to be under the 
 oversight of the Methodist Church. While I was there answer was received 
 from him extending the time, and adding that, though he was a Catholic, he 
 was exceedingly glad that the institution would be under the control of the 
 Methodist Church; that he had been afraid to put anything under the con- 
 trol of the Catholic Church lest it should be diverted from the orphans and 
 turned to some other purpose. The property has been purchased — a pro- 
 perty of some fourteen hundred acres, I think, with large buildings, now 
 handsomely fitted up, and the last time I was there the school moved one 
 hundred and twenty children, taken from the city, to be placed on that 
 orphan farm. Four weeks ago I was in New Castle, and in Conference there 
 it was announced that one brother, in Danville, 111., wishing to make a dis- 
 position of his property, after having made arrangements for his children, 
 and considerable sums to other objects, had just donated $18,400 to that or- 
 phan school. It is in this way that God raises up friends. He touches the 
 mind, and the widow and the orphan are under God's special care. 
 
 Rev. T. C. Murphy.— The Committee of Seven, which has been ordered, 
 has been referred to the Bishop to fill. He would very likely feel a deli- 
 cacy in appointing himself, and it occurs to me that there are very grave
 
 54 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 reasons why he should be ou that Committee. I move, therefore, that he be 
 one of the Committee. 
 
 The motion was unanimously adopted. 
 
 Col. Slifer's name M-as here announced as a $100 contributor 
 to the fund for establishing an orphan school for the children of 
 fallen soldiers. 
 
 Rev. Dk. Loomis. — I suppose the brethren of this Convention have ascer- 
 tained by this time that it is very difficult to liear the speakers from this 
 platform, and I find a very general sentiment tliat this Convention ouglit to 
 adjourn from this hall to old St. George's Chureh. Therefore, I move that 
 the sessions for to-morrow be held in that church. 
 
 After a few remarks from Rev. Dr. Cooke, the pastor of the- 
 church, and other brethren, the motion was put and carried. 
 
 The following names were announced as subscribers to the 
 Orphan School fund : Mrs. Margaret H. Stevens, $100 ; Hon. 
 I. S. Diehl, $100; Mrs. Anna Graham, $100; St. Paul's 
 Church, Philadelphia, $100. 
 
 An invitation to visit the Union League Rooms Avas ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 The Convention then adjourned, to meet at the usual hour in 
 the evening. 
 
 The Doxology was sung, and llev. Dr. Hodgson pronounced 
 the benediction. 
 
 FFFTII SESSION". 
 
 HollTICULTURAL HaI.I,, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Wedncadaij crcniiuj, Oct. l[)l/i, 1870. 
 
 The State Convention incl accnrding to afljournment at 7| 
 o'clofk. 
 
 liishoj) Siin]»s()ii in the chair. 
 
 UcligiouH services conducted by Dr. .1. i'. Diiibin.
 
 ADDRESS OF Tn:V. I'. COOMBK. OO 
 
 The minutes of the afternoon session were read and approved. 
 llev. C. H. Payne, D.D. presented the following resolution, 
 which was adopted, viz: 
 
 Resolved, Tli:it the Commission to consider the sulyect of Orplian Asylums, 
 ordered at the afternoon session be, and hereby are aulliorized to secure such 
 AsyUitns either by purchase or otlierwise whenever in their judgment they 
 shall deem it best to do so. 
 
 The topic for the evening was then announced by the chair 
 to be, "The duty of the Church in relation to the Christian 
 Sabbath, and the cause of Temperance." 
 
 Committee, The Christian Sabbath,— Rex. AV. W. Wythes, 
 Hon. Joseph McEnally and Jlev. William Sampson. The 
 Cause of Temperance, — Hon. John McCalmont, James Black, 
 Esq., and Rev. P. Coombe. 
 
 No member of the Conmiittee on the Christian Sabbath was 
 present. 
 
 Rev. P. Coombe presented the report of the Committee on 
 "The duty of the Church in relation to the Cause of Temper- 
 ance." 
 
 Speech of Eev. P. Coombe. 
 
 Brethren of the Convention and friends of our common Methodism : I have 
 not prepared any wriiten address, for two reasons: First, I hadn't the time, 
 having just returned from atrip to the Scuth-western corner of the State, of 
 four months, lacking three days ; and, in the second place, I preferred to 
 give you warm words from a heart that has been rubbed up into white heat 
 by constant friction with the most infernal and villanous system that ever 
 came upon the face of this earth. Since I came into the convention, how- 
 ever, I felt called upon to write out a little introduction, the object of which 
 will be to show the relation of the temperance question to the topics that are 
 on the programme of this Convention. 
 
 '•Resolved that the Temperance Reform proposes the destruction of in- 
 temperance by the overthrow of any system which sustains or permits in- 
 temperance. Intemperance is not a personal sin only, nor is it a personal 
 performance." 
 
 Now, in presenting the temperance cause to this Convention, we propose 
 to call your attention,_first, to its past; secondly, to its present ; anl, third- 
 ly, to its future, 
 
 With reference to the past, it must be simply an outline of its hi.-tory. 
 The temperance cause became an organized reform in this country in 1811. 
 It assumed an organized form on this ground— that the use of intoxicating 
 liquors was injurious to the health and destructive to the happiness of men. 
 To establish that proposition it had three questions to settle; three opini^ms
 
 56 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 to overcome. When (he temperance reformation commenced its operation?, 
 public opinion, as a general thing, sustained three propositions : first, that 
 it was riglit for men to drink intoxicating liquors as a beverage ; second, 
 that it was right for men to sell intoxicating liquors as a beverage; and, 
 third, that it was right for government to license men to sell intoxicating 
 liquors as a beverage. You can see, at a glance, that before the temperance 
 reform could find public sympathy, much more, before it could be successful 
 and triumph, it must revolutionize public opinion on these three points : It 
 must prove that it is wrong to drink, to sell, or to license the sale of intoxi- 
 cating drinks as a beverage. Previous to 18G5 — for there I will limit the 
 past — we had settlcil two of these questions, namely, we had clearly estab- 
 lished the fact that to use intoxicating liquors as a beverage, was a sin; and 
 secondly, tiial it was a crime against God and society to sell intoxicating 
 liquors as a beverage; and, as I shall presently show you, came near settling 
 the question of governmental policy. 
 
 As some of you miy not be prepared (o admit what we have assumed, I 
 will call your attention to one or two facts: first, with regard to the public 
 judgment and conscience in respect to liquor trafficking. 1 have traveled in 
 forty-seven out of the sixty-six counties of your State, and I give you my 
 personal word and vouch for its correctness, that I have not come across a 
 single man, outside of the church, who believes any member of the church has 
 any religion at all — I mean experimental religion — who drinks intoxicating 
 drinks as a beverage. In the second place, you will find that the church, 
 generally, with very little exception indeed, has pronounced in favor of total 
 abstinence as a duly, and that the use of intoxicating liquor, as a beverage 
 is a sin in the iliird place, the time is not long since when occasionally a 
 minister of the gospel would rise in a Christian pulpit and preacii a sermon 
 in favor of the moderate use of wine. What would you think of a man who 
 sliould risk his reputation by preaching such a sermon at the present day ? 
 Sucli a man in any civilized community can scarcely be found, if found at 
 all. Now, from these facts, we conclude that the public judgment has been 
 revoluiionized upon tliis subject, and tlial now, wilii scarcely un exception, it 
 is deemed to be a wrong against llie individual, and a sin against society and 
 against God, for a inan to use intoxicating liquors as a beverage. 
 
 In tlie second place we have settled the (juestion of \iie immorality of the 
 liquor tr.iflic. We have done that, first, by driving every good man out of 
 the traile of intoxicating drinks as a beverage. 1 jinirm iiere. what I lirndy 
 believe from observation and personal knowledge, th.il iliere is not (o-day a 
 single sincere honest ('liriblian engaged in selling liijuor in Pennsylvania; 
 and if not in Pennsylvania, it is certain lliat one cannot be found in any 
 other State of lliis Union, for I'ennsylvania is far behind any oilier .'>l.ite in 
 liie progress and ilii- Irimnpli oftiic Temperance cause. In llie second jilace, 
 IK) body believes now, that a go(jd man ouglil to beengagtd in selling inloxi- 
 caling drink. And if any of you have any doubt on this point, if yon will 
 Hctect out of llie whole class of liquor sellers within the range of your know- 
 ledge the best man you can find, an<l ln-ing liini to nie, I will put llie IJiblo 
 in his liand.«i, and, when sworn, will put a single iiuestion lo iiini Mod Mbide
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. P. COOMBE. 57 
 
 the issue; that question is, Arc jou lijing lo be a, Cliristiuii? and I don't 
 believe tluit anybody in this assembly believes that there is any man in 
 Pennsylvania, engaged in the lii|U(ir traffic, who would be silly ami wicked 
 enough to say under oath, I am. Ami if he did, there are very few in I'enn- 
 sylvania, who would be simple enough to believe it. That (juesiion is 
 settled. 
 
 I cameacross a singular fict the other day, in Fayette County, which shows 
 the opinion of liquor sellers on that subject. A certain church in IJrowns- 
 ville, inside of an old Indian fort, of revolutionary times, was supported 
 mainly by the contributions of distillers in the neighborhood. The pastor of 
 the cliuiuli waited upon one of tlie leading distillers and asked him to un- 
 dergo that peculiar rite which, in that denomination, constituted one a 
 member of the church. The distiller looked at him carefully, and then 
 smiled and said, "Why do you ask me to become a member of the church, 
 when you know the business 1 am engaged in, and no man engaged in my 
 business is fit for membership in any Ciiristian Church?" That was the li- 
 quor-seller's testimony; and it is the testimony of all engaged in the traffic- 
 
 I said, a moment ago, wo came very nearly settling the third question; 
 namely, the criminality of the governmental policy, of licensing, sustaining, 
 and protecting the liquor traffic. From 1845 to 1855, a period of ten years, 
 the following facts developed themselves ; namely, that twelve States in our 
 Union passed laws directly in favor of temperance reform. Two other 
 States, taking advantage of conventions to reform or remodel their Stale 
 Constitution, admitted the principle of prohibition and put it into their Con- 
 stitution; namely, Ohio and :\Iichigaii ; and there it is to-day, brethren, to 
 go out no more forever. There is no license system in Ohio and Michigan, 
 and there never will be. The States that thus adopted the temperance laws, 
 most of them absolutely prohibitory, but all of them far in advance of the 
 old license system, are the following: Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Con- 
 necticut, New Hampshire, Iowa, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Indiana, Dela- 
 ware—the only slave State,— New York, and Pennsylvania. I give you 
 these facts and these States by name to show this fact — first, that we had not 
 only revolutionized the public opinion with regard to the use and sale of in- 
 toxicating drink, and had so far undermined the license sys em as to enlist 
 twelve States by statute law and twootiiers, in the manner above indicated — 
 fourteen in all— in favor of the principles of the temperance reformation. 
 
 And now I come to a most painful, and yet very interesting and instruc- 
 tive period i!i the history of the past temperance reformation, and that is, 
 the reason why our reformation stopped just at that point ; for stop it did. 
 Previous to 1855 we had so far reformed public sentiment, and so far in- 
 fluenced public conscience, that the people, with a great deal of unanimity, 
 had not only organized a Slate Temperance Society, but had organized a 
 system of general instruction and education throughout the country. Min- 
 isters of the Gospel— not men with sore throats and broken-down constitu- 
 tions, but men of the very best character in their denomination— men of the 
 highest standard and type of ability, were employed by this State Associa- 
 tion, and they went like flaming heralds east, west, north, and south, to edu-
 
 58 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 cate the people, and that system generally was the grand cause why these 
 fourteen States wheeled into line under the revolution of public opinion. 
 But in 1854 an event happened in the courts of these United States that 
 stopped the wheels of tlie temperance reformation and threw us hick ward ; 
 I mean the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the passage of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Act. The r< peal of the Missouri Compromise broke down the di- 
 vision line between free and slave States. Tlie Kansas and Nebraska Acts 
 bound the Territories and slavery, and those two acts of course broke down 
 the domestic and local character of slavery and introduced it into the politics 
 of this nation, as the great national political issue. Immediately upon the 
 passage of tliese two ads the mind and heart, especially of the North, became 
 fired witli most intense indignation and excitement at. this outrage. Tlio re- 
 sult was, that tlie Republican Party sprang into existence, begotten and horn 
 by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and Kansas-Nebraska Acts. 
 Slavery became immediately the great national political issue of the country. 
 It is a pliilosophical fact, my friends, tliat no individual, or public mind 
 either, can be greatly absorbed witli two great issues at one and the same 
 time. Slavery, becoming the great political issue, eat up our temperance 
 question. It was Pharaoh's lean kine eating up the fat ones. Our system of 
 general education was immediately broken down, and from 1855 to 18ol this 
 country did very little except to talk about slavery, write about slavery, 
 preach about slavery, pray about slavery, fight and swear about slavery. 
 The result was that, by 1861, a good miny of these laws were repealed, owing 
 to the never-ceasing vigilance of the liquor party and the diversion of the 
 public mind from the temperance question by the discussion of the question 
 of slavery. 
 
 In 18(Jl the excitement about slavery broke out in rebellion. Tlie old flag 
 was fired on at Ft. Sumler, and the nation flew to arms as for its life and 
 existence. From 18ljl to 18G5 we were engaged in fighting rebellion and 
 .saving the life of the nation, and during those four years the following facts 
 were exhibited in the influence of tliat excitement and rebellion on the tem- 
 perance cause : First, the system of education was broken up ; secondly, our 
 general organization was demorali/ed, and ceased operation ; thinlly, the 
 temperance cause, in its advociey, was left almost entirely in tlie lian<ls of 
 the Sons of Temperance, Teiiiiilcs of Honor iirul 'reiiipciiince, and the (iood 
 Templars; sothat, at the close of the war, we found ourselves just in tliis 
 condition: First, no .system of general education ; secondly, no open pledge 
 organization that was doing anytiiing of conseiiuence; and, thirdly, the tem- 
 perance reformation wis exclusively in llie hands of \vhat is calleil the Secret 
 Orders of Temperance. That is the past. 
 
 What I mean by the present, whicii forms tiio seconil point, commences 
 with IKt;."). .\ large number of gentlemen met in the interest of this country 
 in tin- eiiy of New York, and while discussing the general (ini'siinn wliieli 
 iirose out of the conclusion of the war — and, perhnjis, discussing more than 
 any other, the policy of rconslrnclion — came to the conclusion that the Tem- 
 perance cause ought to be reconstructed ; and they went to work to accom- 
 jtlish its reconstruction. Tiiey ii]q>oiiiled ;i committee, whose duly was lo
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. P. COOM15E. 59 
 
 call a National Temperance Convention. And now I want your attention, 
 brctliren in the Church, and ministers of the Church. We culled a Conven- 
 tion ; tliat Convention consisted of a novel feature. The cliurclies of this 
 country, in their official and organized form, were, for the first time in the 
 history of this country, invited to take part officially in the great work of 
 temperance reformation. Before that, all invitations which went to tlie 
 Church, to elect and send delegates to the National Convention, weie referred 
 to them as individuals. This call specified the Churcli in her organized and 
 official and ecclesiastical character, and invited them to elect and send dele- 
 gates to Saratoga, to meet August 2, 18G5, to reconstruct the temperance 
 reformation. The same call contained also an invitation to the different or- 
 ganizations of the country, open and private, to do the same thing ; and on 
 the 21st of August, 1865, the Convention met, thus composed, for the 
 first time in the history of the temperance reformation, at Saratoga Springs, 
 and organized. Three hundred and twenty delegates v^ere present. More 
 than lialf of them came directly from the Christian Churches, and were com- 
 posed of ministers or members of the churches they represented. Tlie other 
 portion came from the temperance organizations of the nation ; so that the 
 Christian Church of this nation had at least three-fourths, if not four-fifths 
 of the membership of that Convention. That Convention did three things. 
 In the first place, it reconstructed the temperance cause, by restoring it to 
 its original platform and giving it its primary character. They did this 
 by the following resolution: ''Resolved, That the Temperance cause is a 
 Christian enterprise; and, while it is right and proper for its friends to avail 
 themselves of the power of the law and tlie teaching of the sciences, and to 
 employ all other agencies and instrumentalities by which the temporal wel- 
 fare is promoted" — now mark — " their main reliance must be on the 
 reliffiotis principle and the co-operation of the relif/ious community." 
 
 There is where the temperance cause started first, in 1811. It was started 
 by the Church, placed upon a religious basis, and for twenty-five years — 
 from 1811 to 1836— the Church kept it wholly. But for causes not necessary 
 to relate, the Church and the temperance society gradually drifted apart, 
 and, at the close of the war, the Church was one thing, and the temperance 
 organization quite another. That Convention, therefore, reconstructed tlie 
 temperance cause and put it upon its original foundation, declaring ii to be 
 a Christian enterprise and dependent mainly on the religious principle and 
 cooperation of the religious community. In the second place, they organ- 
 ized a National Temperance Society, and, by a mistake, refused the old name of 
 "Union," so as not to come in contact with the old " Temperance Union," 
 and called it " Society" instead of "Union." They located its headquarters 
 at New York City, and placed in its Board of Managers members and min- 
 isters from the leading denominations in the country, and also officers and 
 members from the leading men of the other temperance organizations of the 
 nation. They organized that National Temperance Society to be the head 
 and representative of temperance in the United States of America, deter- 
 mined, hereafter, to conduct llic temperance reformation, in this whole nation, 
 on a Christian platform, and regulate it by a Christian policy.
 
 60 MINUTES OF COXYENTIOX. 
 
 The third thing they did, was to request every State in the Union to or- 
 ganize a State Temperance Union, and make it auxiliary to, and connect it 
 with the National Temperance Union. The object of that was, to bind the 
 States to give aid to the temperance reformation throughout tlie country, and 
 to model the temperance reformation under the form of the National and 
 State Governments. We have a Congress for the whole, a State government 
 for eacli State, and we propose to carry out this same principle in conducting 
 this reformation to final success and triumph. We have, therefore, a Na- 
 tional Aid Society in each State in the Union; and these are, or ought to be, 
 connected with the National Temperance Society as the head and represen- 
 tative of them all. 
 
 On the 2Gth of February, 1867, the State of Pennsylvania complied with 
 the request of the National Temperance Convention, and, in the city of ITar- 
 risburgh, having convened a convention by the same call, composed in the 
 same manner, that convention met in the Court House, at Harrisburgh, and 
 organized a Pennsylvania State Union, of which I have the honor of being 
 corresponding secretary. That State Temperance Union is auxiliary to the 
 National Union, and that State Temperance Union proposes now to reach 
 the Churches of the State of Pennsylvania by an agency which never before 
 existed in the State. When that State Temperance Union was formed, or, 
 rather before, there was not a single lecturer or minister employed in the 
 State specilically that was not a representative of, and sent out by one of the 
 Order. The result was, that a great many of our Churches, being opposed 
 conscientiously and religiously to all forms of secret organizations, could not 
 be reached by any existing instrumentality. A great many others in various 
 Churches, wlio had not commiiled themselves deiioniinationally and ecclesias- 
 tically against secret societies, si ill had ilicir prejudices, ami thus ilmusands 
 (if the warmest-hearleil temperance men in Pennsylvania refused to have 
 any tiling to do with these secret orders, as they are called. These secret 
 orders, so-called, joined with tiic members and ministers of Ciiristian 
 Churches in forming tlie Pennsylvania Slate Temperance Union, the object of 
 wliieh was, first, to create an agency that would be acceptable to the Churches 
 coming in contact willi none of tlieir principles, opposing none of their reso- 
 lutions, and being free from all of llieir jjvejudices. The object of the Penn- 
 sylvania State Union, therefore is, first, to secure the active, official, and un- 
 dying co-operation of each and every Clirislian denomination in the Slate. 
 In our Hoard of Managers arc rcpresetilalives from tlie Protestant Churches; 
 and one of the most earnest men we iiave is a lawyer in Oil City, possessing 
 tliree qualifications, in llie first jdace, he is a true Democrat ; in the s<>ciind 
 place, lie was a former druniiard; in the third place, he is a rigid Uoniaii 
 Catholic. 
 
 I mention these facts to show ynu Ihat this Union uirans snmi'tliiiii!;: and, 
 if I hail time, and you had patience, 1 would like to give yuii a lillle nulline 
 of the manner in whicii the Cimreiie.s are wlu-eiing into line. 1 will say, 
 however, iti a nulslieli, liial lliis Stale Temi)erance Union has met the wislies. 
 complied with liie di-irch, and meets the demands, of llic most rigid clniicli 
 ^people in the Stale thai have any It ini.lsliip al all for the temperance cause.
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. P, fOOMHE. Gl 
 
 They say, wiiliout any liesitation, ymi liiive placed tlic Church in licr proper 
 position; wo are now willing to co-operate in the temperance reform and 
 take our place, side by side, with these other societies, because we can do it 
 without violating our conscience. Tiie result is, this reconstruction of the 
 temperance cause presents an open front to the Churcii, and constitutes the 
 Church of Jesus Christ to-diiy, in the State of Pennsylvania, the great leader 
 of the Temperance reform. 
 
 Now, that is the organization of the' Churches and their combination with 
 the Temperance Societies of the State. In other words, we have agreed, my 
 friends, if you will allow me to speak figuratively, to enter into the bands of 
 matrimony, as temperance societies, and there is no power on earth of euffi- 
 cicnt influence to forbid the bands. It will be but a short time before the 
 Christian denominations of this State, and others, will stand, side by side, 
 with the temperance society; and, forming one great army, directed upon 
 the common principle of having a diversify of forms and operation, but with 
 one common head and object, move forward, as God's sacramental host, to 
 war against sin and darkness in the liquor traffic. 
 
 Now, the necessity for this Union on the part of the Church, arose from 
 the combination of the liquor organizations. During the war you heard a 
 great deal about the "Whisky King" some little, also, of the "Brewers' 
 Association," but you heard nothing of the power that iniidels had in this 
 liquor organization, because they did not form and organize until IS'iT. Af- 
 ter the war was over and the reconstruction of tlie temperance cause com- 
 menced, somehow or other these liquor organizations, that hitherto had 
 been acting separately and distinctly, took the alarm. They went to work 
 and combined their organization so as to concentrate their power for the con- 
 trol of the Government and perpetuating the license system of this counli-y. 
 The Whisky Ring was organized after the following manner: First, They 
 have divided into four grand societies, — one located at New Orleans, one at 
 Chicago, one at New York, and one at Philadelphia. Then there is their 
 general organization. I cannot stop to tell you why they have divided, 
 except to keep from dividing. In addition to these four general societies, 
 they have whisky rings, called "Liberty Leagues," in every city in these 
 United States: and the Southern State Whisky Ring, being auxiliary to the 
 New Orleans Ring; the Western State Whisky Ring, auxiliary to the Western 
 Whisky Ring organization at Chicago; the Eastern Whisky Ring, divided in 
 their auxiliary and relationship between New York and ThiladelpJiia, aiul 
 that division is generally regulated, or regulated mostly by the commercial 
 and business relations of the Eastern Slates. 
 
 Now, these are the general and State organizations for the Whisky Ring. 
 In addition to that they have a whisky ring in every city, borough, and, in 
 many instances, in every ward and township. This is the Whisky Ring of 
 which all of you have heard so much and but few of you know much. 
 
 The second division of the liquor party is composed of the '• IJrewers' As- 
 sociation." They had had a Rrewers' Association for several years, but at 
 the close of the war they baptized and gave it a name, and called it "The 
 Brewers' Congress of the United States of America." It meets cncc a year.
 
 62 MINUTES OF CONVENTIOX. 
 
 They have resolved to have their organization, first, in every city of tliis 
 Union; second, in every county of every State. And these three forms of 
 organization constitute the Brewers' Congress. 
 
 The third division of the liquor party was composed and set oif from the 
 rest on the If.ih of August, 18G7, at Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, and was 
 composed of infidels who desire to make an open and unblushing attack on 
 the American Sabbath. This was immediately after the adjournment of the 
 Brewers' Congress. Most of them are members of both the Whisky Ring 
 and the Brewers' Congress. All of them are members of one or the other, 
 but principally of the Brewers' Congress. They have adopted and published 
 a platform, which platform I propose to read to you presently : and I call 
 your attention, before I do so, to this fact : You will find, when I rc.ul those 
 platforms, that the Whisky Ring and Brewers' Congress have a common 
 platform, with very little difference; second, that the Brewers' Congress and 
 Whisky Ring, esptcially the former, liave agreed to unite with individuals of 
 this country^for the overthrow of the American Sabbath, and have engaged, 
 upon the principle of bargain and sale, that if the infidels will unite with 
 them to oveillirow the Temperance Reform, they will unite with thorn to 
 overthrow the American Sabbath. You will find their platform in the Re- 
 port of the State Temperance Union, page G7. (Here Mr. Coombe read the 
 platforms of the W^hisky Ring, and Brewers' Congress.) 
 
 Now, my friends, you have the platform of the Liquor party, their organi- 
 zation, and the combination of their organizations, and the present aspect of 
 the Temperance cause presents simply this field for your consideration. la 
 the first place, the liquor organizations are united and bound as a political 
 organization for two purposes: first, to break down the Temperance cause 
 by perpetuating the license system in tiiis nation; and, secondly, to break 
 down and destroy and overthrow llio American Sabbath,— the Sabbath of 
 our fathers and of our God. On the other hand, you arc tlie churclies of 
 Jesus Christ resolving, first to unite, and, second, to combine witii the tem- 
 perance societies. That work of union is now going on, and it is conducted 
 principally through the agency and instrumentality of the Pennsylvania 
 State Temperance Union; aided and assisted most nobly by the Good Tem- 
 plars, Sons of Temperance, and Temples of Ilonoi and Temperance. We 
 propose, wlien we can get the ciiurches to take proper ground on the subject 
 to wliecl into line alongside tlie temperance organizations, and break down 
 the license system and destroy all legal commerce of tlic most infernal trallic 
 that ever saw the light of the sun. 
 
 There are one or two oilier points that mark tlic history of the prcFont, 
 and which, if I were not afraid of transcending my lime, I would like to 
 give you. I will refer only to one. .Since the close of the war the liquor 
 traflic has wonderfully fallen off. The number of distilleries has decreased 
 about one h ilf. The trade has fallen off about one-half. It is almost im- 
 po.Msible now to gel, in any decent communiiy, twelve men to sign a liquor 
 applicuiion. The tavern keepers are advertising their property for sale, 
 to an exicnt never known before in I he liiM-.ry of the American ]. enisle. 
 The courts, as a general thing, throughout "ur Slate, are taking this ground
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. P. fOOMRE. 63 
 
 — that, if the people will rcmons(ralc, no license shall be grantci], in par- 
 ticular places. In Indiana and Jetlerson Counties the judges have put their 
 heads togolher, and, in npitc of (lie liquor sellere, and tveryiliing else, have 
 abulislied the whole license system ; and there is not a single licensed grog- 
 shop in cither of tliose counties; and that, too, by the action of the courts. 
 Since the first day of January, 1870, to the sixteenth of this month, I liavc 
 been in one hundred and thirty-eight towns and villages. Tliese are distri- 
 buted among sixteen countifs. In those one hundred and tliirty-eight towns 
 and villages there are but forty-nine that have a licensed grog-shop. The 
 balance of them are either protected by local prohibitory laws, or license is 
 abolished by t' e action of the people and the decisions of the courts. But 
 the most significant fact that connects itself witli ihe present history of the 
 Temperance cause is the demoralization, if not destruction, of tiie Whisky 
 Ring. At the close of the last Administration, of the General Government, 
 the Whisky Ring had the reins of the government so far in its hands as to 
 break down our revenue system ; or, in other words, to prevent the collec- 
 tion of the tax on whisky. Secretary Welles tells us, in a foot note, that 
 Ihe governnient collected only one dollar where it ought to have collected 
 eight. The Xeiv York World says that $180,000,000 that year went into the 
 pocket of the Whisky Ring. When the present administration came into 
 power they determined to break down the power of this Whisky Ring, not 
 on temperance principles, but national safety and policy. They went to 
 work, first, to enforce the laws already in existence, They caught the men 
 who were cheating the revenue, tried them, convicted them, lined them, and 
 ra prisoned them. 
 
 The government farther adopted this policy. They first reduced the tax 
 on whisky from two dollars, to fifty cents, in oider to leave the whisky 
 men without excuse. Their plea was that the tax was so heavy they had to 
 defraud the goverment ; and under that reduced duty, they adopted farther 
 stringent measures, one of which is sufficient everlastingly to damn the 
 whole business; that is, they fastened on every distiller a government detec- 
 tive, who was to watch the distillery, which was compelled to pay his salary. 
 Such a thing had never been known in the history of the civilized world; 
 and that, in itself, was sufficient to break down the whole history of the 
 business as a manufacture. 
 
 In the second place, they went to work to execute those laws and enforce 
 the revenue. They soon compelled the larger dealers in Ihe wliisky busi- 
 ness to pay the duty, and they resolved if thej could not cheat the govern- 
 ment nobody else should. Tiiey called conventions, the object of which was 
 to break down the little distillers and wealthy capitalists, designing to get 
 the arrangement in their hands so as to corner the market when they pleased. 
 The little dealers, not being able to hold on, sold whenever they had a gooil 
 chance ; and now they adopted a policy to increase the whisky duties, se- 
 condly, by buying grain, as far as they were able, with mouthy ; then the}' 
 borrowed money, loaded down the distilleries with grain, nianufaclured 
 whisky, and have to-day got a larger stock of whisky than was ever known 
 in the history of the Un'ted. States. There is nol a distillery in the nation
 
 64 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 to-Jay tliat has not a larger stock than ever before. The object of that wa 
 tliis. If they could get an increase on the duty on whisky they could fill 
 their pockets by a rise in price; therefore tliey manufactured \v]ii;-ky, put 
 it in store-houses, paid the old duty and waited for the issue. Thoy went 
 to Congress and Congress refused to increase the tax. Whether they under- 
 stood the plan or not I do not know, but God did, and the wicked were 
 snared in their own net. They went home with the little whisky dealers 
 jubilant. The banks, getting alarmed, refusad to leml them money, and the 
 whisky distillers all over this country, are going about begging for money 
 offering twelve to fifteen per cent. I know these things to be facts. The 
 result of this state of things is, there is scarcely a large distillery in this na- 
 tion in operation. Under this system, whisky has fallen, the back of the 
 ■Whisky Ring is broken, and it has sunk in anathema to rise no more 
 
 forever. 
 
 The future of the Temperance cause is in the hands of the church, and 
 it is to be just what the church will make it. The temperance societies 
 have discovered that it is utterly impossible for them to conclude this re- 
 formation without the church: they have therefore granted what tlio church 
 claim. You who are familiar with the progress of the history of the Tempe- 
 rance cause must remember this fact. All along the line of progress, espc- 
 cially of the last twenty-five years, a large proportion of Christian people 
 have claimed that the temperance societies were taking the work out of their 
 hands. That they were God's own appointed agency for the reforin;ition, 
 as well as the salvation of men, and tliat when you substituted the Temper- 
 ance Society for tlie church in this work you retlected upon the latter, and 
 said, it was not equal to the work. The Christian Church, tlierefore, claim 
 the leadership in tliis cause. Sccomlly, Temperance Societies have granted 
 that claim; and say to thechurch, Now take the arrangement in your hands. 
 We acknowledge you as God's grand agency, not only for the salvation, but 
 the reformaiiun of men. Take your proper position in the fore-front, lead 
 on the battle, and we will follow you to victory. 
 
 In llie third place, the world requires the Church to take this position. In 
 passing over your city no one fact struck me witli nnu-e furcc than the ile- 
 mand of the world upon the Cliurch. Now I don't want to say anything re- 
 flecting upou the Cliurch, but I must b.; allowed to tell the truth. The lr\ith 
 is this: .Men and women, not members of the ('hurch, and no faultfinders 
 and censurers of the Chureh, none of your sore heads, hul nu'n of intclli- 
 gonce and standing, of wealth and refinement and character, say to me, all 
 over this State, "Mr. Coombe, the only thing that hinders >is, is want of ac- 
 tivity and zeal on the part of the Churches. Now while your temperance so- 
 ciety is supported mainly by ihIumw and ministers of the (^lurches, your 
 
 Churches cHicially are not <loing their duty; and you know it as well as we 
 Clin lidl you." Tlier(!forc tlic whole r(!>iponsibility is thrown upon the Chris- 
 tian Chtirclies. 'I'lie temperance societies admit they iiave about worked up 
 their nilHsion, ami eall upon the Church to help them. They aie waiting 
 therefore nio«t anxiously and patieiilly, with highest expectations of success, 
 for the Cliurch to take its jiropiM- position, and all that renuxins is for the
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. P. COOMBE. 65 
 
 Churcb, officially and ecclesiastically, to say, the Temperance cause is ours. 
 We will maintain, sustain, and carry it out : and when the Cliurches take that 
 position the question is settled. Let the Cliurches anci Temperance Societies 
 unite in this grand work and the combined and concentrated power of whisky 
 falls — falls to rise no more. 
 
 In passing through Washington County, I came across the Hon. Lawrence 
 T. Wolf. When he listened to me in Monongahela, explaining our plans and 
 describing our future work, he said, "You have hit the nail on the head. 
 Let the Churches unite with Temperance Societies, and Whiskyism has gone 
 up. The Legislature will listen to you, the Courts will listen to you, and 
 politicians will listen to you. To-day the whole liquor party tremble in their 
 boots, because the Church is coming up to the help of the Lord against the 
 mighty as never before." Now, there is where we are; and if the ministers 
 and the membership of the Methodist Church are true to the teaching of 
 Wesley we shall rally around the Temperance cause. We shall take the Tem- 
 perance Society to our bosom, and, in a short time, will stand on the grave 
 of the liquor traffic and deliver it to the Sadducees, with whom there is no 
 resurrection. The future is in your hands. May God help you to meet the 
 responsibility. 
 
 Now a word or two in conclusion. First, the great need of the Tempe- 
 rance Society to-day in the State of Pennsylvania is money, and if you will 
 allow me to be a little personal, I want to make a personal appeal. I stand 
 before you as a member of the Philadelphia Conference. In 18o4, Matthew 
 Serin wrote me a letter. I was then a merchant. He wrote me of a vacancy 
 in Elkton, and said, Now, if your warm heart says, "Lord, what shall I do?' 
 I say, look around. " The fields are already white to the harvest." I gave 
 up my store, sacrificed my business, changed my whole life, and from 1834 
 to this hour have devoted myself to the interests of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church within the bounds of the Philadelphia Conference. I will not refer 
 to the positions I have occupied. Now, where and what am I to-night? An 
 old Methodist preacher, going on sixty years of age, and arrived at that time 
 of life when I ought to be with my family and enjoying comfort and peace; 
 but instead of that, two j-ears and seven months ago the Church of Jesus 
 Christ, which I joined over forty years ago, said, ' Coombe, you are the nianfor 
 this work," and forced me out against my consent; and since that day I have 
 been a wandering pilgrim, without house or home. I returned only yester- 
 day morning from a trip of four mordhs, lacking three days, during which 
 time I never saw my family. I have traveled the whole ground, have talked 
 five hundred and twenty-seven hours — what for ? To save your children from 
 destruction and the Church and Society from the evils of the liquor traffic. 
 
 Now I am doing a work that no mortal man can stand. And why? Simply 
 because you laymen — I can't say preachers, for they have not the money — 
 but you laymen in the Methodist Church, and others, have not furnished us 
 with the funds to put another man alongside of me. Now do you want to 
 murder Pennel Coombe? If not, I ask you then to take the claims of tlie 
 Association, which I represent, into consideration, and furnish the money. 
 We have plenty of men of ability who will go out if we can secure the money 
 
 5
 
 66 MINUTES OF COlSrV^ENTION. 
 
 for their support. I want the laymen of the Methodist Church in this State 
 to show their liberality by furnishing their proportion of the funds. 
 
 Now, brethren, may God bless you! I feel happy to-night. You don't 
 know how happy my old heart is. I have got to the top of the mountain and 
 see the promised land on the other side. The Whisky Ring is broken, and 
 the whole thing running down. It will be but a few years when I hope to 
 preach its funeral sermon and die a happy man. Now will you help us on in 
 our work' 
 
 A protracted discussion followed the delivery of the above 
 address. The first speaker was 
 
 Frederick Schluemback — Mr. President, Christian Friends and Fellow 
 Delegates of the Cotivention: It surely will not be expected that I should de- 
 fend intemperance, when I rise here, for a man who has tested the evil, who 
 has been under that banishment of the devil himself, cannot defend it after 
 being cured; so I can not say one word against the noble appeal to which you 
 have listened from my brother. But one little thing I have to remark before 
 I go further, is, the attack on the Geraian Sabbath-day. I don't like to see 
 it stand on record in the way in which it is given, for I believe the brother 
 who made the attack heard or read that account of the German Sabbath from 
 drunken friends abroad, for he surely has never been there and seen what he 
 pretends to say here. I do not want to attack the brother at all, but my 
 heart should surely respect tlie place where the cradle stood ; the place where 
 I heard for the tirst time from my dear mother's lips the name of Jesus; 
 where I many a Sabbath-day have sat under the pulpit listening to the glo- 
 rious news of salvation, on Sabbath-days, just as quiet, just as beautiful and 
 lovely as I enjoy them now in this country. Therefore, I say you go too fast 
 if you attack tlie German Sabbath and tiie German nationality turoiigh the 
 Temperance cause. 
 
 And now I say, if this appeal were made to us in the shape of running 
 armies, if this question of temperance and intemperance would have to be 
 fought out witli needle guns and chassepots, I would be the iirst man to en- 
 ter my name on tlie list of temperance ; lint lliank the Lord, tlii.s (lueslion is 
 one of plain discussion, and is to be decided on the side of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Ciiurch under the guidance of our Lord and Master Jesus Clirist ; 
 and he says, "The best of all is cliarit^." " Love one anoliuu-." 
 
 I will only try to-night, in my humble and weak way, to illustrate tlie 
 cause of intemperance and the cure which I think ouglit to be applied, as fur 
 as it goes, to the German class of our country. You, surely, will know how 
 to attack ami beat the enemy on the American side of tlie house; I, as an 
 old warrior in intemperance, on the German side, and to do this we have got 
 to stand and argue from one point where we all stand, saint and sinner. 
 This point is, all, — those who use intoxicating drinks, as well as we who 
 abstain from them — agree on one point, that intemi)erance is the greatest 
 evil of the present age. This is acknowledged in every lager beer saloon. 
 
 Now who oii^ht to fight intemperance; who can stand it? Who can all'ord
 
 ADDRESS OF FREDERICK SCHLUEMBACK ESQ. 76 
 
 it? I will follow our beloved Bishop in his method, and say first who can- 
 not afford to fight intemperance? And, first, political parties cannot. If we 
 wait for thera, we shall have to wait a very long while. TIkmi, a great many 
 of the Churches of ditl'ereat denominations cannot afford to do it. They will 
 surely say that intemperance is an evil, but they do nothing, liut I know 
 that the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States can aflord to fight 
 intemperance, and will fight it. Permit me to say now how I would like to 
 fight, and actually do fight it. And first of all, 1 fight intemperance by love. 
 Why? Because I take the retrospect. I, through moderate drinking, be- 
 came an immoderate drinker, and actually stood on a drunkard's grave, sick, 
 worn down ; but I thank the Lord, to-night, and shall through all my life, that 
 one good Methodist sister and brother stepped up to me one day, not quite 
 two years ago, and in kindness and love, their arguments, so like a father's 
 and mother's, saved me from destruction and placed me under the guidance 
 of the Lord and made me what I am to-day. Therefore I like to follow their 
 example, believing that the same kindness and love that saved me will save 
 others. I say, go among them, argue with them; don't pass them by and 
 say because they are Germans they are joined to their idols. I can assure 
 you, my Christian friends and brethren, that in Germany intemperance is a 
 
 ticket of leave; it excludes from good society. If to-day all the Germans 
 
 now I speak especially for them— if to-day all the Germans in the city of 
 Philadelphia were to know that word of tJieir conduct would be sent home to 
 their parents and relatives, they would slied bitter tears of repentance, for 
 they would know that at home there ivould be great sorrow. I say, go and 
 try to lift up more of my countrymen by making intemperance a ticket of 
 leave for every man, giving him a ticket to go right out of good society. Of- 
 tentimes, to my own knowledge, intemperance is not a curse among the low 
 only, but among the better class and those who profess religion. I know 
 many cases of prominent men who rolled in the gutter, and were carried 
 home drunk to their families, and the next Sabbath-day I have seen them at 
 Church. my friends, if you come to this standard, that every man who 
 drinks shall be excluded from your presence, then the cause of temperance 
 will soon triumph. Prohibitory laws are good, yet unless enforced they are 
 useless, but tLe power of kindness will conquer. I know this from expe- 
 rience. Kindness and love go farther than law. I lived under the tem- 
 perance law and drank more than when there was no sucli law, but love 
 saved me; therefore I say, fight against the evil of intemperance with love; 
 use the arguments God has given in liis own good book, and when you meet 
 again in a Methodist State Convention you will know that these few re- 
 marks, feeble as they are, have some truth in them. 
 
 Judge McCalmont. — I presume that I was not placed upon this Commit- 
 tee because the subject was familiar to me, or that I had devoted to it much 
 time, but I presume it was merely because I was connected with the Metho- 
 dist Church in the western part of the State, and that it was deemed proper 
 by the gentlemen here present at the time of appointing the Committee to 
 honor that part of the State with a representative. But I have listened with 
 nterest to the remarks of my friend who is on the Committee, and who is so
 
 68 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 prominently identified with the temperance organization, and although I may 
 be considered, sometimes, an extremist, yet there were some things in the 
 report- that seemed extreme to me; but I concluded at once, to waive all ob- 
 jection to these, and allow them to go before the Convention, because they 
 were in substance right, and I coincide with my brother in his views about 
 the duty of ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There are partic- 
 ular times, and have been in the history of the Church from the beginning, 
 when certain crimes are more rampant than others, and when they seem to 
 over-awe everything and beat down all barriers, and when it is the duty of 
 ministers and of the Church, to stand up and denounce them. 1 do not say 
 they have been remiss on this subject, but I say it is necessary to uphold 
 their hands in this matter. And I will not say there are not mysteries con- 
 nected with the subject. I have looked upon it and have studied it as a 
 great mystery. Men seem unable to control their appetites, and are led to 
 such extremes that they debase and ruin themselves, and bring ruin upon 
 their families and friends. While the brother who preceded me was speak- 
 ing, I could not help thinking it is not the Germans alone that intemperance 
 is destroying; it is the flower of the American youth; it is the bright, beauti- 
 ful lads at our schools, despite all the teachings of parental afteetion and all 
 the restraints that can be thrown around them. Upon every hand tempta- 
 tion meets them, and the law sanctions the placing of temptation in their 
 way. Now, I am in favor of women being kept in their proper sphere; I 
 love the words mother, sister, daughter, but if there is anything that would 
 make me favor bringing them into public notice it is that tbcy should have 
 the right of suft'rage on this temperance question. And when we look at it, 
 80 far as that is concerned, what is there in it, why men should regard it 
 as such a terrible thing for women to deposit a ballot ? Who has such inte- 
 rests at stake in this question as woman, and why should she not be permit- 
 ted to express her wishes by depositing her ballot? Now 1 am not here to 
 advocate this matter, but I simply throw it out, and I say, if women can't vote 
 they should at least cast all their influence against this monster evil; they 
 should nuike it known tliat they are determined to press it, and that if men 
 want to prevent them from voting they must assist them in carrying out llu-ir 
 ▼iews. It needs a little more for this. Our children arc dependent upon you, 
 and when you come to ask them about it, why they arc taught at the com- 
 mencement of their education, and the most iiiiporlaiit ]iart of it, how defec- 
 tive they are in their knowledge of governmental duties, how ilcfoctivi" in llicir 
 knowledge of their po.-iition with reference to the Church and State. 
 
 Now I do not believe in this (^)iiv(Milion iiaving anything to do with any 
 political party, but I do believe we should cc-oporalo with every Christian 
 church and all good citizens, in voting for men of good moral character. 1 
 doMl believe in being made the foot-ball of politicians, and using the Cliurch 
 to elect a certain candidate, or promote tiie inlerostsof a particular party, 
 but I believe in standing fast by our principles and in our enforcing them by 
 our voles. Tiicre may be little expressions, hero and lliere, wliich maybe 
 considered extreme, yet it will be found that they are the sense of this Con- 
 vention, and that as you call them out you will see it is almost impossi-
 
 ADDRESS OF DR. PARRISH. 69 
 
 ble, in the short time we have, to give effective expression to the sentiments 
 that are not well matured. And in this connection I am pleased to say that 
 that essay we heard this morning, like many others from the same source, is 
 a most finished production, and will stand the test of criticism everywhere, 
 not only among Methodists, but all denominations. 
 
 Joseph Parrish, M. D. — I rise to say but a very few words. I have sat 
 with the rest of you, during this entire session, listeningto find what the church 
 can do. I was interested in the elaborate report of the doings of the State Tem- 
 perance Union, and I was a little more interested in the inspired speech of 
 our German friend. I am not a believer, as the Judge is not — and I am very 
 happy to have such good authority — in political action, that is, distinct and 
 separate. I am a believer in the power and efficiency of the Gospel, which 
 we profess, and I believe that when we put that into practical effect, apply- 
 ing it to drunkards, and to drunkard-makers, if you so please to call tliem, 
 that we will, by personal effort, hard labor, and active exertion, accomplish 
 a great deal more good than we have hitherto accomplished. 
 
 Another thing I would like to suggest to our friends. I think we mistake, 
 to a very large extent, the real causes of this evil. We are very apt to seize 
 upon the nearest and most palpable exhibitions of the evil, and associate 
 them with the most direct and immediately apparent causes, and think we 
 have found out the true relation between cause and effect. But I think we 
 shall have to go very far back of the dram-shop, far back of the habit of 
 moderate drinking, if you please, in order to find the cause of drunkenness. 
 I wish we had time to-night to discuss among, ourselves, this question. The 
 dram-shop is the temptation in the way of the unwary, the foot-fall in the 
 path of the weak, but it is not, in any philosophical sense, a cause of intem- 
 perance with which we ought to contend originally : we must go back 
 to the constitutions of men to demonstrate that they came into existence with 
 depraved physical natures very often. Let the ministers and members of the 
 Church, who are inspired with a true sense of the Gospel they profess, take 
 hold of them, inspired with love, as our German friend has observed. If there 
 are thirty thousand temperance men in Pennsylvania to-night, men pledged 
 to abstain from all that intoxicates, themselves, and they use all their influence 
 to have others do the same, I say there can be no tfuth in the Bible we be- 
 lieve, no truth in the Gospel we preach, no validity in the promises of God, 
 if those thirty thousand men and women, each one of them, fix their mind 
 and heart, and prayers and labors upon a drunkard and arum-seller, and go 
 to work in the spirit of faith, and thirty thousand drunkards and rum- 
 sellers are not converted during the year. But we have not courage, we 
 have not faith enough, to go out and face the enemy. It is a very easy 
 thing in a temperance meeting, and in Conventions like this, to pass resolu- 
 tions and indulge in large platitudes that sound magnificent, but a very hard 
 thing, sometimes, to make personal sacrifices, to go into dram-shops, to sit 
 down by the drunka.rd and do his heart and soul good. 
 
 I would speak longer, but others desire to say something on this subject, 
 and I want to impress upon you the thought that the real cause of intempe- 
 rance lies back of the apparent cause, and that legislation will not reach it;
 
 70 MINUTES OF CONA^'ENTION. 
 
 it can be reached only in the way I have suggested. Take the thought with 
 you, and if it is good for anything, practice it ; and, if we come together an- 
 other year, and temperance societies will labor for the reformation of the 
 drunkard, we will have accomplished a good work. 
 
 James Black, Esq. — Brethren of the Convention : A few years since, at the 
 opening or dedication of an inebriate asylum, in the town of Binghampton, 
 N. Y., Dr. Valentine Mott, in reply to a theory very common in our land, 
 and which has been preached here to-night, at least in spirit, replied that 
 the fact was, mania a potu is traceable to the fact that the poison of alcohol 
 had deteriorated the stamina of the people. I hold in my hand a verbal, 
 and, to me, an exceedingly interesting and teachable document, called the 
 Report of the Citizens' Association of Pennsylvania for the year 1808, made 
 to the Legislature, upon the Dependent Criminal Population of Pennsylvania, 
 and I have the honor to inform those who do not know, that our friend and 
 brother Parrish is president of this Association. This institution was char- 
 tered by the State of Pennsylvania for the purpose of laying before the 
 honorable bodies of the Legislature the dependent and criminal population 
 of the State. 
 
 And if you will pardon me, for a moment, I desire to lay before you some 
 facts contained in this report, that are the biisis of my opposition to the 
 liquor traific, the basis of Christian cft'ort in that direction for reform and 
 remedy. In addition to the fact tlmt three-fourths of the poor uained here 
 were made so by strong drink, one-third of the insane are victims of drink. 
 These facts are officially given, and printed by the Legislature, for the 
 people. 
 
 I regret very much to see that the title and objects of this Association are 
 largely changed, owing to the views entertained possibly by misled friends. 
 But with reference to the insane the proportion attributed to intemperance 
 is about one-third. The intemperance of one or both parents is sujiposed to 
 be the cause of one-third of the cases of idiocy. Not less than ono-third of 
 the cases of deaf mutes is traceable to the same cause. About one-third of 
 the cases of blindness owe their infirmity to intemperate parentage. ,Two- 
 thirds of the inmates of our Houses of Refuge are children of intemperate 
 parents. Two-thirds of the pauperism and crime of the State are chargeable 
 to intemperance. The aggregate cost of maintaining those whosa condition 
 is due to intemperance is $ '2,'2i)'.\'.y\0 per annum. 
 
 It is a sad and lamentable fact to learn of tiic misery caused by drink ; it 
 is a sad ainl Innientiiljlc fact to know tliat tlie peace of homes is destroyed by 
 drink; to know that men are carrieil down to a drunkard's hell, even from 
 tii(! cliurcli ; tliatihe hopes that budded at God's altar are blighted by tiiis 
 terrible evil ; that your sons, whom you liave trained with care, and toiled by 
 day and by night in order to give ihcm the best intellectual ;iiid moral cul- 
 ture-, are in danger of being destroyed boily and soul l)y this vice; to consiijer 
 lliatthe daughter whom you have given to a young man wiiose cliaraeler and 
 prospects inet with your best aj)probalion, may come homo in a very few 
 years with life's hopes wrecked, with nil luitii in (iod and man shaken; it is 
 a more serioua fact to remember that the sluniina, the vital power of i-esist-
 
 ADDRESS OF JAMES BLACK, ESQ. 71 
 
 ancc of our people, as a nation, is being sapped by the terrible power of 
 drink. 
 
 Brethren, please remember, and as Christian friends and teaciiers ever im- 
 press it upon others, that alcohol is a poison for ever at war with man's na- 
 ture ; that it is a poison just as much as ciiloroform, strychnine, or arsenic, 
 and that there is no definition of a poison that does not equally apply to and 
 include alcohol ; please remember that tliis is a scientific truth, ami can be 
 scientifically demonstrated; also remember that it is carrying thousands 
 and tens of thousands annually to the grave. Physicians all acknowledge 
 this. Then tlie quibbles as to what God may say, what revelation may 
 say, must all be resolved by this great fact. God cannot speak one thing 
 in nature and another in revelation. Nature says it is a poison ; and ilie 
 only safe rule for anybody is, to let poison alone. If you concede that 
 alcohol is a poison, then the traffic in that poison is a great sin — a crime 
 of the greatest magnitude and enormity. Don't say to me it is honorable, 
 and protect it by law. Please remember slavery a short time ago was 
 considered honorable, and was protected by law, but was it therefore right 
 in the sight of God and the conscience of men? Please remember that the 
 traffic in opium has long been protected in China and India, but because it 
 is protected is it therefore right in the sight of God and in the judgment of 
 men? Please remember that but a few years ago lotteries were protected 
 by law, and when victims were injured and ruined by it, did that make the 
 wrong right? And if these things are wrong and cannot be made right, 
 neither can the liquor traffic, if it takes away our moral power, destroys our 
 intellect, ruins our fathers and husbands and sons, be made right, though 
 sanctioned by legislatures. 
 
 If it is a poison, and the traffic in it a social crime, then what is neces- 
 sary ? I answer, total abstinence for the individual, and prohibition b;/ the Stale. 
 There can be no compromise here. Understand the fundamental principles, 
 and there can be no shifting this platform. You cannot change God's 
 eternal truth to please you and me. If we fail to discharge our duty, then, 
 when the victims of intemperance come up at the Judgment, they may say: 
 "It is because of your unfaithfulness that I am here." Think of it in this 
 aspect and see how your influence ought to be cast. I am out of patience 
 when I see men who seem to think some party interest superior to huuuin 
 happiness and welfare. Vote as you pray If you believe intemperance an 
 evil, then remove the temptation out of the way. 
 
 After a long and earnest discu.ssion, partieij>ated in by Dr. 
 Pershing, T. W. Price, W. J. Paxton, Jndgo ]McCalraont, Dr. 
 Hodgson, F. B. Riddle, Dr. Dashiell, Dr. Patti.-^on, I. H. Tor- 
 rence, and others, the following resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted — viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1, That all facilities for the sale and use of intoxicating liquors lead 
 to and foster unnatural and dangerous appetites for them, inevitably tend-
 
 72 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 ing to the formation of intemperate habits and issuing in wide-spread social 
 evils and corruptions that no police regulations can repress; we therefore de- 
 clare it to be morally wrong, socially impolitic, and nationally wicked to 
 eanction and protect by lawa traffic whose constant tendency and results are 
 pernicious to the iudividiial and disastrous to the community. 
 
 Resolved, 2, That we call upon our members, fellow-Christians of other com- 
 munions and good citizens, to persistently use all proper means for the over- 
 throw of the system of license and the establishment of prohibition. 
 
 On motion, adjourned. 
 Benediction by Robt. H. Pattison. 
 
 SIXTH SESSION. 
 
 St. George's M. E. Church, Philadelphia. 
 
 Thursday morning^ October 20th, 1870. 
 
 The State Convention met according to adjournment in St. 
 George's Methodist Episcopal Church at nine o'clock. 
 
 Rev. H. Sinsabaiigh, of Pittsburgh Conference, in the cluiir. 
 
 Religious services conducted by Rev. James Curns, of the 
 Central Penn.sylvania Conference. 
 
 The minutes of the previous session were read and ajiproved. 
 
 The Chair announced the Topic of tlie present session to be — 
 " The Educational Interests of the Mctiiodist Episcopal Church 
 in I'(!nnsylvania." 
 
 Committee — Rev. George Loomis, D. D., Rev. R. L. Dash- 
 iell, and Rev. I. C. Pershing, D. D. 
 
 R(!V. Dr. Loomis, Chairman of the Committee, presented and 
 read the following able report : 
 
 Essay of Rkv. Geo. Loomis, l^. T). 
 
 In CioiVn jdaiiH iiiHiitulii>iiH are mightier ami more omluriuj; tluiu thoir 
 foundcPH. The laller die, but the I'oniier live on ihrougli the centuries with 
 a broader and intenHer life. 
 
 Tlio outflowing life-currenU of tliese institutions arc iiKirc polciil and more 
 enduriii« than even the inslKutions iheinHplves. 
 
 The hitler hIhiII be ciifuldcd in the tomb of lime, but llic foriiicr Hhall How 
 on llirouj^h iIk' ficrnilicB in cvcrirn'rcuHiiij^ iiitcnsily. 
 
 The life-forces of Oxford cntereii into Iho Wcsleys with a profound scholar-
 
 ESSAY OF REV. DR. LOOMIS. 73 
 
 ship and a broad culture and a rigid training. Thanks to Oxford. Yet 
 Wesleyanism to-day is mightier than Oxford. 
 
 After the accumulated wealth of the learning and wisdom of five centuries 
 had been gathered up into the life of a University, that University became 
 the birth-place of Methodism. 
 
 To-day, after the lapse of less than a century and a half, in its ethical 
 and Christian forces, in its agencies for the enlightenment of the public con- 
 science and purifying the fount of public morals, in its work of educating 
 the millions and re-casting thought and moulding the character of the age, 
 in its upliftings of humanity and its realizations of a common brotherhood in 
 thought and truth and Christianity, Methodism is to-day infinitely greater 
 than tlie University that gave it birth. 
 
 Yet tlianks to the University for the scholarship, culture and training of 
 the members of the "Holy Club." Through the ministries of the Uni- 
 versity God was preparing these men for a work which demanded not only 
 sanctified hearts, but thorough scholarship, and profound learning, and rigid 
 intellectual training. It was a work of laying broad foundations — and laying 
 them deep, and laying them wisely. And God had need, as He always hath, 
 of master-icorkmen. 
 
 Methodism, then, found its inspiration in the University and the Divine 
 forces of Christianity ; and, in its great plans, has ever been true to this in- 
 spiration. 
 
 We are not forgetful of the fact that it has been charged with opposition 
 to an educated ministry and membership. No charge was ever more 
 groundless, or more indicative of ignorance of the birth, mission, spirit, and 
 work of Methodism. 
 
 Wesley, from the very first of his evangelical ministrations, recognized the 
 conservative power of education, and the necessity of literary institutions. 
 
 Commencing the work of evangelism among the colliers of England, he 
 united with Whitefield in laying the foundations of the now noted Kingswood 
 School. It was a grand scene — the laying of the corner-stone of that school — 
 Whitefield kneeling on the ground, surrounded by converted and weeping col- 
 liers, awakened to a new intellectual, as well as moral life— earnestly pray- 
 ing, amid tears and groans, that God would bless the cause of Christian edu- 
 cation. Such the scene. 
 
 Wesley also early projected schools for poor children, which schools, each 
 year, add to the thousands which have received instruction in them. 
 
 At his first Conference he proposed a theological school — a seminary, where 
 men should be trained for the work of the Christian ministry. This concep- 
 tion finds its embodiment to-day in the theological institutions of Richmond 
 and Didsbury, and of Boston. Evanston, and Madison. 
 
 I would not have those who have echoed and re-echoed the charge referred 
 to above forget, that it is a fact of history, possibly of denominational con- 
 gratulation, that Trinceton, to-day, so rigidly Calvinistic in its the- 
 ology, was warmed into life by Methodistic fire, and that Nassau Hall re- 
 ceived a Methodistic baptism at its birth, through the ministry of Whitefield. 
 He inspired its founders with an earnest enthusiasm, and Methodists in Eng-
 
 74 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 land gave it funds. Its President, Davies, wrote thus to Wesley: "How 
 great is the honor God is conferring upon you, in making you a restorer of 
 declining religion." 
 
 Another historic fact. Dartmouth College bears the name of Lord Dart- 
 mouth, a nobleman of England, and none the less noble from being a Metho- 
 dist himself and the friend and patron of Methodism. 
 
 Cowper says of him : 
 
 " We boast some rich ones whom the Gospel sways, 
 And one who wears a coronet and prays." 
 
 One hundred years ago this College received a Methodist christening, and 
 a Methodist was its principal benefactor, and a Methodist's prayers entered 
 into its life. All along the line of Methodistic history we find schools, semi- 
 naries, and colleges springing into existence, and the best talent of the 
 Church consecrated to the work of education. 
 
 Besides the Wesleyan Theological Institutions and Wesleyan Colleges and 
 Wesleyan JJormal Institutions, Methodism has, in England, a grand educa- 
 tional scheme which comprises nearly five hundred day schools and sixty 
 thousand pupils. 
 
 American Methodism has an unprecedented record of labor and sacrifice in 
 founding its universities, colleges, theological schools, and seminaries, the 
 number of which largely exceeds that of any other denomination in the 
 land. 
 
 Men who read the history and view the educational movements of the 
 Church, and witness the spirit of sacrifice pervading the heroic corps of edu- 
 cators — who apprehend the life and genius of Methodism, will never repeat 
 the charge. 
 
 He is a very silly logician who bases his generalizations on accidental cir- 
 cumstances, or circumscribes his line of thought to individual cases and lo- 
 calities, or restricted periods of a Church's history. 
 
 Tiie genius of Methodism prompts, liath ever prompted, to do the work of 
 the hour — to take up the duty nearest at hand; to co-work in the living 
 present, witii God's providences, using the best agencies at liand ; to fore- 
 cast the future, and prcjjarc for the emergencies that sinill press her iit every 
 point of lier expanding greatness. This her genius; thus her life. 
 
 Hence, Christ, and salvation through Christ, first; and then the press and 
 the schools. 
 
 Wo would here record the fact, not boaslingly, but with great graliliidc to 
 God, that in its educating forces, reaciiing oui and taking hold t)f the million 
 through the Book Concern and its numerous depositaries ; through the press, 
 with its vast Issues, interlacing the Continent; through its seminaries and 
 Collegf'H, Mcthodlum is without a j)arullel in denoiiiinationiil liislory. 
 
 Tlierefore, any man who has a reputation for general iiitelligenco cannot 
 afford to affirm that our Church is opposed to education. 
 
 I'cnnHylvania Methodism is no exception to tlie general position taken 
 above, iler educational liislory is one of failh, labur, and sacrifice. She
 
 ESSAY OF REV. DR. LOOMIS. <0 
 
 has not accomplished what she might, what she ought to, have accomplished. 
 Her seminaries and colleges ought to have to-day broader foundations, 
 ampler facilities for instruction, and larger endowments, faculties, and pa- 
 tronage. The heart, prayers, and wealth of the Church ought to have 
 entered more largely into the life of these institutions. More of her aona 
 and daughters ought to have crowded her scholastic halls, and, thoroughly 
 educated, gone forth to bless the Church and reflect honor on the State. 
 Conceding all this, yet it has entered inio history, that Methodism has done a 
 great educational work in Pennsylvania. 
 
 The statistics of this work which have been furnished us, are not as ample 
 as we could desire, yet sufficiently so to give a comprehensive view. 
 
 We commence with Wyoming Seminary. 
 
 Wyoming Seminary and Commercial College. 
 
 This institution is located in the Wyoming Valley, at Kingston. It was 
 founded in 1844. With humble beginnings, it has developed a strong life. 
 Its doors are open alike to males and females. 
 
 During the last quarter of a century it has enrolled nine thousand stu- 
 dents. It has had about three thousand under training for teachers; it has 
 prepared one hundred and twenty-five for College ; has sent forth two hun- 
 dred and fifty to the work of the Christian ministry. 
 
 The last Catalogue shows a Board of Instruction consisting of sixteen mem- 
 bers, with Rev. Reuben Nelson, D. D., as Principal, and an attendance of 
 five hundred and fifty-two students, three hundred and seventy-one of whom 
 were males and one hundred and eighty -one females. 
 
 The Seminary property is estimated at one hundred and twenty-five thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 It has a record worthy of the Church and State. 
 
 Dickinson Seminary. 
 
 This institution is located at AVilliamsport. It embraces both sexes under 
 the same government and instruction. Its buildings are spacious, and will 
 accommodate over two hundred boarding students. 
 
 The last Catalogue records sixty-three females and one hundred and seventy- 
 three male students. 
 
 It has a Faculty of nine teachers, presided over by Rev. W. Lee Spotswood, 
 D. D. It has had many able and devoted teachers ; it has sent forth many 
 excellent scholars of sterling worth. 
 
 Its present relationship to the Church is more intimate and satisfactory, 
 and its prospects for the future more encouraging than at any period in its 
 past history. 
 
 Beaver Seminary. 
 
 This institution is located on the banks of the Ohio River, at Beaver. 
 
 It was founded in 1853, and was opened for pupils in 1856. Its character 
 and the scope of its plan have been enlarged at the suggestion and by the 
 liberality of Judge Agnew.
 
 76 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Its Faculty numbers ten, and is presided over by Rev. R. T. Taylor, A. M. 
 
 The Catalogue for the scholastic year of 18G9 and 70 shows, that one 
 hundred and six were in the female department and fifty-seven in the male- 
 
 A Musical Institute constitutes a prominent feature of the Seminary, and 
 seeks to secure a thorough education in that science. 
 
 Under the Presidency of Rev. R. T. Taylor this institution is enlarging its 
 patronage and its educational facilities, and is doing a good work. 
 
 Its property is estimated at twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 Carrier Seminary. 
 
 This institution is new, and is located at Clarion. 
 
 It has just entered upon its educational life with good promise. 
 
 The Seminary property has cost already over thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 Lake Shore Seminary. 
 
 This is a new educational enterprise, and is located at North East. 
 The building is nearly completed, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars, and 
 will open its halls for the admission of students in December next. 
 
 Irving Female College. 
 
 This institution is located in the Cumberland Valley, at Mechanicsburg. 
 It was founded in 1856. It has a college charter, with power to confer 
 degrees. 
 
 It is presided over by Rev. T. P. Ege, A. M., who succeeded Rev. A. G. 
 Marlatt, A. M., who was President for nine years. 
 
 The institution is designed to furnish a Cliristian home for j'oung ladies, 
 the number of whom is limited to forty. 
 
 Its Christian culture has gone forth to bless many a Methodist family. 
 
 Its property is estimated at thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 Pittsburgh Female College. 
 
 This institution is located in the city of Pittsburgh. 
 
 The Church is largely indebted to Bishop Simpson for the origination and 
 founding of this College, designed for the education of young ladies. The 
 main College building was completed and its halls opened for students in the 
 year 18'%. 
 
 The statistics of (lie institution show a healthful growth, both as regards 
 capacity to receive pu|iiln and fiicilities to instruct. 
 
 Tiie average attendiince during the fifteen years of its existence has been 
 two hundred and seventy-nine. 
 
 It Ih under the control of a, Board of Trustees, of whom Bishop Simpson is 
 President. 
 
 The last CalalDgue sliows a Faculty of twenty-two members, presided over 
 by Rev. I. C. Pershing, U. D. The number of students for the academic year 
 18fi0 ami 70 was two hundred and ninety-five. 
 
 The estimated value of the College property, including buildings, grounds,
 
 ESSAY OF REV. DR. I.OOMIS. 77 
 
 etc., is one hundred thousand dollars, with an indebtedness of seventeen 
 thousand dollars. Upwards of fifty thousand dollars have been suhscribeii 
 as an endowment fund, the greater part of which is conililioned on the pay- 
 ment of the debt, a part of which has been provided for. 
 
 The College seems to have a life strong and vigorous, prophetic of a future 
 serviceable to the Church. 
 
 Allegheny College. 
 
 Located at Meadville. Founded in 1815. Number of Alumni, 454. Average 
 yearly attendance during the twenty-five years 212, most of whom pursued 
 elective studies. 
 
 The Board of Trustees at its last meeting opened the doors of the College 
 to ladies. The last Catalogue records a Faculty of seven, and students num- 
 bering one hundred and twenty-five. It has a valuable Library, extensive 
 apparatus, astronomical, chemical and philosophical — large cabinets, geologi- 
 cal, mineralogical, conchological and entomological. Museum of Art, History, 
 and Reading Room embracing the leading periodicals of America and 
 England. 
 
 The College property is estimated at $244,000. 
 
 Endowment Fund. 
 
 Productive, $93,000 
 
 Partially productive, 85,000 
 
 §178,000 
 Rev. Dr. Ruter, and Rev. Dr, Barker, former Presidents of the College, 
 although now in heaven, still live in the memory and affection of the Church. 
 Rev. Bishop Kingsley, now sleeping in th'; Holy Land, devoted years of his 
 manhood's strength to tlie enlargement of the life of the College. It will 
 have a nobler future for the labors of these grand workers. 
 
 Dickinson College. 
 
 1. Founded in 1783. 
 
 2. Number of yl^M77»i! 1053. 
 
 3. " " Professors in the Faculty 8. 
 
 4. " '' " " " Alumni 7. 
 
 5. " '* Students present year 108. 
 
 6. " " " from Pennsylvania 58. 
 
 7. «' " »' who are religious 60. 
 
 8. Present Faculty: 
 
 Rev. R. L. Dasuiell, D. D., 
 
 President and Professor of Moral Science. 
 Samdel D. Hillman, A. M., 
 
 Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy. 
 
 John K. Stayman, A. M., 
 
 Professor of Philosophy and English Literature.
 
 78 MINUTES OF CONVENTION". 
 
 Hon. James H. Graham, LL. D., 
 
 Professor of Law. 
 Charles F. Hines, Ph. D., 
 
 Professor of JS\i(ural Science. 
 Rev. S. L. Bowman, A. M., 
 
 Professor of Biblical Languages and Literature 
 Rev. Henry M. Harman, D. D., 
 
 Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature. 
 Rev. William Trickett, A. B., 
 
 Adjunct Professor of Modern Languages. 
 
 9. Amount, of productive Eadowment $175,000. 
 
 10. Value of Real Estate. 80,000. 
 
 11. No. Vols, in Libraries 25,uG3. 
 
 This College is located at Carlisle. It has done, and is doing a good work. 
 The lives of Emory, Caldwell, Johnson and McClintock, the now sainted dead, 
 entered largely into its life, and they live in the memory and life-work of 
 hundreds of its Altnnni 
 
 This condensed e.xhibit of tlie status and life of our literary institutions 
 will afford anchorage ground for tlie faith of the Church, wliile we pause for 
 an hour to review the grounds of our faith in our educational work, compare 
 views as to our true line of duty, and inaugurate plans for greater effective- 
 ness in securing larger and belter results in the future. 
 
 At this period of our Churcli history, an advance movement is demanded. 
 The intense intellectual forces of the age, the stern grapple with great social 
 problems, the broader range of scientific thought and investigation, the in- 
 creased demand of the State upon our Church for men pre-eminently qualified 
 for liigli civic an<l diplomatic positions, the earnest call of the jmlpit and 
 mission field for trained scholarly men, and the constantly increasing intelli- 
 gence of the membership of the Church, constitute so many reasons for 
 placing our institutions on advance ground. 
 
 To do this most effectually, there must be the sympathy and intelligent co- 
 operation of the whole Church. In all denomiiuilions, the work of founding 
 and su.staiiiing seminaries and colleges ha.s been left to the few. An elect 
 few have assumed the responsibilities, and shared the lionors. Onr own de- 
 r.ninination is no exception. Tiie idea of personal uwner.sliip has not taken 
 full iiiisscssion of the heart of (he Church. 
 
 We hear .Melhoilisis now talking of l»r. Dashiell's College, Dr. I'er.-^liing's 
 College, Dr. Kpotlswood's .Seminary, ai)parenlly unconscious of the fact that 
 these oducatora are only the servants of the ("hiirch, supervising a great 
 trust, and Inboring for a great deniiiniiiaiidiiiil interest. The pervading de- 
 nominational sentiment shouhl be, that these inslilnlions arc not appendages, 
 but constitute part of Methodism — llnit the relation is one of not patronage 
 dimply, but of proprietor.iliip — ilmi enoh Melliodist in ihe Slate is a proprio- 
 lor, iia'^ underwritten liie bond, and has an individual responsibility. The 
 feeling should be, these schools arc ours.
 
 ESSAY OF UEV. "DR. T.OO^flS. 79 
 
 When these institutions are taken up in tlie essential organism and life of 
 the Churcli, so that her life-currenls will How through thetii, uml tlicv in 
 turn impart to the Church a stronger aiul more enduring life, then, and not 
 till then, will the true harmony of rehition.sliip be attained, and the Church 
 become gloriously grand in her schools. ^ 
 
 Another reason for taking advance ground is found in tlie fact, that our 
 Colleges are in incessant competition with institutions more venerable in age, 
 richer in their endowments, stronger in tlieir alumni, ampler in their facili- 
 ties for instruction and for original research, more largely reputable in the 
 wealth of literature, history, art, pliilosopliy and science treasured up in their 
 libraries, more extensive in their range of instruction through the means of 
 larger faculties, occupying chairs each devoted to a particuhir line of tliought, 
 •whh leisure for original investigation, and with a history which counect.s 
 them with the educated men of Church and State. 
 
 All that these institutions are in real excellence and intrinsic power, would 
 we make ours, and more largely tlius secure the educating of the sons of 
 Methodism, now, in many instances, lost to the Church. Hence the necessity, 
 and, I add, the duty of Methodist men in Pennsylvania, to consecrate their 
 wealth to the cause of Christian education. 
 
 For the purpose, 
 
 1st. Of placing our si'ininarics on a firm financial basis, and of furnishing 
 them with every requisite facility for doing their distinctive work well. Each 
 year tiiey should attain new power, and keep abreast of the best methods of 
 instruction — for the purpose. 
 
 2d. Of giving our Colleges a higher life, and enlarging their efficiency, by 
 first erecting scientific Halls, Laboratories, Observatories, classic buildings 
 for Chapels, Libraries, Art Museums, and Cabinets. 
 
 3d. By furnishing these Halls, Laboratories and Observatories, with the 
 latest and most approved forms of apparatus, philosophical, chemical and 
 astronomical, for illustrating scientific principles, and for advance research 
 by the professors, and by collecting books relating to all departments of 
 thouglit and study, cabinets extensive in their range of illustration, and 
 works of art, inducing aesthetic culture. 
 
 4th. Uy the ample endowment of professorships, thereby securing men pre- 
 eminent for their learning and aptness to teach, as well as a proper division 
 of labor. 
 
 Thus furnished and endovyed our colleges will soon take rank with the 
 oldest and best in the land, and Meiiiodist sons and daughters of the richest 
 mental endowments will throng their halls. 
 
 The feeling of proprietorship in institutions of intrinsic excellence will 
 give direotioa to patronage. Loyalty to convictions and to the Church will 
 discriminate in favor of our own seminaries and colleges, whatever be the 
 directions of popular currents. Election of our own does not imply a de- 
 preciating judgment of others. In the brotherhood of learning, we rejoice 
 at the success of any institution, that is in harmony with our national life. 
 Every true Protestant owes fealty to his Protestant convictions; and Methodism 
 is intensely Protestant. Yet Methodist parents have placed their children iu
 
 80 MINUTES OF CON^^ENTION. 
 
 schools outside of Protestantism, and subjected them to influences the most 
 insidious and potent, and the more potent because insidious. Is it any 
 wonder that these parents have painfully realized the certainty of the fact, 
 that the Papal Church has intreanched herself in their own home-sanctuaries? 
 and that there hath entered there an element foreign to their hopes, and 
 dangerous to their peace? 
 
 Our denominational schools have a right to expect, to demand the patron- 
 age of Methodism, and if these schools are not what they ought to bo, it is 
 her business and duty to make them so. Then the patronage now so reputa- 
 ble, would be quadrupled. 
 
 The increasing numbers, influence, and power of the Church, the social 
 and civic demands pressing her at every point, her widening field of action 
 and her expanding life, indicate the duty of education more general and 
 more liberal, as the conservation of Methodism in its integrity. 
 
 Without this higher intelligence and liberal culture she fails in taking her 
 just social rank, and hence, as a natural sequence, her sons and daughters 
 will seek more congenial communions, and drift away from her altars. This 
 is history. Without this liberal education constantly broadening, she cannot 
 meet the claims of the State upon her for representatives thoroughly quali- 
 fied to fill positions of trust in legislative, judical and executive departments; 
 and thus she fails to project her life and spirit into the higher life of the 
 State, and by degrees drift out of sight. 
 
 Without this liberal education more generally diffused throughout the 
 Church, she cannot from her own life furnish the men of intellectual breadth, 
 and depth, and power, for the pulpit and mission field, so imperiously de- 
 manded, and her failure will insure her disintegration. We say this thought- 
 fully. Hence our plea for liberal culture. Superficiality engenders weakness ; 
 and weakness long continued is a premonition of death, a Church superficial 
 in its theology, in its thoughts and culture, in its training and life, will lack 
 coherency and tenacity of life-power. 
 
 The tendency of the age is in this direction, and finds expression in the 
 commercial college, and in the clamor for a change in the old curriculum of 
 study so radical as to take most of the hard work out of it. 
 
 The commercial college may do a limited work well — may sharpen a few 
 tools keenly. Conceded. Its design is limited. It lacks breadtii and scope. 
 It meets the want of the hour, and young men receive its diploma as the 
 terminus of this brief educational life, and go forth to the responsibilities of 
 the age, shallow in ihoiifilit, nmlevelopcd in intellect, and untraineil in logic 
 an<i i)liil«)Ropliy, wiiiniut the love of learning for its own sake, or the man- 
 hood whicii it forms. Hence it practically superinduces superficiality. 
 
 The clamor against llic old metlioJa, and the established courses of study 
 in our colleges, finds its inspiration in superficial views, and in the dislike of 
 hard, persistent inlellcclnal work. 
 
 Tlie attempt is luiidc t., Icwer the standard of collegiate (MJncalion, so as to 
 avoid the work reijuisite for tiie attainment of true manly scholarship. 
 
 Tiiis siiouM be the point of resistance by Methodist educators, and instead 
 of lowering, they shoull ni'ike the standard of scholarly allaininont higher,
 
 ESSAY OF REV. DR. LOOMIS. 81 
 
 Superfici.ality turns pale at the sight of the uiiiount of hil)(jr iI.'miuikIc.I in 
 education in its sublimer spheres. • 
 
 The Convention will pardon me, if I pause here a moment to say, that by 
 the term education we do not mean simply ilie ac(|uirement of a great mass of 
 facts, the classification of great philosophic principles, or even a comprehen- 
 sive acquaintance with philosophy, natural, mental, ethical, with mathematics, 
 practical and abstract, with the classics, ancient and modern. We do not mean 
 simply a knowledge of the laws which govern matter and mind, an insight 
 into the causes which occasion moral and political revolutions. An under- 
 standing of the great principles of national polity and international law, or 
 tlie enriching of the mind with accumulated and accumulating lore of centu- 
 ries, or all these, but something higher, nobler, mightier. 
 
 We do not mean the communication of knowledge, either by the living 
 teacher or the written volume — the impartation of truth by the vocal utter- 
 ances either of nature or nature's God. But we do mean the development of 
 the spiritual in man by rigid and persistent training, the calling out the 
 powers of a soul unlimited in its grasp of truth ; the enlargement of the un- 
 derstanding to constantly increasing breadth and volume; the training of 
 the reasoning faculties for the great conflict of the true against the false, 
 the real against the sham. The opening of the mental eye, to the ajsthetic, 
 the beautiful in nature and art. 
 
 The formation of a habit of concentration, of fixed and continuous atten- 
 tion, of close grapple in the stern mental conflict, of deliberate, independent 
 judgment, which gives individuality to a man, and prevents him from being 
 absorbed by the mass of intellect around him, of careful analytic investiga- 
 tion, which distinguishes intellectual men, from intellectual babes and suck- 
 lings, who derive their mental sustenance from the breasts of political dema- 
 gogues or educational charlatans. 
 
 The acquirement of a power, a constantly increasing power of thinking, 
 comparing and reasoning. The unfolding of the soul's inherent perceptivi- 
 ties of the beautiful, the pure, and the true. The giving full scope, direction 
 and activity to man's higher and nobler nature. 
 
 We hold no sympathy with a system of education which proposes the im- 
 partation of knowledge only as a means of worldly gain and worldly prefer- 
 ment. 
 
 We plead for a system of education whose whole spirit and aim is to de- 
 velop the reason of man, the glory of his nature. To throw him back upon 
 himself — to make him think — isolated from all other minds, to think accu- 
 rately, profoundly, independently. To increase year by year his power of 
 justly estimating realities which underlie all systems of social philosophy — 
 which have to do with the exactness of his manhood, with the destiny of his 
 soul and his race, with the social, civil and religious well-being — realities 
 which in their far-reaching take hold on God. 
 
 Such mental gymnastics and culture, we claim as the underlying base of 
 all professional or functional education, whether in Philosophy, Medicine, 
 Law or Divinity ; it is a prophecy of professional power and success. 
 
 6
 
 82 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 In this generalization, I would not lose eight of the specific relation 
 Christianity sustains ttJ education. 
 
 God has made conscience one of the functions of the soul. This should 
 be so cultured under divinely appointed means, as to act as umpire in all 
 questions of duty. Yet it should not be forgotten that the moral nature con- 
 stitutionally follows and obeys the law of its depravity, and if the current 
 of this depravity sweeps on unchecked, the voice of conscience will be 
 drowned amid the roar of the desolating mountain torrent of selfishness and 
 passion. Any system of education, or ethical philosophy, which ignores the 
 law of depravity, we deem radically defective. 
 
 Its moral maxims may be beautiful and true, its enforcement of duty just 
 and right, its superstructure to the eye tasteful, symmetrical and ever-endu- 
 ring ; but the rigid test of Christian philosophic truth detects a weakness at 
 the very base — defect in the foundation stone. 
 
 The business of moral culture is, by the use of the Divine forces of Chris- 
 tianity to keep in check this depravity — to give distinctness and intensity to 
 the moral perceptions, to render the moral susceptibilities keenly delicate 
 and sensitive, to gather about it truth ever radiant with light, to bring it 
 close to God, and then leave it free to give utterances of monition, approval, 
 and denunciation. 
 
 I have used the term/rfc I would make it emphatic. In matters of con- 
 science and religion, we claim for man the largest liberty, and for the exer- 
 cise of this liberty hold him accountable only to his God. Not to ecclesias- 
 tical or political tribunals; not to the church or State; not to the priest or 
 
 Pope. 
 
 We repeat it, in this regard, man's accountability is only to his God. 
 
 We would not have it forgotten, that a large intelligence is most intimately 
 connected with an enlightened moral sense. 
 
 All decisions of conscience are based upon antecedent intellections, and 
 are conformable to such intellections. Hence, if the perception be false, if 
 the intellect misapprehends the facts, the decisions of conscience will, as a 
 necessary sequence, be wrong. If intellectual light be wanting, conscience 
 must grope its way in darkness. 
 
 The individu.al governed simply by a religious impulse, and not by reason 
 and an enlightened conscience, acting with all honest ainceriiy upon a false 
 hypotliesis is subject to the most overbearing dogmatism, tlio wildest fanati- 
 cisni, the most rigid sectarianism, the loosest socialism, and the most cruel 
 superstition. 
 
 TIio best forms of scholastic culture in our educational instilulioiis will 
 save the churcli from such revelations. 
 
 It is also painfully true, that men of great intellectual power, of profound 
 learning, and of extensive acquirements in (lie various departments of 
 science, hiw, medicine, and jjliilosophy, have iiiaiiit'cHled great moral depravi- 
 ty, anil their enlarged capabilities have been desecrated to tiic ignohle work 
 of undermining ciiastily, virtue and morality ; of blasting tlie ("iiristian hopes 
 of the unlettered, of scoffing our holy religion, and treating with contempt 
 the cross of Christ.
 
 ESSAY OF REV.- DR. I.OOMIS. 83 
 
 More. From an exalted heiglit, niuny ii prent iiiiinl hftB fallen, iimi in 
 broken fragments lies in ruins amid prosiitulioii, dnitikenncsH, crime, sficiiil 
 debauchery, and the deepest def^radatioii. Wherefore? No hiirmony be- 
 tween the head and conscience, between liie soul and God, between the im- 
 perial intellect and duty and revelation, between scientific and phihisophic 
 attainments, and the heart's emotions and atfeclions sanclifie*! by ilie Sjiirit. 
 
 To the same cause may be traced the fcul blot upon the name of woman 
 by the gifted, tlie brilliant, and the beautiful of their own sex, becoming 
 the courte/ans of dissolute courts, — by the Theodotos rendered historically 
 and infamously renowned by Xenophon in his Morabilia. — by tlie Asjtasias 
 wlio charmed by their glowing eloquence, enchanted by their brilliant wit, 
 captivated by their extraordinary conversational powers in philosopliy, 
 poetry and history. Yet in the midst of the splendor of tiieir intellectual 
 greatness, having a nation's finger pointed at them as recreant to modesty, 
 chastity and the sex. Wherefore? Underlying the intellectual, there was an 
 iinfinished and untrained moral nature in ruins. 
 
 We would not exalt the intellect above the conscience, the learning of the 
 schools above religion, the college above Christ. 
 
 We would not add strength to an impious arm, to wage war against Go<l, 
 flnd the. largest good of the common brotherhood. We would review the in- 
 tellect keenly logical, to sophistically tear down the cross, or insidiously 
 deprive it of its divine efficacy. Hence we plead for a Christian education, 
 with all that the word Christian signifies. Hence to-day in the presence of 
 the Methodist Church of Pennsylvania, we plead for Christian schools. 
 
 This has been the aim of Methodism throughout her entire history, and 
 God has crowned her seminaries and colleges with pecuniary glory in making 
 them the spiritual birth-place and sanctuary of thousands. 
 
 A few years ago in this city in which we have assembled, one of New 
 England's noblest sons, Daniel Webster, in the famous Girard will case, had 
 the boldness to affirm, "That everywhere and at all times, religious truth 
 has been and is regarded as essential in the education of youth — that it is 
 the essence, the vitality of useful instruction." 
 
 1 would have these words written in letters of golden light on all our halls 
 of State and National Legislation, and make the sentinu-nt a living, ruling 
 principle in the entire educafioiiiil policy of Protestant .\merica. 
 
 Count Bismark in one of his spceclies in the Prussian Parliament says: 
 " The law of every Christian country ought to be an attempt, however, im- 
 perfect, to embody Christian principles ; and that, therefore it was impossi- 
 ble to entrust with the administration of law, those who did not recogni/e 
 such principles." 
 
 I would have this sentiment burnt, as by the fire of inspiration, into the 
 conscience of every man, who is invested with the right of elective franchise 
 and make the conscience, thus inspired, the imperial umpire in State and 
 National elections. 
 
 If we would have Christian legislators, and Christim legislation, we must 
 have Christian schools, 
 
 In a concluding sentence I would say, that in all Methodist Seminaries and
 
 84 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Colleges I would bave an ever present. Christ. Not as a dogmatist, not as a 
 bigot, not as a sectist, but as a great and divine teacher, through whom there 
 comes to the soul of the student a God-imparted power. I would have Christ 
 in the recitation and lecture room, Christ in the professor's chair, Christ in 
 the faculty — Christ in life and history. 
 
 During the reading of the essay Dr. Allen took the chair. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Dashiell. — There are two members, sir, of the old Faculty of 
 Dickinson College, who have given some of the best years of their life to 
 Christian education in this Commonwealth, now present with us— Dr. Dur- 
 bin, on my right, and Dr. Allen, now President of Girard College. Permit 
 me to say, sir, that this old Faculty of Dickinson College to the present 
 Faculty is a blessed memory, and a continual inspiration ; and I hope, sir, 
 that we shall hear from these two members of that green old Faculty, that 
 has done so much for Christian education in this Commonwealth. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Durbin rose in response to the call of Dr. Dashiell, 
 and was greeted with applause. In a few words he acknow- 
 ledged the compliment and said tliat he was under medical 
 treatment and unable to address the Convention. 
 
 t- 
 
 Dr. Allen, being called for, rose and said : 
 
 I am not a platform speaker, brethren. When Dr. Loomis, yesterday 
 afternoon, requested me to say something on this subject, I told him I could 
 only read. 1 can read and write some, but cannot speak. I did thitik, how- 
 ever, that I had a word or two to say until the most able and eloquent and 
 exhaustive analysis of the subject which the Chairman of the Committee has 
 given us has knocked it all out of my head. I could say nothing in addition to 
 what he has said ; and 1 could not say what he has said half so well. At 
 any rate, brethren, 1 will not detain you with relating my personal liistory 
 and experience, however interesting that might be to myself. 1 will say 
 that no Church that lias ever existed on this planet has done as much for 
 education as the -Methodist Cliiircli within the last forty years, and yet it 
 ought to do more. It has doited the country all over with colleges and semi- 
 naries, and yet many of these languish for want of an endowment. I refer 
 to the rei)i)rl just read, that the seminaries, as we call them, are in a better 
 condition in this Stale than tlie colleges, I mean pecuniarily; and I believe 
 our colleges all through the country are crying out for a better endowment. 
 The fact is that they cannot pay thiMr professors a suilicient salary lo com- 
 mand the best order of talent in tlio chairs, aiul that is what our colleges 
 need an<l must have if tliey are lo lake a position in competition with otlier 
 and older colleges of I lie country. I believe tiiat our professors, and I may 
 say, perhaps tlie i.rofessora in the colleges of most other denominations, arc
 
 ADDRESS OF DR. ALLEN. 85 
 
 the poorest paid men who can he found in any business or profession requir- 
 ing e(jual learning, ability, and skill ; they are self-sacrificing men ; and what 
 wonder that many of them leave the professors' chairs and go into other de- 
 partments of life. Some years ago, twelve or fifteen, perhaps, a good friend 
 of mine, a Doctor of Divinity now — I am not sure but he was then, the 
 crop is a large one — wrote me he was President of a college out West, a col- 
 lege under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and that his 
 salary was $297 a year. Now, brethren, that is less than many salesmen in 
 our stores and foremen in our factories receive every month. We do rather 
 better than that in our Eastern colleges, but the cost of living is higher. 
 
 Brethren, we are raising up an educated ministry in our Church, and I 
 think the time will come before long when we shall have our proper repre- 
 sentation among the chaplains in our Navy and in the Regular Armj'; and 
 possibly in the distant future we may even have a chaplain at West Point or 
 Annapolis. It is certain that if we would have our proper place and influ- 
 ence in the country, as was said much better by Dr. Loomis, we must also 
 have educated men, not only in the pulpit, but in all departments of influ- 
 ence. And we must have educated lawyers and physicians, and engineers 
 and merchants, educated men in all departments of life, and then the Metho- 
 dist Church will but have her proper position, socially and morally, as well 
 as spiritually. 
 
 The old preachers of the Methodist Church were remarkable for 
 their zeal and power, and for their love of souls, but now the peo- 
 ple have risen to a higher grade of intelligence than they occupied 
 a century since, and our ministry must study up so as to keep in 
 advance of the people;, just as a teacher must keep in advance of his 
 classes, or he cannot command tht^ir respect or retain his influence over 
 them. I remember a good many years ago, when at Carlisle, trying to be a 
 professor in Dickinson College, there was a young man there in the grammar 
 school connected with that institution, a very zealous, tall young man, twenty 
 or twenty-one years of age, that could sing at the prayer-meeting with great 
 energy and power. He prayed as Elijah advised the prophets of Baal, lest 
 their God might be asleep. After staying three or four months in the gram- 
 mar school he told me one day that he had given up going to college and that 
 he was going into the work of the ministry. I expressed surprise that he 
 was in such haste. " Well," said he, "education is a good thing; but savintr 
 souls is better." He left. Other young men, whose call to preach was pro- 
 bably as loud as his, remained and went through tiieir collegiate course with 
 honor, and of the number who were in college just about the same time one 
 has been for many years an eminent missionary in Ciiina, and another is the 
 able and eloquent President of Dickinson College. Which of these has had 
 the most influence in saving souls '! But I fear I am going beyond my time, 
 Mr. President. I see another member of the Faculty, though not the oldest 
 Faculty of Dickinson College, for he is a young man yet, but he has been in 
 the Faculty of Dickinson College, and 1 am very sure every one present 
 would like to hear him, and I call on Dr. Tiffany to come and finish out the 
 very poor speech I have made ; or perhaps he will make a better one.
 
 86 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Dr. Tiffany, being called for, rose and said : 
 
 I really think, sir, it would be a crime in me to occupy the time of this 
 Convention by proceeding from the gallery down into the body of the house, 
 merely to express my thanks for my kind recognition, prompted by my old 
 teacher. I do feel very grateful for this recognition. I feel it to have been 
 a very great honor to have been, in any sense, identified with the college 
 and with the men who have made the college what it is and given it the history 
 it has recorded. To have sat under the instructions of John P. Durbin is an 
 honor and a source of enjoyment and profit, brethren, that you, who have so 
 many other advantages in this present day, might earnestly covet ; and to 
 have been permitted to be taught by a man who can make no better speech 
 than the one to which we have listened is one of those strange things that 
 sometimes affect our lives so curiously. And that man who could not speak 
 according to his own declaration, and by his own exhibition, has done more 
 to preach Christ and 11 im crucified, by the inspiration which he has put into 
 others than as though he had a hundred voices and had used them during a 
 hundred personal lives. 
 
 I should like to have said, in a different presence — because as a visitor 
 I feel that there is somewhat of an intrusion in presuming to do so here — 
 to have called attention to one of the very many excellent things embodied in 
 the report to which we have listened this morning. There is one thing in 
 that report so expressed that, if it shall strike the minds of others not now 
 identified with our educational interests as active co-operators, will have a 
 wonderful influence. I allude to that expression — and 1 fear my memory 
 will nut enable me to reproduce it with the aptness with which it is given — 
 i)f the relations of our schools to the (Church and of the Church to the 
 ■schools, embodied in a sentence something like this, " That the relation of 
 the school to the Church was not one of an appendage, but an integral part, 
 and that the relation of the Church to the school was not that of patronage, 
 l)ut of proprietorship." And there is the key, it seems to me, to unlock all 
 the questions that liave puzzled us somewhat in our past history. There is 
 the explanation, in its partial recognition by the Church, of our efficiency. 
 There is tlie promise of God's ultimate appropriation by the Church of all 
 the Cliincii liopes for. Let the colleges learn to feel that they are a part of 
 the Church; let the Churcli come to feel that it is doing its own work from 
 these cultured hands, and the work of llie Church and of the scliool for tlic 
 accomplialimcut of one purpose, will be blessed by the one God wlioso inte- 
 rests each endeavors partially to secure. And I feel that in that utterance 
 tiiere has been given to inc an inspirution which would have repaid me for 
 my journey, ajiart from your courtesy and the j)leasure of social intercourse 
 with many of your body. 
 
 I thank you most heartily for the kindness with which you have acknow- 
 ledged my presence among you and received me as your brother, co-worker, 
 and friend.
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. JACOB TODD. 87 
 
 Rkv. Jacob Todd arose, and said: We have heard from the older men, 
 and from Ihose who have previously been connected with our literary and 
 educational institutions. I want to say a few words in behalf of the rank and 
 file of tliu ministry. 
 
 There was but one thing in that very able and eloquent report to which we 
 have listened that I regretted, and that was, that it had not more of the his- 
 tory of American Methodism in if. In answering the charge that Metho- 
 dism had been opposed to a thorough education, the essayist referred us en- 
 tirely to the position assumed by the founders of Methodism in England, in 
 relation to this subject; and, of course, the answer was masterly and con- 
 clusive. I regretted that other topics crowded out the history of Methodism 
 in America in relation to this question. It should be remembered that at 
 the very first General Conference Jield on this continent, Coke and Asbury 
 represented this interest; and in the succeeding year, upon the road leading 
 from Philadelphia to Baltimore, laid the foundations of Cokesbury College, 
 so named in honor of its founders. But Methodism, by this time, had be- 
 come too considerable not to meet with opposition from its enemies. Ac. 
 cordingly before this college had completed its tenth year the incendiary's 
 torch laid it in ashes. Not discouraged by this catastrophe, they re-estab- 
 lished the institution in Baltimore, where soon again it was burned. A few 
 years elapsed, and they rebuilt it once more in Baltimore, and this time called 
 it Asbury College, but, sad to relate, it shared the same melancholy fate that 
 befell its predecessors. These repeated calamities were interpreted by 
 Asbury, erroneously as we now believe, to be indicative that Providence in- 
 tended the Church should spend its energies in other directions, and hence, 
 from that day until 1825, no further eflort was made to re-establish this in- 
 stitution. In 1825 the Church took courage again and laid the foundations 
 of Augusta College, in Kentucky. In 1831, Wesleyan University was estab- 
 lished in Middletown, Connecticut. Right under the shadow of institutions 
 hoary with nge, as Yale and Harvard, this institution grew and prospered, 
 until, within a few years, doubts and misgivings as to its future are all at 
 an end. The Church rallied around it, thanked God, and took courage; and 
 from that hour until this, we have every few years been adding to our edu- 
 cational institutions until to-day they dot the country all over. In 1806 we 
 had 25 Colleges and Universities in the Church, North, and 12 Colleges 
 in the Church, South, embracing within their walls G,500 aspirants for know- 
 ledge; and 77 Academies and Seminaries in the Church, North, and as many 
 in the Church, South, within whose walls are gathered 25,500 youths, fitting 
 themselves for positions of honor and usefulness in the country. 
 
 After a record like this we can boldly look in the face those who have 
 charged us with being opposed or indiflerent to thorough education. Let it 
 never be said that the Methodist Church in America has been opposed or 
 indifferent to the most thorough education. Let it rather be said of our 
 Methodism that she was born in a university and that her whole life lias been 
 spent in the most untiring, although, until recently, but comp irativcly fruitless 
 efforts to educate her people to the highest standards.
 
 88 MINUTES OF CONVENTION". 
 
 But sir, whatever we have encountered and accomplished in the past, there 
 is more for us to do and to dare in the future. A new era is dawning, 
 a broader field is opening upon the Church to re-enact the struggles and tri- 
 umphs of the past upon a ten-fold grander scale. Time, in its revolution, 
 has raised the people to a higher intellectual level. To-day the people are 
 thirsting for knowledge, and will have it. The apprentice, tlie plough-boy, 
 and the school-boy, are reading the daily newspapers, and are familiar with 
 the improvements and discoveries of the age. The boy of to-day at twelve 
 knows more of science than did his great-grandfather at three-score and 
 ten. We have common schools, it is true. But these furnish ouly the prin- 
 ciples of scientific education, which, at best can but awaken a profounder 
 yearning for the higher branches. From the school-house the millions are 
 turning their gaze to the Church and demanding more room in the halls of 
 learning. The wants of the age and the demands of the rising generation 
 both require that we should'take a higher stand in relation to education in 
 the future than in the past. The world is marching onward, and if we don't 
 keep pace with it, it will soon leave us behind. The people will have know- 
 ledge, and if we don't respond to their call others will. The Church that 
 furnishes the greatest facilities for acquiring a thorough education must, in 
 the nature of things, become the educator of the nation. If we allow others 
 to outstrip us in sowing the seed, we must not be surprised if they reap the 
 more abundant harvest. If they mould the mind, they will control the heart 
 of tlie nation; and then although we may glory in the achievements of the 
 past, our progress will be nearly at an end, and "Ichabod" will be written 
 over the doors of our temples, for tlie glory of the Lord will have departed. 
 Depend upon it, brethren, the converts of Methodism will not come from 
 the schools of another faith. We trust wo are not bigoted in these views ; 
 we wish all other institutions well, and bid them God-speed in their noble 
 work, but we cannot but believe that Methodism can and ought to educate 
 her own cliildren. 
 
 But not only must we take a higher stand in order to retain our power 
 over the masses, but we must educate more profoundly in order to grapple 
 with infidelity. Time has not only changed the intellectual status of, the 
 Cliurch ; it has also changed the opposition to the Church ; and to-day, we 
 hear no inore (if tlie ribaldry of Tom I'aine, or the sneering irony of Voltaire. 
 .Vfter a conflict of eiglitccn hun<lred years infidelity has abandoned its at- 
 tack upon Christianity upon the field of iiistorical and textual criticism, and 
 now niarslials all her forces for one tremendous onset tlirougii tiie physical 
 sciences. The chemist lias alreuily j)roduced organic compounds and is now 
 bending over the crucible in the Jiope of discovering life ilsi'lf. Tlie geolo- 
 gist has overturned the commonly received cosmogony of .Moses, and is now 
 probing tlie mountains to discover fossil remains of man himself more than 
 ft million years oM. Tin" physiologist threatens to (Umionstrate tliat life is 
 only the result of piiysical organism, and lience of no greater loTigcvity than 
 the body. Hero tlie attack is about to be madi", and here we must meet and 
 repel it, if it is reiielled at all. We have no fear of the resiills. We believe 
 in. ill to be u unit, and whether revealed through God's Word or works, will
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. JACOB TODD. 89 
 
 ahvnys be found consistent with itself. i5ut the Christian must be educated 
 in order to understand the teachings of God'a works: we must understand 
 them in order to expose the false pretensions of the skeptic and the 
 infidel; and hence we must educate, and eiliicate profoundly, if we would 
 triumph gloriously. It won't do to let the intidel work out the problem for 
 us. We must stand at his side, and while he works we must watch, and 
 when we work let him watch ; and then, when the result is reached, we shall 
 have the teaching of nature upon this question; and we have nothing to fear 
 from her teachings, for the voice of nature is the voice of God. 
 
 I see I have already exhausted my time, and conclude simply with these 
 remarks. 
 
 On motion, the time of the .speaker sva,s extended, and he 
 continued : 
 
 Well, then, I will say, we must educate again in self-defence, in order to 
 retain what we have, without looking so much at our aggressiveness. The 
 Methodist Church is emphatically the Church of the people ; but she must 
 not forget that, in order to retain her power over the people, she must keep 
 pace with them. We are, under God, a great Church, in a great country, in 
 a great ag<?, and we must not forget that if we would retain our power in the 
 future, as we have had it in the past, we must keep pace with the advance- 
 ment of the present age and country. If we don't furnish facilities for edu- 
 cation sufficient to meet the demands of this age and country, other Churches 
 will. Your sons and daughters will graduate in the institutions of other 
 Churches. They will bring home to your firesides a strange faith, and soon 
 the distinctive features of Methodism which lie so near our hearts will be 
 ignored or forgotten by your children. If educated, their tastes will all be 
 for educated society; their associations, therefore, will be with the educated 
 of other denominations, and it will not be strange if, when they come to 
 give God their hearts and the Church their hands, we should find them in- 
 scribing their names upon the records of that Church that has moulded their 
 minds and won their hearts. If we would retain our power over the children 
 of Methodism we must educate them within the bosom of Methodism. It is 
 not so much more colleges that we need in order to accomplish this work, as 
 it is belter sustained colleges— colleges of higher grade. We have, it has 
 been said by the essayist, more educational institutions in this country than 
 any other denomination, but it will be admitted by all, that our institutions 
 are not all of as high grade as those of other denominations. I have been 
 ashamed to see two young men, one a graduate of Harvard or Yale, and 
 another of Allegheny or Dickinson, both present their diplomas and ask for 
 some position in a literary or educational institution, and, in every instance, 
 the preference was given to the man that held the diploma from Yale or 
 Harvard. It is high time that we placed our institutions upon a level, if 
 not a little above. Harvard and Yale. We have the people to fill them, the 
 money to endow them, the learned men to fill their chairs, and it is high time
 
 90 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 we rose to our responsibilities in this matter. My own opinion is — pei-liaps 
 I ought not to express it, after the delicacy of the essayist, who refused to 
 express such an opinion — that what we want is not so much colleges as first- 
 class universities. We graduate men in our colleges, and then send them to 
 universities under the direction of other denominations to complete their 
 professional education. It is high time such an education were completed 
 within the borders of Methodism. Give us an endowment for a few first- 
 class universities, place our colleges upon a higher level, and, all things else 
 being equal, the future of Methodism is brighter than the past. Do this, 
 and, with the torch of science in her left hand, and the lamp of revelation in 
 her right, she will yet light unborn millions to the shrine of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Dashiell. — Now, Mr. President, you know the Methodist 
 Church has faith in woman. We are the first denomination that has un- 
 sealed the lips of woman to tell the story of her Chi-istian life and to be felt 
 as a Christian power in the midst of the Church and of society. It is a very 
 befitting thing, sir, that we should recognize, on this occ vsion, the Female 
 College which is doing so much for Methodism in culturing our daughters 
 and preparing noble wives for us. Sir, I thank God that I had a mother. 
 
 We have present with us this morning a gentleman, a minister of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who occupies a prominent position in this department of Chris- 
 tian education. You are anxious to hear him; and I call for Dr. Pershing, 
 President of one of our best female colleges, who has given fifteen years of 
 his life to a demonstration which is now almost perfected, that our sisters 
 and daughters ought to have as thorough an education as our sons and our 
 brothers. 
 
 Rkv. Dr. Persuing — Mr. President and Members of tlic Convention: This 
 is a very unexpected call, in one sense. My good friend, Dr. Dashiell, spoke 
 to me a few minutes ago and asked nie to make a speech, but I told him very 
 emphatically that I didn't want to make one just now, and tliat for the very 
 best of reasons, that I had no speech prepared. I did intend to move, be- 
 fore we had a final vote, the insertion of just one or two words in one of the 
 resolutions — the resolution that contemplates the creation of a fund for tiie 
 education of young men. I intended to suggest "and young women." I 
 wish to say just here, that Dr. Loomis very kindly read to me, yesterday, 
 the resolutions, and I heartily approved tliem. I believe the Doctor tried to 
 put me under bonds, at the time, ami 1 tacitly con.sented, not to say very 
 much about Pittsburgh Female College, but he adde<l it was impossible for me 
 to speak without bringing the College in. 1 am going to keep my word and 
 not say much about it ; and yet, in addressing the members of a Convention, 
 a vast majority of wliom no doubt have Christian mulliers and wives — and 
 the rest arc looking out, no do\ibt, in tiiat direction — and many of them 
 Christian sisters, I should certainly feel tliat 1 hail been recreant to my 
 truHt if I did not say a single word, before the close, touching the niMltcr of 
 female c'lucation. I wish, however, to pass away ft om tliis immhI just for a 
 moment. I uin afraid, in tliis Jiour of coiigraliibilion, we will go home with
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. Dl{. PERSHING. 91 
 
 !i feeling of satisfaction after having looked over the past and marked the 
 wonderful growth of our Ciiurch under (Jod's blessing during the last hun- 
 dred years. We sometimes look over these statistics, and, instead of con- 
 sidering what we ought to do with regard to the present and future, con- 
 gratulate oui-selves with what we have done, and there the matter rests. Now, 
 it seems to me we shall fail in one great object of this Convention if our Church 
 in Pennsylvania does not receive a fresh impulse to start her forward with 
 increased vigor and efficiency in the future. We have met here to compare 
 notes touching practical questions, and among them this question of Chris- 
 tian education ; and while we thank God this morning that we have in Penn- 
 sylvania nine educational institutions, yet I could not help reflecting upon 
 this fact, that Dickinson College, founded in 1783, I believe, and now, of 
 course, eighty-seven years old, an institution that can boast the names of 
 McCliutock and Durbin, and hosts of others, to say nothing of those at 
 present identified with it, has the paltry pittance of less than $200,000 en- 
 dowment, and that after nearly one hundred years spent in tlie cause 
 of Christian education! After all, brethren, there is not very mucli in that 
 fact to make us feel we have done our whole duty as a Christian Church, and 
 I ought to say here, in behalf of Drs. Dashiell and Loomis, that I have not 
 been prompted to make a begging speech in their behalf. It may be that, 
 after a long experience in begging for churches, I naturally fall into this 
 train of thought, and it will be very appropriate to this occasion. 
 
 Then I turn to Allegheny College. Dr. Loomis has modestly us given the 
 briefest statement with regard to the institution under his care. 
 
 Aftei" a brief reference to the liistory of tliis College, aud 
 urging a more liberal endowment of our educational institutions, 
 Dr. Pershing continued : 
 
 I want to see some universities in this land. I want to see institutions 
 built that shall overshadow the entire country from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
 cific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf. The Methodist Church has the men 
 and the means, under God, to accomplish this result. I cannot say that I 
 want to see institutions of a lower grade multiplied. I think we have enough 
 of them. I think what we want just now is to give a broader basis, and, as 
 has been said, a deeper foundation, to the institutions that we have at 
 the present time. We want more money for them, and not only do we want 
 the money of the Church, but we want the sympathies of the Church, and 
 the prayers of the Church, and the active efforts of the Church, that all our 
 own children may be gathered witliin the walls of our own schools, and just 
 as many outsiders, with a small sprinkling of other denominations, as we can 
 possibly get in by fair means. Our good Bishop said to me the other day, 
 that all he cared for was to educate our own children. I want to get in as 
 many outsiders as we can; and if we can furnish equal facilities and oppor- 
 tunities with others, we will not only educate our own children, but a larger 
 proportion of outsiders than others. 
 
 Now, Mr. President, I want to say one word in behalf of the cause for
 
 92 5IIXUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 which Dr. Dashiell called me out : and I say it without any apology what- 
 ever. I ofiFer no apologies for pleading in behalf of the daughters of the 
 Church and of the land. Many a time my own heart has been fired while I have 
 listened to my biethren speaking of the sacrifices and toils of the women of the 
 Methodist Church in behalf of the Church's progress and its triumphs up to 
 this hour; and I tell you this morning that her influence, like a thread of 
 silver, runs all through the history of the Church. I spoke to two ohl men 
 since I came to this place, and, inquiring after their wives, learned that they 
 were both far poorer in health than themselves. That tells the whole story. 
 The heaviest burdens have fallen upon our wives as itinerant ministers. 
 Woman has kneeled at our altars, wept over penitents, prayed for them, and 
 pointed them to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world ; 
 she has borne the heaviest burdens of our itinerancy and carried its 
 heaviest crosses; and in this natal year of the history of the Church we 
 would be recreant to ourselves and all that is right, if we refused to lend 
 a helping hand to the daughters of our land in securing an education. 
 And then I want to ask you this morning, what will your boys amount to 
 unless your daughters are cultured and refined? You commit the tuition 
 of the whole race for years, and the most impressible years of life, to 
 women, and if you want to raise up a cultured and refined race of in- 
 tellectual giants, and men strong in God, you must see that your daughters 
 are cultured and that their hearts are right before God. 
 
 At Pittsburg we preach Christ as well as teach other things, and God 
 has favored us in that institution with revivals of religion that embraced 
 nearly every pupil in the school. We aim to exalt Christ, and we will 
 stand by you in all your work and liclp you, and in return we ask you to 
 stand by these institutions and let us make them stronger and better in 
 every way we can, that they may have the confidence of the Church and 
 do their appointed work. 
 
 Col. WuroiiT — Mr. President and gentlemen: I was delighted with Dr. 
 Loomis's juldress, and I like very much what he said about the right kind of 
 education; and think if we could bring all the people in the country, as well 
 as all Methodists, to thoroughly understand and appreciate it, and all were 
 in a condition of life to avail themselves, what a grand time the world 
 would have. But tlicii I thought to myself, all the men in the world are not 
 cultured, all tlie men in the world cannot have this high style of education, 
 because, if they did, we would have no workmen. Tiiey would all be writing 
 books and digging down into the earth to find what was there; thoy would 
 be scientists, philosophers, etc., and we would not have any rank or file at 
 all — all would be brigadier-generals. 'I'his is a very ))r!i(;ti(;al ijueslidii, and 
 while all he said was true, all dcsii-ahlc, all bascij on the ri;^lil t'niinilaliiiu, 
 yet as all cannot bo brigadier-generals, we must so adapt our education as 
 to reach the largest number and do tiie most good. This is the practical 
 view. Now then, when we listen to persons talking as we have to-day, so 
 very pleasantly, about what tlie ('iiurcii ought to do, the schools she ought 
 to liavc, the proftssors ehc ought to liavc, etc., ami what the Church ought
 
 SPEECH OF COL. WRIGHT. 93 
 
 to do in the way of educating lier people, it always comes back to nie to ask 
 whether we have not commenced at the wrong end. We should first educate 
 the people to desire an education. Now if our people all desired an educa- 
 tion, and appreciated the advantage of it, then there would be a rush on the 
 Church for the means of education, and the Church then would very much 
 more liberally give to the cause of education than in the way it is now done, 
 which is to build and endow a university before the people understand and ap- 
 preciate the necessity of having one. 
 
 Another thing that I often think of. I look around at tlie numbers in 
 colleges and try to ascertain why our colleges are not fuller — because the 
 number of students in the colleges of this country has not advanced at all as 
 the population. While the population of the country is becoming more in- 
 telligent from year to year, yet universities and colleges are not increasing 
 in numbers in proportion. Not that the people undervalue education; they 
 value it more highly. But yet the fact stands out that there are not the 
 numbers entering our colleges that there ought to be, in proportion to the 
 population. 
 
 The reason of that it seems to me — and I have thought of it for a number 
 of years — is because college studies have not been adapted to the wants of 
 the people, and the people have appreciated this fact and have not sent their 
 children ; it has worked in this way : Here is a man who has a family. He 
 does not expect his son to become a minister, a lawyer, of a physician; but 
 a merchant, a manufacturer, a farmer, or to engage in some ordinary em- 
 . ployment of life. And the question comes up to him, is a collegiate educa- 
 tion suited for my son? Will it fit him for the position that he expects to 
 fill in life? and he looks over the matter and says, No! and so contents him- 
 self with giving his son an inferior education to what he ought to have. 
 Now this has been one of the great secrets, in addition to the indifference of 
 our people to the value of education, why we have not had a larger number 
 in our colleges. 
 
 Now then, all I have to say is that our colleges are beginning to appreciate 
 the demands of the age ; they are beginning to see the importance of teaching 
 and preparing men for all the walks of life ; and as they come more fully to 
 meet the requirements of the times they will be more largely patronized and 
 sustained, they will be more liberally endowed; and we may then shout our 
 hallelujahs over them. 
 
 Rev. a. J. Kynett, D. D. — I feel that I ought almost to beg pardon for 
 asking the attention of the Convention, even for a very few moments. But I 
 wish to call attention to a fact which has impressed my mind, and which 
 seems to have escaped the attention of others, — at least, it has received no 
 attention on the floor of this Convention. 
 
 When I came to Philadelphia three yeirs ago, the population of the city 
 was about equal to that of the entire State from which I came, — the State of 
 Iowa ; and yet I found no Methodist school of any grade in all this city, 
 while in Iowa they had four Methodist Colleges, and I cannot tell how many 
 seminaries and schools of lower grade. I am aware of the fact that the West
 
 94 MINUTES OF COXVENTIOX. 
 
 in its enthusiasm in the cause of education has gone to extremes in the 
 number of institutions it has attempted to build — at least so far as the wants 
 of the present population are concerned. But if we expect to educate tlie 
 children of the masses, we must place the facilities for education within the 
 reach of the masses. There are to-day, in these four Iowa Colleges, about a 
 thousand students. I know these colleges are imperfectly endowed; their 
 presidents and professors are living on very inadequate salaries, and, in some 
 instances, getting only a fraction of the amount the trustees agreed to pay 
 them; but I know too, that we have young men, of fine natural endowments, 
 acquiring liberal culture in these schools, coming up to be strong men for the 
 cause of Christ in future years. I am aware that a large city is not general- 
 ly regarded as the best place for a college ; perhaps it is not, — that is a 
 question that I don't propose to enter into at all, but I want to call atten- 
 tion to the fact that here is a city of eight hundred thousand inhabitants, 
 and in that part of Pennsylvania that lies within one hundred miles of Phil- 
 adelphia, a region comprising as I suppose as large a population as the 
 whole State of Iowa has to-day, there is no school of any grade under the 
 control of tlic Methodist Episcopal Church. I call attention to this fact, not 
 for the purpose of instituting invidious comparisons, but for the purpose of 
 awakening inquiry, that members of the Convention residing within this por- 
 tion of the State may inquire whether the Providence of God will not lead 
 them to do something for the cause of education by establishing a college or 
 seminary within striking distance of this great city. 
 
 Rev. Da. George Peck. — I have not time to give even a slight idea of the 
 efforts of the Conference which I, in part, represent here upon the subject of 
 education. Our seminary is iu successful operation, having arisen from 
 small beginnings by the subscriptions of individuals. God has given us a 
 very wealthy country there, and we have wealthy men. AVhen brought into 
 the Church they have given to support this institution until it has become a 
 power in that part of Pennsylvania, and at the present time, sir, if the sta- 
 tistics of the iiistory of that institution were given, it would be seen that it 
 has conferred a larger benefit iipoii the masses than any other literary in- 
 stitution whatever in the northern part of the State, and I don't know but 
 in any other part. It has reached the masses, the young people, the boys 
 and girls. All through the country wliich I traveled, formerly you would 
 find the young people outlandish, uneducated, ignorant, living in log cabins; 
 we have tliere now flourishing, wealthy farmers, rising up and aslonisiiing 
 everybody. In tiie mountains, in gorges, upon the small flats, and in all the 
 houses wc have put the old text-books of Wyoming Seminary upon tlio shelf, 
 and ue find a cultivated rising populatiiui. We Inive I'uriiishi'd there sciiool 
 teachers for the nuisses all over tlie country, and preacliers, lawyers, physi- 
 cians, officers in the army, and soldiers of the rank and file of the army, that 
 hcM our glorious union together, and finally resullccl inlriuiiipli over the 
 rebellion. This institution comes inid much inore direct contact with the 
 inasHCH than our colleges. It seems to me it meets the want expressed by 
 Col. Wright.
 
 RESOLUTIONS ON EDUCATION. 95 
 
 Rkv. George Loomis, I). D.. presented in behalf of the comniiltee (lie fol- 
 lowing resolutions, which were adopted, viz: 
 
 Resolved 1. That it, is ihe sense of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
 State of Pennsylvania now in Convention assembled, that sound learning is 
 in harmony with the genius and spirit of Metliodiiini, and essential to ibe 
 higher life and consecration of the Church. 
 
 Resolved 2. That sound learning should be sanctified by a sound faith. To 
 accomplish tiiis our colleges and seminaries should be centres of the highest 
 and truest Christian culture. 
 
 Resolved Z. That to render the universal attainment of souml learning 
 possible, the founding of literary institutions of various grades is a work 
 legitimate to the mission of Methodism. 
 
 Resolved 4. That it is the duty of the Church by liberal donations to estab- 
 lish the Methodist Seminaries of Pennsylvania on a broader basis, and ren- 
 der them more efficient in their work of Christian education. 
 
 Resolved 5. That the honor and future of Methodism demand an immediate 
 response to the call of our colleges fur increased facilities and endowments 
 to tiie enlargement of the departments of instruction, and for the generous 
 support of men who have consecrated their lives and the wealth of their at- 
 tainments, to the cause of liberal education in the Church of their choice. 
 
 Resolved 6. That in view of the sacred obligations of stewardship under 
 God's government, wo urgently recommend our rich men to consecrate u 
 portion of their wealth to the objects indicated above. 
 
 Resolved 7. That we commend our Institutions of learning to all Methodist 
 parents, and urge upon them the imperious duty of educatiug their sons and 
 daughters even at a sacrifice to themselves, — giving the preference to Meth- 
 odist seminaries and colleges. 
 
 Resolved 8. That we recommend to our young men contemplating the work 
 of the ministry a full collegiate education. 
 
 Resolred 9. That we recommend the establishment of a fund to aid such 
 young men as need assistance in securing such an education, and young 
 ladies who desire to enter the missionary work of the Church. 
 
 Resolved 10. That we deplore the growing sentiment among the young, 
 especially in our large cities, that wealth is the great object of life, — a senti- 
 ment which leads so many to decline a collegiate education, as detaining 
 them too long from what seems to be their only chcrislicd purpose, — we 
 commend to such the suggestion that there are duties and obligations grow- 
 ing out of their relations to society and the Church to the performance of 
 which the discipline and culture of a thorough education afford no mean 
 helps. 
 
 On motion adjourned. 
 Benediction by Dr. A. Wheeler.
 
 96 MIXUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 SEVENTH SESSION. 
 
 St. George's M. E. Church, Philadelphia. 
 
 Thursday Afternoon, October 20th. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment at 2| o'clock. 
 
 Bishop M. Simpson, D. D., in the chair. 
 
 Religious services conducted by Dr. S. H. Nesbitt, of Pitts- 
 burg. 
 
 The Minutes of the morning session were read and approved. 
 
 The Committee on Credentials made their report, which was 
 adopted without reading. 
 
 Rev. T. A. Fernley, of Philadelphia, offered the following 
 resolution, which was adopted, viz. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of one from eacli Conference represented iu 
 this Convention be appointed to consider the matter of holding another State 
 Convention, and to determine both the time and place. 
 
 The following were appointed the committee called for by the 
 above resolution, viz. 
 
 Rev. T. A. Fernley, of the Philadelphia Conference. 
 " S. H. Nesbitt, D. D., of the Pittsburgh Conference. 
 " Y. C. Smith, D. D., " Wyoming " 
 " Nirom Norton, " Erie " 
 
 " I. H. Torrence, " Central Pa., " 
 
 " C. L. F. Howe, " East Cxen. " 
 
 " J. J. F. Brunow, " " Ger. " 
 
 The Chtiir announced the Topic of the afternoon to be, — '^ The 
 Public School Question." 
 
 Committee. — Rev. A. Wheeler, D. D., Rev. J. Walker Jack- 
 son and P. W. Siiaeirer, Est^. 
 
 Rev. Ur. Wheeler of the Erie C/onference i)resented and read 
 the essay on this Topic. 
 
 Essay of Jvkv. A. \Vjieei>eu, D. D. 
 
 The Pimii.k; Scikioi, Qiikstion. 
 Altlioiif^li tlie age is a critical one, and therefore full nf propositions to 
 chanf^e, and also of propositions carried into effect, yet we have siijiposed 
 there were some things settled as principles, and some things fixed as institu-
 
 ESSAY OF REV. A. WHEELER, I). I). 97 
 
 tions. We have regaraed the alliance of Church and State as vicious beyond 
 argument; and the institution of a State Church as being dangerous alike to 
 thefreedomof the State, and integrity and purify of the Church. 
 
 The doctrine still holds in the generiil convictions of the people; but the 
 practice has nearly overlaid the theory in some places, and we see in fact, 
 what our fathers thought an impossibility, and against which they construct- 
 ed constitutional bulwarks, namely, ecclesiastical institutions sustained by 
 prodigal State expenditure. 
 
 This contradiction to a doctrine, vital in its observances to our State econo- 
 my, not only reveals the presence of a power hostile to the genius of our Go- 
 verument, but also shows it capable of making headway against constitutional 
 provisions, and also against habits and prejudices, stronger often than laws; 
 and further, gives us a clew l)y which to divine the ultimate designs of the 
 po>ver itself. 
 
 AVe have supposed that the doctrine of education, general education, uni- 
 versal education, was settled beyond recall, and even beyond re-examination 
 Education, not by the parent alone, but by the State as well, and with the 
 more care by the State should there be parental neglect. This doctrine is not 
 new to us ; it was believed in by our fathers, and taught to us by them. It 
 accompanied the freedom they brought with them to these shores. They 
 landed together, and togetlier began the circuit of the continent in fellowship. 
 The unity preserved both shall live ; lost, both shall die. They are mutually 
 life-sustaining. The tlieory of univei'sal education rests with us now upon a 
 claim as it regards man, and a fact as it regards our Government, and an- 
 other claim springing out of this fact. The claim is that all men are en- 
 dowed with intellectual faculties which may be developed by education. The 
 esoteric and the exoteric teachings of the old philosophers have been firmly 
 rejected, and peremptorily dismissed. A. man in rags is a man. A man in 
 purple is nothing more. Alter the circumstances, and the rags and the 
 purple may change places. The right of both is knowledge. Truth is the 
 inheritance of each; given of God. When either is restrained by power 
 from coming into his inheritance, he is defrauded, robbed. When kept out 
 of it by neglect of warden, both keeper and kept must suffer the inevitable 
 results of the betrayal of duty. This is the broad platform upon whicli the 
 education o{ all must rest, and where it may rest in safety. 
 
 Tiie fact of which I spoke is, that our Government is republican. No class 
 governs jure divino. The people rule themselves. They are the fountain of 
 civil authority, and also the court of ultimate appeal. Yet not so as to deny 
 Divine authority, or to substitute human tribunals for God's; but witli them 
 lie the methods, and modes, and times, for the application of Divine princi- 
 ples to the government of men, and the judgment whether sucii application 
 has been appropriately made after taking the counsel furnished by the his- 
 tory of centuries, and illustrated by a thousand states. Tliis form of govern- 
 ment we do adhere to most firmly and conscientiously. The firmness with 
 which we adhere to it found its expression in the persistency and sacrifice 
 with which we waged the late war, unparalleled in magnitude and severity ; 
 the conscientiousness found in every worshiping assembly, and every band 
 
 7
 
 98 MINUTES OF CONVENTIOX. 
 
 of praying souls, which while asking the blessing of Heaven to rest upon 
 them, never forgot to ask the Great Ruler to save the Republic. 
 
 In our belief, any one that aids the destruction of this our Commonwealth 
 commits treason against humanity ; any one that fails to expose the arm up- 
 lifted to strike an adverse blow is guilty of misprision of treason, if cognizant 
 of the intended mischief. This is more than a theory with us ; we have ele- 
 vated it to the position of a doctrine; and conscience fences it round about, 
 and keeps guard over it with all the authority of her great sanctions. 
 
 Whatever may be the teachings of the thoughtless or the skeptical con- 
 cerning the origin of governments, with the true American, ours is a reli- 
 gious conviction embodied in vast proportions, and consecrated by years of 
 unmatched national prosperity and happiness, and now h.allowcd by heca- 
 tombs of martyrs. Should the religious convictions of others, foreign in 
 spirit to its nature and intent, seek to overthrow it by rapid or slow processes, 
 they must be met by such measures, and in such degree, as may be requi- 
 site to their hopeless defeat. The man who holds property by conscientious 
 right may not give way to him who steals by conscience. 
 
 The further fact of which I spoke, growing out of the nature of our Go- 
 vernment, it being a representative democracy, is this, General education is 
 necessary, not only to the higlicst development, and most beneficent work- 
 ing of republican institutions, but necessary to their security, to their exis- 
 tence. This is not assumption, but a logic which all pliilosophy supports, 
 and all history turning upon the proposition illustrates. 
 
 This general judgment, which may be called national, we have regarded as 
 incapable of modification, much less of a reversal, and as constituting the 
 basis on which our public schools might stand, till tlic time shall come, 
 against which may God forefend us,* wherein we shall be ready to exchange 
 our freedom for absolutism. It cannot be said that any one is bold enough to 
 bring forward the bald proposition of breaking down our national system of 
 education. Yet such changes are demanded, and with a persistency that 
 proves those making the demand to be in earnest, as requires at our 
 heads a thoughtful consideration and strenuous resistance, until satis- 
 fied, that if acceded to, our institutions will suffer no damage there- 
 by. The change might seem slight, and yet in the bowels of the woodtn 
 horse the invincible Greeks may lie concealed. Indeed, many think it 
 equivalent to abandoning our system of public instruction allogelhcr. .■\t 
 first the exclusion of tlic Bible from the schools was required, for conscience' 
 sake, and nn tlic ground that its use gave undue and illegal advantage to 
 some sect or sects. If here many, for the sake of peace, favored compliance, 
 the requisition was enlarged, and ccclesia.stical schools, supported at public 
 expense, were, and are, demanded. Unless this b<; done the sciiools are god- 
 less, and conscience is hurt again. Tiiis l.isl i)iiase of the question reveals 
 the real intent of tiiat class of opposers of our present plan of general educa- 
 tion, which is tlie most numerous and powerful. 
 
 Tlie gift of jirophecy is not needed to forecast the results of compliance 
 with tliid outrageous demand, made in the main hy the foreign-horn, and 
 those alien in spirit to the genius of our government, and wlio, (hougii so-
 
 ESSAY OF REV. A. WHEELER, D. I). fJJJ 
 
 lemnly sworn to support and defend the Constitution of liie country and the 
 Bovereignty of the Commonwealth, acknowledge such an allegiance loa foreign 
 power as makestheir oaths void, and stamps them with perjury from the outset. 
 
 If separate Catholic schools were thus established by law, and sustained 
 by public taxation, the fundamental law of the land would be violated, un- 
 less the same provision were made, and equal in generosity, for tlie support 
 of schools of every other corporation that might see fit to call itself leligious. 
 Can any doubt, in such an event, that ere long every denomination, religious 
 and semi-religious, and anti-religious, covering their anti-religion with reli- 
 gious phrases, will exact equality before the law, and a proportionate public 
 largess to maintain their separate interests? And will the public be pre- 
 pared to turn a deaf ear to the exaction, after having so attentively con.-ji- 
 dered it in one case, and so obsequiously granted it? 
 
 A precedent will be set that must be recalled amid violent agitations, or 
 that will issue in the establishment of Episcopal schools, and Presbyterian 
 schools, Methodist schools, and Baptist schools, and Unitarian schools, and 
 Trinitarian schools, and Mormon schools, and even Infidel schools, if their 
 articles of organization be but interlarded with a few religious words, and 
 so on to the end of the chapter, and steadily responding to every enlarge- 
 ment of the list. And indeed what logic could withstand, if it were demand- 
 ed, the establishment of class schools, based upon secular callings, con- 
 science being pleaded, if this pernicious principle were ever adopted ? Blind 
 eyes can see educational confusion and chaos coming out of this, school teachers 
 disbanded, school-houses emptied, a healthful education displaced for su- 
 perstitions mummery, ani ignorance in the end everywhere installed. In 
 large cities denominational schools might be maintained ; but what of the 
 small towns and rural districts? Education in these must be given up, and 
 that finally would be to surrender our country and her glorious future to 
 the enemies of truth and freedom. Denominational schools upon any effec- 
 tive plan, even in the largest cities, must at last succumb to the interminable 
 contests for access to the public treasury, and the crowning manipulation of 
 demagogues. One denomination, more artful in politics, and more skilful in 
 concentrating its strength than the others, holding in the hands of ecclesias- 
 tics, its adherents, as the hunter holds his leash of hounds, might survive ; 
 but it would be at the expense of the life of the rest. Can there be any 
 doubt that Catholics themselves foresee these results? Can any doubt wlio 
 have read the late syllabus of the Pope, and the scheme as published for the 
 consideration of the CEcumenical Council, the real source of the inspiration 
 of the present movement against our public schools? It comes from the Vati- 
 can. To-day, Americans are condemned to the humiliation of resisting changes, 
 which, if effected, will prove the ruin of an institution vital to national safety; 
 dictated by an octogenarian four thousand miles away ; and who is the Head of 
 an establishment, the doctrine of whicli is that ignorance is the mother of de- 
 votion. 
 
 That the design of the Catholic Church is, to break down the public 
 schools, is fully admitted by some, who we have a right to assume speak 
 authoritatively, though a little unguardedly. Yet an able writer in the 
 "Catholic World " speaks otherwise, advocating their continuance, upon a
 
 100 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Catholic and Protestant basis. He classes all as Protestants, who are not 
 Catholics, of whatever name and faith. He provides against such a multi- 
 plicity of schools as I have supposed, by requiring all non-Catholics to edu- 
 cate together. They can do so without conscience interfering, for they do 
 it now without. Yet a difficulty is seen in the case of the Jew, and if he 
 asks upon grounds of conscience for distinct schools, they must be organized 
 
 for hi 111. 
 No embarrassment, however, is felt from the Infidel side, for, forsooth, the In- 
 fidel is without a conscience, and therefore destitute of rights in this matter. 
 To treat a great public interest so flippantly, is unbecoming its admitted gra- 
 vity. To advance a psychology so false, betrays a leadership that it is un- 
 safe to follow. The manifestation of so uncharitable a spirit, suggests the 
 application, as of old, of the same dogma to all non-Catholics, when it may be 
 done with safety. However much we may deplore it, the infidel element in 
 our country is a fact that cannot be overlooked in adopting measures for the 
 public welfare. 
 
 It is large, and before the close of the century will be larger still. If 
 Catholics could have their way, by that time, it would be strong enough to 
 repeat some of the lessons of 1789. To fail to attach them to the State by 
 the same nurture that she applies to the children of faith, would be a neglect, 
 that a wise statesmanship will not make. By so doing the country would 
 convert thousands of her own sons into enemies, and intensify their hate of 
 religion besides. Enemies more unrelenting could not be made, for who 
 80 implacable as he that is orphaned by rejection without competent cause? 
 Adopt this policy, then, of separate schools, and you must establish infidel 
 ones also of every grade, from the atheism of the Encyclopaedists, to the ra- 
 tionalism of Hegel, stopping not till you have employed instructors that shall 
 teach the children of the country Comptism, as the last and most glorious 
 Evangel that is ever to bless humanity. That is if these things are required. 
 Who does not see in all this the ruin of our educational policy, our boast for 
 so many years, and our praise in tlie ends of the earth? And how shall you 
 cherish the democracy now fostered in our common schools, then lost, wliich 
 constitutes so needful a bond for the future unity of the State? Separate the 
 various nalioM;ilitics represented in American life in their daily education, 
 and homogeneity of population becomes impossible. Its absence is ruin. 
 Separate education of the religious classes is equally vicious. 
 
 Tiie demand when made by Catholics is refreshing from its sheer impudence. 
 A large per cent, of the paupers and criminals, the thieves and murderers, 
 the drunkard.s and rubbers, the rioters and convicts of the country, receive 
 absolution from Catholic lips. Tiie degnulation of the land is Catholic. 
 We pay taxes to arrest it, and try it, and convict it, and defend uurselvcs 
 from ii. and then are asked, nay rciuircd, to pay our money to maintain the 
 very schools that cherish it, or show ihemsolves incapable of doing anything 
 better than to turn off their pupils to prey upon liie peace and security of 
 society. Allowing them to subslitute their own schools, for the i-uhlic 
 Hchools, in iIm> edu.iiiinn oCllirii- .liildren, is a policy subject to severe criti- 
 cism, and ju.Mlihal.le only upui, the do.^trine of the widest toleration. And
 
 ESSAY OF REV. A. AVIIEELER, D.D. 101 
 
 yet they are afraid of the public schools which employ for iheir teachers 
 men and women refined in manners, cultivated in intellect, models of viitiie, 
 and in thousand of cases noted for consistent piety, because such schools are 
 godless. 
 
 But the argument by which success is expected is the rights of conscience. 
 Catholics cannot in conscience patronize schools organized by the State, and 
 in the direction of which, the civil power is acknowledged. The American 
 idea of the sacredncss of conscience is invoked to tear down American insti- 
 tutions. If there shall be found a contradiction between the two, a revolu- 
 tion sufficiently great to bring liarnioiiy must inevitably come. For institu- 
 tions are but the outgrowth of ideas, and all discord between tlieni nnist dis- 
 appear in order to peace. The argument to be effective must make every 
 man's conscience the measure of his duty and obligation, and also of his 
 toleration. The State under this view has no right to impose anything upou 
 the imlividual, which he may claim revolts his conscience. Neither 
 may it forbid anything which his conscience imposes. When applied to the 
 school question this is the ground taken by the Catholics. Under no circum- 
 stances must the State invade the domain of conscience. The voice of God 
 is alone to be heard there, and the individual is to be the sole interpreter of 
 the utterances. I need not say that, under such a construction of the rights 
 of conscience, all government would be at an end, and the existence of socie- 
 ty an impossibility. All that would be needed to justify any crime from the 
 smallest up to treason, would be to plead conscience. Any neglect of the 
 humanities of life, or of civil obligations could be justified in the same way. 
 
 In this sense, Americans have never advocated the claims of conscience. 
 Protestants have never done it. Catholics have never done it, only when it 
 suited their convenience. If they had, there would have been fewer Auto- 
 da fes. In matters of policy, the judgment of the majority has decided. 
 For matters of policy, involving conscience, the judgment and conscience of 
 the majority have done the same. "The government of the people by the 
 people," is not possible under any other practice. 
 
 The ideas and practice of the people are at one in this regard, and always 
 have been. But when the Catholic seeks to tear down one of the main stays 
 of our free institutions, and pleads conscience as his justification, we may 
 well ask, Whose? The individuals? How long since Catholicism became the 
 champion of the indiviilual conscience? How long since she apologized to 
 the world for those volumes of her history made red with the blood of the 
 martyrs, slain because their consciences compelled them to dissent ? Tiiere 
 is no truth in history, or she has ever, upon occasion, hushed the voice of 
 the individual conscience in the silence of death. Her conscience is an ec- 
 clesiastical one, that is to say, a priestly one, that is to say, a corporate one. 
 And the ultimate factor of the corporation for the whole Catholic world, is 
 now reduced to unity. 
 
 The convictions of one man are binding upon all the faithful. No where 
 is this nonsense, and this profanation of the individual conscience, accepted 
 more blindly, than by Catholics of America. They are as tickled with the
 
 102 MINUTES OF COXVEXTIOX. 
 
 doctrine of infallibility as a boy with a painted boop and a bell attached, 
 that will jingle louder than that of any other boys on the green. 
 
 When the moral status of the Catholic masses is considered, the plea that 
 their tender consciences will not allow them to send their children to our 
 godless schools, especially if the Lord's praj^er is recited in them, seems to 
 be simply a broad joke. It is worse. It is hypocrisy. This may appear se- 
 vere. But its justice will be admitted by all who remember the assassination 
 of William the Silent, and how the Holy Father with uplifted hands blessed 
 the assassin, or Bartholomew's day, and how Catholic bells everywhere rung 
 out a Te Deum over the infimy. It were not best for us to seriously con- 
 sider any proposal to change any of our time-honored institutions at tlie be- 
 hests of the Catholic conscience. It is too uncertain a quantity. 
 
 Bi't tliere is another element in the school question. The Bible, sliall it be 
 retained, or thrown out? Against its retention various classes have combined, 
 though the Catholics are the leaders and strength of the movement. A con- 
 Hict is before us, and promises to be general and sharp. Some who love the 
 Bible, think it best to remove it without strife, hoping thereby to bring set- 
 tled peace to our scliools. But if, as I have endeavored to show, the design 
 of the leading party in the opposition is to destroy them, such amiability is 
 uncalled fur. The moral effects of such a compliance should be taken into 
 account. "Were the introduction of the Bible into our schools a question de 
 novo, and serious objections were urged against it, I will not say it might not 
 behest to omit it. The moral effect of leaving it out at first, because of an 
 opposition that would jeopardize their establishment, would have differed 
 much from ejecting it at the command of those who had no part in determi- 
 ning the character of the schools at their org:iniz;ition, or if any, so feeble, 
 as not to affect tbe unanimity with which they were established, or the Chris- 
 tian basis upon which they were planted. As a matter of comity, it would 
 be proper to yield what must be resisted strenuously when exacted as a 
 right, and which yielded, might only invite to larger demands. What might 
 li;ive been given as a courtesy without damage, it might be fatal to sacrifice 
 to implacability. As it now stands, to remove the Bible from our schools at 
 the command of a hostile power, must have the effect of a victory over reli- 
 gion, and also over education as conducted by the State. And while you 
 please tlie Catholic by a mighty blow against general education, and the infi- 
 del by a strong one against Christianity, what do you gain? Not acquies- 
 cence in the system on the part of the Catliolic, but indifference on the part 
 of the Protestant, whicli must ultimately compromise the very continuance 
 of the systetn itself. But it is a question of gravest doubt, whether it would 
 have been wise, even if the opposition had bi'cii made at tlie initiation of our 
 schools, to liavc refused the Word of God admission thereto. 
 
 What is the significance of public schools? That the State nuist educate 
 for S.ate ends; tliat is to say, tlie State must sec to it that her children are 
 80 qualified to ailminisler her .•ifi'airs, that no harm shall come to her in- 
 logrify, and tiial the iiighest form of State life may be developed. They 
 mean tiiis, or they mean nothing. Can this be done by any education that 
 leaves unlouciied the religious element in man ? No element in bis nature is
 
 ESSAY OF REV. A. WHEELER, D. D. 103 
 
 80 profound as this, so lasting as this, so dominating as this. Any plan of 
 education that overlooks this fact, or neglects it, merits the term "godless." 
 The State in adopting it, and administering it, but arms her children with 
 the greater power of mischief to herself, and removes the securities against 
 its exercise. If conscience is to remain uninstructed, and the moral fac- 
 ulties are to remain in slumber, ignorance is better than knowledge. 
 Security to society cletnands that its inlpycrs be educated in their entirety. Let it 
 not be said that the moralities of life in their highest forms can be culti- 
 vated with success, without reference to religion. There is no basis for 
 morality without, or other, than religion. If then the State, so far as she 
 educates, is to educate the whole man, wliy object to the Bible in the 
 schools, the Book which is confessedly the repository of the highest religious 
 truths, urged home by considerations of an everlasting nature, and guarded 
 by sanctions of infinite importance ? This view may not be set aside by say- 
 ing that it commits the State to sectarian education; for Bible truths appeal 
 not to that within us that supports denominationalism, much less sectarian- 
 ism, but to the universal moral nature of man, and if experience is to be 
 trusted, is competent to develop that nature. And so far as that develop- 
 ment has progressed, giving security to society, and stability to the insti- 
 tutions of civilization, and a Divine beauty to the character of man, it has 
 received its inspiration from these truths. Where they are taught, humanity 
 moves forward and upward. Where they are unheard, stagnation, if not 
 barbarism, reigns. And shall we dare to pass sentence against those sublime 
 truths that are leading Christendom such a grand march by interdicting them 
 in schools supported by public policy? Whither shall we journey when we 
 have dismissed our ever trusty leaders? Upon what sea shall we drift when 
 we have cast our pilots into the deep? To trust to secular education after 
 eliminating all religion, is not safe; at least, if it is, we are not authorized to 
 say so, for we have never tried it. For from the beginning until now Chris- 
 tianity has had the main part to do in determining the character of our Gov- 
 ernment and ord.iining its institutions. However numerous the enemies of 
 Christianity among us may be, and however learned, the fact is patent, that 
 our civilization is Christian. 
 
 Remove the Christian element from our literature, from our legislation, 
 from our tribunals of justice, from our social and public life, and what have 
 you left ? Nothing to give coherence, or to ordain stability. The genius 
 that presided over our national birth, and directed the first years of growth, 
 and defended us when all the gods of war were about to crush us, cannot be 
 driven from His temple and yet the temple remain, much less remain un- 
 harmed. 
 
 Shall we hope that the public loss sustained by excluding the Bible from 
 our schools will be repaired, and more than made up, by the increased pri- 
 vate value that shall be attached to its teachings, and the intenser activity 
 that shall be displayed in their diffusion ? This would seem to be an illogi- 
 cal result after the public has decided tluxt the retention of the Bible in the 
 place assigned it by our fathers, is contrary to the public welfare. 
 
 This shall be construed by the skeptic into a declaration of its obsolete-
 
 104 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 ness, and its unfitness to lead the thought of this progressive age and country. 
 And such shall be the power with which they shall ply the minds of the 
 young with this conclusion, that the Bible, as the Word of God, shall be in 
 danger of becoming a mere jest. But suppose the exclusion made, will the 
 spirit of exorcism be satisfied ? Not one of our school books but that in- 
 culcates the moralities and principles of the Bible. Will you allow them to 
 remain? If so, why not allow the original fountain from which they draw 
 their supplies to flow through the recitation rooms of American youth ? 
 
 AVhat will you do with the mottoes, those silent educators of mind and 
 heart, that flash from the walls of your school-rooms ? What with the beau- 
 tiful songs your children sing so sweetly, and whicli do so much to enliven 
 the hours of school, and cheer the spirits of the little ones, and make edu- 
 cation a delight rather than a task ? Those mottoes, are Christian mottoes, 
 those songs, are Christian songs, and must follow the fortunes of the book 
 from which they derive their inspiration. They, too, must be thrown out. 
 The work of the demolition of the educational appliances of the land must go 
 on till the work of destruction is complete. 
 
 And then for the substitution. You must not bring in Catholicism; 
 Protestantism shuts that out. You must not bring in infidelity ; Protestant- 
 ism and Catholicism alike shut that out. You must not bring in Judaism, 
 for all combine to shut that out. You must not bring in the mythologic re- 
 ligions of antiquity, for what right have they to rise from a death of ages, 
 and enter, and rule, when the others may not stay ? If all these are shut 
 out what liave you left to teach? If 3'ou mustnot teach religion, neither may 
 you teach anti-religion. If you may not teacli science considered from the 
 stand-point of faith, neither may you teach it considered from the stand- 
 point of unbelief. If you may not teach history in the fulness of its revela- 
 tions of Catliolic Churcli life, neither may you its revelations of the fulness 
 of Protestant Church life. The logic of the controversy is, teach nothing to 
 whicli anyl)ody will object. This would leave but a small margin for in- 
 struction in anything; so small, that it would liardly be worth while to con- 
 tinue our expensive schools to impart it. The spirit that would shut out tiie 
 Bible from our public schools is at war alike witli the genius of our institu- 
 tions and of the civilization under which we live. It would turn us back 
 from our splendid national career to tlie absolutism and ]>riestcraft of the 
 mcdiicval times, ami condemn humanity to retravel the hard, rough and 
 bloody ways over whicli it has come in tiiesix iiundred years agone. 
 
 If we are ever to discard our system of education, or modify in any essen- 
 tial degree the course of instruction secured thereby, it is not a good time 
 now to try it, or to propose it. Our scliools deserve well of tiie llopublic. 
 The memories of their services are too fresii and green to permit serious 
 change. Our Government has been tried as no government has been tested 
 before. Tlie result is before llie world. The tempest is over, and not a 
 plank is loose, or a spar gone, or a cord liroken. At tlie sight of such a ship, 
 outriding such a storm, with such a record, the thrones of the world arc 
 shaking, and the heart of humanity is being refreshed with new visions, and 
 Blirrcd with new hopes. Had ignorance prevailed in the land, li:ul wo had
 
 ESSAY OF REV. A. WHEELER, D. D. 105 
 
 no public schools, could we have chronlclcil these grand achievements (o- 
 day ? If tlierc had been no open Bible in them, and in our homes, could we 
 have done it ? Who believes it? When we are prepared to exchange 
 America for Spain, or Italy, then will we resign ourselves into the hands of 
 the priests. 
 
 But the great argument has not been completed by us. It i.s now being 
 finished by Protestant Germany in the land of infidelity and Catholicism. 
 Universal education, with the Bible which Luther unchained as its basis, is 
 confronting a nation that has accepted tlie priests and the disciples of Vol- 
 taire as its teachers. The one has been fearful of education ; both of the 
 Bible. The masses are without intelligence; the intelligent without religion. 
 This explains Woerth, and Gravelotte, and Sedan. This explains Paris, iso- 
 lated from the world to-day by armed foreigners, and France humbled by 
 those she scorned. Were America France, the Stars and Stripes had not 
 forsaken the Rhine, and retired behind the fortifications of a doomed Capi- 
 tal. Had France the public schools of America, her eagles still had ruled at 
 Strasbourg, the gates of Metz had still been open, and the Teuton liad been 
 at home gathering his vintage in peace. The people would have forbidden 
 the causeless war. 
 
 Education ivith religion is strength. The nation that has both is mighty, 
 and siiall never be brought to shame, or to experience confusion of face. 
 
 Dr. a. Wheeler on behalf of the Committee aLso offered 
 the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the efficiency and life of republican institutions demand 
 a system of general education, the benefits of which may be shared by the 
 entire people. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That it is the duty of the State, to provide such system and 
 preserve it from destruction and impairment by hosiile hands. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the highest interests of the State alone must determine 
 the character and extent of the education she should provide for her citizens. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That no course of education, however extensive or thorough, 
 from wliich the religious element is eliminated can conserve the highest wel- 
 fare of the State. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That the Bible is the only competent educator of the moral 
 faculties of men, and that its banishment from our public schools we will re- 
 sist by all just and Christian etforts. 
 
 Resolved, That the Bible in its teachings, or spirit, is not a promoter of 
 sectarianism; but its teachings accepted, and its spirit imparted, tend to the 
 unification of peoples, however diverse in habits, or race, or nationality. 
 
 Resolved, 7. That the partition of public school funds on the levy of a tax 
 to support sectarian schools, is contrary to the genius of our Government 
 and its Constitution; and truth and justice alone shall limit our opposition 
 to any such policy. 
 
 Resolved, 8. That our sympathies as a Church are with our public schools, 
 and nothing we can do to make them more effective, and to diffuse their 
 blessings more extensively shall be neglected.
 
 106 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 President Allen, LL. D. — We read in the best of books, that Closes said 
 to the children of Israel, "These words which I command thee this day, 
 shall be in thine heart ; and thou shall teach them diligently unto thy chil- 
 dren, and shalt talk of them when thou sittcst in thine liouse, and when 
 thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest 
 up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall 
 be as frontlets between thine ej'es. And thou shalt write them upon the 
 posts of thy house and on thy gates." Now, if the precepts which IMoses 
 inculcated for the children of Israel, as the basis of their morality, were thus 
 to be made the common property of the people, and of every child in that na- 
 tion, what argument can be brought forward why every child in this country 
 should not be taught the morality of the Bible? The ancient philosopliers 
 discovered all the moral principles. Every doctrine of moral philosophy 
 which we have, but yet they could not make the people moral; and why? 
 For the very reason, the Chairman of the Committee informs us in his re- 
 port, that their precepts had not the proper sanctions,— they hadn't the 
 sanctions which readied forward to the future world. We can have no se- 
 cure basis of morals but in Christianity, and therefore we must t ach the 
 principles of Christianity if we would not have that flood of immorality sweep 
 upon us that swept over the ancient republics and destroyed them. 
 
 We have at Girard College, where I reside, some five hundred and fifty 
 boys, and the Bible is read every day, and has been since the College was 
 opened, now nearly twenty-three years. 
 
 Mr. Webster, to whom allusion was made this morning, founded his 
 great argument in the Girard College cisc, upon what he supposed would be 
 the result of the exclusion of Christian teaching. The logic of facts has de- 
 stroyed the logic of the lawyer. lie was talking for a fee : we are endeavor- 
 ing to show that Cliristian teaching can be introduced and kept up in that 
 institution, as in any other, witli the single exception which by the will of 
 Air. Girard we are bound to obey and you all understand. I don't want to 
 make any offensive allusions. Now, we have there, boys from every denom- 
 ination, — Protestant boys. Catholic boys, Israelite boys — and every Sunday 
 morning at nine o'clock they assemble for their Bible lesson, and use King 
 James' translation, as we call it, and no objection has ever been brought to 
 our ears except in a single instance, some eighteen or nineteen years ago — I 
 think perhaps nearly twenty, the first year I was at Girard Collegf. One of 
 the large boys refused to learn the Bible lesson for Sundaj morning at 9 
 o'clock. Tiie lecture in the chapel is subsequent to that, at lOi o'clock. I 
 askeil him what was the matter. lie told me that was not the right Bible. 
 Who told you so ? I inquired. He informed me that the last lime he was to 
 visit his friends the priest had told liiniso. 1 informed him — and I went into 
 his section — the largest in llie irisi ilut imi iit thai time — anil addressed all llie 
 boys on th(! subject, and told llieiii iliat the Board of Dircclois had required us 
 to use the Bible, and our Knglish translation of llie Bible, as oflr text book in 
 morals, and (liat by the will of llie founder of the (Jollege we were required to 
 teacli the purest principles of ii](ii;ilily. Mild \vv all brlirvrd llicy wrrc Coiindin 
 the Bible, and that it was tlie spirit and Icllcr of M i'. (iiiards will tlial no de-
 
 ADDRESS OF ^^ESIDE^•T ALLEN. 107 
 
 nomination or sect whatever should interfere witli tlie affairs of the College, 
 and that we should not permit any Catholic, Protestant, Mohammedan, Jew, 
 or Pagan to come in and tell us what books we should read and wliat not. 
 That was the end of tlie matter ; no boy lias ever since demurred to learning 
 his Bible lesson. 
 
 Now, we have power over the boys there which the teachers in the public 
 schools have not. We support them, feed, clothe, and instruct them, .vithout 
 pay; we ought, therefore, to have a hold upon them which the public schools 
 do not have ; and the question is not so simple, my friends, when we come 
 to the question of the Bible in the public schools. If we could teach our 
 children in tlic public schools to read the inspired writings in the languages 
 in wliich they were inspired, the matter would be much simplified, but we 
 cannot. No one, I suppose, will contend that the translations were made by 
 inspired men ; they were made by learned men, and we believe our English 
 translation is the best Ihat has ever been made. On comparing it with the 
 Douay translation, I consider our translation far superior, but yet every 
 scholar knows there are errors in it. Now our Baptist friends got out an- 
 other translation ; we call that sectarian, because they have translated cer- 
 tain words in a manner to suit their own belief, and these are words the 
 meaning of which the best scholars will admit is doubtful. Take the word 
 baptize. It is not certain what that meant, precisely, in Greek, and therefore 
 our translators of the Bible — very learned men — adopted the Greek word in 
 an English form. Now, I don't want to be considered as making an attempt 
 here to show off learning, but when a boy in college, I undertook to trans- 
 late one of the odes of Anacreon literally, and as nearly as I recollect, it 
 read thus: (I hope the Convention will pardon me for quoting Anacreon in 
 a Convention of Methodists.) "I, while wearing garlands, found love among 
 the roses, and by his wings I caught him and in the wine baptized him, and 
 with the wine I drank, till now within me he flutters and tickles me with his 
 fingers." Now that word baptize is not classic Greek. How far the word 
 in the New Testament Greek differs from classic I am not scholar enough to 
 inform you, but it is not said what he did with that little mischievous wing, 
 whether he plunged it right in under the wine or poured some over or spriuk- 
 ed it upon the wing. The Baptists say plunged right under, then drank it. 
 Pardon me, gentlemen, for tiiis. I merely notice it to show that we cannot 
 positively restrict the meaning of that word lo thesingle act which our Baptist 
 friends insist upon. Now isn't it better tiiat our translators should give the 
 word an English form and let each denomination apply the sense they think 
 proper? 
 
 Now there is another English translation of the Bible, as we hear, and all 
 the Protestant denominations have been invited to unite, and the Catholics, 
 but ihey have declined. When that translation is published what will be the 
 conflict between it and the old one? Perhaps some. We shall then have four 
 translations, claiming to be the best, in our public schools. We should think 
 it a very great hardship in a school in which our Catholic friends had the 
 majority, if they were to say, " We will throw out your King James' Bible 
 and the children shall read the Catholic Bible." Now, let us be just and do
 
 108 MIXUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 to others as we would bave them do to us. iSIay we not suppose they think 
 it a great hardship that their children should be compelled to read our Bible 
 where we have the majority. Suppose the Baptists have a majority and in- 
 sist on reading their Bible. Now all these conflicts may come up, and to 
 what shall we be driven? To tlirow the Bible out ? By no means : we can't 
 spare it from our instruction. Shall we let every child read the Bible his 
 friends insist is the true and right translation ? I am not prepared to an- 
 swer that question. I can see a great conflict in the future in this lisrht. As 
 the question has been started by our Catholic friends, and to which the 
 chairman of the Committee alluded in such strong terms, I see sometliing 
 farther and deeper in that than the question of reading the Bible in the pub- 
 lic schools. He told you what that was: it is the contest between sectarian 
 teaching and public school instruction : it looks forward to a division of the 
 school funds for sectarian purposes, that the children of Catholics may be 
 brought up in the Catholic faith and that they may not lose their children 
 by contact with Protestant teaching and teachers, and companionship with 
 Protestant children : and there is something coming beyond that. If they can 
 carry that one thing there must follow what is most of all to be deprecated, 
 the destruction of our public schools. 
 
 Rev. J. AValker Jackson — Mr. President: The other day I saw a building 
 fall, that had been pronounced by the inspectors, I believe, in a critical con- 
 dition. Those transacting business in that house, occupied below as a store 
 and above as a manufactory of some kind, went on day after diiy, regardless 
 of the warning given. The sun shone brightly ; there was no storm or dark- 
 ness in the heaven upon that fatal day ; yet, in one single moment, before 
 my sight, it fell so gradually and silently that within twenty feet I scarcely 
 heard the crash and ruin tliat 1 looked upon. It seemed as if prepared for 
 fall, as if it had been pre-ordained by its builder to tltis silent ruin. Tiie oc- 
 cupants bruised by the timbers were dragged out nearly dead. One of the 
 inmates climbing upon tlie partition wall, stood the image of terror, looking 
 down upon the fearful deptli. It liad all happened so silently an<l unexpect 
 edly that I stood in amazement. No lightning had bbisied il : liiere liad 
 been no violent attack upon it; but secretly and insidiously the waters of a 
 creek flowing at its base, had undermined the foundations and it fell. 
 
 A few years ago, tliis great Goverument of our.s was violently assauljcd. 
 A million of men in bloody conflict shook the coniinenl. our hearts stood in 
 awe, fearing tlie speedy fall of the great edifice of civil au<l religious lil)erty ; 
 but, amid that storm and tempest it grew the stronger every day, manifest- 
 ing its strength and power; an«l at the close emerged from that fierce, un- 
 brotherly and wicked strife, a stronger government iliin il had ever been 
 before. Able as it has proven itself to resist outward attack, to stand firm 
 against tlie external tempest, by secret ami insidious foes its foundations 
 mmj be undermined, it nniy yet fall : 
 
 "Like .siiips tliat have gone down at soa 
 ^Vheu heaven was all tranquility."
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. J. AVAEKER JACKSON. 109 
 
 I look upon the attack on our public school system as the umlermining of 
 the unseen foundation of this edifice; as the water tlooJ tiiat may sweep to 
 ruin this great Government of ours. If this attack be not resisted, if this on- 
 coming flood be not diked and prevented, then, some day, as the result of 
 causes of whose existence we are aware, and of whose danger we are fore- 
 warned, quietly, yet not the less disastrously, shall come the end. 
 
 There are two pillars to this national edifice of ours — religion and educa- 
 tion. They are its pillars of strength and beauty. Not religion alone — and 
 by religion, in the association of the idea with the State, I mean public mo- 
 rality — and not education alone, but education and religion combined. 
 Education without religion leads to infidelity, to rationalism, to skepticism ; 
 religion without educHtion, on the other hand, leads to superstition; for 
 ignorance is said to be the mother of devotion ; and that is what is meant by 
 Ma/ devotion. The Germans express it, if I remember rightly, somehow in 
 this way: they call faith, glauben ; and, superstition abcr glauben, that is 
 faith with an aber to it ; a faith with " ifs and buts; " a faith of credulity; 
 a faith with clouds and darkness resting on it ; a faith without the clear 
 light of the assurance of a divine revelation ; or, in other words, a faith with- 
 out education ; that is the faith of the credulous, the faith, which is aupeisli- 
 tion. A faith with education is faith with reason, that rational faith that 
 upholds, and sustains, and supports us — a light shining in a dark place, to 
 which we do well to take heed. 
 . The Bible is in our public schools because it is necessary to the education 
 of the coming millions of our children in the purest principles of morality ; 
 it is the text book of that national religion which, according to the highest 
 human authorities, both of ancient and modern times, is essential to the life 
 of a nation. That national religion which recognizes the State as instituted 
 by God, as the Creator and Ruler of the world, and having for its object the 
 establishment and maintenance of justice, and therefore bound to act in con- 
 formity to the principles of the moral law of God, as the supreme standard by 
 which it shall conduct its ati'airs. 
 
 We cannot stop here to discuss the versions of the Holy Scriptures — the 
 sectarian character of any version; we simply stand by the version that time 
 has sanctified, that the past has made sacred. Put this Bible out of the pub- 
 lic schools, and you put religion out — not the religion of the sects, but the 
 religion of the nation. The fundamental law of the life of this nation is 
 Christianity, and the text book of that life is the Bible All nations that 
 perish, perish for the want of a religion that can save them. 
 
 The argument that puts the Bible out of the common school goes further 
 than this ; to be consistent, it excludes it from all institutions that are the 
 common property of the people. It puts it out of the penitentiaries, out of 
 the reformatory institutions, out of the Senate of the United States, out of 
 Congress, out of all legislative bodies, out of all pu'olic institutions of every 
 character, out of Courts of Law, where its divine character is now recognized 
 in the oath. Nay it must even go further tlian this and eliminate the Bible 
 and its teachings from the letter of all laws, from all books used in public 
 libraries under the patronage of the State, and for the education of the com-
 
 iiO MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 moa people. Are we prepared for this ? Shall we not resist the begianings 
 of such a fearful consummation? 
 
 Judge McCalmont. — The question under discussion is one which, as a 
 matter of course, has excited public attention to a great degree. I do not wish 
 to treat it in this Convention, nor any other question, merely to captivate the 
 public, because the public are sufficiently excited, but it is for us to deter- 
 mine what is best for us, and what is best for us will no doubt be best for the 
 whole Methodist Church and for the whole Christian world. 
 
 Now, sir, in reference to this Government, when William Penn came over 
 here, he didn't guarantee religious liberty to the Jews ; he guaranteed alone 
 the right of men to worship God according to the dictates of their own con- 
 sciences, but he didn't guarantee especially to infidels or Jews any rights 
 whatever, and it is a mistake for men to suppose that we are going to let go 
 the guarantee which our forefathers brought with them; but if they address 
 us as friends, from whatever quarter of the globe they come, whether they be 
 low or high, rich or poor, bond or free, Jew or Gentile, Christian or infidel, 
 and say to us, " We want some rights here, and we want you to give us these 
 rights," I am ready at all times, and on all occasions, and I trust this is the 
 spirit of our Church, to sit down and reason with them, and see if there be 
 any question in dispute between us that is not radical. If they will come 
 together and reason, we need never fear the result. Now, as to tliis ques- 
 tion of the Bible on the public schools. I don't believe it will ever be kept 
 out of the public schools. Suppose it were proposed to exclude some other 
 book from tlie public schools, some book we regard as highly moral, we 
 would all say, Wliat folly to put out that when there is nothing immoral or 
 wrong in it! So of the Bible. 
 
 Rkv. Dr. Crooks.— I regard tliis question as (he question of modern civi- 
 lization. The whole of our modern civilization is in it, because modern 
 civilization assumes the right of education by the State. MedijBval civiliza- 
 tion, marshalled by the Roman Catholic Church, claims the exclusive right 
 of educating by the Church. The question, tlicn, is between mcdi;eval and 
 modern civilization. We must consider it in all its breadth. There is no 
 evading it, no escaping it. We have to meet it now. As my friend, Mr. 
 Jackson, has said, it concerns the very foundations of society. It does so for 
 this reason : Rome claims to be tlie sovereign of the human spirit. She 
 claims sovereignly over the human soul because she is the vicar of Christ. 
 Being sovereign, unto whom she chooses she opens the gates of the kingdom 
 of heaven; against whom she pleases she closes those gates forever. Her 
 right and title, then, according to her claim, are indisputable over what is 
 called the spirilual nature of man. Hut tiie spiritual nature of man is kin- 
 dred with his inlelleclual nutui-c, and liicrclore ltonn> clniiiis the right of 
 culturing the liumaii intellect. She will never surrender it; she will die 
 first; an<l -lie she must. That claim you must resist, if necessary, to the 
 last extremity. Now, wc are not going to have blood soon. I hope we shall 
 settle this question at tlie ballot-box, and 1 think wc shall settle it finally 
 and forever.
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. DR. CROOKS. Ill 
 
 Roman CatboHoism, then, claiming the right to cultivate the human intel- 
 lect, demands control of human education. She takes the human .soul a.s it 
 first appears, and says: " It is mine." From the cradle to the gmve, from 
 baptism to extreme unction, still slio ever says: "This is mine. My son, I 
 alone can guide you ; I alone can tell you what knowledge is good for you ; 
 I alone can educate you;" and tiiat is tiie very basis on which Rome 
 exists. 
 
 The syllabus of the Pope, which I would like to see in the hands of every 
 voter in the United Slates, and especially every voter in Pennsylvania, lays 
 down as among the errors of modern society to be condemned, the right 
 of the State to educate; lays down as an error, fatal and damnable, 
 State education as distinct from that education whicli is controlled by tlie 
 Church. But then, when Rome says "tlie Church," she means the priestly 
 corporation, not the laity — not at all. AVitli Rome, the Church as a control- 
 ling power is the small corporate body of the priesthojd, the army of the 
 Pope, to which he never speaks that he does not demand obedience. Then 
 education by the Church, according to her principles, means education by a 
 priestly corporation; and the whole of mankind — all its attainments, all its 
 acquisitions, all its learning, according to her demands, must be subject unto 
 her infallible head. 
 
 Do I mistake the doctrine of the Church? Let nie give an instance. 
 Austria, but a few years ago, rescued herself from the grasp of tlie Church 
 and took the control of education out of the hands of the priesthood, and or- 
 dained State education. The priest stood at the gate of knowledge and shut 
 out whom he pleased, and stood inside of the gate and gave just as much as 
 he pleased. He practiced that principle, which has been well phrased by 
 one of our poets, which embraces all the policy of Rome: 
 
 "Be to their virtues very kind. 
 Be to their faults a little blind ; 
 But put the padlock on the mind." 
 
 Aye, sir, Rome would place that padlock on the human mind, and would 
 ever keep the key for herself. The common school opened wide those doors 
 and has said to every boy and girl : "Come in, come in, for knowledge here 
 shall be free," and Rome stands at the wide-opened gate, looking jealously, 
 and murmurs and complains and resists, and says: "It shall not longer 
 be." 
 
 They have objected, too, to the idea of the Bible in public schools, and we 
 have met them at that issue; but the Tabid, of New York, said, last summer, 
 " We don't care whether the Bible is in the schools or not ; our objection is 
 not so much to the Bible, but to the schools themselves." I am glad they 
 have spoken thus plainly. Meet them on that issue. Here and now we nuiy 
 say — and let your word of this convention be the word of Pennsylvania 
 Methodists — " We will guard these public schools, and let Rome harm them 
 at her peril." 
 
 I have a friend, a publisher of one of the most largely circulated illustrated
 
 112 MINUTES OF CONVENTIOX. 
 
 papers in this country, and sometimes its cartoons are terribly severe against 
 Rome. A gentleman who knows my friend asked him, not long since, 
 " What is the reason why you are earnest on this subject of the growth of 
 Kome?" Said he: " When the slaveholders were coming, step by step, and 
 getting possession of the country we didn't wake up soon enough ; we 
 didn't strike the blow early enough. I am determined, for my part, that I 
 will not be too late this time." Do you say so to-day? [Voices, '-Yes."] 
 Well, let us all say it. We have determined, for our part, that we will not 
 be too late this time. 
 
 Rev. Db. Payne. — I came here with no thought of speaking upon this sub- 
 ject, but since you have called me to my feet, I might appear indifl'erent to 
 a question of most vital interest if I did not give utterance to a few words 
 concerning it. The clamor that comes to us against the ptiblic school, comes 
 from the same source as the clamor ag.iinst our American Sabbath, and 
 against legislation with respect to the liquor traffic: they all have the same 
 origin and the same inspiration, and we have got to battle with them all. 
 
 Now the question in its broadest statement, 1 think is, whether this nation, 
 in its future, is to be a Christian or a non Christian nation. It is argued 
 speciously, in some of our religious papers, that we are to be non-Christian 
 in our character. Sometimes it is stated " unbigoted," "non-sectarian," 
 but I think it means non-Christian. Now I am not a bigot. I think I have 
 as little of that element in my bosom as almost any one, and yet I recognize 
 and rejoice in the fact that this nation is historically, traditionally, constitu- 
 tionally, a Cliristian nation; and that it is to be conserved through all com- 
 ing time with this distinctive Christian character. I need not tell this audi- 
 ence that I sprang from the good old Puritanic stock. My early home was 
 in New England. I suppose Puritanic blood runs in my veins. 1 can never 
 forget that noble band that landed on Plymouth rock, and that picture has 
 been in my mind from my childhood — the first Sabbath on this continent 
 passed by that noble baud. With savage hordes around them, and winter's 
 storms sweeping over them, without home or shelter, nothing but " a screen 
 of leafless branches between them and the blast," they paused and worshiped 
 God on tliat first Sabbath-day. 
 
 "Amid the storm they sang. 
 
 And the stars heard and the sea; 
 And the sounding aisles of the dim wood rang 
 To the Anihcni of llie free." 
 
 They planted this nation, sir, on Cliristian I'dundations ; and tlicy planted 
 a tree of nmrvelovis growtii. It has taken root; its branches have spread 
 out over the wliole continent, and you and I are enjoying its full, rich fruit- 
 age to-day. Now, sir, I am ready and willing, with all others, to receive our 
 Gorman brethren witii oprn arms, bill 1 am luii willing they should bring 
 Germany with them. We want tlie luirdy sons of Kathorland and of the 
 EmeraM isle, but we do not want Germany, and we do not want Rome; wc 
 propose to be an American nation; an<l the brethren that come to us — and wo
 
 ADDRESS OF T. W. PRICE, ESQ. 113 
 
 open our arms wide to receive them from all parts of tlie world — must accept 
 our type of civilization, and our type of Christianity. And in making these 
 statements I trust I make them on tiie broadest basis of Christianity. I liold 
 that a republican form of government cannot exist with any other founda- 
 tion than that of Cliristianity. Our public schools are the basis upon whicli 
 our republican form of government is established; and if you knock that 
 pillar out, the whole fabric will totter and fall. Not then as a Christian 
 minister, not by any means as a Methodist minister, but as a Christian citi- 
 zen, I stand here to argue for tlie public school — and for the public school 
 with the moral teachings of the Bible. 
 
 One word more. Let me say to these Methodists in Convention here to- 
 day, that our action with reference to this question, and all other questions, 
 is of the most vital importance. I was filled with gratitude, sir, at the statis- 
 tical report made the other evening, and I was also oppressed with a sense 
 of our responsibilities. According to that report, one-tenth of the popula- 
 tion of this State is under our religious care. I argue more. The Committee 
 multiplied the membership by three to estimate the number of Methodist 
 adherents. T suppose a fairer estimate would be to multiply by four or 
 five. Multiplied by three, we have one-tenth; multiplied by five, we have 
 one-seventh of the population of this State. And more ; we have here repre- 
 sented, in this Convention, the membership of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church of Pennsylvania, and that membership is more than one-tenth of the 
 entire membership of the whole Methodist Episcopal Church. More than 
 that ; our central locality, vast resources and wealth, make it a fair estimate 
 that Pennsylvania Methodism has nearly one-sixth, at least one-eighth, of 
 the entire wealth of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States ; and 
 we represent here, in this Convention, all this wealth and influence. Our ac- 
 tion is therefore of vital importance : we ought to stand in the very fore-front 
 of every movement that looks towards education, evangelization, the estab- 
 lishment of our Church upon a broad and generous basis, and the conserva- 
 tion of the Republic. 
 
 T. W. Price — I desire to make but a single remark in reply to the speak- 
 er that has discussed this question against the resolution. I believe, Mr. 
 Chairman, in being cautious, in the largest liberty of conscience, that we 
 should require nothing of any fellow-citizen that we are not willing to sub- 
 mit to ourselves ; but, at the same time, I think we are prepared to dcciile 
 this question in the affirmative by the adoption, unanimously, I trust, of 
 the resolutions under consideration. I submit that if it becomes a ques- 
 tion as to whether the Bible is to be taken from the public schools or not, we 
 should decide that question of our own volition, and not be coerced by infi- 
 delity or popery. 
 
 This is the point I desire to make. We may listen to what they have to say. 
 If they think we are encroaching upon their rights of conscience we will listen 
 to thcin, and if satisfied ihey are riglit and we are wrong, we will act accord- 
 ingly, but we will not yield to their demand. I take it, sir, that the position 
 held by Dr. Crooks is the true state of the case. It is Rome, Rome that makes 
 this demand ; and / icould not yield because it is Rome! 
 
 8
 
 114 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Ret. Dr. Ktnett — There is a thought or tvvo in my mind that I think 
 ought to be in the mind of this Convention. The first is this: The proposi- 
 tion before the American people is not to put the Bible into the common 
 schools by legislation, but to put it out of the common schools by legislation ; 
 that is the form in which this question comes before the American people. 
 I want to call the attention of the Convention to the inevitable effect of the 
 silent influence of such an act on the part of the people of this country. I 
 have an illustration of it in the case of Girard College, if I am correctly in- 
 formed with regard to the facts. The single prohibitory provision in the 
 will of Mr. Girard in providing for the endowment of that college, is directed 
 against clergymen — not against good morals, not against Christianity, not 
 against the Bible, but against the clerical profession. Now, sir, the fact is 
 that among all the students that have been educated in Girard College, not 
 one has ever become a minister. 
 
 Dr. Allen (interrupting) — That is a mistake: one of them is an Episcopal 
 clergyman. The day before he was ordained he came to bid us farewell, as 
 he never could see us again. 
 
 Dr Ktxett — I am happy, sir, to learn of a single exception to the rule, 
 but the force of the suggestion is none the less strong. If a provision of 
 that kind, made by a single man, has been so potent in its influence upon the 
 minds of the students of that college, what will be the influence upon the 
 minds of the American youth, of the formal exclusion of the Bible from our 
 common schools by act of the whole body of the people ? 
 
 I ask this Convention if they are prepared to give our holy Christianity 
 such a thrust in its vital parts. I want to call attention to another point, 
 llefercnce has been made to various translations of the Holy Scriptures, and 
 the question has been raised whether our Roman Catholic brethren have not 
 US niucli right as we ourselves. I answer. No. Tiie Roman Catholic Church 
 has no translation of the Holy Scriptures without note or comment. They 
 nre not willing to give the Bible to the people witliout the comments of the 
 (^'hurch ilirust in between the word and the mind of the hearer. Let them 
 give the world a translation of the Holy Scriptures, approved by good scho- 
 larsliip, wilhoui note or comment, and I am willing it should go into the 
 Bchools, but their case is not parallel at all unless they shall give us such a 
 translation. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Hodgson — There arc two passing trains of thought which have 
 not been brought fairly into collision. The talking has all been on one side. 
 For my part I am for the public schools, and no public moneys appropriated 
 for any .sectarian school whatever. I am for this, llial those who cannot ac- 
 rcpl Ihc education provided by llic public schools may provide education at 
 their own expense. Whether the Bible shall be read is a separate question. 
 I am for tiie Bible being read in our public schools. But is the question of 
 Ihe <'xiHlcnce of our public schools fairly before us as a people? I dou'l 
 thiuk it is. 
 
 Rkv. !):;. (Juooks — It is in New York.
 
 ADDRESS OF DR. HODGSON. lly 
 
 Rev. Dn. Hodgson — Well, if I were in Now York I would oppose any 
 attack upon the public scliool system. I tliink there are inciiJiouH iitlackM 
 upon our public school system, and I think the stroke is not at the Bible, but 
 at the public schools. They have put the Bible out of the account. But if 
 this question were before us, " Does the existence of the public schools de- 
 pend upon our excluding the Bible?" that would be another matter. If 
 nolliing is to be gained by it, I certainly should not consent; but if wc can 
 retain the public school system, or render it more efficient, that is anotiier 
 matter. Now, the State has not undertaken to provide religious education. 
 We don't want the Slate to do that. If is to be done in another way in this 
 -country— by the Churches. The State has undertaken to provide school 
 education : that is all. 
 
 The theory is entertained by some, that it is the duty of the ruling power 
 to provide a religion for the people. It is not here the duty of the Stale to 
 do it; and I am free to say now, if wo could get all the Catholic chil- 
 dren into the public schools by simply declining to annoy them, we do them 
 ten-fold more mischief as a Church than we can do by reading the Bible in 
 our public schools. It is of that they complain ; it is the coining in contact 
 with our children ; they are losing their sons and daughters by this contact, 
 and in order to get them, as a pretext they say something about the reading 
 of the Bible, and sectarianism, and then want appropriations from the State 
 to support their own schools. But I don't think we need give up the Bible ; 
 I am not in any great trouble about it; but I am free to say, that if the in- 
 tegrity of the public school system were made to depend upon it, it would be 
 a very serious question with me. 
 
 I believe in the Bible in the family, the Bible in the Church, the Bible in 
 the school ; but after all, we don't depend upon the public schools in train- 
 ing our children, either in religion or morals. If wc depended upon the 
 public schools for that there would not be much done. Now, really, these are 
 my views, and I have held them for about twenty years. I would not sacrifice 
 the public schools ; but then we need not do it; I think we can have both. 
 But, by the by, give us the Bible — and we will have it, or fight for it — an 
 open Bible, a free pulpit, Sabbath-schools, and such schools as we see proper 
 to have as a denomination, and we will take care of the religious instiiiciion 
 of our children. I doubt if we should be much dependent upon a Catholic 
 teacher who may mutter over a portion of the Bible, or an infidel teacher wlio 
 does it because it is a custom, or a worldly man who has no care at all but to 
 perform an official duty. Now and then a Christian man may read it with 
 solemnity, but not comment upon it. We don't depend upon that at all. I 
 don't know whether there is another man who looks upon it in this light, but 
 I say we will have the public schools, and if by giving up the Bible we could 
 get the Catholics in them and hold them, we should do them fifty limes more 
 damage than by retaining the Bible and losing them. 
 
 Rev. L. W. Peck — The Bible cannot be appropriated by any class, and if 
 we shut the Bible out of our public schools it is appropriated by the Roman 
 Catholic Church as a class. They want to shut tlie Bible out of the public
 
 116 MINUTES OF CONVENTION". 
 
 schools, to have the privilege and right of interpreting it as a class, but if 
 we put it in the schools we give the Bible to all, not as a text-book, but 
 islmply in our schools as the foundation of our liberty. 
 
 Judge McCalmont moved that Rev. J. J. F. Briinow be 
 allowed to prepare his remarks on the German work, in Penn- 
 sylvania, and furnish them to the Secretary for publication in 
 the printed proceedings of the Convention, which was adopted. 
 
 Captain Schluembach, of East Mauch Chunk, moved to so 
 amend the resalutions as to require the attendance of the chil- 
 dren at our public schools. The amendment was laid on the 
 table. 
 
 The resolutions of the Committee were then adopted. 
 
 Prof. Saunders, of this city, was introduced to the Con- 
 vention. 
 
 On motion, adjoui'ned. 
 
 Doxology was sung. 
 
 Benediction by Dr. R. L. Dashiell. 
 
 EIGHTH SESSION. 
 
 St. George's M. E. Chukch, PiiiLADELriiiA. 
 
 Thursday evening^ October 20tlt, 1870. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment at 7| o'clock. 
 
 Rev. C. Cooke, D. D., in the chair. 
 
 Religious services were conducted by Rev. S. W. Weiss, of 
 the Wyoming Conference. 
 
 Tiic Mimitcs of the afternoon session were read and ap- 
 proved. 
 
 Rev. S. W. Weiss offered the following resolution, which- 
 was adopted, vi/. 
 
 RfxolvdI. Thiit a CoTniniltce consisiiiijf of Dr. Robt. If. Pnttison, Rev. I. II. 
 Torrencc, iiml Rev. W. .1 Paxsoii, bo appointed to publish the proceedings of 
 thi8 Convention in l)ook form. 
 
 On motion of Rev. M. JI. Sisty, Rev. S. W. Thoma.s, Thos.. 
 W. J*ric(', .lohii Wliiteman, and Col. -lolni A. Wright, were 
 a<l<le(l to the Committee.
 
 ESSAY OF HON. H. L. KICHMOND. 117 
 
 Judge McCalmont, H. R. Mosser, Esq., Dr. Jolin Rhoads, 
 Hon. J. F. Kreps, James Black, Esq., and Capt. Schluerabaeh 
 were, on motion, added to the Committee appointed to consider 
 the propriety of liolding another State Convention. 
 
 The Committee had })ermission to retire and prepare their 
 report. 
 
 The Chair announced the subject of the evening to be — " The 
 duty of the Christian citizen to the State." 
 
 Committee — William H. Allen, LL. D., Hon. H. L. Rich- 
 mond, Rev. S. H. Nesbitt, D. D. 
 
 Wm. H. Allen, LL. D., Chairman of the Committee, pre- 
 sented the following paper : 
 
 Mr. President : The subject which lias been assigned to the Committee of 
 which I have the honor to be Chairman is " The duty of the Christian citizen to 
 the State." My colleagues have very kindly agreed to relieve me of a great 
 part of the work which usually devolves on the Chairman, by a division ot 
 the subject and the labor. As our time has been wisely limited to one hour, 
 each member of our Committee has agreed to write an essay and to occupy 
 twenty minutes in reading it. 
 
 We have adopted the following division of our subject: 
 
 The duty of the Christian citizen to the State — 1st, As apolitical organism 
 — the depository of political power, and the conservator of political rights. 
 This part by Mr. Richmond. 
 
 2d, As a Commonwealth — the conservator of civil rights, and the promjter 
 of material prosperity. This division has been left to me. 
 
 3d, As a moral person — the conservator of individual and public morality, 
 and the guardian of religious liberty. Dr. Nesbitt will speak on this di- 
 vision. 
 
 If the Convention approve of our plan and will consent to hear us in the 
 order just named, the Hon. H. L. Richmond will read first. 
 
 Essay of Hon. H. L. Richmond. 
 
 The subject for consideration this evening is, "The duty of the Christian 
 citizen to the State." 
 
 The Committee, to whom this subject was assigned, have concurred in the 
 suggestion of Dr. Allen, their worthy and venerable Chairman, that, for the 
 purposes of the discussion, the State might be considered in a three-foli 
 aspect: — 
 
 1. As a political organization — the depository of political power, and the con- 
 servator of political rights. 
 
 2. As a Commoniveallh — the conservator of civil rights, and the promoter 
 of material well being.
 
 118 MINUTES OF CONVENTION". 
 
 3. As a moral person — the conservator of public and private morality, and 
 of religious liberty. 
 
 My theme will be, for some twenty minutes, the duty of the Christian citizen 
 to the State, as a political organization, the depository of political power, 
 and the conservator of political rights. 
 
 The State is a fact that exists everywhere, where men associate, whether 
 in savage, civilized, or enlightened life. It is not the community simply, 
 but it is what results from the community. Three men are thrown together 
 upon an island. Now, those three men, thus thrown together, and com- 
 pelled, as it were, to associate, do not constitute the State, and yet, tlie State, 
 in the sense in which we use the term, results of necessity, and exists from 
 the moment of their coming together. 
 
 It is a lamentable fact, that men will not perform, voluntarily, their social 
 duties, or regard and respect the rights of others. Hence, it results, neces- 
 sarily, that evei-y community must have, in some form, the power to compel 
 (he right to be observed and justice to be done. A State, then, is a com- 
 munity invested with this power. It may be three individuals, on a lone 
 island, in mid sea; it maybe a great Commonwealth, like our own noble 
 State ; it may be a vast family of Commonwealths, a Union of many States, 
 embracing immense territory, and many varieties of climate, like our own 
 Confederation. Through all grades of society, relations among men, from 
 the lowest to the highest, from the most degraded to the most enlightened, 
 from the weakest to the strongest, this power exists, and is, of necessity, 
 called into action in some form. It may be through the will of one man, as 
 the acknowledged head of the community, and is then known as a despotism; 
 it may be the will of the community itself, expressed in some direct form, or 
 by representation. In whatever form expressed, when ascertained and pro- 
 mulgated, it becomes a law, or a rule of conduct, for the time being, to that 
 community, and the individual members thereof are expected to observe and 
 obey it without much regard to its character. And here, perhaps, comes in 
 the first and one of tlie most difBcult questions to be solved satisfactorily by 
 the Christian citizen: What is his duty if the law is a bad law? In that 
 case he must, as we conceive, and for various reasons, that we cannot pause 
 to consider, at least submit to that law, until it is, in some form, repealed or 
 abrogated. 1 will not say, he must ol)ey it, regardless of the character of 
 its requisitions. That, perhaps, is a matter of conscience which lie must 
 Bettle for himself. He must, however, obey or abide the penalty, so long as 
 it remains upon the Statute Book. A liigh authority has commanded us "to 
 be subject to principalities and powers." 
 
 Now, if it be a bad law, either because it is oppressive, or because it per- 
 mits or licenses practices of an immoral character, somebody is responsible 
 for it ; and tliat somebody is the party who made, or contributed to make 
 it. In a despotism, the people, the individual members of the community, 
 may not be responsible, to any great extent, for tlie character of their laws; 
 for they iiave but little, if anything, to do with the making of tlicm. But 
 how is it in a Government like ours? — a free Government, in the fullest and 
 grandest acceptation of that term ; a Govcrntnent which recognizes Ciiristi-
 
 ESSAY OF HON. H. L. RICHMOND. 119 
 
 anity as a part of the common law of the land, and has stamped upon itd 
 coin, that simple and yet profound sentiment, that beautiful and impressive 
 legend, "in god we trust?" 
 
 We have no law, to which we have not, in some form, previously deter- 
 mined upon or assented ; and no law can remain such one hour longer than vre 
 are pleased to permit. We, the people, make the laws, because we, of pur- 
 pose, send the men to the Legislature who do make them ; we, the people, 
 interpret and administer the laws, for we place upon the Bench the men who 
 do interpret and administer them; we, the people, execute the laws, for we 
 place in the several executive departments of the Government the men who 
 do execute them. We, the people, then, make and interpret, and administer 
 and execute the laws, and if we have bad laws, badly interpreted, wickedly 
 administered, and wretchedly executed, we, the people, are to blame for it. 
 And you and I, saying nothing of the obligations which Christianity im- 
 poses, should be held responsible here, as we most certainly shall be here- 
 after, for wrong acting and neglect of duty in this regard. 
 
 While the obligation to secure proper legislation, and to elevate proper 
 men to official position, rests equally upon all, its faithful and honest 
 discharge is especially demandable at the hands of the Christian citizen; and 
 he cannot escape from its discharge and be held blameless. For it is be- 
 yond a doubt he holds in his hands to-day, if he is only disposed to use it, 
 the power to regulate and control the entire machinery of the Government. 
 
 It is, perhaps, proper for me to say in this connection, that by the term 
 Christian citizen I do not mean the Church member merely, but I mean the 
 man who believes in the great doctrines of Christianity and endeavors to 
 square his life by them, be he in or out of the Church. 
 
 Now, I lay down this proposition: Every Christian man, lay or clerical, in 
 ♦ he Church or out of it, should, in the proper meaning of the term, be a 
 politician, and an active and energetic one. I know there is an odium and an 
 odor attaching to the term from which every honest man who has any regard 
 for his personal purity instinctively shrinks. But why is this? The proper 
 meaning of the term is, "One versed in the science of Government and the 
 art of governing." Politics, then, properly understood, is among the noblest 
 of sciences. Why, then, so much popular odium attaching to their study and 
 practice? A pure and upright man would almost as soon be called a " sheep 
 thief" as a politician. Why is this ? Why has the noble science of govern- 
 ing men been brought into such amazing disrepute ? For a very obvious 
 reason. Good and reliable men hivve been neglectful of their duty, and have 
 suffered the politics of the country, to a great extent, to get into the hands 
 of a set of dishonest, political charlatans, who seek only their own aggran- 
 dizement, or that of men of their own class, and who, to accomplish a pur- 
 pose, will resort to any means, however disreputable or corrupt. This state 
 of things should be no longer permitted. If we do not wish our country to 
 follow the early republics to the tomb of nations, and that perhaps at no dis- 
 tant day, a change must be wrought and the political atmosphere purified.
 
 120 MINUTES OF CONVENTIOiSr. 
 
 "Corruption is a tree, whose branches are 
 Of an immeasurable length ; they spread 
 Everywhere ; and the dew that drops from them 
 Hath infected some chairs and stools of authority," 
 
 Only think of it. An infidel judge, administering an oath to a witness to 
 tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and invoking upon 
 him the vengeance of Heaven if he shall falsify ; an unbelieving member 
 elect of the Legislature, swearing to do his whole duty as such, and, with 
 uplifted hand, imprecating the wrath of the Almighty if he shall fail. What 
 solemn mockery! what fearful blasphemy! Not a day passes that we are 
 not compelled to witness such moral incongruities. And yet we slumber, 
 and make no effort to prevent a repetition, in the future, of such an insult 
 to our moral and religious sentiments and feelings. 
 
 I repeat, then, the Christian man should be, in the proper and noble mean- 
 ing of the term, a politician. He should, as opportunity may oifer, cul- 
 tivate the science of Government and the art of governing, that he may the 
 more properly appreciate the privileges and estimate the responsibilities of 
 Christian citizenship, and be the better prepared to discharge faithfully the 
 duties it imposes. And no more important duty is demanded at his hands 
 than the selection of proper men to fill the various offices of the country. 
 Inactivity and indifference here is a sin against the country and its institu- 
 tutions. He should not only seek, but he should strive to elevate to posi- 
 sitions of confidence and trust men honest and capable. In what manner is 
 he to accomplish this? By taking no part in politics? By staying at home 
 and leaving our primary meetings to the management of men from whom 
 nothing honest or commendable or praiseworthy can be expected ? Leave 
 the selection of candidates for office to the actioQ of men who have no regard 
 for the good order and morals of society, and no respect for our common 
 Christianity, or the religious sentiment of the age ? In thus acting they 
 neglect a plain, palpable, and positive duty. Knowing that the Government 
 must be just Avhat the people make it, they refrain from participating in 
 politics, and then complain that it is illy conducted ; pronounce the party 
 with which they have been accustomed to act corrupt, and make no efforts to 
 purify it; never attend caucuses and conventions, and then find fault with 
 the nominations; stand by and see the citadel of our hopes set on fire, and 
 make no efforts to extinguish it. Neglect voting, stay away from the elec- 
 tions, and by this negative act, at least, contribute to place in power un- 
 worthy men — irreligious, immoral, profane, intemperate, infidel, vulgar, dis- 
 honest, disreputable. Intrust the making and tlie administration of the laws 
 to such men, and too late shed repentant tears in view of the ruin that is 
 wrought. Now, do not misunderstand mo. I do not charge that all, or ihe 
 larger portion, even, of our men in office, are of the character described. I 
 am proud to acknowledge that we have many, very many, excellent and fit 
 men in office, from our noble President down, through all the departments of 
 the Government. But wiiat 1 do complain of is, that mainly because of 
 neglect upon the part of the Christian citi/.en of a plain and palpable duty.
 
 ESSAY OF HON. H. L. RICHMOND. 121 
 
 too many such men get into places of power and trust. They are the men 
 who are generally the most brazen-faced and too frequently the most success- 
 ful in seeking office. You find them in our legislative halls, and hence laws 
 legalizing the traffic in liquid death, and regulating, instead of forbidding 
 under severest penalty, houses of assignation and impurity. You have them 
 on the Bench, hence the licensed " doggeries," whose midnight revels disturb 
 and render hideous the liour assigned to quiet and refreshing slumber. You 
 have them in our various administrative and executive departments, and 
 hence the enormous defalcations with which the country is many times 
 amazed. These things are not so infrequent as to render it necessary to call 
 your attention to them. Indeed, they have become so common in all our 
 cities and larger towns, that from their very frequency they pass almost un- 
 noticed, until some enormity, some great crime, perhaps, perpetrated in some 
 dark recess of these licensed dens of mischief and iniquity, startles the whole 
 community, and, for a moment, at least, awakens attention to what is going 
 on in their midst. 
 
 What follows from these considerations? Most clearly and plainly, that it 
 is a duty devolving upon every man, and especially every Christian citizen, 
 to be active, and yet cautious, in selecting men for office — men of proper 
 qualifications, moral and intellectual, and then honest and energetic in etl'orts 
 to secure their election. The old Jeffersonian rule, " Is he honest? Is he capa- 
 ble?" should always determine our choice of candidates. The first question to 
 be settled is, "Is he honest?" Is he a man of reliable integrity? Can be be 
 trusted ? I care not how greatly a man may be endowed intellectually, how 
 capable he may be to discharge the duties of the office, if his personal in- 
 tegrity is open to suspicion, if he has no regard for Christian morality and 
 precepts, no respect for Christian sentiment, he is a dangerous man, unfit for 
 the position, and cannot safely be trusted with the power and patronage of 
 office; and the more dangerous just as he rises in intellectual power and 
 strength, because of the increased ability to do mischief which they confer. 
 Lord Bacon was said to be "the wisest, greatest, meanest of mankind." 
 Why the meanest? Because he lacked that substratum of moral character 
 which would have saved him probably from prostituting the mightiest of in- 
 tellects to the meanest and most corrupt of purposes. Ought such a man to 
 command the suffrages of a free and Christian people ? Never! These are 
 considerations which no conscientious man, no Christian citizen, while he 
 cherishes the purpose to do his whole duty, can neglect, when called upon to 
 make his choice of the men who are to make and administer the laws. 
 
 The ballot ! Did you, my friends, ever reflect upon the power for good or 
 evil contained in that little slip of paper called the ballot, the freeman's 
 weapon ? By it you elevate to power the good or the bad, just as you are 
 careful or careless of your duty. By it you bring upon your country weal 
 or woe, just as you are regardful or regardless of the character of the men 
 you elevite to power and place. In despotic Governments the only remedy 
 against tyranny and oppression is revolution. In a republic, such as ours, 
 we h^-ve a remedy against all political ills, peaceful, quiet, and certain.
 
 122 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 There is a weapon firmer set, 
 And better than the bayonet, 
 A weapon that comes down as still 
 
 As snow-flakes fall upon the sod, 
 And executes a freeman's will 
 
 As lightnings do the will of God, 
 And from its force nor bolts nor locks 
 Can shield them ; — 'tis the ballot-box. 
 
 I know a great deal is said about fealty to party. Bad men will some- 
 times secure nomination for office, and then endeavor to bring you under the 
 ban of party if you do not vote for them. In a Government like ours parties 
 must exist from the very nature of the case. Were it otlierwise, it would 
 argue a stolidity of national intellect truly amazing. Indeed, it is desirable 
 that they should exist, and they should keep vigilant watch, the one of the 
 other, that it may be seen that neither encroaclies upon the rights of the 
 people. But how far do we owe fealty to party? I answer. Just so far, and 
 no farther, as party, in selecting its candidates, shows its fealty to virtue, 
 integrity, intelligence. Christian morality, and fitness for the position. My 
 party has no right to command my vote unconditionally. If it place in 
 nomination a man of intemperate habits, suspected integrity, doubtful mo- 
 rality, and regardless of the Christian sentiment and sympathies of the age, 
 it has no right to demand my vote. I may not, probably would not vote for 
 the candidate of the opposing party ; but, if I desire to preserve my con- 
 sistency as a Christian citizen, I cannot vote for such a nominee. It ought 
 not to be expected of me. 
 
 This may seem a little strange to those present, who have known me for 
 the last thirty years, and who know with what tenacity I have adhered to my 
 party, and on all suitable occasions labored to secure its ascendency. Being 
 a Aletliodist, it follows as a proper, logical sequence that I am a Republican, 
 and I expect to remain in her ranks so long as she keeps her banner pure. 
 But 1 am preaching no new doctrine While as a party man I have never 
 felt at liberty to vote for a candidate of the opposite party, I have some- 
 times, for the reasons given, felt constrained to refuse my vote to nominees 
 of my own party. But my time closes upon me, and I will add only a thought 
 or two. I leave, of necessity, untouched many topics germane to the subject 
 I have been attempting to discuss ; but I feel assured if the Christian citizen 
 does his duty in the matters we have attempted to press upon his considera- 
 tion he will achieve much good to his race and nation. 
 
 Let me, for a moment, come a little nearer home. A learned professor of 
 the University of Michigan said to me, the other day. The Methodist Episco- 
 pal Cliurch can do more than any other religious body in the land to resist 
 the encroachments and shame the assumptions of Romanism." In this ho 
 uttered a truth that few, if any, will be di.«posed to deny. And so, on all 
 important questions that are legitimate for her consideration, God, in His 
 providence, has conferred upon her all the elements of strength necessary to 
 achieve success in each and all the great reforms of the day. Ilcr word,
 
 ESSAY BY W. H. ALLEN, LL. D. 123 
 
 when uttered, whether on the temperance, the school, or the Sabbath ques- 
 tion, has a power in it that makes itself felt throughout the land — on its 
 mountains, in its valleys, in the city full, and in the rude log-cabin, forest- 
 hidden, on our remotest frontier. Let her speak, then, on the great subject 
 we have been discussing ; let her demand of the parties pure men, and able, 
 for exalted positions ; let her speak in her individual membership ; let her 
 voice come up from her Conferences and Conventions in no uncertain tones ; 
 let her, under the blessing of Him who inhabiteth eternity, do her whole 
 duty, and the future alone will unfold what a power she has been in the re- 
 formation and redemption of the world. 
 
 Essay of W. H. Allen, LL.D. 
 
 The State, considered as a Commonwealth, is a formal organization which 
 defines and protects the civil rights of the people within its limits, and pro- 
 motes their well-being. Its ends are order, peace, and justice. It defines 
 civil rights by its organic and statute laws, and enforces them by its judicial 
 and executive powers. It provides remedies for wrongs, and inflicts penal- 
 ties for crimes. The preservation of the family and marriage, the education 
 of youth, the encouragement of industry, the security of property, and the 
 protection of reputation, health and life, are its appropriate functions, and 
 are embraced within tbe sphere of its legislation. 
 
 When justice holds her even balance, blindfold to high and low, rich and 
 poor, but clear-sighted to the right, public order will be maintained, crimes 
 punished, persons and property protected. 
 
 When legislation aims only at the public good, and wise laws are enacted, 
 industry will receive its reward, education will be diffused, and wealth ac- 
 cumulated. 
 
 When the chief magistrate administers the affairs of the Commonwealth 
 without fear or favor, with clean hands and a pure heart, places honest men 
 in positions of trust, and permits no selfish interest to mar his integrity, 
 public confidence will be strong, and the people contented and peaceful. 
 
 But when justice is saleable to the highest bidder, when wealthy indivi- 
 du.als, or powerful corporations can bend courts to their will, and subsidize 
 a legislature, and terrify or cajole a governor; when corrupt rings make 
 laws by bargain and sale, for the gain of the few by the loss of the many ; 
 when venomous snakes lurk under the ambiguous phrases of statutes, and 
 governors count the loss or gain of votes or gold before they sign a bill, or 
 pardon a criminal, or appoint an applicant to office ; the people will lose 
 confidence in courts which have ceased to be dispensers of justice, and in 
 laws which are neither just nor equitable; and in magistrates who have 
 itching pilms, and in Government which commands no respect and deserves 
 none. 
 
 These are two possible conditions of a Commonwealth ; and it is the duty 
 of every Christian citizen to do all in his power to establish the first, and to 
 prevent the second. 
 
 Every good citizen will labor for the maintenance of civil order and a 
 pure administration of justice. It is not enough that he is not a law-breaker ; 
 he must take care that others are not. If good men refuse to prosecute
 
 124 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 wrong doers, or to appear in court as witnesses against them, lest damage be 
 done to their property or violence to their persons, the rights of every citi- 
 zen will be at the mercy of the dangerous classes and crime will soon hold a 
 carnival. 
 
 Doubtless a man may be a good citizen without being a Christian ; but the 
 duty of a Christian citizen to the Commonwealth, while it may have no wider 
 scope than that of any other citizen, is of a higher order, and is enforced by 
 more solemn obligations. The fear of God constrains him ; the love of men 
 animates him ; a consciousness of his accountability as a moral being impels 
 him. No self-seeking policy, no desire for popularity, no ambition for honor 
 or power, are his governing motives. His aim is to serve God and do good 
 to men. 
 
 In the ancient republics the individual was merged in the State, and was 
 the property of the State. But be loved his owner with ardent devotion little 
 short of idolatry. Intense patriotism prompted him to acts of self-sacrifice 
 in enterprises often as unjust as they were heroic. In modern Europe the 
 Government is the State, and the people an opposing force ; the one tenacious 
 ,of privilege and prerogatives, founded as it falsely claims on Divine Right ; 
 the other clamorous for equal rights, and elevation from the condition of 
 subjects to the dignity of citizens. But in our country what do we see? 
 The people, makers and masters of the State ; makers of the constitution 
 whioh organizes the State ; makers of the laws which regulate the State ; 
 makers of the judges who interpret the laws; and makers of the magis- 
 trates who execute them. One of the kings of France said, "Vetat, c'est 
 mot.'" With equal emphasis and more truth the American people can say, 
 "the State, that is ourselves; " and every citizen has the proud conscious- 
 ness that he is an integrant part of the vast organism. 
 
 It follows that our Government, from its very constitution, must be as true 
 an exponent of the morality, as of the intelligence of the people. We *ay 
 that our laws are the expression of the popular will. They are more. They 
 are the reflection of the popular conscience. When depraved voters have 
 the power, they will elect corrupt legislators and magistrates, and these will 
 pervert justice to dishonest ends, and spread more widely the corruption on 
 which they feed and fatten, until they sap the foundations of public order, 
 and fill the land with fraud and violence. It is therefore the obvious duty of 
 every Christian citizen to exert his influence at the primary meetings to put 
 honest and true men in nomination for office, and to vote for none but such 
 at the polls. The security of our civil rights demands that Christian morality 
 should become a positive force in our public affairs, and an indispensable 
 qualification of our public servants. Without this, law will soon become a 
 juggle of chicane; legislation, an engine of public robbery ; and statesman- 
 ship will be lost ia a labyrinth of dishonest and time-serving expedients. 
 
 That is the road to disorder, anarchy and the ruin of the Commonwealth. 
 Let us ask the solemn question whether we are not making rapid strides in 
 that direction ? And if so, -.vhether it is not high time for all who love God 
 and their country to unitf, regardless of name and sect, and apply the reme- 
 dy at the ballot-box ?
 
 ESSAY OF W. H. ALLEN, LL. D. 125 
 
 Next in importance to tlie ballot-box is the jury-box ; for there questions 
 of property, reputation, and life, are decided. The most precious of civil 
 rights is the right of life ; and this right can only be forfeited by crime. 
 But how can life be made secure unless the penalties denounced by the law 
 are inflicted on the murderer ? If a Christian escape from his duty as a 
 juror by the declaration that he has formed and expressed an opinion as to 
 the guilt or innocence of the prisoner, and that no testimony can change 
 that opinion, he confesses himself incompetent to weigh the facts of evidence. 
 If he plead conscientious scruples as to the penalty of death, he assumes a 
 responsibility which does not belong to a juryman but to the Commonwealth. 
 
 His duty is to ascertain whether the prisoner is guilty in manner and form 
 as charged in the indictment. He has nothing to do with the manner and 
 form of the punishment. The laws provide for these. 
 
 If the juror permit himself to be so far moved by the apparent contrition 
 of the prisoner, or by the tears of his relatives, as to lose sight of the victim 
 who cannot appear in court to demand justice for his violated rights, he sur- 
 renders justice to undeserved mei'cy, and ignores his obligation to the Com- 
 monwealth. Hig duty as a Christian citizen is to render a verdict ac- 
 cording to the evidence, on the responsibility of his oath, biased by no 
 prejudice, no favor, no love, no hatred, no hope, no fear. The absence of 
 this stern integrity from the jury-box in recent cases of note, added to a dis- 
 position to make undue allowance for provocations, and to admit a demoniac 
 thirst for revenge as proof of insanity, has so far disarmed the law of its 
 terror to evil-doers, that a modern Cain could say, not "My punishment is 
 greater than I can bear," but " Hanging is played out." 
 
 Perhaps none of our civil rights are more persistently violated at the pre- 
 sent time than the rights of labor. To learn a trade and pursue it for a 
 livelihood, to contract for such wages as a man can earn, to work as many 
 or as few hours a day as he may agree to work, are so clearly the rights of 
 every citizen that it is passing strange that they should be disputed, and 
 still more strange that any one should voluntarily surrender them. 
 
 It is admitted that men of all occupations have a legal right to combine 
 for their own advantage, provided they do not encroach upon the rights of 
 others. But when-combinations forbid the non-affiliated to work for a livino- 
 and to contract for such wages as they please to accept, and for so many 
 hours a day as they choose to work, and enforce the prohibition by social 
 ostracism or physical force ; when they prevent boys learning trades, by 
 prescribing the number of apprentices an employer may take ; when they 
 presume to regulate the business of their employers as well as their own, 
 and take into their own hands the management of capital which the labor of 
 others has accumulated, they become oppressive, tyrannical and injurious to 
 the Commonwealth. It is the duty of Christian operatives to keep aloof from 
 such societies, and of Christian employers to resist by all lawful means their 
 aggressions upon civil rights. 
 
 Capital and labor are mutually dependent. Neither can be made produc- 
 tive without the other. They are natural friends, and any man who, for sel- 
 fish motives, foments discord between them, commits both a public and private 
 wrong. The only conflict between capital and labor arises from the claim
 
 126 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 which both parties make to the lion's share of the profits. There is doubt- 
 less injustice on both sides; for each takes advantage of any condition of 
 the labor market which favors its own interest. But the weapon which Libor 
 arms itself with in its contest with capital — that is, a strike, — resembles a 
 sword whose hilt is as sharp as its blade, and which wounds him who wields 
 it as surely and as deeply as his antagonist. At other times it is the fellow 
 of the unlucky blunderbuss of Iludibras, and — 
 
 "The gun well aimed at duck or plover, 
 Bears wide and kicks its owner over." 
 
 " The strike " is a foreign importation which ought never to have been 
 domesticated on American soil, nor adopted by intelligent freemen. It be- 
 trays ignorance of the simplest axioms of public economy, and of the laws of 
 production, supply and demand. It is bad logic and bad economy for labor 
 to destroy or paralyze capital, in the expectation that capital will p:iy more 
 wages. It is as absurd as the old way of collecting debts by locking up the 
 debtors in jail, and thus depriving them of the ability to pay. Many years 
 since, in a neighboring city, a mob destroyed some thousands of barrels of 
 flour because the price was high. The owner simply reminded them that the 
 price of an article can never be reduced by its destruction ;— a truism which 
 the most ignorant might comprehend. It is equally plain that the ability of 
 capital to pay wages cannot be increased by a paralysis of the industry in 
 which it is invested. 
 
 The strikes at the coal mines during the current and past years, inflicted 
 on the miners a loss of several millions of dollars in wages, and probably an 
 equal loss on the operators whose capital lay unproductive. But these were 
 not the only losses. The strikes diminished the production of coal and kept 
 at an unnecessarily high price an article of prime necessity. All consumers 
 of coal suffered. Manufacturing and transportation, two branches of indus- 
 try in whicli coal is consumed in vast quantities, were obliged, in self-de- 
 fence, to add the increased cost of fuel to their products and freights, and all 
 classes of people were, and arc still, compelled to pay more for nearly all 
 the necessaries of life, than tiicy would have i)aid had the price of coal been 
 five or six dollars a ton instead of seven or eiglit. Now wlicn we consider 
 tiiatftU producers are consumers, and that the strikers themselves must also 
 consume while they cease to produce, we may form some conception of the 
 enormdus loss which this Commonwealth and the country has sustained iu 
 consequence of these strikes. 
 
 I have referred to the strikes in the coal regions because they furnish a 
 consp'(;ui)Us cx.implc, and the public detriment tiiey liave caused has been 
 great and widely extended. Ibit a'l .strikes produce similar effects within 
 the circle of their influence. If unsuccessful, they advance prices in conse- 
 quence of diminished produclion; and if successful, tiicy advance prices be- 
 cause tlio increased cosi, of lal)or must be added to tiie price of the articles 
 wliicli labor proiluccs. They are also the prolific parents of a succession of 
 Strikes, for they place other working-men at a disadvantage, and a general 
 advance of wages becomes inevitable. It is impossible for wages in one oo-
 
 ESSAY OP REV. S. H. NESBITT, D.D. 127 
 
 cupation to continue for any great length of time higher than in others which 
 are equally agreeable and which demand equal intelligence and sliill. 
 
 In consequence of this action and reaction between wages and the cost of 
 living, the working-man soon discovers that his increased wages will pur- 
 chase no more of what he consumes than before the advance ; and that the 
 comforts and luxuries which he can command, depend upon the purchasing 
 poivcr, and not on the number of the dollars which he receives. I presume 
 that any intelligent mechanic, or factory operative, who now receives three 
 dollars a day, will admit that he cannot feed and clothe himself and family 
 any better than when years ago he received two dollars a day, 
 
 I admit that part of this result is due to the depreciation of the currency, 
 and pai-t to excessive taxation ; but these will not account for the whole, 
 nor for more than half of the advance in the cost of living. A large part can 
 be accounted for in no other way than the forcing up of wages by combina- 
 tions, and the reaction of wages on the prices of the products of labor. 
 
 It is plain to my mind that intelligent co-operation, and not the strike, is 
 the remedy which promises most effectually to elevate the working classes to 
 prosperity and independence; but as my time has expired, I waive the dis- 
 cussion of that subject. 
 
 Permit me to say in conclusion that our duty to the Commonwealth, is part 
 of our duty to God. He serves God best, who serves best his fellow-men; 
 and we have the power to serve them by our influence on legislation and ou 
 the choice of public officers. We must take care that the laws shall not be so 
 framed as to become a pretext and apology for wrong. We must reject with 
 Bcorn the amphibious morality which prescribes one code for public officers, 
 and another for private citizens. Moral distinctions are not so elastic. They 
 are solid as the foundations of the earth ; immovable as the pillars of heaven. 
 The legislative or administrative officer who would repudiate the public 
 debt, is a dishonest man; and if he could and dared, he would repudiate his 
 own. The politician who joins hands with robbers for public plunder, and 
 in whose pockets are bribes for corrupt legislation, is a wicked man: and so 
 Boon as social profligacy shall be winked at as political profligacy too fre- 
 quently is, he will leap forth a full grown villain at a bound. 
 
 The Christian must recognize the law of God as the supreme law of the 
 Commonwealth ; — a law which is the expression of immutable justice : — a law 
 ".whose throne is the bosom of God, and whose voice is the harmony of the 
 world." In every conflict between divine and human law, the Christian 
 must answer as Peter and the other Apostles answered the Jewish Sanhedrim, 
 *'We ought to obey God rather than men." 
 
 Essay of Rev. S, H. Nesbitt, D.D. 
 
 DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN TO THE S'J^TE. 
 
 In the relations of the State to morality and religion are bound up ques- 
 tions, delicate, important, far-reaching, and whose consideration is now 
 challenging the attention of most thoughtful minds. These questions are 
 catalogued among the objects that eame within the scope of this Methodist
 
 128 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 State Convention, that they may be restated according to the improved ideas 
 of the passing present. Let us advance to their discussion as American citi- 
 zens, charged with the trust of lieeping the spirit of civil and religious liberty 
 alive in the world; as American Methodists, responsible for-the right train- 
 ing of a large proportion of this great nation ; and as American Protestants, 
 co-laborers with all other evangelical peoples in the task of bringing the 
 world back to God. 
 
 Were it possible to conceive of a State sanctioning bald atheism rather than 
 some form of religion — commending a mere negation rather than a system 
 of positive morality — it would require no prophetic afflatus to predict its 
 early and utter disruption and ruin. Atheism tends to anarchy, revolution, 
 destruction; and its votaries, if such exist, never can be good citizens. But 
 no State, unless France may have been a momentary exception, has ever ex- 
 isted without religion of some sort. Religion is a necessity of the State, as 
 well as of the individual. This is especially true of a republic. No Govern- 
 ment founded upon the people can long survive the wreck of public virtue. 
 Religion must ever be the inspiration of its best and truest life — an impalpa- 
 ble atmosphere, iuwrapping, touching, affecting all its interests ; the fruitful 
 fountain of its streams of civilization, wealth, knowledge, liberty. In the 
 State, as in the individual, there is no real character without religion, no 
 substantial prosperity, no desirable growth. A wise State, therefore, will 
 never permit morality and religion to be divorced from its constitution and 
 laws, or extirpated from the conscience of its citizens. The act would be 
 suicidal. The State would tumble into ruins. 
 
 American State constitutions, ancient and more recent, recognize the value 
 of religion in the State, and provide for legislation looking to its maintenance 
 and protection. In this they are not peculiar. Early nations made religion 
 a chief object of State, as in the ecclesiastico-political economy of Judaism ; 
 or as in the worship of the gods enjoined by civil enactments throughout 
 Kgypt, Greece, Persia, and Rome. Later nations have followed this old-time 
 example, providing for the support of religion, and most of them uniting the 
 Church with the Slate. But our American constitutions liere adopt a policy 
 peculiarly their own. They enjoin morality and religion, but with universal 
 toleration. They protect all citizens in their religious views, however pecu- 
 liar and diversified, but inhibit an establishment of religion, taxation for its 
 support, compulsory attendance on religious worship, and every thing tliat 
 interferes witii the most perfect freedom of conscience. 
 
 Now, what religion is it that these American constitutions enjoin? Is it 
 bliiiik Atiieism, a no-religion, a cold abstraction, a mere negation, overarched 
 with a lowering sl;y on whose broad face is written no promise of good to 
 man? No. Is it .Mohammedanism, Confucianism, lioodiiism, Bnihiuitiism, or 
 any of llie multiplied forms of PolYtiieisin? No; it is Christianity. The 
 founders of the Republic and llie framcrs of our State constitutions could 
 not possilfly have had anything in their thoughts but Christianity when tiiey 
 enjoined religion as necessary to tlu; public weal. 
 
 So evident is this that it has been maintained by eminent judicial decisions, 
 as in Pennsylvania, whose Supremo Court has decided that "Christianity is
 
 ESSAY OF REV. S. 11. NESBITT, D.D. 129 
 
 part of the common law of the Stnte." Ohio, flius far, is the only Slate in 
 which an adverse decision has been made, its Supreme Court declaring that 
 "neither Christianity nor any other system of religion is a part of the com- 
 mon law of that State." But recently, in direct opposition to this, the Su- 
 perior Court of Cincinnati decided, by Judge Ilagans, that "Christianity, not 
 in the sense of ecclcsiasticism, is the prevailing religion of the State; " and 
 by .Judge Stover, that "revealed religion, as it is made knoun in tlie Holy 
 Scriptures, is that alone that is recognized by our Constitution, and has, by 
 a long series of legislative enactments, been sustained by the General As- 
 sembly." It is not difficult to reconcile these conflicting judicial decisions. 
 It is only in a modified sense that Christianity is a part of that common law 
 of any State — of Pennsylvania, of Ohio, of the United States. It is not any 
 whore a part of the common law in the sense that a violation of its precepts 
 is an indictable offence, except where those precepts are incorporated in the 
 civil statutes, as in the case of blasphemy and the desecration of the Sabbath. 
 But it is part of the common law in the sense that its spirit permeates and 
 affects all the civil statutes, and also in the sense that it is the only religion 
 referred to in our different State Constitutions. Our civilization, our laws, 
 our language, our customs, the very atmosphere that embraces us in its im- 
 pressible drapery, are all Christian. So too the State. Why should it not be 
 so? Christianity is the highest and purest morality. It embodies, condenses, 
 transcends the excellences of all known ethical systems, and teaches a no- 
 bler virtue than any found in ancient philosophy, in the Vedas of India, in 
 the Koran of Mohammed. 
 
 The first duty of the Christian citizen to the State is to see that the stan- 
 dard of morality and religion, lifted up by the founders of the Republic and 
 draped about our Constitutions and laws, shall never be lowered. It is 
 doubtful whether we should agitate such changes in our National Constitu- 
 tion as would insert in that grand old Magna Charta of our liberties the 
 names God, Christ, and the Bible. Here we may dififer. But we can all 
 stand together and demand that no profane hands shall ever be allowed to 
 mutilate the standard of morality and religion given to us by the fathers of 
 the Republic. Let us mass our forces here. Let us oppose forever any 
 emasculation of these organic laws, and send them forward along the coming 
 ages to bless the generations that shall inultiply upon this Continent. They 
 shall stand. No sacrilegious touch shall deface them, or abate their force, 
 or lower their sanctity ; not a jot, not a tittle. 
 
 It is a second duty of the Christian citizen of the State to see that the in- 
 terpretation put upon the morality and religion enjoined by our Constitu- 
 tions and laws shall never be less than Christian. That was clearly the in- 
 tent of the framers of our organic laws, as the Courts, with a preponderating 
 voice, decide. We must indorse them, and insist that this decision shall stand. 
 Christianity is the law, but not in an oflFensive sense, of our various Common- 
 wealths and of those United States. It is the supreme law, establisheil in 
 harmony with the utmost liberty of conscience. It will well become us as 
 Christian citizens to see that it is the acknowledged law. Here again we 
 may stand together. The religion enjoined by the State, so far as ii takes 
 
 9
 
 ISO Minutes of* coNVENTIo^r. 
 
 any particulflr form, is Christian. Let this fact give color to its legislation, 
 its administration, and its judicial decisions. 
 
 It is a third duty of the Christian citizen to the State to promote public 
 virtue ih all possible ways and by all justifiable means. This general as- 
 signment of words embraces too many deparlments of labor to be even men- 
 tioned in detail in an essaj- of twenty minutes. We can only select a single 
 class of duty as an example of the many. It is the most imperative duty of 
 the hour for the Christian citizen to purify politics, and to seek to elevate 
 to places of trust and power none but men of integrity and character. Thi-? 
 he cannot do without atteniling all elections, and especially the primary ones, 
 where men and issues receive their color and shaping. Nor can ho do this 
 if he is an utter slave to party. He must let politicians know that they can- 
 not be sure of his vote unless they nominate good men for office. Vet we 
 vindicate political parties. They are as important in the State as denomina- 
 tions are in the Church. Thoy represent opposing policies and measures, 
 and bv agitation and discussions impart new impulses to political science. 
 Jjet parties then continue to live and flourish. But morals have a value 
 superior to politics. Religion has an importance in the State that a tariff 
 never can have. And politicians ought to be made to know that Christian 
 citizens will not always accept debauchees, diunkards, gamblers as candidates 
 for office, simply because they are politically right. Tell them this, and re- 
 peat the admonition in word and deed till reformation is secured. 
 
 It is the fourth duty of the Christian citizen to see tliat thr moral and reli- 
 gious sentiment shall not be divorced from education in tlie people's colleges. 
 In our organic laws knowledge and religion are associated together, and 
 recognized as pillars of the State. The attempt to disunite them, and to 
 extirpate religion from the jnililic schools, is a fraud upon literature, and 
 impeaches the wisdom of the age. Here is work for the Christian citizen, to 
 prevent our public schools from becoming godless, to see that tlio blessed 
 volume of our faith is not banished from them, and so to counteract schemes 
 lh;it must prove subversive of llie Republic and its institulioiis. 
 
 It is a fifih duty of the Christian cili/.en to the State to keep himself e(iual 
 to the higliest demands of tlie Slate upon him as a moral agent. Tiiis re- 
 quires in him perpetual self-improvement, a constant cultivation not only of 
 the intellect, but of the moral, the spiritual nature, as well. To cxali talent 
 above virtue, tolrain the intellect and neglect the lieart, does not furnish the 
 brightest endowment for good citizenship. Greatness of eliaiacter sjtrings 
 chiefly from force of soul ; and eminent fitness i'm llie iliiliis that we owe to 
 our country arises more from moral than from niiMilal worlli. Cultivated 
 Ciiristian intellect is the safest as well as the mightiest force tiiat leaves its 
 traceries on tiie face of society: the tlmrouglily relialilo as well as tlic moet 
 penetrating and imperishable. Tlie men of mark in every age are such as 
 consult llic jiiiblic good. In ihcir thoughts man is great as man, and his 
 well-being and improvement are iield to be the great end of thought anil toil. 
 They embody in tlieir own liislory the words of Infinite Wisdom : " Wo live 
 not for ourselves." It is such a spirii tluii endows us for the higliest citizen- 
 hip ; that makes the Wycliffs and Asburys, the Millons and Washingtons,
 
 ADDRESS OF JUDOE M'CALifONT. 131 
 
 Ihe Wilberforces and Henry Martyns, of every age, and that has added in 
 our age the name of Abraham Lincoln to the list of eartlily immortals. 
 
 Hon. IT, L. lliclimond, on behalf of the Committee, offered 
 the following resolutions, viz.: 
 
 Resolred, I. Tliat in a Government like ours the people are responsible for 
 the character of their laws, for they, through their representatives whom 
 they elect, make them. 
 
 Resoh'eil, 2. Tliat to pnrify the Statute Book, we mn^i purify tlie ballot- 
 box, and withhold our suffrages from men morally unfit for office. 
 
 Kesoli'cd, 3. Tliat while we recognize the necessity that, in a Government 
 like ours, parties should exist, yet no party has a riglil to command uncon- 
 ditionally any man's vote, and that we owe fealty to partv, just so far, and 
 no farther, as party, in the selection of its candidates, shows its fealty to 
 virtue, integrity, intelligence, Christian morality, and fitness for the po- 
 sition. 
 
 Rev. Dr. IToncsoN — T am prepared at once to vote for these resolutions, 
 but not without sonic little questioning of some of the doctrines to whicli wo 
 have listened. I do not know where the State enjoins religion, or what reli- 
 gion the Slate enjoins. I do not know how I am going about resisting any 
 attempt at lowering the standard of religion which the State has supplied. I 
 never knew the State exacted of me that I should be religious farther than 
 that I should observe its laws. I should like a little more light upon this 
 subject. Farthermore, I have to learn tluit the State intends to teach reli- 
 gion in her common schools. If she does I think she ouglit to be a littlo 
 more particular about the priests of her religion. I think they ought to un- 
 dergo some examination in regard to their religious views, to have some en- 
 dorsement. 1 think we need some colleges to prepare, religiously and theo- 
 logically, the priests of the State — the State teachers of religion. 
 
 Judge McCalmont — I coincide with the resolutions, although I don't be- 
 lieve that the State will particularly train us in a religious way. I don't 
 understand that we arc going to dictate or to say to anybody that they are 
 going to form our religious life. I think, witli the Doctor, indeed, I know, 
 that Methodist society is sufBoient for me. It gives me all the occupation I 
 want outride of my family, so far as public meetings are concerned; so, in 
 that respect, I am in accord with the Doctor. 
 
 But there is a sort of Christianity underlying the State, and so-much so 
 that I believe Aristotle and Plato had some scintillations of it ; and the re- 
 marks about Christianity being a part of the common law are very correct. 
 Judges, not Churches, have announced it, and they have been the strong up- 
 holders of law and the most efficient co-operators of the Church in putting 
 down blasphemy in public ; and they are men of fixed religious character 
 generally, even though not members of the Church. But when we say Chris- 
 tianity is a part of the common law, we do not mean its teachings are in- 
 corporated specifically, but we do say they are part, not only of common law, 
 but of the statute law. And llie common law is in perfect conformity, too, 
 with our holy religion. Wiiat law of nature teaches me to take care of my 
 poor neighbor? It teaches me, you may say, to take care of my poor child
 
 132 MINUTES OF COXVEXTION. 
 
 or father, but what dictate of nature will teach me to take care of my poor 
 enemy or neighbor with whom I have no sympathy? And yet, in our public 
 laws, provision is made for taking care of them. Provision is made in our 
 lavf's for taking care of everybody that cannot take care of themselves. And 
 this runs through our law. Tliis principle runs farther through the law than 
 3'ou may tliink for. Take a mechanic's lien. You mny say, What has that 
 to do with Christianity? Let us see. You must see that the man wlio fur- 
 nishes j-our sand and lime, etc., is paid. The State requires this. Now, is 
 there any law of reason for it except you find it in the spirit of Christianity? 
 It is as I heard Judge Pearson say on a question of damages, in the case of 
 a man who fell into a sewer, "Well, I can't give you any rule except yon 
 must apply the Golden Rule." 
 
 This spirit permeates our laws. The Constitution of the United States 
 guarantees to every man the right to worship God according to the dictates 
 of his own conscience, and in tliis State of William Penn Christianity is 
 distinctly recognized. Altliough the Constitution of this State does not 
 recognize it any farther tlian tlie Constitution of the United States, yet it is 
 in the early laws; and all down from that time to this it permeates the 
 common law. 
 
 T. W^ Price, Esq. — Before the vote is taken on the resolution under con- 
 sideration I take the liberty of suggesting a few thoughts, and especially as 
 they were elaborated in the first essay. Tliey were all good, but I desire to 
 say a few words in regard to the first, as th;it touclied upon what I recog- 
 nize as the immediately practical part of this business — the dutyof the Chris- 
 tian to the State. I need not say to that portion of the audience living in 
 Philadelpliia tliat I am sometliiiig of a politician — a politician, liowever, that 
 never asked for, and never saw the day tliat I would accept, a public office; 
 and I don't believe the day will ever come that I will be willing to take a 
 public oflice ; and yet, sir, scarcely an election has been held in the last 
 twenty years tliat I iiave not given that day to tlie election, eitlier as an offi- 
 cer inside or standing outside with an iiproii. ami liauding out tickets. My 
 idea in reganl to the duty of the Christian to the State is this, that every 
 man sliould feel that the responsibility of good government rests upon his 
 slioulders, and he siiould act as tliough he were wholly and entirely responsi- 
 ble for the Gondii ion of tlie public morals SO far as laws and l heir administra- 
 tion are concerned. 
 
 Now, sir, tlie fact in tlie case, in regard to the political condition of tilings 
 in this Stale, is absolulely frightful— /'/v///(//"(//.' 1 was thinking during tlie 
 reading of the first essay of llie inlii.il (•(Hiditiiui df things in regard Id the 
 inenibers of the Legislature (ami this bciing a State Convention we may pro- 
 perly talk of Stale matters). I was tiiinking of the seventeen members of 
 the Legislature just eleete<l from this city. They are substantially Iho men 
 that were I Iiitc last year and iIk' year befure, and siuim" <>{' i linn I he year be- 
 fore tliat, ami before tiiat again ; and I will iinlerlake to say lli.'il not more 
 than five of tliem come up to llic average of intelligence or probity. 
 
 Now, Hint is a fearful slatcmcnt to make; and yet I have no doiilit of its 
 entire t. utiifulness. Of the other twelve, some of them are notorious gam-
 
 ADDRESS OF T. W. PRICE, ESQ. 133 
 
 biers and profligates of (he worst possible description that curse this com- 
 munity, engaged in nearly all the fearful broils that take place in our midst. 
 And yet, these men are elected, year after year, and year after year, witii 
 scarcely the semblance of opposition. 
 
 So fearful is this state of things that it is almost as much as you can expect 
 to get a man nominated (because, after all, there is where the work is done) 
 in either party for the Legislature, that has any claim to respectability, that 
 anybody believes intends to be honest when he gets to Ilurrisbui-g. Why, 
 sir, such is tlie condition of things in our Legislature that they make no sort 
 of secret, it is as clearly and publicly known, that they are paid for the legisla- 
 tion enacted — the great bulk of it — as the fact that they go to Harrisburg to 
 attend to legislation :it all. 
 
 Now, we say these things must be regulated at the ballot-box. But, un- 
 fortunately, it is getting as bad in this city as in New York, where the ballot- 
 box is recognized as simply a farce. It don't really mean anything at all ; 
 it is simply a confii'mation of the previously doteruiiued action of a society 
 known as Tammany ; and the elections in this city are becoming very little 
 better. 
 
 Now, what is the remedy? I hold that the religious people of this Com- 
 monwealth are responsible for this condition of things. I say, sir, that the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, forming a very large portion of this State, is 
 very largely responsible for this state of things. Why, sir, we are too reli- 
 gious to be good citizens ; too respectable ; too busy. For I hold sir, the 
 man is not a good citizen who does not do all he can to protect the Govern- 
 ment in its parity ; and the man that does not watch, as well as pray, in re- 
 gard to the primary electons and caucuses, does not till up the measure of 
 his duty as a good citizen. 
 
 Why, sir, it is a remarkable thing to see a man holding an official relation 
 in the Church, with an apron on, on election day. You look at him with 
 amazement. Tliis ought not so to be. Now, I know son»ething of the politi- 
 cians of this city, and I undertake to say that they are the veriest cowards 
 on the face of the earth, and that good men in almost any locality can frighten 
 them out of their wits. 
 
 Now, what is our duty, as citizens, to the State? Why, sir, we must either 
 change this condition of things, or God Himself can hardly save this Com- 
 monwealth, ami He won't do it if we don't do our duty ; we have no right to 
 expect it. I regret, sir, that we haven't a Convention to talk of just such 
 things as these, beciuse, to my mind, it is a frightful consideration that the 
 legislation of this great State is in the hands of bad men — men that we would 
 not trust witli our private affairs, or with our business; men with whom we 
 would not associate; and yet, year after year, they are sent with a distinct 
 and clear public acknowledgment that tliey go there not to make laws for the 
 benetit of the people, but to make all the money they can out of special legis- 
 lation. 
 
 I heard it stated at a meeting of the citizens that the legislation of the 
 Commonwealth in the last three years amounted to over four thousand pages, 
 and yet legislation for the citizens amounted to about two hundred pages ;
 
 134 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 and still we send these gamblers and riotous and illiterate men over and over 
 again to do just this thing. There must be an end to it. As a good citizen 
 said to-day, it is the people of this Commonwealth that must put an end to 
 it by giving a little of their attention to their country. 
 
 Col. Cummings — I think we shall certainly be better citizens for this Con- 
 vention ; we certainly ought to be. ^Ye have heard enough to make us very 
 much better if we act upon what we have heard. And yet, some things have 
 been said to-night to which I cannot give my hearty assent. It is a very 
 general belief — and the reason why I take issue with it now, it having been 
 embodied in one of these able papers, is because at the bottom is a source of 
 niisconjecture that we have heard tonight. It has been proclaimed that 
 party organizations in this country are necessary to it. I desire to say here, 
 sir — and record the expression as my firm conviction — that the parties in 
 this country, from the beginning until this hour, have been its very bane, 
 its curse. I mean that exactly, without qualiiication. I mean that there has 
 been no good in them as parties. They have led to all the corruption of 
 which we have heard, to all the violations of law. It is parties that induce 
 respectable citizens to sanction violation of the laws. The members of each 
 party will screen their associates. We have seen it. I venture to say that, 
 taking the question of elections, the ballot-bos, the source of our 
 power for good or ill, either elevating, or else, like Pandora's box, be- 
 coming our curse, I say there has not been for years, in this city, an elec- 
 tion where there has been a motive for a contest. It has been a continual 
 contrivance how the greatest frauds could be perpetrated by either 
 side against the olher. Why need we conceal this? What makes parties 
 necessary ? It was not so in the beginning, when the country was first set- 
 tled ; not until men began to learn mischief were they organized. This the 
 speaker illustrated by a historical incident. 
 
 Rkv. E. W. Kiubv — I think, sir, we are not so much to complain of par- 
 ties as politicians. I don't believe, sir, that tliis Government could be car- 
 ried on without these party organizations, but politicians have been the banc 
 of this land. It is a well-known fact that, when you attempt to attach to 
 either of the i)olilical parties :inytliing tliat will even lielp their 
 moral character, politicians are very apt to step in and treat the matter 
 very cautiously. Tliey tell us that we ought to be careful how we introduce 
 this, tint, and tlie otiier. 
 
 A good de:il lias been said here to-day about tlie public school question. I 
 don't (hink we have, as citizens, so inuch to fear from tlic Tloman Catholic 
 Church at iliat point as from politiciiius that watch this matter. If you go 
 to the city of New York you will find politicians liave manipulated tiiis wliolo 
 matter IVmn licginning to end. 'I'lic Ifoiniin Catholic (Jhurcli Iiave said to 
 them: "Give nn .Sl'iO.OOO ami we will give you our votes." And if we were 
 to trace this matter fartlier we should fiml that politicians, not parties, have 
 been tlie l)anc of every republican Government. 
 
 And while up I desire to spcali witli regard to llie duly of tlio citizen to 
 this Government. 1 would like to have asked, when you spoke of tiio Chris-
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE OX NEXT CONVENTION. 135 
 
 tian citizen attending the primary elections, the nominating conventions, the 
 places where this work is done, if the Christian minister is expected to do 
 that work : and would like to know whether you will not gay of the Chris- 
 tian ministry, that they arc preaching politics. 
 
 Further, I would like to know if you would like to have your min- 
 ister go with you into nominating conventions, to assist in carrying on tiiis 
 political machinery. I must say I think the theory presented here to-nigjit 
 not altogether correct. 
 
 The vote was here taken on the resohitions, and they were 
 adopted. 
 
 Rev. T. a. Fernley, of the Corainittee appointed to con- 
 sider the expediency of holding another Convention, presented 
 the following report: 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred the matter of holding another State 
 Convention, after due consideration, beg leave to present the following for the 
 action of the Convention. 
 
 We regard the present meeting of the Methodists of the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania as having proven itself a gratifying success, and believe it will result 
 in profit to the Church and to the cause of Christ. 
 
 In view of this, we present the following : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That another Methodist State Convention be held the latter 
 part of October, or in the early part of November, 1871. 
 
 Resolved. 2. That a Commission of two, one of whom shall be a minister 
 and one a l?yman, be appointed from each Conference in tiie State, to whom 
 shall be committed the fixing of the precise date, as well as the place, where 
 said Convention shall be held, and to make all necessary arrangements for 
 the same. 
 
 Dr. Loomis saw no occasion for holding another Convention. 
 
 Judge Richmond — If I were to judge from my own feelings I could not 
 hesitate for a moment in settling the question in my own mind. I am satis- 
 fied that great good will grow out of these Conventions so long as conducted 
 in the spirit in which this Convention has been conducted. I am in favor 
 of adopting the report of the Committee. 
 
 Dii. Dasuiell — I would like to suggest that we submit to a Commission of 
 two the propriety of holding another Convention. 
 
 Rev. I. H. Torrexce was favorable to holding another Convention on ac- 
 count of its influence on the community. 
 
 Rev. W. J. Paxson moved to strike out " 71" and insert 73. 
 
 The amendment did not prevail.
 
 136 MINUTES OF CONVENTION. 
 
 The report of the Committee was then adopted without 
 amendment. 
 
 Judge McCalmont moved that the President appoint the 
 Commission and announce them through the papers. Carried. 
 
 The Committee on Statistics reported through Rev. I. H. 
 Torrence, that they had made such additions to their report as 
 had been furnished them, which were very meagre. 
 
 On motion, the Convention adjourned sine die. 
 
 Prior to dismissins: the audience the President said : 
 
 'to 
 
 Bishop Simpson's Closing Speech. 
 
 I desire to express, as I have no doubt those associated with me would join 
 me in doing, our thanks to the Convention for the courtesy shown to the pre- 
 siding officers; and I trust that, in returning to your homes, you may carry 
 with you, dear brethren, wherever you niiiy be, increased love for the cause 
 of Christ, and a determination to work for the interests of the Church to 
 which we owe so much. And as a result of this Convention 1 hope that the minds 
 of delegates will be turned to what can be done. You have thought of the 
 Church, its interests, its relations to society; all these have come up before 
 us in various ways. And now I trust you will study, during the time to 
 come, what can be done to put our institutions on a broader basis, and to 
 develop them so that they will have increased power. Much may be done 
 yet in Pennsylvania. We have a goodly heritage. I was struck with the 
 fact that the population of Pennsylvania is just about equal to the population 
 of the whole six New England States. Tliey are in advance of us in many 
 things, though they have struggled in Methodistic operations; and when we 
 look at the Conferences around us, the States around us, we shall find some 
 useful suggestions, I tliink. And I wish that, where there are men of wealth 
 in your neighborhoods, you would suggest to them the propriety of setting 
 apart a portion of their wealth for establishing ou a broader basis our lite- 
 rary institutions. This 1 trust tlioy will do. 
 
 I should like if wc could plan Sdincthing vastly greater than we have yet 
 had, and also to found our orplian institutions and Homes, and endow them 
 willi a greater amount of means. I confess frankly to you there has floated 
 llirough my mind somehow in the past, and I dream now, that somewhere 
 here in Pciinsylvania, possibly l)etween tiiis city and Baltimore, somewhere 
 on these great thoroughfares, will yet spring up a realization of the thoughts 
 that rested in the minds of Coke and Asbtiry when tliey met together to 
 plant tlie first Metliodist College in the United States; and I have somotimcs 
 liiouglit thai, possibly before the century closes, from tlic aslics of old 
 Abingdon, or some point rinnid it, will rise, with more tlian its former 
 glory, the institution whicii sliall be u credit to our Metho lism and realize
 
 BISHOP Simpson's closing address. 137 
 
 the thoughts .and prayers of the old fathers of the Church. I think 
 there is money enough, and I can scarcely drive away from my mind the 
 conviction that the prayers and efforts of those old fathers of the Church are 
 not to be set aside by the torch of the incendiary ; not to be buried forever 
 by the opposition of enemies; but that, in renewed form, though years have 
 passed, and generations have gone, old thoughts will yet germinate and 
 bring forth fruit, and that our children will sit under the shadow of liiose in- 
 stitutions which yet shall grace our land. It may be a dream, a fancy, but 
 T do think there is something like — I will not say retribution, for that is not 
 the idea, but God working out grand results from the old ideas that seem to 
 have passed away, ^nd that where good men have labored and sown the seed, 
 though it should lie dormant as long as the grains of wheat in the pyramids 
 and catacombs of Egypt, tiie sunlight will make the seed germinate and pro- 
 duce an abundant harvest. Be that as it may, much yet remains to be done 
 in Pennsylvania ; and Pennsylvania tninisters and laymen, who love the 
 Methodist Church, have only to communicate their thoughts to each other, 
 to awaken the sympathies of eiich other, and join hand and heart together, 
 to make our Methodism more glorious than it ever has been. Gnd grant we 
 may see it very speedily extending over and blessing the land. 
 Let us now join with glad hearts in singing: 
 
 "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." 
 
 The Convention rose and sang the doxology, and were dis- 
 missed with the benediction by Bishop Simpson.
 
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