METHODISM 
 
 FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW: 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 ntmsiittg $tnhdff*Ras snfc 
 
 THE RESPONSIBILITIES, PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE, OP 
 THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 BY REV. NEWELL CULVER, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CONFERENCE. 
 
 With an Introduction 
 Br EEV. LORENZO D. BARROWS, D.D. 
 
 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? 
 for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this. ECCL. vii, 10. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS. 
 
 CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 
 1873.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year ISVS, by 
 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS, 
 in the Oflice of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 r^^\ 
 
 JEJHE following pages were com- 
 ^E 
 
 ^ menced without any intention of 
 publishing a book. Being physically dis- 
 qualified to perform further ministerial 
 service among the people in person by 
 reason of a long and severe sickness, 
 the writer, for his own pleasure and profit, 
 began to review tfie social, numerical, 
 and financial condition of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church forty years ago when 
 he became one of her members and to 
 call to mind interesting reminiscences 
 connected with his early ministry, and 
 to compare then with now. He found 
 increasing interest in the. subject, and 
 continuing to write, he at length, by
 
 4 Preface. 
 
 the advice of valued friends, decided to 
 prepare a book for the press. 
 
 He does not claim for it high literary 
 merit. Historical or statistical errors 
 may be found in it which have escaped 
 the writer's notice ; but he has the satis- 
 faction of feeling that what he has re- 
 corded herein is in accordance with his 
 best recollection of early Methodistic 
 facts, with oral and written history, and 
 recently published reports of our Church 
 statistics and enterprises; and he hopes 
 that the task thus performed, though 
 imperfectly, which he finds to have been 
 so agreeable and encouraging to him- 
 self, may be as pleasant and profitable 
 
 to the reader. 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THIS little volume is not the work of a croaker ; 
 no spirit of sour godliness runs through its 
 pages ; therefore it need not be read with any 
 allowance for unfounded prejudice or bigotry. 
 Though it is natural and common for those 
 who were active in years long gone by greatly 
 to magnify the excellences of the past and de- 
 preciate those of the present, this is not the 
 case with our author. 
 
 Nor is his work severely partisan or sectarian, 
 though it is thoroughly Christian, experimental, 
 and practical. It is not so much the object of 
 the author to disprove the doctrines and usages 
 of other Churches, nor even to defend those of 
 his own, as it is to set forth the particular oper- 
 ation of the Spirit in the awakening and con- 
 version of men to Christ, and promoting revivals 
 of religion. It is therefore essentially a concise 
 and racy history of what God has wrought, and 
 how, for the last forty years, chiefly in the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, beginning with
 
 6 Introduction. 
 
 his own personal Christian experience, which is 
 exceedingly pleasant and profitable to read. 
 Whatever honors God and brings men to 
 Christ seems to fill his soul with delight, and 
 you read on and on, not wishing to pause. 
 
 We must never forget that those who have 
 by long and successful experience reached the 
 citadel of wisdom must not destroy the ladders 
 by which they ascended, as the climbers after 
 them, to the end of time, will need them. Pro- 
 gression is a series of stages. This book is a 
 stage for the multitude, who can no more, at a 
 single bound, reach the highest result of Chris- 
 tian and revival experience, than did the fathers, 
 into whose labors we now enter. All must rise, 
 if at all, by steps ; and as the great masses of 
 the people are still engaged in the battle of 
 physical and mental want, religious helps are as 
 needful now as ever, or man's spiritual and 
 highest nature will suffer loss, if not defeat, in 
 the struggle. These helps are to come, so far 
 as they are human, from the lessons of expe- 
 rience and history. 
 
 Herein lies the great excellence of this new 
 book : it is a light now burning, which shines 
 back over forty years, from which all lovers of
 
 Introduction. 7 
 
 Christian experience see wrought out and 
 worked over again what in substance they have 
 experienced, strengthening and attaching them 
 more and more to a vital religion. No pastor 
 can read it and not feel quickened with renewed 
 confidence in revivals and human efforts to pro- 
 mote them. It is good for all to live over again 
 and again those rich and heavenly occasions of di- 
 vine visitation when God has revealed himself in 
 saving souls, founding and building up Churches. 
 When the ministry, the Church, or individual 
 Christians forget those revival occasions, they 
 are drifting in other directions the Lord only 
 knows where. 
 
 There is a strong tendency in all institutions 
 and usages where human agencies are involved 
 to this drifting spoken of, and if the agencies 
 are* chiefly human, that drifting is usually from 
 good to bad, and from bad to worse. . This is 
 especially seen in all forms of human govern- 
 ment, political institutions, and political parties. 
 Nations, governments, and political parties, be- 
 ginning usually comparatively in modesty, fee- 
 bleness, and purity, grow corrupt as they grow 
 old under their human manipulation, and they 
 have crumbled to atoms, never to be exactly
 
 8 Introduction. 
 
 reproduced, with as much regularity and cer- 
 tainty as men march to the grave. They have 
 survived longer or shorter, just in proportion as 
 true and good principles have oj: have not been 
 let alone by the poisonous hand of man. 
 
 But the Church is a divine institution, while 
 the means for carrying it on are largely human ; 
 hence there is danger to the Church that she 
 may retrograde, her light grow dim, if not " be- 
 come darkness," though her foundations of eter- 
 nal truth cannot utterly or finally fail. This 
 has often been the case ; but God, to prevent 
 her overthrow, has always appeared just in her 
 greatest emergency, and burst upon darkness 
 and apparent destruction with some new light 
 and means for her recovery and revival, wherein 
 lies the difference between the Church and 
 human governments and other earthly institu- 
 tions. He has raised up men and measures 
 unthought of, and often turned back the tide of 
 death with a hand of power, though human, 
 that has shaken the world. 
 
 The apostolic Church, commencing in strict 
 spirituality and simplicity, soon grew powerful 
 in numbers, then in wealth and worldly power ; 
 then formality, pride, and worldliness followed,
 
 Introduction. 9 
 
 till a dark night of a thousand years and Ro- 
 manism resulted. But God would not suffer his 
 Church to perish utterly, and so he raised up a 
 Huss, a Knox, a Luther, and others, to call it back 
 to first principles, and commit to the flames the 
 " senseless mummery " of mint, anise, and cum- 
 min, which had effectually excluded the weightier 
 matters of the law and the Gospel. Such is the 
 result of human hands tampering with Christ's 
 Church, putting into it what he has left out, and 
 leaving out what he has put in. The " inven- 
 tions sought out" by man to improve God's 
 work always mar it. 
 
 On a smaller scale the Church of England, 
 and indeed all other State Churches, continuing 
 a long time without interruption to work out 
 their legitimate fruits, show the historical fact 
 of a retrogression toward the " dark ages," and 
 a call for reformers such as Wesley, Whitefield, 
 Chalmers, and others like them, to save these 
 Churches from extinction. Reposing upon 
 empty forms and a dead orthodoxy, they drifted 
 into the current with the world rather than 
 drew the world to Christ. Such a Church can- 
 not be the Church of Christ it gathers not 
 with him, but scatters abroad.
 
 io Introduction. 
 
 The history of the Puritans and the Pilgrims 
 can hardly be regarded as an exception to this 
 general fact in Church history. Much as there 
 was that was good and apostolic in them, there 
 was also something that must have been bad, 
 as it has produced bad fruit in the shape of 
 Unitarianism, Universalism, and " Liberal Chris- 
 tianity," or Infidelity. The humanizing hand 
 has been too apparent in all these branches of 
 the Church, hence they have suffered or been 
 superseded by others, and so will it be with all 
 others to the end of time which depart from the 
 spirituality and simplicity of the Gospel. 
 
 The great practical and all-absorbing ques- 
 tion with us is whether or not the career and 
 history of the Methodist Episcopal Church shall 
 be like or unlike those which have gone before 
 it. Is her light also to become dim, her spirit- 
 uality to depart, and her altars to be crushed 
 with accumulating forms and empty ceremo- 
 nies ?. Shall her numbers and wealth, and con- 
 sequently her worldly power, lead her away into 
 pride and abandonment of the meek and lowly 
 Jesus ? Why should we expect her history to 
 be an exception to that of all other branches of 
 the Church ? Human nature and the world are
 
 Introduction. 1 1 
 
 now as of old, and so is the philosophy of mind 
 and morals unchanged. The same humanity 
 enters into the modern as into the ancient 
 Church. And do not the signs of the coming 
 departure already begin to warn us ? A grow- 
 ing laxity in discipline, increasing devotion to 
 style and fashion, increasing members who 
 show no heartfelt devotion to Christ, hoarding 
 wealth while souls are perishing, and an infant 
 cry for " more ritual ;" the constant growth of 
 legislation in usages, forms, and machinery with 
 which we are loading the Church, thereby (nec- 
 essarily) abstracting just that amount of atten- 
 tion from the vital and cardinal point spiritu- 
 ality all point in a direction of hateful mem- 
 ory, and should wake the attention of every 
 watchman on the walls of Zion. 
 
 Our hope that the future of our Church shall 
 be like its past all centers in this one thing, 
 namely, that she shall make the spiritual life of 
 God in the soul, the conversion of the world to 
 Christ, and the spread of scriptural holiness over 
 these lands so cardinal and overshadowing that 
 all our discussions and legislation on all side 
 issues and fixings shall be held comparatively as 
 mere dust in the balance. These are the days
 
 1 2 Introduction, 
 
 of her greatest peril. Small numbers, feeble- 
 ness, and persecution, have ever contributed to 
 spirituality and growth in the Church ; but 
 numbers, wealth, and power, to decline and 
 downfall. 
 
 Hence this little timely book will be a most 
 valuable aid to our reading people, turning back 
 their minds to the days of our Church youth, 
 when she had nothing but her scriptural doc- 
 trines and usages to commend her to the public 
 favor, and thus grew with such unprecedented 
 rapidity. Nothing can reveal to us more clearly 
 than this whether or not the Church now is 
 advancing or retrograding in what renders her 
 really great and useful. This is the vital point 
 to be kept before the Church to aid her to with- 
 stand all the influences and temptations now 
 assailing her to let down her doctrines, usages, 
 and discipline. May the history of all Churches 
 instruct and warn us ! may the love we cherish 
 for the Church that, under God, sought and 
 saved us evermore, constrain us to hold fast to 
 her landmarks, and war valiantly against all her 
 insidious foes, and contend manfully for the 
 faith once delivered to the saints ! God forbid 
 that what he has given us by the high and holy
 
 Introduction. 1 3 
 
 character and labors of our fathers should suf- 
 fer in our hands, to the irreparable loss of those 
 who will come- after us ! Every age of the 
 Church has its responsibility. This is ours 
 to " hold fast that which is good." 
 
 This line of thought will be strengthened if 
 we consult our own Christian experience. We 
 often find, when coldness and worldliness have 
 damped the fire of our Christian ardor and zeal, 
 doubts, fears, and, may be, skeptical thoughts 
 arise. Then, may be, we seek arguments to 
 re-assure ourselves. A Butler, a Paley, a Wat- 
 son, a Whedon, reason with an irresistible force ; 
 but nothing so quickly and effectually puts the 
 soul at rest, without one lingering doubt, as to 
 refer to our awakening and conversion by the 
 Spirit. In a moment the soul is filled with 
 assurance, and "we know whom we have be- 
 lieved ;" and " we know we have passed from 
 death unto life." The power of Christian expe- 
 rience in proof of the verity and divinity of 
 Christianity has no equal. Hence it was Paul's 
 sharp instrument in the most critical hour of 
 his eventful and brilliant life. It is a sad and 
 ominous day with the Christian when he for- 
 gets or thinks lightly of his conversion and con-
 
 14 Introduction. 
 
 vert experience ; and as the Church is only the 
 aggregate of individuals, it is equally sad for her 
 when she forgets the days of her primitive spir- 
 ituality and simplicity of purpose, with her holy 
 zeal for Christ in the days of her " espousals." 
 
 As we have read this MS. book of modest pre- 
 tensions, not so much for literary criticism and 
 speculation as to refresh our mind with the early 
 history, struggles, and achievements of our be- 
 loved Church, we have enjoyed much its happy, 
 brief, and racy summary of her history, doctrines, 
 discipline, and usages, set forth in no controversial 
 but catholic and devout spirit ; and we have felt 
 to thank God and the author for the soul-re- 
 freshment we have received from it, and really 
 feel our piety quickened, and more intelligently, 
 liberally, and devoutly attached to the Church 
 than when we commenced it ; and we hope it 
 may be so with the thousands who will read it. 
 And may the beloved and afflicted author realize 
 before he goes home to his final reward that, 
 under God, he has done more for him and his 
 Church in this unpretending publication than 
 in all his previous life and labors ! 
 
 L. D. BARROWS. 
 
 LAWRENCE, M!ASS., Jan. 1873.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MY EARLY RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 
 FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW. 
 
 Early Associations with Methodism Beginning of my Re- 
 ligious Life with other Denominational Surroundings Slow 
 Progress Doubt and Fear Unite with Methodist Episcopal 
 Church on Probation Begin to Preach Join in Full Join 
 New Hampshire Conference Still Fearful of Acceptance with 
 God, but Clear in Duty to Preach Great Trial of Faith Relief 
 and Victory Contrast between, my Physical Condition and Re- 
 ligious Enjoyment Then and Now Present Prostrated Phys- 
 ical Condition Great Peace and Bright Prospects Page 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CLASS-MEETINGS FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW. 
 
 How Conducted Then Opposition to Them Their Useful- 
 ness Reminiscences Class-meetings Now 31 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 CIRCUITS, STATIONS, AND SALARIES. 
 
 Size of Circuits Labor Required Mode of Traveling An 
 Incident Present Stationing System Advantages and Disad- 
 vantages Salaries Then and Now A Practical Lesson from 
 " Dear-bought " Experience 39 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 QUARTERLY MEETINGS THEN AND NOW. 
 
 "Old-fashioned" Quarterly Meeting Guarding Love-Feast 
 Door A Reminiscence Modern Quarterly Meeting 57
 
 1 6 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 METHODISTIC CUSTOMS AND CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Styfe of Dress Incident Related Kneeling during Public 
 and Social Prayer Practice of Shouting and other Responses 
 Losing Strength Public Testimony for Christ Page 21 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 VISITING FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE. 
 
 Made a Special Duty Different Modes of Performing It A 
 Presiding Elder's Advice He Relates an Incident Reminis- 
 cences of Personal Experience Pastoral Visiting an Impera- 
 tive Duty 75 
 
 CHAPTER VJL 
 
 CAMP-MEETINGS THEN AND NOW. 
 
 The Preparation Demanded Inconveniences Connected with 
 their Maintenance Their Success Their Present Conven- 
 iences Attendance and Success Pleasant Summer Resorts 
 A Word of Caution 86 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PARSONAGES AND CHURCHES. 
 
 Parsonages Few in Number Frequent Inconvenience in 
 respect to Location Scarcity of Room and Furniture Present 
 Number and Accommodations Churches Style Cost and 
 Number compared with Forty Years Ago Rapid Progress 
 in Church Building Free and Modest Churches our Church 
 Policy 92 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO METHODIST DOCTRINES AND USAGES FORTY 
 YEARS AGO, AND FRATERNAL RELATIONS WITH EVANGELICAL 
 CHURCHES NOW. 
 
 High-Church Opposition to Methodistic Ordinations and. Sac- 
 raments Calvinistic Opposition to her Doctrines Reminis-
 
 Contents. 17 
 
 cences Opposition to her Separate Sunday-School, Bible, and 
 Tract Societies Home Missions Reported Moral Waste in 
 Valley of Mississippi Ineorapetency of the Ministry there 
 The American Temperance Society Question A Reminiscence 
 Universalism Anecdotes Present Fraternal Relations of 
 the Churches of Evangelical Faith Now Page 99 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WOMAN'S WORK IN THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH THEN 
 AND NOW. 
 
 The Public Testimony for Christ in Promiscuous Assemblies 
 Her Sphere of Usefulness and Special Labors Then Her In- 
 creased Sphere of Usefulness Now " The Ladies' and Pastors' 
 Christian Union " " The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society " 
 General Conference Report on " Woman's Work in the 
 Church " 126 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 METHODISM AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 
 
 Position of the Methodists Respecting Them at the Time of 
 their Origin " The First Sunday-school in America " Their 
 Number and Condition Forty Years Ago Their Present Num- 
 ber and Condition Sunday-school Library Books Periodicals 
 and Requisites Normal Department Demands for Increased 
 Efforts Other Improvements Needed 133 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " GATHERING FRUIT UNTO LIFE ETERNAL." 
 
 Interesting Instances of Conversions by Special Efforts years 
 ago Important Results since 142 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW. 
 
 Academies and Seminaries Then Their Condition and Num- 
 ber The First One Established by the Methodist Episcopal
 
 1 8 Contents. 
 
 Church Number and Condition Now Colleges and Universi- 
 ties Then "Wesleyan University Its Origin Dickinson Col- 
 lege and Alleghauy College Previous Disadvantages and Em- 
 barrassments in Educational Interests Number and Condi- 
 tion of Colleges and Universities in the Church Now Female 
 Colleges Appointment of Secretary of Education Theological 
 Schools Former Prejudice Against Them Efforts used to 
 Establish Them First One Established Present Number and 
 Condition Page 159 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 METHODISM AND THE ABOLITION OP SLAVERY. 
 
 Position of the Church on the Subject Forty Tears Ago 
 High Prior Antislavery Position Beginning of the Abolition 
 Excitement General Conference Discussion in 1836 "The 
 Immortal Fourteen" Southern Secession in 1844 Its Causes 
 Rapid Spread of Abolitionism "War of the Rebellion Pres- 
 ident Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation Methodism 
 and the War Present Mental, Social, and Moral Condition of 
 Freedmen 174 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 LAY DELEGATION FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW. 
 
 Strongly Opposed Then Stormy Discussions Secessions 
 from the Church Rapid Progress of Lay Delegation Sentiment 
 Plan Proposed by General Conference of 1868 Indorsed by 
 both Ministers and Lay Members Lay Element in General 
 Conference of 1872 188 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 NUMERICAL STRENGTH OF METHODISM FORTY YEARS AGO AND 
 NOW. 
 
 Statistics Then Rapid Growth Present Numerical Strength 
 Growth in the North-west Rapid Growth among German 
 Immigrants General Conferences of 1832 and 1872 196
 
 Contents. 19 
 
 CHAPTER XVH. 
 
 BISHOPS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 Bishops Forty Tears Ago Previous Bishops Those Elected 
 and Serving the Church from 1832 to 1872 Those Elected at 
 General Conference of 1872 Efforts for Bishop of African De- 
 scent Colored Bishops for Liberia Mission Page 207 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 METHODIST BOOK CONCEEN FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW. 
 
 Its Valuation in 1832 Its Origin Its Removal to and En- 
 largement in New York City Its Destruction by Fire Its 
 Re-establishment Its Progress and Reputation Its Edifice in 
 Broadway Exciting Reports of Fraud and Mismanagement 
 Various Investigations by Book Committee Final Verdict by 
 General Conference of 1872 219 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 METHODIST MISSIONS FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW. 
 
 Their State of Progress in 1832 Origin and Success of Wy- 
 andotte Indian Mission John Stewart its great Apostle Ori- 
 gin of the Liberia Mission Melville B. Cox its first Missionary 
 His Death Origin of the Flathead Indian Mission Jason 
 and Daniel Lee its first Missionaries Great Interest created 
 by the Establishment of the African Mission Interest felt in 
 the Flathead Mission Progress of the Missionary Cause since 
 Present Number and State of our Missions Demands for 
 Increased Efforts . . .242 
 
 PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 METHODISM HER DANGERS AND DUTIES. 
 
 With Reference to Her Numerical Strength Her Financial 
 Prosperity Her Ministry Her Mission Work 259
 
 2O Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 METHODISM AND THE YOUTH OP OUR COUNTRY. 
 
 The Great Number of Youth to be Cared for Facilities 
 for their Education in Seminaries In Sunday-schools Efforts 
 Demanded for their Education and Salvation Page 272 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 METHODISM HER CONVERTS AND PROBATIONERS. 
 
 Her Revivals of Religion and Rapid Church Increase Her 
 Special Privileges to Converts Their Early Reception as Pro- 
 bationers Important The Manner of Reception Considered 
 Faithful Instruction and Encouragement Demanded Lack of 
 Nurturing Hazardous Their Individual Responsibilities 
 Church-members and Probationers Urged to Duty 280 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MUTUAL CLAIMS GROWING OTJT OF OUR ITINERANT MINISTRY. 
 
 Mutual Submission to the Appointing Power of the Church 
 Mutual Receptions Required Mutual Aid with Reference to 
 Removals and Parsonages Salaries Early Acquaintance to 
 be Mutually Sought Liberty of Conscience Necessary in Mat- 
 ters of Political Action Reputation of Pastors and People 
 Mutually to be Sought Closing Duties Required of Both at 
 Termination of Pastoral Relation 286 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 METHODISM WHAT ARE HER ASSURANCES FOR FUTURE SUCCESS? 
 
 Practical and Experimental Godliness It will Secure Her 
 Against Heretical Doctrines Give Safety to the "Workings of 
 Her Ecclesiastical Polity Give Catholicity of Spirit Give Prop- 
 er Direction to Her Vast Resources Secure Divine Protection 
 Secure the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit. . . . 303
 
 METHODISM 
 FORTY YEARS AGO AND NOW. 
 
 art J ir & i. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 My Early Religious Associations and Per- 
 sonal Experience. 
 
 THEN AND NOW. 
 
 ( ROM early life I have been somewhat 
 familiar with Methodism. My father was 
 a member of the first class formed on the 
 " Old Barnard Circuit" in Vermont, in the early 
 days of our Church in that State. In his days 
 of active business life, he, for years, held official 
 relations therein. My mother, though not a 
 professor of religion, was deeply interested in 
 the moral welfare of her household. 
 
 Our house was frequently favored with visits 
 from many of those early veterans of the Cross, 
 whose names are familiarly known in our Church 
 histories. The influence they bequeathed to
 
 22 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 us is as fragrant as " the precious ointment 
 poured forth." From a child I have heard their 
 names spoken and their deeds praised. Many 
 of these were our circuit preachers and frequent 
 visitors at my early home. Their countenances, 
 style of speech and dress, mode of traveling, 
 manner of preaching, and general appearance, 
 became familiar to me. Our house, being large, 
 was sometimes opened, for the want of a more 
 convenient place, for public religious services 
 on the Sabbath and other days. These early 
 associations had a powerful influence on my 
 youthful heart and life. 
 
 When in my twenty-first year I sought, and 
 I trust found, " the pearl of great price." I was 
 then away from home, engaged in teaching. 
 My denominational surroundings were very un- 
 like those with which I had been previously 
 associated. 
 
 The pastors of the different Churches were 
 good men and popular preachers, and many of 
 their members worthy Christians ; but I could 
 not be edified with the High-Churchism, and, 
 to me, dull formalisms of the Episcopalians ; 
 nor with the Calvinistic and freely-expressed 
 opinions concerning the fearful danger of enter- 
 taining a "false hope," held by the Congregation- 
 alists ; neither with the sentiments, tenaciously
 
 My Personal Experience. 23 
 
 advocated by the people called "Christians," 
 with reference to the character of Christ, " the 
 sleep of the dead," and " the annihilation of the 
 wicked." 
 
 Though I sought to be faithful in Christian 
 duties, and never failed to take some part in 
 their social meetings, yet I found myself often 
 unconsciously utteri tg sentiments which were 
 adverse to theirs, sometimes subjecting me to 
 the necessity of self-vindication. 
 
 Such surroundings and influences had an ad- 
 verse effect upon my progress in the divine 
 life. My experience was unsatisfactory. I could 
 not tell the time nor place of my conversion, and 
 had almost constant fears that I had not " passed 
 from death unto life." 
 
 Well do I remember the first love-feast I ever 
 attended, some months after I began the Chris- 
 tian life. The testimonies there given were 
 very positively expressed. Various ones said 
 that they knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, 
 that they loved God, and could tell just when 
 and where they were converted. Such positive 
 testimonies grated upon my ear. I thought 
 they were a little too certain about it, and that 
 becoming modesty required that they should 
 be less positive. 
 
 After the love-feast was through my excel-
 
 24 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 lent pastor kindly asked me, " How did you 
 like the meeting?" I answered, "Very well, 
 only they were a little too sure they loved the 
 Lord;" and believing him to be a judicious 
 man, inquired, " Don't you think so too ?" His 
 reply disappointed me. It was this, " I am will- 
 ing people should love the Lord, and if they do, 
 it is proper that they should say so ! " This 
 was a kind and gentle rebuke to me for my 
 uncharitable suggestion, and it had a good 
 effect upon me. I concluded it was not best to 
 complain of others for having reached an ex- 
 perience beyond my own. Though I could not 
 say that I knew that I loved the Lord, yet, if 
 others did, they might " say so" and I would try 
 to love him too. 
 
 On the 1 5th day of July, 1832, 1 was baptized 
 by our preacher in charge, Rev. E. Jordan, and 
 received on probation into Society. 
 
 Having felt it to be my imperative duty to 
 preach the Gospel, I began, with the approba- 
 tion of my pastor, six weeks after this, my life- 
 work, and continued to hold meetings to the 
 end of my probation, when I was received into 
 full membership in the Church, and at the same 
 time was licensed to exhort. Three months 
 after this the quarterly conference licensed me 
 to preach, and recommended me as a suitable
 
 My Personal Experience. 2$ 
 
 person to join the conference. The Rev. B. R. 
 Hoyt, the presiding elder, immediately em- 
 ployed me for the remaining three months of 
 the conference year to fill the place of the 
 junior preacher, whose health had failed. Six 
 months from the time of my reception into the 
 Church I was admitted into the New Hamp- 
 shire Conference, and received my first ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 My evidences of divine acceptance continued 
 to increase, until at length I proclaimed to the 
 people that " I too loved God with all my heart." 
 Then followed "a great fight of affliction." 
 " Satan desired to have me that he might sift 
 me as wheat." Sift all the wheat out of me, 
 and leave only the chaff. It was the hour of 
 the " prince of darkness." 
 
 For the space of two weeks I remained in a 
 state of deep despair. All hope of heaven had 
 left me. I felt that I was surely doomed to 
 eternal despair, and that already " the pains of 
 hell had gotten hold upon me." 
 
 During all this time I did not question my 
 duty to warn the people " to flee the wrath to 
 come," as I visited from house to house, and 
 kept on preaching according to previous notice. 
 I even, conscientiously, refrained from speaking 
 of my despairing feelings, lest I should wound
 
 26 MetJiodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 the precious cause of Christ. I could not 
 preach the Gospel, for this was hid from me, but 
 could and did " proclaim the day of vengeance 
 of our God." At length I found sweet relief 
 from this sad state of mind at a little old hut, 
 where lived a blessed saint of deep experience 
 in the things of Gospel grace, who was nearly 
 a hundred years old. By her godly counsel, 
 cheering assurances, and earnest prayers, light 
 dawned upon me, which gradually increased 
 unto a joyful, cloudless day. 
 
 Such a "horror of darkness" has never yet 
 returned to me. With my "shield of faith" I 
 have been enabled to "quench all the fiery 
 darts of the enemy." Indeed, when having the 
 " whole armor on, I have been conqueror, and 
 more than conqueror, through Him who has 
 loved me." 
 
 A sense of my unfaithfulness and weakness 
 has often oppressed me. I lament to-day that I 
 have not been, and am not now, a better Chris- 
 tian. But " I know whom I have believed, and 
 that he is able to keep that I have committed 
 unto him against that day " when he shall gather 
 his own into joys immortal. " The name of the 
 Lord is a strong tower ; the righteous runneth 
 into it and is safe." 
 
 This early experience I will now compare
 
 My Personal Experience. 27 
 
 with my present. In doing so I purposely 
 omit to refer, with any defmiteness, to my sub- 
 sequent labors, conflicts, and triumphs while 
 in the active ministry, as not relevant to my 
 present arrangement of thought, and call the 
 reader's attention to my more recent experience 
 in the divine life. My fortieth year in the min- 
 istry began in utter physical prostration, great 
 suffering, and almost certain prospect of death. 
 I continued in this condition for about eight 
 months, with no other expectation for the major 
 part of that time than the daily prospect of ex- 
 changing earth for heaven. 
 
 During all this time I was sustained by the 
 grace of God, comforted by the precious prom- 
 ises of his word, cheered by his conscious 
 presence, and filled with bright hopes of the 
 better life. My joy was not ecstatic. It was 
 perfectly satisfactory to feel that, " though my 
 heart and flesh fail," God would be "the strength 
 of my heart, and my portion forever." And 
 now, though but partially recovered and still a 
 cripple, with but faint prospect of ever recov- 
 ering health beyond its present state, I am 
 calm, peaceful, hopeful, and, I think, resigned to 
 my lot. I greatly marvel that such a poor and 
 unworthy sinner, though saved through infinite 
 grace in Jesus Christ from the guilt of sin by
 
 28 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 pardoning mercy, can thus be kept from de- 
 sponding feelings. I attribute all to the special 
 care of Him who tenderly puts "underneath 
 me his everlasting arms" of love and mercy. 
 In my physical prostration and earthly unfa- 
 vorable prospects I can truly say, 
 
 " The day glides sweetly o'.er my head, 
 
 Made up of innocence and love ; 
 And soft and silent as the shade 
 
 My nightly minutes gently move. 
 
 I often look to the heavenly hills, 
 
 Where groves of living pleasures grow, 
 
 And longing hopes and cheerful smiles 
 Sit undisturbed upon my brow." 
 
 What a contrast between this and the expe- 
 rience of forty years ago ! I was then in perfect 
 health, of buoyant spirits, full of courage, and 
 with bright earthly hopes. But I was full, also, 
 of religious doubts and fears. From a stern 
 sense of duty I was a preacher of the Gospel, 
 although the power of that Gospel had, as 
 yet, not been clearly revealed to my youthful 
 heart. Now, under these changed and nat- 
 urally depressing circumstances, I can feel to 
 " rejoice in the Lord, be patient in tribulation, 
 
 and can 
 
 Read my title clear 
 To mansions in the skies.' "
 
 My Personal Experience. 29 
 
 Does the reader ask, Through what means 
 and instrumentalities has come about this great 
 change ? I answer, By the grace of God in 
 Christ, through Methodism. I would give due 
 credit to other orthodox Churches for many 
 excellent sentiments and beautiful examples of 
 deep Christian experience and exalted virtues, 
 which have their salutary influence on others, 
 but / needed the benefit of the Methodistic 
 doctrines of free grace, of present free and full 
 salvation, a knowledge of present, acceptance 
 with God, and "full assurance of hope" to meet 
 my special necessities. I needed the soul-stir- 
 ring hymns, the earnest, importunate prayers, 
 the hearty responsive shouts of praise to God, 
 the clear testimonies of love to him, and the 
 wide-awake, free, social means of grace of Meth- 
 odism to help me into the deeper waters of life 
 than I had heretofore fathomed. 
 
 I might have reached this better state of 
 Christian experience elsewhere as well as with 
 the Methodists ; but there would have been 
 more danger of "groping my way" to the better 
 land, only "hoping I had a hope," and feeling 
 the extreme danger of " being deceived," and 
 shuddering at hearing any one say, " I know 
 whom I have believed," than in the good old 
 Bible testimony I have so often heard among
 
 3O Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 my own people, such as " His Spirit witnesseth 
 with our spirit that we are the children of God." 
 "We know we have passed from death unto life, 
 because we love the brethren." And then those 
 good old hymns,-such as 
 
 " My God is reconciled ; 
 
 His pard'ning voice I hear: 
 He owns me for his child ; 
 
 /can no longer fear: 
 With confidence I now draw nigh, 
 And Father, Abba, Father, cry." 
 
 And this 
 
 " Exults our rising soul, 
 
 Disburdened of her load, 
 And swells, unutterably full 
 
 Of glory and of God." 
 
 Thus have I been led along by the Hand 
 divine, cheered and confirmed in experience, 
 comforted and aided by prayers of faith and 
 deeds of love, in sickness and health, succored 
 in trials and victorious in conflicts, through the 
 instrumentalities, associations, and influences 
 of Methodism, for these forty years past. To 
 God, in Jesus Christ, and to him alone, will -I 
 ascribe all the praise.
 
 Class-Meetings. 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Class-Meetings Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 ETHODISM began with class-meetings, 
 and they have proved to be our great 
 nurseries of piety, a leading element of 
 success. Forty years ago, except in more com- 
 pact places, as in cities and villages, it required 
 great effort to sustain them. As the members 
 were scattered over a region of several miles 
 around, they could not meet without making 
 special effort ; but they enjoyed their meetings 
 all the more for their painstaking. 
 
 In many country classes they were obliged 
 to reserve the privileges of class till the days of 
 the pastor's lecture appointments, once in two 
 weeks in those sections of the circuits where 
 most of the members resided, and then meet 
 after the more public services. In other places 
 they met at noon on the Sabbath, or after the 
 afternoon public services closed ; but whenever 
 or wherever class-meetings were held in those 
 days they were, with rare exceptions, seasons
 
 32 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 of special interest and of much profit to the 
 attendants. 
 
 It seems to some of us who used to attend 
 them that the conversational style of conducting 
 them, as then practiced, between leaders and 
 members with reference to personal experience 
 and the practice and growth of Christian vir- 
 tues, was a very valuable characteristic of class- 
 meetings. 
 
 Not unfrequently difficulties between mem- 
 bers were settled, unworthy ones excluded from 
 society, probationers received into full member- 
 ship, and as a general rule it was pretty accu- 
 rately ascertained that our people valued or 
 undervalued class attendance very nearly in 
 proportion to their state of religious interest. 
 
 We used to hear objections brought against 
 them by people outside of Methodism. One 
 quality of people, who, if pious at all, possessed 
 it only in a low degree, never saying any thing, 
 or the next thing thereto, on the subject of their 
 own experience or Chrisfian progress, were quite 
 forward in their opposition to them. Their 
 main objection was this : " Class-meetings are 
 too much like the Romish confessional. The 
 members are sharply questioned by the leader, 
 to whom they must make confession of their 
 shortcomings and unworthiness, and ask his
 
 Class-Meetings. 33 
 
 prayers on their behalf for pardon and salva- 
 tion." An objection too ridiculous to need 
 refutation. 
 
 Another objection came from a very different 
 source, and was of an opposite kind. " Class- 
 meetings are too exclusive. People -who are not 
 members are prohibited by Discipline from 
 attending more than twice or thrice un- 
 less they become members. Now," they used 
 to say, "if these are good meetings, why not 
 open the doors wide enough to admit any who 
 may be disposed to attend them ?" 
 
 Our answer was : " Class-meetings are for 
 class-members, and the open doors proposed 
 would thwart their design by admitting such as 
 are not in sympathy with us, and perhaps real 
 enemies of the cause of Christ." Other objec- 
 tions were sometimes urged in those days, but 
 they did not militate against the cause to its 
 special detriment. 
 
 Many interesting reminiscences might be 
 recorded of class-meetings, especially as con- 
 nected with our early ministry, from among 
 which we select the following : 
 
 In a certain Vermont station, where our 
 young people were gay, social, and joyous, 
 more inclined to sinful amusements than to re- 
 ligion, though constant Church -goers 'and Bible- 
 3
 
 34 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 class scholars, we were sometimes annoyed by 
 their thoughtless manners in the Sabbath even- 
 ing prayer-meetings. At length, by the advice 
 of brethren, the class-meeting was changed to 
 Sabbath evening instead of the prayer-meeting, 
 and the prayer-meeting was appointed for the 
 evening of class-meeting, and in its stead. 
 This was to be only a temporary arrangement, 
 and to be tried as an experiment to break up 
 the annoyances complained of. Our young 
 friends saw the point aimed at, and on the 
 evening appointed for prayer were out in good 
 numbers. At the Sabbath evening class-meet- 
 ing some twenty of them were on hand in high 
 glee for a good time. The pastor explained to 
 them the nature and design of class-meetings, 
 and that all present would be expected to kneel 
 in prayer-time, and all would be spoken to sep- 
 arately on the subject of religion, and when ad- 
 dressed each would be expected to rise up and 
 give respectful answers to questions propounded, 
 and speak in appropriate language in regard to 
 their personal interest in matters of religion, 
 and that in no instance had we ever known a 
 gentleman or lady to refuse to comply with such 
 reasonable requests when respectfully presented 
 and understood. How the jolly young company 
 of class-attendants received the instructions we
 
 Class- Meetings. 3 5 
 
 were somewhat in doubt. It was enough for 
 me to- know they all knelt in prayer-time, and 
 when spoken to, as others were, each arose and 
 gave in respectful language responses to what 
 was said to them, and received our advice with 
 apparent seriousness. Some spoke with tremu- 
 lous voices and tearful eyes ; a few wept, con- 
 fessed, asked for the prayers of the class, 
 sought and found the Saviour, and in due time 
 joined the Church, which thus assisted them in 
 starting in the better way. Their attendance 
 at that class-meeting, if designed for evil, was 
 overruled for good. 
 
 ANOTHER REMINISCENCE 
 
 Of those earlier days in class-meeting expe- 
 rience was reference to a good and faithful 
 class-leader. On a certain evening, though 
 usually prompt, he was late to class. He soon 
 explained to us the cause of his tardiness. He 
 said, " I had been working in my barn, and was 
 anxious to close up a certain piece of work be- 
 fore dark ; but along in the afternoon I began 
 to think that I must give up attending my class 
 in the evening. I soon met with an accident, 
 which seemed to say to me, 'Go to class-meeting-' 
 But," said he, " ' I cant go because I am so hin- 
 dered.' Awhile after, when hurrying my work
 
 36 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 along, my sleigh, which had been carefully 
 placed on a platform over the floor, came, down 
 with a -crash and was damaged, seeming to say, 
 ' Go to class-meeting, then.' I thought," said 
 he, " it is of no use to try to save time by the 
 neglect of Christian duties, so I left all and 
 hastened to class-meeting." 
 
 Experience and observation both are wit- 
 nesses that his was a wise and safe conclusion, 
 as illustrated in 
 
 ANOTHER SINGULAR INCIDENT. 
 
 In a certain pastoral charge, when giving out 
 for class-meeting in haying time, I related to 
 the people somewhat of the experience of my 
 good class-leader just referred to, and suggest- 
 ed, if the day should be a good one for haying, 
 some of my brethren might be tempted to stay 
 away, and cautioned them against yielding to 
 the temptation, but to plan their work so as to 
 "go to class-meeting," otherwise something 
 might turn up to hinder them as much as the 
 time it would require to attend it. 
 
 My good Brother P. heard the caution with 
 interest, but probably without confidence in my 
 inferences drawn from it. The day came a 
 bright day for hay-makers. My good Brother 
 P. and hired man were in the field, near the
 
 Class-Meetings. 37 
 
 hour of the appointed meeting, doubtless think- 
 ing of class-meeting which they concluded not 
 to attend, when by a strange mishap the usually 
 good driver drove his team too near a stump 
 and broke the cart-tongue. My good Brother P. 
 hearing the noise of breaking exclaimed, " ' Well, 
 go to class-meeting, then !' There," said he in 
 an instant more, "don't tell Brother Culver of it 
 for any thing!" The hired man, also a mem- 
 ber of the class, thinking it a little too good to, 
 keep, took pleasure in telling of it. Now, we 
 do not say these occurrences came to pass be- 
 cause of the intention to save time by neglect 
 of duties ; but we do believe that, as a rule, 
 such efforts for the world, to the neglect of plain 
 and positive religious duties, will bring upon 
 him who attempts them, in one way or another, 
 great loss in a worldly sense. 
 
 Class-meetings, now in- their one hundred and 
 sixth year in America and their one hundred and 
 forty-third in England, may have lost some of 
 their former valuable characteristics, but they 
 have outlived all opposition ; and, retaining all 
 the more essential qualities of the early past, 
 and adding thereto what experience and ob- 
 servation seem to demand by the changed 
 circumstances of the times, they possess to-day 
 more than their youthful vigor and success, in
 
 38 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 some respects at least. They have better ac- 
 commodations in class-rooms or other commo- 
 dious places, and larger attendance. None now 
 molest their devotions. The demand for closed 
 doors, if ever necessary, is now among the 
 things of the past. Class-meetings will con- 
 tinue to be, as they ever have been, among the 
 most efficient means of grace for the building 
 up of believers and the salvation of sinners, 
 through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 to whom be the glory now and forever. 
 
 Some other denominations of evangelical 
 Christians, seeing their value, not only cease 
 their opposition, but, so far as their ecclesias- 
 tical organisms will allow, have adopted them 
 in name* or, under another name, have adopted 
 their main characteristics. 
 
 May class-meetings, by whatsoever name 
 they may be called, and by whomsoever held, 
 become more and more the means of saving 
 souls, and God be glorified ! 
 
 * Class-meetings are known to be held in some of our 
 Freewill Baptist Churches.
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Circuits, Stations, and Salaries Then and 
 Now. 
 
 CIRCUITS THEN AND STATIONS NOW. 
 
 tHE circuit system was a favorite one with 
 Methodism from its origin. For many years 
 these circuits were very large, extending 
 over many towns, and sometimes as large as a 
 modern presiding elder's district. Forty years 
 ago they were much reduced in size, especially 
 in New England, embracing only some three 
 or four towns, with only some four, five, or six 
 Sabbath preaching-places, as convenience or 
 necessity required. To each of these fields of 
 labor there were usually appointed a preacher 
 in charge and one or two colleagues, who were 
 generally juniors in years and in experience, 
 all of whom usually went with cheerfulness to 
 their work, under the care and guidance of 
 Christ, " the Chief Shepherd," to look after the 
 flock, which was scattered along the valleys
 
 40 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 and among the mountains of their widely-ex- 
 tended circuits. 
 
 The amount of labor required was, of course, 
 very great. No less than two hundred sermons 
 must be preached during the year, nor less 
 than this number of class and prayer-meetings 
 attended during the time ; and no less than a 
 thousand family visits made, requiring as many 
 as two thousand miles' travel in a year. These 
 reminiscences of forty years ago I take from 
 recorded facts, kept by myself, of my own labors 
 in those early times. 
 
 The mode of traveling, especially by the junior 
 preachers, was on horseback, with saddle-bags for 
 carrying our reading-books and needed change 
 of apparel, and on our longer routes, frequently 
 with our umbrellas and rolled-up overcoats strap- 
 ped to our saddles. 
 
 Some of us were often taken, when among 
 strangers, to be doctors, (not D. D's but M. D.'s 
 doctors of divinity were scarce in those days,) 
 as our mode of conveyance and saddle-bags 
 were, in outside appearance, not dissimilar to 
 theirs. Such mistakes, though innocently 
 made and generally harmless, were never- 
 theless occasionally quite troublesome. The 
 trouble of being hailed as doctors, to inquire 
 after sick folks, was small compared with some
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 41 
 
 others. I will illustrate my meaning by relating 
 an incident in my own early history in the 
 ministry. 
 
 On a certain circuit, not many miles from old 
 " Dartmouth Medical College," I chanced to 
 put up for the night at the house of one of my 
 parishioners, where, being a new-comer on the 
 circuit, I was mostly a stranger in his neigh- 
 borhood. Learning that there was to be a 
 funeral of a young lady that forenoon, and as I 
 was to pass along that way, I concluded to loiter 
 a little in order to attend it. On arriving at 
 the house where death had entered .1 learned 
 that I was too early for the funeral, so I passed 
 on to another part of my circuit, not supposing 
 I had done any harm. 
 
 A few days after I was surprised to learn 
 that they had taken me to be a young doctor, 
 or a " Hanoverian Medic," out on an excursion 
 for robbing grave-yards of their sacred dead to 
 take to their dissecting-rooms; and lest that 
 new grave should be disturbed, it had been 
 vigilantly watched by the troubled neighbors 
 for several nights in succession after the burial, 
 who, doubtless, pronounced their solemn anath- 
 emas against any young doctor or despicable 
 Hanover " Medic " who should be mean enough 
 to want to rob a grave-yard of its sacred dead !
 
 42 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 How they felt when they learned the facts I 
 cannot state, but the reader can guess. 
 
 This horseback mode of travel, nevertheless, 
 was the best adapted to all the " highways " 
 and " byways " which led to the homes of our 
 people who lived in the back towns and rural 
 districts of our circuits.. The married preach- 
 ers, as now, lived in parsonages, or more gen- 
 erally, like Paul, in "their own hired houses," 
 but were necessarily absent on their large cir- 
 cuits most of their time. A single man in those 
 days, with rare exceptions, had " no certain abid- 
 ing-place.;" a regular boarding-place for him was 
 out of the question. He went " from house to 
 house," in the different parts of his work, sel- 
 dom staying two nights in succession in the 
 same house. 
 
 This was my experience for nearly the first 
 four years of my ministry. My temporary stop- 
 ping-places, not to say homes, were so arranged 
 in the different parts of my circuit as to bring 
 me on Saturday night into the immediate region 
 of my Sabbath meeting, where I kept my needed 
 change of raiment for the Sabbath. These places 
 of entertainment were freely opened to me, where 
 I spent many happy hours. 
 
 Should the following reminiscences prove dis- 
 tasteful to the reader, I hope he will pardon me
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 43 
 
 for their introduction here. They give some 
 of the unpleasant phases of itinerant life forty 
 years ago. 
 
 FREE ENTERTAINMENT, BUT DISAGREEABLE FARE. 
 
 Having a lecture appointment among entire 
 strangers some fifteen miles away, in an ob- 
 scure town among the mountains, I went and 
 preached. When the meeting was through, a 
 man some fifty years old, I -should judge, came 
 to me and kindly invited me to his house for 
 entertainment for the night. I gladly accepted 
 the invitation, and went in company with him 
 to his home. On the way he pointed out to me 
 various objects of interest to himself, mostly 
 such as pertained to his own property, saying, 
 " This is my sawmill ;" " This is my farm ;" and 
 at length, " This is my house," intending, as I 
 thought, to impress me favorably with reference 
 to his financial circumstances. 
 
 The house was a little old log hut, near which 
 were one or two large barns, and all the way 
 between the buildings was the barn-yard, and a 
 large stock of cattle, equally in the door-yard as 
 in the barn-yard, and a running brook passing 
 through, equally accommodating the occupants 
 of the house and barn with its richly-colored 
 waters.
 
 44 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 It being in the month of April, " the. sight of 
 my eyes had an effect on my heart" not very 
 cheering. " Here," said the good man of the 
 house, " this is where I live ; walk in, and we 
 will take care of your horse." While yet in the 
 yard I saw a tall, awkward, and foolish-appear- 
 ing youth come out of the house with a pail in 
 his hand, (it looked like a slop-pail,} who rushed 
 to the brook and dipped up a pailful of the pol- 
 luted water. I entered the house, and soon saw 
 the tea- kettle filled with it for tea, and put over 
 the fire in the open fire-place to heat. Not being 
 anxious for tea just then, I excused myself as 
 best I could, and asked for bread and milk. 
 The request was reluctantly granted. 
 
 In due time there was brought to my lap an 
 old three-pint tin dish, which contained a rusty 
 iron spoon and a full supply of clammy brown 
 bread and milk, which milk was fresh from the 
 untidy milk pail. Attempting to eat, my appe- 
 tite utterly failed me. I just then did not feel 
 to relish bread and milk. I again excused my- 
 self from eating in the best way I knew how, 
 and set up the dish. At length bedtime came. 
 I was assigned to the bed in the only room 
 down stairs, that same old kitchen. The family 
 not a small one retired somewhere, to the 
 chamber or barn, or somewhere else ; at any
 
 Cimtits Then and Stations Now. 45 
 
 rate all disappeared for the night except one 
 son, who was to be my bed-fellow. The bed 
 clothing was uncleanly, ragged, and of unpleas- 
 ant flavor. I sighed, prayed, dozed, and longed 
 for day-dawn. Morning came. I was an early 
 riser for once, at least. The family appearing 
 again, the breakfast was fast being prepared, 
 when I noticed the tea-kettle was filled with 
 water from the same pail as the night before, 
 and the potatoes put over the fire to boil with 
 water from the same source. Two johnny-cakes 
 on wooden plates were baking before the fire. 
 Thus progressing was the breakfast when the 
 foolish son, returning from the aforesaid yard, 
 having stepped where he ought not, sat down 
 on the hearthstone a little too near the baking 
 johnny-cakes. 
 
 At the breakfast-table my usually good appe- 
 tite somehow failed me. The tea I could not 
 drink, the potatoes I could not eat, the johnny- 
 cakes I could not touch. I excused myself 
 from eating again as best I could. After pray- 
 ers I bade them good-bye, and after riding some 
 ten miles I called at a good farm-house, where 
 resided one of our best Methodist families. On 
 reporting where I was from, and where I stayed 
 the night before, the good woman, knowing the 
 family, immediately said, " I think then by this
 
 46 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 time that you are hungry," and without further 
 ceremony provided me with food, which I thank- 
 fully received and was satisfied. 
 
 The next year I chanced to relate my ad- 
 venture to my senior preacher, and he followed 
 it with this story of his own experience : 
 " A few years ago," said he, " I stayed in that 
 same house, slept in th'at same room, and, I 
 presume, in that same bed. Before retiring that 
 same man said to me, ' We have fieas here. I 
 do not know as you are acquainted with such 
 annoyances. They may trouble you. They 
 used to trouble me once, but I have got used to 
 them, and learned how to get along with them 
 better than I once did. I think of Daniel in 
 the lions den, and pray to the God of Daniel to 
 give me grace to endure their bite, and now get 
 along quite comfortably with them.' " 
 
 My good itinerant brother continued his story 
 by saying, " I soon had occasion to think of ' the 
 God of Daniel,' but endured the night as best 
 I could. I arose in the morning at day-dawn, 
 shook the fleas from my clothes as well as I 
 could in the open air, caught my horse, and 
 took my departure probably long before the 
 family were up, glad to get off with so near 
 a whole skin as I did, and left them to wonder 
 what had become of me."
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 47 
 
 Such were some of the annoyances of some 
 of our stopping-places under the old circuit sys- 
 tem ; but we had far more agreeables to praise 
 God for than disagreeables to sigh over, and 
 even these were often turned to a good account, 
 for we were the more thankful for the good en- 
 joyed, and sought for more grace to endure the 
 occasional unpleasant circumstances we en- 
 countered. 
 
 The old circuit system has gradually passed 
 away, having yielded to the modern demand for 
 stations. Methodism has left the backgrounds 
 to a great extent and moved into the centers of 
 population and influence. The pastoral charges, 
 even their outer limits, are now within a few 
 miles, as a general thing, of the pastor's home, 
 saving him the trouble and expense of keeping 
 a horse and carriage to reach the farthest mem- 
 bers of his congregations. He can. with better 
 economy, hire, as occasion may require, or walk 
 to the homes of most of his parishioners. 
 
 Thus the pleasant parsonage and happy home 
 of the preacher can be more constantly enjoyed. 
 The time and chances for pulpit preparation are 
 hereby greatly enhanced, and not .more than 
 half as many sermons have to be preached as 
 on the old circuit plan ; but, notwithstanding 
 this, pastoral labors, social meetings, and many
 
 48 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Church benevolent enterprises, and the thou- 
 sand and one various stirring events of the day, 
 in which he ought and must take part, will keep 
 his utmost powers upon their full stretch, in- 
 creasing the anxieties, cares, and labors of the 
 preacher of to-day even above those of forty 
 years ago. 
 
 There are some things in the change from 
 the old circuit plan and the adoption of the 
 modern stationing system which are to be de- 
 plored. One thing in particular deserves spe- 
 cially to be named. The feeble societies of the 
 more rural towns, for want of proper pastoral 
 care, are constantly growing weaker, and how 
 to provide for them is now an important prac- 
 tical question. 
 
 The friends of the cause in those places are 
 not able to support constant preaching. The 
 Missionary Society has not the funds to spare 
 for all such calls, and yet the people of these 
 places need the means of grace. 
 
 The question still presses itself upon thought- 
 ful minds, What shall be done for them ? Some 
 of our wisest and most practical men are of the 
 opinion that the only remedy for these weak 
 portions of our Zion is the re-adoption of the old 
 circuit plan -for them, while we retain for most 
 of our work the present stationing system.
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 49 
 
 " Wisdom is profitable to direct." May God 
 give the needed wisdom to his Church, that she 
 may devise the plan and execute the work which 
 will produce the greatest good to the greatest 
 number ! 
 
 We will next compare our preachers' 
 
 SALARIES THEN AND NOW. 
 
 The disciplinary claim for a single man forty 
 years ago was $100 and his traveling expenses. 
 For a married man, for self and wife, $200 and 
 traveling expenses, then understood to mean 
 for moving bills and horse-shoeing. For chil- 
 dren under fourteen years of age it was $16 
 each, and for minors over fourteen years, $24. 
 Seldom was this small claim received. 
 
 It is presumed that in New England not more 
 than one half of this amount on an average was 
 paid them. 
 
 My first appointment was under the presiding 
 elder for three months, to fill out the confer- 
 ence year, where the junior preacher's health 
 had failed. The preacher in charge was one of 
 the most popular preachers in the conference, 
 and the circuit a full average one for support. 
 
 The time of service, the last quarter in the 
 year, being ended, a disciplinary division of re- 
 ceipts gave me the sum of $13, which I most
 
 50 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 gladly accepted, it being the first money I ever 
 received for preaching. 
 
 In 1833, the next year, I joined the New 
 Hampshire Conference, and was appointed to 
 the circuit in the bounds of which I had spent 
 all my early days. This was regarded as an 
 average one for support. In this I received my 
 disciplinary proportion paid in, and it amounted 
 to $53 for one year's service. 
 
 The next year, on a laborious circuit, with a 
 sickly preacher in charge, which added much to 
 my labors, I also shared my proportion with him, 
 which amounted, all told, to $47. 
 
 I am confident that these receipts are equal, 
 with rare exceptions, to the average amounts of 
 other preachers, who were similarly stationed 
 in those days. A small support, it is true, not 
 adequate to meet our real needs ; but we had 
 souls for our hire, and, thus encouraged, were 
 content to wait for better days. We seldom 
 heard the subject of small salaries alluded 
 to by the preachers, or any complaint of hard 
 fare. 
 
 Now, 'after forty years, the Church, having 
 greatly increased in numbers and wealth, and 
 having been better instructed in the duty of 
 supporting the Gospel ministry, has a better 
 record.
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 5 1 
 
 The old disciplinary allowance of salaries, 
 which long since became obsolete, is expunged 
 from the Discipline. That station is now con- 
 sidered very poor or exceedingly penurious 
 which asks for and receives a preacher without 
 paying him a fair salary. 
 
 Take, as an illustration, the receipts of sala- 
 ries for 1872 in the New Hampshire Conference, 
 scarce an average conference for supporting 
 their pastors. The whole number of effective 
 ministers was ninety-one. Of these twenty- 
 seven received salaries ranging from $1,000 to 
 $2,000, and twenty-one salaries' ranging from 
 $700 to $1,000 ; while thirty-two acknowledged 
 receipts ranging from $500 to $700, leaving 
 only eight who received from $400 to $500, and 
 only one less than $400. Some of the last- 
 named sums were paid for only partial pastoral 
 services to feeble men, or those living out of the 
 bounds of their charges, who in part depended 
 on other means of support. 
 
 These figures may appear very small in the 
 estimation of some, but are a great advance on 
 receipts of earlier days. That preacher must be 
 a poor, economist who cannot live, extraordina- 
 ries excepted, on salaries now generally re- 
 ceived. If he needs better pay he should make 
 his wants known, and show by faithful labors
 
 52 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 that he deserves it, and doubtless it will be 
 forthcoming. 
 
 It may appear surprising to some of our 
 youthful readers that preachers were not better 
 supported in those earlier days ; but those who 
 are familiar with the financial circumstances 
 of our people in those times, and their denom- 
 inational and social surroundings, can see quite 
 clearly the cause. 
 
 While some of our members and supporters 
 were possessed of moderate wealth, and paid 
 liberally toward supporting the Gospel, there 
 were others who had never been properly edu- 
 cated to do for this cause "as God had pros- 
 pered them." 
 
 But most of our people were poor, and those 
 who contributed liberally according to their 
 means could do but little ; nevertheless it must 
 be confessed that there were some men of prop- 
 erty then, as now, who were so penurious that 
 they did little or nothing financially to aid the 
 cause of God. 
 
 The following will illustrate the liberal ideas 
 and generous impulses of some men who lived 
 then and a few others who live now. 
 
 Having nearly completed my term of service 
 on a certain station near forty years ago, I made 
 my final call, as pastor, on a family not mem-
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 53 
 
 bers of my Church, but of my congregation. 
 They were comparatively wealthy. I had passed 
 some rods from the house when the owner and 
 occupant of the premises, who was at work by 
 the roadside, called to me to know how I was 
 coming out on support, and said as he had paid 
 nothing he wanted to do something, and as he 
 must hasten his work along, asked me to go 
 back to tell his wife to hand me a ninepence to- 
 ward my salary. Not feeling like returning for 
 that purpose, I went on my way thinking, "What 
 ninefenny men some mortals are ! " 
 
 A GOOD PRACTICAL LESSON FROM DEAR-BOUGHT 
 EXPERIENCE. 
 
 I will give an early incident of being on a 
 journey minus money in my purse, a thing to 
 which I was sometimes subjected, with the 
 alternative of staying at home. 
 
 I had occasion to travel some thirty miles 
 away, and before returning had been obliged to 
 empty my pockets of money for the purchase 
 of some needed books. On my way back I 
 planned to stop over night, some fifteen or 
 twenty miles from my parish, with a Methodist 
 preacher, (all our preachers kept open doors for 
 each other in those days,) where I anticipated a 
 hearty welcome and a good visit. I reached
 
 54 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 the place about dark, tired and hungry ; but, to 
 my great discomfiture, the doors were closed 
 and the family away. The evenings were short, 
 and I, among strangers, without supper, money, 
 or lodgings, must do quickly something with 
 myself for the night. What that something 
 should be I at first could not tell ; but I soon 
 thought of a well-to-do, influential class-leader, 
 whom I had a few times met, and who was well 
 spoken of by those who knew him. I went to 
 his door and rang the bell, when the following 
 conversation occurred while I was outside and 
 he still in bed: 
 
 "Who is there?" 
 
 I gave my name. 
 
 " What do you want ? " 
 
 " I want to put up with you for the night." 
 
 " Haven't got any horse-keeping." 
 
 " I can go to the stable with my horse if you 
 can keep me" 
 
 To this he reluctantly, consented. 
 
 I went to the stable with my horse, returned 
 and rang the bell again. " Mine host " respond- 
 ed to the call by rising from bed and lighting 
 a lamp. He came to the door without dressing 
 himself, and escorted me quite unceremoniously 
 to my lodging-room, asking me no questions 
 about health or supper or any thing else.
 
 Circuits Then and Stations Now. 5 5 
 
 Every circumstance combined to make me 
 wakeful, thoughtful, and uneasy ; among these 
 were no welcome, no supper, (a small item in the 
 programme,) no money, and, withal, no sleep. 
 How shall I pay my horse-keeping bill ? was 
 the plague of my thoughts. Morning coming, 
 I in due time presented my jaded self to the 
 family. 
 
 The good class-leader had by this time 
 come to himself enough to offer as good an 
 apology as he could for his treatment of the 
 previous evening, namely, " He had gone to 
 bed, and was tired and sleepy" I accepted 
 his apology very cheerfully, and was kindly 
 treated. 
 
 It was rather a strait place for me to tell 
 him I was out of money, and should be 
 obliged to ask him to lend me some to pay 
 for horse-keeping. But I did it, arid he readily 
 complied. 
 
 I thanked them for their hospitality, bade 
 them good-bye, paid -my bill at the stable, and 
 went on my way rejoicing that I fared so much 
 better than my Master, " who had not where to 
 lay his head." 
 
 In a few weeks I saw " mine host " again, and 
 offered him the amount I borrowed, but he de- 
 cidedly declined it. I. learned a good practical
 
 56 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 lesson from this somewhat "dear-bought" ex- 
 perience, namely, Either to stay at home, or never 
 to start on another journey without money enough 
 in my pocket to pay for "supper" and "horse- 
 keeping"
 
 Quarterly Meetings. 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Quarterly Meetings Then and Now. 
 
 S our circuits in those days embraced 
 several towns, and had the services of 
 two or more preachers, our presiding 
 elders' districts, though large in territory, in- 
 cluded within their bounds only about one 
 quarterly meeting for each Sabbath of the 
 quarter. Extraordinaries excepted, the presid- 
 ing elder therefore attended four quarterly 
 meetings for each pastoral charge during the 
 conference year. These meetings were gen- 
 erally seasons of special interest. The breth- 
 ren and sisters of the Church came in from dif- 
 ferent parts of the circuit on Saturday P.M., 
 the distant ones to tarry through the meeting. 
 After the presiding elder had preached a good 
 practical sermon the preacher in charge pro- 
 ceeded to invite those desiring entertainment, 
 and those who would open their doors to enter- 
 tain, to tarry to make the necessary distribution. 
 Usually a goodly number of both kinds readily 
 reported themselves.
 
 5 8 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 This service ended, then came the quarterly 
 conference, with all its important business mat- 
 ters, to take the time and attention of the official 
 members for some time longer, the records of 
 which were then, as now, taken down by a secre- 
 tary appointed at the time for the purpose, who 
 afterward delivered them over to the recording 
 stewards for record ; but their books, in too 
 many instances, give but a poor showing of the 
 doings of said conferences, a failure greatly to 
 be regretted by all interested in the important 
 Methodistic history of those earlier times. 
 
 The Saturday evening prayer-meetings were 
 usually held in different neighborhoods, and, with 
 the additional help from abroad, were seasons 
 of great interest. The Sabbath morning love- 
 feast, especially, was a time of great " refresh- 
 ing from the presence of the Lord." 
 
 Special attention was paid to the time of 
 opening and closing the doors according to 
 previous notice, and a preacher during the time 
 was stationed at the door to guard it from in- 
 truders. " Strangers," that is, those not mem- 
 bers, were not permitted to attend more than 
 " twice or thrice, unless they became members." 
 Also, those who adorned their person with gold 
 or other gay ornaments were prohibited, by the 
 rules of the Church, from entering.
 
 Quarterly Meetings. 59 
 
 Love-feast ending, one of the circuit-preach- 
 ers conducted the public exercises and preached 
 the morning sermon. The afternoon sermon, 
 extraordinaries excepted, was preached by the 
 presiding elder. Then followed the sacrament 
 of the Lord's Supper, a season of special profit, 
 as the members from different parts of the 
 charge once more communed together at the 
 table of their common Lord and Master. This 
 was followed by an appropriate exhortation to 
 faithfulness by the presiding elder, and some- 
 times by a season of prayer for souls seeking 
 salvation, who had come by invitation to the 
 altar, and not unfrequently by the testimonies 
 of victory in the name of the Lord from those 
 who thus came. Such was an "old-fashioned 
 quarterly meeting" of forty or more years ago. 
 
 Reference has been made to the custom of 
 guarding the love-feast door. This old dis- 
 ciplinary rule, in some places, had then lost 
 some of its practical significance, but was not 
 wholly obsolete in many other parts of our 
 Church. 
 
 To that very important post of ministerial 
 duty I was sometimes put in trust. On one 
 occasion, I particularly remember, I criticised 
 sharply a stranger several years my senior who 
 had presented himself for admission, whom I at
 
 60 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 length found to be a Methodist preacher. His 
 apology for so long keeping dark, he said, "was 
 to test the fidelity of the young preacher in 
 charge of the door." In pleasant terms he has 
 often since referred me to this our first inter- 
 view. 
 
 What changes in regard to these meetings in 
 the space of the past forty years ! Our work 
 now being cut up into stations, and our New 
 England districts embracing three or four times 
 the number of the Sabbaths in a quarter, our 
 presiding elders are obliged to divide the work 
 of their Sabbaths between two or more access- 
 ible appointments, and at this rapid rate be 
 present on the Sabbath only some twice in the 
 year. The Saturday afternoon sermon is now 
 seldom preached. The Saturday evening 
 prayer-meeting is only the us.ua! one. The 
 " love-feast," if held at all, is not enlivened by 
 testimonies or persons from abroad, though 
 often a season of good religious interest, but 
 far from the " old-style " in its testimony and 
 power. 
 
 For these changes, as our work is now ar- 
 ranged into stations and districts, there is no 
 apparent remedy. We must take matters as 
 they are, and as present circumstances seem to 
 necessitate.
 
 Quarterly Meetings. 61 
 
 We are not sure but these changes from 
 "old-fashioned quarterly meetings," in which 
 we reluctantly lose some valuable usages, are 
 more than compensated by the gain we make 
 in more constant means of grace, more con- 
 stant watch-care of pastors, and by the average 
 value of our more efficient and frequent social 
 meetings. 
 
 The custom of guarding the love-feast door, 
 if ever a necessity, is now among the things 
 the need of which has passed away. 
 
 We are seldom now imposed upon by ill- 
 disposed persons in attendance. Few except 
 our own people now attend our "love-feasts," 
 and when they do it is with good intent. These 
 meetings, with less guarded doors and less at- 
 tendance from abroad, continue to be rich 
 " feasts of love " to all such as truly " hunger 
 and thirst after righteousness." 
 
 Though customs change in respect to our 
 quarterly meetings and " love-feasts," may all 
 the real essentials of our Church customs and 
 power never become obsolete or lose their pow- 
 erful charms !
 
 62 M-ethodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Methodistic Customs and Characteristics. 
 
 STYLE OF DRESS THEN AND NOW. 
 
 tHE style of dress with the male lay-mem- 
 bership of our Church was not essentially 
 different from that of other men similarly 
 situated in social life. But there was a marked 
 difference in the style of our ministers' apparel. 
 With rare exceptions, they dressed their necks 
 with the white handkerchief, minus the collar, 
 then the only and almost sure badge of a Meth- 
 odist minister. The custom went so far that 
 when a young man obtained license to exhort, 
 the next thing expected was to see him in this 
 style of neck-dress. 
 
 The departure from this old custom by any 
 of our preachers, old or young, was regarded as 
 an unfortunate departure from the " ancient 
 landmarks." Even a young minister would feel 
 not a little afflicted to learn that any brother 
 minister had exchanged this peculiar badge for 
 the more common style of neck-dress. But 
 innovations on old customs, when once com-
 
 Customs and Characteristics, 63 
 
 menced, often have a wide and rapid spread. 
 It was so with this. 
 
 I have now in my mind the expressions of 
 sadness uttered to me some thirty-five years 
 ago, when I first made this change. A preacher 
 of my age seriously lectured me for my worldly 
 conformity and departure from old Methodistic 
 usage. But the grief of my good brother was 
 soon assuaged. In less than twelve months he 
 followed what he so recently had so seriously 
 felt to be a bad example. Thus one after an- 
 other departed from this old custom, until there 
 can now scarcely be one found, from senior 
 bishop to exhorter, in all our borders, who 
 clings to this once popular usage, and the 
 change does not seem to produce any disas- 
 trous results. 
 
 There were once other characteristics in 
 the dress of our ministers, such as the wide- 
 brimmed hat and round-breasted coat and 
 vest, but they were gradually going out of use 
 forty years ago. Though worn by some, they 
 were not strenuously insisted upon as a rule 
 for others. Now they are seldom worn 
 never by any except a few aged ministers who 
 still linger among us as reporters of the long 
 gone-by. 
 
 The sisters of the Church gave good heed
 
 64 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 to our old Methodistic rules on dress. Setting 
 out in the divine life as Bible Christians, they 
 could not overlook the divine prohibition of all 
 gaudiness and extravagance, and adopted a 
 plain, economical habit, traces of which are still 
 seen in our ranks. They gave good heed to the 
 apostolic rule, " Whose adorning let it not be 
 that outward adorning of .plaiting the hair, and 
 of wearing of gold, or of putting on of [super- 
 fluous] apparel ; but the hidden man of the 
 heart, even the ornament of a meek and quiet 
 spirit, which is in the sight of God of great 
 price." 
 
 There has since come a change. The plain, 
 old-fashioned Methodistic bonnet has seldom 
 been seen for years. The modest style of their 
 other apparel has been exchanged for the more 
 common fashions of the world, or, perhaps more 
 properly, like other Christian women of the 
 present day. This change may be, perhaps, 
 accounted for as follows. Some years since 
 plainness in female attire became the prevail- 
 ing fashion of all the ladies of the country. 
 Plain Methodistic bonnets and dresses were 
 then in the height of fashion, and continued so 
 for some time. The female members of our 
 Church were then, in their style of dress, like 
 the world without conforming to it ; the world
 
 Customs and Characteristics. 65 
 
 conformed to them. At length, when the fash- 
 ion changed again from plain to more orna- 
 mental, our sisters very naturally, but almost 
 unconsciously, changed with it Though less 
 Methodistic according to old ideas, yet we trust 
 there are some still among us who deplore the 
 prevailing extravagant fashions of our times, 
 and intend to conform to apostolic and Method- 
 istic rules " in modest apparel." 
 
 Our members, male and female, should be 
 plain and modest in their apparel, in defiance 
 against the world, and as examples worthy of 
 imitation not odd enough to attract particular 
 attention, or so coarse or untasteful as to merit 
 disgust. " Cleanliness, simplicity, economy, and 
 modesty," says a certain writer, " are Christian 
 virtues, without which our piety will appear de- 
 formed, and lose much of its influence both on 
 ourselves and others." 
 
 PUBLIC LAY TESTIMONY FOR CHRIST 
 
 Was a custom commonly practiced by our 
 brethren and sisters in public on the Sabbath 
 and other occasions in those early da)is. One or 
 more frequently several would arise in their 
 places and testify to the truth just preached, 
 relate experience, or engage in earnest exhor- 
 tation, often to the edification of the Church 
 5
 
 66 Methodism, Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 and profit of others. But, unfortunately, some 
 instances would occur when the style and spirit 
 of their testimony would prove worse than a 
 failure in their influence on the hearers. It 
 diverted attention from the word preached by 
 wearisome length or indiscreet utterances. 
 
 In my early ministry I was invariably in the 
 habit of giving " liberty " .for brethren and sis- 
 ters to speak after sermon, and often heard 
 powerful testimonies for Christ in our Sabbath 
 assemblies. I sometimes heard testimonies 
 which were apparently worse than profitless. 
 Such testimonies were the exceptions, not the 
 more common ones. We praise the great Head 
 of the Church for the good resulting from this 
 old custom in many instances. 
 
 This practice has now become obsolete. If 
 ever there was a demand for it, that demand 
 has passed away. Our stated Sabbath evening 
 prayer-meetings are within the reach of nearly 
 all who attend worship during the day, where 
 their testimony for Christ is urged and expect- 
 ed, and can be generally given without inter- 
 rupting or delaying the appropriate services. 
 We, who have been familiar with this old cus- 
 tom of earlier times, part with it without re- 
 morse of conscience or tears of sorrow for its 
 termination, praying that the genuine " old-
 
 Customs and Characteristics. 67 
 
 fashioned" testimony for Christ, in the social 
 worship of God, may become more and more 
 the custom of all Methodists, as well as of all 
 of every name, till the coming of the Lord to 
 gather his people home. 
 
 Another custom of forty years ago was that of 
 
 KNEELING IN TIME OF PUBLIC AND SOCIAL 
 PRAYER. 
 
 This custom has high authority, derived from 
 the precepts and examples of the word of God. 
 It received the hearty sanction of the Church 
 of England, and of the early Methodist fathers. 
 They heeded the injunction of Holy Writ, 
 " Come, let us bow down and worship, let us 
 kneel before the Lord our Maker." For "at the 
 name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every 
 tongue confess." 
 
 The Methodists forty years ago kept up this 
 practice, and continued it till some years later 
 in New England. And we are happy to add, 
 we have seen it practiced, in recent years, in 
 the South and West, and even in the western 
 part of New England. But we are sorry to 
 record the fact, that 'in very many places the 
 practice has been of late abandoned in public 
 worship except by the minister, and is too little 
 heeded except by a few in social worship. We
 
 68 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 should love the " old landmarks which the 
 fathers have set," especially when they have 
 been set with unerring accuracy by the hand 
 of Divine Wisdom. 
 
 AUDIBLE RESPONSES THEN AND NOW. 
 
 Appropriate responses in public prayer, and 
 other religious exercises, have been common in 
 all ages, both among Jews and Christians. The 
 Church of England, and the Protestant Episco- 
 pal Church in America, in their prayer-books 
 and by example, give the practice their em- 
 phatic approval. Our Methodistic fathers were, 
 therefore, by inheritance, entitled to the custom, 
 and faithfully continued to give their audible 
 responses. 
 
 Forty years ago such utterances as " Amen," 
 " Glory to God," " Halleluia," were. not unfre- 
 quent in our social and public worship. There 
 were then, as now, different temperaments and 
 tastes. Some from full hearts " shouted aloud 
 the praises of the Lord," and felt the better for 
 the privilege enjoyed ; while others, of cooler 
 temperament, chose only to employ their hearty 
 " Amens " in approval of the truths which were 
 being uttered. Still others, though not shout- 
 ers themselves, were never annoyed at hearing
 
 Customs and Characteristics. 69 
 
 good Christian people " shout aloud the praises 
 of the Lord." A fourth class, of very sensi- 
 tive nerves and delicate ears, were unedified, 
 and apparently unprofited, hearers of such re- 
 sponses, but generally, for the sake of the cause 
 they loved, were not " troublers of our Israel " 
 on this account. 
 
 The appellation of " noisy, shouting Method- 
 ist -" was then not an uncommon one. Our 
 young people now are less accustomed to shout- 
 ing themselves, or of hearing it from others ; 
 and our older members, once so accustomed to 
 it, now, for the sake of others, restrain their 
 emotions. Nevertheless, even now are often 
 heard these old-fashioned responses in social 
 and public worship in some parts of our Zion. 
 
 The authority for such responsive utterances 
 is from the highest source. When David 
 closed his psalm at the removal of the ark, 
 "All the people said Amen, and praised the 
 Lord." St. Paul, in urging the importance of 
 speaking understandingly in public, inquires, 
 " How shall he that occupieth the room of the 
 unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks ? 
 seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest." 
 
 At the dedication of the Temple, when God 
 appeared in his cloud of glory, the people 
 " bowed themselves to the ground, and praised
 
 70 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 the Lord, saying, For he is good ; for his mercy 
 endureth forever." When Jesus rode in tri- 
 umph into Jerusalem, his disciples, unrebuked, 
 shouted " Hosanna : blessed is he that cometh 
 in the name of the .Lord. Hosanna in the 
 highest ! " At the laying of the foundation of 
 the Temple " the people shouted with a great 
 shout, and praised the L6rd." 
 
 A practice of such high authority our people 
 should not then be either ashamed nor afraid 
 to indorse practically. 
 
 May all the essentials of worshiping " God in 
 spirit and in truth " never cease among us, but 
 increase more and more till that glorious day 
 when the " great multitude, which no man can 
 number," shall be gathered "from the east and 
 the west, from the north and the south, and 
 shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
 in the kingdom of heaven," and all in blessed 
 harmony shout aloud their praises to God and 
 the " Lamb, who has redeemed them and washed 
 them in his own blood ! " 
 
 LOSING STRENGTH J OR, THE FALLING UNDER 
 THE POWER OF GOD, SO-CALLED, THEN AND 
 NOW. 
 
 The manifestation bearing this appellation 
 was not uncommon forty years ago. Often have
 
 Customs and Characteristics. yi 
 
 I seen persons under a high state of religious 
 emotion fall powerless, physically, and remain 
 so sometimes for hours^with countenances ra- 
 diant with delight, and their spirits in apparent 
 communion with heaven. When gradually re- 
 gaining strength they would first, with low and 
 soft voice, and then, as strength increased, ut- 
 ter forth louder praises to God and the Lamb 
 who had given them the victory. These mani- 
 festations were occasionally witnessed in class 
 and prayer meetings, and in time of public wor- 
 ship. They were always expected at our camp- 
 meetings. I have witnessed them, within forty 
 years, at the family altar of my members, in the 
 house of God on the Sabbath, as well as in the 
 tented grove. I have seen the skeptic look 
 upon the scene in utter amazement, and heard 
 him ask, " What does this all mean ? " Some- 
 times I have known experiments tried to test 
 whether they were a reality or a pretense ; and 
 many have been constrained to say, " This is 
 the Lord's doings, and it is marvelous in our 
 eyes." 
 
 Such manifestations were very common in the 
 days of Wesley and Edwards, as also were other 
 peculiar physical exercises. They were not con- 
 fined to any denomination, but were doubtless 
 more frequent among the early Methodists.
 
 72 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 These manifestations, as years passed on, be- 
 came less frequent, and have gradually dimin- 
 ished, until now they seldom occur. Were 
 these peculiar manifestations really from God 
 or not ? We do not well to doubt their origin. 
 They usually came upon the persons when their 
 minds were drawn toward the divine Spirit with 
 undivided attention, and on their utmost stretch 
 for heavenly things. 
 
 Similar instances are recorded in the Word 
 of Life. Such, I judge, was the physical and 
 spiritual condition of Peter, James, and John 
 on the Mount of Transfiguration ; of Paul when 
 " caught up to the third heavens, and heard 
 things unlawful for man to utter," but " whether 
 in the body or out of the body he could not 
 tell ; " and of the Revelator, John, when on the 
 Isle of Patmos he " fell as a dead man at the 
 feet" of the glorious manifestation of Him " who 
 was the brightness of the Father's glory." 
 
 But why are these physical manifestations so 
 seldom now, when once so frequent ? The an- 
 swer to this question, in the opinion of candid 
 minds, is not very easily given. Will it do to 
 say that the faith and piety of the Church have 
 so far abated that God has withdrawn his 
 special presence and favor to the extent that he 
 will riot equally commune with us now as then ?
 
 Customs and Characteristics. 73 
 
 This we shall be slow to believe. Unless we 
 grossly misjudge, there is as much consistent, 
 fervent piety in the Methodist Church to-day 
 as there was forty years ago. More than this, 
 the manifestations to which we refer were not 
 wholly confined to the highest type of piety. 
 Many became thus prostrated in strength whose 
 steadfast devotion to the cause of God was not 
 remarkable. 
 
 Will it do to regard all these manifestations 
 as the result of nervous excitement or physical 
 ailments ? Certainly not. Not only have phys- 
 ically infirm and nervous persons been thus 
 overcome, but men of great physical endurance, 
 and evenly balanced in body and mind, have 
 been under this power. Why, then, have these 
 manifestations so far passed away ? Has God 
 changed in his mode of manifestations to us ? 
 or have we learned, whether right or wrong, to 
 resist these influences ? 
 
 Of one thing we are sure. In those early 
 days of precious revivals worship was far more 
 exciting, affecting the nervous system more than 
 the same degree of piety now under calmer and 
 more enlightened worship. Whether this is the 
 real cause the reader must judge for himself. 
 We know that God can and does commune with 
 his people, and gloriously carry on his work
 
 74 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 without these peculiar manifestations ; and if he 
 shall continue to withhold them, or again bring 
 them to pass, we will cheerfully say, " He doeth 
 all things well." All glory to his holy name ! 
 May the real strength of his Church increase 
 more and more until the divine glory shall fill 
 the earth !
 
 Visiting from House to House. 75 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Ministerial "Visiting from House to House " 
 
 tHIS duty is most distinctly required of our 
 ministers in the word of God, and by the 
 Discipline of our Church. From the in- 
 troduction of Methodism it has ever been in- 
 sisted upon, and to a great extent practiced by 
 her ministry. This was a prominent feature in 
 the practical workings of our Church forty years 
 ago. It has been elsewhere said that ordinarily 
 our ministers made at least one thousand family 
 visits during each conference year. To accom- 
 plish this even the preacher needed to average 
 some thirty per week, and more generally per- 
 form them in the P.M., omitting, as a rule, the 
 holy Sabbaths and Mondays, not generally ap- 
 propriate days for ministers or the families of 
 parishioners for such visits. The programme 
 marked out and generally approved for these 
 visits was religious conversation and prayer 
 with the families, varied according to their spir- 
 itual condition.
 
 76 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Some made it a rule to talk with each one 
 accessible separately and faithfully, and warn, 
 invite, reprove, encourage, or comfort, as he 
 thought the occasion required, and then pray 
 for them, whether invited or not, if allowed to 
 do so. 
 
 Our wise and much esteemed presiding elder 
 of early times, Rev. J. G. Dow, took occasion at 
 one of our " ministerial associations " to give us 
 young ministers a good talk on the mode of 
 pastoral visiting most proper to be pursued. 
 While he urged faithfulness in the duty, he 
 would have us carefully consider whether the 
 families visited were in proper condition to turn 
 aside from the routine of daily labors and have 
 prayers. He said that " there might be circum- 
 stances when it would be exceedingly inappro- 
 priate even to suggest it, as a family would feel 
 very backward to refuse, and really be harmed 
 to allow it." He gave the following illustration : 
 " A certain Methodist pastor called at the house 
 of one of his parishioners, where the woman 
 was a member of the Church, but her husband 
 not inclined to religion. The good woman was 
 preparing the oven to bake for dinner ; the man 
 of the house was out in the field with hired help, 
 expecting to return for dinner at the appointed 
 hour. Just as the oven was ready for use the
 
 Visiting from House to House. 77 
 
 good but unobserving minister proposed prayer. 
 The good woman was too modest or too bashful 
 to decline it. When through, the oven was too 
 cool for baking the needed dinner. When the 
 hungry men came from the field they found a 
 deeply mortified and tortured woman and a raw 
 dinner. The husband was very angry, and the 
 others not very agreeable. That minister might 
 with much propriety have omitted prayer that 
 time, and he should have known it." 
 
 Others were more observing, and sought to 
 adapt their visits more to the circumstances of 
 the families they visited ; while still others, as 
 now, doubtless there were who were too willing 
 to find some excuse for their neglect, and either 
 did not visit many of their parishioners at all, 
 or failed to make them appropriately religious. 
 
 Some of our pastors, then as now, were careful 
 to visit the people of their own Church and 
 congregation once per quarter, and, extraordi- 
 naries excepted, those only; while other Methodist 
 pastors, especially where th'ere were not. other 
 pastors, felt it to be their duty to visit "from 
 house to house" the good, bad, and indifferent, 
 passing by none as far as they went. 
 
 I confess myself to have been early impressed 
 with this idea by the example of those I had 
 early known, and from my own convictions of
 
 78 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 duty for the well-being of precious souls who 
 could not be reached so well in any other way. 
 I began my ministry with this view of it. I 
 often in my visits found those who were suffer- 
 ing by bereavements or other domestic afflic- 
 tions, and needed to be comforted ; those in 
 doubts and fears, who needed encouragement ; 
 those who were cold in .religion, and needed 
 reviving ; those awakened, who needed to be led 
 to Christ for salvation ; and the wayward ones, 
 who needed to be reproved and led in the right 
 way. In most such families these calls were 
 duly appreciated, and I trust somewhat profita- 
 ble ; and when there was no special embarrass- 
 ment by any peculiar circumstances as above 
 named, our good people, generally with open 
 doors and open arms, received us into their 
 houses, where we were cheerfully entertained 
 and refreshed. 
 
 These cheering facts prepare me, and I trust 
 the reader also, for some records of a very op- 
 posite character -treatment far more easy to for- 
 give than to forget. I hope the young pastor will 
 be spared the embarrassments of meeting simi- 
 lar receptions, though grace is free and equal 
 to any emergency, and the promise of the Mas- 
 ter is, " Lo, I am with you alway." 
 
 My first rebuff in the line of visiting as a
 
 Visiting from House to House. 79 
 
 minister was in my native town, not many miles 
 from my early home, where I had two winters 
 before taught the district school, and a part 
 of the winter boarded in a family of high re- 
 spectability, though the husband and father, a 
 rigid Calvinist, was not always amiable, for 
 reasons easily explained by his family, but still a 
 professor of religion. All its members had till 
 a year or two before been members of a Church 
 of the Calvinistic faith. Two maiden daughters, 
 perhaps between thirty and forty years old, of 
 uncommon intelligence, culture, and Christian 
 character, had seen proper to connect them- 
 selves with the Methodists, no doubt to the 
 great grief of their bigoted father. 
 
 In my early ministry I called again as an 
 acquaintance and friend, and by invitation 
 stopped to dinner. My horse was put into the 
 stable, and I made my visit with the family. 
 After dinner 1 walked out into the front yard, 
 followed by the old man of the house, who be- 
 gan to question me about my preaching. " You 
 have begun to preach, then, have you ? " said he, 
 to which I gave a suitable reply. He imme- 
 diately added, " If you will preach such jloc- 
 trine as John Calvin did I shall approve of 
 your course ! " I replied, " Shall you not if I 
 preach such doctrine as John Wesley did ? " 
 
 \
 
 So Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 He quickly responded, with great warmth and 
 strong emphasis, " No ! He was a heretic, and 
 so are all his followers ! " and added, " They 
 will come where they are not wanted ; they 
 will put their horses in the barn, to eat up the 
 hay that don't belong to them ; they will come 
 into people's houses and ' lead away silly women,' 
 and come and sit at their tables, and eat up 
 their victuals." To all of which I quickly replied, 
 
 " Mr. C , if I am an intruder upon your 
 
 rights I will leave you ! " He then answered, 
 " I respect you as a young man ; I value you 
 as our former school-teacher ; I know and respect 
 your father ; but as a Methodist preacher I can- 
 not approve of ydu. You will find the true 
 doctrine to preach in the ninth chapter of Ro- 
 mans ! " It is needless for me to add that the 
 old man and his young intruder were soon at a 
 respectful distance from each other, and that 
 the like intrusion has never been repeated. 
 
 Another embarrassing spot I found myself in 
 a few months later was on my first circuit, when 
 I called at the residence of a Universalist fam- 
 ily where I sought to be faithful in my visit, as I 
 therkg^an inexperienced youth in these matters) 
 imd^rltpod duty. I found the woman, who was 
 soi^^^ixty years old, in her kitchen shelling 
 p*eas for dinner. I, as easify as I knew how,
 
 Visiting from House to House. 81 
 
 asked her whether she enjoyed religion. She 
 answered me snappishly, " Yes, I do ! But I 
 didn't .go to ministers for it, either ! " and in- 
 stantly left me alone in the room. But imme- 
 diately the man of the house came in, and, in a 
 more talkative mood, began conversation, to the 
 great annoyance of his disturbed wife and a 
 proud-spirited son, as evidenced by his coming 
 to the door again and again, saying, " Come, 
 father, didn't you know you ought to be going ? " 
 (it appeared that his horse was at the door for 
 him to ride away somewhere,) and father would 
 answer, " Well, well, son, I will be in time." 
 Again the door would open, and I would hear 
 in harsh tones the son's voice, " Come, father, 
 why dont you start ? " and again the good-na- 
 tured father would put him off. But the trouble- 
 some young Methodist preacher soon relieved 
 the old lady, who had " got her religion without 
 going to ministers after it," and the rest of the 
 equally pious family, by taking his departure, 
 which, doubtless, should have been done by him 
 sooner than it was. 
 
 In another place I had the whole section 
 
 * . ^ 
 
 within a few miles of the church for 
 where, at that time, there was no othei 
 and I resolved On. visiting every family 
 
 its limits. 
 
 6
 
 82 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 There was one particular family whose im- 
 moral qualities were such as to give me and 
 my people no little solicitude regarding the 
 treatment I should receive, as no preacher had 
 ever called there. The whole family were per- 
 fectly skeptical on religious matters, refusing 
 the services of ministers, or any other Chris- 
 tian, for prayers when any member of the family 
 was buried. They were a profane, Sabbath- 
 breaking, rum -drinking family, of the toughest 
 kind. They received me better than I expected ; 
 but their best manners were rough enough to 
 make me feel ill at ease. After hearing their 
 rough talk for awhile I said to them, " I have 
 come here to recommend religion and pray with 
 you, if you are willing." I received this answer 
 in substance, " Religion," said the old man ; " I 
 like religion. My religion is to be clever and 
 treat every body well ; " and then added, " I was 
 asked a little while ago if I would treat the min- 
 ister well if he called upon me, and I said, Why, 
 yes ! I will give him all he wants to eat and to 
 drink if he calls." " Well, then," said I, " be 
 clever enough to let me talk and pray with you." 
 He replied, " You may pray as much as you 
 are a-mind to, but it will never make the corn 
 grow / " I then gave an exportation on the 
 subject nearest my heart, which I thought ap-
 
 Visiting from House to House. 83 
 
 propriate for the time and place, without inter- 
 ruption, and then prayed. The men sat with 
 hats on their heads, and looked and listened 
 with apparent amazement. When I left I 
 thanked them for the privilege granted me. 
 The old man answered, " You are welcome to 
 all you have got by it, which isn't any thing. 
 If you will go to planting corn I will give you 
 some seed-corn" (the seed-corn was hanging in 
 the entry I was passing through.) I declined 
 the seed-corn, but told him I had gotjusf what I 
 came for, namely, a talk with and prayer for 
 them, and then bade him and the family good- 
 bye. If no other result followed this dreaded 
 visit there was this : the old man would roundly 
 swear that " there was one minister who wasn't 
 ashamed nor afraid to come and see them ! " 
 Many other hard spots in family visiting I 
 might name. 
 
 I will give but one more. In a certain town 
 in the south part of the conference I was mak- 
 ing my first round of pastoral visits with one of 
 the class-leaders to pilot me and introduce me to 
 his members. We came to the house where one 
 of his class-members lived with her daughter, 
 whose husband was very irreligious, and when 
 in liquor very troublesome. It was in haying 
 time, and his work was in hearing distance of
 
 84 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 the strange voices in the house. By invitation 
 of the mother I prayed. He came in, greatly 
 enraged, while we were at prayer, making a 
 great noise with his feet and with the chairs. 
 When prayer was ended, he roughly demanded, 
 " What does all this mean ? " All were silent 
 for a time. Then I answered, " I am the pas- 
 tor of the Church of which your mother-in-law 
 is a member. I have come here for a pastoral 
 call, and she invited me to pray, and I complied." 
 He angrily answered, " No one has a right to 
 command this house except myself ! " I re- 
 sponded, " If I am an intruder I will leave." 
 He showed me the door, and, with raised voice 
 and fist, yelled out, " Clear out ! Clear out ! 
 CLEAR OUT ! " I left, calmly seeking the mercy 
 of the Lord on his soul, and asking for grace 
 to suffer for Christ's sake. 
 
 In my pastoral visits for many years past I 
 have met with no such families, though I have 
 sought to do a good amount of visiting, and I 
 do not learn of similar annoyances (with ex- 
 tremely rare exceptions) in recent times. Our 
 parishes being more compact, and our members 
 and congregations nearer by, and denomina- 
 tional lines in .the several charges being more 
 distinctly known, our preachers generally visit 
 their own people more exclusively, while the
 
 Visiting from House to House. 85 
 
 pastors of other Churches attend to their own 
 without molestation. 
 
 The more faithful, impartial, and extensive 
 the modern pastor in this department of labor 
 now is, the more success he has with the peo- 
 ple. He may do great good by going out 
 among the neglected, the wandering, the vulgar 
 and profane, and the neglecters of all churches, 
 and invite them to church and to salvation. 
 
 The old and present disciplinary rule is, " Go 
 into every house in course, and teach every one 
 therein, young and old, to be Christians in- 
 wardly and outwardly ; make every particular 
 plain to their understandings ; fix it in their 
 minds ; write it on their hearts. In order to 
 this, there must be line upon line, precept upon 
 precept. What patience, what love, what knowl- 
 edge is requisite for this ! " * He cannot be 
 an unfaithful pastor who will seek to live up to 
 all such requirements.
 
 86 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Camp-Meetings Then and Now. 
 
 tHESE meetings are of American, but not 
 purely of Methodistic, origin. The first 
 held in this country originated with and 
 were sustained by the Presbyterians of the 
 West, in connection with other denominations. 
 The Methodists, however, soon became, more 
 especially than others, their advocates and sup- 
 porters. 
 
 Forty years ago they were common in all 
 parts of the country where Methodism had suf- 
 ficient numbers and influence to sustain them 
 and appropriate places could be found for them. 
 The preparation of the ground was a work de- 
 manding earnest and persevering effort on the 
 part of both preachers and people living in the 
 immediate vicinity where they were held. 
 
 It took days of hard work to cut up the 
 brush, trim up the trees, level the ground, pre- 
 pare the seats, and build the preachers' stand. 
 Too often this work had to be performed by
 
 Camp-Meetings Then and Now. 87 
 
 a few the " burden-bearers " of the Church 
 and sometimes too much of it on the first day 
 of the meeting. 
 
 Tents' companies, having at home prepared 
 themselves as far as possible with cloth tents 
 and cooked provisions, and secured means of 
 conveyance in lumber-wagons, or more com- 
 fortable carriages, as convenience or necessity 
 dictated, they started, the more distant ones 
 on Monday morning, not much past "noon of 
 ni^ht," for their annual " Feast of Tabernacles " 
 in "the leafy grove." 
 
 The journey being performed, the happy but 
 weary company immediately were .. busily at 
 work leveling their tent-ground, cutting tent- 
 poles, and putting up their tent, which, if ac- 
 complished in time, was followed by a good 
 earnest prayer-meeting, and then " weary na- 
 ture sought repose," which, however, under 
 the new circumstances, was sometimes sought 
 in vain. The next day the devotional exercises 
 began in good earnest. Tents' companies, per- 
 haps in all not more than twenty, had powerful 
 prayer-meetings in their respective tents sev- 
 eral times each day. Three or four sermons of 
 special appropriateness and power were daily 
 preached from the stand, and generally one 
 public prayer-meeting also daily held. ; ,
 
 88 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Sinners were powerfully awakened, earnest 
 seekers brought into the light and liberty of 
 the Gospel, Christians quickened and specially 
 blessed of the Lord, and shouts of victory were 
 heard afar off. Thus the meeting went on, from 
 day to day. The Friday evening prayer-meet- 
 ings, by the consent of the presiding elder, 
 were often held in the tents to a later hour 
 than usually allowed. These were sometimes 
 seasons of marvelous power. It was common 
 at camp-meetings for some to be prostrated 
 on the ground, overcome by what was called 
 the " power of God." Skeptical " despisers be- 
 held and wondered," while saints shouted aloud 
 for joy. 
 
 The closing exercises, on Saturday morning, 
 consisted of a brief address from the presiding 
 elder, or some one of the older preachers. 
 Then a procession was formed, which marched 
 around the ground, singing lustily good old 
 Methodistic hymns to the familiar tunes of the 
 day. Then came the shaking-hand exercise 
 with each and all in the procession. This part- 
 ing scene was often very affecting. The word 
 of hearty good cheer, the solemn " good-bye " 
 with the prospect of meeting again in heaven 
 if never again on earth, the tears of grief or 
 joy, the shouts of praise, all rendered the
 
 Camp-Meetings Then and Now. 89 
 
 scene deeply interesting, sometimes indescrib- 
 ably glorious. This done, then our tents were 
 taken down, our goods loaded, and we were 
 soon in our vehicles homeward bound, with 
 " our hearts burning within us as Jesus talked 
 with us by the way," and opened to us " new 
 beauties in the King's highway of holiness." 
 
 What a change, in many important respects, 
 in our camp-meeting arrangements and gather- 
 ings during the forty years past ! Our camp- 
 grounds are now owned, with few exceptions, 
 by " camp-meeting associations," or leased for 
 a series of years. They are well prepared, and 
 furnished with a well-built preachers' stand and 
 permanent seats, with pure water within easy 
 reach, with boarding-houses for the multitude, 
 and prices of fare reasonable. There are many 
 permanent society tents, numerous family dwell- 
 ings tolerably furnished, where some, yea many, 
 are found in these pleasant homes for weeks 
 in summer, before the regular camp-meeting 
 begins, preferring such places to popular water- 
 ing places or mountain rambles. 
 
 The mode of travel for the far off and nearer 
 by, how changed ! Instead of the slow team 
 and lumber-wagon, we step into the rail-cars, 
 and speed our way rapidly and easily to the 
 ground. The needed preparations are quickly
 
 go Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 accomplished. Conveniences for self-boarding 
 are such as to make the task comparatively 
 light. The tents, society and family, are count- 
 ed by hundreds, and the people in attendance 
 by thousands. The mode of conducting the 
 public and social exercises, from the changed 
 circumstances of the meetings, are somewhat 
 different from those in earlier times ; but the 
 same " Master of assemblies " reveals himself, to 
 sanctify, reclaim, convert, or quicken all the 
 sincere worshipers. The modern camp-meet- 
 ing, with all its financial improvements, in- 
 creased accommodations, and real attractions, 
 is now, as well as were those of earlier times, 
 a divinely recognized means of grace, where 
 vast numbers are yearly greatly quickened in 
 the divine life, and " many added to the Lord 
 of such as shall be saved." 
 
 These great camp-meeting centers also afford 
 agreeable places for summer and healthful re- 
 sort, in which to spend a few weeks away from 
 the "heat, bustle, and confusion of city life, and 
 from country care and toil, without coming into 
 disagreeable contact with all the demoralizing 
 effects of degrading fashions in dress, social 
 parties for sinful amusements, gambling and 
 drinking dens, and disgusting flirtations, now 
 disgracing all fashionable watering-places.
 
 Camp- Meetings Then and Now. 9 1 
 
 It is hoped that these camp-meeting centers 
 may yet prove no small check to one of the most 
 dangerous phases of modern society, as well 
 as furnishing a great safeguard to the Church. 
 Nevertheless, there is danger that our people 
 shall become too lax in their tastes and habits, 
 and allow objectionable amusements to be pressed 
 into these now quiet and agreeable resorts while 
 loitering there prior to the time for the gather- 
 ing together of the great multitude for their 
 annual " Feast 'of Tabernacles." 
 
 Against such dangers it is incumbent on our 
 Church to keep her vigilant eye and her faith- 
 ful sentinels, lest her "good be evil spoken 
 of," Christ "wounded in the house of his 
 friends," and God dishonored. 
 
 May the glory of this much-loved annual 
 " feast," which from the first has been honored 
 of the Lord by his special presence and saving 
 power, become more and more glorious by 
 being the spiritual birthplace of many thou- 
 sands more !
 
 92 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Parsonages and Churches. 
 
 THE METHODIST PARSONAGES THEN AND NOW. 
 
 t HERE were few parsonages owned by the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church forty years 
 ago, and these were such as did not meet 
 the real wants of the preacher's family. They 
 were not conveniently arranged for family use, 
 were generally small, cheap, and unpainted, and 
 without carpets, sofas, or other furniture. What- 
 ever commodities of this kind were enjoyed by 
 the itinerant's family were generally brought 
 from the last station, which was sometimes a 
 distance of many miles, by team, and of course 
 marred and bruised by the removal. 
 
 Sometimes two preachers were obliged, at 
 great inconvenience and sacrifice, to occupy the 
 same small parsonage. Where parsonages were 
 not provided it was often very difficult to find -a 
 home for the pastor's family. Some were fortu- 
 nate enough to be able to hire houses for their 
 own exclusive use, while others were obliged to
 
 Parsonages and Churches. 93 
 
 take up with the scanty hired accommodations, 
 at great inconvenience and discomfort, in 
 houses with other occupants, often resulting in 
 disagreeable -interruptions in many ways. 
 
 My memory runs back to the parsonage with- 
 in the bounds of the circuit of my early home. 
 It was a small, unpainted house, some two miles 
 from the nearest place of Sabbath preaching, 
 and without furniture except as provided by the 
 occupants. In it lived both the circuit preach- 
 ers of forty years ago. The circuit next to this 
 in one direction had no parsonage. The pastor 
 lived in a small, poorly finished, scantily fur- 
 nished, old brown house, which must have been 
 hired at small expense. The circuit next in 
 another direction had a parsonage of fair size 
 and appearance, with some better accommoda- 
 tions for the family comfort ; but this was a 
 mile from church, and the pastor absent from 
 home two thirds of the Sabbath at his other 
 preaching-places, thus, from necessity, leaving 
 his wife and children to get to and from church 
 as best they could, or stay at home. 
 
 In other parts of New England the accommo- 
 dations for ministers' homes might have been 
 better than these, but extensive observation 
 and general report confirm me in the belief 
 that the foregoing represent an average of the
 
 94 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 homes of New England Methodist ministers 
 forty years ago. 
 
 What favorable changes in these matters 
 within the forty years past ! As Methodism 
 has progressed in numbers and wealth, and as 
 Churches have become more permanently gath- 
 ered into centers of population and influence, 
 the old circuits have been cut up into stations, 
 and the result has been the erection or pur- 
 chase of well-located, large, convenient, and 
 somewhat expensive parsonages in most of our 
 pastoral charges for the accommodation of our 
 ministers. Some are respectably supplied by 
 the societies with heavy furniture, carpets, etc., 
 making them nearly ready for occupancy with- 
 out burdensome effort on the part of the newly 
 appointed pastor and family. 
 
 In some stations these accommodations are 
 not found. The people of such stations see not 
 yet their way clear to buy nor build ; but as a 
 rule the stewards of these Churches seek to pro- 
 vide by rent suitable homes for their pastors. 
 And whether parsonages are owned or houses 
 hired by the proper officers of the Church, the 
 good people of most of the stations have learned 
 how to welcome their new pastors with both 
 labor and money, and other substantial tokens 
 without charge, thus cheering them in the sad-
 
 Parsonages and Churches. 95 
 
 ness of removals and greatly lightening their 
 burdens. 
 
 But with all these advantages now to be 
 found in pastors' homes, in most of our stations, 
 it is sad to know that there is yet a lack of 
 either parsonages or hired houses in a few of 
 our pastoral charges. Where no provision is 
 made for them at the proper time extreme em- 
 barrassment and inconvenience are almost sure 
 to follow, both to the pastor and to the people. 
 These defects, it is hoped, will in time be reme- 
 died. The experience of the past should teach 
 delinquents lessons of profit, and encourage the 
 more thoughtful and prompt to perseverance in 
 their labors of love. 
 
 Of the one hundred and fifteen stations in 
 the New Hampshire Conference there are sixty- 
 five parsonages reported, valued at a little more 
 than $105,000. These embrace the good, bad, 
 and indifferent, some ranging as high as $7,000, 
 others as .low as $500, or less. The average 
 value is $1,600.* In the entire Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church in the United States there are be- 
 tween four and five thousand parsonages, with 
 an estimated value of between seven and eight 
 millions of dollars ; and they are being built 
 on an average of four per week. 
 
 * New Hampshire Conference Minutes, 1872.
 
 96 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 May the day soon come when each pastor's 
 family in our Church shall be permitted to oc- 
 cupy a good, well-furnished parsonage ! 
 
 OUR CHURCHES AND CHURCH ACCOMMODATIONS 
 THEN AND NOW. 
 
 Forty years ago we had in different localities 
 our Methodist chapels ; but they were generally 
 without steeples, bells, belfries, paint, or cush- 
 ioned pews, and rarely in any center of popula- 
 tion, for there other more influential denomina- 
 tions held sway. But these chapels were more 
 generally out in some retired school district, 
 where the itinerants had preached and gathered 
 converts till the place had become " too strait " 
 for them, and, to meet the necessity, they 
 would ' build a chapel. These places became 
 centers of Methodist influence, whither the peo- 
 ple of the Lord " went up to the testimony of 
 Israel to give thanks unto the name of the 
 Lord." In them our Methodistic fathers in the 
 ministry in those days preached the word "in 
 demonstration of the Spirit and of power." 
 There were held our " old-fashioned quarterly 
 meetings," when brethren and sisters came from 
 the neighboring towns on Saturday, and tarried 
 through all the services of Saturday and Sab-
 
 Parsonages and Churches. 97 
 
 bath ; and in some of them were held our annual 
 conferences. Besides these chapels we had, in 
 some instances, our Sabbath services in what 
 were called union houses, and in meeting-houses 
 owned, but not occupied, by other denomina- 
 tions. But our places for public and social 
 worship, to a great extent, were school-houses, 
 dwelling-houses, and, in summer, even barns 
 and groves. 
 
 Such were our church accommodations, or I 
 might say want of accommodations, in most 
 parts of New England forty years ago. But 
 the good Lord was with his people then, and 
 " confirmed the word preached with signs fol- 
 lowing." Now only here and there an old- 
 fashioned chapel remains to remind us of the 
 past ; and we are happy to know that we have 
 almost entirely escaped from those entangling 
 alliances with other people caused by building 
 and occupying with them what have strangely 
 been termed " union meeting-houses" 
 
 The Methodists have built and are building) 
 in the centers of influence and population, conven- 
 ient, handsome, and sometimes costly churches, 
 in which to worship God. Church-building 
 has been, with our people, a specialty for a few 
 years past. They were built in 1870 at the 
 rapid rate of over four for every working day in
 
 98 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 the year.* We have now in the denomination, 
 in this country, some fifteen thousand church 
 edifices, worth nearly or quite $10,000,000, and 
 affording sittings for more than four millions 
 of people. 
 
 In the New Hampshire Conference, in 1872, 
 there were reported in the Minutes one hundred 
 and fifteen stations and one hundred and ten 
 church edifices, valued at nearly $700,000, and, 
 probably, affording sittings for forty thousand 
 people. Some are .but cheap and plain houses, 
 while others were built at an expense of 
 $60,000. It is believed that the rate of progress 
 in church-building by the Methodists in this 
 country is unparalleled by any other denomina- 
 tion of Christians in our land. 
 
 Modest and free churches at the first was our 
 only usage, and is now our policy as a Church, 
 however much we have departed from it in oc- 
 casional instances. But all Churches are now 
 beginning to look in that direction ; and it is 
 believed that ultimately all our people will 
 recognize it as a wise and just policy. 
 
 * Methodist Almanac, 1871
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 99 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Opposition to Methodist Doctrines and Usages 
 Forty Years Ago,* and Fraternal Relations 
 of the Churches Now. 
 
 INVALIDITY OF METHODIST ORDINATIONS. 
 
 > 
 
 'ORTY years ago High Churchmen of En- 
 gland and America were bold and loud in 
 proclaiming that John Wesley had no 
 right to ordain Dr. Coke General Superintend- 
 ent, or Bishop, of the Methodists in North 
 America. They contended that there were 
 three distinct orders in the ministry bishop, 
 elder, and deacon ; and that the right of all 
 ordinations was vested in the bishop by virtue 
 of an " unbroken succession " from the first 
 bishops the apostles and that if one link in 
 the chain should be broken it would render in- 
 valid all succeeding ordinations ; and, therefore, 
 as this chain was broken by Mr. Wesley, (he 
 
 * The writer acknowledges his indebtedness to Dr. N. 
 Bangs' History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. iv, for 
 many of the facts of -this chapter, and in some instances some- 
 what to his language, without the use of quotation marks.
 
 IOO Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 being only an elder,) the Methodists had " no 
 Church, no ordained ministers, no sacraments" 
 
 In a tract published and widely extended by 
 them, called " Tracts for the People, No. IV," 
 we find the following language : " Methodism 
 is not a ChurcJi has no sacraments, has no min- 
 istry, no divine warrant" This is the general 
 drift of the tract, and therefore we are prepared 
 for its answer to its own question when it asks, 
 " Well, if Methodism be not true, what has be- 
 come of the thousands who have died in its 
 connection? No reply is pretended! The hu- 
 man mind cannot tell that. Let those who are 
 living see to themselves ! The salvation of your 
 neighbor is not left to you to determine ; but it 
 is left ior you to be sure that you are in the way 
 most likely to save yourself ." Though the doc- 
 trine of this tract had been proclaimed by High 
 Churchmen from the first, yet this new attack, 
 in this particular manner, created much bitter 
 feeling and strife. It was answered in an able 
 manner in a tract (No. 305) by Dr. George 
 Peck. 
 
 Similar attacks were made by others on our 
 Church polity, but able writers were raised up 
 " in defense of our fathers." Among other 
 works, Dr. N. Bangs' book on " An Original 
 Church of Christ" came to our defense. He
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 101 
 
 took the position that the doctrine of uninter- 
 rupted succession from the apostles in a third 
 order by a triple consecration, as distinct from 
 and superior to presbyters, has been discarded 
 by most ecclesiastical writers as resting on no 
 solid foundation, not being susceptible of proof 
 from any authentic source ; that the word of 
 God and the testimonies of the primitive fathers 
 of the Church went to sustain the idea that 
 bishops and presbyters were the same order t 
 though different offices, and that Mr. Wesley, 
 in providing for his spiritual children, invaded 
 no man's right, nor assumed that which did not 
 belong to him. This was the position of our 
 Church, and most of her ministers and mem- 
 bers became pretty thoroughly posted on the 
 subject. Our bishops, we claim, are in the true 
 " apostolic succession." 
 
 OPPOSITION TO METHODIST DOCTRINE. 
 
 Calvinists then strenuously opposed our 
 Methodistic doctrines of " Free Grace," " Free 
 Will," " The Witness of the Spirit of our Adop- 
 tion," and " Danger of Apostasy ;" but they 
 gloried in " Divine Sovereignty," " Fore-ordina- 
 tion," in election of some from all eternity to 
 eternal life, " and reprobation of others to dam- 
 nation," and the impossibility of apostasy from
 
 IO2 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 true conversion." These opposing views created ' 
 much discussion. Our views were stoutly de- 
 fended by Dr. W. Fisk in a work called " Cal- 
 vinistic Controversy," and by our preachers 
 generally. They were " bold in our God " to 
 defend the true " Gospel with much conten- 
 tion." 
 
 The young reader may be assisted in forming 
 some clearer idea than he otherwise could of the 
 outspoken Calvinism of those days by the fol- 
 lowing interesting reminiscences : 
 
 On one of my early" circuits a good deacon of 
 a certain Church of the Calvinistic faith related 
 to me, with deep emotion, his Christian expe- 
 rience in substance as follows : " Away back 
 many years ago," said he, "the Spirit of the 
 Lord sought me out, and opened my heart. 
 The law then entered ' and slew me,' and 
 pushed me to the very verge of hell. The 
 more the Spirit showed me my wicked heart, 
 and the nearer I came to the verge of hell, (till 
 I thought every moment I should drop in,) the 
 more I hated God, and most gladly would I 
 have dethroned him if I had the power. I 
 hated him with perfect hatred. At that very 
 moment Jesus Christ came and took me into 
 his loving arms? " By faith," I responded. 
 " No," said the good old man > " there was not
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 103 
 
 a jot of faith about it, till my rebellious heart 
 was changed from nature to grace. Then I had 
 faith given me, and I repented, but not before." 
 Not far from this time I heard his minister 
 preach, who was also a Calvinist of " the strait- 
 est sort." The time and circumstances, which 
 no doubt called out the sermon, were peculiar, 
 and need explanation. 
 
 My Sabbath appointment in one part of my 
 circuit came where the Methodists had no 
 church edifice, and the Church of the Calvin- 
 istic faith had one, which they occupied only 
 each alternate Sabbath. They therefore kindly 
 offered its use to the Methodists for the other 
 Sabbaths, which was gladly accepted. I had 
 taken occasion to preach on a certain Sabbath 
 on " the higher Christian life," and " the danger 
 of final apostasy," to the great annoyance, as I 
 afterward found, of my Calvinistic hearers. 
 
 The week following the denomination owning 
 the church held a " ministerial association " 
 therein, which I attended. The old pastor had 
 never seen me before, but had heard of my het- 
 erodoxical sermon, as he regarded it. When 
 about to commence his services he turned to a 
 ministerial associate, and pointing down in the 
 direction where I was sitting, asked, as I thought, 
 " Isn't that the young Methodist preacher who
 
 IO4 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 preached here last Sabbath ? " and in response 
 received a nod of "yes." When commencing 
 his sermon he in effect said, " I am peculiarly 
 impressed to take the following text : ' We are 
 his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
 good works, which God hath before ordained, 
 that we should walk in them.'" Ephes. ii, 10. 
 He explained it thus : " The metaphor of the 
 text is one which relates to the erection of a 
 building. The marksman goes out into the for- 
 est and selects the trees he would use in the 
 erection of his building ; so the Holy Spirit goes 
 out and selects his favorite subject, and marks 
 him as his own by opening his heart. Then 
 comes the axman and fells the tree which has 
 been thus marked ; so the law of God enters the 
 marked sinner, whose heart has been opened to 
 receive it, and ' slays him.' Then comes the 
 hewer and scores and hews and straightens out 
 the timber ; but, mind you, he leaves all the 
 old heart in. So the Gospel comes in and 
 straightens out the crooked ways of the selected 
 sinner smooths off the rough spots, and cuts 
 off the knots, and thus prepares him for a place 
 in the. ' spiritual temple.' But, mind you" said 
 he, with peculiar emphasis and gesture, "he 
 leaves all the old heart in him. Perfection is 
 perfection, and it doesn't belong to man. Do
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 105 
 
 you think any body can be perfect with all the 
 old heart left in him ? No such thing. Then 
 the timber is taken to the place for the erection 
 of the building, and framed into it, and pinned 
 in. And do you think it can get out again ? 
 I tell you no. Jesus Christ has said, ' None 
 shall pluck them out of my hands, and my Fa- 
 ther is greater than I, and no man shall be able 
 to pluck them out of my Father's hands ; and 
 they shall never perish' " This he said with a 
 peculiarly triumphant gusto. Thus, according 
 to his plan, the great " spiritual temple " of the 
 Lord was being built by God's sovereign and 
 electing grace. 
 
 At the noon recess he sought an introduction 
 to me, and invited me to preach the afternoon 
 sermon, saying, " They have heard one side this 
 morning, let them have the other side this after- 
 noon." I thought it a strange request, and 
 feared he sought a quarrel on doctrinal matters. 
 Young as I was I dreaded to preach under such 
 circumstances, and delayed to answer till I 
 had consulted some of my own Church-mem- 
 bers present. By their advice I consented, and 
 preached on " the other side," the Methodist side. 
 My subject was that of "a living, active faith, 
 and its experimental and practical fruits." The 
 Lord graciously helped me to preach a warm
 
 io6 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 
 
 and earnest sermon. TJhe old Calvinist pastor 
 and others followed with strong indorsements 
 of the sermon, and with warm exhortations. 
 The forenoon sermon was not made the theme 
 of the afternoon, as some hoped and others 
 feared. The people saw that "the other," the 
 Methodist, "side" was a contention for a relig- 
 ion " which is first pure, then peaceable, without 
 partiality, and without hypocrisy, full of mercy 
 and good fruits." Such old Calvinistic ideas 
 are now seldom repeated either by the modern 
 press or pulpit, though still the comparatively 
 silent belief of some. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO METHODIST CHURCH POLITY 
 
 SECESSIONS. 
 
 Severe attacks were often made upon our 
 Church government forty years ago. Seces- 
 sions from the Church had already taken place, 
 resulting in the organization of the " Reformed 
 Methodist Church " and of the " Protestant 
 Methodist Church." These seceders were with 
 us in doctrine, but very strenuously opposed 
 to our episcopacy and Church government, 
 especially our lack of the lay element, in our 
 Annual and General Conferences. The mis- 
 named " Boston Olive Branch " employed pens 
 dipped "in the bitterest gall," and sent out its
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 107 
 
 weekly slanders. " The History and Mystery 
 of Methodist Episcopacy," -by one Alexander 
 McCaine a scurrilous attack upon our Church 
 was freely circulated. Dr. Thomas E. Bond, 
 an able writer, and others wrote much in our 
 defense. Dr. John Emory, afterward Bishop, 
 came out with the " Defense of Our Fathers," 
 against the unjust accusations of McCaine. 
 These controversies, though occurring in 1827 
 and 1828, had their influence forty years ago, 
 and Bishop Emory's " Defense " was repub- 
 lished in 1835. The Church, in those days, 
 stood strong against any innovation of her pol- 
 ity. The time had not then come for a favor- 
 able verdict for lay representation. 
 
 OPPOSITION TO OUR SUNDAY-SCHOOL, BIBLE, AND 
 
 TRACT SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS SEPARATE 
 
 FROM THE AMERICAN SOCIETY, SO CALLED. 
 
 The organization of the " Methodist Sunday- 
 School Society," separate from the "American," 
 rendered it necessary for our people to supply 
 our own schools with suitable books from the 
 Methodist press. But, as Bibles and Testa- 
 ments were published by the "American Bible 
 Society," professedly for all denominations alike, 
 the " Methodist Episcopal Church " asked the 
 "Young Men's Bible Society of New York,"
 
 io8 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now, 
 
 constituted expressly to. supply needy Sunday- 
 schools gratuitously, to supply the Methodist 
 schools as they did others. The request was 
 rejected on the plea that ours were sectarian 
 schools ! This rendered it necessary, in order 
 to supply our schools with the word of life, to 
 organize the " Bible Society of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church/' which being done created 
 no little opposition from various quarters. 
 
 Methodist literature, which up to this time 
 had been considered in the background, was 
 now brought into public notice by the publica- 
 tion of the "Christian Advocate," and the issue 
 from our Book Room of " Wesley's Sermons," 
 "Clarke's Commentaries," "The Methodist 
 Magazine," and numerous Tracts of a doctrinal, 
 practical, and experimental character, and by 
 the continual augmentation of books on a va- 
 riety of subjects, together with the increasing 
 prosperity of Methodist missions, which seemed 
 to awaken the attention of others, and to call 
 forth strictures upon our doctrines and general 
 economy of such a character as to call for self- 
 defense. 
 
 There seemed to have been a combined effort 
 on the part of other sects to destroy, if possible, 
 the influence of Methodism. Calvinistic editors 
 in different parts of the country, almost simul-
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 109 
 
 taneously, uttered the same language against this 
 rising people, without mitigating their severity 
 by acknowledging even any good accomplished 
 by them. 
 
 Dr. Adam Clarke was accused of introducing 
 into his "Commentary" "unauthorized criti- 
 cisms upon the original text." Wesley was 
 accused in his " Notes on the New Testament " 
 of mutilating the sacred text in such a manner 
 as to make " nonsense of the plainest texts in 
 the Bible." These foolish accusations, though 
 severe, were such as the books themselves, by 
 being critically and candidly read, would anni- 
 hilate. Methodist ministers' characters were 
 ungenerously assailed, by calling in question 
 their integrity. 
 
 It was stated in some quarters that Method- 
 ism had an immense fund at her command, by 
 which her ministers were supported independ- 
 ently of the people ; and that these funds were 
 so dexterously managed that the Methodist 
 people themselves did not know either their 
 extent or application, they being kept in igno- 
 rance by "cunningly devised artifices." 
 
 This accusation was promptly met by facts. 
 It was demonstrated that all the profits derived 
 from the " Book Concern " and the " Chartered 
 Fund" the only funds of the Church did not
 
 no Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 yield over three dollars a year to each claimant ; 
 and that the superannuated and supernumer- 
 ary preachers, and the widows and orphans of 
 preachers, who were the legal claimants of these 
 funds, did not receive including all voluntary 
 contributions over twenty-five, fifty, or seven- 
 ty-five per cent, of their " Disciplinary Claims," 
 which was one hundred dollars for such preacher 
 or widow, and not over twenty-four dollars per 
 year for each dependent child. 
 
 Another complaint brought against the Meth- 
 odists was their manner of holding Church 
 property. It was alleged that it was deeded to 
 the General Conference, and that the Methodist 
 laity had no control of it. To this it was re- 
 plied, that the statement was false at every 
 point ; that instead of being secured to the 
 conference, and therefore the property of the 
 preachers, it was held by trustees appointed by 
 the people, where the laws of the States in 
 which it was located provided for that manner 
 of appointment, and in other places as the Dis- 
 cipline directed, that is, by trustees, for the use 
 of the members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in that place. 
 
 It was claimed by our opponents that our 
 Church government was not only unscriptural, 
 but set up and vindicated in "contempt of script-
 
 , Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 1 1 1 
 
 ure authority" * This led to a scriptural defense 
 of our .Church government, our itinerancy, and 
 general method of conducting affairs, by various 
 able Methodist writers. 
 
 " AMERICAN HOME MISSIONS " AND THE " MIS- 
 SISSIPPI VALLEY." 
 
 The controversy in regard to the " American 
 Home Missionary Society " and the " moral 
 destitution " of the West, and especially that of 
 the " Great Mississippi Valley," was still agi- 
 tating the public mind, though it had been the 
 " bone of contention " from the year 1826, when 
 the said society was organized by the union of 
 the " Presbyterian," " Dutch Reformed," and 
 " Congregationalist " Churches, with the avowed 
 intention of filling up the " waste places of 
 Zion," and establishing Churches which should 
 adopt the Church polity of either denomination, 
 in accordance with the preferences of the peo- 
 ple composing the Church thus gathered. Their 
 agents had been, and were then, going among 
 all the people to whom they could gain access, 
 and gathering funds to promote its objects. 
 Its patrons gave it the name of the " National 
 Society" The people were misguided by this 
 appellation, as it was far from embracing all
 
 112 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. , 
 
 evangelical Christian Churches, or even a ma- 
 jority of them. The Methodists and the Bap- 
 tists were not included, though each were more 
 numerous than either of the aforesaid denomi- 
 nations. The " Episcopalians," the " Luther- 
 ans," and several other denominations, were not 
 embraced in it, and yet it was called " national" 
 To this the Methodists properly uttered their 
 decided protest. More than this, " the moral 
 wastes of the Valley of the Mississippi " were so 
 fearfully reported by agents and official report- 
 ers, and such alarming descriptions of those 
 sections were given, as greatly excited the friends 
 of Christianity. Thrilling notes of complaint 
 were echoed from one end of the continent to 
 the other about the " uneducated ministers," 
 " incompetent ministers," and so on, of that 
 great valley, and the people, in strains of mourn- 
 ful eloquence, appealed to for aid in such ear- 
 nestness as to give great alarm. Said Dr. Ly- 
 man Beecher, the father of the Beechers, " The 
 nation must arise and save itself by its own en- 
 ergies. The trumpet must sound long and 
 loud ; the press must groan, and utter in the 
 ears of our countrymen the story of their mis- 
 eries, or the nation is undone." This note of 
 alarm, sounded by Dr. Beecher, continued to 
 roll through the whole country, until the doleful
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 113 
 
 ditty of the " moral destitution of the great val- 
 ley " reverberated from hill to valley with sick- 
 ening repetition. 
 
 Now, what were the facts pertaining to that 
 same " moral waste?" At the very time when 
 these alarms were sounding through the length 
 and breadth of our land various denominations 
 of evangelical Christians had good and prosper- 
 ous Churches there. Our own Church at that 
 very time, had seven annual conferences in the 
 valley, between five and six hundred traveling 
 preachers, and twice this number of local 
 preachers ; and her Church-membership there 
 was more than one hundred and thirty thousand. 
 
 That there was a call for additional aid there 
 can be no reasonable doubt ; but to call other min- 
 isters than their own " incompetent" " uneducat- 
 ed" or " inefficient" was, to say the least, not agree- 
 able to those thus dishonored. Indeed, in many 
 of these reports there seemed to be an effort to 
 depreciate those who had labored long and suc- 
 cessfully in those parts represented as " moral 
 wastes." 
 
 The Methodist Church, very properly, resented 
 these unjust representations, and in her own 
 official organ, the " Christian Advocate," suc- 
 ceeded in a few years, by an honest exhibit of 
 
 facts, in disabusing' the public mind to a great 
 8
 
 1 14 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 extent on the subject ; but its influence was 
 felt for many years after. 
 
 We often heard that old echo, " The great 
 moral waste ! " " The moral destitution of the 
 Mississippi Valley ! " " Uneducated and incom- 
 petent ministers ! " The facts which were 
 elicited by this state of things, of the numerical 
 strength of Methodism in that great valley and 
 elsewhere, were creditable to our Church, but 
 damaging to the official agents and reporters of 
 the "American Home Missionary Society." 
 
 THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. 
 
 The American Temperance Society forty 
 years ago was doing much good exerting a 
 powerful influence on the bodies and souls of 
 our countrymen. It had been in active opera- 
 tion since 1826. Our Church at first took a 
 position, through her official organ and many 
 of her leading men, which was somewhat an- 
 tagonistic to the American Society in some of 
 its measures, though intending to advocate the 
 practice of abstinence in her membership, her 
 stringent General Rules requiring that they 
 shall avoid evil of every kind, and prohibit- 
 ing especially " drunkenness, buying or selling 
 spirituous liquors, or drinking them, unless in
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 115 
 
 cases of necessity." Our position on the sub- 
 ject-being misunderstood, no little uneasiness 
 was created and much earnest discussion elicited. 
 The Methodists took the ground that this gen- 
 eral rule of our Church already made our peo- 
 ple members of a total abstinence society, and 
 that to come into the measures of the American 
 Society would be a virtual acknowledgment 
 that our Church, as such, needed to be reformed. 
 
 Another objection to the American Society 
 was, that it proposed to raise the sum of $20,000 
 as a permanent fund Tor the support of an agent 
 or agents, who should be exclusively devoted to 
 the temperance cause ; which proposition our 
 people did not think expedient, preferring the 
 plan of raising the money for necessary ex- 
 penses when it should be needed. 
 
 This position created some heart-burnings on 
 both sides, and elicited no little discussion ; but 
 it brought to light facts which had been con- 
 cealed before. Though unchanged in regard to 
 the financial policy of the American Society, 
 it was found that the stringent rule of the Dis- 
 cipline of the Church had been so softened 
 down in the minds of some that it had (in their 
 view) become a dead-letter, and that they were 
 in the habitual daily practice of drinking, and 
 others of selling, intoxicating liquors, as was
 
 1 1 6 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 then too commonly practiced by other professed 
 Christians. This led to important results. Our 
 people saw the necessity of temperance pledges 
 and of temperance societies, and (to the great 
 profit and edification of the Church and the 
 cause of God generally) entered into the work 
 and measures of the temperance cause. 
 
 This reference here made to the financial 
 plan for permanent funds and paid agents of the 
 society, and Methodist opposition thereto, re- 
 minds me of the strife created on this ground 
 forty years ago on the first circuit I traveled 
 after joining conference. In our temperance 
 efforts of that year some proposed to our people 
 to join in the cause on the plan of the American 
 Society's financial polity. Though our people 
 were as earnest advocates of total abstinence 
 as any others, yet our preacher in charge and 
 many of his members strenuously opposed the 
 measure. This resulted in the formation of 
 two distinct societies one auxiliary to the 
 American, and the other an independent one 
 and between the two there was but little fel- 
 lowship or co-operation. 
 
 Such controversies and strifes, however, in a 
 few years passed away, and all the friends of 
 the cause entered heartily into this much-needed 
 reform with great unanimity. Our Methodist
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 117 
 
 people are now, and for the past twenty years 
 and more have been, the vanguard in the great 
 temperance army. These are some of the con- 
 troversies which Methodism had to grapple with, 
 coming from outside influences, in days gone 
 by, of which many of our youthful readers have 
 had but little knowledge. 
 
 Other false theories were common in those 
 days, but they were not directed against our 
 doctrines and usages more than against other 
 evangelical Churches. Among these were Uni- 
 versalism and open infidelity. These fallacious 
 and soul-destroying sentiments were perhaps 
 about equally opposed by all evangelical Church- 
 es. These old heresies have now taken other 
 forms of error, and appear under the name 
 " Free Religion," the elastic bands of which are 
 so extended as to take in what are called " Lib- 
 eral Christianity," " Spiritualism," " Free-lov- 
 ism," " Free Thinkers," and so on. 
 
 The old Calvinistic ideas, if held at all, are 
 now resting in the shade, seldom advocated in 
 public or elsewhere in the light of day. "Apos- 
 tolic succession " and its consequent claims, 
 though still the faith of most Churchmen, are 
 not now in the way of our progress, our people 
 having ceased to feel the force of their attacks 
 against our doctrines and usages,
 
 1 1 8 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Lay Representation has now become the pol- 
 icy of our Church. Seceders from her have 
 mainly laid down their weapons of warfare. 
 The American Bible Society is now equally 
 ours with all other Christian denominations, 
 and receives our hearty support. God is with 
 us, leading this " sacramental host " on to cer- 
 tain victory. May nothing transpire to dampen 
 the prospect ! 
 
 CONTROVERSIES ON UNIVERSALISM ANECDOTES. 
 
 The writer has referred to the popular theory 
 of universal salvation, which once had extensive 
 influence in our country. Our ministers had 
 to meet this doctrine in those days, perhaps, 
 more frequently than preachers of other de- 
 nominations, inasmuch as their itinerant system 
 brought them oftener into such contact. The 
 young reader may be aided in his estimate of 
 some of the controversies of those days by the 
 following anecdotes, which we will here record, 
 more for the shrewdness of some of our older 
 preachers than for their modesty or politeness. 
 
 On my first circuit, after joining conference, 
 the following story was often repeated. A cer- 
 tain Universalist minister of note had by pre- 
 vious appointment brought together a large au- 
 dience to hear his arguments against the doc- .
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 1 19 
 
 trine of the endless punishment of the wicked. 
 Among others several Methodist ministers at- 
 tended, one of whom was the eccentric, blunt, 
 but talented Rev. J. W. Hardy, presiding elder 
 of the district. The Universalist, in a flowery 
 and flippant manner, but with shallow argu- 
 ments, sought to annihilate all the arguments 
 of opponents of his doctrine. When through 
 he said, " I perceive there are several clergy- 
 men present. I shall be pleased to hear them 
 speak on' the subject I have presented." All 
 refused but Father Hardy, who began in his 
 peculiar manner of voice and gestures, more 
 easily imitated than transferred to paper with 
 pen and ink, and tore the arguments of the ser- 
 mon into shreds, to the great chagrin of some, 
 and the equal satisfaction of others. 
 
 Then the first speaker again arose and said, 
 "The arguments of the gentleman who has just 
 addressed you are not relevant to the subject. 
 He has not touched my main points of argu- 
 ment, and I hope that the people will not be 
 influenced by what the reverend speaker has 
 said." 
 
 Father Hardy was soon again on his feet, 
 and related this cutting story : " A certain old 
 negro was walking the highway one day, and 
 passing a flock of geese, the old gander got up
 
 120 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 and stuck out his neck, and running after him, 
 quacked and quacked at him. The negro caught 
 him, and wrung his neck for him, and threw 
 him down in a mud-puddle; and what did the 
 old gander do but jump up again, and, sticking 
 out his bill, again quacked out, ' I've beat, I've 
 beat, I've beat.'". The effect on the audience 
 can be better imagined than described. The 
 story has often been repeated for these past 
 forty years in that town and all the regions 
 round about, and will be doubtless handed 
 down to posterity by those it pleases, and by 
 some who condemn its uncouthness. 
 
 Universalists of those days had a great deal 
 to say against the idea of a "personal devil," 
 and our preachers often came in contact with 
 this sentiment, and had a short-hand method 
 of disposing of their arguments. Illustra- 
 tion : When on my first circuit, after joining 
 conference, I went with my preacher in charge 
 to the Universalist minister, a man in high re- 
 pute among his own people, and invited him to 
 join with us in a certain Christian benevolent 
 enterprise in town. He objected on account 
 of our difference in doctrinal points, and named 
 in particular the belief of Methodists and other 
 orthodox people in the personality of the devil. 
 The Methodist replied, "The Saviour himself
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 121 
 
 was tempted by the devil." To which the Uni- 
 versalist responded, " There is no devil but hu- 
 man nature to tempt people, and Christ was 
 tempted by his own nature." " Then," said the 
 Methodist preacher, "you believe Christ had 
 the devil in him, do you?" He answered in 
 substance, " He possessed a human nature, and 
 was tempted by it." Said the other, " I think 
 I understand you, then, that Christ had the devil 
 in him." His reply was, "If you report me I 
 do not want to be reported in that light.'' 
 "Very well," said the Methodist, "I shall be 
 glad to hear you make any explanation which 
 will relieve you." He undertook it, but with 
 no satisfaction to us or relief to himself. The 
 interview ended by the reply of the brother 
 Methodist : " It is all plain, I see, that you say 
 our blessed Saviour had the devil in him." We 
 soon parted, but our clerical friend didn't seem 
 to enjoy -his mind very well. 
 
 FRATERNAL RELATIONS OF THE METHODIST 
 EPISCOPAL CHURCH WITH OTHER EVANGEL- 
 ICAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Methodism began in America under one or- 
 ganization. This unity continued only from 
 1766, when Philip Embury formed the first
 
 122 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 class in New York city, which consisted of five 
 members, to the year 1792, when James O'Kel- 
 ley, a popular preacher in Virginia, led off by 
 secession a portion of the Church, and formed 
 what was called "The Republican Methodist 
 Church," afterward called "The Christian 
 Church." * 
 
 Other secessions occurred from time to time 
 from various causes, resulting in separate Church 
 organizations, so that in 1832 there were " The 
 Reformed Methodist Church," " The Protestant 
 Methodist Church," "The African Methodist 
 Episcopal Church," " The African Methodist 
 Episcopal Zion Church," " The Canada Wes- 
 leyan Methodist " and " Canada Episcopal 
 Methodist " Churches. In none of these or- 
 ganizations were there any doctrinal differences. 
 But differences arose on Church polity, causing 
 serious alienations among the so-called " O'Kel- 
 ley party," the Reformers, and the Methodist 
 Protestants. The prejudice against color, and 
 the alienations caused thereby, produced the 
 " African Methodist " organizations ; and the 
 separation by the national boundary line the 
 Canadian organizations. Though these separate 
 organizations, taken separately or collectively, 
 were small compared with the Parent Church, 
 
 * See Bangs' History of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 123 
 
 yet there was a break in the unity of Method- ' 
 ism in America which was deeply regretted by 
 most lovers of true Church harmony. With 
 some of these Churches there was no official 
 reciprocal connection. 
 
 Our General Conference held only fraternal 
 relations, officially, with the " English Wesleyan 
 Methodist Conference." They sent their " Fra- 
 ternal Delegates " to us, and, in return, our Con- 
 ference sent ours to them, who on either side 
 were most cordially received and honorably 
 treated. 
 
 Denominational Churches of other names, 
 and of opposite doctrinal views as well as pol- 
 ity, held n6 official cordial relations with our 
 Church. Old doctrinal controversies, misrep- 
 resentations of our doctrines and usages by our 
 enemies, and sectarian jealousies, kept them 
 from any hearty and friendly co-operation with 
 the Methodist denomination. 
 
 How different the fraternal unity manifested 
 in the General Conference of 1872 ! Fraternal 
 delegates came to this ecclesiastical council of 
 our Church from " The English Wesleyan," 
 " The Wesleyan Irish," " The Wesleyan Meth- 
 odist " of Canada, " The Methodist Episcopal 
 Canadian," " The Wesleyan Methodist East 
 British," "The Protestant Methodist," "The
 
 1 24 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Methodist Church" Conferences, and -"The 
 Evangelical German " Methodist " Association." 
 
 In addition to these representatives from these 
 various branches of Methodist Churches of va- 
 rious names, there were fraternal delegates 
 from " The Presbyterian General Assembly," 
 " The Congregational Church," various " Baptist 
 Churches," " The Free Church of Italy," and 
 from several other religious* bodies, each extend- 
 ing to our Church the right-hand of fellowship. 
 
 Their hearty reception by the General Con- 
 ference, their words of congratulation, the 
 friendly salutations they brought from the dif- 
 ferent Churches they represented, the re- 
 sponses given to them, and the appointment 
 of " Fraternal Delegates " by the Conference to 
 extend our friendly greeting in return, all show 
 the progress which is being made toward the 
 much-to-be-desired Christian unity of the 
 Churches. Even preliminary plans were made 
 by our Church in that Conference for a friendly 
 correspondence with the alienated Methodist 
 Episcopal Church South, and the prospect has 
 never appeared better for the unification of 
 American Methodism since the different sepa- 
 rations occurred than at this time. 
 
 Old prejudices are melting away. The dif- 
 ferent Church organizations of evangelical Prot-
 
 Opposition to Doctrines and Usages. 125 
 
 estantism are learning to embrace each other 
 with unity in the essentials of Christianity, with 
 liberty to differ in non-essentials, and in all 
 things to exercise that " charity which is the 
 bond of perfectness."
 
 126 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Woman's "Work in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 m~* ETHODISM, from its origin, has given 
 to woman a sphere of Christian effort 
 and influence superior to any other 
 Church organization since the days of primitive 
 Christianity, and has continued to open new 
 fields to her for the use of her Christian capa- 
 bilities as few Churches now afford or venture 
 to allow. 
 
 Heathenism has ever degraded woman ; but 
 Christianity, " pure and undefiled," has ever ex- 
 alted her, mentally, socially, and morally. But 
 by misinterpretation of those Scriptures which 
 refer to her sphere in the Church, and too much 
 after the manner of heathen nations, she has 
 been placed far below the level of " the lords 
 of creation " in regard to her right of public 
 oral testimony for her Lord and Master. Her 
 lips have been sealed from such testimony -in 
 the presence of men.
 
 Woman's Work in the Church. 127 
 
 Methodism has opened her once sealed lips 
 and bade her voice be heard in living testimo- 
 nies of Christ, and employed her capabilities 
 in various appropriate missions of mercy and 
 love. We remember having heard her voice 
 in prayer and exhortation in our youthful 
 days. 
 
 Forty years ago she was always heard in our 
 social meetings. Often in our public assemblies 
 she bore her faithful testimony for her Lord. 
 Though seldom did she stand in " the sacred 
 desk," yet in various ways, like the Marys of 
 old, did she proclaim to the people a crucified 
 and risen Saviour. 
 
 Since then woman's sphere of influence has 
 been increasing, and new fields of usefulness 
 for her have been multiplying. Old prejudices 
 have been dying out among other religious 
 sects, so that in some churches, where once her 
 voice was silenced, she has now the privilege of 
 being Christ's oral witness to the people of his 
 saving grace. 
 
 Among Methodists she receives a cordial 
 welcome, when fitted " by gifts, grace, and use- 
 fulness," into our pulpits as a helper in the 
 Gospel ministry. She finds appropriate work 
 at our altars in pleading with God for im- 
 mortal souls, and on the platform in earnest
 
 128 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 pleadings with the people for their co-operation 
 in the various great enterprises of Christian 
 benevolence in which the Church is enlisted. 
 She finds some of these new openings brought 
 into organic form, where she is more specially 
 recognized, socially and officially. Among 
 these are "The Ladies' and Pastors' Christian 
 Union," and " The Woman's Foreign Mission- 
 ary Society." 
 
 The recent General Conference has, offi- 
 cially, uttered the voice of Methodism in the 
 following 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON "WOMAN'S WORK 
 IN THE CHURCH." 
 
 "Your Committee have had before them sev- 
 eral papers on the work of women in the 
 Church. The subject which these papers pre- 
 sent are such as the licensing and ordaining 
 of women as preachers, 'The Ladies' and Pas- 
 tors' Christian Union,' 'The Woman's Foreign 
 Missionary Society,' and propositions for the en- 
 largement of Christian and benevolent activity. 
 
 " We can but rejoice in these manifestations 
 of increasing interest on the part of women in 
 all that pertains to the activity of the Church, 
 and are devoutly thankful for this fresh awaken- 
 ing of zeal for Christian work.
 
 Woman s Work in the Church. 129 
 
 " It has ever been characteristic of Methodism 
 to welcome to the Church all available agencies 
 for carrying forward the Redeemer's kingdom, 
 and for the salvation of souls. From the begin- 
 ning, also, the Methodist Church has recognized 
 and used the peculiar capabilities of women ; in 
 every period of our history women have been 
 active counselors with men in the service of the 
 Church, and in not a few instances have been 
 
 
 
 recognized leaders in important movements. 
 Many names of Christian heroines adorn the 
 pages of our Church history. 
 
 " These recent manifestations of a desire for 
 activity for Christ are not a novelty, but a re~ 
 vival of the true spirit of Methodism, in which 
 we greatly rejoice, and from -which we expect 
 the most happy results. More than two thirds 
 
 of the members of the Church are women. 
 
 
 
 That they have a place and a work in the 
 Church is not doubted, but to define and desig- 
 nate the exact character and fields of their labor 
 is not an easy matter. 
 
 " In this as in most other interests of the 
 Church important questions are gradually set- 
 tling themselves, and Providence is itself point- 
 ing out large and important fields which can 
 be most efficiently occupied by women, and 
 
 into which we find the noblest spirits are vig- 
 9
 
 130 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 orously entering. Our women are already far 
 on toward leading the advance in the actual 
 work of the Sabbath-school, our Home and 
 City Missions, in the distribution of tracts, 
 and in the visitation of the poor and neglected 
 masses. 
 
 " Recently God has directed their hearts to- 
 ward their sisters of foreign countries, and a 
 most successful organization has been effected 
 for aiding in the evangelization of heathen lands. 
 For these fields of labor they have peculiar capa- 
 bilities, and we rejoice that the Divine Spirit is 
 leading their hearts earnestly into them. 
 
 "In regard to woman's preaching, we must 
 wait the further developments of Providence. 
 We rejoice in indications that women are called 
 to be teachers of the Word of Life, and yet 
 the instances are not sufficiently numerous to 
 justify any new legislation in the Church on 
 this subject. 
 
 " We commend the ' Woman's Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Society' and 'The Ladies' and Pastors' 
 Christian Union' as two organizations worthy 
 of the highest gifts and noblest efforts. We 
 exhort the women of the Church to still greater 
 zeal in the Sunday-school, the class-room, the 
 prayer-meetings, and the love-feasts, and in the 
 evangelization of the masses.
 
 Woman 's Work in the Church. 131 
 
 "We exhort our preachers also to give all 
 wise, discreet encouragement they can to the 
 exercise and development of the gifts which 
 God has bestowed on our sisters for the further- 
 ance of his kingdom on the earth." 
 
 Such are the new organic spheres now open 
 for her usefulness in our Church, which man 
 cannot as successfully occupy. She can go to 
 the poor and needy with her messages of mer- 
 cy to the degraded of her sex with her gentle 
 pleadings for reform to the despised and neg- 
 lected with the words of encouragement and 
 deeds of kindness and to lands of heathen 
 darkness, where woman is down-trodden and 
 degraded, and find access to those of her sex 
 from whom our male missionaries are utterly 
 excluded, and teach her the way to heaven. 
 
 Great as may be the sacrifices and imminent 
 the perils of her mission, her faith and heroism 
 are equal to the demand. Under the. all-sus- 
 taining power and exalting influences of grace, 
 she shall be more than conqueror. At home, 
 she can employ her social influence, her voice 
 and pen in pleading with and for her sex that 
 the glorious Gospel, which is free for all, and 
 can " save to the uttermost all who come unto 
 him," may become to all her kind " a savor of
 
 132 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 life unto life." Such sacrifices and offerings, 
 with her fervent prayers of faith, will prove as 
 pleasing to her Lord as did the " precious oint- 
 ment" poured upon his head by the humble 
 Mary of old, and her noble deeds shall be 
 " spoken of as a memorial of her wherever the 
 Gospel' shall be preached."
 
 Sunday- Sch cols. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Methodism and Sunday-Schools. 
 
 fuNDAY-SCHOOLS forty years ago,com- 
 . pared with our numerical strength as a 
 Church, were quite numerous among our 
 people, and many of them were very prosper- 
 ous. They were sustained in nearly each of the 
 places where we had Sabbath preaching. Even 
 where we had no church edifices, and were 
 obliged to worship on the Sabbath in school- 
 houses, or in public halls, we had our organized 
 Sunday-schools in somewhat successful opera- 
 tion, especially in the more favorable seasons 
 of the year. 
 
 Whil* Sunday-schools were thus making a 
 deep impression on the public religious mind, 
 nearly all denominations adopted them, none 
 more eagerly than did the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. Definite forms of conference reports 
 were made out, and accurate statistics of their 
 numbers and state in each pastoral charge 
 were reported to conference, embracing the
 
 134 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 number of officers, teachers, and scholars. The 
 sum total of officers, teachers, and scholars re- 
 ported in the General Minutes of the Church 
 forty years ago was not less than one hundred 
 thousand. 
 
 Methodism had recognized and encouraged 
 Sunday-schools from their very origin. Wesley 
 saw that those first established, by Robert Raikes, 
 were of God. Some of the female members of 
 his Societies were the first to offer gratuitous 
 instruction in them. In America, as early as 
 the year 1786, Bishop Asbury founded a Sun- 
 day-school in Virginia. " This first school in 
 America" prefigured one of the most important 
 later advantages of the institution, by giving to 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church a useful min- 
 ister of the Gospel.* 
 
 * For a more detailed account of the early progress and ori- 
 gin of Sunday-schools, see the " Report of the Sunday-School 
 Union for 1851." 
 
 It is a singular fact that, with all the records of the origin 
 
 Sunday-schools in America, there should still be sflch tardi- 
 s among other denominations of Christians in recognizing 
 their Metliodistic origin. 
 
 It lias been claimed in some quarters that Bishop White, 
 of the Episcopal Church, organized the "first in America" 
 which had any permanency. This was in Philadelphia, in 
 1791. But this was five years after Bishop Asbury's school 
 in Virginia. A recent writer in the " New York Evangelist " 
 reports that a Sunday-school was organized in what is now 
 the city of Pittsburgh, Pa., in the year 1809, and claims it as
 
 Sunday- Schools. 135 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church was the 
 first to put Sunday-schools into organic rela- 
 tion to her Conference Minutes. This was done 
 
 the "first," in these words: "I mention this fact," says he, 
 " that the origin of Sunday-schools, in their history, may be 
 properly recorded in the United States." Another writer re- 
 cently, through the " Boston Daily News," claims that " the 
 Puritans originated " the " first Sunday-school in America, in 
 Roxbury, Mass., in 1674." Also, "that Ludwig Thacker an- 
 ticipated Robert Raikes by establishing a Sunday-school in 
 Ephrath, Pa., in the year 1750, which continued thirty years." 
 A reliable answer to these statements will be found in the 
 following extract from a letter to the writer, by Daniel Wise, 
 D.D., one of the best-posted writers on Sunday-schools in 
 America, he having been for sixteen years past the editor of 
 the " Sunday-School Advocate," also of the Sunday-School 
 Union Library Books, and a voluminous writer on the subject 
 of Sunday-schools. He says : " There can be no room for 
 reasonable doubt respecting the introduction of Sunday-schools 
 of modern times into America by Bishop Asbury, in 1786. 
 That sporadic cases of Sunday instruction occurred before that 
 period is probable. Such cases were known in Europe before 
 Mr. Raikes' school, but they did not grow into a system like 
 his. Mr. Asbury, doubtless, brought the modern Sunday-school 
 idea from England, and gave it practical form in America, long 
 before any other person or Church thought of doing so. The 
 sporadic cases mentioned do not set aside his claim, for tlT 
 never grew. They were purely local, limited, and died seedlel 
 His schools spread, lived, were recognized by the Methodist 
 "Episcopal Church, and finally became one of her organic parts. 
 You may fearlessly challenge the 'Daily News' writers to pro- 
 duce an analogous case, and defy them to rob our Church of 
 the historic honor of founding the American Sunday system." 
 Such errors as Dr. Wise has here corrected concerning the 
 origin of Sunday-schools in America surprised some of us
 
 1 36 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 as early as 1/90, at the conference held in 
 Charleston, S. C, Bishop Asbury presiding. 
 This conference voted to establish Sunday- 
 schools "for poor children, white and black." 
 In 1827 the Sunday-School Union was organ- 
 ized. In 1828 the General Conference made it 
 the duty of presiding elders to promote Sunday- 
 schools in their districts, and preachers in charge 
 to report Sunday-school statistics. 
 
 Such a lively interest had Methodists taken 
 in Sunday-schools all through their early his- 
 tory that it will not be a matter of special won- 
 der that the cause was found to be in this en- 
 couraging state, forty years ago ; yet there were 
 many defects in their practical workings which 
 could not be remedied except by more expe- 
 rience, and by wisely-directed and prayerful, 
 persevering efforts, such as time and needs 
 should develop. 
 
 They were not as thoroughly organized as 
 efficiency required. They were too frequently 
 suspended in the winter. They were deficient 
 
 who had made ourselves somewhat familiar with what we 
 regarded as the authentic history of Sunday-schools in our 
 country, and what we had supposed were the acknowledged 
 facts by all well-read men on the subject. Query: Is it sec- 
 tarian prejudice which causes people to withhold from our 
 Methodistic fathers the credit of founding Sabbath-schools in 
 America ?
 
 Sunday- Schools. 137 
 
 in the number- and variety of suitable library 
 books, especially for juveniles. They were 
 without the needed " Sunday-School Requisites." 
 They had no Sunday-school periodicals. With 
 all these drawbacks there was but a limited op- 
 portunity to develop what Sunday-schools could 
 with better facilities accomplish. Nevertheless 
 the cause gained volume and power constantly. 
 In 1840 Sunday-schools in our pastoral 
 charges were placed under the control of the 
 quarterly conferences. In 1841 the "Sabbath- 
 School Messenger" was started, and for eight 
 years was published in Boston. Then the 
 " Sunday-School Advocate " was. established in 
 New York, and the " Messenger " merged into 
 it. In 1844 the Rev. D. P. Kidder, D.D., was 
 elected editor of the " Sunday-School Advocate " 
 and of the Sunday-school library books, and Sec- 
 retary of the " Sunday-School Union," in which 
 capacity he served till 1856, when the Rev. D. 
 Wise, D.D., became, by the appointment of the 
 General Conference, his successor in office, 
 which he held till 1872. In 1868 Rev. J. H. 
 Vincent, D.D., was appointed editor of the 
 newly-authorized " Sunday-School Teachers' 
 Journal," and of " Sunday-School Requisites." 
 The General Conference of 1872 elected him 
 editor of " Sunday-School Books," the " Sun-
 
 138 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 day-School Advocate," the " Sunday-School 
 Journal," and "Sunday-School Requisites." 
 
 Thus it appears that from the first our prog- 
 gress has been constant and rapid, but particu- 
 larly so for the past forty years. We now num- 
 ber not less than 1,500,000 members, including 
 officers and teachers ; 2,000 volumes of Sunday- 
 school books are published by the Sunday- 
 School Union ; nearly 400,000 copies of the 
 " Sunday-School Advocate," exclusive of the 
 Canada edition, are circulated ; the " Sunday- 
 School Journal " has more than 70,000 subscrib- 
 ers ; the yearly conversions to Christ in our 
 Sunday-schools are reported to number some 
 40,000 or 50,000, while the " Department of Sun- 
 day-School Requisites " is the most extensive 
 and complete of its kind in the entire country. 
 
 " The Berean Series of Lessons," edited by 
 Dr. Vincent, is an important feature of im- 
 provement in the mode of instruction ; and the 
 " Lesson Leaves," freshly taken from the word 
 of God, the only "tree of life," whose leaves 
 are for the " healing of the nations," are found in 
 many, and should be in al', our Sunday-schools. 
 
 The " Sunday-School Journal," for superin- 
 tendents, teachers, and adult scholars, is crowd- 
 ed full of the freshest and best Sunday-school 
 matter discussions of first principles of organ
 
 Sunday-Schools. 1 39 
 
 ization, management, and teaching, practical 
 hints, reports, lists of requisites, new and sug- 
 gestive " Institute " programmes, model lessons, 
 and the best phases of our Sunday-school work. 
 
 The " Requisites " are certificates of admis- 
 sion and dismission, reward tickets, books of 
 registry, catechisms, question books, hymns 
 and music, books for teachers, maps, medals, 
 anniversary exercises, etc. 
 
 A Normal Department has also been estab- 
 lished by Dr. Vincent, with two courses of 
 study " The Church Class Course," and " The 
 Seminary Course" the first with three classes, 
 " Preparatory," " Junior," and " Senior," a very 
 thorough course, diplomas being awarded to 
 those who finish it. Under the guidance of Dr. 
 Vincent, that skillful superintendent, these vari- 
 ous instrumentalities are doing great good. 
 
 Much credit is due to Dr. Wise for his "wise" 
 and faithful labors as Secretary of the Sunday- 
 School Union, Editor of the " Sunday-School 
 Advocate" and of Sunday-School Books, to which 
 he has devoted his useful life, till recently, since 
 the General Conference of 1858, by his exten- 
 sive travels, visiting the annual conferences, 
 delivering stirring addresses, giving timely ad- 
 vice to the preachers, and employing his time 
 and talents in his office at home as a "ready
 
 140 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 writer" and pleasing editor of Sunday-school 
 literature. 
 
 At the General Conference of 1872 Dr. Vin- 
 cent, with his tried skill, especially for the past 
 four years, in the Sunday-school work, was ap- 
 pointed to be at the head of this important de- 
 partment of Church enterprise. 
 
 With all these improvements our Sunday- 
 schools, in many sections of the Church, espe- 
 cially in New England, stand greatly in need of 
 more time for. their sessions. Their entire serv- 
 ices are crowded into a brief space from forty 
 to sixty minutes when every exercise must be 
 hurried through with great rapidity, and many 
 important matters left out. 
 
 Many of our wisest and best Sunday-school 
 workers are hoping for the time to come when 
 one part of our Sabbaths, now devoted to ser- 
 mons, shall be used for such Sunday-school ex- 
 ercises as shall both please and profit not only 
 our children, but all right-minded and intelli- 
 gent adult well-wishers of the cause of God. 
 
 Should there not be also a " normal class " 
 sustained in each, of our Sunday-schools, and 
 placed under the charge of the pastor of the 
 Church, or his own appointed substitute, with 
 an outline text-book a medium between our 
 usual question books and moral philosophy
 
 Simday- Schools. ' 141 
 
 for the benefit of our best scholars and sharpest 
 minds, with particular reference to their prep- 
 aration for future usefulness as superintendents 
 and teachers ? And should not also more par- 
 ticular attention be paid, especially in our infant 
 and juvenile classes, to the language of the word 
 of God, committing important and appropriate 
 selected portions to memory ? Such lessons 
 stored in the youthful mind have produced 
 most precious fruit for time and eternity in 
 numerous instances. 
 
 The Church must not stop to glory in her 
 past success when "there remains very much 
 land to be possessed." Not only are there 
 many children and youth whose eternal wel- 
 fare may depend upon their being gathered 
 into Sunday-schools, and there trained for 
 Christ and heaven, but millions of adults are 
 out of Christ, and 'out of Sunday-schools, who 
 ought to be cared for, and, if possible, induced to 
 attend them, and made the happy recipients of 
 their saving benefits.
 
 142 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 1 Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal." 
 
 Divine Lord and Master said to his 
 own chosen ministers, " Ye have not 
 chosen me, but I have chosen you, and 
 ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth 
 fruit, and that your fruit should remain." It is 
 with great gratitude to God that I am able to 
 look back on my ministry and to know that, 
 directly or indirectly, some " precious fruit " has 
 been gathered to Christ, which remains and is 
 recognized in the Church at the present time. 
 I deeply regret that no more fruit has been 
 gathered through my imperfect efforts ; but 
 enough has been seen and acknowledged for 
 which to be most heartily thankful to my heav- 
 enly Father. I will not here refer to more re- 
 cent years, though in these I have been cheered 
 by frequent ingatherings of " precious fruit " 
 into " the garner of the Lord." But I wish to 
 encourage the young laborer for Christ by re- 
 ferring to a few special cases in my early labors
 
 Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal. 143 
 
 in the itinerant field, in which different persons 
 have been brought to Christ by special personal 
 efforts used instances of conversion which 
 have, in these many years past, had time to 
 show their gracious results on themselves, and, 
 through them, on many others. 
 
 In the immediate neighborhood of my early 
 home we had no church edifice, and only here 
 and there a person professing godliness, and 
 only occasional Sabbath preaching and week- 
 day lecture appointments by our circuit preacher. 
 Our usual places of Church attendance were 
 three and four miles away. In this state of re- 
 ligious matters our holy Christianity was at a 
 low ebb among us. 
 
 Although my own religious life began while 
 I was away from my early home, yet I had be- 
 come most intensely interested for my friends and 
 neighbors there. As before stated, I commenced 
 preaching soon after I made a public profession 
 of faith, but felt it to be a great cross to begin at 
 home. I had held but two meetings away from 
 home before I became conscious of a duty there 
 which I could not evade without treachery to 
 my Master. In accordance with my convic- 
 tions, I named to a few friends that I would hold 
 a meeting at the school-house the next evening. 
 The news spread with great rapidity. Curiosity
 
 144 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 brought out a crowded house. Under an inde- 
 scribable pressure of feeling I performed the 
 promised service as best I could. My gracious 
 Lord helped me. The word took effect Old 
 professors confessed their coldness. My only 
 sister, some years older than myself, started for 
 heaven that night, and made a public statement 
 of her purposes. She was nearly the first one 
 I baptized after my ordination, and in another 
 town became the nucleus around which a Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church was afterward gathered. 
 She was " faithful unto death." 
 
 Two years after preaching my first sermon 
 at home our people there erected and dedicated 
 a church. A revival immediately commenced 
 which gathered in a large number. Among 
 those converted several dated their deep con- 
 viction back to that meeting, so memorable to 
 me, of two years before. One of these was my 
 most intimate friend and associate, a young man 
 with whom I had, probably, spent more hours 
 than with any other person not of our own 
 family. He stated to me afterward that he very 
 unexpectedly received " barbed arrows " of truth 
 into his heart that night which he never got rid 
 of till they were drawn, and the wound healed 
 by the Lord Jesus, at his conversion. That 
 young man has for some thirty-five years past
 
 " Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal? 145 
 
 been a zealous and useful minister of the Gos- 
 pel, and is now a superannuated member of the 
 New Hampshire Conference, preaching occa- 
 sionally, as strength and opportunity will allow. 
 Brother J. B , of Woodstock, Vt, is here re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 On old Barre Station, in Vermont, some 
 thirty-four years ago, I went into a school dis- 
 trict in a remote part of the charge and held a 
 series of evening meetings. God graciously 
 blessed the effort. Some twenty souls were 
 gathered into the fold in a short time. The first 
 convert at that meeting was a young man, per- 
 haps eighteen years old. He had a good gift and 
 an excellent influence. I formed a class, which 
 embraced the few older members of the Church 
 and the new recruits, among whom was that 
 young man's father. The young man I ap- 
 pointed leader. He was faithful in this duty. 
 Soon, feeling it to be his duty to preach, he 
 left the place for Newbury Seminary, prepara- 
 tory to his life-work, and was licensed to preach. 
 This young man- is now the beloved presiding 
 elder of Montpelier District, Vermont Confer- 
 ence, the Rev. J. A. S . 
 
 Another instance of " precious fruit " gath- 
 ered in my early ministry was that of a lad, I 
 
 should judge some sixteen years of age, and I 
 10
 
 146 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 think an orphan, who lived with a Major T 
 
 at Hanover Plain, N. H. He became a mem- 
 ber of our Sunday-school, was greatly interested 
 in its exercises, and soon sought and found the 
 Saviour. I rejoiced to administer to him the 
 ordinance of baptism, and to extend to him the 
 hand of Church-fellowship. After a few years, 
 by my various removals, I lost track of him. 
 At length I found him in our Theological Sem- 
 inary at Concord, N. H. The reader may in- 
 quire of Rev. N. M , of the New England 
 
 Conference, for further particulars. 
 
 Other instances might be given of gathering 
 ministerial fruit, of early and more recent dates, 
 but these must suffice. I will relate a few in- 
 cidents in the ingathering of lay members into 
 Christ's fold. 
 
 In a certain Vermont circuit there lived a 
 careless neglecter of religion, the son of an in- 
 fidel, who taught him to despise the religion of 
 Christ, all the ordinances of the Church, and 
 her ministers. He accordingly grew up entirely 
 ignorant of our Church usages, and called the 
 ministers of the Gospel "hell-hounds." His 
 wife was trained a Universalist, and became 
 nearly as indifferent as he. Death came into 
 their little family, and removed from them a 
 beloved child. The funeral service came at
 
 Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal. 147 
 
 the time of our week-day quarterly meeting. 
 Through the influence of the Divine Spirit and 
 the afflictive providence named, " God made 
 their hearts soft, and the Almighty troubled 
 them." They were present at the evening 
 prayer- meeting. I invited seekers to arise for 
 prayers. They both quickly arose. Earnest 
 prayer was offered for them. 
 
 The next morning they were at " love-feast." 
 Near its close I, according to the custom of 
 those days, gave an opportunity for any who 
 wished to offer themselves as "probationers" 
 for the Church. To my surprise they both 
 readily arose. Judging that they had made a 
 mistake, I went to them and said, " You arose 
 to be prayed for, did you ? " They said they 
 did. I told them the difference, when the man 
 immediately responded, " Well, I think now I 
 am up, I will not back out ! " I told him we 
 sometimes took " probationers " as seekers of 
 religion, and they could join with that under- 
 standing if they chose. They both were so re- 
 ceived. At the next class-meeting they were 
 both present. When the man was spoken to 
 he arose and said, " I don't feel as I want to ; 
 I want to be the first on the docket /" The 
 woman spoke nearly as follows : " I take great 
 consolation. I am so glad the Lord has showed
 
 148 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. ' 
 
 me my error. I used to think ' there wouldn't 
 a sparrow fall,' but I am thankful to see where I 
 have been. I take great comfort !" We said, 
 " Thank-the Lord." " O," said she, " don't be de- 
 ceived about me ! I am not converted, but I do 
 take great consolation." We could not refrain 
 from praising the Lord again for two more pre- 
 cious souls saved by grace. They proved faithful, 
 and made good members of the Church. Years 
 after we learned that neither had " backed out," 
 but both were taking "great consolation," and 
 trying to be among " the first on the docket " 
 in their duties and privileges. 
 
 Another manifestation of saving grace was 
 one connected with our interesting Sunday- 
 school at Hanover some less than forty years 
 ago. Our sisters of that Church, seeing the neces- 
 sity of getting access to poor children for Sun- 
 day-school, formed a "Ladies' Sunday-School 
 Clothing Society," with good results. Among 
 the "clothed" was a poor girl, about twelve 
 years old, whose father was a drunkard and moth- 
 er sickly. Their poverty was extreme, and their 
 home disagreeable by reason of rum and filth. 
 The daughter was sought after for the Sunday- 
 school, and respectably clothed. She became 
 a Sunday-school scholar, made good improve- 
 ment, sought and found the Saviour, to the great
 
 Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal. 149 
 
 joy of her heart and ours. After many years 
 we met her again. She was well-dressed, well- 
 married, and a good appearing Christian lady 
 living in a New England city, and, report said, 
 sustained a good social position there. She 
 introduced us to her mother, who had also be- 
 come a lover of the Saviour, and greatly changed 
 for the better, in dress and general appearance, 
 from former days. 
 
 Another instance of the elevating power of 
 Christianity was manifested in the case of a 
 poor, ignorant, quarreling, hard-drinking Irish 
 family. There were two little children, a son, 
 some six or seven years old, and a daughter, 
 younger, in the family. I asked the parents to 
 let them go to our Sunday-school. They re- 
 pulsed me. I called again on the same errand. 
 They said they could not clothe them decently 
 to go. I offered, in behalf of the " Clothing 
 Society," to supply the lack of clothes. They 
 consented. The clothes were soon provided. 
 The next Sabbath morn as early as half past 
 nine o'clock the proud father led into our home 
 his two little bright-eyed, well-dressed children, 
 never prouder of them than then, and said to 
 me in his Irish brogue, " I present them to you, 
 sir." We took them to church, gave them seats 
 in the parsonage pew, and put them into good
 
 1 50 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 classes in Sunday-school. Thus for weeks we 
 took kind care of them. They behaved well, 
 and made good progress. One day said the 
 father to me, " How do my children behave in 
 church ? I think I must come and see." He 
 came, and then again. At length said he, " Do 
 you know of any one in your church who will 
 rent me a pew ? I must go to church regular- 
 ly." The pew was soon found. They all be- 
 came regular " church-goers." In a few months 
 they both sought "the pearl of great price," and 
 all came to be among our warmest friends. 
 The next year the well-preserved clothes were 
 presented back to the society with the saying, 
 " We are able to clothe our own children, and 
 these clothes will do other poor children some 
 good." Not only did he clothe his children, but 
 paid for his preaching also. What a change in 
 that wretched family in the course of a few 
 months ! The children grew up to be re- 
 spected, and the parents now occupy and own 
 a good, .well-furnished house, and have a good 
 social position in that village. 
 
 In the same place where these cases last 
 referred to occurred there was another of a 
 very different grade, which, by its peculiarly 
 novel and interesting characteristics, should be 
 here recorded. A highly intelligent, well-edu-
 
 Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal. 151 
 
 cated lady, who was regarded as a very decided 
 Universalist, was employed as teacher of the 
 village high school. I found her constantly at 
 church on the Sabbath, and at length a member 
 of Mrs. C.'s Bible-class, and she soon asked the 
 privilege of coming to our house on Saturday 
 eve, and, with the use of our books, studying her 
 Bible-class lesson in connection with us. We 
 sought to be courteous in our treatment of her, 
 and cautious, perhaps over-cautious, not to mo- 
 lest her sentiments, as she was equally cautious 
 never to molest ours. 
 
 A few weeks only passed away before she 
 came in expressly to have some conversation 
 on what to her and to us was a subject of 
 very great interest. " I have come," said she, 
 "to say to you that I want to join your 
 Church. I am a Universalist, but believe I 
 have experienced religion, and my Universalist 
 preachers do not feed me. They do not preach 
 Christian experience, and I am not satisfied 
 without hearing it preached as I think I have 
 it. You preach it as I understand it, and I 
 think I can live religion better by joining the 
 Church than to undertake to live out of it." 
 
 I said, "Miss H., hpw can you subscribe to 
 our Church faith and usages and still be, as you 
 say you are, a Universalist ? " She readily re-
 
 152 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 plied, "I do not want to be tenacious about 
 Universalism. It may be true, and may not. 
 I think eventually all will reach heaven, but I 
 am willing to let this be my silent belief, as I 
 am with you in other doctrines." I replied, 
 " Miss H., what if some day you should hear 
 some of us preach on future and endless pun- 
 ishment, and when you got home your father, a 
 most decided Universalist, should say to you, 
 ' Well, Rosaline, have you had. hell-fire and dam- 
 nation preached to you to-day ? ' what could you 
 say to it ? " 
 
 She respectfully answered, " I should say 
 to him, 'Our minister preached what I have 
 no doubt he sincerely believes, and I have no 
 disposition to find fault with him about it.' " 
 Being satisfied that she would be true to her 
 Church obligations, and an ornament to the 
 cause, I went out to consult the leader and 
 other official members near by to learn what 
 position they would take in her case. They all 
 said, " Take her ; she will- know before her six 
 months' probation is out what she is." 
 
 Returning, I reported our decision. She re- 
 plied, " I thank you for your willingness to re- 
 ceive me, and for your thoroughness with 
 me. I expected it, and am glad to have 
 it so, Now I want in two weeks from next
 
 Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal. 153 
 
 Sabbath to be baptized at the altar and received 
 on probation, if you are willing." This being 
 agreed to, she then proceeded to say, " Before I 
 go any further in this matter I shall go home 
 and tell my father just what I have decided 
 upon, and invite him to come and be with me 
 when I am baptized. If it has no other effect 
 he will respect me for my frankness and invita- 
 tion." 
 
 When the time arrived she was in her place 
 for the ordinance, but without her father. 
 The occasion was one of special interest and 
 profit. She from that day forth never failed in 
 social meetings to bear testimony for Christ, 
 never for once indicating there or elsewhere 
 that she was a Universalist. At the end 
 of her six months' probation she joined in full. 
 She lived a few years a faithful and true 
 Christian, an ornament to the Church, and 
 died happy, greatly lamented, and beloved 
 by all her acquaintances. Her father and 
 other Universalist relatives, though professedly 
 unchanged in sentiment, for Rosaline's sake 
 ever after this spoke well of the Church of her 
 choice. 
 
 Another interesting instance of sowing beside 
 all waters and of gathering fruit unto life eternal 
 is worthy of record here. It will illustrate the
 
 154 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 power of Gospel truth, providentially brought to 
 bear upon the people of a certain parish through 
 the silent teachings of 
 
 ONE GOOD AND USEFUL BOOK. 
 
 The place alluded to is situated on the banks 
 of White River, Vermont, a place where Calvin- 
 istic doctrines and old Puritanic usages had 
 almost unlimited sway thirty or forty years ago. 
 There no other than the parish Church had place 
 among them. The place, like ancient Jericho, 
 was straitly shut up. No other Christian peo- 
 ple than their own were allowed, if it was possi- 
 ble to prevent it, to come in to invade their 
 pretended rights ; so said outside reports. 
 Their parish minister was dull and prosy, his 
 sermons long and tedious. Report said he was 
 nearing the day of his dismissal. 
 
 This old parish was within the bounds of a 
 certain circuit to which the writer, thirty years 
 ago, had been a short time appointed. In one 
 of our circuit tours, Mrs. C. being with me, we, 
 being unacquainted with the roads, chanced to 
 take the wrong one, and came out at the afore- 
 said village, where we were perfect strangers. 
 As we came in sight of it our horse accidentally 
 stepped upon a sharp-pointed stake, which 
 caused it to be violently thrown up, making a
 
 Gathering Fruit iinto Life Eternal. 155 
 
 deep wound in his flesh, and causing him to 
 furiously run our carriage against a solid rock 
 at the roadside, when we were violently thrown 
 out, harness and wagon broken, the horse ap- 
 parently bleeding to death, and, vastly worse 
 than all the rest, Mrs. C. was lying helpless on 
 the ground, and it was feared fatally wounded. 
 
 We were taken to the house of a good hospi- 
 table lady, where Mrs. C. was well cared for. 
 Here we were detained for weeks by her severe 
 sickness. When it was possible to remove to 
 our home, and our bills for board, nursing, 
 horse-keeping, and mending up a broken wagon 
 and harness were called for, we had none to pay, 
 except a small doctor's bill, not a fourth part 
 usually charged for such service rendered. The 
 good woman who bore the main expense ac- 
 cepted the present of a few good books, among 
 which was " Mahan on Christian Perfection." 
 
 One day Captain H. came in and found her 
 reading it. He asked for its title. On being 
 told what it was, and how she came by it, he 
 remarked, " Better not read it ; it is Method- 
 ist heresy." She laid it aside. 
 
 Relating these facts to a live member of that 
 Church, he said, " Lend it to me, / will read 
 it." He took and read it ; then another and 
 another. It set their souls on fire of love divine.
 
 156 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 They said, " If these things are so, we must have 
 prayer-meetings specially to pray for more re- 
 ligion." They were held, when others caught 
 the flame. At length came the pastor of the 
 Church, who also was warmed by the same in- 
 fluence, and preached with new power. A re- 
 vival followed, converts were added to the 
 Church, and their formerly dull minister, being 
 as good as new, gave good satisfaction for years 
 longer. 
 
 All this good fruit, this rich harvest, is said 
 to have sprung from that good seed thus provi- 
 dentially sowed. Not Methodist heresy, but 
 Gospel truth, published by a Presbyterian au- 
 thor, " brought forth fruit into life eternal." 
 
 One more reminiscence must suffice. On 
 the Winchester Station, some twenty-five years 
 ago, the writer called on all who would enlist 
 for a revival of religion to meet at the parson- 
 age the next Monday evening. Of a large 
 Church-membership about a dozen came. The 
 pastor presented to them a written plan for 
 systematic personal effort to save souls, con- 
 taining a pledge by which we bound ourselves to 
 work according to the proposed plan till we 
 should see a revival, and as much longer as we 
 should see best. All signed it. Then we prayed 
 for the blessing of God on the contemplated
 
 Gathering Fruit unto Life Eternal. 157 
 
 effort. Among other things, we promised each 
 to select some particular one to pray and labor 
 for, without mentioning to each other who that 
 one should be, and meet once a week and re- 
 port our success, and pray for each other and 
 for our own selected subjects for prayer. Sev- 
 eral of us, it was afterward found, had fixed our 
 minds upon an intelligent, moral young gentle- 
 man, who had for some time been a Bible-class 
 teacher in the Sunday-school. At our second 
 meeting he came in and reported himself thus : 
 " Last Monday night, when you were praying 
 so earnestly for somebody, I leaned over my 
 garden fence, (he lived near by,) and wished I 
 knew if you were praying for me. I could not 
 help weeping. I thought if you were so ear- 
 nest for me I ought to be in earnest for myself. 
 Thank God, I know now you were praying for 
 me. I have found the Saviour, and now I am 
 willing to take hold with you and help save 
 others." He nobly redeemed his pledge. Each 
 week, by the same personal effort, varied only 
 by a change of circumstances, drew to the altar 
 other seeking souls, who were . soon " brought 
 into the glorious light and liberty of the Gos- 
 pel," until some fifty " were added to the 
 Lord." 
 
 Few laymen in the Church have proved more
 
 158 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 faithful, or have been the means of the conver- 
 sion of more sinners to Christ, than has our 
 brother in Christ, W. J. C., now a merchant in 
 the city of Nashua, N. H. 
 
 May our young laborers in the Gospel field 
 ministers and lay-members take courage from 
 the foregoing record of successful effort for 
 Christ to " sow by the side of the waters," that 
 they may " gather fruit unto life eternal," " fruit 
 that shall remain," that both the sower and the 
 reaper may rejoice together when the "sheaves " 
 shall be gathered into the heavenly " garner."
 
 Educational Advantages. 159 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Educational Advantages Forty Years Ago 
 and Now. 
 
 METHODIST SEMINARIES, FEMALE COLLEGES, 
 AND ACADEMIES. 
 
 UR Church had, in all her borders, but 
 five seminaries and academies forty 
 years ago. Two of these were in New 
 England, and three in New York. " The Wilbra- 
 ham Academy," in Massachusetts, was founded 
 in 1826, and the "Maine Wesleyan Seminary," 
 at Kent's Hill, a few years later. Those in 
 New York were the " East Genesee Confer- 
 ence Seminary," at Ovid, founded in 1824; the 
 " Central New York Conference Seminary," at 
 Cazenovia, established in 1825 ; and the "Grif- 
 fith Institute," at Springfield, established in 
 1829. The " Newbury Seminary," in Vermont, 
 was not founded until 1833. 
 
 The first academic institution of the Meth- 
 odists in this country was established at South 
 New Market, N. H., in the year 1817. For
 
 160 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 several years it enjoyed a good degree of pros- 
 perity. In it " Father Taylor," of " Seamen's 
 Bethel " fame, Amos Binney, and others of note 
 in the ministry, were once scholars. Martin 
 Ruter, D.D., was its first principal. This school 
 in a few years was transferred to Wilbraham, 
 Mass. The building is now occupied as a 
 dwelling-house and store. Now there are under 
 the patronage of this same Church one hun- 
 dred and twenty academies and seminaries in 
 different parts of our country, manned by eight 
 hundred professors, and enrolled on their cata- 
 logues are not less than twenty-two thousand 
 students. Some two million dollars are in- 
 vested in the buildings, apparatus, and books 
 connected therewith. Thousands have gone 
 forth from them into various useful avoca- 
 tions of business life, to bless mankind with 
 their influence. Thousands more are seeking 
 preparation in them for future and extensive 
 usefulness. 
 
 One marked characteristic of these schools 
 is, that each year, in most or all of them, gra- 
 cious revivals of religion are enjoyed, when 
 large numbers of our precious youth consecrate 
 their hearts and lives to Christ, and thus seek 
 not only mental but moral and Christian fitness 
 for their life-work.
 
 Educational Advantages. 161 
 
 We will consider next the number and con- 
 dition of our 
 
 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES THEN AND NOW. 
 
 In New England Methodism had, forty years 
 ago, the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, 
 Conn. It was then in its infancy, having been 
 established but one year. Its origin is of spe- 
 cial interest to all lovers of education among us. 
 It was on this wise : The buildings had been 
 owned and occupied by " The Middletown Lit- 
 erary and Scientific Society," and were valued at 
 thirty thousand or forty thousand dollars. It was 
 offered to the New England and New York Con- 
 ferences, on condition that they would add to it 
 forty thousand dollars more, and thereby estab- 
 lish a University. The offer was gladly ac- 
 cepted, and the money soon raised. The late 
 Wilbur Fisk, D.D., of blessed memory, then 
 principal of the Wilbraham Academy, who had 
 been greatly instrumental in raising the requi- 
 site funds, was elected its first president. 
 
 Just forty years ago two other colleges were 
 brought under the control of our Church, name- 
 ly, Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pa., with J. P. 
 Durbin, D.D., at its head, and the Alleghany 
 College, at Meadville, Pa., with Martin Ruter, 
 
 D.D., for its first president. 
 11
 
 1 62 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Before these colleges came into being our 
 Church labored under great disadvantages, and 
 graduated but few of her sons. Some had en- 
 tered colleges where denominational prejudices 
 were strong against our ecclesiastical organ- 
 ization and doctrines. Having been nurtured 
 by Methodist parents, they became disgusted 
 with their sectarian surroundings, and left be- 
 fore graduating, or became alienated from the 
 Church of their early preferences, and when 
 graduating gave their influence to other denom- 
 inations, or became lost to all Church attach- 
 ments. 
 
 Only here and there could be found one who 
 endured all these fiery ordeals, to which he was 
 subjected on account of his Church preferences, 
 and graduated true to his earlier convictions of 
 truth and duty. Indeed, our Methodist fathers 
 were strongly prejudiced against college-made 
 ministers, as they called them, believing that 
 men truly called of God, and endowed with 
 power from on high, would, with proper care 
 and study, whether highly educated or not, 
 make better ministers than self-called or col- 
 lege-educated ones. 
 
 With these prejudices and embarrassments 
 in their way, they were not forward to send 
 their sons to college. Can it. therefore, be any
 
 Educational Advantages* 163 
 
 great marvel that the denomination had no 
 more college graduates in her ministry and 
 membership ? 
 
 What a favorable change has been wrought 
 in these educational interests during these past 
 forty years ! We have now twenty-eight col- 
 leges and universities, conveniently located in 
 different sections of our Church-membership, 
 some of which are being richly endowed by our 
 men of " princely wealth," and by the equally 
 generous and noble contributions of the men 
 and women of less financial ability. The last 
 sprang into being as if by magic. " The Bos- 
 ton University" takes its origin from the heart 
 and brain of the late Isaac Rich, Esq., who has 
 left for it the ample endowment of one million 
 dollars. It has its departments of " theology," 
 "law," and "music" already established, and its 
 magnificent destiny and usefulness are made 
 sure. 
 
 These institutions are manned by more than 
 two hundred professors, who have educated for 
 future usefulness and graduated some thou- 
 sands of young men who are now occupying, 
 with rare exceptions, important positions in 
 society, and exerting a wide-spreading and 
 salutary influence in the world. 
 
 These two hundred professors, have now un-
 
 164 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 der their careful training more than six thou- 
 sand students, who are soon to go forth to 
 occupy equally important positions, in the 
 Church and out of it, with those who had grad- 
 uated before them. A powerful influence for 
 good is being widely felt and acknowledged by 
 all observers, in a higher state of mental culture 
 and social position, in our own and other Chris- 
 tian Churches. 
 
 FEMALE COLLEGES. 
 
 Special attention has been directed, also, 
 within the past forty years, by our Church to 
 female education. In the list of educational 
 institutions given in this chapter more than 
 twenty were chartered as female colleges, and 
 various others are connected with our acade- 
 mies and seminaries, where large numbers of 
 ladies have been educated in all the branches 
 of learning required, who have graduated with 
 college honors. They are found every-where 
 and in all departments of useful life. They are 
 teachers in common and high schools, in semi- 
 naries and colleges. They are editors of peri- 
 odicals and authors of books missionaries in 
 domestic and foreign fields. But more are in 
 our best families, exerting their comparatively 
 silent but salutary influence in their respective
 
 Educational Advantages. 165 
 
 home circles. Several male colleges of high re- 
 pute have of late yielded to the pressing de- 
 mands which have been brought to bear upon 
 them, and opened their doors for the admission 
 and education of women, and to all the benefits 
 and honors within their gift. Others will soon 
 follow the good example thus set them a meas- 
 ure which an enlightened public sentiment will 
 yet heartily approve. 
 
 Our Church has also at her command a 
 funded capital, for educational purposes, of not 
 less than $100,000, which is committed to the 
 care of an able board of trustees appointed by the 
 General Conference, and held by them in trust 
 for the purpose of aiding our Church educa- 
 tional interests in the different parts of our 
 widely-extended Zion. 
 
 There has been an evident demand for years 
 past for a more efficient plan and better system- 
 atized financial equality in sustaining these in- 
 stitutions, and a more elevated position in our 
 educational matters than has heretofore ex- 
 isted. Such a want, it is hoped, will be met 
 in the provisions made at our last General 
 Conference for, and the appointment of, a Secre- 
 tary of Education, to devote his entire time and 
 talents to the one business of guiding and 
 guarding these great Church interests.
 
 1 66 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 With great unanimity our General Conference 
 elected to this office that learned and efficient 
 educator, E. O. Haven, D.D., LL.D., of the 
 North-western Wesleyan University.* It is the 
 verdict of the Church that he is " the right man 
 in the right place " for raising the standard of 
 education and of imparting new life into the 
 various departments of our educational interests. 
 
 The progress already made in endowing and 
 sustaining our denominational schools, it is be- 
 lieved, has not been surpassed if equaled by 
 any other denomination of Christians in this 
 country. 
 
 We come now to compare the difference in 
 the sentiment and condition of our Church with 
 reference to 
 
 THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS THEN AND NOW. 
 
 Our denomination had no theological schools 
 within her borders forty years ago. Her pre- 
 vailing sentiment was entirely against ever 
 establishing them. 
 
 But it must not be inferred from this that our 
 young ministers had no " theological " training. 
 Far from this. There was a " course of study " 
 ordered by each annual conference which all, 
 
 * See General Conference Records of 1872.
 
 Educational Advantages. 167 
 
 on their two years' probation in the conference, 
 were required to study most thoroughly. It 
 embraced the " Doctrines of the Bible," " Church 
 Government," " Church History," and English 
 branches. 
 
 Our text-books for careful study were the 
 Bible, " Wesley's Sermons," " Watson's Insti- 
 tutes," " Fletcher's Checks," " Watson's Dic- 
 tionary," " Ruter's Church History," " The 
 Methodist Discipline," and some other books. 
 This " course " demanded of our young ministers 
 a thorough application of their time and talents. 
 
 He who could pass a satisfactory examination 
 in every particular, at the termination of his 
 two years' " course',' before a " committee of ex- 
 amination," consisting of the wisest heads and 
 closest critics in the conference, was regarded 
 quite fortunate. To be successful he was 
 obliged to study late and early in his temporary 
 homes ; and having " no certain abiding place," 
 together with his constant change of circum- 
 stances, his mode of travel, his needed prepa- 
 rations for the Sabbath, and numerous inter- 
 ruptions from study in various ways, he was 
 compelled to resort also, at times, to barns, or 
 shade-trees, or the thicker forests " God's first 
 temple " to pursue his studies. 
 
 At the close of my first year in conference
 
 1 68 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 I attended its annual session and listened to 
 the examination of the class of that year, and 
 found it to be exceedingly rigid. Several whom 
 I had supposed to be well prepared for exami- 
 nation were pronounced by the committee to 
 be "deficient," and were put over to another 
 year for re-examination. This alarmed me^ 
 causing me to quicken my efforts in order to 
 be prepared for my "day of trial," lest I too 
 should share a similar fate. 
 
 When my day came the committee, to my 
 unspeakable relief, pronounced my examination 
 " satisfactory," and I was admitted to full mem- 
 bership in the conference. I have never re- 
 gretted this thorough drill of those two years 
 in that " old-fashioned " theological school of 
 earlier Methodism. 
 
 About this time the subject of " theological 
 schools " of the modern kind began to be agi- 
 tated in the Church. It met with marked op- 
 position from most of our ministers and members. 
 Some prophesied if Methodism established them 
 " her glory would depart " from her, and " Icha- 
 bod be written on her walls." Such schools 
 were contemptuously denominated " minister 
 mills," and their graduates " men-made minis- 
 ters," which the mills ground out. 
 
 As the subject continued to be agitated new
 
 Educational Advantages. 169 
 
 advocates continued to increase in their favor, 
 especially in the New England conferences ; 
 but in the South and West the opposition con- 
 tinued for a much longer time. I well remem- 
 ber the opposition of a General Conference 
 officer, a member of the " old Baltimore Con- 
 ference," who visited ours. By invitation he 
 preached to us. In the course of his sermon 
 he uttered, apparently with great delight, the 
 following sentiment, in nearly these words : " I 
 have heard," said he, " of a wonderful thing un- 
 der the sun. I have heard that men take the 
 pure Gospel seed and carry it to a ' theological 
 mill,' and get it ground to fine flour, and then 
 sow it over the people, and wonder why it 
 doesn't spring up and ' bear fruit.' " This I 
 considered to be the echo of the opposition in 
 the South and West to the new ideas advocated 
 by some of our best minds in New England. 
 
 Dr. Abel Stevens had then returned from his 
 visit to the " Wesleyan Theological School," at 
 Hoxton, in England, and had become an enthu- 
 siastic admirer of its order, which he regarded 
 as "almost divine," and it had "set his heart 
 on fire," and he determined to encourage the 
 plan in America. Also, Dr. Stephen Olin vis- 
 ited the same school with similar effect. So 
 also did Dr. Wilbur Fisk, who determined to
 
 170 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 open a " theological department " in the uni- 
 versity of which he was president. Such a 
 department, in the midst of great opposition, 
 was opened in the year 1838, and it continued 
 to be open for theological students for the 
 space of four or five years, when other means 
 for theological training were provided. 
 
 The opposition in New England so far gave 
 way that the trustees of Newbury Seminary, 
 in the year 1843, opened a theological depart- 
 ment therein, and invited Rev. Prof. Will- 
 iam M. Willett to become its first president 
 and teacher of Hebrew and sacred literature. 
 This post he accepted and creditably filled. In 
 the year 1845 John Dempster, D.D., became 
 connected with the institute. It was soon re- 
 moved to Concord, N. H., and established on 
 a much larger scale, where it continued for 
 some twenty years in successful operation, 
 and then was removed to Boston, where it has 
 become more richly endowed, and is now a 
 theological department in the " Boston Univer- 
 sity," manned by a strong board of theological 
 professors. 
 
 Our Church has also one in the West the 
 Garrett Theological Seminary, at Evanston, 111. ; 
 another in New Jersey the Drew Theological 
 Seminary; and one in the South the Clark
 
 Educational A dvantages. 171 
 
 Theological Seminary, at Atlanta, S. C., with 
 Rev. J. W. Lee at its head. 
 
 At these institutions from two hundred and 
 fifty to three hundred young men, who claim 
 to be called of God to the work of the Chris- 
 tian ministry, are being prepared, mentally and 
 spiritually, for the commencement of their im- 
 portant life-work. Hundreds more have been 
 educated in them who are now doing efficient 
 service, at home and in the foreign fields, in the 
 various departments of the Lord's vineyard. 
 
 PERIODICAL LITERATURE THEN AND NOW. 
 
 American Methodism, forty years ago, had 
 under her patronage and control our excellent 
 " Quarterly Review," with a limited circulation, 
 mostly among the preachers. It had been 
 published fifteen years. We had our official 
 weekly organ " The Christian Advocate and 
 Journal" which had been established seven 
 or eight years, and one semi-official weekly 
 "The Zion's Herald" published in Boston, 
 Mass. This was established in 1823, and 
 therefore is the oldest Methodist weekly peri- 
 odical in the world. I think these embrace the 
 entire list of our periodicals forty years ago. 
 
 What an astonishing change has taken place 
 in periodical literature since then, both in their
 
 172 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 number and quality! "The Quarterly Review" 
 has been much enlarged and greatly improved, 
 and its circulation extensively increased. "The 
 Christian Advocate and Journal" is much en- 
 larged and improved, with a circulation far 
 more extensive than then. So also has that 
 older New England organ "Zion's Herald" 
 not only changed its size and form, but has a 
 vastly wider circulation than in its more youth- 
 ful days. 
 
 Besides these, we have nine weekly official 
 "Christian Advocates" published from the 
 different presses of the denomination in the 
 various localities of the country. " Zion's 
 Herald," though never dependent on the funds 
 of our Book Concern for support, has had 
 from its youth a large and vigorous growth, 
 and now, near the close of its half century, 
 is loved and honored as equal at least to 
 the best weekly Methodist periodicals of the 
 Church. There are several other semi-official 
 and official periodicals, owned by members of 
 our Church, and patronized mainly by the de- 
 nomination, which have extensive circulation in 
 the country. 
 
 Of monthly magazines, there is the " Ladies' 
 Repository," with its extensive circulation 
 throughout the country. It is justly termed
 
 Educational Advantages. 173 
 
 " The Queen of the Monthlies." It is published 
 at Cincinnati, O., and has reached its thirty- 
 eighth volume. " The Golden Hours," another 
 monthly, also published at the Western Book 
 Room, is a first-class illustrated work for juve- 
 niles. The last General Conference also author- 
 ized, conditionally, the publication of a " Literary 
 Monthly Magazine " in Boston, Mass., which is 
 soon to appear before the reading public. 
 
 Besides the " Sunday-School Advocate," a 
 child's paper, now ordered to be a weekly, hav- 
 ing a circulation of more than three hundred 
 thousand copies the largest circulation of any 
 like publication in the world we have the 
 " Sunday-School Journal," for adults, " The 
 Sunday-School Bell," in the German, and the 
 " Sunday-School Messenger," in the Swedish 
 languages, "The Missionary Advocate," and 
 " The Good News." All these periodicals can- 
 not fail to produce a powerful influence for good 
 on vast numbers of the people of our country. 
 
 What marvelous improvements in our literary 
 advantages in the past forty years !
 
 174 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Methodism and the Abolition of Slavery. 
 
 fHE question of the immediate abolition of 
 slavery in the United States was scarcely 
 agitated in our Church or in the country 
 by any class of people forty years ago. Al- 
 though there were some three millions of men, 
 women, and children held in abject bondage, 
 recognized in law as mere goods' and chattels, 
 and although there were some thousands of 
 these held by southern members of the said 
 Church, yet these facts seemed to awaken no 
 serious alarm among our people, even in the 
 Northern States. 
 
 In the South, Methodist slaveholders sought 
 to justify themselves by claiming that under 
 certain circumstances the Bible sanctioned the 
 holding of slaves. The laws of their States 
 allowed and shielded them in it, and the Dis- 
 cipline of the Church threw around them its 
 arms of protection. 
 
 The northern members seemed to feel that it
 
 The Abolition of Slavery. 175 
 
 was enough that the Church, from her origin, 
 had recorded her decided verdict against the 
 institution, and therefore it was the wisest pol- 
 icy to let it take its own course in our Church 
 under their humane masters and the ameliorat- 
 ing influence of the Gospel of Christ. This was 
 the position, as I understand it, taken by a ma- 
 jority of her ministers and members on this 
 subject forty years ago. 
 
 In its confirmation I give the following ex- 
 tract from high authority : " The course pur- 
 sued by the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 from the beginning of her existence, in refer- 
 ence and in opposition to slavery, as it has 
 all along existed in the United States, proves 
 that she has always considered it an evil not to 
 be tolerated, except under given circumstances, 
 and that such circumstances exist in some por- 
 tions of our Union, where such severe penal 
 laws have been enacted against emancipation 
 as to justify her in holding in her communion 
 those who hold slaves, provided they are other- 
 wise pious. That this was her doctrine is prov- 
 able from the whole course of her proceeding, 
 from the time of her organization in 1784. 
 
 " At that time were passed the severest laws 
 against slavery which we find upon record at 
 any time of her existence ; but even these aimed
 
 1 76 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 at gradual, and did not insist upon immediate 
 emancipation ; yet finding upon experiment that 
 these severe rules could not be carried into ex- 
 ecution without producing greater evil than that 
 which it was designed to remove, in about six 
 months after they were passed they were sus- 
 pended and have never been revived, nor were 
 they ever inserted in the Discipline. 
 
 " At almost every General Conference some 
 enactment has been made for the purpose of 
 regulating slavery, of modifying or of mitigat- 
 ing its character, with a view ultimately, if prac- 
 ticable, to do it away. This has been the doc- 
 trine, and these have been the measures of our 
 Church in reference to this most difficult and 
 perplexing subject ; and they prove incontesta- 
 bly that she does not, nor has at any time, con- 
 sidered slaveholding, under all circumstances, 
 of such a deadly character as to 'exclude a man 
 from the kingdom of grace and glory.' " * 
 
 I think this expresses the general verdict of 
 our Church on the subject forty years ago. It 
 was then thought to be just as high an anti- 
 slavery position as the Church could sustain. 
 But it is not the strong, high, and bold verdict 
 of Methodism, as given by Wesley, when he 
 
 * Dr. Bangs' History of Methodism, vol. iv, for the year 
 1S36.
 
 The Abolition of Slavery. 177 
 
 declared that " Men-buyers are exactly on a 
 level with men-stealers ;" and when to slave- 
 holders he said, " Thy hands, thy bed, thy fur- 
 niture, thy house, thy lands are at present 
 stained with blood." Nor is it the sentiment 
 of Dr. Adam Clarke, who said, " In heathen 
 countries slavery was in some sort excusable, 
 but among Christians it is an enormity and a 
 crime, for which perdition itself has scarcely an 
 adequate state of punishment." Nor is it in 
 accordance with the verdict of Methodism in 
 1 780, that is, four years before our Church was or- 
 ganized, when she uttered in her conference the 
 following verdict against the peculiar institu- 
 tion : " Slavery is contrary to the laws of God, 
 man, and nature, hurtful to society, contrary to 
 the dictates of a pure conscience and pure re- 
 ligion, and 'doing what we would not that 
 others should do unto us.' " And they passed 
 their disapprobation upon all our friends who 
 kept slaves, and advised their freedom. 
 
 When the Church was organized in 1784 she 
 adopted the following rules : " Every member 
 of our societies shall legally execute and record 
 an instrument for the purpose of setting every 
 slave in his possession free within the space of 
 two years." 
 
 Among others was this also : " Ever)' person 
 12
 
 178 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 concerned who will not comply with these rules 
 shall have liberty to withdraw from our Society 
 within the twelve months following the notice 
 being given aforesaid, otherwise the assistant 
 shall exclude him from the Society." 
 
 Again, " Those who buy or sell slaves, or give 
 them away unless on purpose to free them, 
 should be expelled immediately." 
 
 Such was the verdict of Methodism in her 
 early days ; but forty years ago not one fourth 
 part of the article in the Discipline against slav- 
 ery, which had been there thirty-two years be- 
 fore, remained. The General Conferences from 
 time to time had so modified the' terms of 
 membership, and widened the door to such an 
 extent, that slaveholders could easily enter and 
 peacefully stay in her communion. Hence forty 
 years ago slavery had acquired a strong posi- 
 tion in the Church as well as in the nation. 
 
 This was our sad condition as a Church when 
 the abolition agitation began among us. It 
 first took strong hold upon our Methodism in 
 the New Hampshire and New England Confer- 
 ences. The large majority of our ministers and 
 lay members became abolitionists in some two 
 years after the agitation began. 
 
 In the year 1835, when our delegates to the 
 General Conference were chosen in these Con-
 
 The Abolition of Slavery. 179 
 
 ferences, it was found that all in the New 
 Hampshire, and all but two in the New En- 
 gland Conference, were abolitionists. These 
 constituted " the immortal fourteen," who stood 
 up manfully for the cause in the midst of a 
 powerful opposition in the General Conference 
 of 1836. 
 
 At the General Conference of that year two 
 delegates, both members of the New Hampshire 
 Conference, Revs. George Storrs and Samuel 
 Norris, had taken the liberty to go into an anti- 
 slavery meeting in the city of Cincinnati, where 
 its session was held, and had expressed freely 
 their abolition sentiments therein, for which act 
 they were severely censured by the conference. 
 Resolutions of censure were offered, and, after a 
 most exciting discussion, were almost unani- 
 mously adopted. " The immortal fourteen," as 
 they were often afterward called, and these only, 
 stood up for the right, and answered to their 
 names when called by their emphatic nays 
 against the unjust action. This resolution re- 
 mained on its journal till 1868, when, in the 
 General Conference of that year, Rev. L. D. 
 Barrows, D.D., as chairman of the Committee 
 on the State of the Church, presented a resolu- 
 tion to expunge it from the records, which was 
 adopted.
 
 i8o Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 So fearfully ran the excitement in the Gen- 
 eral Conference of 1836, that some of the mem- 
 bers of that body feared, or at least claimed to 
 fear, that the gross offense of the offending two 
 would be the cause of creating a mob, and thus 
 bring their great ecclesiastical council into dis- 
 repute. The censured members, however, sur- 
 vived the shock, and antislaveryism continued 
 to spread more and more both in and out of 
 the Church, though its advocates were pro- 
 scribed, and all manner of efforts were put forth 
 to cause them to " cease agitating the subject." 
 
 The position of affairs in the Church on this 
 subject at that time is correctly set forth in 
 the following extract from a letter written by 
 one of " the immortal fourteen " above referred 
 to : " Respecting the origin of abolitionism in 
 the Church," says he, " I distinctly recollect 
 that O. Scott, Geo. Storrs, J. Horton, and L. 
 Sunderland were in the field as lecturers, and 
 led the van among the Methodists, accompanied 
 by J. A. Merrill, P. Crandall, J. F. Adams, 
 Elihu Scott, A. D. Merrill, and other less 
 prominent but effective workers in the cause. 
 These were contemporaries with Wm. L. Garri- 
 son, J. Leavitt, J. G. Birney, Garret Smith, and 
 others of note, for a year or two previous to 
 the General Conference of 1836. Till then the
 
 The Abolition of Slavery. 181 
 
 abolitionists in the Church had been confined 
 to New England. The two conferences New 
 Hampshire and New England had acquired a 
 majority, and chose abolition delegates to, that 
 conference. 
 
 Here, for the first time, abolitionism became 
 a disturbing element in the counsels of the 
 highest judicatory of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. Though their number was small, their 
 heroism having been tested in their own annual 
 conferences, their influence was felt in debate 
 on the floor of the General Conference. In 
 attempting to crush them by a sweeping reso- 
 lution denouncing " modern abolitionism," four- 
 teen voters stood up to record their names in 
 opposition. 
 
 It seems difficult, even at this short space of 
 time since the abolition of slavery in the nation, 
 to realize the kind and degree of prejudice that 
 then prevailed against the abolitionists. They 
 were supposed to be composed of about equal 
 parts of fanaticism and insanity, which was 
 deemed a sufficient reason for commanding them, 
 by the authorities of the Church, to " wholly re- 
 frain" from agitating the subject of slavery, 
 for restricting them in the prestige of their 
 appointments in the conference, and in prevent- 
 ing others from becoming members at all, which
 
 1 82 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 was repeatedly done without any disguise be- 
 cause of their abolitionism. But they were not 
 charged with any moral wrong, and, therefore, 
 not subjects of any judicial punishment ; but 
 were looked upon, rather, with a kind of pitiful 
 detestation, akin to that which the community 
 feel toward the Mormons or the soul-blighting 
 annihilationists. Hence, while the General 
 Conference could condemn abolitionism, and 
 vote a strong disapproval of her members at- 
 tending abolition prayer-meetings, their chief 
 speakers were very earnest to disclaim any im- 
 putation against the motives of their trouble- 
 some opponents ; and while wishing them in 
 heaven,* to get them out of their way, they 
 explicitly acknowledged that they believed that 
 they were well prepared for that place, f 
 
 After that General Conference the agitation 
 went on increasing more and more, East, West, 
 North, and South, both in the Church and out 
 of it, and the more the question was agitated 
 the more the sentiments of " modern abolition- 
 ists " gained volume, force, and respectful atten- 
 tion among high-minded and humane people. . 
 
 * See pamphlet entitled "Debates on Modern Abolitionism" 
 in General Conference of 1836. 
 
 f Letter by Rev. S. Norria to the author, dated August 5, 
 J872.
 
 The Abolition of Slavery. 183 
 
 In 1844 the General Conference held its ses- 
 sion in New York, when the delegates struck a 
 severe blow against slaveholding in our Church 
 in several ways ; one of which was in the con- 
 firmation by that body of the verdict of the Bal- 
 timore Conference by which they expelled Rev. 
 F. A. Harding from their communion on ac- 
 count of his having been found to be a 
 slaveholder. 
 
 Another blow struck against " the peculiar 
 institution," and slaveholding by the Church, 
 was in the verdict which that body pronounced 
 against Bishop Andrew, who had (by his wife) 
 become virtually a slaveholder. A resolution 
 was offered requesting him to cease his official 
 relation as a bishop in the Church while he held 
 slaves. The resolution was discussed by pro- 
 slavery and antislavery members for days to- 
 gether with great ability and warmth, the Bor- 
 der and Middle States men taking strong anti- 
 slavery ground, rendering it a matter of policy 
 for the so-called " modern abolitionists " to be 
 comparatively quiet, and for those who had been 
 regarded not so radical to carry on the ag- 
 gressive warfare they had so manfully com- 
 menced. 
 
 The resolution of censure at length passed 
 by a large majority, which produced a fearful
 
 184 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 excitement and alienation among the southern 
 members and their pro-slavery friends. They 
 immediately struck for Church division, a vir- 
 tual secession from the parent Church. A con- 
 ditional plan for the division was immediately 
 offered to that body, and after much discussion 
 agreed upon, by which nearly half a million 
 ministers and lay members went off and formed 
 what was and now is called "The Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South," though the conditions 
 of the plan were never complied with. 
 
 This measure was a severe blow, struck by 
 the South to weaken the bonds of our national 
 union of States, leaving the southern Church 
 free from the restraints of antislavery to become 
 more and more radical in their pro-slavery posi- 
 tion, and also the Methodists in the North, with 
 but few slaves and less slaveholders, to exert a 
 stronger antislavery influence, and greater free- 
 dom to pursue their onward march to final 
 victory. 
 
 Soon the Methodist Church became so thor- 
 oughly antislavery, even abolition, in sentiment 
 that the verdict of her annual and General Con- 
 ferences was decidedly in condemnation of the 
 " peculiar institution," though some slaveholders 
 still were suffered to retain their relation to the 
 Church.
 
 The Abolition of Slavery. 185 
 
 In 1 86 1 the South struck another blow a 
 fatal one against their own cherished institu- 
 tion by raising its rebellious arms against the 
 Northern States. This aroused the spirit of 
 loyalty and freedom in the North, and with the 
 colored people of the South, when, with all 
 other good citizens, loyal Methodism performed 
 an honorable and heroic part in providing our 
 country with soldiers for our defense, nurses for 
 our hospitals, sanitary provisions for our sick 
 and wounded, and in offering her prayers to 
 heaven for the victory of our arms. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, then our wise and observ- 
 ant chief magistrate, and now lamented ex- 
 President, bore this honorable and deserved 
 testimony of our Church at the time : " 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 sent more soldiers to the field, more 
 nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to 
 heaven than any. God bless the Methodist 
 Church ! bless all the Churches ! and blessed be
 
 1 86 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now, 
 
 God who in this great trial giveth us the 
 Churches!"* 
 
 In 1863 came the last expiring groans of the 
 iniquitous system of American slavery by the 
 lamented President's proclamation of freedom 
 to all the slaves of our country, by which the 
 last fetter was broken off from every bondman. 
 It was then " Jehovah had triumphed and the 
 negro was free." 
 
 This was needful to save the country. It 
 gave the colored race a powerful motive to en- 
 list in the bloody strife for our nation's safety, 
 and also a new impetus to all loyal hearts. By 
 it our Church was saved from further debate on 
 the abolition question, for her slave-bound mem- 
 bers were raised to a civil and ecclesiastical 
 level with their former masters, however pleas- 
 ant or unpleasant the recognition of the fact to 
 the latter. 
 
 Now after this forty years' struggle with this 
 " abomination of desolation ;" after the sad havoc 
 of Churches, and doubtless loss of souls by the 
 southern Church secession in 1844 ; after all 
 the strife and contention arising therefrom in 
 regard to Church property and Church terri- 
 
 * Extract of a letter by President Lincoln to the General 
 Confereuce in 1864. See " Stevens' Centenary of Methodism," 
 pp. 210, 211.
 
 The Abolition of Slavery. 187 
 
 tory ; after the terribly bloody war of rebellion, 
 we can but rejoice to find the colored man in 
 our State and national Legislatures, and in 
 other high governmental positions. We find 
 him, also, in our annual conferences, even with 
 whole conferences under his control mainly, 
 and in the General Conference, taking import- 
 ant parts in debates, and taking other responsi- 
 ble positions in its business matters. 
 
 What a marvelous change in these forty years 
 past !
 
 1 88 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Lay Delegation Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 tHERE was a strong prejudice against lay 
 representation in the General and Annual 
 Conferences forty years ago. The exciting 
 discussions on the subject which had preceded, 
 attended, and followed the different secessions 
 from our Church had awakened great opposition 
 to it in the minds of those who were reckoned 
 among her most loyal and worthy members. 
 There were then "the Reformed Methodist" 
 and "the Protestant Methodist" Churches, 
 which made lay representation a prominent 
 feature in their Church polity. A bitter spirit 
 had been infused into these new denominations 
 by the leading seceders, which was retained for 
 many years. Under these circumstances it was 
 extremely difficult for our people to see any 
 special advantages which could result from a 
 change in our Church polity, especially as she 
 was constantly making more rapid progress 
 than were the seceding Churches.
 
 Lay Delegation. 1 89 
 
 The misnamed Boston " Olive Branch," their 
 New England organ, extended no "olive branch" 
 of "peace and good will" to us, but waged a 
 constant warfare against our form of Church 
 government and its advocates. 
 
 Surrounded with such opposing influences, it 
 may not appear strange that any of our minis- 
 ters or lay members would have been regarded 
 as disloyal to the Church of their choice who 
 could be found advocating the introduction of 
 this new element into our Church government. 
 
 A few years later we witnessed the strife, 
 heard the debates, and read the newspaper con- 
 troversies on the subject connected with the so- 
 called " True Wesleyan Secession," when a large 
 number of our preachers and members left us 
 and organized the Wesleyan Methodist Church 
 with the lay element in its polity. By this se- 
 cession some of our Churches were entirely 
 broken up, and others greatly weakened. Can 
 there be any wonder, then, that our true and 
 loyal members, seeing these results, looked upon 
 lay delegation with special disfavor ? 
 
 These stormy discussions and adverse scenes 
 in a few years passed away, leaving a clearer 
 sky and purer atmosphere. Our people then 
 began to take the subject into more candid and 
 careful consideration, when it became apparent
 
 190 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 that among our ministers and lay members were 
 many advocates for the new measure, provided 
 it could be accomplished without Church rup- 
 tures and in brotherly love. This sentiment 
 gradually increased among our people. New 
 advocates, truly loyal to the Church, constant- 
 ly appeared publicly vindicating the idea, until 
 " the leaven " of lay representation was found to 
 have diffused itself through the whole Church. 
 
 Petitions, numerously signed, were sent up 
 to each succeeding General Conference, until it 
 was seen to be the general voice of our Church 
 that the change should be made in her polity. 
 These petitions were carefully considered and 
 judiciously acted upon by the several General 
 Conferences. 
 
 The one held in Chicago in 1868 adopted 
 the following " Plan " for the action of the lay 
 members and the Annual Conferences : 
 
 PLAN OF LAY DELEGATION ADOPTED BY THE 
 GENERAL CONFERENCE. 
 
 "Whereas, the General Conference of 1860 
 expressed its willingness to admit lay delegates 
 to the General Conference whenever the people 
 should desire it ; and, whereas, the General 
 Conference of 1864 concurred in that action; 
 therefore,
 
 Lay Delegation. 191 
 
 " Resolved, That we also concur in the same, 
 and recommend the following plan to the godly 
 consideration of our ministers and people. 
 
 "Change the Discipline, page 45, part ii, 
 chapter i, section i, so that it shall read as 
 follows : 
 
 " Q. Who shall compose the General Con- 
 ference, and what are the regulations and 
 powers belonging to it ? 
 
 " Ans. i. The General Conference shall be 
 composed of ministerial and lay delegates. The 
 ministerial delegates shall consist of one mem- 
 ber for every thirty members of each annual 
 conference, to be appointed either by seniority 
 or choice, at the discretion of such annual con- 
 ference, yet so that such representatives shall 
 have traveled at least four full calendar years 
 from the time that they were received on trial 
 by an annual conference, and are in full con- 
 nection at the time of holding the conference. 
 
 " The lay delegates shall consist of two lay- 
 men for each annual conference, except such 
 conferences as have but one ministerial dele- 
 gate, which conferences shall be entitled to one 
 lay delegate. 
 
 " The lay delegates shall be chosen by an 
 electoral conference of laymen, which shall as- 
 semble for the purpose on the third day of the
 
 192 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 session of the annual conference, at the place 
 of its meeting, at its session immediately pre- 
 ceding the General Conference. The electoral 
 conference shall b6 composed of one layman 
 from each circuit or station within the bounds 
 of the annual conference, and, on assembling, 
 the electoral conference shall organize by elect- 
 ing a chairman and secretary of their own 
 number ; such laymen to be chosen by the last 
 quarterly conference preceding the time of its 
 assembling ; provided, that no layman shall be 
 chosen a delegate either to the electoral con- 
 ference or to the General Conference who shall 
 be under twenty-five years of age, or who shall 
 riot have been a member of the Church in full 
 connection for the five consecutive years pre- 
 ceding the elections. 
 
 " After Answer 3, as follows, paragraph 46. 
 
 " Ans. 3. At all times when the General 
 Conference is met it shall take two thirds of the 
 whole number of ministers and lay delegates to 
 form a quorum for transacting business. The 
 ministerial and lay delegates shall sit and de- 
 liberate together as one body, but they shall 
 vote separately, whenever such separate vote 
 shall be demanded by one third of either order, 
 and in such cases the concurrent vote of both 
 bodies shall be necessary to complete an action.
 
 Lay Delegation. 193 
 
 " Resolved, That during the month of June, 
 1869, on any day except the Sabbath, the time 
 to be determined by the pastor and two laymen 
 appointed by the quarterly conference, as here- 
 after provided, there shall be held a general 
 election in the several places of worship of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, at which all 
 members in full connection, and not less than 
 twenty-one years of age, shall be invited to vote 
 by ballot 'for Lay Delegation} or ' against Lay 
 Delegation' 
 
 " This election shall be held under the direc- 
 tion of the preacher in charge, and two laymen 
 appointed for the purpose by the quarterly 
 conference, who shall see that due notice is 
 given thereof for at least twenty days before 
 the election, and who shall superintend all the 
 details of the election. 
 
 " They shall report the result within ten 
 days after the election to the presiding elder 
 of the district, who shall report the same 
 to the bishop presiding at the ensuing annual 
 conference, to be entered upon the conference 
 journal. 
 
 " It shall be the duty of the bishops presiding 
 at the several annual conferences, at their first 
 sessions after the above elections, to lay before 
 
 those bodies the following proposed amend- 
 13
 
 194 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now, 
 
 merits to the second restrictive rule, namely, At 
 the end of line third, after the word ' one ' 
 insert the word ' ministerial,' (page 47 of the 
 Discipline,) and after the word ' forty-five,' line 
 7, same page, add the words, ' nor more than 
 two lay delegates for any annual conference,' 
 and to report the result to the next General 
 conference as amended, so that as amended it 
 shall read : 
 
 " ' They shall not allow of more than one 
 ministerial representative for every fourteen 
 members of the annual conference, nor allow 
 of a less number than one for every forty-five, 
 nor more than two lay delegates for any annual 
 conference.' 
 
 "Resolved, That should a majority of the 
 votes cast by the people be in favor of Lay 
 Delegation, and should three fourths of all the 
 members of the annual conferences present and 
 voting thereon vote in favor of the above pro- 
 posed change in the constitution of the Church, 
 then the General Conference meeting in 1872, 
 by the requisite two thirds vote, can complete 
 the change, and lay delegates previously elected 
 may then be admitted." 
 
 This "Plan" was accordingly submitted to 
 the annual conferences, and lay membership,
 
 Lay Delegation. 195 
 
 according to its provisions, and received their 
 required sanction. 
 
 The quarterly conferences elected their dele- 
 gates to their respective "lay electoral confer- 
 ences," which met according to the prescribed 
 " Plan," and each elected two laymen to repre- 
 sent it in the next General Conference. 
 
 This ecclesiastical council of our Church 
 most cheerfully opened its doors for their re- 
 ception, and gave them its hearty welcome as 
 " brethren beloved," and on equal terms with 
 the ministerial delegates. Among these laymen 
 were seven ex-governors, two United States 
 senators, nine judges and ex-judges, two college 
 professors, eleven bankers, and many lawyers, 
 merchants, physicians, manufacturers, and farm- 
 ers, all of whom rendered efficient services on 
 committees and in the deliberations and de- 
 cisions of this, our highest Church tribunal. 
 
 Many who looked upon this measure "with 
 fear and trembling" have had their fears re- 
 moved, and now all the Church, or nearly all, 
 " thank God and take courage," under the full 
 conviction that "Lay Delegation" is for His 
 glory and the general good of his cause. A 
 happy termination is this of many years of loyal 
 Christian effort !
 
 196 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Numerical, Strength of Methodism Forty 
 Years Ago and Now General Statistics 
 Then and Now. 
 
 fHE numerical strength of our Church 
 forty years ago was found to consist of 
 some two thousand and ten preachers and 
 five hundred and thirteen thousand one hundred 
 and fourteen members. This number (of course) 
 included all, both in the North and in the 
 South, the Church then not having been di- 
 vided. This was the rapid growth of sixty-six 
 years, that is, from 1766 (the year the first class 
 was formed, which consisted of five' members) 
 to the year 1832. 
 
 When we take into consideration the facts 
 that these five were Irish emigrants who lived 
 in comparative poverty and obscurity in New 
 York City ; the constant hinderances thrown in 
 their way by the depleting effects of the Revo- 
 lutionary war and the war of 1812 ; the poverty 
 of the people ; the strong hold other and older 
 Churches had secured ; and the powerful preju-
 
 General Statistics. 197 
 
 dices which had been created in the public mind 
 against Methodism, we must regard this increase 
 as very remarkable. It was " not by " human 
 " might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the 
 Lord." " Paul planted, Apollos watered, but 
 God gave the increase." Since then our in- 
 crease has been still more marvelous. Now, 
 after forty years, the Church numbers some ten 
 thousand traveling preachers and more than this 
 number of local preachers, and near a million 
 and a half of lay members. 
 
 This increase has been secured notwithstand- 
 ing the " Southern secession " of near half a 
 million of members in 1844, and the "True 
 Wesleyan secession " of a few years before. In 
 the past forty years her increase has been (after 
 all these secessions) about one million members. 
 This is a more steady and rapid increase than 
 that of any other denomination of evangelical 
 Christians in America. Our present increase 
 is at the rate of one thousand seven hundred 
 per week. But this even does not show to us 
 all the numerical force of Methodism in these 
 United States. 
 
 If we reckon the members of all the different 
 branches of Church organizations which bear 
 the name of Methodist in this country, we find 
 a numerical strength of more than three millions.
 
 198 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 These have all sprung from one head John 
 Wesley and are all one in doctrine, though 
 differing in some features of Church polity, but 
 are yearly becoming more closely united in their 
 fraternal relations to each other. The time is 
 looked for, by many careful observers of " the 
 signs of the times," when the entire forces of 
 Methodism in our country shall be in harmo- 
 nious fellowship, and perhaps embraced in one 
 denominational fold. 
 
 There is no doubt in the minds of those who 
 have an opportunity to judge impartially that 
 ten millions, or one fourth, of the people of 
 these United States have their preference for, 
 and denominational attachment to, Methodism. 
 This is the result of a little more than a cen- 
 tury of sacrifice and toil in this country. 
 
 In the world at large Methodism numbers 
 more than four millions of lay members, and more 
 than fifteen millions of hearers, though her en- 
 tire history covers a period of only some one 
 hundred and thirty-three years. "What hath 
 God wrought " by this instrumentality ! Even 
 in 1860* Dr. Abel Stevens' estimate of Meth- 
 odism numerically was, that the membership 
 could not be less than three millions when all 
 the missionary stations were included, and 
 
 * See " Christian Advocate and Journal," 1860.
 
 General Statistics, 199 
 
 that her hearers did not fall far below twelve 
 millions. 
 
 Let us now consider our 
 
 METHODISTIC NUMERICAL GROWTH IN THE 
 NORTH-WEST. 
 
 Although the great valley of the Mississippi 
 was getting to be a stronghold of Methodism 
 forty years ago, yet in the more newly settled 
 portions of the great North-west our people had 
 then but a feeble beginning. The first classes 
 formed in Illinois were in Plainfield and in Ga- 
 lena, in the year 1829. The first in Chicago 
 was in 1831. This was the third class formed 
 in Northern Illinois. The first church edifice 
 in the State was at Galena, just forty years ago. 
 The first sermon ever preached in Chicago was 
 by a Methodist preacher by the name of Isaac 
 Scarritt, in the year 1829. 
 
 From these small beginnings Methodism took 
 a wide spread throughout the North-west. Rev. 
 John Sinclair, who was appointed to the Chicago 
 District in 1833, and had spent most of his life in 
 the State, and had traveled extensively, says, " I 
 never yet succeeded in reaching a new settle- 
 ment before some other Methodist minister got 
 in before me." 
 
 So rapid has been the progress of Methodism
 
 2OO Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 in Illinois for the past forty years, that in 1870* 
 there were one thousand one hundred and for- 
 ty-five church edifices, one hundred and ten 
 thousand four hundred and ninety-nine Church 
 members, and one thousand six hundred and 
 forty-one Sunday-schools, with an enrollment of 
 one hundred and eighteen thousand five hun- 
 dred and eighty-two officers, teachers, and 
 scholars. 
 
 In Michigan the same year there were four 
 hundred and twenty-three traveling and four 
 hundred and seventy-five local preachers, and a 
 Church membership of one hundred and sixty- 
 two thousand four hundred. Other parts of 
 the North-west are being filled up with Meth- 
 odists as rapidly. 
 
 OUR GERMAN WORK THE GROWTH OF FORTY 
 YEARS. 
 
 William Nast, an educated, talented, and en- 
 terprising young German emigrant, left his 
 ' fatherland " full of the infidelity of his native 
 country, and sought a home, as did many others, 
 in the United States. He was soon awakened 
 most powerfully to feel the need of that Saviour 
 whom he had persistently rejected. He ear- 
 
 * See Methodist Almanac for 1870.
 
 General Statistics. 201 
 
 nestly sought and soon found him whom his 
 soul sought after, " Jesus of Nazareth," by whom 
 he was divinely regenerated and saved. Soon 
 he began to proclaim to his German associates 
 what Christ had done for him, and to invite 
 them to come and " taste and see that the Lord 
 is good." Thus, almost before being aware of 
 it, he began to preach the glorious Gospel of 
 Christ to his fellow-countrymen in their own 
 language. 
 
 He was the first American convert from " the 
 fatherland " among the Methodists ; at least the 
 first who made an impression on the German 
 mind. But the result, in this case, was great 
 and glorious. The work soon spread among 
 them with great rapidity and power. German 
 Methodist preachers have been raised up in 
 large numbers, who preach the word of life to 
 our German population, while others have gone 
 back to their " fatherland " to proclaim the good 
 news of Gospel grace there. A foreign mission 
 was commenced there in 1849 which is one of 
 our most fruitful fields in any foreign land. 
 
 We have now, in the United States and in 
 Germany, not less than forty thousand German 
 Church members. The following statement of 
 their number and condition is from a German 
 source :
 
 2O2 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 " We have in America 380 traveling preach- 
 ers ; 320 local preachers ; 27,43 1 members ; 4,265 
 probationers; 476 churches, worth $1,551,700; 
 210 parsonages, worth $272,050; 564 Sunday- 
 schools; 5,745 Sunday-schoolteachers; 28,473 
 Sunday-school scholars, and 63,768 volumes in 
 libraries. 
 
 " In Germany and Switzerland, 5 2 traveling 
 preachers ; 28 local preachers ; 6,002 members ; 
 1,369 probationers ; 28 churches, worth $296,- 
 993; 25 parsonages, worth $12,000; 207 Sun- 
 day-schools ; 866 teachers ; 9,216 Sunday-school 
 scholars, and 2,341 volumes in libraries. Total, 
 432 traveling preachers ; 349 local preachers ; 
 39, 1 5 7 members and probationers 5512 churches, 
 worth $1,848,693 ; 235 parsonages, worth $284,- 
 050; 771 Sunday-schools; 37,689 Sunday-school 
 scholars, and 66,109 volumes in libraries. 
 
 "We have two colleges, one in Berea, Ohio, 
 and one in Warrenton, Mo. ; one Normal School 
 in Galena, 111. ; one Mission Institute in Frank- 
 fort-on-the-Main, in Germany ; and one Mission 
 House at New York. 
 
 " We also have two orphan asylums, one in 
 Berea, Ohio, with 65 orphans, and one in War- 
 renton, Mo., with 34 orphans. The running ex- 
 penses of these orphan asylums come to nearly 
 $14,000 per year, which amount is contributed
 
 General Statistics. 203 
 
 by German Methodists. The value of the prop- 
 erty of these institutions is over $250,000, be- 
 sides an endowment fund of $55,000 of the Ger- 
 man Wallace College at Berea, Ohio. 
 
 " I compared the contributions of American 
 and German members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church in 1870, and found the following 
 results : 
 
 American, German, 
 
 per member. per member. 
 
 Missions 45 cents. 60 cents. 
 
 Church Extension 5 
 
 Tract Society l 
 
 Bible Society 6 
 
 Sunday-School Union . . \\ 
 
 Fifth Collection 9 
 
 32 
 3 
 
 Total 
 
 " During the last four years the contributions 
 in America only to the various causes amount- 
 ed to $66,829 73 for Missions, $43,609 81 for 
 Church Extension, $3,570 30 for Tract Society, 
 $6,756 23 for Bible Society, $3,456 15 for Sun- 
 day-School Union, $13,620 66 for Fifth Collec- 
 tion. During the same time over 14,000 adults 
 and children were baptized, and nearly 1,600 
 members were transferred by death from the 
 Church militant to the Church triumphant in 
 heaven. 
 
 " The circulation of the ' Christian Apologist ' 
 is 16,000, of the 'Sunday-School Bell,' (Ger-
 
 2O4 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 man Sunday-school paper,) 26,000 ; the ' Be- 
 rean Lesson,' in German, 12,000. There is an 
 almost unanimous desire throughout the German 
 Church for a religious monthly family maga- 
 zine in the German language for the use of 
 families, Sunday-school teachers, and the youth. 
 May we soon have it ! 
 
 "The Lord bless the Methodist Church in 
 all its branches, especially the work among the 
 Germans in this country and the fatherland ! 
 May the 781 German preachers and the 39,157 
 members continue to fight the battle of the 
 Lord ! May they grow in faith and grace, and 
 be inspired by the Holy Ghost, so that they all 
 and every one shall be instruments of spreading 
 the Gospel, and leading thousands more of their 
 countrymen to Jesus the Saviour of sinners ! " * 
 
 THE GENERAL CONFERENCES FORTY YEARS AGO 
 AND NOW. 
 
 The General Conference of 1832 was com- 
 posed of one delegate for every five members 
 from each of the nineteen annual conferences. 
 It gave them one hundred and ninety-nine 
 delegates. This ratio of representation was 
 created twenty-four years before, when the dele- 
 
 * German correspondent in General Conference " Daily Ad- 
 vocate."
 
 General Statistics. 205 
 
 gated General Conference plan was first adopted. 
 This ratio could not be changed without the 
 concurrent voice of all the conferences and a 
 two-third vote of the General Conference. Va- 
 rious attempts to change it had been made, but 
 heretofore had failed. At this General Confer- 
 ence it was changed to one delegate for every 
 fourteen members. This reduced the next Gen- 
 eral Conference delegations to one hundred and 
 forty-eight members, making a reduction of fifty- 
 one, notwithstanding there were three more 
 conferences represented, and the membership 
 had increased in the four years more than one 
 hundred thousand. 
 
 In 1872 the General Conference had two 
 hundred and ninety-two clerical members, and 
 one hundred and twenty-nine lay delegates ; 
 in all, four hundred and twenty-one. They 
 came from seventy-two conferences, embracing 
 a membership of but little less than one million 
 and a half. 
 
 The ratio of representation was one for every 
 thirty members of conference, and two lay dele- 
 gates for every lay electoral conference. This 
 General Conference changed again the ratio to 
 one for every forty-five of the annual conference 
 members, and left the lay representation the 
 same as before. They also created four addi-
 
 206 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 tional conferences, making now in all seventy- 
 six. 
 
 Though the ratio has been reduced sevenfold 
 since the year 1832, yet the clerical delegates 
 have increased nearly one third. These, with 
 the lay representation, gave the General Con- 
 ference of 1872 the right to two hundred and 
 thirty-seven more than forty years before. 
 During this time the annual conferences have 
 increased, including the General Conferences of 
 1832 and 1872, from nineteen to seventy-six, an 
 increase of fourfold. 
 
 Still new fields are constantly opening in the 
 new settlements of the great West, and in the 
 now free South, for our Church enlargement. 
 New conferences in four years more, to meet 
 the demands of the work, will need to be organ- 
 ized, and many older conferences, by the reason 
 of their rapid increase, will need to be divided. 
 What wonders of grace have been and are yet 
 to be wrought through Methodism in the name 
 and through the merits of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ !
 
 Bishops of the M. E. Church. 207 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 <>0 
 
 fN the year 1832, when the General Con- 
 ference assembled, there were only four 
 bishops in all, one of whom William 
 M'Kendree on account of his great age and 
 increasing infirmities, was excused from active 
 service. He was our first American-born 
 bishop elected in 1808, served the Church in 
 the high office twenty-seven years, and died 
 in Tennessee, March 5, 1835, at the age of 
 seventy-eight years. " He was a good man, full 
 of faith and the Holy Ghost," and an energetic 
 and judicious general superintendent in the 
 Church. His dying testimony was, "All is 
 well." 
 
 The others were Robert R. Roberts, elected 
 in 1816, and died March 28, 1843. He was 
 an eloquent preacher and efficient officer in 
 the Church. Joshua Soule, elected in 1824. 
 After serving the Church of his choice in this 
 capacity twenty-two years he seceded and went
 
 2o8 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 to the "Church South," where he died in 
 March, 1867, having served the Church there 
 for twenty-two years more. Elijah Hedding t 
 elected in May, 1^24, and served the Church 
 in his high office for thirty years. He died 
 in great peace, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., April 
 9, 1852, aged seventy-two. He was an able 
 preacher, a wise counselor, and unsurpassed in 
 his knowledge of Methodistic law and usage. 
 
 At this General Conference, in 1832, the 
 Episcopal Board was strengthened by the elec- 
 tion and consecration of two additional bish- 
 ops. These were John Emory and James O. 
 Andrew. 
 
 Bishop Emory was a thoroughly educated 
 man, possessed of a discriminating mind and 
 comprehensive judgment, giving great promise 
 for the future. But these high hopes were 
 soon cut off. He started from his home in 
 Baltimore, December 16, 1835, on official du- 
 ties, when, his horse taking fright,, he was 
 thrown from his carriage with great violence, 
 fatally injured, and soon died, aged forty-eight 
 years. 
 
 James O. Andrew served as bishop in the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church till 1844, when he 
 received the censure of the General Conference 
 for becoming identified with slaveholding by
 
 Bishops of the M. E. Church. 209 
 
 reason of his wife's having property in them, 
 when he and most of the southern ministers 
 and members withdrew, and organized what 
 was called the " Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South." 
 
 It may be well here to give a brief statement 
 of the bishops who had preceded those of forty 
 years ago. They were Thomas Coke, LL.D., 
 Francis Asbury, Richard Whatcoat, and Enoch 
 George. Bishop Coke of the British Confer- 
 ence, and of English birth, was ordained by 
 Mr. Wesley in 1784, and sent over to our 
 country as "General Superintendent" of Amer- 
 ican Methodism. He labored faithfully in his 
 office for a few years, but devoted the latter 
 part of his valuable life to the superintend- 
 ency of Wesleyan Missions. After crossing 
 the Atlantic Ocean eighteen times in con- 
 nection with his great work, he died at sea, 
 May 4, 1814, greatly loved and lamented by 
 all lovers of the cause to which he had devoted 
 his life. 
 
 Bishop Asbury, selected for the office by Mr. 
 Wesley as joint superintendent with Dr. Coke, 
 declined to accept the honorable position unless 
 the American brethren would vote to ratify the 
 appointment. At the Christmas Conference of 
 
 that year 1784 his decision was duly pre- 
 14
 
 2io Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 sented, when he was elected and consecrated 
 to the sacred office, Bishop Coke officiating. 
 Bishop Asbury had previously labored heroic- 
 ally in this his adopted country for three years, 
 and continued to toil for and with his Amer- 
 ican brethren until his death, which occurred 
 in Virginia, March 31, 1816. His age was sev- 
 enty-one years. 
 
 Richard Whatcoat, another Wesleyan preach- 
 er, who was sent over to America by Mr. Wes- 
 ley as a missionary a few years before, was 
 elected bishop in the year 1800, and died, 
 six years after, in Delaware, aged seventy-one 
 years. 
 
 Enoch George, our second American-born 
 bishop, was elected and consecrated in 1816, 
 and died August 28, 1828. This was the first 
 death among American-born bishops. 
 
 " Bishops Asbury, Whatcoat, and McKendree 
 were never married. They lived and died with- 
 out a home. They traversed the nation, preach- 
 ing daily as they went in churches, in court- 
 houses, in kitchens, in barns, and in forests. 
 Their allowance for support was no larger 
 than that of the humblest itinerant. Except 
 McKendree, they had no property when they 
 died, save what they carried about their per- 
 sons on their routes."
 
 Bishops of the M. E. Church. 211 
 
 Bishop George was no less zealous and self- 
 sacrificing than his seniors in office.* He was 
 a man of great simplicity of manners, a very 
 pathetic and powerful preacher, greatly beloved 
 in life and lamented in death. f 
 
 Within the space of the last forty years what 
 havoc has death made of our Methodist. Amer- 
 ican bishops ! Mention has already been made 
 of five who had then passed away to their re- 
 ward on high. 
 
 Of the eleven elected between 1832 and 1872, 
 six have departed this life to join in the em- 
 ployments of heaven with those who had gone 
 before. I am constrained to give names and 
 dates. 
 
 Beverly Waugh, elected to the holy office in 
 1836, died in Maryland, February 9, 1865, aged 
 sixty^nine years. 
 
 Leonidas L. Hamline, elected in 1844, re- 
 signed his office in 1852 on account of feeble 
 health. He died in Iowa, March 22, 1865. 
 
 Osmon C. Baker, elected in 1852, died in. 
 Concord, N. H., December 20, 1871, aged fifty- 
 nine years. 
 
 Davis W. Clark, made bishop in 1864, died 
 in Cincinnati, O., in 1871. 
 
 * See Stevens' " Memorials of Methodism." 
 
 f See Dr. Bangs' "History of the M. E. Church."
 
 212 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Edward Thomson, chosen in 1864, de- 
 parted this life in Wheeling, W. Va., March 
 20, 1870. 
 
 Calvin Kingsley, elected in 1864, "ceased 
 at once to work and live," in Beyroot, Syria, 
 April 6, 1870. 
 
 These were all good, true, and able ministers 
 of the Gospel, and wise and efficient general 
 superintendents of the Church, whose deaths 
 made vacancies in the bench of bishops which 
 were difficult to fill. 
 
 The General Conference of 1872 began its 
 important session with only one more bishop 
 than the number the General Conference had 
 at its commencement forty years before, and 
 now, as then, one of these, by reason of age 
 and infirmities, was excused from service. The 
 four others, called effective bishops, were nearly 
 worn out with the extra labors demanded by 
 reason of the death of their late co-laborers. 
 The care of all the seventy-two conferences, be- 
 . sides the mission fields, had proved too much 
 for the strongest of them to endure. 
 
 This General Conference very properly voted 
 to strengthen the episcopal board by the choice 
 of eight additional bishops. The choice, with 
 unusual unanimity, centered upon the following 
 brethren, namely :
 
 Bishops of the M. E. Church. 2 1 3 
 
 Thomas Bowman, D.D., President of the In- 
 diana Asbury University. 
 
 William L. Harris, D.D., LL.D., Assistant 
 Secretary of the Missionary Society of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church. 
 
 Randolph S. Foster, D.D., LL.D., President 
 of the Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, 
 N. J. 
 
 Isaac W. Wiley, D.D., editor of the " Ladies' 
 Repository," Cincinnati, O. 
 
 Stephen M. Merrill, D.D., editor of " West- 
 ern Christian Advocate," Cincinnati, O. 
 
 Edward G. Andrews, D.D., pastor Seventh 
 Avenue Church, Brooklyn, New York East 
 Conference. 
 
 Gilbert Haven, D.D., editor of " Zion's Her- 
 ald," Boston, Mass. 
 
 Jesse T. Peck, D.D., recent pastor of Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, Syracuse, N. Y., and 
 author of the volume entitled " The True 
 Woman." 
 
 They were duly consecrated " by the imposi- 
 tion of the hands " of the senior bishops, and 
 are now doing efficient service in their new of- 
 fice for Christ and his Church. May they be 
 eminently useful in the " high vocation " to 
 which they are called ! 
 
 In the foregoing list of bishops, including the
 
 214 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 living and the dead, we need to add those of 
 African descent, whose jurisdiction was limited 
 to Africa, namely, Thomas Burns and John 
 Wright Roberts,, of the Liberia Conference. 
 Bishop Burns was elected to the important of- 
 fice in 1856, consecrated by our American 
 bishops in 1858, and labored faithfully in his 
 specified mission field until he died, April 18, 
 1863, while in Baltimore, Md. 
 
 Bishop Roberts, of that conference, was 
 elected in 1864, and consecrated by American 
 bishops in 1866. His residence is Monrovia, 
 Africa. A strong desire had been expressed 
 on the part of many to take off the restriction 
 which limited his jurisdiction to Africa, and 
 make him full bishop, equal in his extent of ter- 
 ritory and authority with the other bishops ; but 
 the fact of his long residence in Africa, and that 
 he was unknown by face to the members of the 
 General Conference, had an adverse influence 
 on the members of that body, and the effort 
 failed of success. 
 
 Petitions also, numerously signed by colored 
 conferences and colored laymen from the South, 
 were presented to the General Conference to 
 secure the election of a bishop of African de- 
 scent to be especially devoted to the interests 
 of the colored people of the South. This meas-
 
 Bishops of the M. E. Church. 2 1 5 
 
 ure was also advocated by some of our ablest 
 men in the connection, both in some of our pe- 
 riodicals and in the General Conference, asking 
 not only to have him employed in the superin- 
 tendence of our colored conferences in the 
 South, but to take an equal part with the epis- 
 copal board in every part of our widely-extended 
 Zion. 
 
 A special committee of the General Confer- 
 ence was created to consider this important 
 subject. This committee was very judiciously 
 made up of wise and able men, strong friends 
 of the colored people, two of whom were of 
 African blood. Their secretary was then and 
 now is a very earnest and efficient missionary 
 among the Freedmen of the South. The fol- 
 lowing important report was made by them on 
 the subject, which was ably discussed and with 
 great unanimity adopted by the General Con- 
 ference. 
 
 BISHOPS OF AFRICAN DESCENT. 
 
 " The special committee to which was referred 
 the memorial of the New Orleans Preachers' 
 Meeting of May 23, asking for the election of 
 an additional bishop who should be of African 
 descent, respectfully report that, at a meeting 
 of the committee held May 30, the statements
 
 216 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 of the memorialists and their requests were 
 carefully considered. The very reasonable de- 
 mand that at least ' some action may be taken 
 which shall assure our people that the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church invites to her altars 
 peoples of every nation, and extends to them 
 equal rights in her worship and government,' 
 was responded to with great unanimity by the 
 following declaration of facts, which we are per- 
 suaded will be entirely satisfactory to the memo- 
 rialists : 
 
 " i. A memorial from the preachers of the 
 Louisiana Conference, with others, in behalf of 
 a bishop of African descent, were promptly re- 
 ferred to the Committee on Episcopacy, care- 
 fully considered, and reported on as follows : 
 ' The Committee on Episcopacy respectfully 
 report to the General Conference, concerning 
 the election of colored bishops, that they are 
 deeply impressed with the Christian spirit mani- 
 fested by those memorializing the General Con- 
 ference on this subject. The rapid progress 
 our brethren of color are making in all that 
 elevates mankind is most commendable, and we 
 have no doubt there is a future of great prom- 
 ise before them. Your committee would further 
 report that, in their judgment, there is nothing 
 in race, color, or former condition that is a bar
 
 Bishops of the M. E. Church. 2 1 7 
 
 to an election to the episcopacy, the true course 
 being for us to elect only such persons as are 
 by their pre-eminent piety, endowments, culture, 
 general fitness, and acceptability, best qualified 
 to fill the office.' 
 
 " 2. The claims of our numerous and noble- 
 hearted membership of African descent to a 
 perfect equality of relations with all others in 
 our communion are fully recognized by the 
 Discipline, and amply demonstrated in the ad- 
 ministration of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 There is no word ' white,' to discriminate against 
 race or color, known in our legislation ; and 
 being of African descent does not prevent mem- 
 bership with white men in annual conferences, 
 nor ordination at the same altar, nor appoint- 
 ment to the presiding eldership, nor election to 
 the General Conference, nor eligibility to the 
 highest offices in the Church. 
 
 " 3. Election to the office of bishop, from 
 among candidates who are mutually equal, can- 
 not be determined on the ground of color or 
 any other special consideration. It can only be 
 by fair and honorable competition between the 
 friends of the respective candidates. And yet 
 the presentation of a well-qualified man of Af- 
 rican descent would doubtless secure very gen- 
 eral support in view of the great interests of
 
 2 1 8 MetJtodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 the Church, which would thereby be more abun- 
 dantly .promoted. No such opportunity, how- 
 ever, has been afforded at this General Confer- 
 ence." 
 
 Thus, by the foregoing decision, has ceased 
 for the present an agitation on this important 
 point of Church policy which will eventually be 
 reproduced and secure the end sought, though 
 for the time being delayed. May the great 
 Head of the Church by it bring glory to him- 
 self, and great good to all his people !
 
 The Methodist Book Coticem. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Methodist Book Concern Forty Years 
 Ago and Now. 
 
 'WjHE entire valuation of this establishment 
 "hfc), in 1832 could not have much exceeded 
 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 Its history is of no small importance as con- 
 nected with the literature of the Church. It 
 was first established in the city of Philadelphia, 
 in 1789, with a borrowed capital of six hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 Rev. John Dickins, then the stationed min- 
 ister in that city, was elected its first " Book 
 Steward" and editor. The first book printed 
 by the " Concern " was Wesley's edition 'of 
 "a Kempis," a little devotional work by a "Ro- 
 man Catholic." During his first year in office 
 Mr. Dickins published " The Arminian Maga- 
 zine," "The Methodist Discipline," "The Saints' 
 Everlasting Rest," a " Hymn Book," and " Wes- 
 ley's Primitive Physics." 
 
 It remained in Philadelphia until 1804, when
 
 22O Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 it was removed to Crosby-street, New York; 
 but by reason of its lack of funds, and its very 
 limited accommodations, its success was small 
 for a series of years. In 1828 it was placed 
 upon a more permanent financial basis, and its 
 business greatly enlarged. This was under the 
 supervision of Nathan Bangs, D.D., then editor 
 of the " Christian Advocate," and John Emory 
 and Beverly Waugh, Agents. The last two 
 named were afterward bishops in the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church. 
 
 Just forty years ago it was removed from 
 Crosby-street to Mulberry-street, where new 
 and more commodious buildings had just been 
 erected for its increasing business ; but in the 
 space of four years all was destined to be in 
 ashes. Its entire value at that time was esti- 
 mated at not less than three hundred thousand 
 dollars, and the loss by fire at more than two 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The report 
 of this fearful fire produced a most painful sen- 
 sation in all directions. Indeed, the news of the 
 sad conflagration was carried by the winds of 
 heaven. A leaf of a Bible was picked up in 
 Brooklyn, three miles away from the smoking 
 ruins, while the flames were yet raging, on 
 which were found these words : " Our holy and 
 beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee,
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 22 1 
 
 is burned with fire, and all our pleasant things 
 laid waste." Isa. Ixiv, n. 
 
 The people sympathized with the Church in 
 this sad disaster, and in a short time contributed 
 nearly one hundred thousand dollars to repair 
 the loss, by which the Agents were enabled to 
 go on with their publishing interests. 
 
 THE WESTERN BOOK CONCERN 
 
 At Cincinnati was established in 1820, with 
 a small capital, and forty years ago was doing a 
 quite prosperous business in the enterprising 
 western portion of Methodism ; but in 1844 a 
 heavy draft was made on these comparatively 
 young and struggling institutions by reason of 
 the Southern secession, and the division of their 
 funds consequent thereupon ; nevertheless our 
 Book Concerns of New York and Cincinnati 
 since the fire of 1836 have distributed among 
 the annual conferences and to the Church, out- 
 side of their own business expenses, one million 
 five hundred thousand dollars. All the profits 
 are appropriated to Church purposes in such 
 ways as the General Conference prescribes. 
 
 The Agents now publish some two thousand 
 different volumes of books and one thousand 
 tracts.
 
 222 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 The value of the real estate owned by the 
 Concern in New York is shown by the follow- 
 ing extract from the official report of the Agents 
 to the General Conference of 1872 : 
 
 " At the last General Conference a commission 
 was appointed with power to expend any sum not 
 exceeding one million dollars ($1,000,000) in the 
 purchase of real estate for the use of the Book 
 Concern, Missionary Society, and other connec- 
 tional institutions in the city of New York, and 
 to raise the money by loan or otherwise. 
 
 " In accordance with this authority, the said 
 commission, in the spring of 1869, purchased a 
 property on the corner of Broadway and Elev- 
 enth-street at a cost of nine hundred thou- 
 sand dollars, ($900,000,) three fourths () of 
 which is owned by the Book Concern, and 
 cost, including forty-two thousand nine hun- 
 dred and four dollars and thirteen cents 
 ($42,904 13) for finishing and fitting up for 
 use, seven hundred and seventeen thousand 
 nine hundred and four dollars and thirteen 
 cents, ($717,904 13.) The other one fourth (j) 
 is owned by the Missionary Society of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, and cost, when com- 
 pleted and ready for use, two hundred and 
 thirty-two thousand four hundred and fifty-two 
 dollars and forty-nine cents, ($232,452 49,) mak-
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 223 
 
 ing the total cost of the. building and lots nine 
 hundred and fifty thousand three hundred and 
 fifty-six dollars and sixty-two cents, ($950,356 62.) 
 
 "After reserving sufficient space for Book 
 Concern, Missionary Society, and other con- 
 nectional purposes such as rooms for whole- 
 saling and retailing books and periodicals, mail- 
 ing department, library room, bishops' room, 
 board room or chapel, agents, editors, and mis- 
 sionary secretaries' offices, etc. there remained 
 a large portion of the building unoccupied for 
 Church or benevolent purposes, which is rented 
 to several parties for an annual rent of seventy- 
 two thousand seven hundred dollars, ($72,700,) 
 which will pay the interest at seven per cent, 
 per annum on the whole cost of the property, 
 nine hundred and fifty thousand three hun- 
 dred and fifty-six dollars and sixty-two cents, 
 ($950,356 62,) being sixty-six thousand five hun- 
 dred and twenty-four dollars and ninety-six cents, 
 ($66,524 96,) and leave a balance of six thousand 
 one hundred and seventy-five dollars and four 
 cents ($6,175 4) toward paying the taxes and 
 insurance. 
 
 " By the said commission the Agents were 
 authorized to issue bonds for five hundred thou- 
 sand dollars, ($500,000,) payable after three 
 years, and due in fifteen years from June I,
 
 224 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 1869, for part payment of the above-named 
 property. These bonds were all taken at par 
 and accrued interest, without paying a single 
 dollar for advertising or brokerage. 
 
 " The real estate at 200 Mulberry-street and 
 Mott-street is used for manufacturing purposes, 
 with the exception of a small portion, which is 
 rented for eighteen hundred dollars ($1,800) per 
 annum." 
 
 THE CIRCUIT PREACHERS WERE THE "BOOK 
 AGENTS" FORTY YEARS AGO 
 
 For selling the books of. the establishment as 
 they traveled their circuits, and the presiding 
 elders were expected to supply them with all 
 they could sell. Now we apply directly to our 
 " Book Concern " or " Depository Agents " for 
 them as they are needed. 
 
 THE REPUTATION OF OUR "BOOK CONCERN" 
 
 Until within a few years past has stood above 
 reproach. There has not been till of late even 
 a suspicion of dishonorable dealing in the finan- 
 cial management of its affairs ; but unhappily 
 there have been created suspicions of " fraud and 
 mismanagement" in the practical workings of 
 some of its departments, which have had a some- 
 what damaging effect on its former good name. 
 Several investigations into the alleged "frauds
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 225 
 
 and mismanagement" had been made by the 
 " Book Committee " before the session of the 
 General Conference of the present year, but 
 each investigation resulted in divided opinions 
 with reference to the complaints referred to 
 them, and, as a consequence, in majority and 
 minority reports, with but little satisfaction to 
 the committee or to the public. 
 
 Such was its condition when our recent Gen- 
 eral Conference met, to which the investigation 
 of the whole affair legitimately belonged the 
 only tribunal which could give its official final 
 decision of the merits or demerits regarding 
 these allegations of "fraud and mismanage- 
 ment." 
 
 To this tribunal the Church looked with the 
 deepest solicitude. Many outside the Church 
 had predicted that the scandal would not be 
 properly exposed, nor the subject thoroughly 
 investigated, by this our highest Church author- 
 ity ; but, to the great satisfaction of all the 
 friends of the Church, and to the equally great 
 disappointment of her enemies, a most thorough 
 investigation was there determined upon and 
 made. 
 
 A " special committee " of seventy-two was 
 raised, two thirds of whom were lay delegates, 
 
 thorough business men, for this purpose, who 
 15
 
 226 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 made a most searching investigation into the 
 charges and specifications brought before them. 
 After a long and thorough examination into all 
 these matters, they came to their decision with 
 remarkable unanimity. Their report was adopt- 
 ed by the General Conference without discus- 
 sion, and with scarce a dissenting voice. Be- 
 cause of its importance, notwithstanding its 
 length, we give it entire, as follows : N 
 
 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE 
 AFFAIRS OF THE BOOK CONCERN IN NEW 
 YORK. 
 
 " To the General Conference of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church now in session : Your special 
 committee, charged with the investigation of 
 alleged frauds and irregularities in the manage- 
 ment of the Methodist Book Concern at New 
 York, beg leave to report : 
 
 " That they have had the matters referred to 
 them under consideration, and have made as 
 thorough and searching an investigation as the 
 limited time allowed would permit. 
 
 " The committee was organized by the elec- 
 tion of B. R. Bonner, of St. Louis, as Chairman, 
 and A. D. Wilbor, of Genesee Conference, as 
 Secretary. 
 
 "After deliberation, the committee adopted
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 227 
 
 as Rules of Order and Proceeding, and as ques- 
 tions to be investigated and voted upon, the 
 following, to wit : 
 
 " I. Any member of the committee propos- 
 ing to call for the production and examination 
 of persons or papers shall make such request 
 in writing, and in such request shall specify 
 such persons or papers, and shall point out 
 especially the facts which he designs to estab- 
 lish or disprove by such persons or papers ; 
 
 "Provided, That the persons and papers 
 brought before the committee may be used 
 for any purpose that may throw light . upon 
 'any matter within the jurisdiction of the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 " II. The hearing of the facts, evidence, tes- 
 timony and explanation shall be before the 
 whole committee in open session, at which 
 every member is expected to be present. 
 
 "III. Members of the committee shall not 
 express opinions on the merits of the case or the 
 proofs offered during the hearing. But each 
 member shall be at liberty to ask any relevant 
 questions he may think proper and necessary 
 to a full understanding of the subject 
 
 " IV. After the proofs and explanations are 
 all submitted, the committee shall alone, with 
 closed doors, proceed in their order to con-
 
 228 Methodism Forty Years. Ago and Now. 
 
 sider and vote upon the following questions, 
 namely : 
 
 " Question i. Have frauds been practiced in 
 the printing, bindery, or any other department, 
 by which the Book Concern has sustained loss ? 
 If so, by whom ? How much loss was sus- 
 tained ? At what time or times were said 
 frauds committed ? 
 
 " Q. 2. Have there been any irregularities in 
 the management of the business of the Concern, 
 by which losses have been, or might have been, 
 sustained ? 
 
 " Q. 3. Have losses, if any, been of such 
 magnitude as to endanger the financial strength 
 of the Concern, or to materially impair its 
 capital ? 
 
 " Q. 4. Were the business methods of the 
 departments such as to afford opportunities 
 for frauds and peculations by subordinates ? 
 And is it reasonable to presume that such 
 frauds, [or peculations,] if committed, could 
 have been prevented by the enforcement of 
 more thorough and business-like methods ? 
 
 " Q. 5. Are there reasonable grounds to pre- 
 sume that any Agent or Assistant Agent is, or 
 has been, implicated or interested in any frauds 
 that may have been practiced on the Concern ? 
 
 " Q. 6. Are the present methods of accounts
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 229 
 
 and modes of conducting the business such as 
 to insure reasonable and ordinary protection 
 against frauds and irregularities ? 
 
 " Q. 7. Is the report of the Agents to this 
 General Conference a fair exhibit of the assets 
 and liabilities of the Concern ? 
 
 " V. After a vote has been taken on each of 
 the foregoing questions, any member of the 
 Committee may propose any other question in 
 writing, which the committee, by a vote, may 
 entertain and order to be voted upon. 
 
 "VI. After the separate vote has been taken 
 on each question, a report shall be drawn up 
 embodying the judgment of the committee as 
 thus rendered, with such expressions as may be 
 deemed proper in relation to the same. 
 
 " VII. The specific statements of charges in 
 Dr. Lanahan's report to the General Confer- 
 ence shall be taken up and examined in their 
 order as numbered. 
 
 " The more expeditiously and thoroughly to 
 investigate the several matters referred to us, 
 Consisting of the majority and minority reports 
 of the Book Committee, and the testimony 
 therein referred to ; the statements and exhibits 
 of Drs. Carlton and Lanahan ; with the reports 
 of the several accountants who have examined 
 the affairs of the Book Concern, your com-
 
 230 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 mittee ordered and appointed the following 
 sub-committee, to wit : 
 
 "i. A committee, composed of John Evans, 
 Colorado, W. H. H. Beadle, Des Moines, and 
 J. B. Quigg, Wilmington, to collate and report 
 to us, first, the points of agreement ; second, 
 the points of disagreement in the majority and 
 minority reports of the Book Committee. 
 
 " 2. A committee, consisting of John Owen, 
 Detroit, J. C. M'Intosh, S. E. Indiana, and 
 W. H. Olin, Wyoming, to collate and report the 
 points of agreement and disagreement in the 
 reports of Messrs. Kilbreth and Gunn, the ex- 
 perts employed by the Book Committee and 
 Dr. Carlton ; also, to examine the books of the 
 Book Concern as to their past and present 
 condition. 
 
 " 3. A committee, consisting of John Evans, 
 Colorado, A. Bradley, Pittsburgh, J. B. Quigg, 
 Wilmington, to examine and report upon the 
 charges of fraud and irregularities in Dr. Lana- 
 han's report (pages 17 to 21, inclusive state- 
 ments one to five) upon the question of frauds 
 in the Printing Department. 
 
 "4. A committee, consisting of D. N. Cool- 
 ey, Iowa, William Deering, Maine, and W. 
 J. Moses, Central New York, upon the charges 
 of fraud and irregularities in the Binding De-
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 231 
 
 partment, including statements six to seven, 
 inclusive pages 21 to 24 of Dr. Lanahan's 
 report. 
 
 " 5. A committee, consisting of John Owen, 
 Detroit, J. C. M'Intosh, S. E. Indiana, -and 
 W. H. Olin, Wyoming, to examine statements 
 twelve to seventeen inclusive, of Dr. Lanahan's 
 report as to fraud in making false reports of 
 amounts of material used and the work turned 
 out from the Binding Department. 
 
 "6. Also, a committee of three, consisting 
 of L. J. Critchfield, Ohio, J. B. M'Cullough, 
 Philadelphia, G. F. Gavitt, Providence, to ex- 
 amine .the evidence in relation to statements 
 eighteen, nineteen, and twenty in Dr. Lana- 
 han's report, charging false entries in the books 
 of the Book Concern. 
 
 " 7. Also, a committee, consisting of W. H. 
 H. Beadle, Des Moines, C. R. Brown, Michi- 
 gan, and A. Bradley, Nebraska, to examine 
 and report upon all the facts in relation to the 
 publications of the several experts. 
 
 "After all the sub-committees had made the 
 examinations practicable in the time at their 
 disposal, and had submitted their several re- 
 ports in writing to the special committee, and 
 the several members of said committees had 
 been questioned before the whole committee
 
 232 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 as to the evidence examined, and the facts 
 found by them, and after hearing the other evi- 
 dence before the committee, your committee, 
 pursuant to its rules of order, went into private 
 session with closed doors to consider and dis- 
 cuss the said several questions raised in the 
 charges preferred and the questions proposed 
 to be considered and voted upon. 
 
 "There were present at roll-call at this pri- 
 vate session fifty-nine of the special com- 
 mittee, which was about the average number 
 who have been present and examined said case 
 during our sittings. 
 
 " Thereupon we proceeded to vote upon the 
 questions as per order of proceedings above 
 quoted, to wit : 
 
 "i. On the first clause of Question i, ' Have 
 frauds been practiced in the Printing Depart- 
 ment ? ' the question was decided in the nega- 
 tive, ayes 7, noes 50. 
 
 " 2. On a vote on the second clause of said 
 question, ' Have frauds been practiced in the 
 Bindery by which the Book Concern has sus- 
 tained loss ? ' it was decided in the affirmative 
 by a vote of ayes 49, noes 6. 
 
 "3. On a vote on the third clause of said 
 question, 'Have frauds been practiced in any 
 other department by which the Concern has
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 233 
 
 sustained loss ? ' the question was decided in 
 the negative by a vote of ayes 7, noes 47. 
 
 " 4. Q. 2. ' Have there been any irregular- 
 ities in the management of the business of the 
 Concern by which losses have been, or might 
 have been, sustained ? ' was decided in the af- 
 firmative by a vote of ayes 46, noes 7. 
 
 "5- Q- 3- ' Have losses, if any, been of such 
 magnitude as to endanger the financial strength 
 of the Concern, or to materially impair its cap- 
 ital ? ' was decided in the negative by a vote of 
 ayes 3, noes 48. 
 
 " 6. Q. 4. ' Were the business methods of the 
 departments such as to afford opportunities for 
 frauds and peculations by subordinates ? ' The 
 first clause of the question, as above quoted, 
 was decided in the affirmative, ayes 49, noes i. 
 
 " 7. The second clause, to wit, ' Is it reason- 
 able to presume that such frauds or peculations, 
 if committed, could have been prevented by the 
 enforcement of more thorough and business-like 
 methods ? ' 
 
 " This also was decided in the affirmative by 
 a vote of ayes 31, noes 20. 
 
 "8. Q. 5. 'Are there reasonable grounds to 
 presume that any Agent or Assistant Agent is or 
 has been implicated or interested in any frauds 
 that may have been practiced in the Concern ?'
 
 234 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 11 This question was decided in the negative, 
 one only voting in the affirmative. 
 
 "9. Q. 6. 'Are the present methods of ac- 
 counts and modes of conducting the business 
 such as to insure reasonable and ordinary pro- 
 tection against frauds and irregularities ? ' 
 
 "This was decided in the affirmative by a 
 vote of ayes 42, noes 12. 
 
 " 10. Q. 7. ' Is the report of the Agents to 
 this General Conference a fair exhibit of the 
 assets and liabilities of the Concern ? ' was de- 
 cided in the affirmative by the following vote : 
 ayes 44, noes 3. 
 
 "Your committee, therefore, after as careful 
 an examination of all the evidence at hand 
 bearing upon the subject submitted to us as it 
 has been possible for us in the time at our dis- 
 posal to give to it, arrive at the conclusion that 
 repeated frauds have been practiced upon the 
 Book Concern. 
 
 "These frauds are found in the manufactur- 
 ing department, and are located chiefly, if not 
 wholly, in the bindery. Mr. Hoffman was 
 superintendent of this department at the time 
 of the perpetration of these frauds, and the evi- 
 dence indicates that for a series of years he 
 carried on a system of frauds by which the 
 Concern sustained very considerable losses, the
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 235 
 
 amount of which it is impossible to indicate 
 with accuracy. 
 
 " i. We are of the opinion that the busi- 
 ness methods of this department were former- 
 ly such as to afford opportunities for frauds 
 and peculations by subordinates, which these 
 investigations show have been taken advan- 
 tage of. 
 
 " 2. Your committee concur with Mr. Kilbreth 
 in the statement made by him in his report 
 before us, in which he says that ' in former 
 years it is apparent that there was a great lack 
 of system in the business transactions of the 
 house, as shown on the books, and a great 
 deal of confusion and careless book-keeping ; ' 
 as also in his further statement, that ' the 
 business entries of the years 1862 and 1864, in- 
 cluding also the bindery and periodical account 
 of 1 86 1, are totally inexcusable as specimens 
 of accounts.' 
 
 " 3. Your committee also find that the losses 
 sustained by frauds and irregularities are not 
 of such magnitude as to endanger the financial 
 strength of the Book Concern, nor to materially 
 impair its capital. 
 
 " 4. That there are no reasonable grounds or 
 proofs to justify an assumption that any Agent 
 or Assistant Agent is or has been implicated or
 
 236 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 interested in any frauds which have been prac- 
 ticed on the Book Concern. 
 
 " 5. That the present method of accounts and 
 modes of conducting the business are such as 
 to insure reasonable and ordinary protection 
 against frauds and irregularities, yet they are 
 not altogether perfect. 
 
 " 6. In reference to the purchasing of paper 
 through Mr. James F. Porter, we concur with 
 Mr. Kilbreth, ' that under all the circumstances 
 of the case we unhesitatingly regard it as a de- 
 cided business impropriety.' 
 
 " 7. We deem it proper to refer to the trans- 
 action of the Book Concern with Messrs. Brown 
 Bros, and Co., (see Mr. Kilbreth's Report, page 
 48,) because it was an unauthorized use of the 
 credit of the Book Concern for the benefit of 
 outside parties ; and although there was in this 
 case no loss to the Book Concern, and we may 
 reasonably believe the motives which prompted 
 to the act were to promote the interests of the 
 Concern, and to accommodate the Missionary 
 Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, yet to guard against its influence as a 
 precedent we call your attention to it as an er- 
 ror fraught with peril to the interests of the 
 Book Concern which should not be sanctioned. 
 
 "8. As to question seven, submitted for our
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 237 
 
 consideration, whether the report of the Agents 
 for 1871 'is a fair exhibit of the assets and lia- 
 bilities of the Concern,' we report that no tes- 
 timony was introduced before the whole com- 
 mittee on that subject, though several members 
 of the committee examined such evidence at the 
 Book Room as was available. As the exhibit is 
 made up in parts of estimated values of real 
 estate and other property belonging to the Con- 
 cern, such estimates must depend largely for 
 their reliability upon the good judgment of the 
 persons making up such exhibit. 
 
 " It is perhaps sufficient to say that your 
 committee have no evidence before them tending 
 to show that the exhibits should be different 
 from what they are. 
 
 " Appreciating the important duties devolved 
 upon us, and with an earnest desire to reach 
 just conclusions, your committee have labored 
 earnestly to discover the facts involved, and ar- 
 rive at just conclusions embraced within the 
 scope of the authority conferred upon us. We 
 submit the foregoing as a summary of our con- 
 clusions. 
 
 " All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 " On the question of the adoption of the fore- 
 going report as a whole by your committee, the 
 same was adopted unanimously by a rising vote."
 
 238 MctJiodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 The character of that committee, the thor- 
 oughness of their investigation, and the result 
 of their conclusions, are well expressed in 
 " Zion's. Herald" of June I3th by the editor, 
 who was a member of the General Conference, 
 and now one of the bishops of our Church, under 
 the heading, 
 
 WHAT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE DID. 
 
 " The most important of the sessions of this 
 body has concluded its work. Five weeks to a 
 day it sat, patiently engaged in the work of the 
 Church. Matters of the gravest importance 
 came before it. The Church and the country 
 had been tossed on a rough sea of controversy 
 over one of her publishing houses. The waves 
 of dispute were very angry, and ran very high. 
 Elections of the gravest character came upon 
 it. The settlement of wider matters, relating 
 to Church interests at home and abroad, was 
 also appointed unto it. Especially notable was 
 it for the presence, for the first time, of laymen 
 in its councils. Its work is done. What is 
 that work ? First, that which was first in the 
 public and ecclesiastical mind, the New York 
 Book Room troubles, were settled, to the peace 
 of the whole community. A body of seventy- 
 two members, two thirds and over laymen, was
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 239 
 
 especially assigned to this case. That body 
 divided itself into minute committees, and every 
 particle of the voluminous evidence taken in all 
 the previous investigations was carefully read. 
 Besides this, much other testimony was received. 
 We doubt if ever a subject was more thoroughly 
 searched into, under the limitations of time that 
 were necessarily imposed upon them. They 
 could only have surpassed it by sitting as a 
 commission after the adjournment of the Con- 
 ference. That committee was presided over by 
 a leading banker of St. Louis, Mr. Bonner, and 
 had among its members superior men of busi- 
 ness and brains, such as Hon. Wm. Deering, 
 F. A. Gavitt, Esq., Rev. Dr. Thayer, Hon. 
 Senator Lane, of Indiana ; Judge Price, of 
 Iowa ; Gov. Dillingham, of Vermont ; Judge 
 Goodrich, of Chicago ; Hon. John Owen, State 
 Treasurer of Michigan ; Gov. Evans, of Colo- 
 rado ; Rev. W. H. Olin, of Wyoming, a bred 
 lawyer ; Judge Woodward, of Washington, and 
 many others of like sort. Their report, unani- 
 mously adopted, sustained the main lines of 
 complaint, and justified the efforts made to im- 
 prove the status of affairs at New York. Yet 
 it was so couched that no reflection came on 
 the integrity of any of the officers of the Church. 
 This result answered all the charges with which
 
 240 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 some of the press have been laden, that the 
 scandal would not be exposed or suppressed. 
 The Church did the square thing, and no one, 
 unless determined to find fault, can complain 
 of the manner in which this matter has been 
 considered and adjusted. The General Confer- 
 ence completed this work by adopting the re- 
 port with almost entire unanimity, and by placing 
 entirely new men in both the Concern and the 
 Committee, an act which did not reflect on the 
 previous members, but simply said it is best to 
 have a new order of things all through, so that 
 every thing may start afresh and aright. The 
 brethren selected as agents are able men. Dr. 
 Nelson is a thorough business man, having suc- 
 cessfully conducted the affairs of a flourishing 
 seminary for many years in Pennsylvania. He 
 is of rare agreeableness of manners, the soul 
 of courtesy and honor, without self-seeking, de- 
 voted to the enlargement and prosperity of this 
 great interest of the Church. 
 
 " His associate, J. H. Phillips, Esq., has been 
 the real head for many years of the house in 
 Cincinnati. He was one of the secretaries of 
 the Conference, and by his goodly presence, 
 portly and pleasant, as well as by the zealous 
 seconding of his handsome associate secretary, 
 Judge Cooley, of Iowa, he won the place from
 
 The Methodist Book Concern. 241 
 
 the rival lay candidate, J. P. Magee. The lat- 
 ter was set in nomination for the West, and it 
 is likely would have been successful had he con- 
 sented to stand, for large numbers of that sec- 
 tion declared they would have supported him, 
 and it would have been a fine proof of our com- 
 mon brotherhood had they crossed the Concerns 
 in this manner. But his instant and peremptory 
 decline prevented that consummation. 
 
 " The committee has on it m2ny men of 
 ability, financial and otherwise. Messrs. Taft, 
 North, and Ferry, at New York, and Shinkle, 
 Kilbreth, and Bruehl, of Cincinnati, are the lay 
 centers around whom the twelve district mem- 
 bers, chiefly clerical, revolve. Their character 
 will insure business force, and their associates 
 will give the needed literary completeness." 
 16
 
 242 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Methodist Missions Then and Now. 
 
 the year 1832 the Missionary Society of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church had been 
 in somewhat successful operation for thir- 
 teen years. It had then under its control sev- 
 eral domestic but no foreign missions. These 
 missions were in newly-settled parts of the 
 country, among the white population, and in the 
 feeble societies in the older sections, which for 
 a time received aid from the funds of the so- 
 ciety, but generally soon became self-supporting. 
 Also there were established missions among the 
 colored people of the South, both free and bond. 
 It is to be regretted that separate statistics are 
 not preserved of their numerical condition. 
 
 The colored members of the Church, bond 
 and free, in all the twenty-two conferences, were 
 reported for that year to be seventy-three thou- 
 sand eight hundred and seventeen. These, of 
 course, resided mostly in the South. Only a 
 few of these belonged to the regular missionary 
 appointments of, that section of the Church.
 
 Methodist Missions. 243 
 
 There were also many missions among the 
 Indians of the country. Of these, among the 
 most prominent were our missions among the 
 " Oneidas," the " Kansas," the " Choctaws," the 
 " Cherokees," and the " Wyandottes." The last 
 named attracted much attention. The manner 
 of its origin was on this wise : John Stewart, a 
 poor but pious colored brother of New York 
 city, was strangely impressed, in the year 1816, 
 to leave his home and travel due north-west to 
 somewhere (of the distance or place he had no 
 idea) and there preach the Gospel, which was 
 designed for all people. These impressions his 
 brethren regarded as visionary, and many sought 
 to discourage him. But all in vain. He started 
 on his journey, like Abraham of old, " not 
 knowing whither he went," and guided, as he 
 believed, by the divine Hand, he kept on his 
 journey till he was constrained to stop, as he 
 soon found, among the Wyandotte Indians, once 
 a powerful nation, the most ancient settlers of 
 both sides of the Detroit River. Here he made 
 his mission known, and preached the "glorious 
 Gospel " through an interpreter of his own race. 
 
 The word took effect Soon God gave him 
 many souls as seals of his divinely-appointed 
 ministry. Poor John Stewart was soon the ac- 
 knowledged " great apostle " of the Wyandotte
 
 244 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 Indians. Of the fruits of this mission, among 
 others, were Brothers " Between the Logs," 
 " Bloody Eyes," " Striped Snake," " Monuncue," 
 and " Gray Eyes," powerful chiefs of their na- 
 tion, who became, in their way, eloquent and 
 powerful Methodist preachers. 
 
 Other missionaries were in due time sent to 
 them, and this mission was one of our most in- 
 teresting and successful of any forty years ago. 
 In the Minutes of that year, in all the Indian 
 missions, there were reported 4,501 members. 
 
 In consequence of their unfortunate removal 
 beyond the Mississippi they became somewhat 
 disorganized, 'and the next year were reduced 
 to 2,412, a decrease of 2,089. 
 
 During that year a new impetus was given to 
 the cause of missions in our Church by the es- 
 tablishment of our first American Methodist 
 Foreign Mission. This was the Liberia Mis- 
 sion in Africa. It began on this wise : Among 
 those who had gone to reside in Africa from the 
 United States were a few of our Church-mem- 
 bers, people of color, and some colored local 
 preachers of good standing and influence. 
 These sent to the Parent Missionary Society a 
 plea for help. The society heeded the call, and 
 resolved to send them a missionary. Rev. Mel- 
 ville B. Cox, of the Maine Conference, offered
 
 Methodist Missions. 245 
 
 to go. His offer was accepted, and he set sail 
 October 6, 1832, for his important mission. His 
 heart had been set upon Africa from the time 
 of his appointment. 
 
 It is said that near the time of his departure 
 for Africa his dear mother threw her maternal 
 arms around his neck, and dropping her falling 
 tears upon his face, exclaimed, " O, Melville, 
 how can I give thee up ? " When he, turning 
 his imploring eyes toward Africa, exclaimed, 
 " O, Africa, how can I give thee up ? " 
 
 On the eve of his departure a friend asked 
 him, " Mr. Cox, if you shall die in Africa, what 
 would you have written on your tombstone ? " 
 His immediate reply was, " Though a thousand 
 missionaries fall, yet shall Africa be redeemed." 
 Another version of his answer is, " Though a 
 thousand missionaries fall, yet let not Africa be 
 given up." * 
 
 He reached his destination March 8, 1833, 
 and with great enthusiasm entered upon the 
 work of his mission, laying broad and specific 
 plans for the future, and calling upon the Parent 
 Society for additional means and missionaries 
 to carry out his plans. But, alas ! in a few brief 
 months he was attacked with the African fever, 
 and died July 21 of that year. Other mission- 
 
 * Bangs' "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," vol. iv.
 
 246 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 aries were sent, and the Liberia Mission has 
 ever since been numbered .among the most im- 
 portant in our foreign field. It now has an 
 annual conference of somewhat more than 
 twenty preachers, and a membership, includ- 
 ing probationers, of more than two thousand, 
 presided over by a resident bishop of African 
 descent. 
 
 Another important mission was the Flat 
 Head, or Oregon Mission. Its origin was cal- 
 culated also to inspire enthusiasm for its sup- 
 port. The redmen of that forest region, as it 
 then was, had become intensely interested to 
 know more than was already known by them of 
 the " white man's God " and the " white man's 
 book." They therefore sent four of their prin- 
 cipal men over the Rocky Mountains, a distance 
 of three thousand miles, to St. Louis, to make 
 the needed inquiries. Upon reaching their des- 
 tination they promptly unfolded the object of 
 their long wilderness journey. 
 
 Our Missionary Society immediately recog- 
 nized it as a call from God, and responded 
 to it by sending them two missionary preach- 
 ers and a teacher, Jason and Daniel Lee, 
 uncle and nephew, and Cyrus Shepherd. They 
 went out with a large fur-trading company, 
 and traveled from St. Louis, then on the
 
 Methodist Missions. 247 
 
 borders of civilization, through forests and over 
 mountains, for one hundred and forty-two days 
 before they reached the Columbia River, the 
 region of their destination. They immediately 
 entered upon their laborious mission work, 
 which for a time proved successful with the 
 Flat Head tribes ; but these were destined in a 
 few years to disappear, and in their place Ameri- 
 can enterprise and thrift were to supply the 
 region with an intelligent, industrious, and nu- 
 merous population, where now there is a pros- 
 perous State. Our Church has there now an 
 annual conference of able ministers and a large 
 and intelligent membership, a college and other 
 schools, and an official weekly periodical, the 
 " Oregon Christian Advocate." 
 
 These two missions of forty years ago awak- 
 ened a much-needed interest, a zeal and liberal- 
 ity, in the Church, so that in the year 1834 the 
 amount of receipts reached $35,700 15, more 
 than twice the sum of the year before, which at 
 that time was regarded as doing most nobly 
 for this cause ; but it averaged only about 
 six and a half cents per member for the whole 
 Church. 
 
 In the New England conferences the average 
 was nearly as follows : New Hampshire Confer- 
 ence, about four and one half cents per member ;
 
 248 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 New England Conference, ten and three quarters 
 cents ; Maine Conference, about sixteen cents 
 per member. 
 
 This last was a noble expression of the inter- 
 est created by the appointment of their own 
 beloved Cox to the Liberia Mission, and his 
 early and lamented death. 
 
 WHAT A CONTRAST BETWEEN FORTY YEARS AGO 
 AND NOW. 
 
 Besides the Liberia Mission Conference, to 
 which I have just referred the reader, we have 
 now the following foreign missions : 
 
 In China, that world of riches and glory, of 
 superstition and idolatry, which had been till a 
 few years past inaccessible to the Christian 
 world, our Church has now a prosperous mis- 
 sion, which has been in progress since 1847. 
 The Foochow Mission has 5 missionaries, 5 
 assistants, some 68 native preachers, and, in- 
 cluding probationers, nearly 1,700 members. 
 They have a printing-press, printing annually 
 four million pages for the use of the mission, 
 a female academy, and mission property valued 
 at not less than $50,000. 
 
 Another mission field was opened in Kiu- 
 kiang in 1868 with good results, and another in 
 Peking in 1 869, both of which are represented
 
 Methodist Missions. 249 
 
 as giving signs of great promise to the 
 Church. 
 
 Our German Foreign Mission had in 1871 
 an annual conference of 53 missionaries, 28 lo- 
 cal preachers, 14 supplies in the regular work, 
 and nearly 7,500 lay members, including pro- 
 bationers ; 36 churches, valued at $296,993 ; 
 25 parsonages, valued at $12,000, and more 
 than 9,000 Sunday-school scholars. 
 
 The mission is thoroughly organized. It has 
 a theological seminary, and other educational 
 advantages. By the powerful influence of na- 
 tive German preachers, and that of the wonder- 
 ful work of God among their American German 
 brethren, it is destined to accomplish incalcula- 
 ble good to the people of that " fatherland." It 
 was established only twenty-three years ago. 
 
 Our Scandinavian Mission had in 1871 13 
 missionary preachers, 25 local preachers, 3,662 
 members, 14 chapels, and 2,626 Sunday-school 
 scholars. The missionary report of last year 
 says, " Peace, love, and harmony reign in all the 
 societies ;" and that " they are gaining more and 
 more the respect and favor of the community 
 generally." This mission has existed only eight- 
 een years. 
 
 Our India Mission has an annual conference 
 of 29 missionary preachers, 23 assistants, and
 
 250 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 and 32 helpers ; between 1,200 and 1,300 mem- 
 bers, embracing those on probation ; and of offi- 
 cers, teachers, and scholars in Sunday-schools 
 about 2,000. "A great and effectual door is 
 opened unto " the Church in this far-off land, 
 and God is graciously giving the mission great 
 success. This is the result of sixteen years' 
 labor. ; 
 
 We have also missions in Bulgaria, in Italy, 
 and in South America, which are doing good 
 service in extending the kingdom of Christ in 
 the earth. 
 
 Another important foreign mission field has 
 been recently opened to Protestantism in the 
 Republic of Mexico, for which, in the providence 
 of God, American Churches must take special 
 care. To this new opening our Church has 
 very properly turned her attention, and ap- 
 pointed to its superintendency the Rev. Dr. 
 Butler, the recent efficient superintendent of 
 our missions in India, with an appropriation of 
 ten thousand dollars ; and what is also especially 
 encouraging, she has decided to establish an- 
 other forthwith in Japan, and appropriated 
 twenty-five thousand dollars to the enterprise. 
 
 Let the Church rejoice in these new move- 
 ments along the line of progress.
 
 Methodist Missions. 251 
 
 METHODIST DOMESTIC MISSIONS. 
 
 Our Domestic Indian Missions have been 
 subjected to the embarrassing influences of 
 the removal of the Indians to new homes be- 
 yond the Mississippi, to their constant numeri- 
 cal decrease, and to their wandering habits ; 
 but still great good has been done among them 
 through missionary efforts. 
 
 We have now 16 missionaries. 1,675 mem- 
 bers, and 22 local preachers. This is a diminu- 
 tion in forty years in numbers of 2,829. " Lo, the 
 poor Indian ! " What a doomed race ! Never- 
 theless in the Oneida, the St. Regis, the Catta- 
 raugus, the Alleghany, the Tonawanda, the 
 Simcoe, and the Siletz Indian tribes our mis- 
 sionaries are " gathering fruit unto eternal life." 
 In some of these they are " making marvelous 
 advancement in agriculture, civilization, and an 
 earnest religious life." In all "the Gospel is" 
 seen to be " the power of God unto salvation " 
 from sin unto many of these wandering natives 
 of the forest 
 
 In our German Domestic Missions there are 
 380 effective traveling preachers, nearly half' of 
 whom are wholly supported by their own peo- 
 ple ; the others are supported in whole or in 
 part by the Missionary Society. They have
 
 252 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 476 churches, valued at $1,555,700. They re- 
 port 210 parsonages, valued at $272,050, and 
 raised for missions $19,056 50. Their mem- 
 bership is reported at 31,696, including proba- 
 tioners.* All this is the work of less than forty 
 years. 
 
 The rapidity of German emigration to our 
 country may be seen by the following facts : In 
 New York city alone in nine years, including 
 1871, there came over from the "fatherland" 
 757,885 Germans. In the year 1871, 83,601, 
 an increase over the previous year of 12,329.! 
 
 The Scandinavian Domestic Mission in 1871 
 had 42 missionaries, 151 local preachers, 56 
 churches, valued at nearly $120,000; and 20 
 parsonages, valued at about $21,500. They 
 contributed to the funds of the missionary 
 treasury more than $2,400. Six of the above 
 stations are self-supporting. " This department 
 of our missionary work is, like our German, 
 alive all over." The tide of emigration from 
 Scandinavia has swollen from 3,188 in 1863, to 
 16,668 in 1870. This mission began its opera- 
 tions twenty-seven years ago. 
 
 The Chinese Domestic Mission is a new one, 
 
 * See German correspondent in General Conference "Daily 
 Advocate." 
 
 f See Report of Missionary Society for 1871.
 
 Methodist Missions. 253 
 
 and of vast importance to the Church and the 
 country, in view of the rush of emigrants to our 
 country from the celestial empire. It was com- 
 menced five years ago, and had in 1871 two 
 missionaries in the field. It must eventually 
 prove successful. 
 
 The Utah Mission is another of very recent 
 origin. It had 6 missionaries in 1871, and 120 
 members, 3 Sunday-schools, 10 teachers, and 400 
 scholars. Its church property was then valued 
 at $30,000. This mission is a peculiar one, and 
 difficult yet with faith in God it must and will 
 succeed. It is destined to become a great power 
 in that Mormon land to counteract the false 
 and iniquitous system there sanctioned. They 
 raised last year for missionary purposes the sum 
 of $9,000, which was expended in Utah. They 
 call for more missionaries, and the Missionary 
 Society of our Church is making ample provis- 
 ion for them, and our appointing power is sup- 
 plying the men as fast as possible. 
 
 Another domestic territorial mission, com- 
 menced last year, is in Montana, a mountain- 
 ous, sparsely settled region of the great North- 
 west. It is, however, a hopeful field, where in 
 due time an abundant harvest will be gathered 
 into the garner of the Lord. As yet their sta- 
 tistics are incomplete.
 
 254 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 The last report gives 3 missionaries, 3 local 
 preachers, 50 members, 1 1 Sunday-schools, and 
 400 teachers and scholars. 
 
 In addition to these we have domestic mis- 
 sion work among the freedmen, extending 
 through all the Southern States. These freed- 
 men show great eagerness to acquire knowledge, 
 and are fast rising into social and civil favor. 
 Many of them acquire property rapidly. 
 
 The membership of our Church is fast in- 
 creasing among them ; but as the " Freedmen's 
 Aid " and " Church Extension " Societies have 
 these benevolent operations under their more 
 immediate supervision, their statistics are not 
 given in our missionary report. But the whole 
 work is, nevertheless, really missionary in its 
 character, and is meeting with glorious success. 
 
 We have domestic missions among our En- 
 glish-speaking population, and those of other 
 languages among us, requiring more money for 
 their support than all we send abroad for the 
 support of our foreign work. Our Missionary 
 Society recognizes this demand, and to its ut- 
 most extent provides for it. Wise men in and 
 out of our Church approve of the effort to 
 Christianize all classes of the people in our 
 country.
 
 Methodist Missions. 255 
 
 OUR AVERAGE CONTRIBUTIONS PER MEMBER. 
 
 Forty years ago, as before stated, the aver- 
 age contributions per member were only some 
 six and a half cents. Our contributions in 
 1872 from all sources amounted to $661,000, 
 which, when averaged among all our ministers 
 and lay members, give us an average of a little 
 less than forty-seven cents per member. This 
 average, though far less than what it should be, 
 is an increase quite creditable to our Church, 
 especially when we consider the number of col- 
 lections and subscriptions taken in a conference 
 year for various benevolent objects. Not less 
 than seven or eight others are ordered by our 
 General Conference. Two of these, " The 
 Freedmen's Aid " and the " Church Extension " 
 Societies, are closely allied to the cause of mis- 
 sions. If these were added they would swell 
 the amount of our benevolent contributions for 
 real missionary purposes to a much higher 
 figure. 
 
 The Church, however, ought to average at 
 least one dollar per member for the mission 
 cause alone. It is worthy of it. The open 
 fields throughout the world are ripe for the har- 
 vest. In those countries where papacy has kept 
 out the truth for centuries the Christian Church
 
 256 Methodism Forty Years Ago and Now. 
 
 can now enter and reap down the whitening 
 harvest. All Europe, all Asia, all America, 
 and, indeed, the whole world, is open to the 
 spread of Gospel truth as never before. 
 
 The call is loud to the Church to enter these 
 open fields and " gather fruit unto life eternal." 
 Where is there an enlightened Christian in the 
 whole Church who does not feel his " heart 
 burn within him " to do all he can to extend 
 " this Gospel of the kingdom throughout the 
 world?"
 
 METHODISM : PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE. 
 
 tHE writer of the foregoing pages has made 
 frequent reference to our past successful 
 progress and present prosperity as a 
 Church, and taken a hopeful forward look to- 
 ward great and increasing success for years to 
 come. 
 
 But we must not be forgetful of the contin- 
 gencies which must be met on the part of his 
 Church, with fidelity to the cause of God and 
 in constant harmony with the claims of an all- 
 wise and gracious Providence and of human 
 agency. 
 
 We call the careful and prayerful attention 
 of our ministers and lay members to some of 
 the various demands upon us which are insep- 
 arably connected with our present and future 
 welfare as a Church, as suggested in the follow- 
 ing chapters. 
 
 17
 
 Her Dangers and Duties. 259 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Methodism Her Dangers and Her Duties. 
 
 tHE present numerical strength, financial 
 ability, excellent system of doctrine, ef- 
 ficient Church polity, great .educational 
 facilities, and other favorable denominational 
 characteristics of Methodism, whether taken 
 singly or collectively, give a hopeful look for 
 future success. We are prone to think that her 
 borders are so widely extended, that her stakes 
 are so firmly set, that her " mountain " is so 
 " strong," and her " walls " so impregnable, that 
 there can be no chance of a failure to fulfill the 
 great mission for which God in his providence 
 has raised her up. But thoughtful minds see 
 the need of great care and caution lest her 
 power for good be turned into wrong channels, 
 and she fail of the end sought " the spread of 
 scriptural holiness over all lands." 
 
 Paradoxical as it may seem, her success may 
 prove her failure, her prosperity her adversity, 
 and her triumphs her overthrow. We should
 
 260 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 take good heed that we be not found bowing 
 the knee and offering idolatrous worship to 
 this beau ideal of Methodistic greatness and 
 glory instead of paying the homage so appro- 
 priately due to Him who is " the author and 
 finisher of our faith." Let us carefully consider 
 some of the dangers and duties growing out of 
 the past success and present prosperous condi- 
 tion of Methodism. We will, then, first state 
 that 
 
 METHODISM, BY HER NUMERICAL STRENGTH, 
 HAS HER SPECIAL DANGERS AND DUTIES. 
 
 In another- chapter attention has been called 
 to the fact that our Church has a million and a 
 half of members. If her prosperity continues 
 she must number many millions- by the close 
 of her second century. But her real strength 
 is not to be found in her numbers. When 
 other denominations of Christians had been long 
 established and had become numerically strong, 
 Methodism began, in the midst of great opposi- 
 tion and poverty, to outstrip in success these 
 older and stronger Churches. By what means ? 
 " By the weapons of warfare which are not 
 carnal, but mighty through God to the pull- 
 ing down of the strongholds " of all opposing 
 influences.
 
 Her Dangers and Duties. 261 
 
 But what if her vitality should be lost, and 
 she be left to boastfully count up her numbers 
 to ascertain her real strength ? She would then 
 offend God, as did David when " he numbered 
 Israel." Gideon was stronger with his three 
 hundred " valiant-hearted men," who could en- 
 dure the severest tests, than with all the thirty- 
 two thousand who first came to the conflict. 
 Methodism, with all her numbers, if she come 
 " not up ,to the help of the Lord " in her great 
 mission, is liable to be " cursed mightily," as , 
 was Meroz of old for a like failure of duty. 
 
 There is a fearful responsibility resting upon 
 her. " The kingdom of darkness " yet extends 
 over a vast majority of our fallen race. " There 
 remains yet very much land to be possessed ; " 
 and unless she properly cultivate her appropri- 
 ate part thereof, as our great Lord of the vine- 
 yard demands of her, a blighting curse will rest 
 upon her for " cumbering the ground." May 
 Methodism " Christianity in earnest," as Dr. 
 Chalmers called it be enabled to put to useful 
 and active service in her wide field each and all 
 of her great membership, and " keep them at it, 
 all at it, and always at it," for Christ's sake I
 
 262 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 THERE ARE DANGERS AND DUTIES OF METHOD- 
 ISM, ALSO, IN RELATION TO HER FINANCIAL 
 PROSPERITY. 
 
 Our Church has risen from a state of extreme 
 poverty to comparative affluence. This is not 
 alike apparent in all parts of our extended bor- 
 ders. In the New Hampshire and some other 
 New England Conferences we fail to secure it. 
 In some parts of the South, devastated by the 
 ravages of war, her members are mostly poor ; 
 and especially the recent bondmen, but now 
 rejoicing freedmen, are yet in the low vale of 
 poverty. So also are many of the new settlers 
 of the far West struggling against financial em- 
 barrassments. But there are in various por- 
 tions of Methodism, among its members, many 
 who are in highly affluent circumstances, some 
 of princely wealth, men capable of bestowing 
 their money with a liberal hand upon our vari- 
 ous Church enterprises if they are so disposed, 
 and there are some noble examples among 
 them of doing it. But there is a dangerous 
 tendency on the part of rich men to use their 
 means for what is not for the glory of God or 
 the well-being of their fellow-men. We can 
 see this tendency to lavish their money upon 
 personal decorations, superfluous ornaments,
 
 Her Dangers and Duties. 263 
 
 unreasonably costly apparel, and extravagant 
 style of life in general. Others bestow it very 
 bountifully toward the erection and support 
 of splendid and extravagantly-furnished church 
 edifices ; while others still hold and hoard their 
 treasures with a miserly grasp for future days, 
 and leave the cause of God to languish by their 
 neglect. There is a proneness to trust in 
 " uncertain riches." The Church may lose her 
 vitality thereby, and, like the ancient Laodi- 
 ceans, come to feel that she is "rich and in- 
 creased in goods, and has need of nothing," in 
 herself quite equal for all emergencies, when she 
 is really poor and powerless by the lack of the 
 "one thing" most needful "the true riches." 
 
 " But I am persuaded better things " of most 
 of her membership, "things that pertain to 
 salvation," though I thus write of others and of 
 the natural tendency of earthly riches. Much 
 faithful instruction on the part of our religious 
 teachers, and much earnest prayer, watchful- 
 ness, and "holy living" on the part of our cler- 
 ical and lay membership, will be needed to 
 carry into constant practical use the good old 
 Wesleyan rule, to "get all you can, give all you 
 can, and keep all you can ; " that is, be indus- 
 trious to acquire, frugal in expenditure, cheerful 
 and liberal, according as God has prospered you,
 
 264 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 to give to all good causes, and then save the 
 rest for providential necessities. To this end 
 the wealth of each Church-member needs to be 
 consecrated to God, together with all he is and 
 all he has,- and indeed is already consecrated, by 
 each truly devoted disciple. For he who is 
 faithful in the use of " this world's goods " can 
 with greater safety be trusted with "the true 
 riches " than he who wastes or hoards " his 
 Lord's goods." 
 
 We can also most distinctly see that there 
 are special dangers and duties with reference 
 to our extensive 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISES. 
 
 The enthusiasm in our Church for the cause 
 of missions began to be developed some forty 
 years since, at which time our first foreign mis- 
 sions were established. It continued to grow 
 with her growth, and to strengthen with her 
 strength, until it reached its climax in 1861, at 
 the time of the breaking out of the rebellion. 
 Till then her treasury received, annually, in- 
 creased funds, and it was confidently expected 
 that before now her contributions would have 
 reached to a million dollars or more. But, un- 
 fortunately, since then her zeal and her mis- 
 sionary receipts have been nearly at a stand-still,
 
 Her Dangers and Duties. 265 
 
 her contributions having been about the same 
 from year to year. 
 
 This is not in keeping with her constant 
 increase in numbers and wealth, nor is it in 
 harmony with the new openings which are con- 
 tinually made, by the providence of God, for 
 the spread of the Gospel in lands which until 
 recently have been inaccessible to the Church 
 of Christ. And, especially, it is not in ac- 
 cordance with the pressing demands for more 
 men and means in the field she now occupies. 
 There is need, to-day, of a revival of the old 
 missionary fire, kindled by such burning elo- 
 quence as came from the hearts and fell 'from 
 the lips of her former missionary secretaries 
 Dr. Pitman and Dr. Durbin in their palmi- 
 est days, such an enthusiasm as shall burn into 
 the hearts and open the pockets of our people to 
 give " as God hath prospered them." Method- 
 ism is in danger of resting at ease at this point 
 when God speaks, in language too plain and 
 too distinct to be misunderstood, unto her to 
 "go forward." 
 
 There is also danger that she will neglect 
 the imperative demands of the foreign field by 
 reason of the pressing needs of her domestic 
 or home work. Not that there is too much 
 done- at home. Far from it; she is not doing
 
 266 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 enough. But when the openings are so wide 
 and the demands so great for the Gospel in 
 lands where " the people sit in the darkness 
 of nature's night," it must have a depressing 
 influence upon all right-minded Christian peo- 
 ple to feel that the larger portion of all our 
 contributions never go to aid our foreign work. 
 Could not more be raised, and raised easier, if 
 our foreign and domestic mission work should 
 be placed under the supervision of separate 
 organizations ? This question is now being 
 seriously considered by some of the leading 
 minds in the Church. In some way our con- 
 tributions for both foreign and domestic uses 
 ought to be greatly increased. 
 
 Another danger to our mission work is, the 
 depressing influences and depleting effects of 
 overworking our foreign missionaries. Some 
 of our foreign missions may fail, some have al- 
 ready failed. Many of our most prosperous are 
 not, and never were, adequately manned. For 
 the want of more men and means our mission- 
 aries there are overworked by their laborious 
 efforts to meet the pressing demands of their 
 missions, and in their labors to extend their in- 
 fluence into the new openings around them. 
 
 While the Church prays "the Lord of the 
 harvest to send more laborers into the har-
 
 Her Dangers and Duties. 267 
 
 vest-field," she will also need to accompany her 
 prayers with greatly increased contributions 
 and corresponding effort to extend the Gospel 
 among all mankind, in order to receive gracious 
 answers to her prayers. 
 
 METHODISM HAS ALSO DANGERS AND DUTIES 
 WITH REFERENCE TO THE REQUISITE QUALI- 
 FICATIONS FOR HER MINISTRY. 
 
 In a previous chapter reference has been 
 made to our seminaries, colleges, and theological 
 schools, and to the good they have accomplished 
 for the Church during the last forty years. 
 What a change have we witnessed a great and 
 favorable change in the opinions of our minis- 
 try and membership on the subject of theolog- 
 ical schools ! The prevailing sentiment of the 
 Church may now be presumed to be in favor of 
 the theological education of her ministry in such 
 schools whenever practicable. 
 
 It would be an occasion of great joy to many 
 of our people if our young men who are to enter 
 our itinerant ministry could have the advantages 
 of three years' academic study preparatory to 
 entering college, then a full collegiate course of 
 four years more, and then three years more in 
 a theological seminary, before entering our trav- 
 eling connection for their important life-work.
 
 268 Methodism: Present and Prospective. 
 
 The more of such well-educated, divinely-called, 
 and graciously-qualified ministers in our itiner- 
 ant ranks the better for all concerned. With 
 open hearts and arms the Church should wel- 
 come them. 
 
 But may the day be far distant when 
 such only shall be admitted to our itinerant 
 ranks ! Even the exclusion of all but graduates 
 of colleges from our theological schools would 
 prove a hazardous step. No less so would be 
 the non-admission of all applicants for member- 
 ship to our conferences who had never received 
 their three years' training in some one of our 
 theological schools. 
 
 God often calls to the Christian ministry men 
 from on ship-board, from the work-shop, from 
 the fishing-boat, and from the plow at such pe- 
 riods in their lives when it would be imprac- 
 ticable for them to spend even three years in a 
 theological seminary before entering upon their 
 divinely-called mission. 
 
 With good health, clear heads, pure hearts, 
 industrious habits, careful self-culture, and, 
 above all, with the power of the Holy Spirit, they 
 make efficient ministers of the Gospel. Such 
 were some of the men whom Christ called into 
 his early ministry. Such were some of Wes- 
 ley's very efficient helpers in the infancy of
 
 Her Dangers and Duties. 269 
 
 Methodism. Such have been some of her lead- 
 ing ministers both in England and America 
 during her history of a whole century and a 
 third of another. Such are needed still in va- 
 rious parts of our widely-extended fields as well 
 as college and theological graduates, who in 
 their appropriate spheres of labor and influence 
 will accomplish great good. 
 
 Our ministry should be spiritual, divinely 
 called, and drawn from the people among whom 
 they are to serve men who know how to sym- 
 pathize with " the common people " of their 
 various pastoral charges ; men who understand 
 their peculiar tastes, their real necessities, their 
 temptations, and their struggles with the ad- 
 verse scenes of life. Such men are needed in 
 the ministry every-where ; and whether they 
 graduate from the college, the theological sem- 
 inary, or the work-shop, or any other common 
 avocation of life, they know how to instruct the 
 heads and touch the hearts of the middle and 
 lower strata of mankind, which embrace the 
 majority of all communities. Such hear Christ 
 through his own chosen ministers more gladly 
 than do the so-called higher grades of mankind. 
 
 Methodism has always been supplied and 
 sustained mainly by people from the middle and 
 lower walks of life by those who have been
 
 2/o Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 mentally, financially, socially, and morally ele- 
 vated by her quickening and exalting influences. 
 If the cause of God, through her instrumentality, 
 is to go on as in the past, her ministry must be 
 educated (in order to real efficiency) in a man- 
 ner which shall not emasculate their physical 
 energies, or render them too delicate to touch 
 the rustic part of the people, nor cause them to 
 be exalted above their business an education 
 which will not create a " spirit of caste " among 
 their fellow-laborers, nor influence them to feel 
 that superior advantages entitle them to the 
 best stations. Otherwise, whatever their edu- 
 cation, they will become disqualified for the 
 ministry, especially the Methodist ministry. 
 They are mere nuisances, humbugs, not to be 
 tolerated by the people. " True education," 
 says a certain writer, " never lifts a man out 
 of his sphere, but renders him efficient in every 
 toil the cause of Christ may call him to." We 
 should most heartily give thanks to the great 
 Head of the Church that our Methodist institu- 
 tions of learning have very extensively produced 
 true, earnest men, who are willing, with hearts 
 and hands, to work for Christ uncomplainingly 
 in any department of his great spiritual vine- 
 yard. 
 
 In our solicitous forward look for Methodistic
 
 Her Dangers and Duties. 271 
 
 success, we see the need of constant care to 
 keep our ministry in the true " apostolic succes- 
 sion," called of God whether learned or not, and 
 qualified by the Holy Ghost for their work, and 
 true to our itinerant ministry. 
 
 There are other dangers and duties which 
 might be appropriately referred to if time and 
 space would justify ; but in the light of such as 
 have been alluded to the common reader (if he 
 has not already) may easily discern them, though 
 they be not specially here named. 
 
 Whatever dangers there are to be avoided by 
 Methodism may she timely and safely escape 
 them, and perform all her duties promptly and 
 faithfully, to the glory of God and the well-being 
 of mankind !
 
 272 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Methodism Her Responsibilities with Ref- 
 erence to the Youth of our Country. 
 
 another place I have called attention to 
 the numerical strength of Methodism, and 
 stated that we have, as seen by our Church 
 statistics, some one and a half million members, 
 and that we may safely estimate that some four 
 or five times this number are adherents of our 
 denomination. 
 
 Is it not then safe to calculate that of this 
 vast number there are some two or three mill- 
 ions of children and youth who are in their 
 minority, and millions more cared for by no 
 evangelical Church in particular, who are under 
 the soul-destroying influences of infidelity, pop- 
 ery, and other forms of fatal error, many of 
 whom are " led captive by Satan at his will ? " 
 Among these are vast numbers of poor out- 
 casts, penniless beggars, neglected orphans, and 
 children of dissolute parents, whose low habits, 
 vitiated tastes, and neglected mental and moral
 
 The Youth of Our Country. 273 
 
 culture, show most distinctly that " no man car- 
 eth for their souls." 
 
 Our Church has a special responsibility rest- 
 ing upon her to look after the present and 
 eternal welfare of all these millions of youth. 
 She should send forth her servants into all " the 
 highways and byways," not only after adults, 
 but all the children and young people, and in- 
 vite them to the means of grace, that our 
 " houses may be filled," and others erected con- 
 stantly. She has most excellent facilities for 
 their improvement at this day above any former 
 time, which she should eagerly take advantage 
 of, and faithfully seek after all for whom the 
 provision is or can be made. 
 
 Among these is our well-organized Sunday- 
 School Union, with its . thousands of library 
 volumes, Sunday-School Advocate, Teachers' 
 Journal, Sunday-School Requisites, and, to 
 some extent, charity contributions, to aid poor 
 and needy schools now existing, and, as far as 
 possible, to establish mission schools in our 
 country. 
 
 The work of systematic, organized canvassing 
 of parishes each month by committees appointed 
 to this special duty has been and is being suc- 
 cessfully tried in some sections of our Church, 
 
 and, in the estimation of good judges, is worthy 
 18
 
 274 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 of imitation by our people in many other parts 
 of our great field. 
 
 Does not our blessed Lord and Master call upon 
 his modern servants to go out into the streets 
 and lanes of our cities, and into the highways of 
 our country, and invite, yea, compel, if possible, 
 by earnest entreaty, all grades of our neglected 
 or wayward youth to come to our Sunday-schools 
 and enjoy the " rich feasts " there provided ? 
 
 In a recent communication in " Zion's Her- 
 ald," Bishop Haven says : " It is estimated that 
 there are six millions of people in the Ignited 
 States who are denominationally connected with 
 the Methodist Church ; there are enrolled in 
 our Sunday-schools about a million and a quar- 
 ter. Or, in other words, only one in five of our 
 people are connected with our Sunday-schools. 
 The facts thus presented demand the careful 
 consideration of every Christian. Undoubtedly 
 we may throw out of the account a million and 
 a half who are too young, or infirm, or sick, or 
 caring for the sick, or otherwise excused from 
 attending the Sunday-school, but even then we 
 have two millions and a quarter unaccounted 
 for. No one can claim that more than a million 
 should be excused, and that leaves a million 
 and a quarter who ought to be in the Sunday- 
 schools of our Church. Many of these are
 
 The Youth of Our Country. 275 
 
 young people who have attended more or less, 
 and for some reason have dropped away, and 
 are drifting off from the old ways, and incurring 
 danger of fatal shipwreck. Many more are 
 members of the Church, who have no good 
 excuse for their non-attendance. They need to 
 study the word of God, for they have all too 
 little knowledge of its precious truths, and cer- 
 tainly they owe it to the Church, and to the 
 young, and to those who are toiling in this field 
 of labor, that they as Christians should give this 
 all-important interest and institution of the 
 Church the support of their presence, sym- 
 pathy, and active effort. 
 
 " The General Conference which has just 
 closed has given special attention to the cause 
 of Sunday-schools. It has placed at the head 
 of this department a man who stands confess- 
 edly at the head of all workers in this branch of 
 Christian effort a man well known and tried 
 and under his management there is no reason 
 why the inexcusably absent million and a quar- 
 ter may not be brought in. It can be done, and 
 it will be done if our ministers and Sunday- 
 school officers, teachers, and scholars will work. 
 Work is the word, and enough of it, with God's 
 blessing, will double the Sunday-schools of our 
 Church within the next four years."
 
 276 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 Our Church has also advantages for the edu- 
 cation of our youth in her many institutions of 
 learning in the country open for their benefit, 
 and to which they are or should be cordially in- 
 vited. These schools are favorably located in 
 different States a^id conferences, and thus made 
 easily accessible to the multitudes, who need 
 the mental and moral culture they can impart. 
 Many more such institutions will be needed and 
 established for the increasing demands which 
 our future progress will make imperative upon 
 our people. There is present ability in the 
 Methodist Church to richly endow our existing 
 institutions, and even establish more if the 
 wealth of our people can be turned into the 
 right channels. Rich men abound in the 
 Church ; but the manifest tendency now is, as 
 before stated, to turn this wealth too freely, 
 as compared with other wants, into extravagant 
 personal and family expenditures and costly 
 churches, while our institutions of learning, in 
 some instances at least, are left to languish for 
 want of funds. This tendency in the use of 
 moneyed wealth, it is believed, is destined to be 
 changed to more liberal bestowment upon our 
 educational interests. Some noble examples 
 have already been witnessed among our people 
 of rich men who have consecrated largely of
 
 Youth of Our Country. 2/7 
 
 their wealth to aid these important objects, and 
 others will follow in their path. Our pastors, 
 our periodicals, and noble-hearted laymen will 
 call attention to this channel of benevolence 
 and usefulness, and we shall see our schools 
 better cared for. 
 
 The demand for the education of our youth 
 is constantly increasing. We need educated 
 Christian young gentlemen and ladies for clerks 
 in our counting-rooms, for teachers in our. acad- 
 emies and high and common schools, for editors 
 and authors, for Sunday-school superintendents 
 and teachers, for ministers in the home and mis- 
 sion fields of the Church, and many other depart- 
 ments of business life. They, indeed, are needed 
 every-where, not to the exclusion of the less 
 educated, for there is room for all to work some- 
 where in the Master's great vineyard ; but edu- 
 cated youth, with the love of God in their souls, 
 can be made more available for, and better 
 adapted to, any and every place than they oth- 
 erwise could be. The Church should make 
 special efforts to rally our youth to our schools. 
 Even the low, degraded, and poor should not 
 be overlooked. They may be inspired to rally 
 their energies, and be made bright and shining 
 ornaments in the world. 
 
 There is a special responsibility resting upon
 
 278 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 our Church to labor for the conversion and re- 
 ligious culture of the youth of our country, and 
 particularly for those who are more immediately 
 under her influence. Her decline or continued 
 growth depends largely upon it. The welfare 
 of coming generations is involved in it. . The 
 present and eternal salvation of millions requires 
 it. Youth is the season when this special ef- 
 fort for their personal consecration to Christ 
 and religious culture will prove most successful. 
 
 Earnest, believing prayer, united with corre- 
 spondingly faithful effort, must secure' a gracious 
 harvest. They need the moral and religious 
 culture of Church and Sabbath-school instruc- 
 tion. They need the example and hallowing 
 influences of pious homes. They need all the 
 mental and moral discipline of the best schools 
 which can be possibly afforded them. But, 
 above all, they need conversion to Christ and the 
 cultivation of Christian virtues, short of which 
 all other culture will not avail them " in the day 
 of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 The Church should not stop short of this 
 saving result. If any of our youth should resist 
 all proper personal effort the responsibility must 
 rest on them ; but faithful effort for their salva- 
 tion must in a majority of cases prove success- 
 ful. Such "labor shall not be vain in the
 
 The Youth of our Country. 279 
 
 Lord." It may not be one particular Sunday- 
 school lesson, or sermon, or song of praise, or 
 exhortation, or prayer, that will be the means 
 alone in the salvation of a soul ; but all these 
 combined should be employed to bring about 
 such a happy result. While a Paul plants 
 and an Apollos waters, God giveth the in- 
 crease. 
 
 The stars will, at last, be found in the right 
 crowns when " the wise shall shine forth as the 
 brightness of the firmament," and those who 
 have " turned many to righteousness " shall shine 
 with brighter effulgence, having these " stars 
 for ever and ever " to bedeck " their crown of 
 rejoicing."
 
 280 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Methodism Her Converts and Probationers. 
 
 JJR. Church began in a revival of religion, 
 and her rapid increase has been kept up 
 by an almost unbroken succession of re- 
 vival efforts. Our fathers in this country, a 
 half century ago, had remarkable revivals of re- 
 ligion, and gathered much precious " fruit unto 
 life eternal ; " and other denominations of Chris- 
 tians made large accessions to their communions 
 by securing many who were converted at our 
 altars. Similar revival efforts at this day pro- 
 duce similar results. Our Church periodicals 
 bring us, from week to week, cheering news 
 from the different parts of our work of great and 
 precious revivals, in which hundreds are con- 
 verted to Christ. We live in days of great " re- 
 freshing from the presence of the Lord." Our 
 denominational increase, though less rapid than 
 fifty years ago, is, nevertheless, very encourag- 
 ing to all the lovers of our Zion. But this in- 
 crease is not in proportion to our reported
 
 Converts and Probationers. 281 
 
 revival success. This fact is so apparent that 
 it is awakening in some of our most thoughtful 
 and careful observers special attention. It is a 
 matter which cannot be too carefully considered, 
 and the causes well understood, and the reme- 
 dies faithfully applied. . 
 
 The true Church is the bride of Christ and 
 the mother of his spiritual children. For them 
 she has " travailed in birth, till Christ has been 
 formed in them." " They are her joy and 
 crown," and she has " no greater joy than to 
 know that they are walking in the truth." If 
 true to her Lord and his cause, she will throw 
 around them her arms of protection, and extend 
 to them all proper nurturing care. 
 
 Different branches of the Church of Christ 
 provide different methods for securing their 
 converts to their own communions. Methodism 
 offers special advantages to her converts. In 
 addition to the common means of grace enjoyed 
 by her and other Churches, she provides a six 
 months' probation. Into this relation the young 
 converts can very properly be immediately re- 
 ceived, and thereby placed under the special 
 watch-care and guidance of the pastor and his 
 assistant, the class-leader, and enjoy the bene- 
 fits of weekly attendance on class. But special 
 care should be taken by her pastors and mem-
 
 282 Methodism: Present and Prospective. 
 
 bers to gather in all her converts. Other 
 Churches are not backward to secure theirs to 
 their own respective communions ; and they are 
 praiseworthy for all appropriate efforts to this end. 
 
 All converts should find their own proper 
 homes. Methodism must not intrude herself 
 into fields not her own to gather fruit for which 
 she has bestowed no labor, and should as care- 
 fully " look to herself" that she lose not the 
 things she has wrought, lest she fail of " her 
 full reward." She needlessly loses many of her 
 spiritual children by unreasonable delays as well 
 as by indiscreet though well-meant efforts in 
 their behalf, thus causing Christ and his pre- 
 cious cause to be " wounded in the house of his 
 friends." 
 
 It is also important that due attention be paid 
 to the proper manner of this reception. The 
 relation of a probationer with us is an important 
 one. It involves special responsibilities. Lax 
 administrators have been betrayed into inju- 
 dicious methods of doing this part of their work. 
 Some have been received into this relation in 
 class without due form, explanation, or examina- 
 tion ; and others have been thus recognized not 
 only without attention to these prerequisites, 
 but without the knowledge of the class to which 
 their names have been attached. Some, even,
 
 Converts and Probationers. 283 
 
 have had their names recorded as probationers 
 without their own proper consent or knowledge, 
 who, when interrogated by succeeding pastors, 
 express surprise, and perhaps refuse to be thus 
 recognized. By these loose methods of admin- 
 istration our Church has suffered the loss of 
 many of her probationers. They have not felt 
 the responsibilities of this new relation. To 
 remedy this evil as far as possible more special 
 care should be taken to impress them that they 
 have, in this act, " taken the vows of God " upon 
 them to be faithful to the end. 
 
 This should be done openly before the Church, 
 when the pastor should give full and careful in- 
 struction and counsel in reference to the serious 
 and permanent obligations which they then as- 
 sume. But the chief cause of this loss is, 
 doubtless, to be found in Christian families and 
 in the Churches, by the lack of the Christian 
 culture there required. 
 
 Young converts look for a hearty welcome 
 into their new associations. They need this, 
 as they break away from their former vain as- 
 sociations with the world. They need the spe- 
 cial and earnest prayers of the Church. They 
 need the hearty counsel, the cheerful co-opera- 
 tion, and faithful example of both pastor and 
 people.
 
 284 Methodism: Present and Prospective, 
 
 Says a judicious writer: "Scores die spiritu- 
 ally for lack of nurturing food and wholesome 
 atmosphere in the Church. They are some- 
 times poisoned to death by the divisions in the 
 Churches, or frozen to death by their coldness. 
 Few spiritual ' babes ' are lost .where a Church 
 is in a united and spiritual state, and when they 
 are from the first carefully instructed, watched 
 over, and introduced into such Christian serv* 
 ices as their experience and talents render prac- 
 ticable." 
 
 Very few of our probationers will backslide 
 or go from us to other Churches when we be- 
 stow on them proper care and suitable culture. 
 
 But with all this responsibility upon our 
 Church toward her converts and probationers 
 there is danger that these new recruits into her 
 ranks may be left to feel that they can be car- 
 ried on her shoulders or nursed in her lap with- 
 out a proper sense of their own personal obliga- 
 tions, so that when they should have become 
 strong men and women in Christ they will still 
 remain weak, and become spiritually sickly, not 
 capable of performing their appropriate work for 
 the cause of God a result of their own personal 
 neglects, for which she cannot be held respon- 
 sible. If they are advanced to full membership 
 they seldom become efficient workers for Christ,
 
 Converts and Probationers. 285 
 
 but generally remain dead-weights, mere hang- 
 ers-on idlers in the vineyard of the Lord. 
 " We are persuaded better things of" most of 
 her young members " things which pertain to 
 salvation," " though we thus speak." But we de- 
 sire to call attention to the solemn responsibili- 
 ties of their positions, that they may feel their 
 individual responsibility to act well their own 
 appropriate parts for Christ and his cause. 
 
 Every member of the Church, old or young, 
 is called upon to make known the blessedness 
 of the Gospel, and it seems to be the special 
 demand of the hour, with all the encourage- 
 ments which surround us, and the extent of the 
 Gospel field, all ripe for a golden harvest, that 
 the Church should become "thoroughly fur- 
 nished unto every good word and work" by all 
 the aids within her reach, and use them to the 
 glory of God and the salvation of men. And 
 we may say with Paul, " Finally, brethren, what- 
 soever things are true, whatsoever things are 
 honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 
 and whatsoever things are of good report ; 
 if there be any virtue, if there be any praise," 
 may our Church and all her spiritual children 
 " think on " and practically exemplify " these 
 things."
 
 286 Metlwdism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Reciprocal Claims Upon Pastors and 
 People Growing Out of Our Methodist 
 Itinerant System. 
 
 HERE are reciprocal claims growing out 
 of the relation of pastors and people, 
 whether connected with our system of 
 supplying pastors or the more settled ministry 
 of other Churches. My aim is to show the 
 reciprocal claims which must be met with 
 cheerful fidelity to the cause of God in order 
 to secure the continued success of Methodism. 
 Among these I will name the following : 
 
 i. There should be mutual submission to the 
 appointing power of the Church. 
 
 According to the established polity of our 
 Church the itinerant pastor relinquishes the 
 right of choosing his own parish. He entered 
 the itinerant ministry with the express under- 
 standing that he would not enter into any nego- 
 tiations with any people to become their pastor, 
 but become pledged to keep himself free (while
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 287 
 
 in the itinerant ranks, and able to do so) to go 
 to any circuit or station required of him by the 
 appointing power of the Church. 
 
 This is the rule. If any one's practice should 
 vary from it, the stipulated engagement, into 
 which he voluntarily entered, would be in- 
 fringed, and, if adopted by our ministry exten- 
 sively, would not only result in great embar- 
 rassment, but inevitable ruin to the itinerant 
 system. 
 
 The itinerant has the right of reporting his 
 embarrassments, of expressing his preferences, 
 and stating his necessities to the proper au- 
 thorities of the Church. This is perfectly 
 reasonable, and in some cases really neces- 
 sary ; but he should never enter into any ne- 
 gotiations with any particular parish to become 
 its pastor. 
 
 This duty of the pastor has its reciprocal 
 claims on the part of the people of a station. 
 They should never attempt any negotiations 
 with certain select preachers, nor set up special 
 demands for any particular one of them, to the 
 rejection of others. The people of a station can 
 and ought faithfully to represent their wants and 
 wishes to the appointing power of the Church, 
 and, if they choose, even petition for certain 
 pastors, but ever yield cheerfully to the discre-
 
 288 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 tion of those who have the responsibility of 
 making the appointments. 
 
 If the laity of our Churches or our congrega- 
 tions should ever become disloyal to our ap- 
 pointing authority our itinerant system must 
 die. Our people should leave our noble itiner- 
 rant plan, which has wrought such wonderful 
 success during the past century, free to pursue 
 its glorious mission untrammeled for all time to 
 come. 
 
 2. Another duty growing out of our itinerant 
 system is a reciprocal welcome by pastors and 
 people. 
 
 The pastor, when appointed to a new station, 
 should go cheerfully, joyously, and courageously 
 to his work. What though his new field of la- 
 bor may not have been his first choice, and not 
 quite agreeable to his tastes ? what though the 
 Church may not be numerically, financially, or 
 religiously strong and vigorous ? yet he will find 
 souls to save, and enough to do to tax all the 
 energies of soul and body in the prosecution of 
 his pulpit and pastoral work. And what a priv- 
 ilege to win souls to Christ in any place ! Why 
 should he not be cheerful, joyous, courageous ? 
 The Lord of the vineyard has said, " Lo, I 
 am with you always, even to the end of the 
 world."
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 289 
 
 A disheartened, discontented, murmuring 
 pastor will soon diffuse his own spirit among 
 his own people, and never will he do this more 
 easily than when he first comes among them- 
 He should be exceedingly careful at this point. 
 I have known some to paralyze all their moral 
 power for good among their people by entering 
 upon their pastoral work in their new charges 
 in a sad, complaining spirit. 
 
 This claim upon newly-appointed pastors has 
 its corresponding claim on the part of the peo- 
 ple of the stations to give them a hearty recep- 
 tion. What though they have just parted with 
 a devoted minister, whom they loved most ar- 
 dently ; what though he had been proved, in 
 sickness and in health, to have been a friend 
 of his people indeed ; what though they had 
 sat under his ministrations with great delight ; 
 has not the new pastor just left a beloved peo- 
 ple, tried friends, and those with whom he had 
 " taken sweet counsel ? " Has he not come 
 among strangers "in weakness and fear and 
 much trembling," to be criticised in all his 
 movements ? He and his family will need to 
 be more than human not to feel most keenly 
 the greatly changed condition. 
 
 A hearty reception he greatly needs. It will 
 
 wonderfully cheer him on in his work and labor 
 19
 
 290 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 of love, and ever be held by him in grateful 
 remembrance. And why not give him such a 
 reception ? He professes to be the Lord's 
 chosen messenger. He has been approved by 
 the Church, and his character just indorsed by 
 his conference. He comes to his new parish 
 to comfort the sorrowing, to strengthen the 
 weak, to visit the sick, to bury the dead. A 
 cold reception must chill his soul, and work 
 disastrously through all his term of service 
 among them. Such sad results have been seen 
 and felt again and again. I repeat, Let the 
 people give their newly-appointed pastors hearty 
 receptions ! 
 
 3. There are also reciprocal claims with ref- 
 erence to removals and parsonages. 
 
 The Methodist pastor, for the sake of the 
 Church, sacrifices the enjoyments of an estab- 
 lished home. This, from the nature of his 
 calling, he cannot provide for himself. Also, 
 his furniture must be removed from place to 
 place, marred, and deficient, and himself and 
 family subjected to no small inconvenience and 
 expense. The task of moving brings with it 
 much hard labor, anxiety and perplexity, which 
 few understand and fewer still appreciate. But 
 these things are inseparably connected with the 
 itinerant system, and must be heroically borne.
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 291 
 
 There are reciprocal claims belonging to the 
 people of a parish, also, in these matters. They 
 can lighten the burdens of these removals to a 
 great extent, and are in duty bound to do it as 
 far as possible. They should provide well-lo- 
 cated, convenient and pleasant parsonages for 
 their preachers, and keep them in good repair. 
 They should provide at least all the needed 
 heavy furniture, and see that every thing is in 
 good condition for the reception and use of the 
 family. 
 
 Where parsonages cannot be built nor bought 
 for lack of funds, the stewards of the Church, in 
 behalf of the people, should hire, and as far as- 
 possible furnish, suitable houses ; and when thus 
 provided, the pastors are bound to occupy and 
 use them with all proper care, or provide for 
 themselves without a murmur or unreasonable 
 expense to the society they serve. 
 
 A pastor who is disposed to find fault with 
 the house and furniture which his people have 
 provided for him, when they have attempted 
 to do well, will soon find he has given severe 
 offense, and that his own influence is greatly 
 harmed. When removals become unavoidable, 
 the people of his station ought to lend a help- 
 ing hand, by taking all reasonable burdens on 
 themselves. And when they have done their
 
 292 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 best, there will still remain heavy burdens upon 
 the removing pastor and family which no human 
 aid can fully remedy. " Bear ye one another's 
 burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." 
 
 4. We will now consider the reciprocal claims 
 with reference to salaries. 
 
 The itinerant pastor is not expected to make 
 any stipulated agreement with his people in 
 regard to his salary. On going to his new ap- 
 pointment, it devolves upon the quarterly con- 
 ference to decide upon this, according to what 
 its members may regard as a fair estimate. The 
 pastor will be obliged to grade his expenses 
 accordingly. 
 
 There is a corresponding duty devolving upon 
 the people of his parish through the quarterly 
 conference, to place the estimate at a liberal 
 and honorable figure. For " they who preach 
 the Gospel should live of the Gospel," and 
 surely " the laborer is worthy of his hire." This 
 estimated salary should be placed high enough 
 to remove the pastor from all reasonable anxi- 
 ety with reference to current expenses, high 
 enough with suitable economy to leave a small 
 surplus in his hands at the end of .the year to 
 lay by for future want. When the estimate is 
 thus settled upon, the people of the station, 
 through the proper officers of the Church,
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 293 
 
 should see to it that it is paid promptly if 
 possible monthly, -at furthest quarterly, in ad- 
 vance. More than this. Substantial tokens 
 of kind regard in presents to the pastor and 
 family are good investments for the Worthy 
 receiver, but much better for the cheerful giver. 
 For "it is more blessed to give than to receive." 
 Some of us can testify to the blessedness of re- 
 ceiving, under such circumstances, and others 
 who cheerfully give oft testify to the rich bless- 
 edness of so doing. With this liberal provision 
 made for the pastor's support, it becomes his 
 duty to devote all his time and talents to pro- 
 mote the religious welfare of his people. And 
 why should he not devote himself wholly to 
 this one work ? To be " worthy of his hire " 
 he must be a "laborer." To "live of the Gos- 
 pel " he must " give himself wholly " to the 
 Gospel ; " never be unemployed, never trifling- 
 ly employed, never spend more time at any 
 place than is strictly necessary." 
 
 This is the disciplinary rule. If strictly lived 
 up to the pastor will find no time to engage in 
 worldly schemes for gain, none for jockeying in 
 horses, none for any of those miserably penuri- 
 ous modes of trade which would waste time and 
 degrade the minister. More than this. The 
 itinerant pastor should rise far above all low,
 
 294 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 whining cant, all dolorous complaint about 
 great sacrifices, small pay, .poor stations, and 
 pinching poverty, in order to excite sympathy. 
 A whining, grumbling pastor is a perfect nuis- 
 ance in any place, and at all times. He should 
 either immediately reform, or retire from the 
 ministry. If his pay is small, he should seek 
 by faithful labors to show to the people that he 
 deserves better fare. Should his parish prove 
 to be undesirable, he should strive to make it 
 better. Should he find his people to be poor, 
 he should for the time being cheerfully share 
 with them their poverty. But for the honor 
 of the sacred office he should never disgrace 
 his calling by descending to a whining cant, to 
 low schemes for gain, nor by becoming a poor, 
 whimpering beggar. 
 
 5. An early acquaintance should be mutu- 
 ally sought between pastor and people. 
 
 After becoming comfortably settled in his 
 new home, the pastor's next work will be to 
 cultivate a mutual acquaintance with his people. 
 This will be found to be no easy task. The 
 names, countenances, and places of residence be- 
 ing all new and strange to him, and the peculiar 
 characteristics and circumstances of each being 
 yet mainly unknown, the task will be difficult 
 and sometimes quite embarrassing ; neverthe-
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 295 
 
 less, it must be undertaken without delay, and 
 in due time accomplished. 
 
 In this peculiarly difficult but interesting 
 work his mode of operations and social charac- 
 teristics will be closely scrutinized. 
 
 He will need and must receive the sympathy 
 and aid of his people in this work. They should 
 make, early in the year, friendly calls at the 
 parsonage, and thus seek an early acquaintance 
 with its occupants. Some shun an acquaintance 
 with the minister and family, and then complain 
 bitterly of neglect. This is a great fault. If 
 any wish an acquaintance why not show it ? 
 
 In his efforts to form an acquaintance early 
 in the year the new pastor can be greatly aided 
 by his people if they will take the time and 
 pains to introduce him to friends, and even ac- 
 company him to different streets and neighbor- 
 hoods for this specific purpose. The writer has 
 been greatly assisted at different times by such 
 timely efforts of kind friends. 
 
 Strangers coming into the parish should also 
 seek an early introduction. Should they fail to 
 do this, and still remain strangers to the pastor, 
 they should blame themselves, not him, for the 
 failure. I have known some who had even 
 shunned an acquaintance and then complained 
 of neglect, when they were utterly unknown to
 
 296 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 the pastor. Why blame him when they are at 
 fault themselves in this matter ? 
 
 Again, it is the duty of the pastor to seek out 
 the weak, the wandering, the sick and afflicted 
 of his flock. This is imperative. He cannot 
 neglect them without becoming untrue to his 
 calling. For apparent neglect he will be liable 
 to censure, when the special cases demanding 
 attention will be unknown to him. To obviate 
 this difficulty those acquainted with special cases 
 demanding immediate attention should, in a 
 prudent ' and judicious manner, inform him 
 thereof ; and a faithful pastor will take the first 
 opportunity to visit them. 
 
 While it may be perfectly appropriate for any 
 one to impart this information to the pastor, the 
 Discipline of our Church makes it specially oblig- 
 atory upon the stewards " to inform the preach- 
 er of any that are sick among them, or walk 
 disorderly, and will not be reproved ; " making 
 it evidently their duty to first visit the sick and 
 seek to win back the erring. A good sugges- 
 tion this, by which our lay members should 
 practically profit more than they do. . 
 
 6. We will come now to another duty grow- 
 ing out of our itinerant system, for both pastors 
 and people. I refer to liberty of conscience in 
 political matters.
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 297 
 
 We live in days when great moral questions 
 are stirring the public heart when important 
 issues are to be settled by political action and 
 as time passes on the great moral questions 
 which must arise will assume more importance 
 in the public mind, and must have significant 
 bearings on political parties. 
 
 The itinerant minister will need to take some 
 important part in these matters. He must read 
 for himself the stirring events of the day. He 
 will need to inform himself with reference to 
 the great moral issues to be settled at the bal- 
 lot-box. 
 
 By reason of his changing his pastoral rela- 
 tions every few years, and thus being thrown 
 into new circumstances very often, he must 
 learn that there is a time to speak and a time 
 to be silent a time to act and a time to re- 
 frain from acting ; that while he should not 
 ignore politics as a science, he should rise far 
 above all party trammels, and act for himself 
 independently, prudently, conscientiously, in his 
 sphere, as a man and as a citizen. 
 
 There is a corresponding claim devolving on 
 the people of his charge to leave him free to 
 speak and vote according to the dictates of his 
 own conscience, without friction, without cen- 
 sure, and without attempted trammels. More
 
 298 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 than this : the pastor, claiming this right for 
 himself, should never attempt to dictate to his 
 people in respect to their political action, nor 
 censure them for their conscientious use of the 
 elective franchise. Without this reciprocal free- 
 dom between pastors and their people unprofit- 
 able bickerings and untold evils will follow. 
 With it peace and harmony, in this regard, will 
 prevail in all our borders. 
 
 7. There are, also, reciprocal claims between 
 pastors and people with reference to reputation 
 important to consider. 
 
 I regard every person's reputation of more 
 importance than the choicest gold. When one 
 resides long among old and tried friends his 
 reputation may become so established as to be 
 above reproach or even suspicion, and, there- 
 fore, comparatively secure ; but if he shall be 
 obliged to be often thrown into the midst of 
 new surroundings and among strangers, to rise 
 or fall according to the estimate of an untried 
 public opinion, his case becomes essentially dif- 
 ferent. Such is the condition of our itinerant 
 ministers. Their people should " hold them in 
 reputation" Not exalt them above their place, 
 up among the stars, nor trample them under 
 their feet into the dust, but give them a fair and 
 honorable place, just such as they are properly
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 299 
 
 entitled to by virtue of their calling as the 
 " under shepherds " of Christ, " the chief Shep- 
 herd " of all. They should be " esteemed very 
 highly in love for their work's sake." They 
 should " be held" there neither too high nor 
 too low, but just where their talents and useful- 
 ness demand. This, with proper care and ef- 
 fort on the part of both people and pastor, can 
 and ought to be done. Speak well of them 
 and to them ; vindicate their characters when 
 assailed ; show them proper respect ; pray for 
 them. The people of each parish should do 
 this for their own sakes as well as for their pas- 
 tor's, and especially for Christ's sake. 
 
 There is an equal claim on the pastors to 
 speak well of their people; to "hold" them "in 
 reputation also;" not magnify their faults, but 
 speak charitably of their foibles ; not report 
 them unfavorably abroad, but as far as possible 
 seek to encourage and promote "whatsoever 
 things are lovely, whatsoever things are true, 
 whatsoever things are of good report" at home 
 and abroad. The pastor may, unintentionally, 
 give a bad odor, and that very unjustly, to>his 
 parish, by speaking very carelessly of some real 
 and many imaginary faults of his people a 
 thing most scrupulously to be avoided. 
 
 8. There are many other reciprocal duties
 
 3OO Methodism : Present and Prospective, 
 
 growing out of our itinerant system, of which I 
 might make mention, but have time and space 
 for only one more. I refer to the duties con- 
 nected with the close of the pastoral relation 
 between minister and people in a given parish. 
 According to the economy of our itinerant 
 system, this relation changes according to cir- 
 cumstances, once in one, two, or three ecclesi- 
 astical years. In his closing work in a charge 
 the pastor has special duties to discharge. He 
 must collect and arrange all the benevolent 
 moneys ordered by his conference ; make his 
 closing pastoral calls ; administer disciplinary 
 rules in special cases of unworthy members ; 
 review and make faithful records in the church 
 books ; prepare a full and accurate " Pocket 
 Register" for his successor, giving therein the 
 names of members in full connection and those 
 on trial in separate columns and their differ- 
 ent streets and other localities ; also a list of 
 subscribers to our various Church periodicals, 
 and many other items too numerous here to 
 name ; and then smooth the way for his suc- 
 cessor to take his place with the least possible 
 friction. Thus should the transition be made 
 comparatively easy and pleasant. These are 
 duties he owes not only to himself, but to his 
 people and to his successor in office. From the
 
 Claims Upon Pastors and People. 301 
 
 neglect of it great harm may be done. It is 
 feared that some pastors, during the last months 
 of their term of service in their stations, while 
 mingling with their people, make special effort 
 to awaken sympathy in view of the coming 
 event, by preaching exciting farewell sermons, 
 and frequent needless allusions to their sadness 
 in the expected separation. Thus the way is 
 prepared, with weak minds, for great friction in 
 the change soon to occur. This course is de- 
 serving of severe censure. Pastors should be 
 discreet and faithful in all the closing work of 
 their charges. 
 
 The people of the pastoral charge have 
 their special duties also in this regard. They 
 should promptly pay in all benevolent moneys 
 pledged, cheerfully aid the pastor in his many 
 closing labors, and smooth the way, as far as 
 possible, for an easy transition to the next 
 preacher. 
 
 These reciprocal duties, when faithfully ob- 
 served in practice, will greatly strengthen the 
 hands and encourage the hearts both of our 
 ministry and membership, more closely unite 
 them "in every good word and work," and 
 make our Church more efficient than ever for 
 the building up of the cause of Christ in the 
 earth.
 
 302 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 I will conclude this chapter with the appro- 
 priate words of Holy Writ, to both the pastors 
 and laity. 
 
 Pastors ! " Feed the flock of God which is 
 among you, taking the oversight thereof, not 
 by constraint, but willingly ; not for filthy lucre, 
 but of a ready mind ; neither as being lords 
 over God's heritage, but being examples of the 
 flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall ap- 
 pear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that 
 fadeth not away." 
 
 Laymen of the Church ! " Now we beseech 
 you, brethren, to know them who labor among 
 you, and are over you in the Lord, and admon- 
 ish you, and to esteem them very highly in love 
 for their work's sake, and be at peace among 
 yourselves."
 
 Assurances for Future Success. 303 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Methodism What are Her Assurances for 
 Future Success ? 
 
 have referred, in other chapters, to 
 the rapid increase of the Methodist 
 Church in numbers and wealth ; to 
 her present great educational advantages ; to 
 her peculiar polity, organic unity, and great 
 efficiency, and to her dangers and duties. We 
 come now to inquire, What are her real assur- 
 ances for future success ? 
 
 These are mainly dependent upon her con- 
 tinued development of experimental and prac- 
 tical godliness. 
 
 Methodism, at her beginning, could not be 
 satisfied with mere forms and ceremonies in 
 religion, nor in mere assent to the "Thirty-nine 
 Articles" of Faith of the Established Church, 
 nor in the claims of that Church to exclusive 
 divine rights through " apostolic succession." 
 But she sought for genuine and deep Christian 
 experience, and found it, in spiritual regenera- 
 tion, divine adoption, and holy communings 
 with God.
 
 304 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 She also sought out the means of grace by 
 which her Christian graces could mature and 
 her flame of devotion be kept constantly alive 
 and on the increase. She found them in her se- 
 cret devotions, her scriptural studies, her family 
 altars, her weekly class and prayer meetings, 
 her "love-feasts" and "band meetings ;" in her 
 " spiritual songs," her street-preaching, and her 
 frequent itinerating mission work. 
 
 Though poor, despised and persecuted, she 
 has continued thus to go on, under the guiding 
 hand of Providence and by the power of the 
 divine Spirit, from conquest to conquest, and 
 winning her widening way unto this day. 
 
 The continued development of experimental 
 and practical godliness will prove her best 
 
 SAFEGUARD AGAINST HERETICAL DOCTRINES. 
 
 The doctrines of Methodism have been, in all 
 their essentials, unquestioned from the first by 
 all her different organizations, whatever differ- 
 ences have existed in regard to Church polity. 
 This fact may be accounted for mainly from the 
 fact that her doctrines have been tested by hu- 
 man experience. As Christ has said : " If any 
 man shall do my will, he shall know of the doc- 
 trine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of 
 myself." Human depravity, man's guilt and final
 
 Assurances for Futtire Success. 305 
 
 accountability, his moral agency, his "justifica- 
 tion by faith alone," the true divinity of Christ, 
 his vicarious sacrifice for sin, the witness of the 
 Holy Spirit to his adoption, and the attainable- 
 ness of "perfect love," are the essential senti- 
 ments of Methodism, and have been tested as 
 living realities by the personal experience of all 
 her members who have lived in the sunlight of a 
 present, free, and full salvation. 
 
 If her membership shall earnestly seek to 
 keep close to Christ, her " all and in all," by a 
 living faith " a faith, which works by love," she 
 shall continue, as in the past, " in the unity of 
 that true faith," which claims him as her " wis- 
 dom, sanctification, and redemption." Thus, 
 building upon " the sure foundation," the " Rock 
 of Ages," against her the gates of hell cannot 
 prevail. 
 
 Pure love to God and man will have a power- 
 ful tendency to give the Church 
 
 A SAFE DIRECTION TO ALL HER VAST RESOURCES. 
 
 It will do this by awakening and keeping 
 alive a quenchless love for our fallen race, and 
 by devising right and " liberal things " for their 
 mental, social, moral, and spiritual elevation and 
 eternal salvation. It will aim to turn all her 
 
 resources, whether by her members, wealth, 
 20
 
 306 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 educational facilities, or her Church benevolent 
 enterprises, into such channels as shall tend to 
 promote " peace on earth, good-will to men, and 
 'glory to God in the highest." Such is the mis- 
 sion of genuine Methodism. 
 
 True, experimental, and practical godliness in 
 the membership will secure to her 
 
 SAFETY IN THE PRACTICAL WORKING OF HER 
 PECULIAR CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 That there is great power vested in her own 
 regularly appointed officers for the practical 
 workings of the system none will wish to deny ; 
 but it is a perfectly safe power when all its parts 
 are in good working order. When this whole 
 machinery not of " the great iron wheel," as it 
 has been most unjustly called by some, but 
 more like Ezekiel's vision, of a " wheel within a 
 wheel," moved by " living creatures " under di- 
 vine direction is employed for the glory of God 
 and the welfare of mankind, it moves forward 
 without unhealthy friction or serious embarrass- 
 ments ; but if Methodism shall ever lose her 
 sincere love for Christ's holy cause (the only 
 element in which her ecclesiastical organism or 
 that of any other Church can be safely worked) 
 she will find that severe strains and ruptures 
 will follow. Her real safety can be found only
 
 Assurances for Future Success. 307 
 
 in the constant development of deep Christian 
 experience and its practical outward manifesta- 
 tions. So also will true godliness give the Meth- 
 odist Church 
 
 GREAT CATHOLICITY OF SPIRIT 
 
 toward all of every name who love our Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity. 
 
 Different denominations of Christians may 
 be likened to the different tribes of Israel on 
 their way to their earthly Canaan their land 
 of promise. They bore different names, but 
 were under the same leader, were guided by the 
 same " cloudy pillar," ate of the same " manna," 
 drank of the same " rock," and were bound to 
 the same Canaan. 
 
 An enlightened Christian charity will extend 
 the hand of fellowship to all who belong to 
 God's modern spiritual Israel, and bid them 
 God-speed in " every good word and work." 
 
 Sectarian bigotry cannot live in a truly de- 
 voted heart. Christians, from their different 
 stand-points of observation, see things different- 
 ly, as do those who look at mountain scenery. 
 But the more steadily they fix their eyes of faith 
 upon Christ, their blissful center, and the nearer 
 they come to him, the more they shall all " see 
 him as he is," Thus coming so near to each
 
 308 Methodism : Present and Prospective. 
 
 other, all their hearts shall beat in unison, and 
 in blissful harmony shall they together sing, 
 
 " Blest be the tie that binds 
 Our hearts in Christian love ; 
 
 The fellowship of kindred minds 
 Is like to that above." 
 
 Sectarian bigotry is no part of genuine Meth- 
 odism. It has no right in her ranks, nor will 
 it ever have place there if her members live up 
 to her cardinal principles of " loving God with all 
 the heart, and their neighbors as themselves." 
 
 This "pure and undefiled religion" in the 
 hearts and lives of the membership of the 
 Church will 
 
 SECURE TO HER DIVINE PROTECTION 
 
 "From all assaults of hell and sin; 
 From foes without and foes within." 
 
 "The Lord will be round about her, like a 
 wall of fire, and a glory in her midst." No 
 weapon formed against her shall prosper, for 
 the Lord will be her " sun and shield. He will 
 give grace and glory, and no good thing will he 
 withhold from them that walk uprightly." 
 
 This pure and experimental godliness will 
 also secure to Christ's Church
 
 Assurances for Future Success. 309 
 
 THE PRESENCE AND. POWER OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 This is the rich legacy which Christ has left 
 for his people, which he has promised to " shed 
 on them abundantly," and " to work with them 
 mightily." 
 
 What a marvelous power is this for both min- 
 isters and members the presence and power 
 of the Almighty Spirit to indite our prayers, to 
 quicken our hearts, to kindle the flame of devo- 
 tion on our altars, to work with and for his 
 own servants, as they proclaim the great sal- 
 vation to their fellow-men, " confirming the 
 word with signs following ! " 
 
 May " the Lord God of our fathers " be with 
 the Methodist Church ; be with all evangelical 
 Churches ; and " make them a thousand times 
 as many more as they are, and bless them as he 
 has promised to do !" 
 
 THE END.
 
 PUBLISHED BY NELSON & PHILLIPS, 
 
 8O5 Broadway, IN". Y. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Abbott, Rev. Benjamin, 
 Life of. By JOHN FFIBTH. 18mo $0 55 
 
 Anecdotes of the Wesleys. 
 
 By Rev. J. B. WAKELEY. Large 16mo 1 25 
 
 Asbury and his Coadjutors. 
 
 By WILLIAM C. LABBABEE. 2 vols 225 
 
 Asbury, Francis, 
 
 Life and Times of : or, The Pioneer Bishop. By "W. 
 
 P. STBICKLAND, D.D. 12mo 1 75 
 
 Bangs, Rev. Dr. Nathan, 
 
 Life and Times of. By Rev. ABEL STEVENS, LL.D . . 1 75 
 Half morocco 2 25 
 
 Biographical Sketches of Methodist Ministers. 
 
 By JOHN M'CLINTOOK, D.D. 8vo. Imitation morocco. 5 00 
 
 Boehm's Reminiscences, 
 
 Historical and Biographical. 12mo 1 75 
 
 Bramwell, William, 
 
 Life of. 18mo 60 
 
 Cartwright, Peter, 
 
 Autobiography of. Edited by "W. P. STBIOKXAND, D.D. 
 12mo 1 75 
 
 Carvosso, 
 
 Life of. 18mo... 075
 
 BOOKS FOR THE FAMILY BIOGRAPHY. 
 Celebrated Women, 
 
 Biographies of. With twenty-eight splendid Engrav- 
 ings on steel, executed by the best American artists. 
 Imperial 8vo. Printed on beautifully tinted paper. 
 Turkey morocco, gilt edge and beveled boards $20 00 
 
 Chalmers, Thomas, 
 
 A Biographical Study. By JAS. DODDS. Large 16mo. 1 50 
 
 Christianity Tested by Eminent Men, 
 
 Being Brief Sketches of Christian Biography. By 
 MERRITT CALDWELL, A.M. 16mo 60 
 
 Clarke, Dr. A., 
 
 Life of. 12mo 150 
 
 Clarke, Dr. Adam, 
 
 Life of. New. By J. "W. ETHERIDGE, M.A. 12mo.. 175 
 Half Calf 2 25 
 
 Clark, Rev. John, 
 
 Life of. By Eev. B. M. HALL. 12mo 125 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver^ 
 
 Life of. By CHAELES ADAMS, D.D. 16mo 125 
 
 Dan Young, 
 
 Autobiography of. By W. P. STRICKLAND, D.D. 12mo. 1 75 
 
 Early Crowned. 
 
 A Memoir of Mary E. North. 16mo 125 
 
 Emory, Bishop, 
 
 Life of. ByE. EMORY. 8vo 1 76 
 
 Episcopius, 
 
 Life of. By FREDERIC- CALDER. I2mo 1 20 
 
 Fletcher, John, 
 
 Life of. By Eev. JOSEPH BENSON. 12mo 125 
 
 Fletcher, Mrs. Mary, 
 
 Life of. By Eev. H. MOORE. 12mo 150 
 
 Garrettson, Rev. Freeborn, 
 
 Life of. By N. BANGS, D.D. 12mo 100
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 001 033 963 8