Cornell Aniversity Library

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
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SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND
THE GIFT OF
Henry W. Sage
1891
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LIFE

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HENRY BIDLEMAN BASCOM, D.D., ELD.

LATE BISUOP OF THE METILODIST EPISCOPAL CILURCH, SOUTH.

 

BY REV. M. M. HIENIXLE, D.D.

 

NASHVILLE, TENN. !
PUBLISHING House or THE M. E. Caunrca, Sours,
Baxrset & SMiru, AGENTS.
1894.
 

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
M. M. HENKLE,
In the Clerk's Office, for the Middle District of Tennessee.

 
Mevication,

REV. BISHOPS SOULE,
ANDREW,
AND PAINE:
Rev. and Honored Brethren:

Srvce through your influence, in a great
measure, I was induced to resume the difficult task of writing
the life of your late distinguished episcopal colleague, after I had .
abandoned the undertaking, it seems most proper that I should
commend to your patronage and indulgence the work which has
come into existence through the influence of your counsel. This
is done as a tribute of respect personally and officially, and espe-
cially for the confidence indicated by your willingness to intrust
so important and difficult a work to my hands; and with the
earnest hope that you may neither find your confidence mis-
placed, nor the glory of your eminent colleague’s well-earned
fame tarnished or compromitted by the imperfect performance
of the work assigned to

Your unworthy brcther,

M. M. IIENKLE.
PREFACE.

Hap Dr. Bascom left a record of the principal incidents of his
eventful life, the task of his biographer had been comparatively easy,
and his posthumous fame might have been well guarded; but as he
Kept no diary, — except during two or three brief periods, —no copies
cf the numerous letters written by himself, and acted as if he intended
to prevent his biography from being written, rather than to afford
any facilities for the compilation of his personal history, his biogra-
pher has been left to gather up material for the work. from
miscellaneous sources, and by piece-meal; but chiefly he has been
compelled to depend on his own personal knowledge and recollection
of the events of Dr. Bascom’s life. This state of things ht» rendered
the execution of the work difficult. and the work itself, doubtless, in
some degree, imperfect. There were in the life of Bascom, numerous
incidents of deeply interesting character, which would have greatly
enriched his biography; but as the knowledge of them was scattered
throughout the country, and in the keeping of persons who did not
choose to furnish them at the call of his widow and his biographer,
the work had to proceed with such material as could be rendered
available. But even under these circumstances of disadvantage,
there has been collected such » fund of valuable matter respecting
the life and character of this great man, as ought not to be lost.

Dr. Bascom was a character,— original, distinct, sui generis,
exhibiting points of imperfection, of course, but at the same time,
possessing many and extraordinary excellencics;—a man whose
biography onght to be given to the world, for the gratification of his
aoumerous friends, and the profiting all who read. Jn the wonderful
vi PREFAUCE.

powers and achievements of his great intellect, he is an object of
admiration and astonishment; and in his untiring industry and
perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge, — in his burning zeal and
devotion to the cause of God, —in his active benevolence, his filial
affection, and his pious and confiding trust in the providence of God,
he presents an example worthy of universal imitation. If he had
faults, obstinate persistence in the wrong was not one of them, for
though he was w giant in intellect, he was w child in docility and
readiness to receive correction from his friends.

That the portrait herein given of this prince in Israel is imperfect,
is readily admitted, not only from the paucity of material, but the
lack of ability on the part of the biographer,— for only a mind like
Bascom’s could accurately take the measure of his greatness: and
yet, we have good hope that this volume may prove both interesting
and useful to the reader. And that it may, is the earnest wish and

fervent prayer of
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.— Embracing the period from his Birth to his Conversten.

Birth and Parentage — Paternal Ancestry — His Mother and her Ancestors ~
Brothers and Sisters — His own Account of his Early Years — Goes to School =
Takes his Relative’s name, and is sent by him to School away from home —
Returns home and goes to his last School — His Parents remove to the Frontier
in Western New York — Iis Conversion, and the question of its date settled, 11

CHAPTER II.— From his Conversion to his Settlement in Ohio.

Wild State of the country, and want of Advantages— Enters into an Arrange .
ment with Mr. Gilmore to Work and Study with him— Their Journey over
the Mountains. Incidents and Sufferings — Holds Religious Meetings — Henry
begins to Speak in Public, and astonishes the people — Difficulties and Opposi-
tion — Rapid Improvement — Separates from Mr. Gilmore and returns home —
Diligence in cultivating his Mind— Removal to Kentucky, and then to Ohio—
Labors on the Farm, and for means of entering the Ministry, - - - 21

CHAPTER III.— Licensed to Preach.

First Meeting of the Ohio Conference — Makes fence rails to buy a horse — Goes
to Maysville to meet the Preachers — Exhorts— Rey. W. McMahan’s Account
of his Interview with young Bascom — Goes to Conference at Chillicothe — Is
refused Entertainment, but provided for by Mr. McMahan — Enjoyments and
Benefits of the Conference — Boundaries of Conferences, and State of the Work
at that date — Continued Preparation for the Ministry — Is Licensed to Preach,
February, 1813 — Is appointed to labor on Brush Creek circuit — His Account
of the Work on this circuit, - + - - += - = + = - = 88

CHAPTER IV.— Admission into the Itinerancy, and First Year of Travel.

Is admitted into the Itinerancy, and appointed to Deer Creek circuit — Extent
of his work —Studious Habits— Great Improvement — Advantages enjoyed
about Chillicothe — Extract from his Diary — Reflections on his Habits and
Character — Sickness — End of the Year, 2)

CLIAPTER V.— Second Year — Travel in the Mountains.

Improvement during the Year — Faitlful Service — Popular with the Public, but
the Reverse with Old Members — Cause of the latter—Uold reception at
Conference — Objections to and Predictions concerning him — Character Passed
— Appointed to Guyandotte circuit in Western Virginia — Goes to his Work —
Nature and Uxtent of it— Hair breadth Escape from a Panther — Gets lost — A
Night in the Mountain — Illness — Perilous Adventure with a Bear — Chased
by Wolves —Misunderstanding and Reconciliation, showing Bascom's true
character, - = - 7 fs 8 ee - 62

CHAPTER VI.— Third Year, and Last Year in Ohio.

Close of the Year— Account of his labors and compensation— His Resolution
to go on in his work — Inducements to Desist — Goes to Conference — Refused
admission into full connection — His feelings on the Occasion — Encouraged
by his Old Friend — Is granted a Third Year of Probation, and agrees to tuke
Work — Appointed to Mad River circuit — Death of his Mother — Character
of his circuit — First Acquaintance of the Writer with him — First Sermon
heard — Preactes at Camp Meeting — The Writer Awakened — Thrilling Ad-
venture with the Indians — Illness, and Dangerous Experiment — Pecuniary
Embarrassments; - - - + = + + 2 = © + = += = &
see

vill CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII. — Embracing his First Years in Tennessee Conference.

£nd of the Year—Increased Reputation, but complained of about Dresa—
Anecdote — The Round Voat — Objected to before Conference — Case Debated—
Proposes withdrawing from Conference — Interposition of the Bishop — ‘Transfer
to ‘Tennessee Conference —Stationed at Danville —Character of the Work —
His Health fails — Attends Springs — Associations at Harrodsburg — Conference
at Franklin, Tennessee — Appointed to Danville and Madison with Wm Adama
—Character of country and people— Reproof to the Sleeper and Talkers—
Keproof — Bascom waylaid by the Offended — His during conduct on the
occasion — First Acquaintance with Mr. Clay — Intimacy of their Friendship
— Bascom’s interposition in the Clay and Randolph Duel— Mr. Clay’s denial
of the Report of his having educated Bascom — Attends Conference at Nashvillg
--Ilis Preaching — A Lady’s Account of it, - -

CHAPTER VIII. — Beginning of his Difficulties about Slavery.
Continued Opposition to him in Conference — Strengthened by his Opposition to
the Anti-Slavery Party — Timely Interposition of his old friend McMahan—
Elested to Elder’s orders — Stationed in Louisville, Ky. — Difficulties attendin
his Administration, - © - - - tn ate <a aki SK ves” Slay

CHAPTER IX.— Difficulties with the Slavery Law.

Conference of 1819 at Nashville — Ilistorical Sketch of Slavery Law- - Resolves
and Action of the Tennessee Vonference — Case of Dr. ‘l'aylor — Lis Rejection
— Protest of Minority, and Opposition of Majority — Bishops McKeudree and
George address the Confereuce in opposition to the Majoriny — Minority left
out of Delegation to General Conference — ‘They address the General Conference
— Repeal by General Conference of Rule of 1512 — Similarity of this Contro-
versy to that of 1844— Bascom returned to Louisville — Serious Difficulties in
the Society, Triais, Expulsions, &e.— Charged with Mal-Adiministration, but
Presiding Elder declined taking it up— Both he and Presiding Elder charged
at next Annual Couference — The latter censured — Testimouiul of citizens in
Bascom’s fuvor — Conference of 1820 at Wopkiusville— Amusing Anecuote of
Bascom, - = - - = = = = = = = - 1L

CHAPTER X.

Kentucky Conference formed. and Bascom falls into it —Sent to Madison circuit
— Supposed Object — His quiet Submission — A Turkey shot during Preaching
—Storm on the Mountain —Shamed by the daring of the Mountain virls —
His Sister dies and bequeaths him the care cf her Infant Daughters— Next
Year labors on Hinkston circuit— Resolves to leave the Conference —Visits Ohio
and preaches — ‘Transferred, and appointed to Brush Creek, - - 126

CHAPTER XI.— Church Reform, Etc.

First conversation on that Subject — History of the “* Suspended Resolutions”
— Bascom’s views and feelings — Sent to Steubenville station — Elected Chap-
lain to Congress, - - . 2 = © = = © «© - ose 131

CHAPTER XII.

Bascom’s debut before Congress — Causes of comparative Failure — Prejudices
of Methodists against him — Preaches in the country to the Blacks — Amusing
Incident — Visits Baltimore. but does not Preach — Attends a Wedding. and
takes a firm stand against Plays— Takes passage for the West — Hindered by
sickness of his Friend, whom he attends—Attends a Camp Meeting near
Annapolis, and preaches like himself— Visits Annapolis and Baltimore — ILis
preaching in Baltimore — Visits Great Falls Camp Meeting — Visits Baltimore
Camp—His great Sermon there— Description of it by a Lady — Frederick
Camp— His Preaching— Bishop Waugh’s account of, - - - 137

CHAPTER XIII.

Mr. Bascom returns to Baltimore — Goes to Eastern Shore of Maryland to Camp
Meeting — Invited to Philadelphia — Witnesses reception of La Fayette — Goes
to Philadelphia — Manner of making the Journey — Crossing the Peninsula —
Bascom and Summerfield placed before the public as Competitors, against their
Wishes — They meet, and hear each other preach — Notice of them by the
Press — Comparison of their Talents— Unpleasant misunlerstanding, and
CONTENTS. 1X

Reconciliation — A Messenger sent to bring Mr. Bascom again to Eastern Shore
of Maryland — He goes, and returns to Baltimore in November—Travels through
the country, Preaching — Reception of La Fayette at Annapolis — Incidents
attending it — Bascom preaches to the Marquis and Suite — His text, and sketch
of his Sermon—Preaches at York, Carlisle, Harrisburg, &c.— Notices by
the Press — Poetic comparison of Bascom and Summerfield, by a Lady, 155

CHAPTER XIV.

Mr. Bascom finishes his Pennsylvania tour — Returns to Baltimore, and in March
goes to his station in Pittsburg —Is cordially received — Complimentary
Newspaper notice — Unitarian reply to that notice —IIis habit of visiting the
Sick — An instance of it— Notice of his preaching in Brownsville — At the
Conference of 1825 appointed Conference Missionary — Object of that Appoint-
ment — Incidents showing the strength of his Friendship, - 176

CHAPTER XV. — Embracing the period of his connection with Madison College.

After traveling through the West, goes East— Visits the scenes of his former
Jabors— Goes to New York — Reception and success there — Returns to the
West, and is appointed to Uniontown — Object of the Appointment — Sets about
building up Madison College —Is appointed President and Professor of Moral
and Mental Science — Delivers an Inaugural Address — Sketch of that Address
— Applies, with final success. for Legislative aid — Project of a Chair of Agri-
culture — Corresponds with Madison, Carroll, Marshall, Clay, Clinton, and
Adams on the subject — tis efforts for the upbuilding of the College — Imper-
fect Success, and the causes of it — Resigns the Presidency — Approbatory vote
of the Conference on the occasion, - - oe - - = 183

CHAPTER XVI. — Embracing his Agency of the Colonization Society.

Mr. Bascom is appointed Agent of the American Colonization Society — His Views
on that Subject — Journal of his first tour on that Mission — Popularity and
Success — Notices of the Press — Preached much while in the Agency — Large
report of one of his Sermons — Perilous Stage Coach Accident, - - - 204

CHAPTER XVII.

Mr. Bascom elected Professor of Moral Science and Belles-Lettres in Augusta
College — Still devotes a portion of his time to the Agency —Transferred to
Kentucky Conference, and election to General Conference of 1832— Made
Chairman of Committee on Temperance — Produces a Report of great power —
— Concluding passage of it given — A Peculiarity in Bascom’s mind noticed —
Attempts to account for it— Affliction and Death of his Father — Descriptive
account of that event — Bascom’s own account of it, as given to Mr. Bruce, 230

CHAPTER XVIII.

He takes charge of his Father’s family, consisting of step-mother and her
children — With his heavy burden of debt and family, fills duties of his Chair,
Preaches, delivers Addresses, &c. — Maffit — His description of Bascom’'s talents
—Offered Presidency of Augusta College — Testimonial of Trustees — Elected
to General Conference of 1836 — Visits scene of early labors — Delivers Addresa
at laying corner stone of Indiana Asbury University — Tenders his resignation
as Professor —Is not accepted, but permission given to travel— Invited to
deliver Lectures on Infidelity, in Cincinnati— Delivers Lectures in Cincinnati
and in Louisville — Receives the honorary degree of D.D.— Invited to preach
‘afore Young Men’s Missionary Society of New York — Preackes with fine effect
—Notices by Knickerbocker and others — First interview with his Wife—
Delivers Lectures on Infidelity. in New York — Notice by the Press — Visits and
Lectures at divers places — Visits Saratoga and preaches to a great multitude
in open air, and brings on Bronchial Affection — Notice of this Sermon—
Offered Agency at salary of three thousand dollars, but declines — Advised to
go South for health —TLectures in Philadelphia, Baltimore, &c,, but had to”
desist — Report of Dr. Bascom’s Death — Pleasant contradiction of it — (Note)

-Why did he thus peril his life? and why was he permitted to do.so? 244

CHAPTER XIX.

goproves in Health, returns to New York and Marries — Why did he not Marry
earlier, and disembarrass himself? — Why Marry now under embarrassmev‘s ?
-- Leaves New York with his Lady, and visits Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pitta-

1*
x CONTENTS.

burg. and finally Augusta — Heavy draught on his funds — Manner of Life and
Prospect — Elected President of Louisiana College, which he declines — Ten-
dered Presidency of Missouri University, also declined — Elected to General
Conference of 1840— important Position assigned him — Overture from Trap-
sylvania University — Action of Conference — Dr. Bascom a Commissioner —
‘Tender of Morrison College to Kentucky Conference — Commissioners meet and
accept the College—The source of a difficulty, transferring only a College
when a University was understood — Bascom appointed President pro tem. of
University — Services and Compensation at Augusta — (Note) — Germ of future
difficulties developing — College opened under new Organization, and is very
successfu) — Comparative Prosperity shown — (Note) — College Property incum-
bered — Efforts to relieve it— Death of Dr. Bascom’s Step-Mother — Dr.
Bascom a Delegate to the General Conference of 1844 — On account of difficul-
ties on the Slavery Question, declines, as Chairman of Commissioners,to report
the acquisition of the College —Is elected permanent President of University
—Is Chairman of Education Committee in General Conference — Gets into a
Political Difficulty, the history of which is given, - - 2 270

CIIAPTER XX,

Southern Convention meets. 1845— Dr. Bascom at the head of the most impor
tant Committee — Action of that body respecting the University — Dr. Bascom’s
Diary in 1846—Gcueral Conference— Pascom supported for Bishop — Causes
of Failure — The College accepted by General Conference — Bascom re-elected
President — Difficulties for him in re-organization — College begins to languish
under new Arrangement — Dr. Bascom elected Editor of new Quarterly Review
— Commissioner to look after the Church Property in dispute — Difficulties of
his three offices and his private affairs— Plan for relieving the last — Partly
successful — He attends the Northern General Conference in 1848 — Resigns
the Presidency, - - - 2 - = = 5 5 5 = = = - 286

CHAPTER XXI.

Dr. Bascom employs himself in preparing a Volume of his Sermons for the Press,
which is published early in 1850— Its Reception —IIe is solicited to be a
Candidate for the Episcopacy — At the General Conference reports the doings
of Commissioners, which are unanimously Approved — Notice of his services
as Editor of Quarterly — Action of the Conference dissolving the connection
with Transylvania — Dr. Bascom Elected Bishop — His Election gave very gen-
eral satisfaction — An Untruthful Representation on this subject corrected (Note)

.—He returns home and prepares to start on his Official Tour to the St. Louis
Conference — Leaves home in Bad Health — Presides and Preaches with great
approbation — Resolution of the Conferemce— Visits different places and
Preaches— Reaches St. Louis, and Preaches his last Sermon— Arrives at
Louisville— Attempts to proceed home, but is compelled to return, take his
bed, and receive Medical Treatment — Resignation — Dr. Stevenson’s Account
of his Illness — His Wife comes to him — The Closing Scene — Funeral Sclem-
nities — General Expressions of Sorrow, - - - - = = = =

CHAPTER XXII.— Character of Bishop Bascom.

Character of Bishop Bascom — Scholarship — Filial and Fraternal Affection —
Benevolence — Social Qualities and Intercourse with Ladies — Bascom as a
Writer —As a Preacher and Orator— Preparations for the Pulpit —His
Piety, - = soe eee - 2s = 2 © 826

CHAPTER XXIII.
Mr. Sascom’s connection with the movement for modifying the government of
- 2 es 61

the Church, coe - - fe
CHAPTER XXIV.
- Mr. Rascom's connection with the controversy on Slavery, = - 884

ArPENDIX, . - 399
Rife of Henry B. Bascom,

CHAPTER I.

EMBRACING THE PERIOD FROM HIS BIRTH TO diIS
CONVERSION.

Birth and Parcntage— Paternal Ancestry — His Mother and ha
Ancestors — Brothers and Sisters — His own Account of his Early
Years -— Goes to School — Takes his relative’s name, and is sent
by him to School away from home — Returns home and goes to
his last School— His Parents remove to the frontier in western
New York — His Conversion, and the question of its date settled.

Henry Brpteman Bascom was the son of
Alpheus and Hannah Bascom, and was born
May 27,1796. As to his birth-place, a number
of conflicting statements have been published
since his death, some of which are singularly
apocryphal and absurd. On the authority of
four or five of his near relations and early school-
mates, and particularly of a venerable relative
who is intimate with his fimily history, we are,
however, able to settle this matter correctly and
with certainty. He was born on the east bank of
the east branch of Delaware river, in the town of
Hancock, Delaware county, New York, two miles
12 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

from the junction of the east and west branches
of the Delaware, and two from (the now) Chehoc-
ton village, on the New York and Erie railroad.

Respecting his paternal ancestors, he .says:
“Tt would seem from fimily records and tradition,
that I am paternally descended from a French
Huguenot family, which, driven from France by
the revocation of the edict of Nantz, settled in
one of the border counties near the Clyde. It
appears further, that three brothers, descendants
of this fumily, during the civil disturbances and
religious oppression which drove so many of
the English Puritans from the land of their
birth, emigrated to the then new and feeble
colonies of North America. Two of the brothers
remained; the third, being dissatisfied, removed
to one of the English West India islands. The
remaining two settled in Massachusetts. Sub-
sequently a division of the fimily removed to
New York; of that branch of the family I am
a descendant.”

Ihave before me a genealogical table of the
Bascom fumily, going back to the year 1650,
in which year “Thomas Bascom came from the
north of England, and settled in Northampton,
Massachusetts ;” and a letter from the father
of H. B. Bascom to his son, dated 1825, not
ealy recognizes New England as the land of his
ancestors, but as his own native place. Speaking
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 13

of a contemplated tour of his son, he says to
him: “I hope you will get to New England,
and see my native country —I never expect
to see it,” &e.

Of his mother, Mr. Bascom gives the following
general account: “My mother was a German of
the Bidleman family, of Greenwich, New Jersey.
Her education, training, language and _ habits,
however, were English. She was naturally sen-
sible and sprightly; a woman of ardent feelings,
but of strong and ingenuous purpose, combining
in no ordinary degree natural vivacity and
playfulness of temperament, with great resolu-
tion and decision of character. My mother
owed nothing to the philosophy of modern
refinement, and was too ambitious not to regret
it; yet I have known few women who possessed
a larger share of the poetry of feeling.”

Mr. Houk, the aged relative referred to before,
gives a fuller and more detailed account of her:
“Hannah Houk, the mother of H. B. Bascom,
was born in Greenwich, Sussex county, N. J,
opposite Easton, Pain 1772. Her father’s name
was George Houk, and the maiden name of her
mother, Rosanna Bidleman. In 1788, they re-
moved to Sullivan county, N. Y., and about three
years afterwards to Hancock, Delaware county,
N. Y., (the place described above as Mr. Bascom’s
birth-place.) Soon after settling in the last
14 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

named place, Hannah was married to Alpheus
Bascom, and they settled on the same farm
with her parents, not more than a stone’s throw
distant, where the late Bishop Bascom was born.
A large pile of rough stones, the rude remains
of the fallen chimney, still marks the spot where
the noble and eloquent H. B. Bascom first
breathed the vital air.

“To know Hannah Houk Bascom was to love
her. In dress she was neat, in her manners easy
and affuble, exact in her domestic duties, a kind
and gentle wife, an affectionate mother, ever ready
to administer the balm of comfort to the cast down
and afflicted, —and many a hunter and raftsman,
weary and hungry, has had abundant reason to
implore the blessing of heaven on Mrs. Bascom;
their reception was always cordial and welcome;
and the weary traveler was sure of a home under
her roof. Her character was without spot or
blemish throughout her life.”

Mr. and Mrs. Bascom had eight children, —
Elizabeth, Henry Bidleman, Clara, Sylvanus, George,
Alpheus, Hiram Baxter, and Lewis. By a second
wife Mr. Bascom, Sr., had one child—John Ellis;
and by a third wife, three —James, Samuel, and
Hannah Houk— in all twelve.

Young Bascom gives the following account of
his juvenile years:

““My personal recollections extend far back I
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 15

have distinct and vivid recollections of numerous
occurrences connected with the fourth year of iny
life. During infancy and childhood my health was
perfect, and my physical development rapid and
steady. I can never forget that the early elements
of enjoyment were sought and found in perpetual
activity ; running, leaping, climbing, and the like,
were my daily tactics, my meat and drink. The
love of adventure was a passion, and its chances
always led me into temptation. My adventures
were rarely shared by another; an enthusiastic
love of nature led me to seek solitude and to shun
society. Social mischief I never was addicted to.
I was from nature averse to it; the usual petty or
more serious crimes of childhood I rarely ever
committed. But I was not without faults, by any
means—TI was passionate and indocile. I met
restraint with great impatience, and was too much
inclined to rely upon my own impulses as correct.
Fearful and startling were my struggles when a
mere child, between my own sense of what was
right and allowable, and the very different decisions
of parental authority. To my parents I was never
disobedient, my affection for them always held me
more than the strength of law.”

Mr. Houk, who knew him from infancy, says,
“His character in boyhood was irreproachable; he
was ever kind and forgiving to his playmates, and
faithful to any trust committed to his keeping:
16 LIFE UF BISHOP BASCOM.

but his great delight was in rafting small floats
and sporting in the clear waters of the Delaware.”

Of his early years and habits, I find the
following reminiscence on a loose scrap of paper,
dated August, 1814: “while sick, I reviewed the
seenes of my childhood. Iwas born on the banks
of the Delaware, where my parents lived nineteen
years. The beautiful river rolled down in front of
my father’s dwelling, offering a thousand scenes for
recreation and amusement—huge rocks of all
forms and magnitudes, beautiful pebbles of various
colors and qualities, with which to amuse myself,
the privilege of wading, bathing, plunging, sporting
in the clear waters of the Delaware, or catching
the finny tribes with hook and line; or casting
these aside, I climbed the crags, and plucked the
wild cherries, the haw, the fragrant plum, then to
the field to seek the luscious melon, and then to
crown all, returned pressed down with my mellow
load to present it to my parents, and their little
prattlers.”

“When about five years of age” —says Mr.
Bascom — “I was placed at a school taught by a
Miss Leonard, a maiden lady. Here I soon
learned to read, so as to take great delight in
juvenile books, and in a few months was familiar
with the primerology of the times and neigh-
borhood. Beyond this, however, I could be
taught nothing in that school. When about
LIFE OF BISHOP BASUOM. 17

seven years old, I was placed at a somewhat better
school, taught by a Mr. May. He was, judging
from my recollection, a good common school
teacher, and advanced me considerably in reading,
writing, &c. He was, however, very severe in his
discipline, and chastising me most unmercifully
upon a time, after I had been with him several
months, I fled, from him in great anger, and ran
several miles home to my father’s house without
stopping.”

When he was about eight and a half years of
age, as if appears, Mr. Bascom’s parents were
visited by a relation of the fumily, Henry Bidle-
man, Esq., who being pleased with Henry, he
proposed that, as the boy had his name in part, if
they would add the Bidleman, giving his name in
full, he would take him home and send him to
school. The proposal was agreed to, and Henry
went home with Mr. Bidleman, who resided at
Easton, Pa. At that place he went to school for
sometime, or rather at Greenwich, for it appears
from his own stitement that the school was on the
Jersey side of the river.

“The country Academy at which I was now
placed, was taught by Mr. John T. Simpson, a most
estimable man, as well as admirable teacher. Here
T remained until I was about eleven years old, and
my progress in the rudimental learning of the

school was, I believe. entirely satisfactory to those
2
18 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM

interested in my welfare. From this date until I
was twelve years old, I was the pupil of Mr. Henry
Evans, of whom I have ever cherished the most
grateful recollections. After my separation from
this excellent teacher, I was never at school again.”

Here we have the whole amount of Mr. Bascom’s
school education. But from even this amount a
deduction must be made. Mr. Houk informs us,
that those first schools attended by him, were
kept up only “two or three months in the year.”
If, then, we assume that the actual time of his
attending the first school was six months, and the
second the same; say two and a half years at
most with Mr. Simpson, and one year with Mr.
Evans, the whole sum would be less than five
years. Paul S. Preston, Esq., a school mate of
Mr. Bascom, says that one of his teachers declared
to him that “Henry Bascom was the most apt
student that ever came to his school.”

Mr. Bascom’s parents removed from his native
place, where they had resided nineteen years, to
Little Valley, on the Alleghany river, below Olean,
Olean Point, in Western New York, in 1808.
This must have been the date of their removal, for
he tells us explicitly that it occurred when he was
twelve years old, which, as he was born in 1796, was
in 1808. “It is true,” he says ina letter to his old
friend, Mr. Preston, written in 1824, “my father
removed to the west in 1812,” but this mnst be
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 19

understood of his removal from western New York
to the further west-- to Kentucky and then to
Ohio; for we shall presently find positive evidence
that he was in western New York at an earlier
date than 1812, and that in that year he removed
to Kentucky.

Highteen hundred and ten or eleven appears to
have been the year of his conversion; but there is
not perfect harmony among the witnesses as to the
exact time and circumstances of that event. Rev.
James Gilmore, who was intimate with Mr. Bascom
from the age of ten years, says, that on his return to
Little Valley in 1811, he learned that a little before
this “A Methodist exhorter from the east had moved
to the Little Valley, and through his instrumen!-
ality almost all the fimilies of the valley had
embraced religion, young Henry with the rest.”
Rev. Loring Grant, in a letter to me under date
March 14, 1851, gives the following as his under-
standing of the matter: — “In the spring of 1811
Mr. Gilmore and young Bascom came into the
waters of Sugar Creek, in what is now Bedford
county, Pa. I knew but little of him until the
time referred to by brother Burch, when preaching
at Capt. Clark’s, at Old Sheshegoin. The young
man came ten miles on foot to attend the meeting.
While preaching, I noticed in him deep feeling,
and in the class-meeting he told us that during the
meeting, or under the sermon he hid found peace
20 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

with God, and- offered himself for membership in
the church, and was received.”

This seeming disagreement is reconcilable by
supposing that no church organization existed on
the extreme frontier where Henry was really
converted, and this is nearly certain from the
statements of Mr. Gilmore ; — and that when the
young stranger appeared in Mr. Grant’s congrega-
tion under ‘deep feeling,’ and in class-meeting
professed to have received a great blessing, and
then offered himself for membership, it was very
natural that Mr. Grant should conclude that this
was his first public profession of religion. That
this was a misapprehension, however, is evident,
for before this time Mr. Gilmore had become satis-
fied with the soundness of WHenry’s religious
experience, and had called on him to exhort in
public, — as we shall see presently, from Mr. Gil-
more’s very interesting narrative of the events of
that spring and summer.

In my mind then it is settled, that young Pubes
was converted in Litile Valley, in the year 1810,
and the first opportunity he had of uniting with the
church was in the spring of 1811, at Old Sheshe-
goin, under the ministry of Rey. Mr. Grant.*

* Since writing the foregoing I have found a scrap in Bascom’s
own handwriting, which settles this point; it reads as follows: —
* August 18th, 1814,—four years to-day since my conversion. Blesg

God for mercy through Christ our Lord. Henry B. Bascom.” This
axes the date of Mr. Bascom’s conversion at August 18th, 1810.
CHAPTER II.
FROM HIS CONVERSION TO HIS SETTLEMENT IN OHIO.

Wild state of the Country, and want of Advantages—Enters into an
Arrangement with Mr. Gilmore to Work and Study with him--
Their Journey over the Mountains, Incidents and Suffcrings—
Holds Religious Mecetings—Henry begins to speak in Public, and
astonishes the people — Difficulties and Opposition — Rapid
Improvement—Separates from Mr. Gilmore and returns home—
Diligence in Cultivating his Mind — Removal to Kentucky, and
then to Ohio—Labors on the Farm, and for means of entering the
Ministry.

We now return to notice the circumstances
under which his Christian career was begun, and
the disadvantiges with which he was surrounded.

Mr. Bascom says :—“When I was twelve years
old, a reverse in the pecuniary circumstances of my
father induced him to remove westward, and settle
in a wilderness surrounded by savages. A section
of twenty miles did not contain more thin half
a dozen families. But even here I was cheerful
and happy, perpetually indulging in dreams and
aspirations connected with the future. My informa-
tion was necessarily limited, and the means of
increasing it equally so; but this did not damp
my natural ardor of feeling in pursuit of whatever
could amuse or excite me. I was passionately
fond of reading and writing, and to these exercises
22 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

I applied myself with a perseverance which I know
not how to account for.”

Rev. Mr. Gilmore gives the following account
of the population of that region at the date in
question: —“At the Olean Point, there were but
two log cabins at that time, which is now quite a
large village. From the Olean, it was about twenty
miles down to the Little Valley, though we sinke
the Indian lands before we come to that place.
This reserve siretches about forty miles up and
down this beautiful stream, (the Alleghany,) which
belongs to the Seneca tribe. From our settlement,
it was about fifteen miles down: the river to the next
settlement of whites. This is at the mouth of the
Kangua creek (Fish creek.) Perhaps there were
about ten or twelve fumilies there at that time.
From the Kangua, it was about twelve miles down
to another settlement, cilled Warren, Pa., where
the Conewango fails into the Alleghany, where
there were but three or four houses at the time.
which is now a very populous village. North of
the Little Valley, it was thirty miles through the
widerness to a settlement at the mouth of Catta-
raugus creek, on lake Erie.

“Tere, then, we see, that this boy, its has since
shaken vast assemblies by his oratory, and astou-
ished the world with his greatness, was at that
time in almost a howling wilderness, and virtually
surrounded by the red men of the forest.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 23

Mr. Gilmore was himself a very young man,
having scarcely reached his majority, of but little
religious experience, and small attainments; for
pecuniary means, his reliance was on the labor
of his hands as a pump and aqueduct maker.
He had loved Henry from a little boy, but now
he loved him as a brother in the Lord, and
feared to leave him unprotected in his spiritual
infancy, on that dangerous and wild frontier.
He therefore, though but an exhorter himself,
proposed to take Henry into business with him,
with the understinding that he was not only
to teach him the art and mystery of aqueduct
making, but to render all the aid in his power
to make Henry himself an aqueduct for the
communication of the waters of life to the
thirsty children of earth. This arrangement
being settled, it was agreed to spend the season
on the waters of the Susquehanna, as more
eligible in all respects for their objects, than
the uninhabited frontier where they then were.
But an account of the preparation, the journey,
and its sequences, will be best given in the
language of Mr. Gilmore:

“As I designed to visit the scattered settle-
ments along down the river as far as Warren,
I invited young Henry to accompany me, which
he did; and this gave me a more proper oppor-
funity of becoming acquainted with him, his
24 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Christian experience, and the impressions of
his mind; and by conversing with him freely,
I was convinced that he was moved upon by
the Holy Ghost to preach the Gospel of Christ.
But what could he do in this unsettled country,
where there were few to talk to, except the
Indians? I believe that Henry told me, that
he had been once through to the Cattaraugus,
thirty miles, to hold meetings among the people.
When I came to survey the many difficulties
by which he was surrounded, and knowing that
he was young in experience, and unacquainted
with the ways of the world, and the deep gins
of the enemy, I thought in all human probability,
if he remained in that wilderness, that he would
backslide and become useless in the world. I
therefore told Henry that he had better go and
spend the summer with me, on the Susquehanna
river, and I would assist him all I could. He
told me that he would go, if his father would
give him liberty. So after we returned again
back to the Little Valley, I conversed with his
father on the subject, and after telling him what
[ thought about the duty of his son, and the
great improbability of his accomplishing anything
in that wilderness, he finally gave his consent
for Henry to go and spend the summer with me.
“Did God move the heart of Pharaoh’s
daughter to command her maiden to take the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 25

ark from among the flags and convey it to the
shore, which contained the child that God raised
up to manhood, who afterwards astonished the
hosts of Israel by his wisdom? So we see that
God can accomplish a great work with a small
instrument. After closing my visit among my
friends, we prepired ourselves for the intended
journey; designing to follow the Alleghany, in
its meanderings, to its head waters, pass over
the dividing grounds, and strike the head waters
of Pine creek, which puts into the Susquehanna,
the distance of which is about seventy miles.
The first night on our way, we culled on Father
Arthur, about’ six miles above Olean Point, at
the mouth of the (then called) King’s creek.
“We held a meeting among the people in
the evening, and next morning we made our
way up the river, picking our way as well as
we could along its banks, without any road to
guide us. When we arrived at the confluence
of the Alleghany and Potatoe creek, about
twenty miles above the Olean, we found that
two families had made their way from Rice
creek into that wilderness. As our stock of
provision was exhausted, we called at the first
house we came to, and asked the lady of the
house if she could supply our wants. The sind
woman baked us two small unleavened cakes,

iu a pan, and as we were very hungry, we soon
2
26 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

consumed one of them. We tren pursued on
five miles, to the next house, and got the
privilege of staying with them over night, and
started the next morning on our way before
breakfast. We then had thirty miles to travel
over the mountains, without any house.

“After we had traveled till about ten o’clock
the next day, we stopped and ate our other
cake, having then twenty miles further to travel,
before we reached the settlement. We now made
what speed we could, knowing that we must suffer
much with hunger before we got through, and
perhaps be compelled to lodge among the moun-
tains all night, in the bargain. When we arrived
within about ten miles of Pine creek, we became
very fuint and weary, and sat ourselves down
on a log to rest. I suppose that young Henry
thought this rather a hard beginning in his
idnerant career. We had sat there but a few
minutes before we saw a man pursuing our
footsteps, with great haste. He came up, all
bathed in sweat, and commenced telling us bow
hard he had iraveled to overtake us, and added,
‘My mother, who gave you the small cakes
yesterday, started me off very early this morning,
with some provisions for you, fearing that you
would faint before you got through the wilder:
ness.’ Te then opened his pack, and richly
supplied our wants. The young man said he
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 27

would accompany us through to the settlement,
and take another day to return home again.

“We reached Pine creek on Saturday evening,
and called on a religious family and told them to
mvite in their neighbors the next morning, and
we would address them. This we did, and as the
people in that place were almost entirely destitute
of the gospel, our feeble efforts had a very salutary
effect upon their minds. Here we were solicited
by a gentleman, to hold a meeting ten miles
ahead, at Wellsborough—he going ahead to give
out the appointment. We staid and dined with
this friendly family, and then went on to our next
appointment; and when we arrived, we found a
large school house filled with people awaiting our
arrival.

“Tere I preached from these words ‘ How shall
we escape, if we neglect so great salvation.” Heb.
ii, 8; and surely God blessed the work. After I
had brought my subject to a close, I turned around
to ask Henry to exhort the people; but as he
looked very pale, and believing it arose from the’
idea of bearing a great cross, I told him that he
need not speak to the people unless he pleased.
But he tremblingly spoke and said, ‘O, I think I
will try it.” He arose, and with a great deal of
pathos and native genius, he poured down a storm
upon the people. I was astonished to hear him
use the language which he did. He rolled it off
28 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

as with thunder peals. Here I evidently saw that
he was a boy possessing more than ordinary powers
of mind, and promised great usefulness to the
world, if faithful to his trust. From Pine creek,
we made our way on to Sugar creek, Pa. Tere I
arranged my business to spend the summer. I
took a large job of supplying a man’s house and
yards with water by aqueduct. After I had got
my work arranged for the summer, we then
procured what books we could for reading; but as
it was not a day of books, (of the right kind,) our
reading was very much limited; but we resolved,
at least, that part of our time should be spent in
improving our minds.

“ At that time we both had many difficulties to
encounter, meeting with opposition from some of
the leading members of the church, and the world
too; but as I had then commenced trying to
preach, and was a little in advance of Henry, in
point of experience and knowledge too, he not
only depended on me as a guide, but also looked
‘up to me for knowledge. And as I had acquainted
myself with the doctrines of Methodism, I took
much pains to explain these doctrines to young
Tlenry, that he might make no misiake as to his
starting point. I knew that it was necessary, in
order that a man or a minister be useful in the
world, and land correctly himself in the end, that
he not only become acquainted with, but also that
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 29

he imbibe, proper principles. I therefore ex-
plained to him the fall of man, the redemption of
the world by Jesus Christ, the design of the
operation of the Spirit of God upon the mind, and
also the great design of the gospel of the Son of
God, which was to save a lost world from ruin.

“J found Henry to have a very inquiring mind,
anxious to learn all he could, in order that he
might distinguish between truth and falsehood.
When an impression was made on his mind, time
could scarcely erase it; for he possessed the
greatest power to commit and retain anything, of
any person I ever saw. His power of association
was very strong, and his apprehensions very vivid.

“JT had my appointments out in different parts of
the country, at which time I endeavored to preach
to the people, after which Henry would always
exhort ; and it was evident that the ascent of his
mind was very rapid. What he read at his leisure
moments, he would be almost constantly repeating
when at his work, except when we were in conver-
sation together. He was firm and bold, yet
modest in his appearance.

“Some of the people complained, and said that
Gilmore and Bascom prayed half their time, and
yet made two or three dollars per day. The
truth was, our earning that amount did not disturb
the people as much as our praying, neither did-our
praying affect them as did our public exercises ;
30 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

for wherever we held meetings, the houses were
crowded to overflowing; for it was something of a
novelty with the people, to hear a boy but fifteen
years old, (as that was his age at that time,) pour
such a flood of deep and searching truth upon the
congregation, as he often would.

“The jealousy of many of the local preachers in
these parts was excited, not only by the loss of
their congregations, but in the thought that these
mere boys were their rivals. This jealousy was
particularly bitter towards my young colleague, as
it was thought a boy of but fifteen summers must,
of necessity, be wholly incompetent to instruct the
people in the deep principles of religious truth.
But the young hero was steady to his purpose,
exhorting in season and out of season.

“We passed the summer very agreeably together,
although we encountered adverse winds and tides,
and almost overwhelming seas; yet, that om-
aipotent arm which upholds universal empire,
supported us amidst our peril. When we came to
close up our summer’s labor, it was evident, even
to the public, as far as they had been acquainted
with Henry, that he had risen in point of im-
provement fifty per cent. He had now acquired a
very good knowledge of the doctrines of the
gospel, and he was prepared to defend those
do@:rines.”

Separating from his friend Gilmore, probably
L2FE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 31

about the end of the summer of 1811, he recrossed
the mountains and returned to his home in Little
Valley. The remainder of this year he appears
to have devoted chiefly to the increasing of his
stock of knowledge. Mr. Wiliam Connelly, still
residing, — or at least was so recen‘ly, at Franklin,
Pa., not far from Liztle Valley, became xequiinted
with young Bascom afer his return from the east,
and being greatly pleased with him, invited the
youth to make his house his home, and tendered
him the free use of a good librury. This was a
great treat to young Henry, for with a craving
appetite for knowledge, he had hitherto enjoyed
but small facilities for ministering to its grati-
fication ; and he never forgot this kindness of Mh.
Conneily, who, in after life, received many a valued
letter from the famed orator as the reward of his
courtesy to the untutored youth of the wild
frontier.

Mr. Connelly seems to be under the impression
that at the date in question, and when Bascom
was fifteen years of age, he was just then learning
to read. He may have been attending to the
improvement of his reading, but that he was able
to read, and was a greedy reader at an earlier date
than this, we have explicit evidence not only in
the statement of Mr. Gilmore, but of himself.

By this time he had got a taste of the tree of
knowledge, and his appetite for its enlightening
32 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

fruit, was eager and insatiable: there was no
privation, no labor, no peril he would not encounter
for the attainment of knowledge, or even for the
means — the instrument of its attainment.

In 1812, and from known facis it must have
been quite early in that year, the Bascom family
removed from Little Valley to Maysville, Ky., or
to some point in the immediate vicinity of that
place. Here they could have remained but a
brief period, for before the close of that year they
crossed the river, and settled permanently in Ohio,
about five miles from Maysville, in the line of
direction from that place to Ripley, O.

During this period, Henry appears to have fully
employed his time, in aiding his father in his
labor, and in earning all that he could to prepare
for carrying out his grand object of preaching
“the gospel,—in gleaning knowledge from every
accessible source, and in exercising his talent in
exhortations and other public services.
CHAPTER ITI.

LICENSED TO PREACH.

First Meeting of the Ohio Conference — Makes fence rails to buy e
horse — Goes to Maysville to meet the Preachers — Exhorts —
Rev. W. McMahan’s Account of his Interview with young
Bascom — Goes to Conference at Chillicothe—Is refused Enter-
tainment, but provided for by Mr. McMahan — Enjoyments and
Benefits of the Conference — Boundaries of Conferences,. and
State of the Work at that date — Continued Preparation for the
Ministry — Is Licensed to Preach, Feb. 1813—Is appointed to
labor on Brush Creck Circuit — ilis Account of the Work on
this Circuit.

Tue first session of the Ohio conference—the
vld “western,” having been that year divided —
was approaching, and young Bascom was anxious
to attend it. But difficulties stood in the way;
his futher, in his reduced circumstances, was unable
to render Henry any aid in the way of outfit for
traveling, and indeed could but poorly spare his
personal services from the firm: besides, he
thought him too young and deficient in knowledge
and experience to undertake preaching, yet he
yielded his objections, provided Henry could
furnish his own outfit. Henry, though but little
over sixteen, was not a boy, to be frightened at
shadows. He who had traveled over the Appe-

lachian chain on foot, had earned two or three
3
34 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

dollars a day at boring pump logs—besides
‘praying nearly half the time,’—whose eloquence
had made the guilty tremble, the good rejoice,
and the narrow minded to feel envious, and that
too When he was younger than now by a long year
and a half, was he to abandon or defer the grand
object of laboring on a large scale for the world’s
regeneration, simply because he had no_ horse,
saddle, saddle-bag and like itinerating accoutre-
ments? Never! Accordingly he went to work
with a will. He cared not what the labor was, so it
was but honest, and would procure him the means
of carrying out his engrossing purpose. Mr. F....,
a neighbor, wished a number of fence rails made,
and Henry was a candidate for the job.

“But, Henry, you are very young, and this is
heavy work — man’s work.”

“Not very old, sir; but I have a strong arm
and a good will.”

“Very well, you can but try, and if you succeed
so much the better.”

The terms were settled—twenty-five cents per
hundred — and Henry walks into the fresh unculled
forest with ax, wedge, and maul, in all the noble
pride of confident self-dependence; and soon the
crash of falling oak and ash sent loud reverberant
sounds through the deep woods and up the hills,
and many a heart of oak was riven by the youthful
arm of him whose mental and moral power was
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 35

destined to rive the very soul and spirit, and joints
and marrow of trembling thousands.

The equipments were of course procured, and
young Bascom felt more honest pride in their pos-
session than he possibly could, had they been the
gift of a wealthy father to a dependent helpless son.

He did not expect at that conference to join the
the traveling connection, but as this was his ulti-
mate design, and as he had never attended a
conference nor seen a bishop, he looked to his
visit to that meeting with such hopes and solici-
tudes as can only be felt by a youth of his fervid
temperament.

Limestone — now Maysville — was a sort of ren-
dezvous at which preachers from points south and
west were expected to meet on their way to the
conference. The Sabbath preceding the conference
several of the preachers were expected to be in
Limestone, and appointments were mide for them
to preach on Saturday night and Sabbath. On
Saturday evening young Bascom rode over to town
to attend the meeting, to make the acquaintance
of the preachers, and then to journey on with them
to the conference.

Whether on account of a failure of the preachers
to reach there on Saturday night, or through
curiosity to hear the Alleghany boy, I am not
informed, but on that night Henry exhorted at the
meeting, and astonished the hearers, not less by
36 LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM.

his boldness in reproving the delinquencies and
improprieties of professors, than by the fluency
and force of his discourse.

On Sabbath several preachers were in attendance,
and among the number was Rev. Mr. McMahan,
between whom and young Bascom a friendship
there commenced which lasted, bright and sound
in all its links, until severed by death—thirty-eight
years from that very month. Mr. McMahan shall
report to us of that first interview :—“ In Septem-
ber, 1812, I passed through Maysville — from
Indiana territory, where I had been laboring—on
my way to the conference to ke held at Chillicothe,
O., in company with Rev. Simuel Parker and Rev.
Wm. Patterson—both long since gone to the home
of God. On Sabbath morning I preached, and
during sermon observed a very fine looking youth
in the congregation, who, from the fixed and
earnest attention he gave the sermon, appeared to
be deeply interested. 1 inquired of the family in
which I was staying who he was, and learned thit
his name was Henry B. Bascom, a youth of sixteen,
a licensed exhorter, very talented and zealous; and
that on the preceding night he had delivered an
exhortation which was very pointed ag tinst fashion-
able vice, and which gave offence to some of the
members.

“From the first moment I saw Buscom, I felt
an uncommon interes$ in him, and all I heard

 
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 37

from those who knew him, but tended to deepen
that interest. When I returned to the church
in the afternoon we were introduced, and I was
greatly pleased with him; and here commenced
an acquaintance which lasted thirty-eight years
without interruption or the slightest unpleasant
feeling, so far as I know or believe.”

Of Bascom, at that date, Mr. McMahan says:
“He was well grown, of fine appearance, very
pious, sprightly and intelligent for a lad of his
years and limited opportunities in early life.”

The next day Bascom started with the com-
pany for conference, full of delightful anticipations
of what he was to see and hear, learn and enjoy.
On reaching Chillicothe, the preacher in churge
assigned the preachers of the compiny their
respective places of lodging during the conference.
“But where,” said Mr. McMahan, “is my young
friend to stay?” “Who is your young friend? is
he a preacher?” “He is young brother Bascom,”
responded McMahan, “and though not quite a
preacher, expects soon to be one.” “We have
no provision made except for the preachers —
we have no place for brother Bascom,” was the
response. Poor Henry! after all his preparations,
and traveling seventy or eighty miles to attend
the conference, the cup was about to be dashed
after reaching his very lips. His heart sank
within him, and he was turning away with a tearfu
38 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

eye and a sorrowful spirit, to retrace his steps
in disappointment and loneliness, to the cottage
of his father, to brood over the early blighting of
his cherished hopes. But McMahan was there;
and he felt, by sympathy, all that young Bascom
felt. “Who stays with me?” he inquired of
the preacher. “No one,” was the answer. “Very
well, Henry, you come along with me, and I will
make provision for you.” He did so; he secured
him a cordial welcome in the family, shared
with him his room and bed, and made him com-
fortable in circumstances and in feelings. This
kindness was not lost on Bascom; for in an
intimacy of thirty-five years, I do not remember
ever to have heard him mention the name of
McMahan without some indication of special
regard.

At this conference, Bascom first saw and heard
tkat great good man, Bishop Asbury; and from him
learned those liberal, just and conservative opinions
on the subject of American slavery, which are under-
stood to have distinguished the views of Bishop
Asbury from those of Bishop Coke, and which
settled Bascom’s principles, on that subject, for life,
in opposition to his earlier views and teachings.

His visit to the conference was greatly bene-
ficial to him; it made him acquainted with the
preachers, gave him an insight into the manner
of conducting conference business, and widened
LIFE 9F BISHOP BASCOM. 39

his whole horizon of observation respecting church
matters.

Down to the General Conference of this year,
1812, the vast territory extending from the
northern lakes to the gulf of Mexico, and from the
“yiver Ohio and the great river Kanawha” on the
east over all the limitless west, was embraced in
one conference, bearing the name of the Western
conference. For all this immense field there were
-employed one hundred traveling preachers, and in
it there were thirty thousand, seven hundred and
forty members, white and colored. But forty-one
years have elapsed, and within the same territory
there are now not less than thirty annual con-
ferences and parts of conferences, with several
thousand preachers, and probably more than half
a million of members. Even after the division
of the old Western conference into the Ohio, and
Tennessee conferences, each had still a most
imperial domain. The Ohio conference had the
whole of that state, east Indiana, and a con-
siderable part of Kentucky and western Virginia ;
‘ while Tennessee conference had all the state of
Tennessee, most of Kentucky, part of North
Carolina, part of Virginia, all of Indiana except its
eastern border, all of Illinois, Missouri and the
territory west, all of Mississippi, Alabama, and
Louisiana. In short, there are now about three
annual conferences for each presiding elder’s
40 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

district forty years ago. Western Indiana, IIli-
pois, and Missouri, was each a circuit. Such was
the general state of the work at the time when
young Bascom came forward to take part of its
labors and sufferings.

The few months immediately succeeding the
Chillicothe conference, Bascom appeared to have
spent in industrious preparations for the-work of
the ministry, not only by reading and study, but
by exercising his gift in public under an exhorter’s
license. In February, 1813, a quarterly meeting
was held for the circuit within which he resided —
called Brush Creek, I think—at which he at-
tended, was examined, and received license to
preach. hat part of the state of Ohio was then
embraced in the Sciota district—which then
extended from the Ohio river on the south, to the
Indian boundary on the nor:h. The late Rev.
James Quinn was presiding elder, and of course
Bascom’s first license was signed by that excellent
minister of Jesus Christ. The quarterly meeting
at which Bascom was licensed to preach, was held
at or near the village of New Market, Highland
county, O.; and it was to him a pleasant circum-
stance, that his friend McMahan, who labored
this year in Kentucky, had traveled near a
hundred miles to attend this meeting, and see his
young friend safely through this important trial.

What opinion the presiding elder previously had
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 4]

of Bascom, or whether he even knew that such a
youth existed, I have no means of ascertaining;
but McMahan was not likely to leave him in doubt
of the high opinion he had himself formed of the
young man’s piety and talents, and accordingly
we find Mr. Quinn appointing the new made
licentiate to Brush creek circuit, with Rev. R. W.
Vinley. This circuit lay in the counties of Adams,
Highland and Sciota.

A memorandum of Bascom’s of that date says,
“We had some small revivals of religion on this
circuit; but, oh, the infinite trials and temptations
that were strewed in my path — I being young in
years and younger in experience. However, I
believe that God armed me for the conflict, so
that to the present time I have weathered the
storm. I have generally felt best in the pulpit,
or standing behind a table or chair, meekly beliey-
ing that a dispensation of the gospel was committed
to me.

“During my stay on this circuit, there was a
universal call on all the militia to turn out and
join the north-western army, so that there were
very few people to attend meetings, and those
who did were generally so full of the great topic
of the day, that they had little room for though'‘s
of heaven and happiness.”
CHAPTER IV.

ADMISSION INTO THE ITINERANCY, AND FIRST YEAR OF
TRAVEL.

Is admitted into the Itinerancy, and appointed to Deer Creek
Circuit — Extent of his work —Studious Habits — Great Tm
provement — Advantages enjoyed about Chillicothe — Extract
from his Diary — Reflections on his Habits and Character —
Sickness — End of the Year.

In the autumn of 1813, he was received by
the Ohio annual conference as a regular proba-
tioner in the itinerancy, and was appointed to
labor on Deer Creek circuit, with Rev. Alexander
Cummings.

This was one of the heaviest circuits in the
conference,* and Bascom, of course, had no lack
of labor to perform. This, however, he peformed
with freedom and zeal, and besides found time
for much reading and study. Mr. McMahan,
speaking of this early period of his ministry, says:
“T never witnessed such rapid and solid improve-
ment in any man as I saw in Bascom.” He
literally devoured every thing in the nature of
books that came in his way, and such was the

*J find a plan of this circuit among his papers, from which it
appears that there were twenty-seven regular appointments for
preaching, besides numerous extra appointments at night- on rest
days, &c. :
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 43

astonishing retentiveness of his memory, that he
seemed to make every valuable thought and
expression found in his rapid reading, permanently
his own. A remarkable instance of this occurred
at the date in question. Chillicothe was embraced
in his circuit, and as it was one of the largest
towns in the State, as well as its capital, he en-
joyed such facilities for procuring books as he
had never before enjoyed. Here he met with a
new work by a young poet— Bryan — which
pleased his undisciplined fancy. I speak of the
“Mountain Muse,” * a bombastic extravaganza,
such as no matured mind would tolerate, save in
a boy—as the author really was when he wrote
it—but young Bascom had not judgment to
detect its blemishes, and was rather pleased with
its exuberance and high-sounding words. He
greedily read it through, and in an incredibly
short time had the whole mass of valueless lumber
stored away in his memory; and years afterwards
he could repeat nearly the whole without balk or
falter.

I believe it is almost universally true, that
those who possess natural talents for excelling
in the higher departments of oratory, are, in
early youth, fond of an inflated and overwrought

*So much was young Bascom charmed with this work, that he
wrote to the author a letter, in praise of it; and proposing the gen-
eral cireulation of the book in the western country.
44 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

style, abounding in superfluous expletives, and
“oreat swelling words,” and hence the early
performances and productions of those who have
subsequently become distinguished for fine impas-
sioned and declamatory eloquence, hive usually
fullen under the severe censure of staid and sober
critics. And so generally has this been the case,
that, with many persons, this very faultiness in
youth is looked on rather as a promise of final
success, than an indication of fiilure in an attempt
to acquire eminence in popular oratory. Regarded
in this light, it must be confessed that young
Bascom’s early style promised unequaled success,
for while the young and the unlearned listened
with wonder and awe, sedate critics, who apply
the standard of the man to measure the stature
of the boy, shook their heads ominously, and old
men with gray hairs and round coats looked sad,
and said, “He would make a fine lawyer, or
statesman, but he is not the stuff of which to
make a Methodist preacher.”

Astonishingly great was the improvement made
by Bascom during this year; about the capital
he not only had access to books, but to men of
cultivated minds and manners. The war with
Great Britiin had but fairly opened. Chillicothe
was an important rendezvous, and here he met
at once the wisdom and the chivalry of the State,
and Bascom was the youth to make a gain of
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. . 45

all these favoring circumstances. There was
indeed a pervading excitement in the spirit and
circumst inces of the times with which he strongly
sympathized, and which aided greatly the rapid
development of his powers. Probably no locality in
the west could have exerted a greater influence on
young Bascom, at that particular time, than Chilli-
cothe and its vicinity. Here resided an ex-gov-
ernor, a judge of the Supreme Court, and several
other prominent citizens, who were Methodist local
preachers — here collected the learning, the civil
authorities and the military tuent of the common-
wealth—to this place were brought, in the
autumn of this year, the officers and soldiers
taken prisoners by Commodore Perry, in the
capture of the British fleet on Luke Erie, and
from all these sources he was constantly gathering
up knowledge.

But we are not to infer, because Mr. Bascom
was diligently employed in the ardent pursuit of
literature and general knowledge, he was therefore
licking in ministerial zeal, or in the cultivation of
personal piety; and as there has been a general
mistake on this subject, I think it due to his
character, to insert here an extract from a private
unpretending journal which he kept while on this
circuit, in which he noted his labors and experience
from diy to day. Its first entry is dated Chilli
co‘he, Thos. Hind’s house, Oct. 1815.
46. LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

“September 7, 1813. I was appointed by the
Western [Ohio] conference to Deer creek circuit.
Sept. 30, arrived at my circuit. Oct. 1, 2, 3, and
{, IT attended a camp meeting in the neighboring
circuit, and tried to preach and had a pretty good
time. Oct. 6, filled my first appointment on my
circuit — felt very low in spirits, the people being
dull and dead. Resorted to the woods and prayed,
though sorely tempted to believe the Lord had no
work for me to do here. Returned to the house
and held family prayers—felt my sorrows measur-
ably dissipated, and light and glory began to break
into my soul.

“Oct. 7. Rode five miles to my appointment—
Nobody out to meeting. Spent the day in reading,
writing, prayer, and meditation. I feel calmness
of mind, and serenity of soul, but no sensible or
powerful manifestation of the love of God.

“Oct. 8, was a rest-day, and a day of peace to
my soul. Rode eleven miles to my next appoint-
ment, and spent the evening in prayer and
meditation, and felt sensible manifestations at the
time of the evening sacrifice. Felt the necessity
of redeeming time and living near the Lord, and
promised to be more faithful in the discharge of
duty. Lord, hear thy needy creature’s cry, and
let his prayer come up unto thee.

“Oct. 9. Tried to preach to about sixty people,
and had a precious time. Some praised God, but

 
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 47

others remained without strength. —I mect with
some powerful temptations, but grace is my strong
fortress. Lord, send forth thy light and thy truth,
and let them guide me.

‘In fierce temptation’s darkest hour

Shield me from sin and Satan’s power,

Tcar every idol from thy throne,
And reign, my Saviour, reign alone.’

“Read Dow on the rights of man—read a great
deal in the New Testament, and studied grammar.
O, may I possess the spirit of my station.

“Jn the evening preached again, on the general
resurrection — an awful time — took two into
society.

“Oct. 10. Preached the funeral of Henry Carr,
of Lexington, Ky., who died on his return from the
north western army. Rode five miles in the
evening to a prayer meeting, exhorted the people
to holiness, and felt very well. Sat up till very
late for supper. Went to bed and slept cold and
uneasy —rose but little before sunrise, prayed with
the family— retired to the woods, where I found
the Lord precious. Read the bible, and some of
Fletcher’s masterly productions —wrote some
letters, and so spent the morning before preaching.
Help me, Lord, to-day.

“Oct. 11. Tried to preach on the necessity of
regeneration, had an uncommon time—the power
of the Lord was present. and many trembled before
48 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Him. Met the class, and had a profitable waiting
on the Lord. After dinner rode to my next
appointment.

“Qct. 12. Rose pretty early, fed my horse,
attended to secret prayer, returned to the house
and prayed with the family. Felt low in spirits,
waited a long time for breakfast — read the expe-
rience of Nehemiah Duncan — thought much on
the solemn importance of my mission and call to
the work of the ministry. About one o’clock an
alarm was raised in the neighborhood that a child,
just beginning to talk, had wandered away into
the woods and was lost. We all turned out and
searched the woods until about sunset, when we
found the lost child about a mile and a half from
its home. This alarm having collected a good
many people, advantage was taken of it to make
an appointment for preaching that night at a
school house. I felt truly well towards the last
of the discourse, and I trust good was done.

“Oct. 13. ese very early —fled to the woods
and prayed—fed my horse, prayed with the family
—ate my breakfast, and started for my next
preaching place. After riding about six miles, met
the man at whose house I was to preach, and he
informed me there would not be any one at home;
so I rode through the neighborhood until I found
a place to preach at, and to lodge at. Sent round
and called in the neighbors to preaching. These
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 49

people appear kind, but prodigiously filthy, and
filthiness I hate. At twelve o’clock I preached
to about fifteen souls, on the danger of neglecting
salvation.

“Started for my next appointment, rode till
after sunset, but failed to reach the place, having
missed my way. I finally found an old cabin
or hut, at which I had to tarry for the night, but
met with hard fare; I succeeded, however, in
getting some green corn for my horse, and a
straw bed for myself by paying a high price for
them. Rose very early, and as soon as it was
light started, and after riding several miles
through a very heavy rain, I reached the house
I aimed to find the evening before. The family
received me very kindly; after praying with them
I enjoyed a very hearty breakfast, having eaten
nothing for eighteen or twenty hours. Feel
calmness of soul, but not so much engaged as
I wish to be. Lord, breathe thy Holy Spirit on
me. About noon set off for my next appoint-
ment — still cold and rainy— reached the place
after sunset. Next morning was sorely tempted,
wrestled in prayer at my bedside, then went to
the woods and prayed until I felt better, returned
and prayed in the family; read some in the Bible,
my old companion, also a sermon of Rev. Free-
born Garrettson on the union of the graces, an
excellent piece of work. At twelve o’clock tried
50 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

to preach to about a dozen people, and believe
good was done.

“On the 15th October, as I was riding through
the barrens, my horse started, stumbled, and came
near throwing me off. The thought struck me.
how easily might I, but for a kind Providence,
have been thrown and killed; in a moment
another impression: perhaps that stumble of my
horse was intended to save my life, by preventing
some lurking Indian or savage white man from
shooting me from his hiding place. I quickly
looked around and saw, or thought I saw, a man
peeping from behind a tree. It may have been
imagination, but just then I heard some one
whistle in a thicket about a hundred yards distant,
as if giving a signal. I was greatly alarmed,
every moment expecting some one to shoot at me.
Just then I discovered two men creeping out of
a thicket, having the appearance and equipments
of armed Indians. Whether they were Indians
or white men, I never knew, for in my fright 1
put the whip to my horse, and fled at full speed.
The whole appeared to me lile a providentiul
preservation.”

I have given the foregoing from Mr. Bascom’s
journal, to give the reader some idea of his
manner of life, his trials and mental exercises; but
these records are too extended to be transcribed
into this work. It may not be uninteresting,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 5]

however, to give some occasional sketches from
this journal, as being well calculated to show that
the life of a traveling preacher at that day was
far from being one of ease, and to show that
Bascom shunned none of the hardships or toils
that came in the way of his work.

A few days after the last named date, he had
to make his way to his appointment, a distance
of seven miles, through the woods without road or
path, guided only by occasional d/azes on the trees.

On the 24th October we find him at a village
where there was no regular preaching, where he
met an old preacher desirous to preach, who, he
says, “despised government and opposed all
denominations, and especially the Methodists.”
He referred the matter to the people, and they
decided that Bascom should preach, which he did.

“Oct. 28. Preached to a large congregation
and had a good time. Had my feelings much
hurt by some of the old members, who claim to
exercise domination over their preachers, and
require conformity to all their notions.

“Nov. 1. Spent with my senior preacher and
presiding elder — was much wounded by some of
the brethren. One of them went so far as to say
that unless I quit preaching so flowery, I might
preach till doomsday in the afternoon, and no one
would ever be converted by it; but the Lord
knows my heart.
52 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

“Nov. 24. Exhorted three or four persons,
no more having come out to meeting. When
meeting was over I started out to see some of the
members, and know why they did not attend
church. The first house I visited I found the
lady very tender, and much distressed about
negleciing public worship, and she confessed, with
reluctance and weeping, that the opposition of
her husband was the cause. At the next house
the lady seemed rather to take my visit in ill
part, at first. JI told her I had been sent to the
circuit to preach, and if the people would not
come to meeting I would meet them at their
houses. She then cooled down and thanked me
for calling; I prayed with the family and left
them. Nov. 28. Preached in Chillicothe on the
mission of Messiah—met ¢hree classes.

“Dec. 2. Rode to my appointment and
preached to about fifty souls. When I was about
half done, the chimney smoked to such degree
as to drive us all out of the house. But we took
all the fire out, and returned—had a precious
time. That night preached again, and had a
time of great power.

“Dec. 9. Rode to Washington, Fayette county,
but as nobody came to meeting, 1 passed to my
next appointment; in a mile or two came to a creek
which was high, ventured in and had to swim it—
got myself wet, and my saddle-bags full of water
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 53

so that books and clothes proved no better than
myself— emptied the water out of my saddle-bags,
and pushed on to my place of destination.”

On the 15th he was taken suddenly ill, and
narrowly escaped with life.

“Sunday, Dec. 25. Rode to my appointment—
had a time long to be remembered. Rode to
Chillicothe — quite unwell— got brother T. [Tiffin
probably] to preach at the church, while I went to
preach to the British prisoners; but they would
not permit me to preach, so I was free from them.
Met a class : — at three o’clock John Emmet, then a
member of the Legislature, preached for me— met
two classes: at night Dr. Monnett gave us a fine
discourse on a pretty subject.”

The following entry occurs on the 31st. “Now,
on this evening of the last day of the year 1813,
I covenant, that if the Lord will bless me, and
establish my ways as a Methodist preacher and
minister of Christ, I will be move fuithful and live
more humble, God being my helper. Amen.
Dec. 31, 1818. — H. B. Bascom.

“Jan. 1, 1814. Preached to about fifty souls,
the Lord was with us. Got brother G. [Goldsbury]
to preach at night— had a precious time. After
preaching had a prayer meeting, and the God of
Jacob was with us. Jan. 2. Preached twice, and
I believe, eternal good was doue.

“Jan. 3. Rode six miles, pre:ched and met the
o+ LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

class — felt abundantly refreshed, and encouraged
to be more faithful, that the Lord may revive his
work in the circuit.

“Jan. 5. Rode seven miles, preached and met
class, we felt that our God was intimately nigh!
Rode three miles, and preached at night, and had
a right precious sermon.

“Jan. 6. Rode eighteen miles and preached.
‘Took dinner and rode three miles to my evening
appointment in a little town— the house was
crowded. Just as I read my text a young woman
took her stand by me, so near as to touch me; I
turned and look her sternly in the face, but she
was as brazen as Satan himself. I stepped off
toward the middle of the room, and she then took
another position. I then proceeded with my dis-
course with liberty and apparent effect. It was
the third Methodist sermon ever preached in
that place. Took eleven members into society.

“Jan. 7. Had ten miles to ride to my preaching
place; on the way got into a quagmire, where my
horse sank down midsides deep. With great
difficulty, and after a long time, I got him out,
but very seriously injured. J managed, however,
to reach my appointment, preached, met the class,
and the Lord was with us. In the evening rode to
the house of my old friend Goldsbury, and spent
the night with him very pleasently.

“Jan. 8. Rode to my appointment, and
LIEE uF BISHOP BASCOM. 5d

preached to about thirty souls, on the obligations
of religion; met the class, and then rode to brother
Smith’s, where I had to leave my horse and get
another.”

On the 15th he attended his quarterly meeting
at Old Town, Ross co.O. Many things had been
said against Mr. Bascom, and he had come to
suspect a great lack of charity in the feelings of his
brethren towards him. Under the influence of this
suspicion, when it was necessary for the quarterly
conference to continue its session on Suturday night,
in the upper room of the house, while Bascom had
to preach below, he was tempted to think that they
were there to listen to him as critics and censors,
with the intention of fuult-finding. This was
uncharitable in him; yet the feeling of friendless-
ness that possessed his mind had the effect to drive
him for help to that friend, who sticketh closer than
a brother. He says: —“I went down stairs, ran
out of doors, and bowing before God, begged Him
to help me—came in, gave ouf my hymn, and
just as I began to pray I felt the Lord very near;
the preachers up stairs perceiving this, fell on their
knees, and began to pray for me with all their
hearts. Before I was half done preaching, the
power of the Lord was displayed among us. Some
shouted aloud, and the preachers up stairs cried
out ‘amen’ heartily.”

After the quarterly meeting he made a visit te
56 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

his parents near the Ohio river. January 22 he
arrived at his father’s house, and left there on
the 26th for his circuit. The manner in which
his time was spent during this visit is worthy of
notice, and especially by the young preachers of
this day.

“Sunday 23, I preached to a large congregation,
and met the class of which I was leader before I
began to travel. Had a dull time until I was about
half through the class, I then fell on my knees and
besought the Lord to make bare his arm in our
behalf. The power of God was felt by all in the
house, three souls were converted, and joined the
church.” That night he had an appointment in
Kentucky. Monday he visited many of his friends,
and that night preached again in his father’s
neighborhood. Tuesday morning he preached, by
special invitation, at the house of a Presbyterian
gentleman. That night he preached again.

The next morning (26th) he took leave of his
friends, and started back to his circuit. That night
preached at the house where he tarried. “Next
morning rosé early, fed my horse, prayed with
the family, and rode ten miles to breakfast ;
while tarrying there read one of Wesley’s sermons
with edification; then pursuing my journey, put
up in the evening at a decent tavern.”

The next morning, while waiting for his break-
fast at a tavern, a man swore profancly in his
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 57

presence; boy as he was, he approached the
stranger and mildly, but very solemnly, reproved
him. The man apologized and desisted.

It appears that he spent but three whole days
among his friends and relatives, and during that
time preached five times, met classes, visited, Wc.
And when on his journey, we find him preaching
at night after riding all day, and reading a sermon
while waiting for breakfast, so filling up all his
time usefully to himself and others.

On the 29th of Jan. he is again on his circuit,
preaches twice that day, and twice the next, and
once the day following at a new place. First and
second Feb. he had two meetings each day, besides
long rides. On the 7th he says: — “Rode five
miles and preached to half a dozen souls— one
sinner was deeply convicted, and cried aloud for
mercy.” On the 18th he had to swim a dangerous
stream to reach his appointment, and the weather
very cold. The next day had to do the same.
“Heb. 20. Met a class at nine o'clock, preached
at eleven, met a class at twelve, and another
at three in the afternoon.” About this time we
find him diligently studying Blair and Beatie.

Small congregations did not frighten or dis-
courage him from duty—he says :—“Feb. 23. J
found four persons, out at meeting —I preachcd,
and truly, the Lord was with us.”

On the 27th he says: —-“ We had an awful
5a LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

time, three were struck down by the power of
God.”

“March 3. Rode fourteen miles and preached
twice; the Lord was with us graciously both
times. That evening a stranger put into my
hand a half dollar, for which I was very thankful,
as I greatly needed it. Thank God for a special
providence.”

His description of a family where he tarried on
the 9th, is not very flattering. “Tried to study,
but too much confusion, tried to pray in the family,
but felt too dull —tried to eat breakfast, but the
victuals were too dirty for any decent man to eat.
The old man is an idiot, the old woman a scold,
one son a drunkard, the other a sauce-box, and
the daughter a mother without a husband.”

“19. Preached, met a large society, rode to
sown, and met the black class at night. 20. Met
class at nine, preached at eleven, met class at
twelve, and one at three o’clock.”

There are several things to be gathered from
these daily notes worthy of notice: no inclemency
of weather, or badness of roads, nor ordinary
danger prevented him from attending his appoint-
ments. He went through rain, snow or hail, over
frozen roads and through deep mire, swimming
dangerous streams, and surmounting every con-
querable obstacle; and then, if he found a large
number of hearers, his gratitude to God is almost
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. og

always recorded in his journal; but if he found
only four or five persons, he invariably preached,
and generally with as much zeal and power as if
he had had a multitude to hear him. And we
have seen that in one instance at least, when he
hid but siz hearers he had one convert. He spent
no time idly. He tells us the time at which he
rose every morning, and how he appropriated
every hour until his retiring to bed. By thus
redeeming time he was enabled to converse
enough, write much, pray much, ride a great deal,
read and digest an astonishing quantity of matter,
generally to preach twice a day, and always under
ordinary circcmstances to meet all the classes
every round. Even in Chillicothe, where there
were four classes, he met one on Suturday night,
and three on the Sabbath.

Another trait of character is this ;— when he
hus enjoyed a comfortable time in preaching, and
hid encouraging success, his journal returns thanks
to God, and gives him all the glory; and when a
barren or discouraging time, he always charges
himself with it, and enters into self-examination
to find the cause. And his record of nearly every
day closes with a short prayer to God for help and
strength. I hive never seen any other diary, in
print or manuscript, that contains so much of
severe self-scrutiny, or so much of devout suppli-
cation as this of Bascom, written in his eighteenth
60 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCUM.

year. And perhaps, we can have no surer index
to the real character of a man than his secret
musings, meditations and mental exercises, com-
mitted to a private record, intended for the inspec-
tion of no human eye but his own.

In his indefitigable industry, and prayerful
trust in God, we have the irue secret of that.
wonderful power that raised an ignorant and obscure
boy to be an honor to the church, and a wonder
to the world.

From April to June 16, we find no entry in his
journal, but he informs us that it was because he
was most of the time sick. Indeed, at that
period, the Sciota valley was an exceedingly
sickly regicn, and near the end of this yeur,
Bascom says, that he had suffered more sickness
during his stvy on that circuit, than in his whole
life before. Yet he says, “While I have been
sick the Lord has been with me, and I sensibly
feel myself blessed with an increase of humility
and grace.”

About this time he records the beginning of
what he calls a “great affliction of mind,” from
which he prays to be delivered, but which harrased
him to the very end of life— debt. “A number
of causes led to this grand misfortune,” says he,
“as bad economy, loss on books sold on the
circuit, poverty and consequent want of clothing
when I came on the circuit, helping my father te
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 61

some money, &c. But how am I to extricate
inyself? I am allowed only eighty dollars a year,
and have received but seventy of that. God
only knows what is to become of me.” In
August, he visited Circleville, Pickaway Co., to
preach, and was there seized with a dangcrous
bilipus attack at the house of Ralph Osborn, Esq.,
of whose kindness and that of his lady, Bascom
speaks in the most grateful terms. From that
time until conference, his health was very bad.
He frequently preached, but those efforts again
prostrated him. His meditations during this
period are most searching and spiritual. He
prays that God may restore him and direct his
appointment to a healthy circuit the next year.

His last entry in his diary was made September
20, 1814. “September 19. I enjoyed myself
better than usual in soul and body. 20. I arose
the first one in the house; went to the woods and
prayed. Through the day I read my Bible and
Whitfield’s sermons. He has a short ingenious
method of treating a text. Mark that on the
burning bush.”

From the manner in which Mr. Bascom speaks
in his diary of his colleague —Rev. A. Cummings,
and from the tone of Mr. Cummings’ letters to him,
I infer that the latter had the warmest friendship
for, and the utmost confidence in his young friend
Bascom. One of these letters dated two years
62 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

after they had left the Deer Creek Circuit, closes
thus, “I have only time to write and let you
know that I have not forgotten you, and the good
times we have had together, as well as what we
suffered together. Pray for me my dear brother.
Yours in love, A. Cummings.”

CHAPTER V.

SECOND YEAR——TRAVEL IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Improvement during the Year — Faithful Service — Popular with
the Public, but the Reverse with Old Members — Cause of the latter
— Cold reception at Conference — Objections to, and Predictions
concerning him — Character Passed — Appointed to Guyandotte
Circuit in Western Virginia — Goes to his Work — Nature and
Extent of it— Hair breadth Escape from a Panther — Gets lost
—A Night in the Mountain —Illness— Perilous Adventure with
a Bear — Chased by Wolves — Misunderstanding and Reconcilia-
tion, showing Bascom’s true Character.

By the close of this conference year, Bascom
had not only greatly extended his range of
knowledge both of books and men, but by contact
with the more intelligent of society, he had been
enabled to cast off the bashfulness of the inexperi-
enced boy, and take on the appearance and polish
of cultivated manhood. He had risen rapidly,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 63

and already had become very popular with a large
and influential portion of society. Of all this he
could not be unconscious, and as he had labored
most dilligently throughout the year, in the work
assigned him—performed long rides, endured
severe hardships, preached much, and attended
to all the details of pastoral service —he fondly
hoped the conference would rejoice in his pros-
perity, and cheer him on with an encouraging
“well done, good and faithful servant;” but most
of the very causes which tended to give him
popularity with the great world, wrought in the
minds of many of his plain, pious, old fashioned
brethren of the conference a result entirely
different.

What were those causes? His personal appear-
ance was exceedingly attractive —his form was
in all respects one of the most perfect that nature
ever moulded, and in his features was as much of
manly beauty as can consist with the highest
expression of mental power; his movements were
rather elastic and graceful, than staid and preacher-
like; his apparel was neat, and in fashion differed
little from the style of that worn by secular
gentlemen of respectability; and then, as has
been remarked, his style was highly ornate. He
was, to be sure, very zealous in his appeals,
pointed in rebuking sin, and almost harsh in
denouncing the terrors of the law against the
64 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

impenitent and incorrigible; yet the thunderings of
Sinai, as they came from his fluent tongue, sounded
eloquently even in the ears of those against whom
they were hurled, and while they trembled beneath
the power of his terrible words, they but admired
and loved him the more for the fervor and force-
fulness of his appeals.

Such a man—a youth of eighteen summers,
of elegant person, apparel and address, after whom
the learned, and wealthy, and fashionable were
running, and with whom he was becoming an idol,
was not the man to get on without some difficulties
among the Methodists and Methodist preachers
of pike-staff plainness of that day, and on the
still sparsely settled frontier. Accordingly on
going to conference, though he had made some
fast friends, he yet met coldness in many from
whom he looked for cordiality and encouragement.
This he felt acutely, for his sensibility was
exquisite.

As he had served in the regular work but one
year, the only question in his case was as to his
continuance on trial for another year, yet there
were objections even to this. What objections
were urged against him in conference I do not
know with certainty, but in and out of doors, there
were many. It was said, “He gets his sermons
from books, and memorizes them;” but when
they could not be found in books, it was concluded
LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM. 65

that his discourses were written out at length and
committed to memory. ‘This, however, was ag
totil a mistake as the other: he did neither.
But worse still, it was said, “he is proud”—“a
clerical fop”—“ambitious and aspiring,” and the
larger part seemed to take it for granted that he
would not remain long a Methodist preacher, that
he would turn lawyer, or “take the gown”— that
he had not principle and firmness to withstand
the caresses of the great, and the tide of popular-
ity flowing in upon him from the world, and that
the matter had better be put to the test at once.
And so it was. That region of western Virginia
lying along and between the Guyandotte and
Great Kenhawa rivers, and then belonging to
Muskingum District, was embraced in one circuit
called Guyandotte. It was a wild, rough country,
not inaptly symbolizing the general character of
its population at that time. This circuit was
frequently styled the “Botany Bay” of the con-
ference, to which the refractory or unpromising
were sent to “break them in,” or “drive them
off,’ if incurable. To this circuit Bascom was
sent, and without assistant or colleague; and many
were the predictions that his proud spirit would
not submit.* Not afew expected, and even his

* Bascom, it appears, did not attend the conference, owing pro-
bably to his still very feeble state of health; and when conference was

ended, no one teok the trouble to inform him what disposition wag
5
5
66 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

friends feared, tnat he would refuse to go, and
would withdraw from the church, or at least from
the conference. Little did they know of what
stuff he was made. No doubt he was one of the
last men in that conference —if indeed not the
very last-— who could have been driven to such
» step. He took leave of his friends, mounted
his horse, and was, in due time, on his way to the
mountains and valleys of Guyandotte and Ken-
hawa. Tere he found long rides, rough roads,
difficult streams, hard labor, coarse fure and lean
compensation; yet nothing daunted, he pressed
through all difficulties, and performed with fidelity
the arduous labors assigned him.

On this circuit Bascom’s labors were so abun-
dant that his time for reading and study, as well
as his general opportunities for improvement were

made of his case, or where he was to labor the ensuing year. In this
state of suspense he requested a rustic to make inquiry of one of the
preachers for the desired information; and his painful suspense was
terminated by the receipt of a letter from his unpolished friend, the
literature of which seemed in admirable keeping with the intelligence
it conveyed. It is a literary curiosity, and as such is here inserted:
“SEPTEMBER 29, 1814.

Agreeabel to your request [ have Inquird for your opintment Br
quinn Informs Me that you are opinted to Giondot Curcit and in
order for you to find it you must Go down howken (Iockhoching)
to Athens and then inquire the rode for galepelece (Gallipolis) and
you will there find your Curket.”

Now “ galepelece” was not in his ‘“curket” at all, nor even in the
same State with it, yet with this card of directions Bascom had to
start in quest of his ficld of labor, and find his “curket” as best
he could
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 67

very limited; yet such a man as he, will always
make opportunities for improvement when possible.
In winter this was difficult, as in many of the
families where he tarried — probably in most of
them — there was but one room for all uses, and
for all persons, and therefore the chances for quiet
study within doors were small, but when genial
spring and warmer summer g.ve to the lover of
nature and of study the free range of the forest,
he had a wide woodland chamber for study, which
he preferred to all others. He was indeed an
euthusiastic votary of nature, and dearly ‘loved
her wild and woody haunts. When he had done
the traveling, preaching, and class-leading, for
the day, it was his custom to take a book and
wander into the woods, where he noi unfrequently
remained until the full of dusky twilight, or the
hooting of the mountain owl admonished him that
it was time to return.

On one of these occasions, having finished the
regular work of the day, and partuken of his
frugal repast with the hospitable family where he
sojourned, he took his book — Beatie on Truth —
and sought the woods. Soon he entered a sweet
wild valley, that nestled down between two lofiy
mountains, which rose on either side, as if to guard
his sacred retreat ; he followed up the lovely dell
until his eye rested on a large spreading thorn-tree,
which, in addition to iis own dense foliage, was all
68 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

interwoven and mantled over with the thousand
tendrils, and broad leaves of a luxuriant grape vine,
presenting a shade of inviting coolness, and a
swarded carpet of refreshing green. Thither he
went, and delighted, cast himself upon this cool lap
of uature, to enjoy undisturbed its delicious luxury.

But scarcely had he opened the volume in his
hand when a sense of inquietude came over him,
and he could not compose his mind to read. In
vain he attempted to reason himself into composure;
in vain he assured himself that a more charming
spot could not be found in the wide forest than
that he then occupied; his restlessness but
increased until it rose to nervous excitement, and
self-reproachingly, he rose up and walked from the
spot. Just as he did so, the friend with whom he
tarried, s.arting on a gunning expedition, approached
him, and they met a few paces from the tree. At
this conjuncture the practiced eye of the hunter
discovered what Bascom’s had failed to detect—in
a moment his piece was leveled, the sharp crack
of the rifle rang up the valley, and as its echo came
back from the adjacent hills, a huge ferocious
panther dropped from its concealment among the
vine covered boughs of the thorn-tree, and fell
dead on the very spot from which Bascom had but
a moment before arisen, under the promptness of
that strange restlessness. Shuddering at the hair-
breadih escape he had passed, and overwhelmed
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 69

with a sense of gratitude to God, he humbly
acknowledged that it was the Lord’s doing, and
marvellous in his eyes! And, not long before his
death, he expressed to the writer a most firm
conviction that the mysterious and apparently
causeless inquietude which drove him from beneath
the tree, perhaps at the moment when the ferocious
beast was about to pounce upon him, was the work
of a special providence of God.

One of his regular appointments was on Hik
river, about eight miles above Charleston, and his
next preaching place was at the mouth of Linn’s
creek; to cross the mountain, the distance was
short, but to go around by Charleston it was about
twenty miles. On one occasion he determined to
pass over by the short route, and so save time and
travel. There was only a “blind trace” to guide
him. But as this was very dim at last, and now
covered with fallen leaves, he soon lost it entirely.
He then hoped, by keeping on the proper course, to
reach his place of destination, without a path; but
after traveling many hours he found no trace to
follow, and no sign of human habitation. Night
approached, and still he saw no way of escape.
Hoping that he might be heard by some dweller
in the mountain, or by some wandering hunter, he
shouted with all his might, and then listened for
an answer; but the deep echo of his own voice,
coming back from the caves and crags, was the only
70 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

response. The shades of evening were setting
down on the mountain, yet no relief appeared, and
Mr. Bascom began to cast about for some way of
passing the night in safety in those dreary solitudes.
At length he discovered a fallen tree, in which was
a hollow large enough to admit him: here he
securely tied his horse, and thrusting his body into
the hollow, drew his saddle in after him to close the
entrance for protection against cold, and the wild
beasts. Commending himself to the protection of
Tleaven, he passed the night in the best way he could,
surrounded by the howling of wolves and wintry
winds. The morning found him chilled from the
cold, weak from hunger, and but little refreshed by
his romantic night’s rest; but it was no time for
inaction ; so he adopted his plan of operation, and
then promptly set ubout its execution. That plan
was, instead of wandering about at random as on
the preceding day, to descend wherever he could,
and taking the first stream he could find, follow it
to its confluence with a larger, and so on until he
should ‘be conducted either to the Elk or Kanawha
river. This he did, and about sunset reached the
Kanawha at the mouth of Witche’s creek, and
soon after, the hospitable abode of Mr. Linn
Morris, where he was cordially welcomed and
entertained.

Hunger, cold, fatigue and excitement brought
on an attack of fever, with which he was confined
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 71

for several weeks ; but most kindly nursed by the
hospitable family of Mr. Morris.

Wild beasts were not rare in that region at
the date of our narative; they supplied every
table, in a greater or less degree, with meat, and
every man was a hunter — occasionally, if not
professionally; and if the minister of that day did
not have to ‘fight with beasts at Ephesus,’ he at
least stood a good chance to encounter them in
some form on Guyandotte. And while in this
line, I will relate another adventure of Mr. Bascom
when on this circuit, in which a wild beast was a
party. Iam not sure of the strict correctness of
my recollection as to all the details, but can vouch
for the substance.

Far back from the river in a sequestered dell
under the mountain spurs, Bascom had a regular
preaching-place. The inhabitants were not huddled
together in dense settlements, but scattered at
wide intervals among the fastnesses and valleys
of the mountains. When preaching-day arrived,
the mountaineers might be seen gathering in from
different localities at distances varying from two to
ten miles, and by modes of conveyance sufficiently
unique to excite the attention of the uninitiated.
Here might be seen approaching the rustic place
of worship, a man on horseback, carrying his wife
behind him on the same horse; there you might
see a female, dressed in neat homespun, mounted
i LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

on an indifferent horse, around the neck of which
hung a bell, the clatter of which was temporarily
hushed by the wisp of leaves — hehind her rides
a child, while she carries another on her lap—her
husband, in a blue hunting-shirt, with pouch and
gun, leads the way down the steep winding path,
two or three larger children, with sun-bleached
hair and sun-browned faces, following behind as a
rear guard: a group of five or ten, comprehending
the meeting-goers from one glen, or gorge, might
be seen approaching on foot, in Indian file, through
the mountain passes, to the rustic temple; and
though a stranger, would judge that half a score
of souls could not be mustered at one place, and
especially on a call of religious duty, when the
appointed time arrived, they came pouring in from
their invisible habitations, like the clansmen of some
Highland chief at the well known signal for a
grand rally. And he who expected to find these
people barbarously ignorant of the value of truth
and the benefits of preaching, would find his mistake.
These mountain Christians were people of one
book, and however little they knew of Grecian and
Roman classics, few people were better acquainted
with the doctrines of the Bible, and few better
prepared to detect errors in the great elements
of theology than they. If a preacher advanced
anything novel, even hypothetically, it was well
to be prepared for defending it, for he was sure
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 73

to be called on for such defence, by the first old
lady in whose company he happened to fall.

But I was about to report an incident. “On one
of Bascom’s periodical visits to this place, the
preacher had arrived, most of the congregation
had assembled, and many were exchanging salu-
tations about the door, others were still dropping
in, and the preacher with his saddle-bags on his
arm, was conversing with a brother from another
neighborhood about making an appointment at a
new place, when the report of a gun was heard but
a short distance from the place. This was too
common an occurrence to excite much interest,
until a shout, and then the yelp of a dog were
heard in the direction from which the report
proceeded, and the next minute a bear was seen
running by the place of meeting, pursued by a
dog. Instantly two or three rifles were discharged
after him, but he was too distant for the balls to
take effect. Two or three other dogs joined in
the pursuit, and directly nearly every mile on the
ground followed in the chase. The preacher
seeing his congregation gone, dropped his whip
and saddle-bags where he stood, and, being ex-
ceedingly swift on foot, he was soon ahead of all
his people, and but little in rear of the dogs. The
woods were dense, and in a very short time, bear,
dogs, and preacher were out of sight of the
following crowd. The latter pursued by the cry
V4 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

of the dogs and drippings of blood of the wounded
bear, but every moment the sound became more
fiint and distant, and old bear hunters began to
fear that the fleetness of the preacher might bring
him into serious peril, should the bear make a
stand against his pursuers, while at such a distance
in advance of the company as to put him beyond
the reach of immediate help. This fear came
near to being realized; for the bear, unable to
climb, by reason of the wound in his arm, and
alike unable to elude his enemies by flight,
planted himself against a tree and prepared to
defend himself to the utmost. The dogs were
instantly around him, and at once a furious fight
began. Practiced dogs will not close with a bear
but by compulsion, or when they have a very
decided advantage, but while some make a feint
in front, the others snap him in the rear, and then
fly off before he can turn on them, and so on
alternating the attack as he changes front; but of
the three dogs engaged in this conflict, one only
had learned the necessity of these cautionary
movements. When Bascom came up with the
combatants — which was in a very few moments
—the trained dog was playing around for an
opportunity of a rear cut to his enemy, while the
others were fiercely baying him in front, apparently
debating the expediency of rushing upon jis
gnashing teeth and threatening claws. Bascom
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 75

saw the posture of the parties, and, cutting a stout
bludgeon, instantly but rashly decided on cnderven-
tion, if necessary. Advancing nearer, he encour-
aged the hesitating dogs to the onset, and they
rushed on the foe; the third dog saw his oppor-
tunity, to attack from behind, and for a few
moments the fight was furious; but soon the bear
gave one of the dogs such a blow as sent him
away howling with pain, and deeply gashed,
another he seized in his terrible embrace, and
appeared as if he would crush every bone in his
body ina moment. By this time Bascom had got
within a few feet of the enemy, and raised his
club to bring it down on the head of the foe with
crushing energy. The bear had taken a sort of
sitting half-erect posture, with his back against
the tree, and as the club descended he managed
to evade the force of the blow, and catching the
bludgeon in his mouth, he struck his fangs through
it, and held it fast, still holding the dog in his
agonizing hug. Unwilling to be thus foiled,
Bascom, having drawn his knife to cut and trim
his club, and hving no time to return it to his
pocket, still held it in his hand, now struck it
into the bear’s side; it was, however, too small
to produce instant death, but greatly exasperated
the wounded animal. THither probably regarding
this as foul play, or thinking the preacher an
enemy more worthy than the dogs, to engage his
76 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

powers—TI am glad to say he did not live to tell
which —bruin dropped the dog from his embrace,
and made a plunge at his new enemy. A few
seconds before this, the hunter, whose rifle had
wounded the bear, having outran his fellows,
emerged from the thicket a few rods from the
scene of action. At a glance, he saw Buscom’s
danger —c.:st down his gun, as he flew towards
the spot with the speed that terror imparts, and
drew from its sheath his long hunting knife. As
the bear made a plunge that must have brought
the preacher fully within his power, two of the
dogs seized him behind, and broke the force of the
movement, but yet he caught the leg of Bascom’s
pantaloons in his teeth, and in spite of the efforts
of the faithful dogs, would have drawn him within
the grasp of his killing embrace, but that at this
perilous conjuncture, the hunter plunged his long
keen blade to the very hilt into the heart of the
furious beast, and with a groan he sank down
dead, still holding the preacher’s pantaloons
between his clenched teeth.

The rest of the company came up—the
adventure was talked over—comments were
pleasantly made on the preacher’s fleetness and
courage—the bear was dragged buck to the
meeting-pluce, skinned and hung up—the con-
gregation collected in the house, the new-made
young bear fighter preached with uncommon life,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 77

an uncommonly interesting class-meeting followed,
and a large proportion of the company dined
together that day on the “ preacher’s bear.”

I have yet anoiber incident of the same class
to relate, the scene of which is laid in this same
circuit. It is furnished me by Professor M......
who was a student at Augusta College, where it
was related by Bascom to his class. “He was,”
says Prof. M., “in the habit of frequently amusing
and delighting the class during the unexpired
hour after recitation, by detailing incidents and
adventures which occurred in the early part of his
career as an itinerant preacher; among the rest he
relates the following :

“During one of the years of my early ministeria]
career, I was sent to one of the mountainous
circuits of western Virginia. The face of the
country generally was exceedingly rugged and
precipitous —so much so, that frequently for
miles, in going from one appointment to another,
there was no road except a narrow bridle-path.
It so happened on one occasion, while winding
along one of these mountain pathways, on a dark
and dreary afternoon in mid-winter, that, before I
was aware of the lateness of the hour, night was
upon me. J had but an imperfect knowledge of
the localities of the country, and consequently
entertained some doubt as to whether I should be
able to reach any house, where I might lodge for
78 LIFE OF BISITOP BASCOM.

the night. While I was reflecting upon my very
unpleasant condition, suddenly the startling howl
of wolves, in the distance, reached my ear. Ina
few moments the sound was nearer and more
distinct. I was at once convinced, that they
were on my track, and my only hope of safety
and of life, was in my horse. I. accordingly
quickened speed, and hurried on as rapidly as
the nature of the blind and rugged path would
allow. Nearer and louder, and more appalling
were the howls of my hungry pursuers, until 1
began to be painfully suspicious that I was the
doomed victim of their savage ferocity. Yet I
hurried on, while the wolves were approaching,
nearer and still nearer. At length my hat was
knocked off by a limb, and was torn to atoms
in an instant by the wolves. They were now so
near me, that, notwithstanding the darkness, I
could see them quite distinctly. In this moment
of extremity, I discovered a light just before me,
and hastening on towards it, I dismounted and
leaped over the fence, just as the wolves had come
up within a few feet of my horse. Disappointed
of their prey, they returned to the woods, and I
passed the night in the hospitable cabin of the
rade mountaineer. Many years after this incident
I preached in Charleston, Va—when I descended
from the pulpit, a grey headed man approached
me, and, offering his hind, said, ‘Do you remember

 
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 7S

me, Mr. Bascom?’ I replied that I did not.
‘Then,’ said he, ‘do you recollect the night you
were chased by the wolves?’ I replied, ‘I do
remember it well” ‘I am the man,’ said the
other, ‘at whose cabin you stayed during the night
of your adventure with the wolves.’ ”

I have given you the incident as nearly in the
professor’s own language as I can recollect.

While on this circuit, a misunderstanding
occurred between Mr. Bascom and a chief official
member of his charge, and they appear to have
separated in this state of feeling. Some time
after he left the circuit, he received a letter of
humble acknowledgment from this brother. He
says: “You cannot tell what I have suffered.
When I thought of the many good sermons you
preached to us, and that eloquent one at Guyan-
doite, and at H.’s and at F.’s, O, how I have felt.
Great God, pity and forgive me! Dear brother,
pray for me; and for Christ’s sake, do forgive me,
for I know I love you.” From this man’s letter
we learn that himself was the chief offender, and
yet he informs us that Bascom—the injured
party —was first to seek a reconciliation. “When
T received your letter, sorrow filled my whole soul.”
Tere is an example of forgiving goodness.
CHAPTER VI.

THIRD YEAR — AND LAST YEAR IN OHIO.

Slose of the Year — Account of his Labors and Compensation — His
Resolution to go on in his work — Inducements to Desist — Goce
to Conference — Refused Admission into Full Connection — His
feelings on the occasion — Encouraged by his Old Friend — Is
granted a Third Year of Probation, and agrees to take work —
Appointed to Mad River Circuit — Death of his Mother — Char-
acter of his Circuit — First Acquaintance of the Writer with him
—First Sermon heard—Preachers at Camp Meeting — The
Writer Awakened —Thrilling Adventure with the Indians — Illness
and Dangerous Experiment — Pecuniary Embarrassments.

Tuis was Mr. Bascom’s second year in the
regular itinerant work, and, at its close, he was
legally eligible to admission into full connection in
the conference, and to deacon’s orders. Of his
perils and sufferings, we have seen something; of
the extent of his labors during this year, as well as
his pecuniary compensation, we will hear his own
report, made at the end of his term of service, in
a letter to P. Scales, Esq., dated “Cabell county,
Va., August 25,1815.” By a change in the time
of the meeting of conference, the year appears to
have been shortened to nine or ten months. He
says: “TI expect on to-morrow and next day, to
complete my labors on this circuit, and in this part
of the world. Since November, 1814, I have
traveled three thousand m’les, and preached to four
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 81

hundred congregations, and from the public, with
the exception of a few private gifts, I have received
twelve dollars and ten cents.” Think of a gifted
young man preaching eloquent sermons at the rate
of three cents each, and then seven or eight miles
of rough travel thrown in with each sermon! Was
he not disheartened under those circumstances, and
tempted to accept offers of lucrative situations,
which were open to him? His own noble response
to this inquiry is worthy the man, and worthy the
holy cause in which he was engaged. Hear it: —
“¢ But none of these things move me.’ I possess
a settled consciousness that I did not engage in
the ministry to accumulate wealth; and when I
meet wilh trials and disparagements, I am not at
all disappointed, but meet with firmness what I had
anticipated — not with fear. J can get, as soon as
I please, $500 per annum for my services. But
no, ll travel, and try to possess the spirit of
goodness and universal benevolence.” So far was
he from regarding this toilsome and uncompensated
work, as unworthy his already popular talents, he
rather mourns his want of qualification for the
honorable vocation of a gospel missionary. “ My
mortification is great,” he adds, “ under the consid-
eration of my incapacity to serve the public as I
I ought, in order to attract attention, and excel in
preaching. But while I feel animating ‘ires in my
veins, am preach His gospel who gave me power
82 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

to preaci:.” To appreciate these noble sertiments,
it must be kept in mind that they were uttered by
a popular and atiractive young man, of nineteen
summers, at the period of closing his labors, priva-
tions, and perils, in his mountain field, in which he
had preached four hundred sermons, and traveled
three thousand miles on horseback within three
hundred days; for ail of which he had received
twelve dollars and ten cents, while temp‘ing offers
of lucrative employment were made him, on con-
dition of his exchanging a sacred for a secular
vocation.

But another consideration must not be over-
looked in making this estimate; a year earlier
than this, as we have seen, he was involved in
debt, and partly by contributing to aid his destitute
father; those debts still hung over him, and must
now be increased by the procurement of convent
ences not to be had for his twelve dollars ; and that
father was still destitute, and oh, how the son’s heart
yearned to administer relief. By abandoning the
laborious work of the iiinerant ministry, he could
honorably pay his debts, and aid his father; but
no, there burned a “fire in his veins,” that would
not allow him to consult with flesh and blood.

His work for the year being completed, he
went, with a good conscience and a cheerful heart,
to meet his brethren in confcrence, and to convince
them, by the evidence of his abundant and faithful
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. $3

labors, that he was worthy their confidence and
friendship, and to “take part of the ministry” with
them. But how imperfectly were his virtues and
real worth known, even by his ministerial brethren.
He had labored faithfully ; no neglect of duty, no
crime or heresy was charged against him; yet, in
the opinion of some of the seniors of ihe conference,
his dress, his gait, his general unmethodist-preacher-
like appearance afforded strong indications that he
would never make an humble itinerant preacher.
The influence of this class carried with them
enough of the younger members of the body to
muke up a majority, and the result was, that when
the vote was taken on admitting Bascom into full
connection, a majority was opposed to him, and
he was rejected. This official expression of distrust,
coming as it did, immediately in the wake of his
severe labors and privations in the mountains,
deeply wounded his spirit. He had labored on the
roughest work they could assign, at the rate of
three cents & sermon, but his brethren had now
decided that he was not worthy longer to enjoy
such a privilege. On the announcement of this
decision, he arose and walked from the room with
the calmness of despair, to collect his thoughts and
settle his purposes for the future. Perhaps, if
Heaven had not provided a kind friend to soothe
and support him in this extremity, he might have
sunk beneath the burden, and felt authorized to
84 LIFE OF BISHOP BASGuM.

abandon a work in which his brethren were unwill-
ing that he should take part; but before the
tempter had time to sow seeds of disaffection, or
rash resolve, in his bleeding heart, he found him-
self in the arms of his faithful friend McMahan,
who had followed him out to administer comfort
and fortify his resolution of steadfastness. If he
was sensitive to wrongs and injuries, he was
quickly alive to the solace of sympathy, and would
readily yield his own preference or opinions to the
counsels of faithful friendship; accordingly, “he
soon consented to hear his unjust punishment
without a murmur;” and the conference agreeing
to give him another year of trial, he was appointed
to labor as junior preacher on Mad river circuit,
with Rev. Moses Crume as his senior ministet, and
Rev. John Sule his presiding elder.

This appointment, the reader will recollect, was
made in the autumn of 1815, and at that date three
circuits covered the whole distance from the Ohic
river on the south, into the Indian territory on the
north; these were Cincinnati circuit—for there was
then no station —Union circuit, embracing Dayton,
Lebanon, Xenia, &c, and Mad river circuit,
extending from the frontier settlements, west of
the Great Miami, eastward on to the Scioto, and
northward into the Indian country. Troy, Piqua,
Springfield, Urbana, and several Indian towns were
embraced in this circuit.
LI¥E OF BISHOP BASCOM. 85

In September of this year, Mr. Bascom was
called to suffer the most severe calamity he had
ever endured, in the death of his excellent and
much beloved mother.

Henry was evidently a great favorite with his
mother, and most tenderly did he love her. After
she had been dead more than thirty years, he would
frequently weep when speaking of her. It appeared
to afford him pleasure to the end of his life, that
in her closing scene, turning from all others, she
bade him kneel at her bed-side, and died with her
hands clasped in his.

She was a woman of high order of intellect, and
most benevolent and affectionate heart.

The following from his pen, apparently designed
as an epitaph, is dated May, 1819:

“ Mrs. Hannah Bascom, who died in peace, September, 1815, in the
forty-secoud year of her age —
Was romantic and gay when young,
Joined with gentleness, industry and affection ;
When more advanced, was frugal, thoughtful, and grave,
In union with sensibility, truth, and complacency.

At mature age she became pious and prayerful.
Possessed of the religion of Christ in her premature decline,
Heaven benignly smiled and gave her fortitude,

In affliction, uprightness and integrity supported her;
In death the hope of Heaven checred,

And the Christian braved his terrors without fear.”

This circuit, though a frontier one, was in a
rich and delightful country, a large pruportion of
the population of which, were intelligent and in a
86 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

good degree refined, and among them a large
number of located ministers of high standing.
Tere again, Biscom got into a country of books,
and society from which he could learn much by
personal intercourse,—and no such advantage,
when thrown in his way, was neglected by him.
It was indeed a much better field, both for the
employment of his talents, and for their improve-
ment, than that occupied by him the preceding
year. Here his eloquence soon attracted attention,
and drew crowds to hear him; indeed, no man,
young or old, kad commanded such congregations
in that district of country.

On this circuit it was that the writer of this
biographical sketch, first saw the young orator. I
well remember the first time I heard him preach.
It was in the old frame church in Springfield,
soon after his arrival on his werk. The house was
filled to overflowing, and many persons stood on
the outside during the sermon — for already his
fame as an orator had sounded abroad. It is but
candid to confess, that at this time, I felt much
more interest in his eloquence, than in the im-
portant truths he delivered to the multitude, yet,
his oratory alone so captivated my mind and
feelings, that I stood outside of a window during
the entire services, without the slightest sense of
weariness, and for the first time in life, regretted
the ending of the sermon. I recollect that there
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 84

stood by my side a gentleman, who was not a
church-goer, and whom I had never before seen at a
plice of worship: after listening to the sermon
with attention and evident interest, he addressed
*me at the close, in nearly the following language:
“That is the sort of preaching to do good: if all
preaching were like that, every body would go to
church.” And yet it was a searching sermon,
abounding in truths and denunciations the most
solemn and terrible.

In June, 1816, Mr. Bascom and his colleague,
assisted by several other ministers, held a camp-
meeting within the present limits of the town of
Mechanicsburg, in Champaign county, Ohio. On
Sabbath morning of that meeting, Mr. Bascom
delivered a sermon powerfully eloquent and effec-
tive, which, under the blessing of God, became the
starting point in the reformation and religious life
of his biographer- This circumstance, no doubt,
had much influence in superinducing a friendship
of peculiar intimacy, which knew no interruption
until death severed the bond.

Though this circuit was free from many of the
perils and privations cf Mr. Buscom’s preceding
one, it had a large frontier, and would now be
regarded as a field of great difficulty, danger, and
oil. One adventure of a somewhat perilous
character, I shall relate. Bascom had been
visiling the societies west of the Great Mimi, and
88 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

extended his tour to the old Indian village of
Wapakanetta. Indians were numerous in the
country, — the war with Great Britain had But
just ended, and there were still Indians who
cherished a secret hostility to the whites, and were:
glad of an occasion or opportunity to follow the
promptings of their unforgiving hearts.

After preaching, he left his horse at the fort
and walked a mile or two to spend the night with
a Mr. McNish, who had but recently built a house,
intended to be proof against the attacks of Indians.
It was constructed cf stout beach logs fitted well
together, the floor was made of heavy logs split in
half— called puncheons—and the ceiling over-
head was formed of solid timbers instead of planks
or plastering. A large quantity of wood, green
and dry, was collected in the house, and at bed
time a heavy log was placed firmly against the
door. There had not been any recent Indian
disturbances, and no present danger was appre-
hended; but Mr. McNish was too prudent a
borderer to be caught off his guard, and accord-
ingly made his preparations every night, as if
expecting an attack. It was well he did so; for
about midnight a considerable body of Indians
made a furious assault on the house; but in a
moment all within were fully ready for them
They attempted to force the door, but in vain; for
#t was made of heavy puncheons, and immovably
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 89

fastened. Foiled in this, they attempted to fire
the house; but green beach logs they foun to
be less combustible material than they wished,
and here, also, they failed. They next essayed to
descend the chimney, but a quantity of dry wood
thrown upon the still large fire, sent up such a
volume of heat as drove the assailants back
precipitately.

Before the morning, the Indians had retired;
but only, as was supposed, to lurking-places, from
which they might pounce, tiger-like, on the
unwary or unsuspecting.

But what was Bascom to do? his way lay
through the thick woods, and those woods were
believed to be infested vith hostile savages. He
resolved, however, to brave the danger, and
attempt to reach his next point, at a settlement on
Mad river, ten miles south of Springfield. He
accordingly set out on his perilous journey alone,
but had not proceeded very far, until an Indian
woman came out of the woods to the side of his
path, and by significant gestures gave him to
understand, that his life was in peril, and the
necessity of prompt action to escape the threat-
ening danger. Profiting by the hint, he gave
rein to his horse, and, in the shortest time possible,
reached the fording-place of the Great Mizmi.
But now a new difficulty was presented; the river

was not only full, but covered with floating ice
a
90 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

which seemed to render a crossing impossible.
Hesitating a moment to encounter the danger
before him, he cast a look behind, and saw the
Indians at a distance advancing at their best
speed upon him, already exulting in the certainty
of their prey. Instantly he plunged into the bold
ice-mantled stream, and nobly did his beast buffet
the rushing current, and bear his master to the
other shore, at which he arrived in safety just as
the Indians approached the ford. They did not
dare to tempt the dangerous river, trusting to the
strength of their light ponies, and had to content
themselves with uttering a savage yell and bran-
dishing their glittering tomahawks in the air.

The preacher had escaped the savages, but he
found his limbs muiled in ice, and himself in
danger of being frozen before he could reach a
lodging-place ; for it was a snowy March day, and
he had to travel from the Miami, near Piqua,
perhaps, to the Mad river valley, a distance of, it
my be, twenty miles.

When out of reach of the Indians, he dismounted,
emptied the water out of his boots and saddle-bags,
wrung out his stockings, and while he permitted
his faithful horse to eat a few ears of corn with
which he was provided, he employed himself in
eating a lunch of bread and dricd venison, exer-
cising the while actively, to give his blood lively
circulation, that he might the better endure the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 91

cold. This done, he remounted and addressed
himself to his journey.

The first marriage I had witnessed in the west,
took place about a year previous to the date of
this event, between members of two excellent old
Virginia families; and the young couple settled
near Mad river, and their house became a home
for the preachers, and a regular place of preaching.

Thither Bascom was bound, and there his horse
carried him without loss of time. At his pleasant
quarters he was soon made warm, dry and comfort-
able, and retired early to bed for a good night’s
rest after the fatigues and excitements of the day.
But it so happened that the good lady was that
night brought to her accouchment, and the weary
preacher was aroused from his first sweet slumber
to procure assistance for the occasion, and to seek
other lodgings for the remainder of the night.
Twenty years afterward, Bascom preached within
the bounds of his old circuit, in what is now no
mean city. Aftcr service he was introduced to a
genteel young married lady, by a name with which
he was not familiar, and was quite taken aback,
when she pleasantly stated that she had long
desired an opportunity to apologize for causing
him the loss of a night’s rest when he much
needed it, and to thank him for important services
rendered. He was siill entirely in the dark, until
she informed him that she was the. daughter of
92 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Mr. L..., at whose house he put up on the evening
of his escape from the Indians, and that that was
the night of her birth.

It was on this circuit that an incident occurred
that may be thought worth recording. He was
seized with a fever of that severe and obstinate
type, which was so very common in the flats and
prairies of that district of country, in its first
settlement. It was a frontier locality, and some
time elapsed before a physician was called to
attend to the case. When he came he expressed
strong doubts as to Bascom’s recovery, but em-
ployed the usual prescriptions for subduing the
disease. After a few visits, he expressed the
opinion that the case was hopeless, or at least
that there was very little hope of the patient’s
recovery, and that as he could do him no good, it
would be advisable to discontinue his visits, which
he accordingly did. Still the prescribed medicine
was continued, and still the fever raged on; and
though the patient was burning like a furnace
with thirst, according to the regime of the times,
the use of cold water was strictly prohibited,
under pain of supposed instant death. Bascom
believed his end was at hand, and was resigned
to meet his fate; but oh, if he could but have
one good, free draught of water, he thought he
could die with more comfort and perfect resigna-
tion. At the base of a snidy, greenswarded hill
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 93

a few rods from the house where he lay, a cold
spring bubbled up from the earth, and sent its
erystal waters murmuring down the vale. Access
to this spring was the sufferer’s supreme earthly
desire; and even when his thoughts would attempt
to take hold on the bliss of heaven, and realize
the excellency of the river of life, a blistering
thirst called back his desires to the sparkling
waters, by whose side he was famishing. The
physician’s interdict he cared not a fig for, but
he had not the power to reach the fountain
himself, and the good people in whose care he
was would have stood self-convicted of murder,
had they aided him in the accomplishment of his
supposed dangerous purpose, or even provided
him with a single draught of the coveted beverage.
At length there was a religious meeting in the
neighborhood, and the family were desirous to
attend it, but unwilling to leave the sick man,
Iie urged them to go, assuring them that he
should suffer no inconvenience from their absence,
it being understood that Sally—a half idiot
girl— would remain to take care of him. They
finally yielded, and took their departure, greatly
to the gratification of Bascom, who had little
doubt of being able to prevail on Sally to aid his
cherished object of getting a full satisfaction of
cold water. Not content to have the water
brought to him, he bribed Sally to assist him
94 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

down to the spring. This she did, and, having
spread a blanket on the grass beside the spring,
laid him upon it, and putting into his hand a
long-handled gourd, with which he could reach
the fountain, she set herself down in the shade,
and laughed with idiotic heartiness to see the sick
preacher drink and quaff, as if he would drink the
very spring dry. Having drank until he could
drink no more, he rested a while from the
exertion, and then repeated the copious draughts
to complete satiety, and then lay down to await
quietly the fatal effects that were expected to
follow this delightful indulgence. Soon, however,
reaction took place; the patient was thrown into
a profuse perspiration, the fever yielded, and from
that hour he began rapidly to amend. By this
circumstance, it is probable, the valuable life of
this eminent servant of the church was saved,
and his services secured to the world for thirty-
five years longer.

We have already learned that after Bascom had
made up his scanty outfit by the labor of his
boyish hands, and had gone into the field of
itinerant labor, depending on his salary to support
him, to pay losses on books, and to contribute
to the aid of his destitute father and family,
he became involved in debt in a short time.
When he went to this circuit he had been two
years at hard, regular labor, for which he had
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 95

received cighty-two dollars and ten cents. Of
course, his involvement was now greater than two
years before. Kind friends here soon supplied
the place of his thread-bare clothing with new,
and were not long in finding out that he was in
debt, and that his spirit was constantly weighed
down by the indigence and want of his friends
at home. His father was extremely poor, and
his brothers and sisters growing up, not only
without many of the comforts of life, but without
the means of education. A wealthy and generous
friend — Judge R.—projecied a plan to raise
some present relief. Grateful as this was to
Bascom’s feelings, his fears were painfully alive
lest some one, to whom his friend might mention
the subject, should suppose that he was playing
the beggar, or that improvidence, indolence, or
dissipation had brought his family into such
straits. He therefore wrote to his friend :—
“Should you speak to others about helping me
or my father’s helpless family, in our present
extremity and indigence, let them know that I
had not the meanness to beg it, but that though it
will be gratefully received, it is wholly unasked —
unsolicited by me. Let them know that I am
incapable of receiving such aid without an honest
intention on my part, should Heaven ever afford
me the ability, to return it to the donors; let
them know that no extravagance, intemperance,
96 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

or want of frugality or industry in any member
of the fimily able to do service, has brought us
to our present state of want, but apparently an
order of Providence, that in this case honest
frugality shall find its home in the home of
poverty. It appears to me that it is either my
duty to go home and remain there, or God intends
by these grievous embarrassments to chastise
me into proper humility; and designs to provide
for us in some unknown way.”

To what extent he was aided at that time is
not now known, but had it been thousands, it
would not long have served the purposes of his
filial and fraternal generosity.
CHAPYVEK VII.

EMBRACING HIS FIRST YEARS IN TENNESSEE CONFERENCE.

End of the Year— Increased Reputation, but complained of about
Dress — Anecdote — The Round Coat — Objected to before Con
ference — Case Debated — Proposes withdrawing from Conference
— Interposition of the Bishop — Transfer to Tennessee Confer-
ence — Stationcd at Danville — Character of the Work — His
Health fails — Attends Springs — Associations at Harrodsburg —
Conference at Franklin, Tennessee — Appointed to Danville and
Madison with Wm. Adams — Character of Country and People —
Reproof to the Sleeper and Talkers — Reproof — Bascom waylaid
by the Offended — His Daring Conduct on the Occasion — First
Acquaintance with Mr. Clay — Intimacy of their Friendship —
Bascom’s interposition in the Clay and Randolph Duel — Mr.
Clay’s denial of the report of his having educated Bascom —
Attends Conference at Nashville — His Preaching — A Lady’s
Account of it.

During this year, Mr. Bascom’s reputation as a
pulpit orator had greatly increased, and his useful-
ness was unquestionable. After a laborious year
of fuithful and successful service, he went to the
conference in the confident expectation that now,
after an extra year of trial and improvement,
opposition would cease, and he would be received
into full connection, and admitted to orders without
difficulty. With the people of his charge, including
a number of intelligent local preachers, he was a
great favorite at the end of the year, though at its
beginning there was no small amount of prejudice
98 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

against him. This fict, it was presumed, would
redound to his advantage before the conference,
and there seemed scarcely room to doubt that an
approving vote would be given by that body in his
ease. Yet further disappointment and repulse
awaited him. When his case came up, though his
_ superior talents, his industry, his soundness in
doctrine and discipline, and his usefulness, were
acknowledged, and there was no accusation of unbe-
coming levity, of gallantry, or imprudence, still he
did not dress like a Methodist preacher of that
time, nor look like one, and it was doubted whether
he would ever become a real Methodist preacher ;
and many of the venerable seniors of the confer-
ence felt bound in conscience to guard the church
against oue who, in their opinion, would be likely,
by his example, to lead the membership away from
primitive simplicity of dress and manners. There
was, to be sure, nothing in the fashion of his apparel
that would, at this day, be at all likely to give
offence, for his dress was not more fashionable than
that of young ministers of the present time ordi-
narily is, but more so than was common then.
But the truth was, that there was more in an
elegantly-erect form, and a light, elastic movement,
than in his dress. Indeed, whatever he put on had
a fashionable appearance. Of this I had an amus-
ing evidence some years later. A stickler for old
fashions urged Mr. Bascom to perfect his minis
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 99

terial appearance by putting on a round breasted
coat. Mr. B. said the coat he wore was a present,
and though he thought it a more comfortable and
sensible one as to form, than a round breasted one,
if it had been of that antiquated fashion he would
not, on that account, have refused it. “And if I
give you as good a one, made in the latter fashion,
will you lay that one aside, and wear the plain one?”
inquired the old gentleman. “ Certainly I will,”
was Baseom’s prompt response. The coat was,
accordingly, made in the most approved round
breasted style, and put on. ‘The material was fine,
and the fit was as neat as that sort of article could
be miade to fit an elegant form; but what a disap-
pointment to the good donor! For never did
Bascom appear so much the perfection of daundyism
in any dress he had ever worn. The disippointed
old gentleman, after turning the preacher round
and round, and inspecting him on every side, only
to find that he had made a dandy instead of a
plain Methodist preacher, was very willing to get
his fine, plain coat off of a man whose very form
seemed made to turn it into ridicule; but not so
Bascom. “You have given me the coat, and I
shall wear it, and especially as you seemed to think
that I was too proud to wear a coat cut in the
fashion of the last century.” And wear it he did,
all around his circuit, and, I believe, until it was
worn out.
100 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

But to return to his case as it stood before the
conference in 1816: the same objections and the
same objectors, by which his defeat was brought
about the year preceding, were still on hand, and
opposed his advancement. ‘True, the last year’s
predictions about his leaving the church, and all
that, had utterly failed; but it was the easiest
thing in life to assume their future fulfillment on
his being admitted to orders. He felt deeply
conscious that injustice was done his motives and
his character, and his spirit was wounded to the
point of anguish. He was not without ardent
friends, who plead his cause with great earnestness,
but number was evidently on the other side. The
debate was protracted, and of its course and
tendency he was, from time to time, advised by
his friends. Exquisitively sensitive in his feelings,
and conscious that he was grievously, painfully
wronged, and likely to have his reputation, as well
as his feelings, mangled in the strife, he could
endure no longer, and, under the promptings of
bitter chagrin, addressed a note to the conference,
the purport of which, as nearly as I have been able
to learn, was, that, as he semed to be a subject of
contention and an object of distrust with them,
and was likely to be the cause of dissensions
amon themselves, he preferred to ask no farther
favors of them beside that of striking his name
from their list of probationers, and he would try to
LIFE OF BISHOP B!scom. 101

serve God and take care of himself as best he
could, without their succor. This note was regarded
by the party adverse to him as conclusive of a
haughty and insubordinate, if not a contumacious
spirit, and the majority were ready to dispense
with his further services. At this critical conjunc-
ture, the venerable Bishop, who presided in the
conference, interposed: —“Brethren,” said he, “if
you have no use for that boy in your conference,
admit, and elect him, and I "ll take him out of your
way, and take care of him.” It was accordingly
so done, and he was transferred to Tennessee
conference — which then embraced the larger por-
tion of the state of Kentucky — and appointed to
Danville circuit.

Of the incidents, labors, and success of this year,
I have but little information. The work was a
heavy one, the settlements generally new, and
a portion of the country then embraced in Danville
circuit very rough, and before the year ended
his health gave way, and he was compelled for
a time to suspend regular labor. Harrodsburg
was embraced in his circuit, and he spent his
valetudinarian time chiefly at that place for the
benefit of the medicinal waters of that locality,
and the society of valued friends who resided
there. Chief among these was Rev. Jesse Head,
a local minister of considerable ability, and, whose
influence doubtless had the effect to give shape
102 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

and character to some of Bascom’s opinions held
in after life.

At the Tennessee annual conference, held at
Franklin, Tenn., Oct. 30, 1817, Mr. Bascom wis
re-appointed to Danville circuit, but this and Mad-
ison circuit were now united into one, and Rev.
Wm. Adams was Bascom’s colleague. The circuit
as then arringed, embriced the large scope of
country extending from the region of Harrodsburg
up in to the mountains as fur, I think, as the
“Three forks” of Kentucky, including all the
intermediate territory of Estill, Madison, Gerrard,
Lincoln, and Boyle counties.

A rougher region it was difficult to find, either
as regards the face of the country, or the character
of many of the population at that time inhabiting
the upper part of this circuit; but Bascom, having
regularly graduated on Guyandoite, in the same
sort of school, found litle here that was not
familiar to his experience. In dealing with those
unpolished people the preachers were sometimes
under an apparent necessity of resorting to mea-
sures which would seem singular among people of
different character and habits.

On one occasion, while Bascom was preaching
in Gerrard county, on a warm day, a gentleman
sitting immediately in front of him fell asleep, and
directly outside of the window back of the pulpit,
two men commenced a conversation in so loud
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 103

tone as to be heard through the open window, by
i large portion of the congreg ition. Each of these
circumstances annoyed him, and both together
greatly embarrassed his feelings and his delivery.
Finding it necessary to free himself from the
difficulty he adopted the plan said to hive once
been pursued by the fumous Rowland Hill of Eng-
land. Turning to the window in the rear, he
lowered his voice, and, addressing the talkers out-
side, said, “Gentlemen, I will thank you to speak
in a lower tone of voice, or you will disturb my
friend who is sleeping here in front of the pulpit.”
It need scarcely be added, that the rebuke hushed
the talking, and thoroughly aroused the sleeper.
And if Rowland Hill could request a mu, in us
refined congregation in England, “not to snore so
loud, or he would wake Mrs. Till,’ Bascom might
be allowed a similar liberty in the back woods of
Kentucky, at that early period.

At another time, while preaching at a place far
up on the Kentucky river, he found it necessary
to reprove some young men in the congregation,
who were greatly disturbing both the preacher and
the hearers. At this they took offence, and threat-
ened vengeance on the preacher. The next day
on his way towards the lower part of the county,
he was informed that three young men, armed with
bludgeons, having sworn vengeance for his rebuke,
had gone forward to waylay and beat him as he
104 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

passed along, and he was earnestly admouished not
to go that way, if he valued his safety or his life.
Another gentleman had fallen in company with
him, and on his declaring his willingness to accom-
pany Bascom through the scene of danger, he at
once resolved to go forward, and having provided
himself with a stout stick, did so.

When Bascom and his traveling companion came
in sight of a narrow pass on the mountain side, a
few miles above where the town of Irvine now
stands, sure enough, there were the three valorous
champions, with coats off and sleeves rolled up,
apparently ready and eager for bloody work. And
that no chance of escape might be left, two were
posted on one side of the narrow pass, and one on
the other. This frightful array alarmed Bascom’s
companion, and his “courage oozing out” entirely,
he declined advancing any farther; but on Bascom
the effect was just the reverse. His dark brow
was knit, his lips strongly compressed, every muscle
seemed tense with concentrated resolve and cour-
age, and his keen, penetrating eye, kindliny to its
intensest severity, seemed almost to shoot out
arrows of flame. In this state, with an aspect ter-
ribly defiant, he rode forward, and as he approached,
cast at each of the ruffiins in turn, such a piercing
glance, as seemed to penetrate them through, and
caused them to quail and cower. Not one of the
three dared to meet his scathing look; not one
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 105

dared attack him; not one had even the courage
to speak, and Bascom rode on unmolested.

His friend now, seeing danger over, quickened
his pace, and soon overtaking him, began to apolo-
gize for his cowardly desertion. Bascom replied,
that he supposed the man’s cowardice had been
well punished by his shame, but that no such man
could ride at his side, and accordingly required him
to ride at a respectful distance behind him, which
he did, until they parted.

It was in this year, or the preceding one, that
Mr. Bascom made the acquaintance of that great
Statesman and orator —now lately deceased —
Hon. Henry Clay. The latter, having himself a
reputation for eloquence, equal, at least, to any
man in the United States, was naturally attracted
by young Bascom’s fame as a pulpit orator, and
went to hear him. His admiration of the power
of oratory, strongly prepossessed him in favor of
one who, though yet but a youth, was capable of
exercising a power over the multitude by his com-
manding eloquence, which but few public speakers
ever attain to. He sought an acquaintance with
Bascom, and soon a friendship was formed between
them which continued, without interruption or
abatement, to the end of life, a period equal to one
third of a century. Of this friendship, Mr. Clay
himself says, in a letter written to me, between the
time of Become death and his own, “A friendship
106 LIFE OF BISIOP BASCOM.

between us was contracted, which lasted from early
after our first acquaintance to the period of his
death.”

As an evidence of Mr. Clay’s sincere regard for
Mr. Bascom, we find among his papers a great
number of Mr. Clay’s letters to him, extending
through a series of years, from the date of their
first acquaintance until, by Bascom’s removal to
Lexington, they became near neighbors. These
letters display not only friendship the most deep,
but profound respect for Mr. B. as a minister of
Jesus Christ, and frequent allusions to pious coun-
sel received through his (Bascom’s) letters. One
of these letters, in particular, affords evidence of
Mr. Bascom’s faithfulness in warning the great to
whom he had access, against sin. The unhappy
difficulty between Messrs. Clay and Randolph, in
1826, was reported to Bascom, then at the house
of his father. Fearing that it might result in a
hostile meeting, he instantly wrote to Clay in a
tone of earnest remonstrance, hoping to prevent
such a result. In reply, Mr. Clay says: “TI re-
ceived your obliging letter the day after a late
affuir with Mr. Randolph. It could not have pre-
vented that affair had it been received the day
before. As no injury accrued to either party, my
regrets are limited to the countenance which a
pernicious pructice muy receive from our example,
and to the viol.ition of religious obligation. I pray
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 107

you to believe that I have witnessed your solicitude
for my welfare with the highest gratification; and
the moment at which I received your last, gave to
its friendly counsel a touching interest.”

On another occasion, Mr. Clay writes: “ You
see with what freedom I communicate with you,
who are in the pursuit of much higher and nobler
objec.s than any which belong to the party strifes
of this wicked world. My confidence in, and
friendship for you, must be my apology.”

The intimate character of this friendship between
these great men, gave rise to a widely circulated
and extensively credited rumor, that Bascom was
educated and brought into public notice by Mr. Clay.
This report is utterly without foundation, for Bascom
had acquired great fame as an orator, and had been
five or six years in the ministry before Mr. Clay
had seen or heard him at all. “It is not true,”
suys Mr. Clay, in the letter above referred to, “as
I have seen it stated, that I assisted him in his
education.” The truth is, Bascom was indebted,
under the blessing of God, to his own exertions for
his distinction. He had no preceptor, no patron, but
on the other hand, obstraciions were thrown in his
way at almost every step, even by his own brethren.

During this year, Bascom filled a larger space
in the public mind than ever before; his fume was
auch as to draw multitudes to hear him, and he
became « special favorite with a number of the
108 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

most distinguished public men in Kentucky. The
conference was held in Nashville, Tenn., October 1,
1818. <A year before this Bascom had visited
Tennessee for the first time, and his preaching at
the conference at Franklin, had attracted such
attention as to superinduce a strong anxiety
among the people about Nashville, to hear the
young “Kentucky orator,’ as he was popularly
styled. At the conference he preached several
times, wich much power and popularity; his
discourses were spoken of by some of the most
prominent men in the community, as superior to
any thing they had heard, — crowds thronged his
appointments, and his reputation as a pulpit orator
of high order was so firmly established in the
public mind, that it still stood at the same high
mark when he last visited the city, after an
interval of near thirty years.

I have lately received from a literary lady who
was one of his hearers, some account of Bascom’s
preaching at that conference. “He was,” says
she, “the most remarkable man I ever knew.
He could not, I think, preach an indifferent, or
even a medium sermon. Some, to be sure,
objected to his ornate style, but to him it was
perfectly natural. Had 1 then heard any one
make this objection, I should probably have said,
‘As well might you command the sun not to gild
the clouds of evening, as to forbid Bascom, when
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 109

warmed with his subject, to clothe his burning
thoughts with those brilliant gems that flash out
so gloriously befure our mental vision.’ I almost
think I would rather forget any other event of my
life, than the exquisite pleasure I enjoyed in
hearing him preach en the last day of the confer-
ence. His subject was the seventy-second Psalm,
and he entertained us with a grand and beautiful
panorama of the doings of the universal Lord. The
past, the present, and the future all rose up before
our view, radiant with the power, wisdom, justice
and mercy of him, whose influences ‘come down
like rain on the mown gruiss.’ My mind was so
absorbed wi:h the theme that I was scarcely more
conscious of surrounding objects than if I had
been in a blissful dream. The uncomfortable seat
seemed pleasant, and when at the close it was
said, that the discourse had lasted more than two
hours, I knew not how to believe it, for to me the
‘ime had not appeared one third of that length.”
Such was the opinion of one of the literati of
Nashville at that time, of the pulpit powers of Mr.
Bascom, and such was the opinion of the commu:
nity generally.
CHAPTER VIII.

BEGINNING OF HIS DIFFICULTIES ABOUT SLAVERY.

Continued Opposition to him in Conference — Strengthened by his
Opposition to the Anti-Slavery party—Timely Interposition of his
old friend McMahan — Elected to Elder’s orders — Stationed in
Louisville, Ky.— Difficulties attending his Administration.

Bascom was now eligible to elder’s orders,
and his application to that effect came up before
the conference in regular course of business. It
was hoped that now, at last, opposition — not to
use the harsher term persecution— would cease
to follow this young minister, and allow him to
go on uninterrupted in his promising career of
usefulness; but still a portion of that pious and
honest body of ministers could not get the consent
of their own minds to advance him to a higher order
in the ministry. The objections brought out on
this occasion were the same heretofore noticed:
sound in doctrine, unimpeached in moral conduct,
futhful in discipline, and abundant in labors, he
yet could not make himself look like an old-times
Methodist preacher, nor did he restrict himself to
homely phrase in his preaching, as some seemed
to think him bound in duty to do. I cannot
think, with a talented and venerable man who
took part in the actings of that time, that the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 11]

opposers of Bascom “were under the influence of
envy,” because they were, no doubt, good men—
at least with very rare exceptions—but they
were certainly mysteriously blinded as to the true
character of this young man, and the damage
they would do the cause of Christianity in general,
as well as Methodism in particular, by putting
him down, or attempting to cast discredit upon
him before the public. The truth is, this thing
could not be done, because nothing had been
brought against him to which the world, or even
any other church attached any importance at all
and hence, by how much he was opposed by his
own church, by so much the sympathies of all others
clustered round him, until a very common objection
to him came to be, that he was the idol of the
worldly, and a favorite with the popular churches.

His old friend, Mr. MeM., who had so faith-
fully stood by him in his Ohio difficulties, — and
who was now in this conference by transfer — on
a careful examination of the state of parties and
feelings, became satisfied that the vote in Bascom’s
case would be a very close one, and that his
friends had not a vote to spare, if indeed they
had strength enough to carry him through at all.
This opposition was the more formidable from the
fact that the slavery question had divided the
conference into two parties, and as Bascom had, the
year before, acted with the minority party on this
112 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

subject, and so became measurably identified with
it, and as the anti-slavery party was very jealous
of any increase of sirengih in the adverse party,
there was in this state of the case an additional
ground for apprehension. Indeed, the opinion
got some currency, that’ Bascom’s alleged foppery
was more the pretext than the real cause of most
of the present opposition to his election, and that
his course on the slavery subject had more to do
with it than the cut of his coat or the style of his
carriage. Be this as it might, his friend deemed
it important to prevent his rejection, if possible ;
as a thing in itself unjust, and, in the current
state of popular feeling in the city, calculated to
bring injurious censure on the church. The late
lamented Thomas Logan Douglass was known to
be a warm friend to Bascom, and ready to employ
his tongue and raise his hand in his behalf, but
he was at home sick, more than twenty miles
from the seat of the conference. Expecting the
case to come up on a certain day, Mr. McMahan
mounted his horse the previous evening and rode
to the residence of Mr. Douglass, hoping to find
him able to be brought to the conference, and
aid his young friend through the present difficulty.
The next morning he returned to the city, but
before his arrival Bascom’s case had been taken
up, and zealously discussed pro and con. When
he entered the conference-room, the leader of
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 113

what was then called the anti-slavery or abolition
party was on the floor, making a speech of great
severity against Bascom, by way of concluding
the debate, and preparing the conference for a
decisive vote of rejection. When the speaker
took his seat McM. instantly took the floor, and
in a most forcible speech advocated the claims
of his young friend. The vote was taken and
carried by a majority of one in favor of Mr.
Bascom. This result was gratifying to the friends
of Bascom, both in and out of the conference,
especially as it was known that the anti-slavery
party had a decided majority in that body.

At this conference Mr. Bascom was appointed
to labor in the city of Louisville, Ky. Up to this
time that city had belonged to Jefferson circuit.
It was now set off as a separate station, and the
task of organizing the new station devolved on
him. The society was small, numbering only
about one hundred members, white and colored,
at the end of this year, and as there were among
these several local ministers of age, who probably
thought their years and standing entitled them to
a chief control in regulating the affuirs of the
society, which the preacher in charge felt himself
under obligations to supervise, his administration
was beset with considerable difficulties. He, how-
ever, maintained his reputation fully, both as a

pulpit man and an administrator.
8
CHAPTER IX.

DIFFICULTIES WITH THE SLAVERY LAW.

Conference of 1819 at Nashville — Historical Sketch of Slavery law
— Resolves and Action of Tennessee Conference —Case of Dr
Taylor — His rejection — Protest of Minority, and opposition of
Majority — Lishops McKendree and George address the Confer-
ence in opposition to the Majority — Minory left out of Delegation
to General Conference — They address the General Conference —
Repeal by General Conference of Rule of 1812— Similarity of this
Controversy to that of 1844.

Art the next annual meeting of the conference,
which was again held in Nashville — Oct. 1, 1819,
difficulties which had begun to operate in ihe
conference, at an earlier period, assumed a more
serious phase; I speak of the slavery question.
And as it was at this conference thit Bascom
became prominently identified with one of the
parties, it seems proper, in this connection, to give
a brief history of the matter, as it respects the
Tennessee conference, and Mr. Biscom. There is
another reason for deing so found in the fuct that
in later difficulties of this class, Mr. Bascom has
been charged with inconsistency ; and this charge
can be met in no better way, than by showing the
ground he occupied at the very commencement of
his career as a member of the conference.

It will be recollected that the General Confer..
ence which met in May, 1812—and at which the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 115

Tennessee conference was erected —adopted a
resolution to the effect that “each annual confer-
ence should enact its own rules respeciing the
buying and selling of slaves,” * — every thing on
this subject respecting private members, having
been struck from the statute book in 1808. In
the Tennessee conference, when organized in
November of that year, (1812,) there was found a
strong anti-slavery feeling, and a disposition to
bring all under dealings, who were in any manner
connected with slavery, and especially preachers.
This is sufficiently evident from the fact, that a
local preacher had been expelled just before the
meeting of the conference for selling a slave, and
that in the case of each applicant for admission
into the itinerancy, the record shows that he was
carefully ‘examined on the subject of slavery,’ as
well as on ‘doctrines and discipline.’

During the session of the conference, a rule was
enacted, based on the grant of authority by the
General Conference before referred to, requiring
the preacher in charge of a circuit to bring before
the quarterly conference any member of the
church who might buy or sell a slave, and if that
body was not satisfied that the purchase or sale was
made according to ‘justice and mercy, the offender
was to be expelled; but with the rather incongruous
right of appeal to the annual conference. A

* This was properly an amendment of a rule adopted in 1808.
116 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

conference held in October, 1815, at which Bishops
Asbury and McKendree presided, declared the
preceding rule ‘ unconstitutional,’ and a new rule
was enacted, forbidding members to buy or sell for
gain, or to sell to those who do buy and sell for
gain; but they were permitted to buy or sell to
keep husbands and wives, or parents and children
together. Preachers were not to be ordained
unless they were willing to emancipate their slaves,
if practicable, ‘ conformably to the laws of the state
in which they lived.’ The conference of October,
1817, repealed all previous rules on the subject
of slavery, and enacted one instead, the spirit of
which was, that on buying slaves, the buyer was
to submit to a decision of his brethren the question
as to the length of time such slaves should serve,
to remunerate the purchaser for his expenditure ;
and they were then to be free, if the laws would
permit, without any liability on the part of the
owner for the maintenance or good behavior of the
slaves emancipated, &c. At the conference of
1818 this rule was also repealed, and the confer.
ence fell back on the law of 1800, ’12, and 16,
substantially as it now stands, requiring traveling
preachers, and candidates for office in the church,
to emancipate their slaves, where the laws permit,
and allow the freed man to enjoy his liberty. The
state of Tennessee did not permit the emancipation
of slaves, except by special enae’ment, and in
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 117

Kentucky such emancipation was so embarrassed
by liabilities enforced on the owner, as to amount
to a moral prohibition.

At the conference of 1819, this subject was
brought up fully by the case of Dr. Taylor. The
conference record of this matter is — “Gilbert D.
Taylor, recommended by the quarterly meeting
conference of Shoal circuit, as a traveling preacher,
on trial, was not admitted, in consequence of his
holding slaves.” It was admitted by the confer-
ence, that it was not practicable at that time for
him to emancipate his slaves; for, after consid-
erable debate, they authorized the presiding elder
to employ him, on his giving assurance that he
would emancipate his slaves “hen practicable.”
His friends thought the law of the church did not
intend to require what was impracticable, as a con-
dition of admission into the traveling connection,
while the other party deemed it important to
preserve the anti-slavery character of the confer-
ence, even though it should require individual
sacrifice.

The full power and zeal of the parties were called
out on the occasion, and the anti-slavery party
gained the victory in the contest by a majority of
about five. The minority was much disappointed
at this result; so much so, as to record their pro-
test aginst the proceeding. Mr. Bascom was in
the minority, and was the writer of the protest.
118 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Below we insert the protest at length : —

“ Be it remembered, that whereas the Tennessee
annual conference, held in Nashville, October 1,
1819, have taken a course in their decisions,
relative to the admission of preachers on trial in
the traveling connection, and in the election of
local preachers to ordination, which goes to fix the
principle, that no man, even in those states where
the law does not admit.of emancipation, shall be
admitted on trial, or ordained to the office of
deacon or elder, if it is understood that he is the
owner of a slave or slaves: that this course is
taken is not to be denied, and it is avowedly
designed to fix the principle already mentioned:
several cases might be mentioned, but it is deemed
unnecessary to instance any except the case of
Dr. Gilbert D. Taylor, proposed for admission, and
Dudly Hargrave, recommended for ordination.
We deprecate the course taken, as oppressively
severe in itself, and ruinous in its consequences,
.ud we disapprove of the principle as contrary to
and a violation of the order and discipline of our
church. We therefore do most solemnly, and in
the fear of God, as members of this conference,
enter our protest against the proceedings of
conference as it relates to the above mentioned
course and principle.

“ Nashville, October 7, 1819. Signed, Thomas
L. Douglass, Thomas D. Porter, William McMahan,
LIFE OF BISILOP BASCOM. 119

Benjumin Malone, Ebenezer Hearne, Lewis Gar-
rett, Barnabas McHenry, William Allgood, William
S.ribbling, Timothy Carpenter, Thomas Stringfield,
Benjamin Edge, Joshua Boucher, William Hartt,
John Johnson, Henry B. Bascom.”

The entering of this protest on the conference
journal was strongly opposed, and the abolition
party insisted on their right— being a majority,
to vote it out, but the Bishop overruled the
motion, and ordered the protest to record; yet,
even after this order, the secretary —who was of
the majority — made an attempt so to arrange the
entry, that the bishop’s signature attesting the
record, should precede the protest, and so divest it
of official character and validity.

The members of the minority party, though
decidedly the more talented of the two divisions,
were all left out of the delegation elected at that
time to the General Conference of 1820. The
attending bishops— McKendree and George — had,
to be sure, taken decided ground with the minor-
ity, in addresses delivered before the conference,
yet they (the minority) would have no one of
their own body in the General Conference, to
represent their views and wishes. They therefore,
drew up an address to the General Conference,
setting forth their grievances, detailing the pro-
ceedings of the dominant party, and praying that
the power of legislating on the subject of slavery
120 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

might be taken out of the hands of annual confer-
ences. In an appendix they gave the statutes
agaipst emancipation, which were in force within
the territory of the Tennessee conference, with a
legal opinion respecting those statutes drawn up
by O. B. Hays, Esq., and approved by Hon. Felix
Grundy. The preparing and printing of this
address was entrusted to Mr. Bascom. It was
intended only for members of the General Confer-
ence, and for the signers of it; for the desire was
to keep this family feud from the world; accord-
ingly, though a few copies were printed, it was
not published; and at the close, Bascom certifies
—in perhaps the only copy now extant — that
the work had been done “in a manner entirely
private, except the knowledge of the printer.”

The striking similarity of this controversy to that
of 1844 is remarkable. The minority, in this case,
as in that, brought up the laws of the church, and
of the state, and the opinions and constructions of
eminent legal men to protect their course ;— they
contended that what the l:ws of the church did not
require, and the laws of the state forbid, a Christian
ought not to be compelled to do. But it seems
that the Tennessee brethren were more ultra than
their brethren of 1844, for they are reported as
asserting that they were resolved to carry their
point, because they had the strength of number to
do so, and as intending to seek such a modificativa
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 121

of the slavery rule, as would finally exclude from
the church all slaveholders, as well members as
preachers. In short, they appear to have occupied
very nearly the exact ground upon which the
nor.hern abolition party in the church now stand.

This movement is understood to have brought
about the repeal, in the Genral Conference of the
next year, (1820,) of the canon authorizing annual
conferences to enact their own rules relative to
buying and selling slaves.

We may here see, without ambiguity, the position
taken on this subject by Mr. Bascom at that early
date, and he himself informs us that his principles
were settled on that point at a date seven years
earlier by an address delivered by Bishop Asbury
to the conference at Chillicothe in 1812.

From this conference (1819) Mr. Bascom was
returned to Louisville for the next year. Difh-
culties which began to manifest themselves the
previous year, came out during this in full develop-
ment. The society was inharmonious, and a
number of church trials, involving some of the
principal members and local preachers took place ;
some of these were excluded from the church,
and their friends sympathizing with them, a strong
opposition was raised against Mr. Bascom’s admin-
istration. Charges of mal-administration were
presented against him to his presiding elder (the
late Rev. Barnabas McHenry.) who, regarding
132 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM..

them as frivolous, or founded chiefly in prejudice,
failed to have them prosecuted. Not succeeding
in this proceeding, the dissatisfied parties followed
both the preacher and his elder to the succeeding
annual conference with sundry charges. The
records of that conference show the presentment
to the conference of those charges, and their
investigation by a committee, but though Mr.
McHenry incurred some ecclesiastical censure in
the affair, it does not appear that any thing
deserving reproof was established against Mr.
Bascom. The year on the whole, was one of his
most unpleasant ones.

Notwithstanding the opposition, a powerful body
of friends stood by him. When he was about to
leave the station, the following testimonial was
signed by about one hundred and twenty of the
inost respectable men of the city:

Tue subscribers, resident in Louisville, Kentucky, and its vicinity,
understanding that Rev. Henry B. Bascom is about to take his
leave of us as a minister, and, agreeable to the rules and regulations
of the Methodist Church, will not be returned to us again the
ensuing year — cannot, consistently with our views and feelings, and
the high and increasing rerard we have for Mr. Bascom, permit him
to retire from among us, without expressing our sincere approbation
of tis public and private conduct, during a residence among us of
about two years. He has occupied the pulpit with more than
ordinary success, and almost universal acceptance; and in private
life has exhibited proof of his uprightness of intention, and circum-
spcection of behavior. “His praise is in all our churches.” And
we, in company with multitudes, whose names will not appear
Lefore you, would rejoice to see him returned again to this station,
in 182L. Lf however, thie be found either inexpedicnt or impracti
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 123

eable, we fecl it our duty to inform vou, that he lives in the hearts,
and memory of a grateful people.
Louisville, September 1820.

The following paper was also addressed to Mr
Bascom through the press, by the late Worden
Pope, Esq :

Louisville, September 5, 1820.

Sir,— As a member of society here, and wishing the prosperity
of the Mcthodist Church in this place, I should regret that past
events should remove you from amongst us. But I fear that the
schisms in this church have assumed such » personal and angry
attitude that they cannot be healed by any divine which shall be
sent here. ‘The church seems to be split into two parties who are
struggling for victory, and the present angry feelings, will, it is
believed, continue and be displayed under any preacher who shall
be sent to take care of, and preside over the church at this place.

It appears to me, that you ought to be supported by the head of
the churches, by being returned to this place. Nothing will do
unless the preacher shall be supported by the power which has the
right to give the law to the churclies, and enforce it.

Your good standing in this place, as a man of talents, information
and amiable manners. and sound morals, point you out as the
preacher who ought to be continued here.

Lam, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
WORDEN POPE.
Rev. H B. BASCOM,

The conference of 1820 was held at Hopkins-
ville, Kentucky, October 4. An incident that
occurred on Mr. Bascom’s way to this conference,
would seem to indicate that, in the opinion at least
of some plain old Methodists of that time, he still
wore but little of the appearance which a Methodist
circuit preacher was expected to exhibit. On this
journey he procured lodgings one night at the
house of a plain old Kentucky farmer, of German
124 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

extraction. After matters were arranged and
quieted for the evening, in a manner to invite
conversation, the good host seemed inclined to
find out something of the quality and destination
of his gentlemanly looking guest; afd Bascom,
on finding the old gentleman’s inquisitiveness,
zppears to have mischievously resolved to follow
no lead given, but to answer questions only as
they were put to him singly and pointedly. He
has often related the dialogue to me, and it was
very nearly in the following language.

Host. Traveling, I suppose ?

Bascom. Yes, sir.
Wich way you from?
Northward.
Wat place in de nort ?
Louisville.
You are going sout, I suppose ?
Yes, sir.
Tlow far?
Not out of this state.
To wat place ?
To Hopkinsville.
You going to attend court dare?
No, sir.
You are not a lawyer, den?
No, sir, not a lawyer.
A doctor, may be?
No sir, not a physician.

Bebe Sedo es edo
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 125

You might be a bolitician, or a marchant?
Neither, sir,
Den wat is your brofession ?
A. preacher.

H. A breacher! A church clergyman, I
suppose.

mo RSh

B. No, sir.

H. A Bresbyterian?

B. Not a Presbyterian preacher, neither.

H. Nora Baptist?

B... No.

H. Den gif it up: wat sort of breacher are
you?

B. Methodist.

H. A’ Methodist breacher! Well, well; I

dought I was a britty coot judge of Methodist
breachers, but I declare if I was to go out to shoot
methodist breachers, I nefer would snap at you
for one.
CHAPTER X.

Kentucky “‘onference Formed, and Bascom falls into it — Sent te
Madisov Circuit — Supposed Object — His quiet Submission — A
Turkey shot during Preaching -- Storm on the Mountain —-
Shamed by the daring of the Mountain Girls — His Sister dies and
bequeaths him the care of her Infant Daughters —Next Year
Labors an Hinkston Circuit — Resolves to leave the Conference —
Visits Ghio and Preaches — Transferred, and Appointed to Brush
Creek.

Tue General Conference, held in May of this
year had provided for the creation of a new con-
ference, embracing that part of the Tennessee
conference, and that part of Ohio conference which
lay in the state of Kentucky. The Tennessee
and Kentucky preachers now met together for
the last time in conference, and received their
appointments; and this was the last of Bascom’s
connection with the Tennessee conference.

No bishop was present at the Hopkinsville con-
ference, and the President pro tem was one of the
leaders of the anti-slavery or abolition party, with
whom Bascom was not at all a favorite. He was
also understood as sympathizing with the party
opposed to Bascom in the Louisville difficulties.
Whether these circumstances had their influence
in making the appointments or not, at least it is
certain that some astonishment was expressed when
he read out —“Madison circuit, Henry B. Bascom.”
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 127

After seven years of regular work in the itinerancy,
and at a time when he had more fume, probably,
as a pulpit orator, than any other man in the south-
west, it seemed singular that he should be sent to
one of the most rough and unrefined fields of labor
to be found in the whole conference ; and generally,
if not universally, both by friends and opposers,
the proceeding was looked on, and spoken of, as
intended to be punitive; but for what precise
cause, or supposed offence was a matter to be
conjectured.* Bascom, however, went quietly to
his work, as if he had no suspicion of the motive
which brought about the appointment, and was
cordially welcomed back by his old mountain parish-
ioners. The country was as rough as ever, and
the people generally poor; but the very romantic
wildness of the country was congenial with his
feelings; the love of adventure and excitement
here found more food than in the monotony of city
life; and he enjoyed the rude hospitality of the
sincere-hearted foresters, in coarse and scanty fare,
more than he did the luxuries and display of the
rich.

He used to tell, with much apparent pleasure,
of a dinner he enjoyed with particular satisfaction.

* The late Rev. B. McHenry, in a letter dated May, 1821, informs
Mr, Bascom that a certain preachcr said, “‘ We hope to get clear of
Bascom this year, for he is sent to a hard mountain cireuit, and we
have no idea that he will submit to it.”
128 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

He was preaching in a cabin, which was at once
church and dwelling. The people were listening
with seriousness and deep attention to the truths
of the gospel, when, in the very midst of his
sermon, his host, who sat near the door, suddenly
rose from his seat, snatched the gun from two
wooden brackets upon which it lay against the joist,
went hastily out, fired it off, and returning, put the
gun back in its place, and quietly seated himself
to hear the remainder of the sermon. The whole
affuir had hardly consumed as much time as it
requires to read this account of it, and in a very
few moments all was going on as smoothly as if no
interruption had occurred. After service was
ended, Bascom inquired of the man the meaning
of his strange conduct. “Sir,” said he, “we were
entirely out of meat, and I was perplexed to know
what we should give you for dinner,.and it was
preventing me from enjoying the sermon, when the
Good One sent a flock of wild turkeys this way ;
I happened to see them, took my gun and killed
two at a shot; my mind felt easy, and I enjoyed the
remainder of the sermon with perfect satisfaction.”

On one occasion he was overtaken by a storm in
passing over a mountain, not far from the three
forks of Kentucky river. The peals of thunder
and flashes of lightning were terrific, and his horse
became so much frightened, that he could not in
safety remain mounted; and alighting, he proceeded
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 129

on foot, leading his horse by the bridle. He seemed
to be enveloped in a cloud heavily charged with
electricity ; and tree after tree was shivered by the
destructive fluid near his path. Presently a bolt
struck a tree at the very verge of his path, his
horse fell to the ground, and he was, himself, much
stunned by the shock. Recovering, however, he
felt, as he declared, a very peculiar exhileration
of spirits, a sort of excitement which he had never
felt before, and never did afterwards, not very
unlike the effect of inhaling exhilerating gas. He
felt as if he must brenk out in vehement declama-
tion, or shout to the mountains at the top of his
voice. This effect remained for hours; and even
after he had performed the religious services of
the day—which were sufficiently excited and
fervid —he still felt, as he supposed, like one
intoxicated with spirituous drink.

On another occasion he was at the house of an
old friend, on the Kentucky river, where he had
preached in the day; and for the accommodation
of some families residing at too inconvenient a
distance to attend worship at the regular plice,
he had an appointment at night some three «1
four miles off in the mountains. The path was so
s‘eep and rough as to render it nearly impossible
to pass over it on horseback, and he must there-
fore make the journey on foot, and as there were

ao accommodations for lodging at the place of
9
130 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

preaching, he must return after the meeting to
the house of his friend on the river. The evening
was cloudy and threatened a storm, and the
prospect of threading this rugged path in the
darkness of night, beset on every side by wolves
and other wild beasts, perhaps under the peltings
of an angry storm, and all for the purpose of
preaching to four or five persons, was any thing
but cheering; and, according to his own account,
he felt inclined to find an excuse for neglecting
the very uncovetable service. He consulted his
friend, with the hope of securing his approbation
in the course to which he was inclined. In the
midst of this hesitancy, and when it hud come
to be time to start, the two stout, blooming and
fearless daughters of his host began to rally him
on the subject of his want of courage, and closed
by saying: “We will go along with you, and
keep the wolves off you;” and suiting the action
to the word, they cast on their sun bonnets, called
up three or four large dogs, and in a few moments
were bounding away towards the mountain gorge
by which he had to pass out, wich the dogs follow-
inv, and the young preacher, more than half
ashamed, pressing hard on the rear.

Within this year his sister Clara, who had been
married several years, died. Henry was her great
fivorite, and she, in her last moments, bequeathed
her two infint daughters to him. THe became a
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 131

fither to them, supplied their wants, had them
well educated, and had the pleasure to see them
married to honorable and pious husbands, and
comfortably settled in life, and to be well assured
that they were entirely worthy so advantageous
an alliance. “No father,” says a friend, speaking
of the case, “ever felt more tender solicitude for
the welfare of his own children, than did Bascom
for the sacred bequest of his dying sister.”

The next year he was appointed to labor on old
Hinkston circuit — the third man — showing that
there was still an influence working adversely to
him.* This opposition he felt to be oppressive,
and thought it unjust, and therefore resolved to
make an effort to take himself out of its way.
With this view, and for the purpose of being
nearer to his futher, who was now growing old and
rather infirm, he procured a transfer to the Ohio
conference, in which his ministerial career had been
commenced. <A short time before his transfer, he
came over into Ohio, and attended a camp-meeting
on Brush Creek circuit, not far from West Union.
Here I met him after a separation of six years.
At that separation —in 1816 —he was a youth,
in the fourth year of his ministry, now he was in

* That the talents and faithfulness of Mr, Bascom were not how-
aver, wholly unappreciated by the conference,.we have evidence in
de fact that they elected him to the responsible post of committee-
man, to co-operate with the committec of the Ohio conference in the
establishment and organization of Augusta College.
132 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

the tenth year of his ministry, and had acquired
an extended fume as a pulpit orator. As no man
had been more largely debtor to his early ministra-
tious than I, so no one could be more eagerly
anxious to hear him again than I was. And
hearing him, my extravagant expectations were
more than realized. All appeared delighted, and
multitudes were deeply impressed by his sermons.
Old people talked with pride of his having started
from among them but a few years previous, an
untaught boy, and each one seemed ambitious of
the honor of having, in some way, aided to “bring
him out,” and now each one had foreseen from
the first that he “was to become a great man some
day.” At the conference of that autumn he was
appointed to that — Brush Creek — circuit.
CHAPTER XI.

CHURCH REFORM, ETC.

First Corversation on that Subject — Ilistory of the “Suspended
Resolutions ” — Bascom’s Views and Feelings — Sent to Steaben-
ville Station — Elected Chaplain to Congress.

In riding together on horseback more than
a hundred miles, to attend the conference, the
subject of a change in the government of the
Methodist Episcopal Church was first introduced
by him. As his relation to this subject must, in
justice, occupy a place in this biographical sketch,
it may be as well to call it up in this place.

At the General Conference of 1820, it was
proposed by a part of the delagates so to change
the mode of appointing presiding elders, that
instead of being appointed by the bishops, they
should be elected by the members of the annual
conferences. The question was warmly contested;
in favor of the change it was argued, that as the
presiding elders had the oversight of the preachers
in the absence of the bishops, these preachers
ought of right to elect the men by whom they
were to be governed; on the other side, it was
contended, that the presiding elders were properly
the officers of the bishop, deputed by him to
attend to certain duties in his stead and in his
134 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

absence, and it was fit and proper that the bishop
should have the appointment of his own agents by
whom he was required to carry on the great
itinerant machinery of the church. Finally, it
was agreed to refer the subject to a committee of
six members, — three from each side,— who were
instructed to report some compromise measure,
upon which the parties might harmonize. Such a
plan the “committee reported, and the conference
adopted with considerable unanimity. But shortly
afterwards, a bishop elect, and a bishop in office,
reported to the conferences, that, believing the
new rule to be in violation of a constitutional
restriction on the power of the General Conference,
they could not, in good conscience, enforce the
tule in their administration. This declaration
created no small excitement in the body; the
bishop elect especially, was censured by one party
for a supposed attempt to exercise a veto power,
even before ordination, while the other applauded
him for his independence and vigilance in guarding
the constitution. The new rule was finally sus-
pended for four years, but its suspension, with the
attendant circumstances, caused an excitement to
go out from the conference, which spread, first
among the preachers, and then among the people.
until it resulted in the secessions of 1828 - 9.

At the date of which we are speaking, (1822,)
the subject under notice had not attracted very
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM 135

general attention in the west, but it was now
beginning to be talked of — among the preachers
more pariicularly. A periodical had been com-
menced at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1821, which
soon came to be devoted chiefly to the discussion
of church politics; a few copies of this work had
been distributed through the west, and it had
fallen into the hands of Mr. Bascom. I learned
from him, that a course of treatment of which he
hid said little or nothing, but which he looked on
as oppressive and unjust, had prepared his mind
to look to the polity of the church as the source
of his wrongs. With feelings chafed and sore, he
was not tardy in imbibing most of the leading
views and opinions respecting church government,
which appeared in the periodical already mentioned.
He, however said very little on the subject, and
took no active part in the proceedings of the day,
to promote a change in the government until
several years later.

The year from the autumn of 1822 to 1823,
was marked by nothing remarkable in the personal
history of Mr. Bascom. At that period the Ohio
conference was separated from the Bultimore con-
ference by the Ohio river, consequently the town
of Steubenville was embraced in the first uamed
conference ; and to that station Mr. Bascom was
appointed in the autumn of 1823. About the
time at which he became fairly settled in his new
136 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

station, a company of members of Congress from the
great west, entered the mail coach at Wheeling,
Va. on their way to Washington city. Among
the topics of conversation introduced on the
journey, was that of the chaplaincy to Congress.
Different ministers of distinction were named by
different members of the company with such
laudatory remarks as their several preferences
suggested. Finally Mr. Clay, who was one of the
company, declared his firm belief, in very strong
language, that his young friend Bascom could out-
preach all their preachers together, and proceeded
in such a strain of eloquent eulogy on the superior
talents of Mr. Bascom as brought, I think, every
member present fairly over to the support of Mr.
Clay’s nominee ; and it was there agreed that they
should unite on Bascom as the western candidate
for the chaplaincy of the House of Representatives.
On reaching the city, they carried their proposition
into effect, and elected Bascom triumphantly over
all opposition. Of all this he knew nothing until
it was over, and he was notified of his election.
He obeyed the call, and, without unnecessary delay,
went on to enter upon the discharge of his new
duties.
CHAPTER XII.

Bascom’s Debut before Congress — Causes of comparative Failure —
Prejudices of Methodists against him— Preaches in the Country
to the Blacks — Amusing Incident — Visits Baltimore, but does
not Preach— Attends « Wedding, and takes firm stand against
Plays — Takes Passage for the West— Hindered by sickness of
his Friend, whom he attends— Attends a Camp Meeting near
Annapolis, and Preaches like himself— Visits Annapolis and
Baltimore — His Preaching in Baltimore— Visits Great Falls
Camp Meeting — Visits Baltimore Camp— His great Sermon
there — Description of it by a lady— Frederick Camp— His
Preaching — Bishop Waugh’s Account of.

Mr. Bascom’s debué at Washington, it may as
well be confessed, was a fuilure.* This was owing
to several causes; among them the following :—
The eulogies of Mr. Clay, and of other friends,
had raised expectation so high that it was nearly
impossible for any man to measure up to the high
standard. ‘The general prevalence in the west and
south-west of a peculiar species of Unitarianism
had caused muny of the more able of the orthodox
clergy to get much into the habit of preaching

* This discourse was a failure only relatively as compared with
Mr. Bascom’s sermons generally. A gentleman of competent judg-
ment, who heard it attentively himself, says, in a letter before me —
“Mr. Bascom was unfortunate in the length of his sermon; this was
the only objection I heard to it at the time; although I should not
myself regard it as a valid one by any means; yet in a promiscuuus
audience it might be so considered by many. It was pronounced by
many men of first respectability and intelligence, a display of mind
and energies to which few can lay valid claim.
138 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

long controversial sermons, and especially on that
particular point of doctrine; into this habit Mr.
Bascom had fallen, and unhappily he seemed to
overlook the fact that members of Congress have
a greut horror of long sermons, and of controversial
ones, and that a large proportion of the northern
members were actually Unitarian in sentiment.
Besides, there was in his composition a singular
timidness, which utterly disqualified him for
making his way among strangers. In this state
of things he made his appearance in the hall of
Congress, a total stranger to every one, save some
two or three members of Congress; the audience,
the scenery, the circumstances— everything around
him was new, strange, and to his mind embarrass-
ing. He passed through the introductory services
hurriedly, and with a manner that plainly indicated
that he did not feel at home. He selected a text
and entered upon his discourse, but he had not
his usual freedom of utterance, and frequently
hesitated in his words. After a time he appeared
less embarrassed, but still when he looked over
his audience, instead of the willing, warm and
deeply interested audiences he had been accustom-
ed to address in the south-west, he saw only an
assembly of stern, cold critics, and the conviction
of this fact seemed to freeze his feelings. Still he
struggled on, hoping to rise above the power of
depressing circumstanees; yet the atmosphere
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 139

around him seemed more and more frigid and
oppressive. Hloquent in language, and powerful
in argument, he certainly was in that discourse ;
but it was not that free resistless eloquence and
argument to which his western audiences had been
accustomed to listen, enraptured for hours. After
laboring say two hours — Mr. Clay said in a letter
to me, a few months before his death, he thought
it three—he closed with an evident feeling of
mortification and disappointment, and in the latter
feeling, if not the former, many of the audience
seemed to sympathize fully.

Bascom was not a man who could readily rise
above the influence of such a discomfiture, and
during his stay in Washington he never so far
recovered as to be properly himself. Even the
members of his own church set a most unjust
estimate on his talents, and in many instances
spake slightly of him as minister and a Christian.
His health during most of the winter was bad,
consequently he made few acquaintances, and
preached but little. He was in a manner buried.
A few times he went into the country and preached;
on these occasions he was more himself, yet not
fully so.

Ou one of these occasions he preached to a large
congregation of colored people in Prince George’s
county, and, as his sermon contained a large portion
of life and energy, his African auditors became
140 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

much excited, and some of them indulged in thuse
extravagant bodily exercises so common among
them under religious excitements. One of them,
in his pious frenzy, threw his head convulsively back
and struck an elderly negro by the name of Davy
an unmerciful blow on the nose. Davy, being
thus suddenly disturbed in his quiet enjoyment,
and withal badly battered by the blow, was thrown
off his guard, and sent back the compliment in the
form of a smart blow with the fist, dealt upon the
back of his unquiet neighbor. The latter turning
quickly about, inquired who had struck him. “I
did,” responded Uncle Davy. “What for you
strike me?” “What for you break my nose wid
your head?” “Becase I so happy,” responded
the other. “Will den,” said Davy, “when eber
you get happy for mash my nose, den I get
happy for maul you in de back, sure.” Bascom
knew nothing of this farce at the time, but the
minister at whose invitation he was preaching sat
near enough to see and hear it all, and he related
it to the writer.

The winter months passed sluggishly away, and
in March the writer of this sketch visited Bascom
in Washington, and was not a little afflicted to find
him in poor health and spirits, almost wholly
unappreciated, indisposed to extend his acquaint-
ance in the east in any quarter, and eager to return
to his beloved west as the Indian to fly from the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 141

artificial of civilized life to his wild forest home.
His friend urged him to visit Baltimore and make
the acquaintance of leading members and ministers
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in that city. But
no; he said Baltimore Methodists had joined the
hue and cry against him, and he did not feel that he
had any call to preach in that city. He was desirous
to see the place, but pre-determined not to preach
there. To accommodate this whim, it was agreed
to visit Baltimore near the close of the week, say
on Friday, and to prevent his preaching in the city
on Sabbath, his friend made two appointments for
him, the one in the afternoon being at Elkridge
Landing, within seven miles of the city.

During his shoré stay in the city, he made the
ucquaintance of several persons, whom he regarded
as special friends to the end of his life, and a great
desire was expressed that he should preach in the
city. As this could not now be, in consequence
of the previous arrangement made to prevent it, a
large number of persons from Baltimore came out
to hear him at his afternoon appointment in the
country. He was at liberty in preaching, and the
desire now became much stronger than before, that
he should preach in the city; but he prompily
declined the pressing invitations given him, and
returned to Washington.

An incident in this connection may be worth
mentioning, as showing one feature of Bascom’s
142 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

character. He and his friend were traveling in the
same vehicle, and as the latter had to solemnize a
marriage on the way back to Washington, he took
Bascom with him. The young lady belonged to a
pious Methodist family, but the young gentleman,
who was gay and fashionable, had brought with him
from the city a number of young friends, of tastes
similar to his own. The marriage took place after
dark, and the ministers were expected to remain
for the night. Soon after supper plays were intro-
duced, such as are spoken of as “innocent,” but
certainly silly, undignified, and of evil tendency,
such as “Sister Phebe,” and others of like charac-
ter, the capital object of which is to bring the sexes
into such contact, as under other circumstances,
would not be considered the most delicate and
modest. As Bascom was styled the “fashionable
preacher,” it seemed not to be doubted that he
would enter into the enjoyment of these frivolities.
He was accordingly invited, but the repulse he
gave was so stern and abrupt, that there was no
danger of his being troubled farther on that subject.
Not satisfied with this, he spoke out fearlessly in
condemnation of such amusements as utterly unfit
for professors of religion, and sadly out of place in
the house of a member of the church. This, he
hoped, would put a check to the proceeding; but
finding that he could not succeed in this, he
promptly resolved thit he would no’ remain in the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 143

house where such proceedings were carried on.
Owing to the darkness of the night, and the diffi-
cult character of the way, it was out of the question
to think of going away on wheels, and accordingly
he ordered his horse, borrowed a saddle, and leaving
his friend behind, sought his way out to the public
road, and thence to a tavern, where he tarried for
the night, and returned in the morning for his
friend and vehicle. This step gave lasting offence
to a portion of the company, including several
professors of religion, who had engaged in the
amusements of the night; but, perhaps, no man
ever was more indifferent than Bascom to opposition
elicited by a stern adherence to what he regarded
as Christian principle.

The session of Congress finally closed, I think,
in the early part of June, and Bascom, anxious to
return to the West, had himself booked for the
western stage, to go out the morning succeeding
the adjournment. Just at this conjuncture, a pro-
vidential circumstance strongly developed another
trait in his character, which deserves to be under-
stood. After he had entered his name and paid
his passage across the mountains, his friend —
above alluded to — came into the city sick. No
sooner was this known to Bascom, than he hastened
to his bed-side, and finding him with a high fever,
went himself for a physician immediately. The
attack proved stubborn, and though his friend was
144 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

well provided for, in a hospitable and kind family,
with every attention necessary, this would not
satisfy Bascom; but, withdrawing his name from
the stage-coach book, he took his position by the
ved of his sick friend, and there remained day
and night, administering medicine, and performing
all possible kind offices, until the disease was fuirly
subdued, and the patient able again to go out on
the discharge of the duties of his vocation.

This circumstance not only tended to prove how
wholly devoted he was to his friends, but it inci-
dentally exerted an important influence over his
subsequent course for years. Just as Bascom was
thinking of making another effort to return to his
western home, his friend urged him, with much
importunity, to attend with him a camp meeting on
South river, some ten miles from Annapolis; and
this was done under the conviciion that if Bascom
could be fairly brought out on his favorite theatre
-—a forest camp meeting — “Richard would be
himself again.” And so it proved; for at that
meeting he preached with an eloquence and power
that had not been heard in any of his discourses
previously delivered in that region.

It was his purpose to return at the close of the
meeting to Washington, and thence over the
mountains without delay, but at this meeting he
became acquainted with a number of prominent
members of the church from Bultimore, Annapolis,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 145

and several other places, and to some of them he
became much attached, and he was not now so
well prepared to resist their earnest solicitations
for him to visit and preach in their respective
cities, as he was before making their acquaintance.
The result was, that before separating, Bascom had
given a promise to visit several of those cities
before returning home. In fulfillment of that
promise he went from the camp meeting to the
city of Annapolis, and there preached to an admir-
ing multitude. From that place he went to the
city of Baltimore, where, by this time, his fame
had began to be sounded abroad, and a great
desire to hear him prevailed in the community.
His first appointment in Baltimore was on
Thursday night, in the old Light street church.
The congregation was large and deeply attentive;
and though the preacher did not enjoy his usual
liberty, his discourse was received with general
gratification, not to say enthusiasm, by the
audience. The writer asked the opinion of one
who was at that time regarded as the most
eloquent Methodist minister in the city, and who
had, from rumor, conceived a strong prejudice
against the preacher. His answer was, in sub-
stance: “I had utterly misapprehended the
character of Mr. Bascom’s talents; I had been
led to believe that his sermons were made up of
pretty borrowings and stealings from poets and
WM
146 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

other elegant authors; but, though he was clearly
not at liberty to-night, yet there was an originality
of thought, and a strength of frame work in his
sermon that none but a master could originate
and put together.”

On the Sabbath following he preached again,
and the same respectable minister was inquired
of respecting the performance. ‘TI will answer,”
said he, “by saying that I abhor long sermons,
and that he preached nearly two hours; I not
only had to stand all the time, but to stand ina
crowd, and yet I was not tired, and did not think
the sermon more than half an hour in length.”

From this time Bascom was almost an idol with
the people of Baltimore generally, and there was
no house in the city of sufficient capacity to
accommodate his audiences. A week or two after
this he attended a large camp meeting, fourteen
miles from Baltimore, near the York road. Here
his preaching was overwhelmingly powerful and
brilliant, and the universal verdict appeared to be
that never had such preaching been heard in that
country. Ilis fame flew on the wings of all the
winds, and people came twenty and thirty miles
to hear him preach a single sermon.

At this meeting, he for the first time met wi.h
the late Rev. Nicholas Snethen, who, in his prime,
was regarded as the most eloquent and effective
field-preacher that the Methodist Church in
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 147

America had produced. The “old man eloquent”
appeared greatly delighted to find himself so
effectually superseded on his own favorite field
of glory, by the young orator of the west, and
before the meeting closed he had taken a promise
from Bascom to attend a camp-meeting in
Frederick circuit, near Mr. Snethen’s residence,
and not far from the old Straw Bridge meeting
house —the first Methodist house of worship
erected in Maryland, if not in America. He at
the same time engaged to attend a camp meeting,
to be held soon after on Baltimore circuit, some
twelve or fifteen miles from the city. Afterward,
when notes came to be compared, it appeared that
these two meetings were to come off at the same
time. Bascom had promised, under a mistake at
the time, to attend both, and as neither party
would relinquish the claim, it was in the end
agreed that he should attend the Baltimore camp
from its commencement — Thursday — until the
Sabbath, and then go to the other—a distance
of twenty miles, and remain from Monday morning
until the meeting ended — Wednesday.

When the time arrived, Mr. Bascom, accompanied
by his friend, attended the Baltimore camp. A
large number had encamped on the ground, the
congregation was very large, and Bascom preached
very much as of late he had been accustomed to
preach—to the admiration of all, and the profiting
148 LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM.

of thousands. But the Sabbath was the great day
of the feast; it seemed as if the country and city
had poured out their vast aggregate of population,
and the congregation was immense. At eleven
o'clock Mr. Bascom entered the pulpit all trem-
bling with the weight of his fearful responsibility,
— the very leaves of his hymn book rattled with
the tremor of his hand, while he read his hymn.
Ilis theme was the great Gospel Commission, and
never did even he treat that sublime subject
with so much grandeur and power. He had not
preached much over half an hour, until every soul
in the vast assembly was up and pressing toward
the stand, amazed, weeping, wonder-stricken. The
stillness of death reigned, save that, in his mo-
mentary pauses, a burst of feeling would gush out
involuntarily; but the moment he resumed, all
was checked and hushed. But when, near the
close, he came to dwell on the encouragement
vouchsafed to the faithful minister of grace, as
found in the promise of the Saviour, “Lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the world,”
there was an unutterable unciion, which seemed
to fall like rain on the assembly, and the out-
bursts of deep feeling could no longer be held in
resiraint. In the midst of his thrilling descrip-
tion of the sustainmg power and presence of the
Saviour— supporting the faithful minister under his
burden of toil and trial, whispering, when all other
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 149-

friends deserted, “Lo, I am with you,” soothing
his anguish on the bed of sickness, and going
with him through the cold stream of death —when
he appeared to have said all that could be said,
and every heart responded, “It is enough,” his
eye lit on two very aged ministers, Rev. Nelson
Reid and Rev. Joseph Toy, the latter entirely
blind, and both trembling on the very verge of
the grave; and when he saw them smiling through
their tears, and clinging with the sirength of a
death-grip to the glorious promise, whose divine
treasures he was unfolding, he exclaimed, as no
man could, “Think you, that the Author of this
divine promise is going to desert a Toy in his
blindness, or a Reid in his age and infirmity, after
they have worn life out in his cause? Never,
never, never! Faithful fathers, it was Jesus who
just now whispered, ‘Lo, I am with you.’” I know,
that this imperfect description can give the reader
no adequate idea of the scene. To obtain this,
he must imagine the pitch of intense feeling to
which the mighty multitude was wrought up; he
must imagine before him the two venerable minis-
ters, furrowed, bent, gray, blind, trembling with
age, and trembling, yet more violently, with deep
emotion; he must see them, as the night-fall of
death is closing around them, clinging, with
delighted confidence, to the omnipotent promise of
Christ, as one sinking in the deep dark sea cling2
150 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

to the spar thrown out to him; he must conceive
of the almost supernatural manner and inspiratior
of the preacher, and the peculiar crisis—the
flood-tide of feeling at the moment; and then,
in such a state of things, see the preacher turn to
the old time-worn ministers, and make a personal
‘application of the promise to them, in such a
maunuer, that one seems to hear the voice of
Christ himself addressing them from Olivet, by
nime. Then, only, may he form some idea of
the powerful effect.* That effect was like sheet-

* The following animated description of that sermon was written
at the time by a lady of Baltimore, in a letter to her friend, and ap
peared in some of the periodicals of the day:

“ The horn blew, the noise ceased, the gathering crowds dispersed,
and each one sought a seat. An awful stillness reigned — every
thing seemed to give magic and grandeur to the scene — the winds
of heaven were lulled, and scarce w breeze ruffled the trees — the
very birds ceased their vocal melody — expectation sat on every
face —when, lo! this wonder from the west arose. LEvery eye
brightened, and every ear was attentive. Dignity marked his de-
portment, and intelligence flashed from his keen eye. He appeared
like the genius of the forest, whose lowering oaks overshaded
him, come to hunt infidelity from the carth, and to extirpate deism
for ever. Never, perhaps, was there a more magnificent display
of oratory. On the Messiahship and regal dominion of Christ, he
wus sublimely grand beyond description, His style and language
are energetic and vehement — he is like a mighty torrent, impatient
of restraint, and rolls with such impetuosity, that you are compelled
to folluw. In his flights he moves with the velocity of a whirlwind ;
in the same moment, he will take you to heaven, and dive with you
to hell. He triumphantiy answered every argument a Paine or a
Voltaire could advance; he defied the infidel to trace time and
search the chronicles of eternity, and find a parallel to the sacrifice
of the Saviour of the world; he bid the philosopher go on contem
piation’s trembling wing, and reason, with her glimmering light,
LIFE OF BISUOP BASCOM. 151

lightning, on the whole assembly, and, above all,
on those old veterans of the cross. The burst of
feeling was tremendous; and the preacher, com
pletely exhausted by two hours of extraordinary
exertion, sat down amid sobs, and tears, and
shouts of joy.
On the afternoon of that day, Mr. Bascom and
his friend rode to the house of Col. Guest, a vener-
able officer of the revolution, and the next morning
to the Frederick camp. The number of persons
encamped on the ground was supposed to be even

assist — and what could they do against the Gospel? Though
founded by a Jewish peasant —propagated and handed down bya
few poor fishermen selected from a Gallilean shore — yet, even these
men had shaken imperial Rome to her centre, and confounded
Greece with all her learning. ‘This Gospel was now riding
throughout the world in triumph; and Lagan temples of the East
were falling, and the mosque of the musslemen was crumbling, and
the rose of Sharon should yet bloom in the desert, and blossom on
the mountains of eternal snow. Ilis description of what a faithful
minlster ought to be, exceeded even Cowper on Paul. He must
have had an eye that never winked, a judgment that never erred,
and a wing that never tired. He was to go wherever misery was to
be found, or man reclaimed; he was to consider this earth as his
birth-right, the world as his parish, and the universe as his diocese ;
he was to freeze under the pole of the north, and burn under the
fine of the south; he was not to shrink from the palace of infidelity,
or tremble at the chair of magistracy; for he had the promise of the
Saviour: “and lo! Iam with you always.” He preached until be
was exhausted, and was compelled to cease. The words last uttered
were responded by many, and vibrated on the listening multitude —
“Glory to God in the highest.” Never could he have been
more gratified than on that day— hundreds and thousands of
people, among whom were besuty and talents, all gazing in mute
astonishment at this star from the West —this Kentucky orator —
this American Cicero.” MEEKKEE,
152 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

greater than at the other camy ; and as an appoint
ment had been published on the Sabbath for Bascom
to preach on this morning, at eleven o’clock, his
spreading fame had attracted a large additional
number to hear the great orator. But his exertions
on the preceding day had overtasked his physical
energies, and when the hour for preaching was at
hand, it was found that he had to retire to bed
instead of going into the pulpit, and his place had
to be supplied by his friend.

By the preaching hour in the afternoon, he had
become so much better as to be able to preach, but
in a guarded and cautious manner. His sermon was
of an expository and practical character, intended
to accommodate his inability to put forth strong
and continuous effort. In the stand, behind the
preacher, was no common array of talent — the
present Bishop Waugh was in charge of the circuit,
and Mr. Snethen was one of the auditors. Of the
eloquence of the latter, we have already spoken.
It was said that a camp meeting sermon of his, wi
his palmy days, so effectually bewildered the brain
of the late Bishop George, that he acted like one
bereft of reason — attempting, among other strange
acts, to climb a tree which stood on the camp
yround. But this great master was now sitting at
the feet of a mere youth, to receive, with a child-like
docility, instructions or impressions of good. In
the course of his sermon, Mr. Bascom had occasion
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 153

to speak of the devices of Sutan, and it must be
confessed that some features of the protean portrait
were sufficiently startling. Now the arch fiend was
detected as the wily serpent hidden in the flowery
grass, ready to strike the deadly fang into the foot,
and send the killing poison through the veins of
the unsuspec‘ing pilgrim; now he appeared an
angel of light, offering his tempting suggestions
uuder the guise of messages of mercy fresh from
the throne of Heavenly Goodness; or, armed with
power, he was seen coming up in his wrath, the
furious Lybian lion, whose terrible roar made the
hills to tremble, spreading death and desolation in
his bloody march. As he was finishing his startling
picture, Mr. Snethen, apparently unconscious of
the place and circumstances around him, turned
to the other preachers by his side, and audibly
exclaimed, “Brethren, he frightens me; he frightens
me! I never was afraid of the devil before in all
my life!” And as he spake, tears rolled down his
venerable fice. Such was the effect of this dis-
course on the congregation, that scores on scores
were cut to the heart, and cried for mercy. Indeed
such was the depth of this work on the hearts of
the people, that there was found no more place for
preaching until the next day. All the remainder
of the day, and through the entire night the
encampment was vocal with the groans and sobs of
penitents, and the rejoicings of new born converts.
154 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Tke next morning Mr. Bascom was feverish,
and evidently unfit for farther exertion, yet such
was the universal desire to hear him again, that
he yielded to it, contrary to the convictions of his
own judgment, and against the earnest remon-
strance of his friend—who readily enough foresaw
the consequences. His subject was one which
called into full action all his powers of mind and
body, and the effect on the audience was tremen-
dous. He preached until his strength was entirely
gone, and then sank down utterly powerless. He
was assisted to bed, and in fifteen minutes from the
time of leaving the stand he was wildly delirious
with a raging fever, and making incoherent efforts
to finish his sermon.* Good physicians and care-
ful nursing, however, soon overcame the disease, and

in two days he was able to return to Baltimore.

* The following account of his preaching at the last named meeting,
and of his talents, is from the pen of the present Bishop Waugh:

«Mr, Bascom preached at four o’clock, on the subject of practical
Christianity. In our jadgment it was one of the most masterly dis-
courses we ever listencd to. It was heard with great interest. Many
were convinced that they were ‘wanting’ by being thus weighed in
the ‘balance of the sanctuary.” On Tuesday Mr. Bascom agaia
preached. His subject was, the evidences of the Christian religion.
Here, he, if possible, exceeded his discourse on Monday. It is not
our purpose to eulogize the preachers in this communication, yet
a@ man so remarkable for intellectual greatness, presents such an
uccasion to contemplate the dignity of our specics, that we beg
indulgence while we bring him more fully before those who had not
the happiness to sce and hear him, Mr, Bascom is about twenty
sieht years of age. We has been a Methodist itinerant minister for
nearly twelve years. Iis enunciation is very distinct, and his delivery
ancommonty rapid. Dis conceptions are strong and forcible. The
most choice language conveys the finest sentiments to his delighted
CHAPTER XIII.

On his return to Bultimore he found a messenger
from the peninsula, or eastern shore of Maryland,
awaiting his return, to take him over the Chesa-
peake bay to a camp-meeting then in progress.
After the meeting had been continued several
days, it was resolved to continue it still a week
longer, in hope of getting Mr. Bascom to it before
the close. He could not resist this strong appeal,
and the ‘hext day crossed the bay, and labored
with his usual zeal and success among the people
of the peninsula for some time.

The eastern shore of Maryland then, as now,
belonged to the Philadelphia conference, and, of
course, this visit introduced him to the society and
acquaintance of several preachers of that confer-
ence. Some of these were from the city of
Philadelphia, and they became very desirous that
Mr. Bascom should visit their city, and one of

audience. He has a bold enterprising mind, of ample powers to
bear him out in all his undertakings. He is an original. He is like
no man that we have ever heard. Perhaps his style bears a nearer
resemblance to that of the celebrated Chalmers, than any other.
We do not pretend to have done ample justice to this great man, in
the feeble attempt we have made to exhibit him to the mind of the
reader. Permit us then to add, that we have heard many great
men, but he exceeds them all.”
156 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

them came over to Baltimore with him to carry
his desire into effect, if possible. For the time
being the messenger failed of his object, but in a
short time another came, who was more persever-
ing and importunate. Mr. Bascom, believing thit
he was the most unsuccessful man of a thousand
to introduce himself into a strange community,
refused to go unless arrangements should be
made which would enable his friend to accompany
him. The people of Baltimore, however, soon
provided for such an arrangement, and it was
accordingly made.

It was now September, 1824, and as the Marquis
de La Fayette, the early and firm friend of Amer-
ican independence, had arrived on our shores, and
was in a short time to be received in the city of
Baltimore, the journey was delayed a few days, fur
the purpose of witnessing that pageant of gratitude.
That reception was grand beyond description.
— Thousands of volunteers, elegantly equipped,
cavalry caparisoned in the most splendid manner,
triumphal arches, a universal and magnificent illu-
mination, and every thing that gratitude or pride
could suggest, or wealth could procure, to render
the welcome of the nation’s guest brilliant and
imposing, was pressed into the service on that occa-
sion. Mr. Bascom was one of a select few invited
to the honor of a private interview with the great
volleague of Washington, on the evening of that day.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 157

On the evening of the next day, Mr. Buscom,
with his traveling companion, started for Philadel-
phia. The trip was expeditiously performed for
that time, but there were some things about it
entirely new to the western orator, and which would,
just now, be equally novel to those who make the
same journey by the present improved mode of
conveyance.

At the appointed hour, a large crowd assembled
on the steamboat, and were soon under full headway
for the destined port. As there were many more
passengers than berths, there were put into a hat
as many numbers and blanks together as there were
passengers. On paying his passage-money, the
passenger thrust his hand into the hat and drew
out a ticket; if he drew a number, he had the
privilege of occupying the berth to which it belonged
until about midnight — the usual time of ‘lebarka-
tion ; if a blank, he had the privilege of sitting up
for the same period. This point of debarkation
was Frenchtown, a village at the head of navigation
ou Elk river, chiefly famous for the uncivilized
warfare waged on the unoffending denizens. by
Admiral Cockburn, of the British navy, during the
war of 1812. At this place the boat landed at
twelve o’clock, on a pitchy dark night. The next
thing to be thought of, was the means of getting
from this place across the state of Delaware, a
distance of sixteen miles, to Newcastle, on the
158 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Delaware river, where another boat was to be taken
for Philadelphia. This portage had to be passed
in coaches of such capacity as to carry nine passen-
gers each. For convenience and order, the names
of nine passengers were placed on a card which
bore on it number one, indicating that these nine
passengers were to depend on coach No. 1, to convey
their persons and their luggage to the next boat.
And so on until all the passengers were provided for.
Thus provided, the passengers were landed in the
dark; and then followed a scene of Bubel-like
confusion, that beggars description One or two
persons stepped off the pier into the river, but
were fortunately rescued; the passengers soon
began to call out lustily for their several numbers,
and while, perhaps, fifty voices at once called out
all the numbers from one to fourteen, all the
coachmen at once loudly responded “ Here,” and
so left the parties precisely as much in uncertainty
as they were before. After a long time, matters
were brought to an adjustment, and the cavalcade
advanced in the order of their numbers, at the
pace of a heavily laden road team. In this way
they proceeded, until they reached the half-way
house. Here the horses were watered, and the
drivers liberally whiskeyed. The ‘spur in the head’
soon began to operate, and matters underwent a
sudden change. Whips began to snap, horses to
prance, and coaches to move with life. No. 2
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 159

passed No. 1 under the lash, and Nos. 3 and 4
engaged in a sharp contest, until finally the horses
of No. 4, breaking into a by-road, carried driver and
passengers into an open field, and upset the coach
injuring several passengers. After this manner
the residue of the way was passed over.

It must be recollected, that some months before
this time the justly celebrated Mr. Summerfield
had returned from Europe, and was occupying a
large space in the public mind. No man, probably,
until Mr. Bascom commenced his career in Bulti-
more, had ever commanded such audiences, or
received so much attention in that city, as Mr.
Summerfield. The latter had, for some months,
been spending his time and labors chiefly in Phila-
delphia, and, as we have seen, during the same
period, Mr. Bascom had spent his time chiefly about
Baltimore. Now it happened, almost as matter of
course, that the public mind got up a sort of rivalry
between these two great men, very much against
their wishes. It was very common to hear a Bulti-
morean say that Bascom was the greater preacher,
and as common to hear a Philadelphian give the
like pre-eminence to Summerfield. This was,
indeed, in Mr. Bascom’s mind, a serious objection
to visiting Philadelphia. He was exceedingly
auxious to hear a preacher of such wonderful
celebrity as young Summerfield, and Summerfield
was equally anxious to hear a young preacher from
160 LIFE OF BISIOP BASCOM.

the western fores‘s, whose fume had spread all over
the land; and yet, the idea of being placed before
the public in the attitude of rival competitors for
popular applause, was utterly revolting to the
feelings of both; for they felt conscious of being
governed by higher and holier motives, and that
they were contending for a nobler prize than the:
fickle meed of human applause.

Mr. Summerfield heard that Mr. Bascom was
intending to visit Philadelphia, at the same time
he had an agreement to visit the interior of
Pennsylvania, but so desirous was he to hear the
western orator, that he took from his friends a
promise to give him the earliest possible informa-
tion of Mr. Bascom’s arrival. Before reaching
Philadelphia, so fearful was Mr. Bascom of being
left alone among strangers, that he insisted on an
agreement with his traveling companion, thut the
latter should not consent to accept any appoint-
ment that might prevent him from being present
whenever Buscom had to preach; but this league
was soon dissolved by the arrangements of the
stationed preachers of the city. His first efforts
in the city made a fine impression, though, as the
writer had not the privilege of hearing him, and
had to depend on the reports of those who had
never heard him before, he could not well deter-
mine how he would compare with himself.

A few days after reaching the city, Mr. Sum-
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 16]

merfield arrived, and the writer had the pleasure
of being present at the first interview between
these two intellectual princes. On the following
Sibbath morning, Mr. Bascom preached at the
Ebenezer church, an eloquent and effective ser-
mon, and Mr. Summerfield was one of his auditors.
At the dinner table a lady said to Mr. Summer-
field, “ We have been hearing the western orator
this morning; this afternoon we shall have the
pleasure of hearing the young English orator” —
alluding to himself. “My dear madam,” said he,
“it will be but too much like turning from the
rich notes of the German flute to hear the music
of a penny-whistle.”

The same afternoon Mr. Summerfield preached
at the Union church,— then commonly called the
Academy, and Mr. Bascom was his hearer for the
first time. His text was — “If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,” &e.
Tis sermon was delivered in his own peculiar
gentle winning style; and when he came to speak
of the faithfulness and justice of God, — the very
attributes which might cause the sinner to tremble
with terror, —as being enlisted on the side of the
conirite, and pledged to the salvation of the
penitent, oh, how richly, how sweetly he unfolded
the benefits of redemption by Christ Jesus. All
were affected and delighted, and few or none more

30 than Bascom.
l
16% LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

We give a notice of the services of this day,
which appeared in one of the principal city papers
on the day following :

“ Among the strangers at present on a visit to
our city, is Rev. Mr. Bascom, chaplain to the
United States House of Representatives during
its late session, a gentleman who disputes the
palm of oratory in the Methodist Church with
Mr. Summerfield, —if it be lawful to use such
language in reference to men whose only rivalry
is who shall do the most good. In a sermon
delivered on Thursday evening, Mr. Bascom did
not equal the expectations of the public; but in a
sermon delivered yesterday morning in the church
in Southwark, he surpassed them. All who heard
him, pronounced his discourse truly sublime.

“Jn the afternoon Mr. Summerfield preached to
a very crowded congregation, of the first respecta-
bility, in the church on Fourth street above
Market. Hundreds were unable to obtain ad-
mittance, and Mr. Summerfield was, as usual,
obliged to enter through a back window. From
a gentleman who has heard him frequently, we
learn that he yesterday afternoon delivered one of
his plain, praclical discourses. The most fastidious
critic could find no fault with it. But it did not
abound in those flights of oratory with which he
sometimes delights and astonishes his auditors.”

The question has of:en been put, which of these
LIFE OF BISMOP BASCOM. 163

two mental giants was the greater man, orator and
preacher? This question is not easily answered ;
for their characteristic points were so very differ-
ent, so opposite, that it is impossible to institute a
successful comparison. All was contrast, yet each
excelled the other immeasurably in his own peculiar
orbit. The one was the tornado, the other the
soft zephyr: the one was the mountain torrent,
leaping from cliff to cliff, and plunging from rock
to chasm: the other, the gently murmuring rill,
flowing musically on its pebbly channel amidst
verdant herbage and fragrant flowers: the one
was the storm cloud, awing the beholder by its
sublimity; the other, the sunlit cloud of evening,
attracting by its beauty and loveliness.

The next day a number of ministers were
invited to dine together at the house of Mr. Cook.
Among the guests on that occasion were Rev.
Ezekiel Cooper, the veteran pioneer, Rev. L.
McCombs, Rev. James Smith, B. Rev. John
Summerfield, and Rev. H. B. Bascom. Where
are they now? Guests and entertainer all, all
gone to the spirit-land to enjoy their everlasting
reward.

At this social meeting an unpleasant incident
occurred. Mr. Summerfield was speaking of long
sermons, and, without considering the possible
application of the remark, observed that Dr.
Clarke was said to have expressed the opinion
164 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

that no man-could preach good sense for more
than an hour at one time. His manner might
seem to give sanction to the sentiment, and was
so understood by some of the parity; and as
Gascom and one or two other ministers present
had preached more than an hour on the day
before, the remark was felt and applied in a painful
and personal manner. Bascom and Smith soon
afterwards excused themselves, and withdrew from
the company with feelings not ‘the most pleasant.
At a subsequent period, however, a full explana-
tion took place, and Bascom and Summerfield
were ardent friends ever after until the death of
the latter.

Before Bascom had been two weeks in Phila-
delphia, a messenger was sent up from the eastern
shore of Maryland, with directions not to return
until he should bring Mr. Bascom down with him.
Tie succeeded in his object; Mr. Bascom again
visited the peninsula, and after remaining until
November, he returned to Baltimore.

Letters, messages, and messengers poured in
on him from all directions, earnestly soliciting him
to visit and preach at various points; and so fur
as his health would permit, he complied with
those pressing invitations. This state of incessant
labor and excitement had the effect greatly to
impair his physical powers; stil, no sooner did
he recover sufficiently from one attack, than he
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 165
again took the field, with almost a certainty of
being prostrated by the effort. In this manner
he spent the winter of 1824-25; but we cannot
follow him in all his labors and travels.

Mr. Bascom, as has been noticed, witnessed the
grand entreé of Lafayette at Baltimore in Septem-
ber, and was one of the committee of reception,
that distinguished guest was now about to be
received at Annapolis—the civil metropolis of
the state of Maryland — and Bascom was invited
to be present, and take part in the ceremonies.
Several circumstances tended to invest the event
with peculiar interest. The reception of the brave
old Marquis by the military and the populace, by
the House of Representatives, and by the governor
and council of state, was imposing and interesting,
but his reception in the senate chamber was
affecting, and to no one more so than the venerable
Marquis himself. The Congress of the United
States met at that place in 1783, and on the
23d of December of that year General Washington
there resigned his commission as commander in
chief of the American army. This fact did not
escape the memory of Lafuyette, who was sensibly
affected by the recollection; and the more so,
as it was now within four days of the same time in
December, at which time that event occurred. “I
am happy,” said he in substance, “in having the
privilege of meeting you, my friends, in this sacred
166 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

place, for it was in this chamber that my great
father-in-arms resigned his sword to the American
Congress, afzer having achieved a nation’s redemp-
tion— thereby rendering this place sacred through
all time while one brick of this venerable edifice
shall continue to lie upon another. And now,
after a lapse of forty-one years, I am permitted to
return here and witness the wonderful results of
his patriotic labors.”

On the following day, Lafiyette reviewed the
troops assembled on the occasion. For this pur-
pose, an elegantly decorated pavilion was erected
on a common, lying between the old college and
a cove of the bay, or, as it is improperly called,
river, Which common had formed the military
encampment of a part of the French soldiers
whom Lafayette had brought over to aid in our
struggle for independence; and here was the
burying-ground, beneath whose mould reposed the
dust of many a gallant Frenchman, who, at the
call of Lafayette, had come to peril and lose
life in the cause of American liberty. This
burial place now lay out an open common, and
over the undistinguishable graves of those brave-
hearted Frenchmen, now tramped thousands of
gayly equipped soldiers, assembled, not for fierce
conflict, but for military display, before him who
had lead the sleeping soldiers beneath their feet
to our shores.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 167

During the review, a little incident occurred,
which began in alarm but ended in mirth. As
an officer was riding near the pavilion, mounted
on a high mettled and fiery horse, the wind, which
was very high, detached from the pavilion a piece
of red festooning, some five or six yards in length,
and carried it through the air until it came in
contact with the flowing tail of the fiery steed,
around which it wrapped itself. The horse,
frightened by this new appendage, plunged away
fearfully, and run at his utmost speed, directly
towards the cove near by, the red streamer flying
at full length behind in the air. At length, it
became detached; and the moment it was seen
that danger was over, the collected thousands
broke into one grand burst of laughter at the
ludicrous exhibition, and the old Marquis shook
his very sides with mirthful excitement.

The day following was the Sabbath. Mr.
Bascom was called on to preach. The Marquis
and suit, with a multitude of the magnates of the
day, were in attendance. Regarding this as a
fit occasion for asserting the high clans of
Christianity on all, as well the great as the lowly,
he read for his text, “I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, for it is the power cf God unto
salvation.” His manner was as bold and lofty as
the noble declaration which formed his theme.
His arguments in defence of Christ’s religion were
168 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

clear, convincing, and riveted firmly on the under-
standing of the hearer; his rebukes of infidelity
just, severe, withering; his illustration of the
saving power of the gospel, heart-stirring, grand,
and overpowering. The stout hearted, the veteran
sinner, and men in high places, who were not wont
to make concessions to the claims of the gospel,
were subdued and melted to penitence by his
burning words.

‘The following. notice of this sermon we copy
from a newspaper:

“The subject selected by Mr. B. is a beautiful
one. The declaration of the Apostle of the
Gentiles —‘ For Iam not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ’ — has afforded a theme for hundreds
of pulpit orators before him. We have heard
sundry divines deduce from these words the
common Christian duty of acknowledging the
Christian religion with boldness, and of giving to
it, the advocacy of their precept and example,
and we have often heard, under authority of the
same words, ample denunciations of those who
are ashamed of the humble and_ self-denying
docirines inculeated by the Founder of that
religion. All this is very necessary, by way of
warning to unbelievers, and of moment to the
doubting Christian. But Mr. B. did not content
himself with these matters. He treated the
Christian religion as a divine institution, and with
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 169

the bold hand of a maser, demonstrated its
truths from its history and its intrinsic philoso-
phy. Verily, he did this well.

“Tn contrasting the Christian religion with
other religions of the world, he represented them
as being planted by the hand of power and con-
nected with the fortunes of dynasties, and, of
course, carrying upon their creeds unphilosophical
dogmas, having their origin in the imaginations,
or the interests of their founders, the absurdities
of which must produce skepticism in the enlight-
ened mind, and can only be successfully addressed
to the credulity of the ignorant. Hence he
inferred, that the thrones and the priesthoods of
the world have conspired to keep man ignorant,
by repressing the curiosity which would lead him
to reasoning, the result of which would be his
mental and political emancipation. The Christian
teligion, he said, was a seedling, planted in an
uncongenial soil. As it grew, the chilling storms
and winds of the north, the burning sun and
withering siroccos of the south, had conspired to
check iis growth. The beasis of the forest cropped
its foliage, and the wild boar whetted his tusks
upon its trunk. Nevertheless, by virtue of its
strength and self-reproducing power, its roots had
sunk deep in the earth, and its branches towered
aloft, and spread far and wide.

“Tn demonstrating the truth of the Christian
170 LIFE Of BISHOP BASCOM.

religion from the adaptation of its histcry, and
that of its Master to the sympathies, passions,
and frailties of human nature, he was particularly
successful. In this, he founded the philosophy of
the ‘Gospel of Christ.’ The writer of this article
uever before heard this powerful argument wielded
as its importance deserves by a pulpit orator,
except once. Verily, the writer of this ariicle .
would ride (yes, or walk, either) many miles to
hear Mr. Bascom again draw around his argument
the illustrative energy which the poetry of his
subject affords. This is his forte. He not only
convinces, but he captivates. In this he differs
from most of those who occupy the sacred desk.
They would, generally, seem studiously to avoid
the ideality of the wonderful subject, which is the
theme of their addresses. They approach its
awful and beautiful sublimities—ideas struggle for
utterance, and words tremble upon their lips,
which, if uttered, would commend religion to
reason and taste — they falter, hesitate, and grope
their way back again within the measured land-
marks of a creed.”

The sermon drew from the Marquis, as well as
from many other persons, high commendation.

During this winter Mr. Bascom made a preaching
tour through a portion of Pennsylvania, visiting
York, Gettysburg, Chambersburgh, Carlisle, Har-
risburg, and other places, and preaching at all
LIFE OF - BISHOP BASCOM. 171

While on this tour the following notice of his
pulpit lubors appeared in a Pennsylvania paper :—

“We commenced preaching at eleven o’clock,
and did not conclude till fifteen minutes after one.
During all this time, the utmost silence prevailed ;
for it was a suitable and pathetic sermon, delivered
in the most feeling and touching manner, to pre-
pare the minds of the congregation for the solemn
act which they were just going to perform — the
partaking of the Lord’s Supper. He took his text
from the last chapter of St. Luke, forty-sixth and
forty-seventh verses; and, throughout the whole
discussion, he evinced a thorough knowledge of the
sacred scriptures; an intimate acquaintance with
the classics; a familiarity with the arts and
sciences; with law and government; and with
natural and moral philosophy.

“The laws of the Great Ruler of the universe,
and the laws of human invention belonging to the
different nations, which he adverted to with so much
facility as evidence to prove the position he had
taken, of the ‘vicarious office of Christ, as appli-
cable and necessary to man’s salvation here, and
glory hereafter, were the strongest arguments on
this point that we have ever heard, adduced: they
prove, moreover, that HE is an able and zealous
champion of the gospel ministry.

In the evening the church was still more crowded
than it was during the day. He preached from St.
172 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Matthew’s gospel, eleventh chapter, and part of
the nineteenth verse. An equal display of elo-
quence, pathos, and volubility were exkibited, as
in the morning; although, previous to his com-
mencing, he apologized to his hearers for the want
of strength, in consequence of the numerous calls
he was obliged (from courtesy) to accept and fulfill.

“ Notwithstanding all the advantages possessed
by Mr. Bascom, calculated to attract the vulgar,
to fascinate the well disposed, to entertain the
scholar, to awaken the wicked, and to gladden the
heart of the Christian; yet there is something
wanting to make him a good orator, according to
the doctrines and lectures of Blair and others.
He wants method; for, sometimes, we observe too
much formality, and at others too much jie. We
frequently lose the sense and meaning of his argu-
ments, in consequence of the fleetness of his ideas,
which rush upon him with impetuosity. But this
defect cin be obviated through time, and no doubt
will be obviated ; for it is a defect of such magni-
tude, and it detracts so much from the character
of an accomplished orator, that every ar: should
be employed to cure it. It is more than probable,
however, that his zea/, not his want of judgment,
leads him into this error. Upon the whole, he is
a powerful preacher, a highly gifted man, and
calculated to do much good. That he may con-
tinue to benefit the people by his exertions, and
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 173

grow in knowledge and truth, is the sincere wish
of the writer.”

While in Harrisburg —the seat of the state
government —the Visttor published the following
article :

“Rev. Mr. Bascom.— This extraordinary orator
has paid us a visit, and preached three times to
crowded houses. The following just tribute we
cheerfully copy from the Democratic Press. The
writer says: ‘I have no disposition to dishonor
the pulpit, by lavishing adulation upon its friends
and advocates. The pulpit is sacred— it is the
store-house from which is broken the bread of
life, and with humility and great deference to
its corner stone, I would submit a few remarks
upon one of its f.ithful stewards—I mean the
Kev. Mr. Buscom. If we may judge from this
man’s powers of mind, from his devotion to the
cause of his Master, and from his captivating
manner, he gladly dispenses the word of truth;
we think him worthy of the high vocation to which
he professes to have been called. Such are the
prodigious stores of intellectual wealth with which
he is endowed, that he enriches every part of his
subject, and upon dry and barren“ topics, he
engrafts variety and rich abundance. Fired by
the heroism of the Christian warfare, he draws and
fastens the careless to the great subject of the
Bible; inflexibly fixed to the standard of the
174 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

cross, he confirms the wavering and strengthens
the weak; and to complete the impression, and to
give the effect to his labor, he sallies in whirlwinds
of eloquence, and quivers in terrible lustre along
the historic page of the Christian church.

“The whole range of theology, (the hill of
Calvary excepted,) affords nothing more sublime,
more awfully grand, than the view taken by this
man on Sunday 13th, of these words, ‘God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not
perish, but hhave everlasting life.” This discourse
possessed something loftier than usual; connected
with this sublime subject, it seemed to stretch
beyond the human horizon; it was a seat that
translates man to the abode of angels.”

“On Sunday last, he delivered a lecture upon
the second Psalm, which was one of the most
sublime, bold and grand views, perhaps, ever taken
of this interesting part of scripture. Betimes his
subject appeared to be exhausted; then, pausing
for a moment, as if waiting to see whether every
one was not convinced of what he had been
saying — new views, and new imaginations would
flash upon his mind, when he would svar again,
and paint in the most glowing colors the goodness
of God, and the justness of his severity.”

At that place, the fire of his eloquence appears
to have awakened the spirit of poesy in the breast
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 175

of alady. She was asked whether she preferred
to be finned by the gentle dreczes of Summerfield’s
oratory, or wafted by the whirlwinds of Buscom’s
eloquence, and below is her answer :

I love the sighing of the gentle breeze,

As soft it sweeps along the greenwood trees,
I love to feel its sweet refreshing power,
Reanimate my languid frame, and thus new life restore.
But, oh! [ love still more the powerful gale,
That scales the mountain as it leaves the vale,
Sublimely rising — sec! it whirls, it flies !
Before it, every noxious vapor dies :

Its purifying influence now I prove,

And breathe on earth the atmosphere above;
Renewed, invigorated, still I rise,

Leave earth behind, and soar above the skies.

: S .N..
Ho~-isburg, Pa., February 9th, 1825.
CHAPTER XIV.

Mr. Bascom finishes his Pennsylvania Tour — Returns to Baltimore,
and in March goes to his station in Pittsburg —Is cordially
received — Complimentary Newspaper notice — Unitarian Reply
to that Notice — His Habit of Visiting the Sick — An Instance of
it — Notice of his Preaching in Brownsville — At the Conference
of 1825 appointed ‘Conference Missionary — Object of that Ap-
pointment — Incidents showing the Strength of his Friendship.

Ir will be recollected that Mr. Bascom went to
Washington in fulfillment of his appointment to
‘he chaplaincy to Congress in December; during
his sojourn in the east more than fourteen months
had elapsed. Of course the term of service for
which he had been appointed to S‘eubenville in
September, 1823, had expired some six months
prior to the date of which we now speak, and he
had been appointed to the city of Pittsburg.
After finishing his Pennsylvania tour, he returned
to Baltimore, arranged his affairs, and early in
March, 1825, took his departure for Pittsburg.

The people among whom he had been appointed
to labor, had been anxiously expecting his arrival
for several months, and when he at last came, they
greeted him with a most cordial welcome.

Soon afier his arrival in Pittsburg, an article
appeared in a Presbyterian periodical, a copy of
which is given below:
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 177

“Mr. Bascom. — The writer of this article is
adverse from panegyric, except when the cause of
religion, or some great public interest, is obviously
benefited, and improved by the exertion of superior
talents, and a laudable zeal to promulgate and
enforce important religious truths. The Rev.
gentleman whose name heads this communication,
is recently from Baltimore. In that city, he com-
manded the attention and admiration of Christians
of every denomination, and frequently drew forth,
through the medium of the weekly journals, the
unqualified approbation of the literati. It is a fact,
that the labors of Mr. Bascom in Baltimore, have
been signally blessed as a means of pulling down
one of the strong holds of the enemy. In conse-
quence of the successful exertion of the energies
of his mind, and the irresistible cogency of his
arguments, aimed at the subversion of Socinian
tenets, the Uniturian church in that city has been
dissolved; the press devoted to its interests, has
been discontinued, and the minister under whose
incumbency the church was established, has with-
drawn from his charge. All this is unequivocally
attributed to the exertions and pious energies of
the Rev. Henry Bascom. Since he commenced
his labors in this city, his ministrations have been
well attended, and, I believe, well received: but
his discourse last Sabath evening crowned all his

efforts in this section of Christendom. It was
12
178 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

preached at the request of the ‘Female Benevolent
Society’ of this city; and was a powerful, and an
overwhelming appeal to the reason and feelings of
a crowded audience. He selected for his subject
the propagation of the gospel among the heathen;
and I am bold to say, the cause of missions was
never espoused by an abler advocate. One of the
subdivisons of his discourse was, that the ‘propa-
gation of the gospel among the heathen, was to be
effected by means, not by miracles.’ On this part
of his subject, he enforced the truth he was
defending with a richness of illustration, a validity
of argument, and, at the same time, with a force of
eloquence, that simultaneously convinced, capti-
vated, and astonished. The writer has been
informed, that Mr. Bascom intends, at no distant
period, to attack, in a few formal discourses, the
Socinian creed: if so, it is to be hoped, that the
Unitarians of the vicinity will constitute a portion
of his hearers.”

That part of this article which speaks of the dis-
comfiture of Unitarianism in Baltimore through the
instrumentality of Mr. Bascom’s labors, produced
some excitement on the Unitarian side, and an
attempt to turn the point of this humiliating state-
ment. To be sure the respondent on that side
admitted the facts of the dispersion of the church,
the discontinuance of their periodical, and the
withdrawal of the pastor from the congregation, but
vr

LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 179

denied that these effects were dependent on the
preaching of Mr. Bascom as their cause.

Tis term of service in Pittsburgh was short;
half the year had passed away before he reached
his station, and nothing is recollected of special
interest in his ministry previous to the next con-
ference. I take this occasion to speak of one trait
in Bascom’s character which has not generally been
well understood. Many suppose that he was a
mere pulpit man, and that the details of other
pastoral duty were almost wholly neglected by him.

This is a total mistake, and especially as it
respects the duty of visiting the sick; for I have
seldom found a man who enjoyed so much pleasure
in visiting, comfvriing, and nursing the sick.

A member of his charge in Pittsburg was sick
of a fatal, but chronic disease; Bascom visited him
as pastor and friend until his death. Sometime
after the man’s death, his family enquired of
Buiscom if he knew how often he had visited him,
and on answering in the negative, he was informed
of the number of his visits, and I am quite certain
it exceeded fifty —I think fifty-eight.

In the early part of his ministry he kept a
regular list of the sick of his charge, and noted all
his visits to them. Such a list I find for his first
circuit, from which it may be known who were sick
and how often and when he visited each.

About the close of this conference year we find
180 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

him preaching at Brownsville, Pa. when the ful-
lowing report is given by the “American Observer”
of that place, under date of September, 1825.

“ He selected for his text the sixth and seventh
verses, of the ninth chapter of Isaiah: ‘For unto
us a child is born,’ &e., and oh, if ever the divinity
of our Saviour was portrayed in colors the most
siriking, it was then. He touched every chord with
a master hand. If the tincture of his pencil was
brilliant and pleasing, the force of his argument
was irresisiible. If his colors were glowing, the
thunders of his eloquence were astounding; or if
the ear was delighted, the heart was softened and
subdued. From the very zenith of divinity and
the congregation of saints, he would plunge directly
into the very abyss of eternal perdition, and
depict the infernal spirits of everlasting damnation.
He would in a moment soar to the pinnacle of
sublimity, and descend into the depths of hell.
He would heighten the imagination, and storm the
passions in a trice. He slew Deism, as with the
two-edged sword. Unitarianism sunk as by migic
before him, and the religicn of Christ alone bore
sway. He extended its blessings to all quarters
of the globe. He unfolded its benefits to all.
The wilds of our own country, had already experi-
enced its beneficial results — it was proclaimed on
the Andes, and in Thermopyle, on the banks of
the Ganges and the Nile; and the day advancing
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 18]

when Italy would resound with the gospel, and
the temples of old Jerusalem become vocal with
its praise. ‘With judgment and with justice, from
henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of
Hosts will perform this.

“The length of his discourse was one hour and
fifty minutes, which to his admiring audience
seemed scarce an hour. The congregation was
said to consist of at least three thousand persons,
vf whom none was displeased, but on the coritrary
inexpressibly delighted, with the graceful and
pleasing mode of his delivery, the inexhaustible
fund of knowledge, moral and political, he appeared
to possess, and his fervent devotion to the cause
he has espoused. He sat down quite exhausted,
amid the astonishment and most lively sensations
of the congregation, it being, as we are informed,
the seventh sermon he had preached in little more
than a week.”

At the conference held this autumn, he was
appointed conference missionary —an appointment
which I suppose was designed chiefly to afford
him an opportunity to travel at large, in compli-
ance with the numerous pressing calls made upou
him from all quarters, and more especially fromm
the eastern cities. He did not, however, cross the
mountains until the spring or summer of 1826,
but spent the winter about Pittsburg and the
neighboring regions.

 
182 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

In December of this year, (1825,) an incident
occurred, which, as it gives another exemplification
of his devotion to his friends, may be worth relating.

We have seen before, that Mr. Bascom’s kind
attention to his sick friend in Washington was the
incidental cause of his remaining on the Atlantic
coast nine or ten months longer than he would
otherwise have done, and so, greatly enlarging his
circle of acquaintance, and his reputation as a
popular preacher: on learning that that friend
would come to the west in that month, Bascom, to
ensure a meeting with him, wrote to persons at
Uniontown, Brownsville and Washington, Pa., to
detain hiin until he (Biscom) could get notice and
meet him. At the latter place his friend was
detained, and a letter despatched to him at Pitts-
burg, and the following evening Bascom was on
the ground. Not satisfied with the conversation
of one day, he went with his friend to Wheeling,
Va., and there detained him «an entire week. At
another time, two years later, he challenged his
friend to a meeting on middle ground— the
parties being separated by a distance of more than
two hundred and fifty miles—tke challenge was
accepted, and a pleasant week spent together.
Such was the character of Henry Buscom’s friend-
ship. What Phillips says of Napoleon was more
true of Bascom —“He never forsook a friend, nor
forgot a favor.”
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 183

After traveling somewhat extensively through
the west, he went eastward in the spring or sum-
mer of 1826, and after visiting most of the cities
and towns where he had preached in 1824-5, he
extended his tour farther northward, and for the
first time visited the city of New York. Here
he was not only received with enthusiasm, but, if
we may rely on the concurrent testimony of the
press, of letter writers, and of hearers generally,
was remarkably successful; and so thought he
himself. He seldom spake of his sermons, and
especially not in commendation of them, or to
elicit the commendation of others, even to his
confidential friends ; but on this occasion, he said
more than I ever kuew him to say on any other.
Ife had preached six sermons; and at the close
of his labor, he writes, “I huve preached six
times in the city, and I doubt if I have ever
before been equally successful in any six suc-
cessive sermons.” This, to be sure, was only
“comparing himself with himself,” but this was
going further than he was accustomed to go.

Having completed his tour, he returned to the
west, and at the conference of September, 1826,
was appointed to Uniontown, a small town at
the western base of the great Appalachian chain
of mountains. Such a place might well seem a
“pent up Utica for his great powers,” but it must
be understood that there was an ulterior object in
184 LIFE OF BISHUP BASCOM.

view. The Pittsburg conference had resolved on
the establishment of a college, and Uniontown
had been selected as the place of its location. A
committee had been charged with this important
business, and Mr. Bascom was at the head of that
committee.

To build up this institution of learning, Bascom
went to work with the zeal and energy with which
he prosecuted every enterprise in which he em-
barked. During the winter, a liberal charter was
granted, under the name of Madison College, funds
were raised, general preparations made, and in
the following June (1827) the trustees met and
regularly organized the college, by the appoint-
ment of Mr. Bascom President, with five other
professors and tutors, among whom were Rev. Dr.
C. Elliott and the late Mr. Fielding.

With the presidency was connected the chiir
of moral science comprehensively; but in the
infancy of the college, there were no classes
sufficiently advanced to receive the instructions
of that chair, and Mr. Bascom, therefore, devoted
his labors chiefly to the general advancement of
the interests of the institution by every means
in his power, by procuring students, raising funds,
and devising plans for its improvement.

On his formal installation into office as President,
Mr. Bascom delivered an inaugural address, which
was highly commended by the papers of the day,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 185

and from which, as it was his first published dis-
course, we take a few extracts for the reader’s
gratification :

“Man is, perhaps, the most singularly con-
stituted being, in the high scale of heaven’s
mysterious workmanship; and if we except the
heavenly intelligencies, he stands pre-eminent
among all the works of God. Uniting in himself
a thousand modifications of matter, and the end-
less varieties of mind, by his material part,
connected with things terrestrial; by the imma-
terial, claiming alliance with a higher and nobler
world above; mortal and immortal in his complex
nature; tending to the tomb, and yet superior to
its ravages; ever converging to corruption, and
the darkness of the grave, and yet conscious of
undying energies within; he presents us wiih a
problem in the science of being, the solution of
which can be realized only in a direct communi-
cation from the Creator to the creature — of
whose mysterious formation and attributes we are
now speaking. Man seems to unite in himself
the diversities of created nature, and stand forth,
not unaptly, to the contemplation of intelligence,
as an epitome of bemg; an abridgment of the
universe! Of the primitive condition and ultimate
destination of man, it cannot be necessary for us
to speak at length here. Nature, tradition, and
inspiration, unite in their testimony, that he left
186 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

the hand of the Creator, combining in himself
the elements of an existence, splendid in its
s.ructure, and boundless in prospect.”

ok * * * * * *

“ As a solitary or a social being, man must be
partially wretched, if devoid of proper instruction ;
but if possessed of the advantages of education,
nothing but an evil, an upbraiding conscience, can
make him miserable. In the city or the desert;
in a palace, or a cottage; in robes, or in rags;
standing on land, or rolling on the ocean; buried
amid the snows of Iceland, or burning beneath
the fervors of the torrid zone; he has resources of
which he can be deprived only by the Power that
conferred them. Beggared by misfortune; exiled
by friends; abjured by society, and deprived of its
solace, the interior of the intellectual structure,
continues unaffected and underanged amid the
accumulating wretchedness without; and _ the
temple of the soul is still sacred to the cherished
recollections of ‘ Nature and Nature’s God.’”

* * * * * * 1

“Let memory, for a moment, sketch the deso-
late map of Greece: Where now are the walks of
Genius, and the retreats of the Muses, upon the
banks of the Illisus, and the Argora of Athens ?
Where is the Grove of Plato, the Lyceum of
Aristotle, and the Porch of Zeno? We have to
tepext, alas! Greece is no longer the theatre of
S

LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 187

learning, and Athens is endeared to us only as
the alma mater of the literary world!”

“Visit the classic but profaned ruins of Athens
and Rome, and ask the genius of the place, or
the page of history, where is the freedom immor-
talized by the Philippics of Demosthenes, and
the orations of Cicero? And the one and the
other will answer, knowledge departed, and liberty
was exiled! Polished Greece, therefore, and
imperial Rome owed their distinction to letters.
And what is it knowledge cannot achieve? It
has transformed the ocean into the highway of
nations. Steam, fire, wind, and wave, all minister
to the comforts and elegancies of life. The cold
and insensible marble speaks and breathes. The
pencil of Raphael gives body and soul to color,
hight, and shade. The magnet, the mysterious
polarity of the loadstone, conducts man over the
bosom of the deep to the islands of the sea;
while the glass introduces him to the heavens,
and kindles his devotion amid the grandeur of a
thousand worlds!”
1K * cs * ok * * *

“The exceptionable parts of the works of these
selebrated models of taste and composition, (par-
ticularly Greek and Latin authors,) will be carefully
excluded; but you will find much to admire, and
much that is worthy of imitation. Even here, you
miy wander wih Homer upon the banks of the
188 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Simois and the Scamander. “You may gaze on
the beautiful Helen, and the enraged Achilles.
The chiefs of Greece and Troy, will engage in
mortal combat before you; and you will dissolve
in tears at the meeting of Hector and Andromache.
Herodotus will introduce to you the millions of
barbarians following the standard of Xerxes. The
brave Leonidas, and his Spartan band, will dispute
the passage of Thermopyle before your eyes.
Victory will disgrace Persia, and defeat bring
glory to Greece! Horace and Virgil will introduce
you to the palatine and capitolium of Rome; they
will conduct you along the banks of the Po,
adorned on either side by the meadows of Mantua;
and you shall regale and delight yourselves amid
the enchanting groves of Umbria. Go on, then,
young gentlemen, and seek a deserved and well
merited celebrity; and if you cannot reach the
summit of Parnassus, linger at its foot, and imbibe
the streams of knowledge and science as they
gurgle by.”

“We feel a daring consciousness — an almost
prophetic persuasion, that should we add to «an
indulgence in the lofty aims of an imperishable
ambition, coresponding vigor and skill of effort,
this country is destined, at no distant period, to
rise and take its stand among the lettered nations
of the old world. Religion and science are already
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM 189

taught in one hundred and forty different dialects:
hand in hand, united in immortal wedlock, they
are every where extending their empire, and
multiplying their votaries. The collective mind of
universal man, seems to have caught the “classic
contagion,” and it is diffusing itself, with epidemic
energy, over sea and land. We are aware, how-
ever, that the progress of knowledge will be
opposed. Ignorance, tyranny, and tyrants, have
always been opposed to light and knowledge: and
as Caligula wished to destroy the works of Homer,
Livy, and Virgil, so have these, whether in church
or in state, aimed at the defeat of every essay,
calculated to inspire a love for liberty, equality,
and virtue. It is, indeed, to be regretted, that
even in this age of moral illumination and virtuous
chivalry, there are the incurious and the careless,
who. take no interest in the improvement and
march of mind —and whose only pleasure appears
to be derived from an ignorance of duty. Swayed
in the lower ranks of society, by a love of things
present, and in the higher, by the mana of property,
if they can only ‘eat, drink, and be merry ’— if
they can+hoard wealth, count the miser’s gains,
and revel in luxury, it is all they care for. These
haters of knowledge—these contemners of wisdom
— these drudges of avarice and cupidity, at once
the curse and the nuisance of society, could have
seen at Alexandria and at Rome, without emotion
190 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

or a tear, the long regretted monuments of genius
and glory perish in the flames. ‘Away with your
learning,’ is an argument with which we are met
on every side. And this language of Mecca, ‘his
motto of the Vatican, comes from an American,
a Christian, the father of a group of children
tlanking his door-yard.”

Mr. Bascom applied himself assiduously to the
object of procuring legislative aid for Madison
College. He wrote to and conversed with members
of the Legislature, and other influential men,
earnestly urging the claims of the infant college
on the bounty of the state treasury; and he
finally succeeded, if I mistake not, to the amount
of ten thousand dollars.

Another favorite project with him was the
establishment of a professorship of agricultural
science and practice in the college.

Mr. Bascom’s original correspondence on this
subject, with the most distinguished men of the
nation at that time, is in my possession, and as
some of the suggestions of these eminent men
may be regarded as valuable, and as they are
every one now gone from among us, Ihave con-
ciuded to incorporate these letters into this work.

His Excellency, JamMES Mapison, Ex-President of the U. S.
My Dear Sir:—-In the name, and by order of the Board
of Trustees of ‘‘ Madison College,” recently established in this
borough, I am instructed to say, that in consideration of your
distinguished public and private worth, as a citizen of the United
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 19]

States, they have taken the liberty, without consulting you, of
calling this Institution by your name Iam directed to tender
you the high consideration of the Board ; and beg you to accep!
from me, individually, assurances of my perfect esteem.
Very respectfully,
Il. B. Bascom.

Uniontown, Pa., March 18, 1827.

I have received, sir, your letter of the 19th instant, saying that
the trustees of the college recently established in Uniontown,
have been pleased to call it by my name. Regarding every new
institution for the wholesome instruction of youth, as a gain to
the cause of national improvement, and to the stability and
prosperity of our free system of government, I feel that my
name is greatly honored by such an association as has been made
of it. Be so obliging, sir, as to express for me the acknowledg-
ments I owe to the Trustees, with my best wishes, that they may
receive for their fostering care of the infant college, the reward
most grateful to them, in its rapid growth and extensive useful-
ness. I offer you, at the same time, assurances of my particular
consideration and respect.

JameEs Mapison.

Montpelier, March 27, 1827.

TINIONTOWN, June 26, 1827.
Me. Mapison,

Dear Sir,— Accompanying this letter, I send you a copy of
the charter of Madison College. By reference to the ninth
article, you will perceive that it is the intention of the trustees to
have attached to the Institution an agricultural department, in
which all the various arts and uses of this important branch of
human industry shall be taught upon scientific principles, and
reduced to practice in the grounds and gardens attached to the
College for that purpose. As this is rather an experiment in the
literary world, especially in this country, I shall feel myself
greatly obliged, should you be so good as to furnish me with your
views upon this subject. Madison College is yet in its infancy
but, from a calculation of probabilities, it is likely to do well
192 LIFE OF BISIOP BASCOM

Accept my thanks for your former letter; and permit me te
renew assurances of my perfect esteem.
Very respectfully,
H. B. Bascom.

Monrpe ier, July 21, 1827.

Dear Sir, — Your favor of June 26, enclosing a copy of the
Charter of the College, having arrived during an absence from
which I am just returned, I could no sooner acknowledge it. It
gives me pleasure to find that the Trustees are about to attach
to the Institution, an agricultural department, an improvement
well meriting a place among the practical ones which the lights
of the age, and the genius of our country, are adding to the
ordinary course of public instructton.

I wish I could give value to my commendation, by pointing out
the best mode of adapting the experiment to its useful object
The task, I doubt not, will be well performed by the intelligent
councils charged with the Institution, aided, as they will be, by
the better models of rural economy in your state than are
presented in this. ;

The views of this subject which occurred in the agricultural
society in the neighborhood of our University, will be seen in a
printed circular, of which I enclose a copy; and with it, an
address to the society, which will show that our agricultural
practice is as much behind that of your state, as the latter can
be short of the attainable standard. Perhaps the celebrated
establishment of Fellenberg, in Switzerland, may give useful
hints in combining agricultural with academic instruction, and
both with the advantages of an experimental and pattern farm.

Repeating my wishes for the prosperity and usefulness of the
nascent seminary, I tender-you my respectful and friendly

salutations.
JAMES MADISON.

Mapison CoLueGeE, Oct, 19, 1827.
Mr. Mapison,
My Dear Sir, —I have the pleasure of informing you that our
infant College is in successful operation, with six ‘vachers, actively
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 193

employed every day. Our prospects, at present, afford consid.
erable promise, and allow us to hope much, in behalf of the
institution.

The seal of the College is simple and unpretending; a small
vignelle engraving of the head of Mr. Madison, with this designa-
tion, “ Madisoniensis collegii sigillum, 1827,” in Roman numerals.

We shall proceed slowly, but we hope to do it safely. Our
first maxim is not to go in debt; if we do but little, we intend to
do it honestly, and do it well.

I am now constantly employed in the collection of books, maps,
charts and moneys, for the institution. At present we have sixty-
three scholars, and about twenty more engaged to enter shortly.

What we most need in the present state of our progress, are a
library, and the necessary apparatus for a college. The agricul-
tural department excites considerable interest in different sections
of the country. We shall be thankful for your paternal advice
at any time. Very respectfully,

H. B. Bascom

MontTrpe ier, November 10, 1827.

Dear Sir, — Your letter of October 19, was received in due
time. The acknowledgement of it has been delayed by a wish
to accompany it with a copy, as requested, of the enactments of
our university, which I did not obtain till two days ago.

I congratulate you on the encouraging prospect which dawns
on the infant establishment under your presiding care. A
temporary deficiency in the articles of apparatus and library, is
generally felt in learned institutions, the offspring of individual
efforts, in a country not abounding in individual wealth. In our
university, though now under state endowment, the library is on
a scale little comporting, as yet, with that of the plan. The
books are, however, systematically chosen, and form a nucleus
for an excellent collection. No catalogue has been printed, or 1
would add a copy to that of the enactment.

I cannot too much commend the prudent rules by which it is
proposed to manage the economic interests é of the college.
Experience shows the evil tendency of incurring debts beyond
resources, in the case of public bodies, as well as of individuals

13
194 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

And the Spanish adage, festina lente, conveys a lesson particte
larly applicable to the case of new undertakings, having difficul-
ties to overcome with scantiness of means.
With great esteem and good wishes,
James MapIson.
DANGHANGANE Manor, Nov. 13, 1827.
Dear Sir, —I lately received your obliging letter of the 8th
instant, and consider the Carroll Institute of Agriculture, *
proposed to be established in Madison College, as a distinguished
honor conferred upon me. It is indeed surprising that that
college should be the first to establish a professorship for teaching
and diffusing the science of agriculture, so essential to the welfare
of every country, particularly to the United States. Great
benefits, undoubtedly, this country will derive from the institution.
That such may be reaped, that Madison College may prosper,
and that the laudable example it has set, may be followed by
others, are the ardent wishes of
Dear Sir, your humble servant,

Cu. CarRroLt, of Carrollton.
Mr. H. B. Bascom.

Ricumonp, November 19, 1827.

Dear Sir,— Yesterday, on my return from North Carolina, I
bad the pleasure of receiving your favor of the 10th. The
question you proposed is one which I am not well qualified to
answer. It can scarcely be considered independently of accom-
panying circumstances. That agriculture is‘a science in which
society is deeply interested, no man will deny; and that it may
be greatly improved by scientific researches, will, I presume, be
generally admitted. It is, however, a science in which much
practice must be blended with theory, and in which theory itself
varies with soil, climate, and a variety of circumstances. Much
will, of course, depend on the professor, and much on the facility
with which he may be enabled to make his experiments.

A student may certainly derive advantages from such a depart-
ment, if well conducted, and may acquire a knowledge of prin-

* Named in honor of the venerable Ch. Carroll.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 195

ciples that will be useful to him in after life. Tt seems to me to
be connected with the department of chemistry, and, in some
degree, with mechanics. Such a professorship may, 1 should
think, furnish valuable information to the public.

How far it may be useful to the particular institution, may
probably depend upon circumstances, among which the state ot
its funds ought not to be overlooked.

With great respect, [ am your obedient servant,

J. Marsa.

Mr. H. B. Bascom.

Wasurneton, November 24, 1827.

My Dear Sir, —I duly received your letter of the 10th inst,
in which you are pleased to ask my opinion of the utility of an
agricultural professorship, which is proposed to be established in
your college. I think such a professorship, properly filled, and
its duties performed with zeal and industry, would be productive
of much benefit; and it could be no where better situated than
in the fertile regions beyond the mountains. It would be a
leading object with the professor, to teach the practical application
of the sciences (chemistry especially) to agriculture ; and also to
bring into view the most approved implements of husbandry in
use in different parts of the Union, and in other countries, as
well as improvements which may be made from time to time.

With my best wishes for the success of your college in all its
departments, I am, truly, your friend and obedient servant,

H. Cray.

The Rev. Mr. Bascom.

Unrontown, Pa., November 19, 1827.
Hrs Ex. De Witt CLINTON.

My Dear Sir, —I must beg you to excuse the liberty I take
in réquesting your opinion on a subject in which I feel the
deepest interest;—it is, the comparative fitness and probable
utility of an agricultural professorship in the colleges of this
country. We are about to make the attempt to eatabliali one in
this Institution; indeed, provisionally, it already exists, and I
am anxious to have your opinion in relation to a literary
movement of so novel a character in the United States.
196 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Should your views and feelings incline you to do so, it will
afford me much pleasure to hear from you in reply to the sugges-
tion above:—all which is respectfully submitted. Accept

assurances of my perfect good will.
H. B. Bascom.

ALBANY, November 24, 1827.

Sir, —I have been favored with your letter of the 9th inst.
and fully sensible of the honor you have done me, in consulting
me on a subject so important, I now answer it with great
pleasure.

In a communication to our Legislature in 1818, I recommended
the establishment of a Board of Agriculture, and added the
following remarks, ‘‘ And a Professorship of Agriculture attached
to our Board, or connected with the University, might also be
constituted, embracing the kindred sciences of Chemistry, Min-
eralogy, Botany, and the other departments of natural history;
by which means, a complete course of agricultural education
would be taught, developing the principles of the science,
illustrating the practice of the arts, and restoring the first and
best pursuit of man to that intellectual rank which it ought to
occupy in the scale of human estimation.”

My opinion on this subject remains unchanged: and as
agriculture is a science as well as an art, the benefits from such
an institution must be great and extensive. In Edinburg, and
two or three other foreign universities, professorships of agricul
ture have been instituted with great advantage. The work of
Sir Humphrey Davy, on chemical agriculture, evinces the close
alliance between this art and the most analytical and profound
investigations of science.

With my best wishes for the prosperity of the institution over
which you preside, and with sentiments of high respect, I have
the honor to be your most obedient servant,

De Wirt Cuinron.
Presipent Bascom.

WasuINGTON, 4th December, 1827.
Dear Sir, — Accept my thanks for your letter of the 8th uit.,
and for the conv of the Laws and Charter of Madison College,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 197

forwarded with it. The institution of a professurship of agricul-
ture at that establishment, I believe and hope, will be attended
with salutary effects, and a similar professorship at other
colleges in our country, would constitute an improvement of the
system of education pursued in their halls. There are, I believe
some academies in Europe, and in this country, where lessons
of agriculture are given in connection with a farm which is
cultivated by the students. These, perhaps, are the most useful
institutions, as they combine the theory with the practice.

Wishing you all success at the college over which you preside,
with health and prosperity, I remain respectfully yours,

J. Q. Apams.
Rev. H. B. Bascom.

Mr. Bascom labored with great zeal and perse-
verance to establish the college on a permanent
basis, and certainly succeeded in doing much, but
there were strong counteracting circumstances
which stood in the way of complete success. The
endowment was trifling in amount, the local
patronage limited, and that from a distance still
more so; of course a full faculty of instruction could
not be supported adequately, and Bascom, at least,
was not in a condition to labor for naught; and
besides, the church controversy was just then at its
height, and dissentient partizans would not har-
monize in supporting an institution which each
party feared might fall into the hands of the other.
In this state of things, in 1829 Mr. Bascom
resigned the Presidency of Madison college afte:
having labored hard for about three years to build
it up.
198 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

On the resignation of Mr. Bascom the conference
adopted the following approbatory resolution :

“Resolved — That the cordial thanks of this
conference be tendered to brother H. B. Bascom
for his disinterested exertions in the establishment
of Madison college. We sincerely regret the
existence of any circumstance which may have
induced him to resign his relation to it as Presi-
dent: we hope, however, that this resignation
shall not alienate his friendly influence and interest
rom our infunt institution.

“True copy. ©. Coox, See’y.”

That the want of adequate compensation had
much influence in superinducing Bascom’s resigna-
tion is highly probable. The reader will recollect
that as far back as 1814 he complained of his
embarrassing debt, and that in 1816 he was fairly
groaning under his burden, and mourning his
inability to relieve the pressing necessities of his
futher and family. From that period onward, mat-
ters were every year growing worse with him, for
while the old debt remained uncancelled, each
succeeding year the claims on him grew larger and
more pressing; his futher was less and less able
to help himself and family every year, his children
must be educated or grow up in ignorance, and
the heaviest of the whole burden rested on the
shoulders of Henry. In 1825 his father writes to
him: — “My corn is light: what little remained
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 199

of our wheat crop the weevils have destroyed;
my potatoes are barely the seed, and poverty
crowds on every side.”

While at the college, in1827 the ever accumu-
lating pressure seems to have driven him almost
to despair. He writes: —

“My father is alarmingly infirm this spring—on
this subject I tremble between hope and fear. I
am quite fixed in my purpose to locate this fall —
I am absolutely compelled to do it, and I can
hesitate no longer. I do not believe it is my duty
to suffer even to disgrace in order to remain in the
traveling connection. My situation is getting worse
every day —the interest of the money I owe
exceeds my income—and my correspondence costs
me one hundred and thirty dollars a year. My
clothes are worn out, and I have not the means to
replace them. What better can I do than retire
from an unequal contest? I should like to remain
in the traveling connection, but I am fatally
doomed, after fourteen years of toil, like Cowper's
‘stricken deer’ to seek the shade and try to
recover my wounds.” Yet after all he never could
get his consent to retire from the service of the
church, but held on, and suffered, and endured
until, at last, death signed his release. Oh, to see
a soul of such noble mould wrestling with poverty,
and crushed through its own high devotion to
the cause of God, of filial piety and of general
200 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

benevolence, must at once excite sorrow, grief
and admiration.

Mr. Bascom was a member of the General
Conference of 1828; but such was the state of
parties in the church, that he appears to have
taken no active part in the deliberations of the
body, though he was active in trying to bring
about a reconciliation, as we shall more fully
learn in another place.

During the period of his connection with Mad-
ison College, he traveled extensively, and preached,
as well as labored to advance the interests of the
college.

On one of these excursions, he visited some of
the interior towns of Pennsylvania, and we select
the following notice of his labors from a number
of like kind. We quote direcily from the United
States Gazette, of Philadelphia :

“An Enoquent Preacuer.——The Rev. H. B.
Bascom, a preacher of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and, if we mistake not, a professor in one
of the colleges of Kentucky, has, it appears from
our late country papers, been preaching in the
interior of this State. Mr Bascom is, probably,
one of the most eloquent iaen of his age. We
listened to him some years 2go in this city. And
never listened to a pubic speaker with more
intense interest. He is not so persuasive and
winning as Summerfield used to be, and differs
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 201

very materially in his style of oratory from Mr.
Maffitt, but we think him more brilliant and intel-
lectual than either. He fascinates the mind, and
delights the imagination, while Mr. Summerfield
appealed to the feelings and touched the heart.
Mr. Maffitt is now or was recently in this city.
He still attracts numerous audiences, and is
admired by thousands. He is unquestionably
a fascinating and agreeable speaker, but, to our
taste, is far behind Bascom. It seems that this
latter gentleman recently delivered an address at
the laying of a corner stone in Hollidaysburg, Pa.
The editor of the Aurora, published at that place,
has the following notice of it:

“<¢Frequently have we heard discourses, which
we deemed elegant— frequently have sat and
listened with admiring delight to the animated
speaker or sublime orator—but never have we
heard anything, in elegance of style and sound-
ness of logic, excel, or even equal that of Bascom
on the above occasion. His is the peculiar power
to fascinate an audience — to charm the soul, and
open anew the dried fountains of feeling in every
bosom; his clear and glowing metaphors; his deep
searching description, all bespeak a paragon in
the wide school of impassioned oratory. Who
that sits for one moment, beneath the just rebuke
of Bascom, and does not feel the gnarled princi-
ples of his re riven by the thunderbolt of his
202 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

intellectual power and the fire of his most super-
natural expression, but must be steeled against
all sensibility. He is emphatically ‘a painter
for eternity.” Although the day was highly
disagreeable, there was not the least symptom of
impatience manifested by the assemblage, but all
was attention, every eye was riveted on the
speaker —and every tongue was mute, save an
occasional whisper of gratification-— the deep
monotony of the wind whistling through the
interstices of the stand, contrasted fearfully with
the distinct tone of his voice. Disappointment
filled every mind, but not that disappointment
which arises from heightened expectations — for
our own part, we had formed an idea of his
powers; we had painted them in our imagination,
but our anticipations were more than realized.
The description given of him by Rev. Mr. Maffitt,
which was published in the first number of the
Aurora, considered at that time by some as a
fulsome adulation of the man, even fails to
delineate his just attributes. Language is inca-
pable of portraying his abilities — the heart alone
cin do him justice.’

“This encomium seems extravagant and enthu-
siastic, and it probably is somewhat so; but it is
exactly such a notice as we could have written
some years since, after hearing a sermon preached
by Mr. B. in one of the Presbyterian churches of
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 203

this city. We are not ourselves attached to the
Methodist persuasion, and this tribute, therefore,
to the powers of an eloquent divine must not be
attributed to any sectarian prejudice.”

In short, wherever he went, the public press
and the popular voice were eloquent in eulogy of
his wonderful efforts. Infidels were reclaimed by
the force of his reasoning, and sinners were
awakened by the power of his startling appeals.
CHAPTE XVI.

EMBRACING HIS AGENCY OF THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY

Mr. Bascom is appointed Agent of the American Colonization
Society — His Views on that Subject— Journal of his first tour
on that Mission— Popularity and Success — Notices of the
Press — Preached much while in the Agency — Large Report of
one of his Sermons — Perilous Stage Coach Accident.

In 1829, Mr. Bascom, having resigned the
Presidency of Madison College, sccepted a gen-
eral agency of the American Colonization Society.

He had, from a very early age, as we have
seen, stood in a state of consistent antagonism to
the wild schemes of ultra abolitionists, but the
plan of colonizing the free people of ccior of this
country in the land of their forefathers, he revarded
as one of real benevolence, promising largt ben-
efits to that unhappy portion of the African race.
He saw them alike permanently wi‘hout the privi-
leges and motives of freemen and the restraints
and guardianship of a state of slavery; more
miserable, generally, than a state of absolute
bondage; and he saw that there was no hope of
their redemption from it, while they remained
«mong a white race, save in the impracticable
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 205

and revoltingly unnatural expedient of amalgama-
tion—no real hope but in placing them in a
community of their own equals and color, and
under the influence of a new and higher class
of motives to self-elevation. He saw that the
presence and degradation of this class operated
restrainingly on the benevolent feelings of masters
who were inclined to give freedom to their slaves,
by destroying all motives to such attempts.

He believed, too, that the establishment of
colonies of colored people from this country, in
the benighted regions of Africa, would be the
most effectual means of extending the blessings
of civilization and Christianity to that dark and
blood stained continent.

Under these and kindred views of the subject,
he entered on his work with all the ardor and
enthusiism of his nature, and wherever he went,
he left the impress of his stirring appeals on the
hearts and minds of the people.

We can give few details—were it even de-
sirable to do so, — of My. Bascom’s operations in
this agency; he has, however, left some account
of his first tour in this service. And as an
interest now attaches to almost all his proceedings,
we shall give the reader the substance of what we
find in his journal kept during that tour.

“ August 21,1829. Left Pittsburg alone and
on horseback. My route was by the Erie turn-
206 LiFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM.

pike road, which led me through a dreary,
desolate, man-and-womanless region. Had a soso
dinner at C—’s, where were several soso looking
talkative girls, mostly of age and full grown. In
the afternoon rode to B—; and while riding through
a dense rayless forest of trees and underwood, was
suddenly started by the soul-freezing scream of a
panther. He followed me about a quarter of a
mile, keeping about a hundred yards from the
road and parallel with it, screaming every half
minute in a manner that greatly frightened my
horse, and filled me with horror. On reaching B—,
I found my landlord drunk. Tetired to my room,
read and wrote a few hours, and then tried for a
supperless sleep. 22. My way was through as
dreary a region of country as I ever beheld, with
little to amuse, except an abundance of great
horse-flies, lazy husbands, dirty wives, and ragged
children. About noon, met a bevy of giggling,
stockingless girls going to visit a show that was to
be exhibited on the road. Dined on fat middling
and fried eggs, and passed the night at a tavern
where I was annoyed by the noise and vulgarity
of a parcel of Irish wagoners — half beast — half
devil, from whom I was relieved only by their
getting too drunk to continue their revel. 23.
Rode to G—, to breakfast — had a decent repast,
and a decent landlady to look upon while I was
eating it. The country began to improve a little,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 207

but still deplorably poor and uninteresting. Found
a poor tavern that night; but was in little danger
of suffering from plethora, as I had numerous bed
fellows who took blood freely without consulting
my pulse. 24. Had a breakfust that might
have substituted an emetic, prepared by the ‘good
wife, who might, had she floated down the Nie
been safe from molestation by alligatezs, if tilt
would frighten them. Dined at W—, and in the
evening reached Erie, and here I fouvd excellent
accommodations at the hotel of my friend, Mr.
McC. 25. In Erie. 26. Visited old Fort Presque
isle, and other objects of interest. 27. Visited
the wrecks of Perry’s fleet, and the British vessels
Queen Charlotte, and , and brought away
pieces of wood from each. 28. Started with Mr.
and Mrs. McC., to a camp meeting near West-
field, N. Y., and arrived the same evening. 29.
Preached to a large crowd with apparent success.
30. Sunday. Preached again to about five thousand
hearers with encouraging effect. 31. Delivered
an address on colonization, formed a society of
near one hundred members, and collected seventy
dollars, and at night preached again. — Deep and
universal feeling. September 1. Was sick, but
read and wrote all day. 2. Spent in the same
way. There was at the inn at which I tarried, an
old lady laboring in the kitchen for her daily
bread, with whom I had bosrded while at school

 
208 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

She was then independent and happy; but drunk-
enness made her husband a beast, and threw her
dependent and pennyless on the world. She wept
like a child while relating the story of her wrongs
and sufferings.

“3. Started for Buffalo, rode all day through a
forest of hemlock and pine, which is yielding to
the industry of a company of New England emi-
grants. 4. Reached Buffalo late in the evening.
This is a fine showy young city, with a population
of seven thousand. Many things interested me
until ten the next morning — the lake, the har-
bors, shipping, steamers, the canal with its legion
of boats, with all the excitement and bustle of
enterprise. 5. For the first time in my life I
set foot on British soil, having crossed at Black
Rock into Upper Canada on my way to the Falls.
At my right hand rolled the majestic Niagara with
the waters of Erie, St. Clair, Huron, Michigan and
Superior on their eternal tour to the ocean, —on
the left lay a finely cultivated country until I
reached Chippewa. Here I dined, and surveyed
the famous battle-ground, — the scene of a severe
conflict in the late war with Great Britain.

“At five o’clock in the evening I reached the
pavilion, and was soon at the table rock gazing at
the most magnificent spectacle that ever chained
the eye of a beholder —a world of water rolling
and tumbling in thunder and foam. As I gazed,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 209

I felt a depth, a devotion, an unutterable intensity
of admiration, that after two hours made my brain
reel, and so unstrung my nervous system, that it
was with difficulty I crawled from the verge of the
rock, and returned to the pavilion, — where, in
the portico of the third story, in full view of the
Falls, I returned to their contemplation by moon-
light, and paced the colonade in wonder and
astonishment until mere exhaustion drove me, at
twelve o’clock, to my room to seek repose. :

“6th. I continued my exploration of the
Falls —erossed the gulf below, and from the
American side, and from Goat Island, still gazed
on the mighty cataract from fifty different points
of view. 7th. Ascended the spiral stair case at
Table Rock —a flight of one hundred and five
steps, and, provided with a guide, ventured as far
under the great falling sheet of water as ever
human being had dared to go. Divesting myself
of my clothing, and belting a mantle of oil-cloth
about me, I penetrated with difficulty and danger,
amid thunder and foam and spray, as far as
Termination Rock, one hundred and fifty-three feet
under the vast falling column, and then pausing
elevated my eyes to look on the universe of water
that was tumbling over me, while a slip of the foot
must have precipitated me fifty fathoms into the
gulf below, where the angry element was tossing

and heaving with infuriate life and uproar. After
14
210 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

a moment’s pause I commenced my retreat, and
effected my return in sufety — thankful to God
that my temerity had not been chastised with
instant death. The remaining part of the day
was spent in a farewell survey of the Falls from
the various points I had visited before. When I
eturned to the pavilion, it was night, and having
been seldom so much fatigued in my life, I was
glad to retire to rest.

“8th. Visited Lundy’s Lane, of bloody memory
in the history of the late war; and when it was
pointed out, curiosity led me to the spot where
three hundred Americans, dead and wounded,
were heaped together in a single pile, and burnt
as a hecatomb offered to the god of war. I shed
an involuntary tear to the memory of the brave,
and in my heart cursing the savage science of war,
proceeded on my way to the battle-ground of the
Beaver-dams, and from thence on the tow-path of
the Welland Canal, wound my way to St. Catharines.
Here I met my aged aunt, whom I had not seen
for twenty-six years, with mingled emotions of joy
and regret. 9th. Spent with my aunt in talking
over the scenes, sufferings, and enjoyments of by-
gone days. In the evening we walked to the Church
of England burying-ground, to look upon the
graves of the deceased part of her family. She had
survived them all, save one son. A neat stone
tells the story of each member of the fumily.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 21]

“10th. I left Upper Canada by way of Queens-
town for Lewiston, N. Y. Visited the battle-
ground of Queenstown heights, and saw Brock’s
monument. Crossed the river, passed through
Lewiston, and rode four miles into the country
to spend the night with a friend from Maryland.

“11th. Reached the house of my cousin early,
and remained until after dinner, and then rode to
Buffilo. 12th. Spent in Buffalo.

“13th. Preached at eleven in the Methodist
church, and at night delivered an address in the
Presbyterian church, and took a collection.

“14th. Spent in attempting to organize a
society, but finally postponed it until my return.
15th. Rode to Batavia through an exceedingly
handsome, but not very fertile country.

“16th. Left my horse, and took stage for
Canandaigua, and 17th, arrived at C 5 a
very handsome village at the head of the lake of
the same name. 18th. Remained and read.
19.h. Went to Geneva, at the head of Geneva
lake. 20th. Sunday. It rained all day. I
modestly sought an opportunity to preach, but
received no invitation, so I rested and heard two
sermons at the P........... church— good but feeble.

“21st. Exerted myself in trying to excite an
interest in my mission, but met with great diffi-
culty and discouragement, as I have in every
place in New York. The people in this region, I

 
212 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

think, are less liberal than in the west and south
22d. At night went to hear a lecture by Rev.
Ms D cee ——a common sense talk without anima-
tion. Spent half. the night in reading works on
Africa. 23d. At night had an appointment for
an address, but as there were several conflic‘ing
appointments, I adjourned mine to the next night,
when I formed a society of twenty-five and took
up a small collection, which under the circumstances
I regarded rather as a triumph. 25:h. Went io
Canandaigua, but as the Presbyterians refused me
the church, I left for Rochester on the 26th. The
blue stocking parson at the former place treated
me with boorish incivility. JI had no sooner
announced myself a Methodist preacher, than he
bristled almost into a swine, and grunted his
negative most becomingly. I promptly left him,
hating bigotry more implacably than ever before.
“At Rochester I was received with every
demonstration of welcome by Rev. Mr. L., who
speedily opened the way for the accomplishment
of the objec: of my mission. 27th. Sunday. At
eleven preached in the Presbyterian church, at two
in the Methodist, and at night addressed an over-
whelming crowd, who received my message with
audible murmurs of approbation. 28th. Tried
Batavia again — but in vain, and left for Buffalo.
That night went to heara B...... preacher. It
was anything but preaching, yet the man appeared
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 213

sincere in his ignorance, and I truly pitied him.
After preaching, sevcral old Methodists present
spoke as in class meeting, and I was much gratified
in listening to the unaffected effusions of seven or
eight who spoke.

“29th. Rode to Buffalo, and wrote letters till
ten o’clock at night.

“30th Wrote nearly all day —weather bad,
and prospect for meeting to-night gloomy. I
am now retreating from western New York, and do
not regret it, for though appearances are fine, it is,
on the score of solid comfort, cordial welcome, and
generous hospitality the least attractive region I
ever visited. Even the table accommodations are
the most inferior I have ever found among people
in tolerable circumstances: —Sheep steaks, mutton
chops, bad beef, stale cheese, inferior beds, fireless
rooms, bustle without attendance, and finally a
heavy bill for what you cannot get there, is the
usual round.

“At night formed the nucléus of a society, but
got no money, and am almost tempted to vow
nazaritically that I will not make another attempt
in western New York.

“October 1. Started westward, along the
beach of Lake Erie, facing a sharp wind. Met with
a group of Indians, and when I addressed them in
the Seneca language, their surprise was really
amusing. At the inn where I tarried that night J
214 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

met with a minister from one of the middle districts
of Old Scotia, with whom I was not a litile amused.
Tle said the people of this country were only fit to
be preached to by Methodist preachers — that
when he did preach, they would not pay him, and
that preaching without pay was a great farce.
‘The broad gutterel, and occasionally sharp nasal
twang of this redoubtable son of the Kirk, together
with his clownish manners, carrotty poll, and ill
built frame, were strikingly unique. He said he
had never been in the company of a Methodist
preacher — that he had seen one, but that he felt
contempt for his shabby appearance. I informed
him that I was one; on which he hastily withdrew
and went to bed. I learnt that he was proposing
to teach school for fifteen doilars per month.

“2nd, Rode, and 5rd, arrived at Erie to breakfast.

“Sunday, 4. At eleven o’clock heard Rev.
Mr. L., Presbyterian, and communed with the
congregation. At two o’clock preached in the
Presbyterian church’ to a large audience, and at
night delivered an address, and took a collection.

“5th. Rode, and 6th reached Meadville, and
met with marked attention, and genuine hospitality
from several of the principal citizens.

“7th. Rode to Franklin—on the evening of
the 8th preached, and on the morning of the 9th
delivered an address on colonization, took a collec-

tion, and returned to Meadville. Stopped an hour
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 215

at the house of widow P. and prayed with the
family. 10th, spent in Meadville.

“Sunday, llth. At eleven o’clock preached at
Presbyterian church, and at half past two, plead
the cause of Africa before about one thousand
hearers, and took a collection of fifty-six dollars.

“12th. Rode to Mercer, had a great crowd at.
night, and a good collection.

“13th. Rode to Butler —a large audience —
was disturbed by some drunkards. Light collection.

“14th. Reached Pittsburg and remained two
days.

“17th. Went to Steubenville, 18th preached,
19th, went to Wheeling, Va.

“20th. In Wheeling. 21st. An address in the
Episcopal church to about one thousand. Collection
one hundred and forty-five dollars. 22nd. Steuben-
benville. Address, and collection thirty-three
dollars.

“23rd. Mt. Pleasant.— Address and colluction
fifty-one dollars. 24th. St. Clairsville, collection
twenty-one dollars. 25th, Washington, Pa., collec-
tion thirty-five dollars. 26th to 29th, in Pittsburg.

“30st. Rode to Williamsport and delivered
an address. 31st. Shall go to Belleville.

“November 1. Brownsville, and, God willing,
home—to Uniontown—the same evening!

No other portion of his public labors ealled
forth so universally the high eulogies of the press
216 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

and the multitude, as those devoted to the cdloni-
zation cause. He traveled in this service through
a large proportion of the states of the Union, and
from each of these, I find the most complimentary
notices of his addresses. These we shall not
think of copying, for they would occupy no
inconsiderable space in this volume ; but a few we
cannot well pass over. We particularly notice the
attempts of two able editors to catch his leading
thoughts, and note down his most striking expres-
sions. They belonged to cities many hundred
miles distant from each other, and wrote at differ-
ent dates. The train of thought in the speaker’s
introductory remarks, appears to have been very
much the same in both the cases reported, and it
is worthy of note, that both these editors — so
well versed in the art of reporting public speeches
for publication—succeeded tolerably, only, in fol-
lowing the speaker through his introduction, —
but when he entered fully into his subject, and his
eloquence came pouring upon them in a very
cataract, pencil and note book were dropped, and
they abandoned the fruitless attempt to paint his
lightning and put his thunder into words.

The first says ——“On Sunday evening last, the
Rev. H. B. Bascom made an eloquent appeal in
the Murray street church, in this city, before the
Young Men’s Colonization Society.

“<To the antiquarian, and the historian, ancient
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 217

Africa is a subject of inexhaustible interest.
However inclined some skeptics may be to dispute
the fact, the country of the Pharaohs was undoubt-
edly the parent of art and of science, and the
great luminary of the ancient world. At a period
when the soil of Greece, and Italy were covered
with primeval forests, affording shelter only to
wild beasts, or to a few roving barbarians hardly
less ferocious, the valley of the Nile was occupied
by a people, who had already built temples in honor
to their gods, and reared columns to commemorate
their kings. Nor does this high antiquity rest
merely on doubtful chronologies, or on vague
antiquarian speculation. On the contrary, it is
demonstrated by fucts about which there neither
is, nor can be, any controversy.

“So early as the days of Moses, Egypt had
become pre-eminent in laws, learning, and art, as
well as in political power. Even in that remote
age, the “learning and wisdom of the Egyptians”
had become proverbial. In after times, Thales,
Pythagoras, Plato, and others, all acquired in
Egypt, the elements of that science which they
afterward taught with such success to their coun-
trymen, and even the rudiments of Grecian art,
the originals of those beautiful forms, which the
fine genius of the Greeks improving upon, raised
to an almost ideal perfection, may be distinctly

traced to the banks of the Nile.
10
*
218 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

“¢Hgypt, which was settled by Mizraim, the son
of Ham, was once the most opulent and important
empire in the world. She had at one time, her
forty-five petty kingdoms, and her twenty thousand
cities; and in the reign of Asa, king of Judah,
Kthiopia alone could send an army of one million
into the field.

“Degraded as the Africans now are, it will,
perhaps, scarcely be believed that this contemned
race, as to intellect, can exhibit a brighter ancestry
than our own. They are the offshoots, wild and
untrained, it is true, but still they are the offshoots
of a stem once proudly luxuriant in the fruits of
various learning and taste. They are the offspring
of Cush, Mizraim, and Phut. They found Egypt
a morass, and converted it into the most fertile
country of the world. They reared its pyramids,
invented its hieroglyphics, gave letters to Greece
and Rome, and through them to us. The ever-
lasting architecture of Africa still exists the
wonder of the world, though in ruins. Her
mighty ones have yet their record in history.
She has poured forth her heroes on the field
She has given bishops to the church, and martyrs
to the flames. And for negro physiognomy, as if
that could shut out the light of intellect, let us go
to the capital of the British empire, and in their
national museum contemplate the collossal head
of Memnon, and behold, in imperishable porphyry
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 219

and granite, the unfounded and pitiful slander
publically refuted.

“<But Africa has been degraded, insulted, and
wronged, for many centuries. She has been
robbed of her children to an immeasurable extent.
What wind has passed over her plains without
catching up the sighs of broken and bleeding
hearts? Which of the sands of her deserts has
not been steeped in tears, wrung out by the pang
of separation from kindred and country? And
the “cup of trembling” has been put to her lips
again and again, even by baptized hands.’ ”

After giving this as an imperfect quotation, in
the following paragraph he concedes, that the
more “powcrful” part was that which he has not
actcempted to report at all. He says:

“In some such observations as the above, did
My. B. prepare the way for a more powerful appeal
to the hearts of his audience on the subject of the
Colonizition Society; and after an ample detail
of its operations, and a course of argument fraught
with much skill, enriched with powerful eloquence,
and managed with uncommon address, the preacher
brought his subject to a close, and his audience to
the point in hand, the result of which was a very
handsome collection, amounting to about two bun-
dred and fifteen dollars.”

The other first gives a vague outline of the
address -— perhaps as an allowable stroke of
220 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

policy — and quotes what he had been able te
note down of the introduction, as follows:

“After the report of this committee and the
election of officers, the Rev. Mr. Bascom, agent
of the American Colonization Society, addressed
the meeting for more than two hours, in behalf
of the society. In discussing the subject and
presenting his plea for colonizing our free people
of color, on the western coast of Africa, he pre-
sented strong arguments in language equally
strong and expressive. He urged his plea for
African colonization, on the grounds of justice, of
practicability, of political consistency, of obligation
and gratitude, of the predictions of the scriptures
in regard to Africa, and of the final retributions
of eternity.

“The picture which he presented of what
Africa once was, and of what she now is, and the
causes of her present degradation, struck every
mind with admiration, and made every heart thrill
with pity and indignation. ‘Once,’ said he,
‘Africa stood proud in learning, arts, and arms.
Her pyramids, obelisks, and the granite pillars of
her ruined cities, stand in gloomy magnificence,
monuments of her architectural skill. She fur-
uished her heroes for the field of battle, and her
bishops for the church of God. To learning and
religion she had ably contributed. But why
wonder at her present. depression, rifled as she has
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 22]

becn of her blood and treasure by every Christian
nation. To the shrine of European cupidity, it
is computed that one hundred and ninety millions
of her inhabitants have been sacrificed. To every
nation, Christian and infidel, she has in vain raised
her cry of supplication. In reply, she receives
only an additional weight of chains. Every gale
that blows over her, catches the sound of her
groans, and almost every foot of her soil is
stained and wet with her blood, shed by Christian
steel.’

“He showed, with much clearness and force,
that the suppression of the slave trade, and the
redemption of Africa from her present political
and religious degradation and suffering, is to be
effected only by colonization. In this way, civi-
lization and Christianity were introduced into
Greece, Europe, and America. We cannot do
justice to Mr. Bascom’s speech by attempting a
sketch of it. For more than two hours, he held
his audience in rapt and unwearied attention.”

We recollect instances in which one of Mr.
Bascom’s addresses, delivered in small villages —
mere hamlets — brought collections of from three
hundred to four hundred dollars.

Mr. Bascom was not, while engaged in the
duties of his agency, neglectful of the great
business of preaching the gospel of Christ; for
in almost every place where he delivered addresses,
222 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

and especially where he spent a Sabbath, he
preached to multitudes, and with great power and
effect.

On one of these occasions, he visited a town on
the Ohio river, and preached to a large audience,
in which was one hearer, at least, who appears to
have been quite as much enraptured with the
sermon, as was Mr. Wirt with that of James
Waddle, the blind preacher. The following
glowing description of the preacher and sermon
he published in a New York city paper :

“Tt was a day of exceeding beauty, that last
Sunday in May, 1832 —a day of soft balmy air,
and sunshine bright and glorious as the smile of
God. Before ten o’clock, every pew and every
seat in the spacious church was filled to overflow-
ing. The whole population of Lawrenceburg, a
lovely little town on the Ohio river, in Indiana,
appeared to have turned out to hear ‘the great
orator,’ whose fame had traveled in advance of
his coming. It was his first visit to that State,
and hence the general anxiety to witness his effort.
Al) eyes were turned to the door, and (as the
winged minutes flew away) with many signs of
disappointment, as no one entered to answer the
very circumstantial description of his person,
which had the previous day been published in the
papers.

“The hour of eleven arrived, and the well-
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 225

‘known parson of the station began the devotional
exercises by singing and prayer. At this, the
tokens of vexation increased with all, and with a
portion of the audience, so far as to amount to
positive rudeness.

“At length, the prayer was ended, when a
form, hitherto concealed by the mahogany front
of the pulpit, suddenly emerged from behind it,
and stood for more than two minutes erect, silent,
and motionless asa statue. At this apparition,
every individual in the immense throng started,
and every heart thrilled with a nameless emotion ;
it so struck the senses, and there was so much
eloquence in his attitude, his immobility, nay, in
his very silence.

“His figure was of perfect symmetry; his
features of classic mould; his brow pure Grecian
in its outlines, and surrounded with a fine circle of
jet black hair. His countenance seemed intensely
intellectual, without the slightest perceptible trace
of animal passion; but his eyes, at the moment,
were dreamy, expressionless, and set on empty
space, as if he were totally unconscious of any
presence other than the ideal of his own deep
thoughts; his dress was of the richest cloth, and
made in the latest fashion.

“Presently he raised his right hand with a
gesture of impetuous haste, and pressed his fingers
on his pale forehead, as if to assist the brain in its
224 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

mighty labors of thought, and then instantly
announced his text from the book of Revelations:
‘Behold! I make all things new.’ Without
prefuce or apology —those flimsy crutches of
lame preachers—he pierced at once into the
heart of his subject, and then took wings and rode
away on a whirlwind of fiery words. His voice.
from the commencement, rolled, and pealed, and
rang like the beautifully modulated music of some
wondrous organ, alternating with crashes of tre-
mendous power that seemed to jar the walls of
the building as if an avalanche were rushing out
of the clouds. Now it sunk into a wild wail,
mellow and plaintive as a funerul chime ; again it
swelled to the steady roar of a hurricane, if a
hurricane indeed could be attuned to such octaves
of harmony; and then it would break out in
successive thunder-claps, causing the very hair to
rise on the hearer’s head, and the warm marrow to
ereep, as it were, in his bones. The effect was
aided, too, by the orator’s gesticulation — now
graceful as the airy circles of a butterfly in the air,
and anon, grand to sublimity, and urgent as the
swoop of the eagle climbing the heights of the
storm cloud. His eye —at the outset, as we have
said, dim and dreary — now burned, and flashed,
and lightened, till aided by the illusions of fancy
and the scene, it appeared to dart arrows of flame
around the assembly.
cn

LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 22

“As the mighty magician went on, the entire
multitude seemed charged with electricity. Here
and there single individuals began to rise involun-
tarily to their feet; then others rose by twos and
threes; next a dozen sprang up together; and
finally, the whole, living, throbbing, enthusiastic
mass might be seen standing as one man, with
fixed, straining eyeballs, devouring the speaker
with a gaze, with hulf-parted lips, and teeth clenched
by attention. The excitement was measureless,
and yet too profound for any species of utterance.
Not a sigh, not a whisper was heard. Nothing
could be heard save the voice of the orator; and
during the intervals of his pauses the full of a
‘pin would have been audible.

“His subject, too, was unique as his manner.
His theme was: ‘The future eternity of matter;
its natural capacity for indefinite and glorious
changes; and the possible splendor of the new
heavens and earth.’ His method of discussion was
purely rational and scientific — that is to say, by
analysis. A few of his inimitable touches linger
in my memory to the present hour. He inferred
the beauty of which all, even the coarsest, matter
is capable, from the following illustration :

“Chemistry, with its fire-tongue of the galvanic
battery, teaches that the starry diamond in the
crown of kings, and the black carbon which the
peasant weal beneath his feet, are bo'h composed
226 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

of the same identical elements; analysis also
proves that a chief ingredient in limestone is
carbon. Then let the burning breath of God pass
over all the limestone of earth, and bid its old
mossy layers crystalize into new beauty; and lo!

at the almighty fiat the mountain ranges flash into ' ' '

living gems with a lustre that renders midnight
noon, and eclipses all the stars!’

“He urged the same view by another example
still better adapted to popular apprehension.

“Took yonder,’ said the impassioned orator,
pointing a motionless finger towards the lofty
ceiling, as if it were the sky; ‘see that wrathful
thunder-cloud — the fiery bed of the lightnings and
hissing hail— the cradle of tempes‘s and floods!
What can be more dark, more dreary, more dreai-
ful? Say, scoffing sceptic, is it capable of any
beauty? You pronounce, ‘no.’ Well, very well,
but behold, while the sneering denial curls your
proud lips, the sun with his sword of light shears
through the sea of vapors in the West, and laughs
in your incredulous face with his fine golden eye.
Now, look again at the thunder-cloud! See
where it was blackest and fullest of gloom, the

sun-beams have kissed its hideous cheek; and
where the kiss fell there is now a blush, brighter

than ever mantled on the brow of mortal maiden
—the rich blush of crimson and gold, of purple
and vermilion —a pictured blush, fit for the gaze
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 227
of angels -— the flower-work of pencils of fire and
light, wrought at a dash by one stroke of the right
hand of God! Ay, the ugly cloud hath given
birth to the rainbow, that perfection and symbol
of unspeakable beauty !

“Tt is impossible to paint the effects of such
sunbursts of eloquence, delivered in his pecaliar
voice and manner. For my own part, I expe-
rienced emotions of sublimity and admiration,
commingled with mysterious awe. I gazed and
skuddered, as if looking into the heart of a volcano,
or listening to the mutterings of an earthquake.
Who dares call this comparison a hyperbole ?—
Hath the grandest elements of nature any mani-
festation of power superior to the lofty action
of intellect inflamed by the friction of a winged
imagination? ”

Somewhere about this time he encountered an
accident, which came near to costing him his life.
He was going up the Ohio river; but the water
was so low, that at Marietta he had to leave the
boat and take the mail coach for Wheeling. On
some portions of the way, the road was terraced
into the high river hills, and lay at an elevation
of a hundred feet or more above the valley. At
one of those dangerous passes, where the head
grew dizzy in looking down on the river far
beneath, — the descent very precipitous, and the
road narrow, the coach came upon a short curve
228 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCUM.

which it was difficult to pass with safety; just as
the driver had brought his “lead horses” as close
into the hill as possible, to carry the coach clear
of the chasm at the curve, the horses took fright
and dashing furiously to the opposite side, plunged
headlong over the precipice, carrying coach, driver,
and passengers with them. Down, down, they
went through the air and tree tops, until the
coach came to the ground in a upright position,
on a sort of natural bench of the hill; the wheels
were broken to pieces, and flew off in different
directions; the coach bed crushed, the passengers
stunned to insensibility, the wheel horses killed,
the driver thrown with violence from his box, and
dragged by the leaders — the reins being wrapped
around his hand —down the hill, and far into the
river, where he came near drowning. The coach,
divested of its wheels, rolled on over and over
until stopped by some obstruction, and was re-
duced to a complete wreck. Bascom was, I think,
first restored to consciousness; he was much cut
and bruised, but none of his wounds were danger-
ous. Some others revived in a similar condition ;
two passengers —one a lady —were for a time
supposed to be dead; but soon showing signs of
remaining life, Bascom and his fellow passengers
set about rendering such assistance as they could
to the greater sufferers. One drew the insensible
lady and gentleman from the wreck, another went
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 229

to relieve the poor driver, who, after having beer
dragged over the rocks, was now standing in
water to his neck, and unable to free himself
from the reins, while Bascom ran to the river
and brought water in his hat to revive the yet
insensible sufferers.

All were injured, but all pebngede most of
them were able to proceed on their journey the
next day. But the wonder is, that any should
have escaped death.
CHAPTER XVII.

Ms Bascom elected Professor of Moral Science and Belles-Lettres iz

Auguata College — Still devotes a portion of his Time to the
Agency — Transferred to Kentucky Conference, and Election to
General Conference of 1832— Made Chairman of Committee on
Temperance — Produces a Report of Great Power — Concluding
Passage of it given — A Peculiarity in Bascom’s mind noticed —
Attempts to account for it— Affliction and Death of his Father —
Descriptive Account of that event—Bascom’s own Account of it,
as given to Mr. Bruce.

In 1832, Mr. Bascom was elected professor of
Moral Science and Belles-lettres in Augusta College.
But as the duties of his chair in college did not
demand the appropriation of all his time, he still
retained his office of Agent, devoting to it what
time he could spare from college duties.

This year Mr. Bascom was again elected a
delegate to the General Conference, from the
Kentucky annual conference, although he had
but just been transferred from the Pittsburg
conference. This was a gratifying expression of
confidence on the part of his Kentucky brethren,
among whom, in former years, he had encountered
no little opposition.

We see here, that notwithstanding his recent
connection with what was c.dled the radical move-
ment, his acknowledged talents and integrity,
secured to him the confidence of his brethren so
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 231

s:rongly, that — though generally much opposed
to that movement— they elected him, at the
very session at which he became a member of their
body, to be their representative in the highest
judicatory of the church. And the like confi-
dence was manifested by the General Conference ;
for we find him placed on the committee on
temperance, and charged with the responsibility
of preparing the report of that committee. The
church had had a stringent rule on this subject
from the beginning, but General Conference action
on the subject, with a view to operate on public
opinion, and enlist the active co-operation of the
ministry and membership of the church in an effort
to check this swelling tide of ruin, was a new
proceeding, and required to be committed to the
custody of faithful and skilful hands. The trust
was happily confided to Mr. Bascom, who produced
a report, which the venerable Dr. Bangs has
thought sufficiently important, to make a part of
the history of the church, and has accordingly
incorporated it in her annals.

This report we cannot find room for at length,
but must at least be allowed to introduce its final
paragraph, which reads as follows : —

“Finally, persuaded, as we are, that intemperance,
in all its aspects and gradations, is a physical evil,
unmitigated by any mixture of good, and also a
moral offence against the laws of God, and the
232 LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM.

claims of Christian piety, unmodified by any
indemnifying consideration whatever, we would
at all times, but at this time especially, when such
combined and powerful efforts are making to arrest
the evil, cast in our dividend of social and moral
«id, and do all in our power to accomplish an object
every way as momentous as it is desirable. And
we close by remarking, that we look upon all as
implicated in the duty and the interest, and we shall
cheerfully and promptly concur with all in an effort
to expel the demon of intemperance, not only from
the church, but from the nation, whose welfare and
fortune must be always in intimate connection
with its morals.”

We may here notice a peculiarity in the character
of Mr. Bascom’s mind and habits. In deliberative
bodies we expect to find men of the most com-
manding eloquence oceupying the floor as speakers
much more than those less gifted in that way; and
we often find men who speak much and ably in
such assemblies, of little service in the closet or
committee room in preparing business for the action
of the body, while it is very common to find men
of superior abilities in the latter sphere, who have
not the ability to advocate, in public speeches,
the measures their wisdom has brought to a high
degree of perfection in their private labors. But in
the instance of Mr. Bascom we have a min who
in eloquence was pre-eminently superior to his
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 233

brethren, and yet that eloquence was never
employed in conference, even in support of favorite
measures which he had matured and mastered
thoroughly in the closet or the committee room. I
think he never in his whole life made asingle speech
in an Annual or General Conference of ten minutes
duration. A single suggestion, a correction, or the
like, he would occasionally make in few words, but
nothing more. Indeed, few men in Annual or
General Conference had so little to say on the
floor as he, and yet his reports, and even senten-
tious suggestions had almost the weight and
authority of law.

Frequent attempts have been made to account
for this peculiarity, and generally with but little
success. Some have conjectured that his public
addresses of every kind were carefully written out,
and either read or delivered from memory, and
that he was not willing to trust his reputation to
the hazards of extemporaneous debate. This is
entirely erroneous; for he had reached the zenith
of his fume as an orator before he hai delivered a
single public address either from manuscript or from
memory: these auxiliaries, or rather hindrances,
were fallen on only after he had passed his culmi-
nation: others have supposed that, conscious of his
great influence, he was unwilling to employ the
power with which he was gifted to bring others to
his views, lest he might incur the responsibility
23-4 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

of misleading those who confided so trustingly to
his superior wisdom. But he possessed neither
ihe unreasonable scrupulousness, nor the inordinate
vanity which this view of the case must impute
20 him. The truth is that difédence was the real
cause of his refraining as he did from participating
in the ordinary debates of the bodies to which he
belonged. True, he was opposed to speech making
on trivial occasions, but then he was silent alike
on great occasions as on those of least importance.
It was ever a fearful cross with him to speak in
public, and to the last, he always rose to address
an audience with trembling timidity. This sacri-
fice he could afford to subject himself to for the
good he hoped to do in a sermon of one or two
hours, addressed to thousands, but not for the
small benefits likely, in his estimation, to result
from a speech of fifteen minutes delivered on
some question of minor moment. Indeed, he
could not make a short speech worth hearing had
he attempted it; the machinery of Bascom’s great
intellect could no more put itself into full action
in ten or fifteen minutes, than an ocean steamer
could.

Mr. Bascom was connected with the Augusta
College for a period of ten years; and though, in
the routine of mere college duty, we cannot expect
to find much of variety or stirring incident, yet
within that period occurred several of the most
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 235

important events of his life, some of which, at
least, we shall notice.

One of those events was the death of his father,
which took place in 1833. His devotedness to
his afflicted and indigent parent, in the infirmities
and sufferings of age, was one of his most beau-
tiful traits of character; and never had filial piety
a lovelier manifestation than in the case of Henry
Bascom. His father’s affliction was protracted
through a series of years, but through all, and to
the last moment of life, Henry never relaxed in
his attentions and his efforts to render the evening
of his father’s days as comfortable and happy
as possible. And with him, it was not enough,
that he borrowed money to procure for him the
comforts of life, and so involved himself in per-
petual embarrassment; but at great sacrifice, he
gave his personal attention, his labors, his watch-
ings, his soothing kindness, his counsels of
encouragement.*

In the first year of his professorship at Augusta,
there appears to have been complaints made, that
he spent more time in attendance on his sick
father, than was consistent with his duties to the
zollege. On this subject, he wrote to the late Dr.
Ruter, then President of the collége. The Dr.

*To make himself wakeful while. watching by the bed of his
sick father, it was his custom to lie on the floor with a block of
wood for his pillow.
236 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

replies, that such complaints can only proceed
from narrow minds, and that the permanent effect
of his course must be to elevate him in the esteem
of all whose good opinion has any real value.
Thus encouraged, he followed out the inclinations
of his affectionate heart, in ministering to the
comfort of his suffering parent. He even went
into the forest, and with his own hands, cut and
hauled wood for the use of the family, and, day
and night, performed all the offices of servant,
nurse, and son.

The closing scene at length came, and though
long expected, it fell like a thunderbolt on the
head of Henry. Below will be found an extract
from a sketch of that scene, drawn by another
hand :

“The blasts of winter had succeeded to the
livery of autumn, without adorning the leafless
branches with the fairy frost-work which is that
season’s own peculiar decoration. The mist hung
in heavy masses over the water, giving additional
cheerlessness to the scene; and sad indeed it was
to know, that the desolation of nature was but a
faint emblem of that which reigned within the
silent dwelling. The windows on one side of the
house were entirely closed, while those shutters in
front that were opened were yet unfistened, as
though hastily thrown aside to admit the light of
day, while yet the inmites were too much absorbed
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 237

to do aught that was not absolutely necessary.
The past night had been to them one of no com-
mon interest, for the father of that family lay on
his dying bed, and in the apartment were assem-
bled those connected with him by the nearest
and strongest ties—the ties of kindred blood.
affection and intellect. The almost unexampled
suffering that had marked the last years of his
life, had but the more endeared him to those who
had witnessed his patient endurance and cheerful
acquiescence to the will of God. True, they knew
he was to leave the vale of sorrow for the realm
of peace — that he was to exchange the tortures
of a living death for the joys of a blissful immor-
tility; but the voice of nature would not be
repressed; the claims of affection would be recog-
nized, and the gushing tears and convulsive sobs
of those around, told how strong were the links
now to be dissevered by the destroyer. But in
despite of the pangs of approaching dissolution,
the countenance of the saint of God revealed the
peace that reigned wi hin, and all beheld the
dominion of principle and the reasoned conviction
of the understanding, regulating the devotion of
the heart, and all its tender and lofty impulses, at
the approach of death. He spoke of the truth and
power of Christianity, with the confidence of one
who knows its value. His faith and his hope were
connected with a life of piety, and looked forward
238 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCeM.

to the reward of virtue, as secured by the covenant
of our common redemption. The dying patriarch
had intimated his last wishes to his family; like
Jacob, had bequeathed to each his blessing, ana
felt but slight anxiety for those whose oversight
he could devolve on one, alike his hope, his joy,
his pride, and his reliance. Tremblingly alive to
all his wants and wishes, that one had stood beside
him — now he supported the sinking head — now
presented the cooling draught; and ever and anon,
as he failed to understand the faltering accents,
pressed his brow in agony on his father’s hand.
The last conflict was now approaching, and in his
character, as one of Heaven’s ordained ministers,
Henry administered to the dying believer, the
emblems of the broken body and shed blood of
the Redeemer. Once more, the faiher listened to
the words of inspiration, inestimable from any
source, and still receiving an added charm when
breathed by one so dear; and never, though
admiring crowds had hung entranced and spell-
bound by his heaven-breathed eloquence — no,
never, had that gifted one appeared so all-com-
manding, so worthy of the homage of the heart,
as when kneeling by the lowly couch, in prayer
bis soul winged its flight to the bosom of its God.
That prayer, no langusge can describe. The
faltering accents of earthly love gradually rose te
the strengthened voice of faith, then swelled to
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 239

the triumphant tones of assured glorious victory.
Overmastered by his feelings, Henry paused, and
overpowered by his fervid eloquence and deep
devotion, all were hushed in silence. The father’s
arm was thrown around the son, whose hand wag
clasped in his, and the dark luxuriant curls of the
younger formed a striking contrast, as pressed
upon the same pillow, they mingled with the
silvery locks, which —

‘Like snow upon an alpine summit,

Only proved their near approach to heaven’

“The shutters were thrown open to admit the

light, and as the rays filled the room, Henry
‘Turned away,
As though his heart abhorred the coming day,
And shrunk his glance before the morning light,
To look upon the brow where all grew night.’

“As the beams of the morning fell upon that
brow, they revealed the traces of fearful suffering;
and they only who have seen the one most dear
to them writhe in agony, to which they cannot
even offer alleviation— they only know the feeling
which stamped upon Henry’s features the impress
of utter hopelessness. For a moment, too, the
glorious hope of immortality was obscured. The
past, the present, and the future of ¢his world
crowded on his mind, that he was to be bereft of
the friend and counsellor, whose paternal feeling
and generous solicitude had been his solace in miny
240 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCUM.

an hour of trial and affliction—that ’mid the
varied ills of iife, he no more should be sustained
by the consciousness that there existed at least
one heart, in the kindly sympathies of which his
bruised and anguished feelings never failed to find
relief — that a nameless, heart-withering feeling
of desolation was to succeed to scenes, that even
sorrow and affliction hud never rendered gloomy.
An involuntary groan escaped him, and the father,
though already in the arms of death, aroused once
more. He fixed his dying gaze on his son, and
though unmoved he had borne his sufferings —
though in silence he had triumphed, and in com-
posure seen the glories of the upper world bursting
on his vision—he looked, and wept! Yes, though
the first full draught of immortality had almost
touched his lips, he wept!—for him whom he
was about to leave alone and cheerless, with few to
understand — perhaps with none to sympathize.
Shocked at his father’s evident emotion, Henry’s
devoted affection enabled him to repress his own;
and the words of parting consolation which whis-
pered the severance would be but short, and the
re-union lasting, fell like Gilead’s balm on the
heart of the departing, and while concentrated in
his look were faith, hope and love, ‘glory to God,’
trembling on his dying lips, was his only reply,
and the last sentence he ever uttered.”

In this connection, I will introduce an account
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 241

of this solemn event, with other matters, kindly
furnished me by the Rev. J. G. Bruce. Speaking
of the residence of Dr. Bascom’s father, Mr. Bruce
says, “ Here I met the man who had filled the
world with his fume, bending over the bed of a
father, and ministering with the tenderest affection;
and here I saw the same man repairing fences,
cultivating the grounds, and laboring to exhaus-
tion to make comfortable a large family, mainly
dependent on him for support —and formed the
highest opinion of his filial piety and noble gene-
rosity.” Mr. B. met with Dr. Bascom in his old
neighborhood several years after his father’s death,
where they held a meeting together. Mr. B. says:
“Bascom preached, and carried his audience to the
third heaven.

“ After dinner, he requested me to take a walk
with him to the grave yard, which was a few
hundred yards below, in a bend of Eagle creek.
The stream was washing away the bank, and
encroaching on the burying ground, and he wished
to make some arrangements for the protection of
the dead. Having reached the ground, and seated
ourselves at the root of a tree, Dr. Bascom pro-
ceeded to remark—‘There sleep my father,
mother, and sister! Three purer mortals never
lived or died. You knew the first; but the others
had passed up to heaven long before your acquaint-

ance with the fumily. Father’s life was full of
16
242 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

suffering — his death replete with moral grandeur.
For six weeks I had watched incessantly the
ebbings of life. The rain had been falling heavily
for several days, the waters were up, and it wus
impossible to get abroad, when he suggested to me
that his end was near, and he desired to receive
the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper before his
departure. 1 told him that as early as possible, I
would send for a minister and have the sacrament
administered. “No, my son,” said he, “I wish to
receive it at your hands alone.’ My soul was
overwhelmed; but his will was my law. The
elements were prepared, and we knelt at his bed-
side and performed for him the last solemn service
this side the grave. He enjoyed it greatly,
thanking God for the precious privilege. “Now,
my son, I am ready to depart and be with Christ.
But your mother (step-mother) and the children —
will you take care of them?” Father, said I, do
you doubt it? “No, Henry, no; I should not
have asked you—I know you will. But one
thing more — bury me beside your mother. And
do you recollect that she was buried by moonligh‘,
in consequence of a detention at the house?” I
recollect it well, said I. “The moon gives light
now, does it not?” he continued. I answered
affirmatively. “Well then, bury me by moonlight
beside your mother.’ On being assured that it
should be done as he wished, an ineffable light
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 243

spread over his countenance, and whispering his
farewell to the family, he calmly fell asleep in
Jesus.
‘O may I triumph so
When all my warfare’s passed,
And dying, find my latest foe
Beneath my fect at last!’

“Never,” adds Mr. B., “did Bascom appear to
me so truly great as at this moment. His heart
heaving over the graves of buried friends, and his
soul exulting in prospect of a re-union with them
in Heaven.”
CHAPTER XVIII.

He takes Charge of his Father’s Family, consisting of Step-mother
and her Children — With his heavy Burden of Debt and Family,
Gills Duties of his Chair, Preaches, delivers Addresses, &c. — Maffit
—his Description of Bascom’s Talents — Offered Presidency of
Augusta College — Testimonial of Trustees — Elected to General
Conference of 1836— Visits Scene of Karly Labors — Delivers
Address at laying Corner Stone of Indiana Asbury University —
Tenders his Resignation as Professor —Is not accepted, but
Permission given to Travel—Invited to deliver Lectures on
Infidelity, in Cincinnati — Delivers the Lectures in Cincinnati and
in Louisville — Receives the Honorary Degree of D.D.— Invited to
preach before Young Men’s Missionary Society of New York —
Preaches with fine Effect — Notices by Knickerbocker and others
— First Interview with his Wife — Delivers Lectures on Infidelity,
in New York—Notice by the Press— Visits and Lectures at
divers Places — Visits Saratoga and Preaches to a great Multitude
in open air, and brings on Bronchial Affection — Notice of this
Sermon — Offered Agency at Salary of Three Thousand Dollars,
but declines — Advised to go South for Health— Lectures in
Philadelphia, Baltimore, &c., but had to desist — Report of Dr.
Bascom’s Death — Pleasant Contradiction of it — (Note) — Why
did he thus peril his life? and why was he permitted to do so?

On the death of his father Mr. Bascom took his
step-mother and the whole family to Augusta, and
procuring a co-tage, formed them into a household
of which he was the head and provider. He had
now a large family to feed, clothe and educate
out of his own meagre salary.* True, some of his

* Seven hundred dollars per annum part of the time, and never
more than one thousand dollars.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 245

brothers had reached years of maturity, but as they
were struggling, under circumstances of disadvan-
tage, for subsistence for themselves, they could aid
Henry but little in the support of his heavy charge.

It should be recollected that this large’ depend-
ent family, for whose comfort Henry encountered
such severe privations and embarrassments, were
not his own mother, brothers and sisters, but a
step-mother — to his father’s alliance of whom he
was averse — and half-brothers and sisters, save
one, I think; yet, it was enough for him to know
that the first was his father’s widow, and the others
his father’s children: they enjoyed his kindest
unremitting care and providence.

With a large debt hanging over him, an expen-
sive family to support, and a small salary to rely
on, Mr. Bascom’s prospect of extrication from his
pecuniary embarrassments was anything but cheer-
ing. Under all this burden, he however still
struggled on, and not only discharged the duties
of his professorship, but preached much, and made
many public addresses on great occasions; and
never did he stand higher as a public speaker of the
first grade than at this time. He was sent for to
go huudreds of miles to deliver addresses before
colleges, at the dedication of churches, founding
of literary institutions, religious and benevolent
anniversaries, and the like. Sometimes such
labors added a trifle to his low finances, but more
246 ‘LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

generally those who solicited his services seemed
to think that payment of his expenses was all he
had a right to expect, without compensation for
time or labor; and indeed, sometimes he was
compelled to bear his own expenses.

Nearly throughout the whole period of Dr.
Biscom’s public ministry the late Rev. John
Newland Maffit was also before the public as a
pulpit orator of uncommon brilliancy and popu-
larity. He was often spoken of as Bascom’s rival
in eloquence, and of this he was well aware. Apout
the period of which we are speaking, Mr. Maffit,
having heard Mr. Bascom, expressed his opinion
and admiration of his talents, in an article which
we copy below.

“T consider Mr. Bascom one of the most extra-
erdinary men of the age. As a pulpit orator he
is an original; and is unrivaled in the Union —
for none are like him. His path is emphatically
his own, denying the possibility of comparison with
that of others. His shining, therefore, dims no
other light. He is the solitary star that fills with
a flood of effulgence the skies of his own creation,
and gilds with loveliness, the forms which have
arisen at the call of his genius. His manner is
like that of no living preacher. If you seek to
find the model on which he fashions his sermons,
it cannot be found in the libraries of the old or
new world. If you would know the secret of his
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 247

strength, you must fathom the depths of an
intellect, rich with rare and peculiar treasures ;
you must add to this the intensity of emotion with
which he regirds every subject that comes within
the grasp of his mind. His baptism by the Holy
Spirit, was with the tongue of flame. His mind,
like the Olympic wrestlers, struggles for mastery
wherever it grapples. Let him encounter ‘ the
gnarled and unwedgeable oak’ of error in its cen-
tury-hallowed form, and the contact is like that of
the electric fluid, rending and illuminating at once,
but not like the fabled bolt of Jove, rendering
‘sacred what it scarred.’ The fortification which
he demolishes, is ever after contemptible and
untenable. The votary of error under any banner
which Bascom may stoop to assail, ever afterwards
will disown his flag, and be ashamed of his former
inconsistency.

“Tt belongs only to a kindred mind, partaking
of his own magnificence, to analyze Bascom. I
shall have little to say, except in general descrip-
tions. But were one to ask me, what is the
secret of his influence ?— how does he fill to the
roof every church in which he speaks, and send
uway the admiring thousands of country, town,
or city, filled with astonishment and rapture, or
shiame— repentance or praise — at his will? —I
should answer, negatively, not by his oratorical
xction, for of this he has but little. You only see
248 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

that he is in earnest, by the bowing of his head,
even when he is engaged in holding direct con-
verse either with God or man. It is not in the
power or intonations of his voice. For orator-
ical display, his voice would be considered a bad
one; although it is fearfully distinct even in its
‘ husky whispers, and as rapidly strikes through
his terse and keenly polished periods, as that
brightest and swiftest of created elements, to
which the corruscations of his genius may be
most aptly likened, does through the folds of a
thunder cloud. The audiences who sit open
mouthed and breathless before him, are able to
say little of his manner when they go away. The
subject, only, and with an omnipotence of power,
has stood before them, either as an angel of light,
or a fearful demon; the one to sing ‘peace on
earth, good will to men,’ the other to forestall
doom, and threaten an eternity of wo.

“eared in that great school of impassioned
oratory, the West, he has also gained the con-
cise and logical ratiocination of the Hast. Let
the inflated individual, who has,:in his boasted
researches into philosophy, never gained sight
of the shore of the great ocean of truth, where
the child-like Newton stood, and only picked up
pebbles in his own estimation; let this vain boaster
but come within the action of Bascom’s intellectual
battery, and a faint smoke, ur the mere ashes of a
=
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 249

consumed fabric, will only be left to tell where
once he stood. Every argument silenced and
destroyed; every link in the chain of error broken;
every false refuge of it lies exploded; every dark
hiding place of sin searched as with that stream-
ing light which unhorsed the persecutor, Saul; how
often has the infidel found himself in a short hour
bereaved of his all on earth; his all for heaven!
Then might he seek Christ when his gods had
been demolished before his eyes, and their power
scattered to the winds.

“Let Mr. Bascom but rebuke an ignorant, a
slothful, or inefficient ministry, as he sometimes
does in his sermons, and truly they may then say,
that the scorching flame of judgment has first
begun at the house of God—where shall the
wicked and ungodly appear? The pulpit, in his
view, is the holy of holies of the new dispensation,
the call of God to his ministering servants, in his
view, is the awful commission before which kings
should stand dumb; and the man who bears this
commission ignorantly or unworthily, or sleeping,
or selfishly may dread that the fires of the angel-
guarded Shekinah will consume him.

“Yet Mr. Bascom does not wear a chilling,
demure look. He would have been ejected from
the ancient and honorable sect of Pharisees, both
on account of his short prayers and unelongated
physiognomy. His thoughts are solemn as the
250 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

dawn of eternity; yet, his countenance is calm in
purity of purpose, and earnest only in benevolence,
while it overflows with the expression of goodness
and amenity.

“To say that every subject which he touches he
ornaments, is not expressive enough. He does
indeed ornament; but not as other men do, by
studied phrase and sounding epithets; he orna-
ments his subject by linking it to some grand and
classical association. For this purpose he holds at
command, the treasured lore of each country ; he
has the sublime imagery, which he has gleaned
from earth, air, and ocean; he has the key of the
past; he reads from the roll of prophecy, the
revealings of the future. Images of immortal
beauty, cluster in his argument; at his bidding
damnation echoes back from its blackest deeps,
the howling thunder of his warning, to flee from
the wrath to come.

“Let him, as he often does, plead the cause of
Africa, and you will see the ancient cities stir with
life beneath the desert sands. You will see her
ancient kings, statesmen, philosophers, coming up
through the marble ruins of once proud palaces, to
utter their voiceless, because unspeakable, charge
against debased Christendom for enslaving, soul
and body, the relics of a noble antiquity. His
sitire is keen; and will be remembered, although
the polished arrow may wound so skillfully, and
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 251

with such exquisite science, as to make the pain
almost a pleasure to the sufferer.

“But, as an honor to the Methodist communion
in which he has long faithfully labored: as a
blessing to the world: a leading star in the con-
stellation of American literature, eloquence; and
above all, as a faithful and successful preacher, the

_ thousands of whose seals in the minis‘ry, I see
around me; if I cannot describe him, or emulate
his powers, I can yet pray that his valuable life
may be continued long on earth as a rich and
peculiar blessing.”

Such was the expressed opinion of Mr. Maffit,
who, whatever else he was or was not, was certainly
an orator of extraordinary ability, and therefore
qualified to judge in a mutter of this sort.*

He had not been long in the Augusta College
until a desire was manifested that he should take the
presidency of the institution, and among those who
cherished this desire, was Dr. Ruter, who, in a letter
in my possession, expresses such a wish. But,
shrinking from both the confinement and the
responsibility the office would impose, he constantly
declined the offer. In 1835, however, some diffi-
culty occurred respecting the presidéncy, and a

* Mr. Maffit died of broken heart, but a short time before the
death of Mr. Bascom. In Buascom’s last letter to the writer, he
feelingly says —‘ Poor Maffit! he has at last fallen, a sacrifice to
the demen of persecutior |”
252 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

rumor was put afloat that he was seeking that
office for himself. Perceiving Mr. Bascom was
wronged, if not injured, by the report, the trustees
came out in a unanimous declaration, to the effect
nat he had not only not sought the office, but hid
“repeatedly refused to accept the appointment,”
and they also adopted a resolution strongly appro-
batory of his course in the college.

In 1836, he was again elected to the General
Conference, but took no very prominent part in
its proceedings.

The sume year he visited one of his first fields
of labor —one which he had occupied twenty
years prior to the date of this visit, and was
received with great enthusiasm. Crowds attended
his ministrations, and in the papers of the place
appeared a most exalted eulogy on his talents and
eloquence.

In June, 1837, he delivered an oration at the
laying of the corner stone of the Asbury University,
at Greencastle, Ia., to do which he had to travel
more than two hundred miles by land. On his
way thither, he preached at the capital of that
State, to the astonishment and delight of a vast
ussembly, very few of the congregation having
ever heard him before.

At Greencastle, his audience was estimated at
from four thousand to five thousand. This was
one of his first efforts at reading an address in
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 253

public; and though the composition and delivery
were greatly extolled, I felt the disadvantage of
the course to be so much against him, that in the
delivery I could scarcely recognize the presence
of Bascom, and earnestly hoped it might be his
last experiment in that line.

In December following, under the pressure of
his pecuniary embarrassments, he tendered his
resignation to the trustees of Augusta College,
hoping to find some employment that would aid
in his emancipation from debt; but his resignation
was not accepted, yet permission was given him
to travel a considerable portion of his time, and
turn his services to the best account he could for
his own relief.

The tide of foreign infidelity was at this period
sweeping over the city of Cincinnati like a deadly
sirocco. The friends of Christianity deemed it
expedient to make some effort to stay the raging
pestilence. To this end, a meeting was called in
the latter part of this month, (December,) at
which it was resolved to invite Mr. Bascom, to
deliver a course of lectures in that city, on the
relative claims of Christianity and Infidelity. The
invitation was given and accepted, and his friends,
aware of his circumstances, resolved to admit
hearers only by ticket. What the pecuniary gain
of this measure was, I have not the means at hand
of knowng; but the moral revenue arising from
254 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

these lectures was above price. This course of
lectures was also delivered in Louisville, Kentucky,
with much approbation and good effect.

Somewhere about this time, the honorary
degree of D.D. was conferred on Mr. Bascom,
and within a short period, the same honor -was
conferred by two colleges and two universities.
In 1845, he also received the degree of LL.D.
from La Grange College, Alabama.

About the time of closing the lectures, men-
tioned above, Dr. Bascom received an invitation
to deliver a missionary sermon in New York,
before the Young Men’s Missionary Society, and
for the special purpose of relieving that society
from a heavy burden of a debt. The invitation
was accepted, and the sermon was delivered early
in the following May. From the numerous notices
of that sermon, which appeared in the city papers
at the time, we select only two. The first is from
the note-book of the editor of the Knickerbocker:

“While we were yet in ‘a state of dubiety,’
whether or no his audience were not to be treated
to a merely nebulous disquisition, of no particular
merit, and asking, mentally, whether ¢his could be
the man whom Henry Clay had pronounced the
greatest natural orator he had ever heard, when
a brilliant thought, wreaked upon eloquent and
original expression, enchained our attention; and
thenceforward, to the close of the discourse, we
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 20a

wist not that we were occupying a narrow spot in
the middle of a crowded aisle — ‘cabined, cribbed,
confined, bound in’—with the thermometer at
ninety. When once fully engrossed with his
subject, (the progress and effects of the Christian
faith, and the arguments in favor of its promulga-
tion.) every eye in the congregation was upon the
speaker, and each heart beat quicker, as the
glowing thoughts dropped from his tongue. His
similes are vivid and striking, to a degree; his
impressions of nature, and the comparisons which he
draws from her external aspects, are not minute
and in detail. They are upon a noble scale —
‘taking in whole continents and seas.’ Such was
the character of that portion of his discourse,
wherein he spake of the past ages; to whom the
great volume of nature was as a sealed book; who
saw no God in the works of his hand; who could
read the starry rythm of the heavens, survey the
towering mountains, the rivers sweeping to the
main; who could hear the roar of the great ocean,
and the far sounding cataract, and see in all these
no evidences of the Power who spake, and they
existed. ;

“He was scarce less effective in describing the
origin and spread of the Christian faith. The good
seed had been sown, and for eighteen hundred
years it had, in one way or another, been producing
fruit. The germ expanded, and the tree had arisen
256 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

and spread, until the nations of the world sat under
its branches. Efforts had often been made to root
it out, and to destroy it. The lightnings of perse-
cution had scathed it— the ax of the wicked had
sought to lop its boughs —the wild boar of the
forest had whetted its tusk against its time-worn
trunk — yet still, in living green, it spread its
inviting arms abroad, every where overshadowing
evil with good. Kingdom after kingdom had
arisen, flourished, and fallen. The wrecks of dead
empires — the long labors of emperors and kings,
of principalities and powers — had passed away on
that deluge-flood of earthly grandeur ever rolling
onward to the ocean of eternity; yet still afar
widened the blessings of Christianity. Like the
beams of the sun, each ray had radiated in separate
streams of light; but they were soon swallowed up
in one glad effulgence, blessing all upon whom
it fell, even as the common light of heaven. These
remembrances can afford the reader little save a
faint idea of the general character of one or two of
his positions and illustrations. The nervous style,
the appropriate gesture, the beaming eye, may be
imagined but must be seen to be realized. The
very hesitation, which our orator occasionally
manifests in making a selection from thoughts
which are pressing for utterance, is in itself’ an
essential feature of eloquence; for when the key-
word unlocks the treasure, the intellectual flood rolls
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 257

on with a resistless force, the greater from having
been peut up and kept back; while the speaker's
language illustrates and adorns his thoughts, ‘as
light, streaming through colored glass, heightens
the object it falls upon.’ ”

From another city paper we take the following :

“The missionary sermon delivered in this city
on Sunday evening last, by the Rev. H. B. Bascom,
D. D., was replete with sterling reason, and start-
ling eloquence; it exhibited a grasp of mind so
far beyond the range of ordinary sermonizing, that
we doubt not, among the vast multitudes who
crowded an4 pressed against the walls of the
church where the effort was delivered, without and
within, there were sundry of the latter, who were
not properly lifted up to the grand scope and
sphere of the spesker’s vision. The text, —
(which if we remember rightly was, ‘ For our sakes
he became poor, that we through his poverty
might become rich,’)— was wrought out into a
world of thought, of persuasion, of imagery, — to
which Mitton himself might have listened with an
applauding spirit. To those who cannot retire
into that realm of the mind, which seems to open
upon it the domain of immortal prophecy: — the
illimitable stretch of that vastness, where the
Omnipotent sits clothed in light as with a garment
—who are unaccustomed to entertain those views

which stretch beyond this visible diurnal sphere,
17
258 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

or those rapt ‘ihoughts that wander through
eternity, —the sermon in question may have
seemed too high-wrought and sub:ime, to sink at
once upon the mind. It was a discourse, suscep-
tible of after-influences; it left an aliment for the
spirit, where it might take the nurture piecemeal,
and in separate contemplation. The argument
throughout, was admirably sustained, — and in i.s
widest details would have delighted an astronomer.
There was something in the progress and peroration
of the effort, which frequently reminded us of the
magnificent flights, the empyreal ascensions, of
the celebrated Mitman, in his happiest endeavors:
a symmetrical conjunction of reason and imagi-
nation, fortifying each other, with vision and
conclusion. Being spontaneous, it cannot be sup-
posed, that one, warmed with the vastness of his
theme, might not expand his similes both in
aumber and spirit, beyond the common ken; yet,
it is not in ordinary intellects to set bounds to
sacred improvisation. Bending to the divine affla-
tus, and uplifted to the celestial Zion, who shall
put bolts and bars before the spirit’s rapture? No
doubt it is vouchsafed to some minds, to have a
wider bound of intellectual light opened upon
them, than is accorded to the generality of others;
and this appears to be the case with the subject
under notice; his tropes and figures are not
drawn from the narrowed border of this sublunary
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 259

ob; but he ascends, as it were, into an imaginary
balcony, where, like him ‘upon the top of Fesole,
or in Val d’Arno,’ he descries new systems, —
points the upraised vision to a deeper phalanx of
worlds on worlds, blooming in expanded beauty,
and encircled with that immortal principle of life
and light, whose seat and fountain is the inner
sanctuary of God. One would think that the
gradations from such vast contemplations, down
to the subject of earthly missions, would be
abrupt and incongruous —but they were not. To
‘a succession of brilliant hypotheses, with which
the exordium and centre of the discourse, were,
perhaps, too replete, there followed a train of
evangelical reflections, — corollary of the whole,
—which abounded with true edification, and left
upon the minds of the audience, the deepest and
most lively impressions.

“There was a pecuniary shower afterwards among
the assembly, the gross amount of which must
have been very considerable, —and which will, no
doubt, fully accomplish its benevolent and human-
izing rim.”

We must be permitted to introduce yet another
notice of this discourse. It is from a religious
paper of a different church from thut to which Dr.
Bascom belonged :

“Last evening the New York Bible Society held
its anniversary at the Broadway Tabernacle. This
260 LIFE OF BISHOP BASUUJM.

was the first of the anniversaries of the season,
and if we may judge from the spirit of this occasion,
no smull treat is to be enjoyed by the attendants
upon the coming celebrations. H. B. Bascom,
D.D., (Methodist,) was selected speaker for the
occasion; and the choice was most happy. Dr.
Bascom is one of the choice spirits of the age, and
well suited to elevate the public mind in its views
of these great benevolent enterprises. His remarks
upon the character, genius, principles, and effects
of Christianity—the Bible—were incomparably
eloquent and impressive. At one time we stood:
in the centre of the great drama of time —in the
centre of the broad amphitheatre of Jehovah’s
creative and providential exhibitions. Language
is too feeble to express the vivid conceptions that
burst upon my mind, when from that centre he
followed the track of sacred record — the pathway
of God from the origin of things. The speaker
had philosophy, but he did not deifyit. Zhe Bible
seemed his great instructor. How forcibly the
commonest incident of biblical record rose into an
era under his master touch, none but those who
heard him can fully conceive. I stood and gazed
upon the canvas which his mighty pencil touched

1 looked through the telescope which he held before
the eye, and lo! the morning of existence dawned
——the cradled universe kindled its infant smile
uadoer the witered gratulations of its Maker.-— the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 264

morning stars began to sing, and the sons of God
shouted for joy. He lifted that telescope again,
and a boundless eternity was revealed. So bold
were his conceptions when he attempted an expres-
sion of eternity —and so wide, so vast, was the
region that lay expanded before us, that time’s
epoch dwindled down to a brief hour, and the circle
of the heavens narrowed to the merest point.
“Yet it was not mere flashing oratory — mere
scintillations of a vivid imagination. There was a
solidity, a maturity of thought unusual to a mind
of his glowing order. While I was gazing upon
the scenery thus spread out before me, suddenly
‘the angel of prophecy passed’ me, and it was
difficult to continue the impression that I was
listening to a description, —so much of diving
reality seemed to invest the whole scenery. The
angel of prophecy lifted the curtain of time to
come; revelation then shed its brilliant light over
the new scene. You might have beheld the hill
tops and mountain brows brilliant with a ‘living
splendor,’ ‘the oudline’ of the future — affording
all we need to anticipate — and leaving the inter-
vuls to be filled up by the historic pen. Down in
the distance of coming ages, the gradual develop-
ments of prophecy opened before us the angry
attacks of infidelity upon the Bible. Her undaunted
steps, as she went on, ‘hurling thunders at thrones
and pronouncing the doom of nations;’ her splen-
262 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

did achievements, as she rolled on her chariot over
a world of broken hearts that throbbed with the
first pulse of real hfe in the crush; and other
mighty doings then passed in review before us —
until the blended voice of the redeemed below, and
the redeemed above, swelled into its highest strains
when he said the entranced spirits above would
‘hush their harps’ and bend from the heavens to
listen to the ‘tones of their praise,’ and the hymns
of their melody.”

After the services of that evening were con-
cluded, Dr. Bascom was introduced, at the house
of Dr. R., to Miss Van Antwerp, who afterwards
became his wife.

After completing his engagement in behalf of
the Missionary Society, it was proposed that he
should repeat his lectures on Christianity and infi-
delity in the city. This he did with marked
success. All who heard them appeared delighted,
and the public press was profuse in their praise.
From the multitude of notices we select but one,
and that one among the most moderute of the whole:

“The second lecture of Professor Bascom, on
‘The Evidences of Christianity,’ will be delivered
this evening, and not-at the time accidently stated
in the Inquirer of this morning. The following
remarks of that paper with respect to the first
lecture, deserve full endorsement, and with double
emphasis, to the subsequent portions of the course,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 263

in which the tide of evidence and argument,
gathering strength as it goes on, must sweep con-
viction to every mind not resolved against it:

“<*Tt was indeed a lecture worthy to have been
delivered before the heads of any college or
university, either in America or Europe, and as far
as the argument extended, it was impossible not to
be struck with the sound logical premises on which
it was based, the true philosophy and religion of
its doctrines, and the correctness in every point of
the Professor’s well-managed deduction. To the
Infidel, if was a matter of conviction— to the
Christian and true believer, a source of additional
triumph and jey. Although, as we have already
observed, the lecture only formed one of a series,
yet it was classically correct in the detail, appa-
rently unanswerable in reasoning, and decidedly
perfect as a whole. We infer, therefore, that each
lecture will present a similar monument of logical
unity, symmeiry and perfeccion. We once more
urge upon our readers the advantage of attending
the course, which cannot fail to improve them in
the interests of religion, and elevate their concep-
tions of Christianity.’ ”

Afterwards he visited New Haven, Middletown,
and other places in New England, and delivered
his lectures.

Sometime in the summer, he visited Saratoga
and preached. The concourse of visitors was
264 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCUM.

large, and composed of the elite of the country ;
there was no house large enough to accommodate
the audience, and Dr. Bascom preached in the
open air to a congregation, estimated at three
thousand souls. The effort was a powerful one,
and very successful in so far as the edific ition, and
even delight of the hearers were concerned; but
it brought on a bronchial affection, from the effects
of which he suffered much, and from which he
never entirely recovered. Of this sermon, a Sara-
toga correspondent of a Baltimore paper writes:
“Dr. Bascom threw himself into the field of
prophecy, traced its fulfillment from the days of its
utterance to the present time, with a clearness
that seemed to excite universe] admiration; and
his analogies were, to the mind, like the bright
sun beam, darting vividly through the broken
cloud of the morning, to the eye. Not a whisper
could be heard, and all, save the speaker’s voice,
were wrapt in the mantle of silence. The visions
of his imagination seem bright and quick as the
comet’s flight; and he takes the mind of the
listener, as it were, from the groveling sphere to
which the animal man is confined, and mounting
aloft, lays the very court of heaven open to its
vision, whilst the caverns of the darker regions are
beheld yawning beneath. He carries it impercep-
tibly, through the un‘rodden fields of illimitable
space, while the millenial sun is mentally seen te
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 205

rise, and throw an unbroken shect of light, and
heavenly purity over the inhabitants of the spheres.
I wish I had time to study a description of his
powers.”

About this time he was offered a general agency
of the American Colonization Society, at a salary
of three thousand dollars a year. This was highly
complimentary under the circumstances; for that
society was allowing agents contingently from five
hundred to one thousand dollars; but having
tested the value of Dr. Bascom’s services in that
capacity, they believed that the interests of the
society would be promoted by employing him at
even this high salary. Circumstances, however,
rendered it expedient in his judgment, to decline
the liberal offer.

On his return to New York, from Suratoga, his
symptoms were such as to alarm his medical ad-
visors, and he was directed to spend the ensuing
winter as far south, at least, as Virginia.

He started southward accordingly; but the
desperate state of his affairs was such, that he felt
compelled to labor for the replenishing of his
finances, even at the cost of health and the peril
of life. He lectured in Philadelphia, Baltimore,
and other cities on his route, until he reached
Petersburg, Va., where he entirely failed and had
to desist.

He always lectured three nights in succession ;
266. LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

and frequently on the following morning after
lecturing, he rose voiceless and prostrated, and
only by fomentations and hot drinks, recovered
himself through the day for another struggle at
night.*

Why did he submit to this distressing and

* The low state of Dr. Bascom’s, health, and the apparent proba-
bility that he would not recover, gave rise to a rumor, that he was
actually dead, and this report soon spread through the newspapers.
Below we give the rumor in one of its forms, with the remarks of the
editor.

We have learned from an authentic source, that the Rev. Henry
B. Bascom, that brightest light of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
nay, of the whole Catholic Church, is no more! We understand
that he died in Virginia, on’ his way westward, but the particulars
of this melancholy event have not yet reached us

“The language of eulozy-is too feeble, in our mouth, at least, tc
give vent to the feelings with which ‘this loss has overpowered us.
We can only remember what he was,and imagine what he is,—a
star of exceeding: ‘brightness.added to the brilliant cluster in heaven.”

“ His loss to the church must be irreparable ; we know it to be so
to the Union at large, out of whose midst a GREAT MAN has been
taken, — one Great, indeed, in the legitimate sense of that term,
mighty in intellect, wise to direct, and powerful to execute the
glorious warfare in which he was engaged.

We are not-a member of any church, but, in this event, we can
sympathize fully with its members. We, too, can pay the tribute
which affection and veneration owe to the memory of one, who
cultivated assiduously the finest endowments with which nature can
invest mortality, (for, surely, such were his,) and who estcemed it
his highest privilege to be permitted to devote them all to the
service of the Grear First Cause by whom they were bestowed.”

“The New York Commercial notices the rumor, but pleasantly
assures his contemporary that “ Although the eloquent divine is not
dead, yet something very serious will happen to him very soon.” T
which a Baltimore paper responds — “We have no doubt of it; for
it is confidently expected that about March, he will be converted
from — bachelorism! a consummation devoutedly to be wished.”
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 267

perilous course? Because the benevolence of his
heart had led him to contract a debt for the benefit
of others, under the weight of which he was now
crushed to the earth; and rather than allow his
creditors, or the cause of God to suffer through his
delinquency, he put his valuable life in jeopardy.*

But why was this suffered? why this state of
things not prevented by the wealthy members of
the church? I know of no better reason than that
Christians set a less value on the services of the
most talented and faithful ministers of their
religion, than men of the world place on eminent
statesmen and politicians. In England vast sums
were bestowed on Pitt, Burke, and others, by
wealthy individuals, in consideration of their public
services. In our own country, a large sum was

* Dr. Bascom’s language on this subject, addressed to his be-
trothed in a letter, some months previous, to his marriage, is too
expressive of his feelings and his situation to be omitted.

He says —*“I must provide for my family — [his father’s] for the
payment of a portion of my debts, and see that my remaining
creditors are satisfied — these are imperative matters, and may
require my presence for wu year or two. Be assured, however, my
dear KE, — [ shall not take you to Kentucky, if I see that you are to
suffer by it, or be subjected to humiliation. You will perceive, that
on this subject, I am a good deal feverish and distracted. If I fail
in Baltimore, I have no hope of success, and must give up all hope
of the immediate relief for which I sigh.” His intended wife.
sympathizing in his difficulties, kindly offered him a sum of money,
to relieve the present press. ‘To this tender of aid he responds —
“Your kind offer, my dear E.,— to assist me in my difficulties, was
like yourself, and makes me more proud of you, and love you the
more, but with my present views, I cannot accept it. The amount.
it is truc, would greatly relieve me, still, my dear girl, I must
268 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

given to Henry Clay, to relieve him of embarrass-
ment, and to Daniel Webster, to provide for the
comfort of his old age, because they had rendered
distinguished. service to their country or their
political party. To this I make no objection; but
why are Christians less generous in providing for
distinguished and needy ministers? Had Bascom
devoted his great talents to politics, certainly he
could not have been as useful as in the higher and
holier sphere of action, in which he moved; yet,
no one doubts his ability to have taken rank with
Clay, Webster and Calhoun, had he selected the
same field; and in that case too, there is hardly
room to doubt that Bascom the Statesman had been
liberally proviaed for, while Bascom the Christian
orator was permitted to suffer under perpetual

decline your tender. I might die, and although a note might be
evidence of my indebtedness, yet my effects might not be equal to
the claims against me, and you be the sufferer. No: let me try to
extricate myself in some other way. It bids fair to be vain, I know,
but still let me try. Let me have the consciousness of having done
all that hope could prompt to, or desperation suggest, and then,
even with the iron hand of poverty at my throat, I can breathe more
freely.” * * % * © The sameness of my topics must be a tax
on your forbearance; but when a man writcs from prison, what
topics can he discuss, unconnected with the darkness of his cell
contrasted with the excluded light of heaven? It may not always
be so. If it is, it shall not be my fault.”

Speaking of his physical sufferings while on this same tour, he
says, — “If you were with me, my dear E,—this dreadful exhaus-
tion, and this painful throat might be more tolerable, as it is, I have
scldom been more utterly outdone. ‘These efforts have cost me
dearly, very dearly. In my life, perhaps. I have never had such a
atruggle to keep up.”
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 269

embarrassment for the means of meeting his debts
of humanity and benevolence. And is it not
almost certain that those very Christians who
allowed him to suffer and languish unaided, as a
gospel minister, would have come promptly to his
rescue, had he been an embarrassed statesman ?
This is a painful theme; for the writer, with a most
intimate acquaintance with his feelings and deep
mental sufferings on this account, is strongly
impressed with the conviction that his distressing
embarrassment hastened his death; and that but
for this cause, he had in all probability been living,
laboring, and honoring the church at this day.
In his last serious illness before the one that
terminated his earthly career, his physicians pro-
nounced mental anxiety to be the prime cause of
his disease ; and in his last illness, the desperate
state of his affairs, the gloomy prospect of leaving
his creditors unpaid, and his loved little ones
dependent on the charity of a cold, unfeeling
world, so wrought on his spirits as to give much
additional power to a disease, which under favor-
able circumstances would probably have yielded to
remedial agencies. But we turn from reflections
so gloomy, and now unavailing.
CHAPTER XIX.

[mproves in Health, returns to New York and Marries — Why did Le
not Marry earlier, and disembarrass himself? — Why Marry now
under Embarrassments ?— Leaves New York,with his Lady, and
visits Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburg, and finally Augusta —
Heavy Draught on his Funds — Manner of Life and Prospect —
Elected President of Louisiana College, which he Declines —
Tendered Presidency of Missouri University, also Declined —
Elected to General Conference of 1840— Important Position
Assigned him — Overture from Transylvania University — Action
of Conference—Dr. Bascom a Commissioner—Tender of Morrison
College to Kentucky Conference—Commissioners meet and accept
the College — The Source of a Difficulty Transferring only a Col-
lege when a University was understood — Bascom appointcd
President pro tem. of University — Services and Compensation at
Augusta — (Note) — Germ of Future Difficulties developing —
College opened under new Organization, and is very Successful --
Comparative Prosperity shown — (Note) — College Property
incumbered — Efforts to Relieve it— Death of Dr. Bascomm’s Step-
mother — Dr. Bascom a Delegate to the General Conference of
1844—On account of Difficulties on the Slavery Question, declines
as Chairman of Commissioners, to report the acquisition of the
College —Is elected Permanent President of University — Is
Chairman of Education Committee in General Conference — Gets
into a Political Difficulty, the History of which is given.

Arter Dr. Bascom had somewhat recruited his
health by rest, he returned to the city of New York,
und on the seventh of March 1839 was married
to Miss Van Antwerp, by Rev. Fitch Reed.

“But why did he not, long before this date,
marry a lady of fortune, and so relieve himself of
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 271

pecuniary difficulties?”* This question has often
been asked, and ean be easily answered. THe
regarded matrimony as too sacred a thing to be
influenced and directed by pecuniary and sordid
considerations: He was too high-minded and of too
independent a spirit to place himself in a state of
entire dependence on a lady whose hand he should
solicit in wedlock: He could hardly expect to find
any lady who would perfectly sympathize with him.
and bestow her means in support of those dependent
on his bounty. No man appreciated the blessing
of social life and domestic relations more highly
than Dr. Bascom, but his sense of duty to those
committed to his care induced him, until this late
period in life, to forego this enjoyment.

“But why marry now, with all his difficulties
still pressing upon him?” It had come to be high
time for him to take this step, if it was ever to be

* A letter, written a short time before his marriage, contains views
of matrimony so just, as to warrant a brief extract. “Althongh
many a dark cloud skirts my horizon, yet, with God's blessing, and
your love I hope to have some fair sky at least, to bless the future.
In this, my dear E., much will depend on you. If I should be
disappointed in marriage, of all men I should be most miserable;
but my anticipations include no such result. Let us resolve to be
contented and happy, and this resolve will contribute much to make
us so. Why should we not be happy? I shall have much care and
affliction on account of my family, and so, perhaps, will you; but
happiness on earth implies no exemption from affliction and trial.
To meet these and triumph, in peace with heayen —not enslaved to
earth —and with true and unchanging devotion to each other in
weal or woe, this is the only happiness we can hope for, and. my
dearest girl, for it let us hope.” :
272 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

taken at all; — his betrothed, understanding his
circumstances, was willing to share his lot with him ;
she had means to place herself above dependence,
and these he secured to her, legally, without her
knowledge, that so she might not suffer seriously
from his embarrassments ; — and, finally, he had
realized about three thousand dollars as the pro-
ceeds of his lecturing, and this sum would afford
him some present relief: and hope promised a
more prosperous future.

Soon after their marriage, Dr. Biscom and his
lady started for the west. They spent some time
in Philadelphia, and in Baltimore, and then pro-
ceeded to Pitsburg, where Mrs. Bascom was left
with Mrs. Bell — Dr. Bascom’s niece and adopted
daughter—until he went to Augusta to make
arrangements fur her reception. He procured a
habitation for his step-mother and family, repaired
his own, and on the last night of April, 1839, Mrs.
Bascom was installed mistress of her Kentucky
home.

When Dr. Buscom left his wife at Pittsburg he
had three thousand and five hundred dollars ;—.,
when, three or four weeks afterwards, she joined
him at Augusta, he had but one hundred and fifty
dollars of that sum left. But the payment of this
sum relieved the present press. He wrought his
own garden, kept but one servant, had two boarders,
— his wife took the active management of house.

 
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 273

hold affairs, and the present was more happy, and
the future more bright than heretofore.

In 1840 Dr. Bascom was elected President of the
Louisiana College, located at Jackson. To this
office was attached a salary of three thousand dol-
lars per annum; but whether his dependents and
creditors, the want of harmony among the Trustees,
the unwillingness of Augusta to lose his services,
or whether these with other reasons induced his
declinature, I am not prepared to say; what is
certainly known is that he did not accept the
appointment.

Within the the same same year he was sem-
officially invited to the Presidency of the University
of Missouri; — that is, he was requested by a
Committee of the Board of Trustees to permit his
name to be put in nomination before the Board for
that office. As he had declined a more eligible
Presidency after having been elected to it, he
of course declined entering the lists as a candidate
and competitor for this.

Dr. Bscom was this year again elected to the
General Conference, where he was a member of
the standing committee on slavery, and chairman
of a special committee raised with reference to a
particular branch of the same subject. The confi-
dence of the episcopacy in his ability to manage
this unpleasant and difficult subject, induced a
portion, a least, of the Episcopal board, to request
274 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

him to make a general report, based on that
particular case. This report will be brought into
notice elsewhere in this work, and needs not to be
called up here.

At this conference,a communication was received
from the Trustees of Transylvania University, inti-
mating an intention on the part of that body to
tender the control of the institution to the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church. The conference, therefore,
appointed a board of commissioners to represent
them in this important business; and Dr. Bascom
was a member of that commission, and acted as
chairman of the board. The resolution of the
conference on this subject, provided that “the
commissioners should have authority to make any
arrangement with the trustees of the university
by which they may secure to the General Confer-
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the
control of said university, in so fur as to provide
that it [the General Conference] shall elect the
faculty and officers thereof, and arrange and settle
the course of studies pursued therein, and the
internal policy thereof, through any board of
curators which the conference may appoint for
that purpose; and provided they do not pledge
the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
nor bind this conference, either ~ollectively, or the
members individually, to pay any money, either tu
endow or sustain said university. And said com-
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 275

missioners shall have power to carry into immediate
effect any arrangement they may make with said
trustees, in conformity with the foregoing stipula-
tions, and they shall report their actings and
doings herein to the next session of this conference.

In ‘the autumn of 1841, the trustees of the
University sent one of their number to the session
of the Kentucky annual conference —within the
bounds of which it is situated — to apprize that
body, that they were ready to make a tender of
Morrison College— the academic department of the
university — to the commissioners, and to get a
pledge of co-operation and support from that body.
The conference had no power to accept the offer
in behalf of the church, but they approved the
measure, and gave a qualified pledge of support.

In the spring of 1842, the commissioners met,
and formally accepted the offer of the trustees,
and resolved to take possession in the following
autumn.

Here, it appears to me, a blunder was committed
at the outset of this negotiation, the effects of which
were disastrous to the enterprise. The control of
Transylvania University appears to have been pro-
posed to the General Conference ; the conference
appointed commissioners to receive a University,
but instead of this, only Morrison College, which
was but one of three colleges composing the
aniversity, was finally tendered and accepted. A
276 LIFE OF BISHOP BASLOM.

university, under the control of the church, would
probably have enlisted a number of conferences in
its support — perhaps, all the south; but not so a
mere college, of which there were already many
under the control of the annual conferences, and to
the support of some one or other of these, ‘nearly
every annual conference in the connection was
already pledged. Those conferences could, there-
fore, have no adequate motive to withdraw their
support from their own colleges at home, to give
it to a mere college at a distance. Had the
University been put under the control of the
church, there had been the object of giving our
sons a literary and a professional education in the
same university, and that a church institution.
True, the church had the appointing of a Pvresi-
dent, who was not only President of Morrison
College, but of the entire university; yet, even
he, had little or no other authority over the Jaw
and Medical departments, than simply to deliver
diplomas to those designated by the trustees of the
university. These explanations, and others, ate
necessary to a right understanding of Dr. Bascom’s
connection with, and relation to that institution.

The commissioners proposed Dr. Bascom for the
the presidency of Transylvania, but he declined ;
yet, rather than defeat the enterprise, he, at
length, yielded his reluctant consent, so fir as te
become President pro tem.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 277

Under this arrangement, he resigned his chair
in Augusta College, and removed to Lexington.*
This was a highly responsible, and, in many
respec:s, most unpleasant position. The principle
just now noticed at once began its workings; there
was a college already under the care of the Ken-
tucky conference, and there were those who were
not willing to abandon the old college for the new.
The majority, however, were ready to pledge
support to the newly acquired institution, and
were desirous to withdraw the endowment funds
of the conference from Augusta, and appropriate
them at Lexington.

This attempt brought on a series of vexatious

* When Dr. Bascom resigned his chair in Augusta College, he
was, by some, much censured, and the charge of ingratitude was
brought against him. as if that institution had conferred on him such
large favors as to bind him in everlasting gratitude to it. To this
charge he replied, that he had served for as little as seven hundred
dollars a year, and at no time more than one thousand dollars, and
neyer in any one year received more than half his salary in cash,
and seidom so much — that “for the last six sessions he had received
only one dollar in five of his salary in money — that on going there,
he relinquished a salary of fifteen hundred dollars, and often during
his stay, had offers worth twice, thrice, and even quadruple what
they gave him — that he had paid for the institution several hundred
dollars, in donations, subscriptions, traveling expenses, &c. Add to
this sixteen hundred dollars, paid or to be paid for board, tuition,
&c., of students without funds, sent to his care.” “ My expenses in
eleven years have exceeded my income by at least five thousand
dollars. All this went to the college and the place, and is a larger
amount by more than a thousand dollars, than I have received in
cash from the trustees of the college in all my life. And yet Iam
sharged with ingratitude.”
278 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

and prolonged law suits; and, in all these, Dr.
Riscom had to bear the chief burden of toil, and
no small expense, as well of money as of time;
and no man could suffer more from the annoyance
of such things than he.

The General Conference had prohibited the
commissioners from appropriating any church funds
to the support of the institution, and the trustees,
therefore, had nothing to expect from that quarter;
but the Kentucky conference become pledged to
procure students, to endow one professorship, and
to bring over their Augusta funds, provided they
could be recovered.

The first they did for a time most handsomely,
the second they but half accomplished, and in the
third they did not succeed at all.

The college was opened, however, and under
Bascom’s administration it was, for some years,
eminently successful; seven professors and tutors
were employed, and by the end of the second year
the catalogue had swelled from some twenty or
thirty to near three hundred.*

* To learn the happy influence of this transfer, on the prosperity of
the Institution, it is only necessary to present official statements of its
condition before and after that event. It was opened under the new
organization, September or October, 1842. At or about the opening
of the preceding session, the trustces reported to the State Legislature,
that the annual income of the college was five thousand two hundred
and twenty dollars, that its expenditures were six thousand two hun-
dred and twenty-two dollars, and that the whole amount of tuition fees
received for instructien for the preceding year in Morrison College
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCCM. 278

Presently it transpired that there was a mort-
gage lien on the college premises of some five or
six thousand dollars, which must be immediately
discharged; the buildings, too, were much out of
repair, and funds must be raised for both purposes.
To meet the emergency, Bascom and a few friends
borrowed money, and paid off the mortgage, and
an agent was sent out to collect money to pay the
loan and make necessary repairs. Some funds
were secured, and some repairs paid for, and some-
thing paid on the interest of the loan, but Bascom
and his colleagues of the fuculty had a large sum
to pay from their own pockets for repairs, and the
loan stood unliquidated. Still the college halls
were thronged with students, and never had it a
higher reputation.

In the early part of the year 1842, Dr. Bascom’s
step-mother, who had been provided for and nursed
by him for nine years, departed this life. On
the occurring of this event he incorporated the
remaining members of his father’s family into his
own, and continued to be a father, as well as brother,
to them so long as they had need of his guardian-
ship and providence.

was but four hundred and forty dollars—that is eleven paying
students in the college proper -— and six hundred and thirty dollars
for tuition in the preparatory Cepartment. In two years from that
time the college -—including preparatory department — presented a
catalogue of two hundred and eighty-one students; and still a year later,
of two hundred and ninety.
280 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

In 1844, Dr. Bascom was, as usual, a delegate
to the General Conference, and as chairman of the
board of commissioners, it became his duty, by
the terms of his appointment, to report to that
body, the action had in relation to the college,
that the conference might appoint officers for it,
as stipulated in the resolution of 1840. Difficul-
ties, however, arose between the North and the
South, and fearing the appointment, under the
existing excitement, of unacceptable officers, and
of unpleasant conflicts, he doubted the expediency
of presenting the institution to the conference.
The southern delegates took the same view of the
subject, and signed a written pledge to sustain
him in his proposed course, and accordingly he
made no report of what the commissioners had
done.

Up to this time Dr. Bascom had looked forward
to the General Conference, as the time when a
permanent president of the university would be
appointed, and he should be released from that
onerous burden: but on his return home, the
trustees, highly approving of his course, promptly
elected him president permanently.

At this General Conference, Dr. Bascom was
placed at the head of the committee on education;
but as the difficulties which grew up in the confer-
ence on the subject of slavery threatened, early in
the session, to work a severance of the connection,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 28)

while it was deemed inexpedient to brig the
affairs of Transylvania before that body, it was
judged unnecessary, if not improper, to make any
general report respecting the literary institutions
of the church — leaving each division to manage
its own literary interests.

During this year, Dr. Bascom became involved,
most unexpectedly, in a very unpleasant affair.
Col. Polk and Mr. Clay were rival candidates for
the Presidency of the United States, —the contest
was not only warm, but bitter and violent, and
every expedient or stratagem that promised suc-
cess, wis unscrupuously employed by demagogues
and party leaders of both parties. The private
character of Mr. Clay was violently assailed, and a
gentleman in the east wrote to Dr. Bascom, whom
he knew to be a neighbor, and friend of Mr. Clay,
— for a frank statement as to his moral character.
However defective this may have been at an
earlier period, Dr. Bascom firmly believed it to
be, at that time, entirely unimpeachable, and such
was the general opinion; indeed, it was not long
after this that he regularly connected himself with
the church. With the assurance that his answer
was intended for no public use, Dr. B. expressed
his opinion with the freedom of private correspon-
dence, and perhaps with some coloring of partiality,
supposing the matter would end there. Soon,
however, the substance of his letter was published
282 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

in the political papers in Mr. Clay’s interest; this
excited some of the other party against him
extremely, and he was denounced in libels the
most false and scandalous, and for the first and
only time in his life, his own moral character was
impeached to invalidate his testimony. But he
suffered the slanderers to go unprosecuted —
though he might have recovered exemplary dama-
ges for the slander; rightly judging that such
missiles could make no general or permanent
impression on a character established and built up
by long years of upright conduct, and indefatigable
devotion to his sacred calling. True, he regretted
that he had not been more cautious in his remarks,
and so avoided this persecution; but as he had
acted from no improper motive, he was content to
abide the issue.*

* As this letter was the occasion of bitter prejudice against Dr.
Bascom in the minds of many, and some who, perhaps, have never
fully understuod the facts of the case, it may be no more than sheer
justice to his character to place the matter in its true light. And
first, we give the published statement of his enemies as to the contents
of the letter, and also a most ridiculously false report of Dr. Bascom’s
personal history, and his relations with Mr. Clay.

«The Rey. Henry B. Bascom, who emigrated from this section
some years ago, has recently, we see, been certifying for the ‘ Hon. IL.
Clay? First, he certifies that ‘Mr. Clay offers no claim to Christian
piety? but asserts that the charges against him of being a duellist, a
gambler, &e., are ‘utterly and basely false’? That ‘in view of the
ordinary accredited principles of good moral character, no charge
ean be brouzht against him, without violating the obligations of truth
and sound justice’ Let it be borne in mind that this Rev. H. B
Bascom went to Kentucky as an adventurer, poor and without
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 283

friends: that Mr. Clay, finding him possessed of rire parts, took
him under his care and protection, educated him, and made a minister
of him: that he bears a reputation, over the Union, as a very eloquent,
though wordy and windy pulpit orator: that through Mr. Clay’s
influence he was elected chaplain to the lower house of Congress in
1841, and subsequently, through the same influence, was placed at
the head of the ‘Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ky., and we
shall then have a clue to the strong feelings that induced the reverend
gentleman to certify to that which every man in the United States
knows to be false. It is but a short time since we heard a distin-
guished member of the church of which Mr. Bascom is, we fear, an
unworthy minister, assert at a public meeting, that every man, woman,
and child in Kentucky, knew that Henry Clay was a gambler.”

In this short extract are at least seven or eight palpable falsehoods,
having not even a shadow of foundation in truth. But here follows
the beautiful sequel:

“We will close by giving the reader one more glimpse at the
ministerial character of Rev. H. B. Bascom. Some fifteen years
ago, when we resided in Delaware county, N. Y., a gentleman
informed us that Mr. Bascom, whom he spoke of as one of the most
eloquent preachers in the United States, had written a letter to his
old friend, P. S. Preston, Esq., in which he spoke of visiting tne
Beechwoods, and was particular in inquiring that, if in case he visited
that section he should find any ‘girls that would be come-at-able?’
‘This, in the ‘parlance’ of a clergyman, sounded beautifully at tne
time, and, we recollect, was a subject of very general remark in tne
neighborhood.”

Another paper, after quoting the last paragraph above, says:

“TJ. Hubbell, Esq, says he read the letter of Mr Bascom to Mr.
Preston, and remembers the phrase ‘come-at-able’ was underscored
to make it emphatic, and that he has had a rather poor opinion of
Dr. Bascom as a minister ever since, though he (Mr. Hubbell) is a
member of the Methodist Church. ‘The whigs have placed them-
selves in an awkward position by denying the trath of our statement,
as it is virtually admitting that what we have said was enough, if
true, to destroy all configence in the truth of Mr. Bascom’s certificate
for ‘Hon. H. Clay.”

The same paper, of a later date, speaking of the matter, and of
this Mr. EL, says:

“ At the county mecting on Tuesday evening, he (Mr. H.) inciden
ally alluded to the Bascom letter, to P. S. Preston, Esq. He fully
284 LIFE OF BISHOE BASCOM.

endorsed our statement about it in the Herald. said he saw the
letter, and read it, and laughed over it, with Paul S. Preston himself
and assured his auditors that Preston would never deny to him that
there was such language in the letter as was printed in the Herald.”

Dr. Bascom was here charged in a public newspaper with grosa
falsehood —and copicd into many others—-and the most foul and
damning imputation was attempted to be cast on his fair fame by dark,
insidious insinuation. Political editors declared it sufficient to destroy
his credibility as a witness, and a member of his own communion pub-
licly asserted the truth of the charge, and declared that it had caused
him to have “a poor opinion of Mr. Bascom ever since.” The boldness
of the aspersion made some of Dr. B.’s friends fear the possibility of
some youthful indiscretion on his part as the ground of it. Dr.
Bascom wrote to Mr. Preston, in answer to a request of the latter,
anthorizing the publication of his letter on which the calumny was
ostensibly based, and says:

“The article from the ‘ SIerald,” to which yon direct my attention,
is a tissue of the most stupid falsehoods, and so far as I am concerned,
there is not one word of truth init. For example, I left the place of my
birth more than thirty-six years ago, and instead of coming to
Kentucky an ‘adventurer,’ was only twelve years old when my father
und family emigrated westward. It is also true, that I had been a
regular minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church for at least eight
years, and as such had filled some of the most important stations in
the West, before Mr. Clay had ever seen me. Equally true is it, and
Mr. Clay will attest it with more pleasure than I affirm it, that I
never was indebted to Mr, Clay to the amount of a cent in my life, and my
only obligations to him are on the score of friendship and good will,
to the utter exclusion of every thing implying either bounty or
patronage, and the other charges of the Herald are cqually false and
defamatory, besides being too obviously absurd and malignant to do
me any harm, even where I am not known. That portion of the
political press which has stooped to the infamy of lying and misrep-
resentation to injure a man, who had not interfered with the rights
and functions of the press in any form, and had merely exercised the
right of private judgment, on a question of social justice, between
man and man, has deprived itself of the power of injuring me, and
by a resort to such means, has superseded the necessity of even a
defence on my part. The statement of Hubbell is a sheer fubrication,
and with the meaning he intends to convey, an unqualified fulsenood,
and no man on earth knows it better than the very convenient
LIFE OF BISIOP BASCOM. 285

witness, who, for merely political party purposes, has lent himself te
the guilt and shame of becoming its author.

“You are at liberty to publish my letter of 1823, to which Hubbell
refers, and with it this note, should you deem it necessary. Your
letter, to which mine of 2d September, 1823, was a familiar reply, is
preserved, but among a file of several thousand letters. I cannot
now. lay my hand upon it”

The offensive letter was published, and the whole matter turned
out to be no more than this — that more than twenty years previously
Mr. P. had written to his old school fellow, Bascom, inviting him
to visit his native place. — rallying him playfully on the subject of
matrimony, &c. With the unsuspicious freedom of friendship,
Bascom replies, saying he is still unmarried, but intends to marry at
some time — purposes to visit his place of nativity, &c., and adds —
“Tf I should reach Delaware in ‘single wretchedness.’ will I see any
body there worth having, and come-at-able by a romantic stranger? or
shall I please myself here among the fine Kentucky belles ?”

It was a most malicious attack; but simple truth wrought a power-
ful reaction. Bascom stood vindicated and pure before the world,
while his slanderers were left to settle their account with abused
conscience, an indignant public, and a just God.
CHAPTER XX.

Southern Convention meets, 1845 — Dr. Bascom at the Head of the
most important Committee — Action of that Body rerpecting the
University — Dr. Bascom’s Diary in 1846 — General Conference
— Bascom supported for Bishop — Causes of Failure — The
College accepted by General Conference — Bascom re-elected
President — Difficulties for him in re-organization — College
begins to languish under new Arrangement — Dr. Bascom elected
Editor of new Quarterly Review — Commissioner to look after
the Church Property in dispute — Difficulties of his three offices,
and his Private Affairs— Plan for relieving the last— Vartly
Successful — He attends the Northern General Conference in
1848 — Resigns the Presidency.

In 1845 the Southern Convention met in
Louisville, Ky., and formed a separate ecclesiasti-
cal organization. Of this body, Dr. Bascom was a
member —and the most effective one in it, as will
be seen elsewhere —but the assembly was not of
such character as to have authority to consummate
the connection between the college and the south-
ern church; yet, by way of manifesting their favor
to the measure, they recommended to the annual
conferences, to “instruct their delegates in the
General Conference of 1846, to take such action
as shall consummate the proposed connection be-
tween the Trustees of Transylvania University
and the General Conference, and adopt it as the
university of the Methodist Episcopal Church
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 287

South.” Here we have again the misleading idea,
that the institution was to become the one great
umversity of the Southern Methodist Church,
around which the whole connection should rally.
I do not suppose, that the trustees intended to
deceive the conference, but the latter, not looking
thoroughly into the nature and bearings of the
proposed connection, were, to a great extent,
misled by the name.

At three periods only of Dr. Bascom’s publie
life did he keep a diary,—the first, on his first
entering into the ministry, when his yet unde-
veloped powers attracted but little attention; the
second on his tour to Niagara in 1829, and the
third, when he had passed his culminating point,
and had little to record beside the monotonous
routine of college labor, and the mental perplexitics,
and bodily ails which beset him. The last extends
only from the first of January, 1846, to the fourth
of May of the same year. Bare of incident as this
record is, we shall take a few extracts from it.

“January 1. In deep affliction. My child —
second son — Louis Reece, extremely ill and not
expected to live.

“January 5. At half past three. o’clock death
triumphed. The lovely little sufferer is gone. 7th.
Find myself unable to adjust thoughts or feelings
to the, loss of my child. 9th. No abatemont of
gricf and gloom.”
288 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

On the twentieth and twenty-second he mentions
complaints brought privately against some of the
faculty for neglect of duty and want of harmony,
but hopes to overcome the difficulty.

“January 27. Sick, and taking medicine. Still
keep up my habit of reading and writing some ten
hours in the twenty-four. Jan. 28. Anxiously
engaged in adjusting pecuniary difficulties.

“February 2. Complaints against my worthy
compeers of the faculty increase in a certain
quarter. Rather than incommode them, or have
difficulty with them, I shall resign.

“February 8. Am urged by many friends to
allow my name to be used in view of an election
to the Episcopacy. Have uniformly declined, for
various reasons.

“February 4. My long indisposition has
assumed the character of a bilious intermittent,
combined with a neuralgic affec‘ion, involving the
nerves of the spine. I have a puroxysm of almost
unendurable pain once in each twenty-four hours,
usually lasting about six hours.”

Though suffering with disease, and pressed with
college duties, he yet added other labors to those
of his office.- On the 9th he says:—I am still
prosecuting my examination of the great slavery
and abolition question. Have sent to an abolition
depository for all the English and American publi-
cations on the subject.

 
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 289

“February 15. As is my daily wont, read
several chapters in the holy scriptures. 16th.
Usually read more than a hundred pages in one
or more authors every day.” And this when he
was overburdened with college labor, and when he
says :—“TI am still grappling with disease.”

“February 18. Much afflicted and deeply
anxious about college affairs. Grave complaints
continue to reach me, and although I am exempted
from their application, I shall have the whole
burden to bear.”

On the 25th the college adjourned for vacation,
and immediately Dr. Bascom had to put himself
under medical treatment. For some time the
record presenis only a report of his extreme
sufferings, and his constant efforts to labor on in
the midst of all. Whenever not wholly confined
to bed he was busily employed in reading and
writing.

March 13th he says: — “My physicians ascribe
my disease to mental anxiety.” On the 23rd he
says: — “Three hundred grains of calomel with
the usual auxiliaries have scarcely touched my
liver;” but on the 30th he says: — “Better
to-day than for two months, and the first day in
seventy-five I have not taken medicines.”

“April 17. Attended an important meeting of
the trustees—saw the signs and indices of changes

deemed necessary by the Board to the welfare of
19
290 LIFE OF BISHO?F BASCOM.

the university. Tendered my resignation, which
the Board declined receiving, and requested I
would not name the matter to any one.”

Here we see still additional difficulties growing
up in Dr. Bascom’s patk. The trustees indicated,
confidentially, the changes they desired; this
measure would involve the displacement of some
of his friends of the faculty, and though required
ny the Board, the whole blame would rest on him,
as he had said. To avoid this unpleasant conse-
quence, he promptly tendered kis resignation.
This, of course, the Board declined accepting, for
they well knew that Bascom’s reputation had
attracted many students, and under his adminis-
tration the concern had enjoyed a higher prosperity
than for many years before, and they were, there-
fore, unwilling to risk the consequences of his
separation from the university. And he, knowing
the same thing, was unwilling to take the responsi-
bility of deserting his unenviable post against the
expressed will of the trustees. He had, therefore,
no alternative left but to carry out the instructions
of the Board, one part of which was, that as the
institution was intended to be the concern of the
whole church, it should be officered by professors
representing different sections of the country.

On the 20th of April, in company with Dr.
Winans and his early friend, McMahan, with
others, he lef; Lexing‘on for Petersburg, Virginia,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 29]

the seat of the General Conference, and spent the
next Sabbath in Baltimore. 29th, ke says, “Went
to Washington, and in the evening had a long
interview with some fifteen members of Congres ,
on the subject of the great interests involved i1
the controversy between the North and the Soutl,
on the subject of slavery.”

Ihave by me a letter from a distinguisher:
southern man — now no more — advising Bascon:
of the time and place of holding that meeting.
The design of this meeting was not to invoke the
aid or sympathy of southern politicians, but rather
to put them in possession of the true position of
the southern church in relation to the laws of
the south, regulating the relations of master and
servant.

On the 30.h, Dr. Bascom traveled to Petersburg,
and the Ist of May the General Conference met.

May 2d. “Bp.-.A. and southern delegates —
absent yesterday — having arrived, conference
proceeded to business, adopting rules of order,
appointment committees, and providing for the
publication of their proceedings — a great deal of
speaking to very little purpose. 3d. Heard sermons
by Dr. Capers, Dr. G. F. Pierce, and Rev. W. M.
Wightman. 4th. Conference progressed in its pro-
liminary business, without doing anything of much
importance. I am staying at the house of D’Arey
Paul, Esq.” This is the last diary record he
292 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

appears ever to have mae; and for this, rather
than its own importance, it is inserted.

At this conference, it was determined to create
two new bishops. Buscom stood in the foremost
rank, as a man of superior talents and devotion
to the interests of the church; he had also been
thrown into the forefront of the battle, which
commenced at the General Conference of 1844,
and had been made the subject of more unkind
remark and bitter reflection, than any other man
of the southern church. Many of his friends,
therefore, thought that the church ought to mani-
fest her appreciation of his talents, services, and
persecutions in her cause, aud her confidence in
him, by electing him to the episcopacy. He did
not desire the office, and had he then been elected
would almost certainly have resigned without being
ordained; yet, such an expression of confidence
would have sustained him at a.time when, in other
quarters, strong efforts were being made to destroy
such confidence, and to depreciate him to the
greatest possible extent.

Many of those, however, who would have sup-
ported him, believing that he would nos serve, if
elected, gave their suffrages a different direction,
while others resolved to vote for him at all hazards,
willing he should resign, and more willing that he
should serve. Thus, it naturally enough came to
pass, that he received a number of votes, but not
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. ae
enough to elect him. This was the very evil that
he feared above all others, in the case. Had he
not been voted for at all, it might have been
supposed that it was because he refused; but to
“appear as a candidate, by being voted for, and so
put it into the power of his adversaries to say that
he sought the office, but his southern friends had
not confidence in him, and rejected his claims;
this was a source of deep mortification to his
feelings.

His feelings were communicated confidentially
to a friend or two; yet, he put on no airs, nor
made any public demonstration of chagrin, but,
like a man of sense, went forward in doing the
work assigned him, as if nothing had conflicted
with his wishes.

When the Transylvania business came up, the
offer of the trustees was accepted, and in accordance
with their instructions, or at least their wish, all
the professorships in the literary department were
considered as vacant, to be filled with men from
different localities. Dr. Bascom was re-elected
president; G. F. Pierce, D. D., of Georgia, vice
president; and Mr. Barker, of Pennsylvania, to
the chair of languages; leaving the other chairs
to be filled by the curators.

Here was more trouble for Bascom; his friends
and colleagues were ejected from their places, not
by his seeking, but by the action of the General
194 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Conference, following the suggestions of the
trustees; yet well he knew that the burden of
blame would fall on his head. And so it proved;
for one or more of the discarded professors, thinking
their labors and sacrifices deserved a better reward,
and charging all their misfortunes in the matter to
Dr. Bascom’s account, became exceedingly inimical
to him, and openly hostile to the institution. He
was even threatened with impeachment before his
conference; yet he was under an injunction of
secrecy, and mighi not disclose the hidden agencies
by which the result was brought about. All the
persecution and mental perpiexity cast on Dr.
Bascom by this change, had not even the redeem-
ing advantage of working any good for the college,
for under the new arrangement it soon became less
prosperous than under the old. What though
they had elected professors from Georgia, and
Pennsylvania, and Louisiana — Georgia, Pennsyl-
vania, and Louisiana had Methodist colleges of
their own to.support, and all the eloquence of all
the agents appointed to travel through the southern
church, could not make the people see how they
were to be benefited by neglecting their home
colleges, to patronize a mere college in Kentucky,
even though a man from their own state might
be the incumbent of one of its chairs.

The General Conference provided for the estab-
lishment of a Southern Methodist Quarterly, and
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 298

elected Dr. Bascom its editor. He was also
appointed one of the commissioners on the part of
the South to settle our difficulties with the North,
respecting a division of the joint property.

He had now a burden of labor, care and respon-
sibility, resting on him sufficiently heavy to crush
almost any man, physically and mentally— the
colleges, the Quarterly, the commissionership, and
his own personal affairs. In the college and for it
he labored indefatigably — performed the duties
ef instruction and government, sought out the
most competent agents and sent them in quest of
funds, procured students, and gave his personal
responsibility for the payment of its debts; but
all would not avail; outside of Kentucky no one
could feel interested in giving money to sustain it,
and within that state there was evidently less
responsibility felt, and therefore less effort, because
it was nominally an institution of the whole church,
and the people there could not see why chey alone
should support a college belonging alike to the
church throughout the south.

The Quarterly was an untried experiment, and
without funds to pay for suitable articles, without
writers to contribute gratuitously, and without
leisure to make up the whole work of his own
productions, he found it exceedingly difficult to
fill the work with acceptable matter; and to fill it
as he wished — impossible.
296 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

The duties of the commissionership, too, he
found laborious and perplexing in a high degree.
He had to write many letters, consult with his
colleagues, make repeated journeys to the east,
visit the Northern General Conference, employ
counsel, write and publish an extensive exposition
of the whole affair, ete.

In the meantime, his pecuniary affairs were
becoming so desperate, that immediate temporal
ruin appeared inevitable. The cancer that con-
sumed his vitals, was carefully concealed from
even his friends, and few, therefore, had any idea
of the nature and extent of his involvements.

In the winter of 1846 —7, an observant friend,
lodging in the same apartment with him, detected
indications of deep mental inquietude — sought,
and finally found the cause of it in the hopeless
condition of his financial affairs, and set about
devising the means of present relief. Through
his agency, a nominal loan was procured from a
number of southern gentlemen, in sums of five
hundred dollars and less, the whole amounting to
some fifteen thousand dollars. I have called this
a nominal loan, because it was not the intention of
his friend, that he should either receive it origi-
nully as a donation, or have it to refund in the
end, and so it was finally arranged. This sum
greatly relieved him, and had the effect of a
charm, in restoring his mind to cheerfulness. A
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 297

few of his friends now urged upon him the
necessity of setting immediately about preparing
sermons, lectures, addresses, and other works,
which he was known to have on hand in a crude
state, for publication; and thus, during this tem-
porary respite, create a source of income to meet
other claims which would, ere long, be upon him.
With this advice, he determined to comply; but
his progress, owing to the multiplicity of other
cares and labors, was but slow; so that most of his
productions, if they should ever see the light at
all, must meet the public eye without the advan-
tage of his finishing touches and matured revision.

In 1848, he attended the Northern General
Conference, as commissioner of the Southern
Church; but his services in that capacity need
not be pardcularly spoken of here.

In 1849, being satisfied that the church could
never be brought to unite on Morrison College as
a general church institution, and suspecting that
the trustees were hardly satisfied with his exer-
tions in behalf of the college —strenuous and
persevering as they had been, and worn out with
the drudgery and endless perplexity of his office —
he resigned the presidency, which he had held in
the university for seven toilsome years.
CHAPTER XXI.

Dr. B. employs himself in preparing a Volume of his Sermons for
the Press, which is published early in 1850 — Its Reception — He
is solicited to be a Candidate for the Episcopacy — At the General
Conference reports the doings of Commissioners, which are unani-
mously Approved — Notice of his Services as Editor of Quarterly
— Action of the Conference dissolving the connection with
Transylvania — Dr. Bascom elected Bishop — His Election gave
very General Satisfaction — An Untruthful Representation on this
Subject Corrected (Mote) — He Returns Home and Prepares to
start on his Official Tour to the St. Louis Conference — Leaves
home in Bad Health — Presides and Preaches with great Appro-
bation — Resolution of the Conference — Visits different Places
and Preaches — Reaches St. Louis, and Preaches his Last Sermon
— Arrives at Louisville— Attempts to proceed home, but is
compelled to Return, takes his bed, and receive Medical Treatment
— Resignation— Dr. Stevenson’s Account of his Illness — His
Wife comes to him— The Closing Scene — Funeral Solemnities
— General Expressions of Sorrow.

During the year that intervened between this
period and the meeting of the General Conference,
he devoted himself to the Quarterly, the prepara-
tion of a volume of his sermons for the press, and
to his private affairs.

In the beginning of 1850 a volume of Dr.
Bascom’s sermons was published, and met a warm
reception and ready sale. Indeed, few works of
the kind in this country hive been so well received
—the sales exceeding twenty thousand copies.

It was lauded alike by the secular and the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 299

religious press, — by Methodist editors and those
of other denominations. These sermons, as their
title indicates, were not written for publication, but
were originally mere outlines or skeletons from
which he preached, or rather studied, his sermons
—for he did not use them in the pulpit —in the
earlier periods of his ministry. They were subse-
quently amplified as the author’s views expanded
— for the same use — until they grew to what we
now find them in their printed form.

To those who heard them from the glowing lips
of the living preacher they have a richer value, a
deeper interest than if they had been carefully
written for the eye and not the ear, for in their
present form they call up associations of the past
of the delightful character that we love tu dwell
on, and one seems not so much to read Bascom’s
sermon as to hear Bascom preach; the living
orator is present in the mind’s associations and
recollections, and you see the impressive gesture,
the speaking eye again, and again hear the clear
ring of his trumpet voice in the grove, and still
the weeping, rejoicing, enraptured congregation are
around you: The whole scene is brought back,
and with it the delightful feeling that then
softened, and enlarged, and gladdened your heart.
Those who have never heard the speaker will, of
course, not enjoy equal advantages.

This one thing is worthy of remark in relation
30 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

to all Biscom’s sermons; grand and gorgeous as
was his style, his subjects were of the most solemn
and important character. He never selected a
subject because it was favorable to fine declama-
tion; on the contrary, the great doctrines and
duties of Christianity found a place in all his
sermons, and in all, the atonement was the great
standpoint from which he looked abroad over the
field of theology— the centre of gravity to which
all his discourses tended.

In the spring of 1850, as the time for the
General Conference drew near, the public mind
began to cast about for asuitable person for the
episcopal office. Dr. Bascom was among the
number of persons prominently spoken of for
that post; but it was doubted whether under any
circumstances he would permit his name to be
used in that connection. An intimate friend was
therefore requested to open a confidential corres-
pondence with him on the subject. Bascom had
previously made up his mind not to consent that
his brethren should again cast their votes for
him for that office, and assigned various reasons
for this determination—such as his pecuniary
difficulties, his long confinement to college labors,
by which, as he said, he had in a measure lost his
high tone of religious feeling, so essential to the
proper discharge of the functions of that sacred
office, and concluded by saying: “I cannot *on-
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCCM. 30]

sent to be put under the fearful responsibilities of
that office, unless I could be convinced that my
duty to God and the church required the sacrifice ;
but how is it possible that I can receive such a
conviction when so many other names are before
the church for the same office, and certainly in
some respects, if not in all, better qualified for it
than I can claim to be?”

There was also an objection brought against
him by many of the preachers, as a candidate for
the episcopacy; it was, that of late years he had
adopted the habit of preaching generally from his
manuscripts; this habit, it was urged, would not
be tolerated in a Methodist Bishop. The fact was,
that in his palmy days he never preached either
from memory or manuscript, but from careful and
laborious study of his subjects; .but when he
became the subject of bronchial eifection, which
required moderation in his pulpit labors, he resorted
to reading as the most effectual way of putting a
necessary restraint on his excessive pulpit efforts.
The expedient was effectual, to be sure, in imposing
restraint on his vehemence of delivery, but equally
effectual in quenching the fire and weakening the
power of his eloquence; and well did Mr. Clay
say: “Bascom should never be allowed to read his
sermons; preaching is his forte—but he cannot
read ; but he can preach, and he must preach ! ”

When the disease which superinduced — this
302 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

habit had abated, his constant press of college and
other labors, which allowed him no leisure for
pulpit preparation on his former plan, became the
apology for continuing a habit which he condemned
as unsparingly as any of his brethren. Indeed, he
preached so seldom that he in a great measure lost
confidence in himself, and became timid about
trusting himself in the pulpit without those embar-
rassing auxiliaries. But while he seemed to find
a justification of himself in the practice, he readily
agreed that a Bishop ought by no means, on any
thing like ordinary occasions, to read his sermons,
because of the pernicious effect of the example —
seeming to forget that his own example would be
more influential without that office, than that of
most other men with it.

This confession was sufficient to satisfy his
friends; for they well knew that what he admitted
to be improper in a bishop, he would not do if he
were made 2 bishop. _

At the General Conference Dr. Bascom reported
the doings of the commissioners respecting the
matters in controversy between the Northern and
the Southern Methodist Church, and had the
satisfaction to find those proceedings approved by
the unanimous vote of that body. °

At this General Conference Dr. Bascom’s term
of service expired, as editor of the Quarterly
Review. In this office he had labored undei
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 305

zireumstances of great disadvantage — circum-
stances, which would have caused a failure on the
part of any but.a mind of superior energy and
talent; butin his hands it had grown into respect-
ability, and had acquired rank and reputation with
the best Quarterlies of the country, and had
elicited flattering commendation from men and
periodicals of the first class. A highly respectable
cotemporury bears testimony in favor of the work
in the language below:

“We have inadvertantly omitted for some time
past to notice this highly valuable and interesting
periodical. We would that all of our readers could
avail themselves of the rich intellectual treasures
of its instructive pages. To the Uizerati, it is suffi-
cient to say, it is edited by the eloquent and
accomplished Dr. Bascom; and it is only necessary
to say to all, that its pages are diversified with
‘iterary, scientific, moral and religious matter, which
sannot fail to interest and edify every reader.”

The affairs of Transylvania College were, at this
conference, taken up, and the committee on educa-
tion made a report, evidently based on the views
we have herein presented of the subject — that as
none of the annual conferences out of Kentucky
could be brought by their interest to affiliate with
that institution, “its interests would be more
advantageously secured and managed by the
Kentucky and Louisville annual conferences than
304 LIFE OF BISHOP B4SCoM.

by a continuance of exis‘ing relations,” and recom-
mending, if the approval of those conferences and
the trustees should be had, that such a connection
should be formed instead of the existing one.
IIere ended the connection of the General Con-
ference with Morrison college and Transylvania
university — a connection which never should have
been formed on the terms, and under the restric.ions
which embarrassed it, and rendered the accomplish-
ment of the object contemplated impossible.

There never has been 2 more resolute and earnest
effort made to sustain an institution where interest
was not on its side, but indeed in opposition to it,
as was the case everywhere out of Kentucky; but
when Dr. Bascom was severed from it the last link
was broken, and the annual conferences felt bound
to concentrate all their efforts on their local
colleges.

Tke committee on the episcopacy reported in
fuvor of electing an additional bishop, and the
conference adopted the report. The election came
on, and on the second balloting Dr. Bascom was
elected to the episcopacy by a large majority. On
the Sabbath next succeeding, after delivering a
sermon on the “Cross of Christ’”’—since published
—he descendsd from the pulpit, and, by the
venerable Bishop Soule, with the aid of the other
bishops, was solemnly consecrated to the episcopal
office.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASUOM. 305

All appeared to be well satisfied with this result;
even those who, from local or personal considera-
tions had voted for other candidates, received Dr.
Bascom with as warm cordiality as they could
those for whom their votes were cast: The bishops
then in office welcomed him to their bench as a
compeer honored and beloved;* and the whole
church seemed to hail the event with pleasure and
delightful anticipations. Even persons not con-
nected with the churzh were forward to manifest
their gratification with Dr. Bascom’s elevation.
An instance of this occurred presently after his
ordination. So soon as it became publicly known
that he would preside in the St. Louis conference,
more than -twenty of the principal citizens of
Jefferson City—the capital of Missouri—addressed
a joint note to the Bishop earnestly requesting him
to visit their city, and concluding with “assurances
of our high regard for your character as a Christian
minister, and confidence in your ability to discharge
the responsible trust recently committed to you,
we have the honor,” &e.

* An attempt was made presently after Dr. Bascom’s advancement
to the episcopacy, by a paper in the interest of abolitionism, to cast a
shade upon his character, by alleging, or at least strongly intimating,
that his elevation was much against the wish of the other bishops,
who, it is assumed, had not confidence in his capacity or his
integrity. It is not necessary to say more in reply than that the
writer has the means of knowing that Dr. Bascom’s election was very
gratifying to three of the bishops then in office, and he believes the
same to be true of the fourth.
306 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

After the adjournment of the General Conference,
Bishop Bascom returned home, and set about
arranging his affairs preparatory to entering upon
the duties of his office. In the distribution of
episcopal labors it was agreed that he should attend
the session of the St. Louis annual conference,
which was appointed to be held on the 10ih of
July following, atIndependence, Mo. His health
was very bad during this period, and as disease
prevailed extensively through the country, he
painfully foreboded the bad effects likely to result
from his necessary exposure and labor on his first
episcopal tour. On the 27th June, (1850,) in a
letter to the writer he said: — “I start to the St.
Louis conference, at Independence, July 10th—
on Monday next, and expect to be back about the
20th. Ihave had no good health since my return
from the General Conference, and I very much
d:ead this trip.”

In this state of health — the weather extremely
bet, the streams low, and cholera rife on the rivers
and through many parts of the country, he started
on his tour, and with great difficulty and frequent
detention, made his way to St. Louis, and thence
ap the Missouri river, to the seat of the conference.
Ife had allowed himself what appeared to be ample
time, but navigation was so difficult that he did
not reach Independence until Saturday, the fourth
day of the conference.
LIFE JF BISHOP BASCOM. 307

After the close of the conference the Secretary
of that body wrote: — “On Saturday Bishop Bas-
com reached us, and on Sabbath preached in a
grove adjoining the city to an immense multitude,
estimated at three thousand persons. Te disap-
pointed us, but most agreeably; without a single
note he gave a most clear and plain exposition of
the sacred text, adapted to the comprehension of
every mind. We have heard but one opinion
expressed of this effort -——that it was classically
chaste, eloquent, and masterly.”

The conference, during its session, adopted the
following resolution :

“Resolved, by the St. Louis Annual Conference
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, that we
take sincere pleasure in bearing testimony to the
ability impartiality, and urbanity with which Bishop
Buscom has presided over the deliberations of this
conference, and to the dignified and affectionate
intercourse which he has maintained with its mem-
bers, endearing him to us as one of our chief
ministers. While we record with peculiar satis-
fuction, that ows is the first conference over which
he has presided since his election to the office of
Bishop in the Church of God, we congratulate the
whele Southern Church on this acquisition to the
general superintendency, and confidently predict
that the ‘distinguished ability which has character-
ized his services in the several spheres of labor
808 LIFF OF BISHOP BASCOM.

heretofore assigned him by the church, will be
emininently displayed in the new and higher one
to which she has now called him.”

After the conference closed, Bishop Bascom
visited the Indian Manual Labor School, at Fort
Leavenworth, with which he was greatly pleased.
He also visited and preached on his tour, at
Weston, Boonville, Lexington, and St. Louis. He
reached the last named place — St. Louis — on
S.bbath morning, the boat having failed to arrive
at the appointed time, and took a room at the
hotel at which he was accustomed to stop. A
friend, hearing of his arrival, called on him, and I
give the account furnished by that gentleman, of
the interview :

“ On entering his room, I found him pacing the
floor, evidently under some excitement of feeling.
IIe, however, took my hand with more than his
usual warmth, at the same time exclaiming, ‘Bro.
C., I am sick— have been taking opium for
twenty-four hours, but it does not relieve me, yet
I hope it will soon pass off; God only knows.’ <I
have called,’ said J, ‘at the instance of many
friends, to know if you will consent to preach
to-day.” ‘Brother, said he, ‘Iam unable to
preach. I have not slept during the night; but
suddenly stopping short, he added, after a momen-
tary pause, ‘It is possible, however, that I may not
have another opportunity; so, if you will procure
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 309

me a congregation, I will preach at three o’elock.’
Tle preached that afternoon to a crowded house of
attentive hearers, with more than usual liberty
and power— much more so, than at the General
Conference some two months previous. Those
who heard him in the most brilliant of his pulpit
efforts twenty years ago, were forcibly reminded
of his sermons in those days. His text was—
‘God, who at sundry times and in divers manners,
spoke unto the fathers by the prophets, hath, in
these last days, spoken unto us by His Son? We
preached about two hours, and greatly exhausted
himself by the effort.”

This was his last sermon. The next morning
he left St. Loms for his home, and on the 2d of
August, arrived at Louisville, Kentucky. The
Louisville Christian Advocate announced his re-
turn, and remarked : —

“The bishop was greatly delighted with the
spirit of self-sacrificing devotion to the interests
of primitive Methodism, which, he thinks, has
been, and is still being evinced, by the members
of the conference. In fine, he has made the tour
under circumstances the most unfavorable — in
the midst of disease and death; but, through the
abundant mercy of God, his life has been preserved,
and he returns home, bearing with him sentimen‘s
of the highest regard for those with whom his lot
has bees cast, and with feelings of the most affec-
310 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

tionate gratitude for the numerous acts of Christian
courtesy, kindness, and hospitality that he has
experienced during his absence. Long may he
live as an honor to the ministry, and as a blessing
to the church, in the present important relation
that he sustains.” This wish, however, was not to
be realized.

Bishop Bascom’s toils and exposures in a sickly
season, had implanted the seeds of deep disease
in the strong predisposing and susceptible condition
of his system; and, after reaching Louisville, he
became so ill, as to be utterly unfit to proceed;
but his earnest desire to reach home, before the
coming on of the more serious attack, foreboded
by his symptoms and feelings, inclined him to
run some risk to accomplish this object. Accord-
ingly, he had himself booked for the morning
stage, and then spent a sick night at the house of
Rev. Dr. Stevenson. About three o’clock in
the morning, he was called for, and againsi the
remonstrance of friends, took his deparcure, hoping
to be, that night, with his own fimily, but the
stage had scarcely passed the city limits, when he
found himself utterly too sick to proceed.

His sickness was attended with such symptoms
as induced some of the passengers to suspect that
it was cholera. Quite a panic was created in the
stage, and it was proposed to put him out on ihe
roadside in the dark. Against this proceeding,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 311

one passenger earnestly protested; and when the
driver came to understand what was proposed, he
positively affirmed that it should not be done.
“ What, then, will you do with him?” was inquired.
“Take him back,” responded the driver, “at the
risk of my life;” and accordingly he did so. In
about an hour after his departure, he was brought
back to the house of Dr. Stevenson, and carried
to his bed. Medical aid was called in, and every
possible effort made to arrest the progress of the
malady, but with only temporary alleviation. Yet,
through all, by patient resignation, he exemplified
the sustaining power of that gospel which, so long
aud successfully, he had preached to others.

Dr. Stevenson, who was with him day and night,
and at whose house he lay, says of him:

“During the whole period of his painful and
protracted illness, he was never heard to utter the
first murmuring or complaining word. He bore
his afflictions throughout with that manly fortitude,
patience and resignation to the Divine will, for
which he had so long been pre-eminently distin-
guished. I always found him, on entering his
room, cam, self-possessed, and, when spoken to
perfectly rational.

“From the commencement of his attack, he
appeared to be deeply impressed with the certainty
of his approaching dissolution. On different occa-
sions he sxid to me, when no one was present but
312 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

myself: ‘Brother Stevenson, my disease is untouched ;
Lam no better —TI do not think that I shall ever
recover! my physicians have done the best they could
—my only trust is in Almighty goodness.’

“When prayer was proposed, as it frequently
was in the early stages of his disease, he always
promptly assented; and, when not writhing in
agony, he invariably joined in the petitions with
much apparent interest and feeling.

“Some six or seven days previous to his death,
I informed him that I was about to mail some
letters to Bishop Andrew, at the seat of the
Western Virginia Conference, and asked him if
he had any communications to make to the bishop?
He looked at me with much interest, ‘Yes, say
to Bishop Andrew, from me, that I am utterly
prostrate, with but little, if any, hope of recovery
—that I am incapable of thinking or acting on
any subject; and after a moment’s pause, he
added — “but say to him, that all my trust and
confidence is in Almighty goodness, as revealed in
the cross of Christ. These last words he uttered
with an emphasis that can never be erased from
my memory. He could say no more —I retired,
leaving him in tears.”

His little daughter was seriously ill at home at
the same tin.e, in consequence of which his wife
did not reach him until ten days before his death.
At first, fora while, she entertained strong hope
9

LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 313

of his recovery; but in a few days yielded tc the
sui conviction, that, without a speedy change for
the better, he could not live. From the nature of
his disease, he was little inclined to conversation —-
indeed spoke seldom and little. One of the most
devoted of fathers, he yet never spoke of his
children; for this he knew would tend to disturb
his tranquillity in the conflict that called for all his
fortitude and self-possession. On Thursday and
Friday preceding his death, he suffered extremely,
and his stomach would receive nothing. Dr. Bright
watched with him all Friday night, and when at
length he succeeded in getting medicine to take
effect, the bishop grew more easy, and could tuke
a little nourishment at times. About one o’clock
on Sabbath morning —the 8th September — he
grew restless, and tossing from side to side, com-
plained of weariness, and desired rest, but could
not compose himself to sleep. About seven
o'clock on Sabbath morning, he was helped up, at
his desire, but presently had a spasm or fainting
fit. He was laid down, restoratives applied, and
the physician and friends sent for. In the midst
of the alarm he recovered, opened his eyes, and
calmly smiled. “ Never mind, wife,” said he, “ [
am better now, and don’t want the doctor.” It
now became evident that his naturally powerful
constitution could hold out no longer against tho
destroyer, and that his end was just at hand. Dr.
314 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Bright, the oldest physician in attendance and a
local minister, was appointed to break the gloomy
intelligence to him. He informed the bishop that
he could live but a short time, and inquired, “Is
your confidence in your God and your Saviour still
strong and unshaken?” He promptly replied,
“Yes, Yes, Yes.”

“TTe then desired to be turned over on his right
side,” says Dr. Stevenson, “which being done, he
placed both his hands in those of his afflicted wife,
who sat at his side — gave us all a last intelligible
parting look, and then, without a struggle or groan,
breathed his last.” Bascom, the prince of pulpit
orators, was dead! Death had triumphed over a
noble specimen of physical manhood; but grace
had enabled a nobler spirit to triumph over. death,
and had made his dark prison house but a subter-
ranean passage from “ gloom to glory.”

Most opportunely, it was the calm rest of the
Sabbath, when Bascom entered upon his eternal
Sabbath rest, and the very hour, too, of the
Sabbath,’at which, so many hundreds of times, he
had opened his mouth before admiring thousands,
to proclaim the glorious salvation by Christ Jesus
the Lord, and the heavenly rest, that “remains
for the people of God.”

By lightning couriers, the gloom-inspiring intel-
ligence was swiftly borne over the nation, and erg
the fresh corpse was laid down in its charnel bed,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 815

thousands, tens of thousands, all over the land,
were mourning in unison the church’s sad bereave-
ment, and in spirit joined the weeping multitude
that moved in solemn procession to his grave.

Tuesday, September 10th, at ten o’clock, was
the time fixed on for the funeral obsequies; and
though in a busy commercial city, thousands
assembled to pay their last tribute of respect to
the great departed.

The funeral solemnities were introduced by
Rev. Dr. Parsons, who read a number of solemn
passages of sacred scripture appropriate to the
ocvasion, in his most impressive manner. This
was followed by singing the hymn, commencing —

“Servant of God, well done!
Rest from thy loved employ,” ete.

“The effect,” siys Dr. Stevenson, “was over-
whelming. Much feeling pervaded the entire
assembly during the singing, and under the very
solemn and impressive prayer which he offered up
on the occasion to the throne of the heavenly
grace. The vast assembly was then addressed
for a few moments by Rev. Wm. Holeman, (being
the oldest Methodist minister present.) He had
long known, admired, and ardently loved the
deceased, and was too deeply affected to proceed
with many remarks. He spoke with much feeling
and interest of his Christian experience — call to
the ministry — self-sacrificing labors — and unim-
316 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM

peachable rectitude of character and conduct
throughout the whole period of bis ministry.”

He was followed by Dr. Schon, who delivered
a feeling, eloquent, and effective oration.

The services at the church were closed, with an
impressive prayer by Rev. Dr. Linn.

“The remains of the deceased were then con-
veyed to the Eastern Cemetery, or Methodist
burying-gronnd, attended by a numerous proces-
sion of hacks and carriages, crowded with weeping
friends and acquaintances.”

Before the coffin was committed to the vault,
the funeral service of the church was read by
Rev. Dr. Stevenson. The service was closed by

singing the beautifully solemn hymn —
“Thou art gone to the grave,” ete.

The body was then committed to the tomb, and
the sorrowing multitude retired in silence and
sadness.

Deep was the sorrow felt at the death of Bishop
Bascom, and deep was the expression of grief all
over the country. The public press, which for
years had noted all his public movements, and
during his illness had constantly reported the
progress of the disease to its final catastrophe,
now gave free expression to feelings of sorrow and
admiration, and hundreds of eulogies, more or less
full and extended, reached the publie through this
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM 317

medium. Brief extracts from a few cf these, it
seems proper to copy into this work — more we
cannot make room for. The first two are from
secular papers : —
“BISHOP BASCOM.
‘He was not for one age, but for all time.’

“The above splendid tribute, which was paid to
the genius of the poet, is equally merited by the
talents and works of the lamented divine.

“Tn the death of this distinguished prelate, it is
not alone the wide extended and respectable com-
munion of which he was the pride and ornament,
that has suffered loss, but society at large. The
church may mourn and array herself in the habili-
ments of woe when the good and the useful of
her ministers are called away. This is doubtless
right and proper, but wider far is the extent of
the calamity, for the world is bereaved when the
good and the great man fills.

“To say that Bishop Buscom was one of the first
men of the age, in almost every respect, is no
special compliment paid to his memory, but a
plain declaration of the simple truth.

“As an orator, he was almost peerless; as a
divine, he was deeply profound and learned; as a
Christian, unreservedly devoted to his cause; and
as a man and a friend, as immovable in his attach-
ments as the granite rock of earth.

“ We knew him well. and a hundred times have
318 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM,

hung almost breathless and entranced upon his
Apollo-like speech and form. But he is gone. —
‘Peace to his manes.’ Jn all the proportions of
mind and heart, which, in harmonious combination,
make up the perfect man, we doubt that ‘we e’er
shall look upon his like again.’ It is understood
that he has left many valuable manuscripts, which
are the labor of his life. It is to be hoped that
speedy arrangements will be made for their early
publication.”

“ Bishop Bascom. — In the death of this distin-
guished divine, which took place on the 8th inst.,
at the residence of his friend of thirty years’
standing, Dr. Stevenson, the church and the world
have experienced irremediable loss.

“Common men may ‘bustle on’ in the world
— may fill their places in society — may live out
their lives unnoticed, and fall forgotten into obscure
graves; but not so when the talented, the good,
and the great depart. The whole moral world is
affected —all feel that they have suffered an
irreparable loss. 3

“The death of Bishop Bascom is a public cala-
mity, and so must be regarded by all who in the
least degree esteem moral and intellectual worth.
Not only does the wide-spread communion, of
which he was the ornament, suffer in this sorrowful
event, but thousands, in no way connected with
the church, who have listened to his burning
LIFE OF BISITOP BASCOM. 319

eloquence, when they hear of his death, will fee]
that they have lost a friend, and count the grief
their own; for, in the most enlarged sense, he was
the world’s preacher and the world’s friend. But
he fell as all true heroes love to fall, clad in his
panoply and in the midst of the battle. A noble
pillar has been overthrown; and yet he dies not
to the world. He lives in his works. ‘ Blessed
are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rest
from their labors and their works do follow them.”

The following is from a Baptist weekly :—

“ Bishop Bascom.—Died, in this city, on Sun-
day morning, the 8th instant, after a protracted
and painful illness, Rev. Henry B. Bascom, D.D.,
one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South.

“The funeral services took place at the Four:h
street Methodist church, on Tuesday, the 10.h
instant, at ten o’clock. Thus has gone down one
of the brightest lights in the Methodist Episcopal
church. In his death, he was calm, and resigned
to the will of God. The brilliant ministerial
career of the orator, is a living specimen of the
elevation to which devoted and persevering energy
may conduct the aspiring to learning and useful-
ness. We have not room for remarks upon the
life of Bishop Bascom. Tis death in the very
prime and maturity of his masterly powers, will
fill inany hearts with painful anguish.”
320 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

The next is taken from a Northern Methodist
paper :

“This is an event that cannot fail to send a
thrill of sorrow through the heart of Methodism,
especially of American Methodism. Henry B.
Bascom was no ordinary man. His prominent
talents, and especially his wonderful pulpit oratory,
have given him a wide celebrity. He was exten-
sively known and extensively beloved. Though
for a few years past the family feud in American
Methodism has caused the affections of many to
cool towards Dr. Bascom, and other distinguished
men of the South, whom the whole Church formerly
delighted to honor, yet will there be thousands of
hearts, even in the North, that will heave a sigh
when they hear that Bascom is no more. Though
the few latter years of his life have been devoted
chiefly to the services of a particular division of
Methodism, yet his name and fame belong to our
common family, to Methodism in general, to the
North as well as the South.”

The following is from the pen of Rev. Dr.
Wightman, of Charleston : —

“DratH oF BisHop Bascom. -— The inialgiies
of this mournful event, communicated by telegraph
from. Louisville, reached us just after our last
week’s edition had gone to press. The Bishop died
on the morning of the 8th instant, after a pro
tracted illness, taken as he was returning ta
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 321

Kentucky, after holding the St. Louis conference:
the first and only conference at which he lived to
preside after his elevation to the episcopal office.
S'ricken down by death in the ripe maturity of
those great intellectual and oratorical powers which
had made his name familiar to the whole nation,
and upon the threshhold of a new field of ecclesi-
as'ical responsibilities, wider than he had eve
filled before, with the promise of many years
valuable service to the Church which had honored
him with its highest confidence and affection, the
visitation is one of the utmost solemnity. In
view of the fresh grave where now lies the mighty
master of eloquence on whose lips hundreds of
thousands have hung entranced, whose name could
call together a vaster throng of listeners than that
of any other man on the continent, — the grave,
where every trophy of genius, and every lineament
of manly beauty, is laid low, we are reminded of
Massillon’s impressive exordium over the plumed
and scutchioned bier of the young French prince —
‘there is nothing great but God.

“Our personal acquaintance with Dr. Bascom
began at the General Conference of 1840. During
this conference he presented a masterly report in
favor of the right and eligibility to orders of local
preachers holding slaves within the Virginia portion
of the Baltimore conference. This paper was a

specimen of clear and close argumentation. At
21
322 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

the same conference he preached in the Light
street Church to as dense a throng as could crowd
into the spacious building — the adjoining street
being filled with people who could not find entrance
into the church. Ilis text was—“Behold the
Tamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the
world.” The sermon embraced all the cardinal
elements of the Christian system, set forth in a
light so vivid, under illustrations so overpoweringly
magnificent, and with a vehemence so rushing and
pauseless, as to hold the vast audience spell-bound.
At particular passages, several of which we dis-
tinctly remember, the effect was awful. The
sentences came like the sharp zig-zig lightning,
the tones of the preacher’s voice were like articulate
thunder. The hearer cowered under the weight
of thought piled on thought, and was driven almost
beside himself by the rapid whirl of dazzling
imagery. The sermon, artistically considered, had
the strange fault of being too great. It covered
too vast a field of thought, it was marred by excess
of grandeur. You were bewildered by the quick
succession of vivid pictures thrown off as by the
turn of some grand kaleidoscope. The impassioned
fervor of the preacher seemed too self-consuming.
We felt, as some one has happily remarked
respecting Chalmers, that powers and resources,
such as these, were indeed not needed by tha
gespel, but much necded by gospel-rejc cting man.
LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM 323

The consecration of such a majestic intellect and
imagination to the work of propagating the prin-
ciples of Christianity could but make a profound
and wide impression upon society. Thousands of
cultivated minds coming within the reach of such
an influence, have been compelled to respect the
system advocated by so lofty a spirit, and have
been prepared to lend an unprejudiced ear to
simple ministrations.

“Tis dying hours were full of peace and con-
fidence in Christ’s atoning merit. Like two of
his greatest contemporaries, Emory and Fisk, his
life seems to have closed with a strange abrupt-
ness ere its full completion. His scholastic labors
were ended, but he had been called from the halls
of instruction, once more into a sphere of extended
travel and preaching, with the added responsibili-
ties of government, for all of which his previous
training seemed to have peculiarly qualified him.
But no sooner does he spread his wing of towering
strength than the fatal shaft of disease lays him
low. Among the distinguished dead of this
memorable year, 1850, we have to record the name
of Henry B. Bascom. When shall the present
generation ‘look upon his like again?’ We
sympathize with his bereft widow, with his children
deprived of parental guidance and fostering care.
We sorrow with a sorrowing church, one of whose
brightest lights) has been se unexpectedly
324 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM

quenched. We mark the impressive admonition,
so repeated before the country of late, that neither
exalted position nor mighty influence; neither
genius nor virtue, can claim exemption from the
common lot of mortality, or turn away the approach
of the inevitable hour. Happy for us in this
instance, while we exclaim, ‘how are the mighty
fiullen!’ we know that to full as did the illustrious
man before us, with harness on, girded, and
grasping shield and sword, is to conquer death —
in the language of the immortal Few — ‘Brother
soldier, it is sweet, sweet, to die on the field of
battle.’ -

In many towns and cities —as St. Louis, Mem-
phis, Lexington — public meetings of the citizens
or the church were called, and resolutions adopted
and published, expressive of their high appreciation
of the worth of the deceased, and sorrow for his
loss. Like proceedings were had in many, if not
all, the southern annual conferences.

In Nashville, St. Louis, Memphis, and many-
other cities, and at the annual conferences, public
funerals were observed, and appropriate sermons or
orations were delivered. Some of these possessed
great merit, and some were published at the time
with good effect. We might enlarge this work by
rich and appropriate extracts from those excellent
discourses, but our limits will not admit so wide
a range.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 325

Thus lived and died Henry B. Bascom, one of
the most noble and mighty of human kind— a
sige, an orator, a philosopher, a faithful friend, an
humble and trusting Christian.

He left an afflicted widow, a daughter, born
May 1841, and a son—born February 10, 1843,
to mourn their irreparable loss.

To the cause of God and humanity, he devoted
the energies of a noble body, and a still more
noble mind and heart; in acts of benevolence and
pious charity, he expended thousands; and he left
to his children a rich inheritance of fume, but 2d
a dollar for their support and education.
CHAPTER XXII.

CHARACTER OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Character ut Bishop Bascom — Scholarship — Filial and Fraternal
Affection — Benevolence — Social Qualities and Intercourse with
Yadies — Bascom as a Writer — As a Preacher and Orator—
Yreparations for the Pulpit — His Piety.

We hove now traced the narrative of Bishop
Bascow’s life from his birth to his grave; and
herein we have learned much of his labors and
sufferings, much of his reputation, and not a little
of his character; yet, in that character there were
strong points which could not well be brought out
in the narrative without severing its links too
widely, and which therefore we propose now to
consider in a separate chapter.

His Scholarship.

I once heard a man of moderate mind, but
respectable learning, and perhaps a little tincture
of invidiousness, say: “Dr. Bascom is no scholar:
he could not now enfer a regular freshman class
on examination.” The first position he took to be
an evident corollary of the second; if he could not
pass an examination for entering college, it was
clear that he could not he a scholar. This is the
verdict of a narrow mind. The same assertion
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 327

would be found true with respect to a very large
proportion of all who have graduated regularly
and with honor. Isa man the better scholar for
having once known what he has long since for-
gotten? Suppose Dr. Bascom to have been
deficient in the details of learning, pertaining to
a common college course, those studies are at most
little more than instruments to be used in acquii-
ing real learning. If he reached the latter per
saltum, by the efforts of a mighty intellect, without
the slower processes necessary to common minds,
this would seem to entitle him to higher commend-
ation, and not discredit. But the truth is, that
though gold is gold, whether in the quartz, the
ingot, or the coin, it is the stamp and not the pure
metal that gives it currency with those incapable
of judging for themselves; and with such, fhat
stamp would give to a worthless alloy the value
of virgin gold.

Yet, if the stamp be of so great importance, he
had that too, though not in the ordinary way and
order; he was not coined by the mint into golden
pennies, but stamped in a great ingot. The
churches accredited him as a man of superior
learning ; hundreds of thousands, upon an exami-
nation of his productions and performances, so
accredited him; aye, and the literary institutions
of the country did the same. With respect to
the latter, he was first admitted to the unsolicited
328 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

honor of Master of Arts by a highly respectable
college, to that of Doctor of Divinity by another,
and then Adeundum by another college and by two
universities, and, finally, by another to that of
Doctor of Laws. In a word, he received every
grade of literary distinction conferrable by the
colleges of the country. Besides, he was ten
years professor in one college, three years presi-
dent of another, invited to the presidency of two
others, and seven years president of the oldest
university in the south-west. His literary claims
were further accredited by nearly every respect-
able college and university in the west and
south-west, in the fuct of their calling on him to
deliver literary addresses before them on those
occasions, when they wish to exhibit their literary
character to the best advantage. If this be not
a sufficient endorsement of his scholarship, we
know of no one who has or is likely to have such
endorsement.

All this, however, is but the “guinea’s stamp;”
a few words now respecting the gold itself.

Mr. Bascom made himself acquainted with the
elements and structure of the Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew languages, and read them all with some
satisfaction to himself, but never studied them with
thoroughness, nor qualified himself to teach them.
He studied also, in a general way, several othe
languages, ancient and modern. His knowledg~
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCUM. 329

of pure mathematics was rather general than
minute; but in some departments of mixed
miuthematics, his knowledge was much more per-
fect. In the different branches of natural science
his attainments were respectable; in mental and
moral science he was thorough and profound, and
so in political economy, and general belles-lettres
literature. Without being a proficient in the
languages of the ancient classics, with ancient
classic literature itself he was remarkably familiar.
In the compass of his theological knowledge he
had few equals. There was no author of note in
that department, with whose works he was not
acquainted ; and his knowledge of general and
miscellaneous literature was perfectly astonishing.
You might select what subject or work you choose
in that general range, and you were sure to find
him familiarly at home in conversing of its merits.
And, indeed, it could hardly be otherwise with a
man who devoured every book that fell in his
way, and never forgot anything he read. Even
when harrassed by debt, bowed down with labor
and care, and prostrated by sickness, he read more
than a hundred pages a day on an average. Think
of a man whose hoarding memory never parted
with any of its acquisitions, casting into that
capacious depository the contents of one or two
hundred pages a day for forty years, and imagine,
if you can, the vast sum of intellectual and literary
330 LIFE OF BISHOF BASCOM.

wealth there garnered up. Until you do this, and
then imagine, too, the myriads of mental creations
wrought by the machinery of his own master
mind, from those materials operating suggestively
upon it, you can form no adequate conception of
the mental opulence of this intellectual prince.
The versatile power of his mind and tyclopedia-
like scope of his knowledge frequently perplexed
men who regarded themselves as great and learned,
and their attempts to explain a superiority they
could not comprehend was sometimes amusing.
There could be no higher evidence of the astonish-
ing universality of his knowledge, than that
furnished in the fact that, in whatever department
one first heard him, he was sure to regard that as
the orator’s favorite field or theme. I remember a
striking instance of this: An editor of note having
heard Dr. Bascom deliver a missionary discourse,
eulogized the performance without stint; but
added, “This is evidently the orator’s favorite
field of action and display,” when, in fact, this
was among the first, perhaps, the very first public
missionary address that Bascom had ever delivered.
On one occasion, he was proposed for a service so
unusual for one of his profession, that it was sug-
gested he could not be qualified for it. “Give
yourself no concern on that head,” replied one
who knew him better, “you have only to secure
his acseptance, and you will have as good an
LIFE OF BISHOP BASGOM. 331

address as can be made by any man, no matter
what may be the subject.”

Bascom in his Domestic Relations.

On this subject, it is not necessary to add much.
We have seen his devotion to his mother, and
have seen her calmly die with her hands clasped
in his; we have seen him adopt his dead sister’s
infant daughters, and support and educate them;
we have marked his untiring attention to his
futher, through seven years of confinement and
suffering, and have seen him kneeling at the bed-
side to receive the last blessing of his dying
parent; we have seen him nourish and nurse his
step-mother to the end of her life, and become a
father to her orphans; we have seen him bring
on himself a whole life of painful involvement,
for the love he bore to those to whom he was
bonded by ties of blood; and we have seen, him
at last, when his hour was come, place his hands
affectionately in those of his companion, and
calmly render back his spirit to God. And yet,
we have not seen all, nor can we.

<n 1833, when the cholera was dragging down
thousands to the tomb, a beloved brother was
seized with the fatal malady. Bascom, not only did
everything in his power to relieve the sufferer, but
he went with the case to the Great Physician, an
entered up the following solemn vow, which I find
332 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM

among his papers: “God of destiny!—the des
tiny of men and angels!—only vouchsafe, through
Jesus Christ, for the sake of the wretched and
unfortunate, to show thyself the God of mercy, as
it would appear to him who asks the boon, by restor-
ing my brother, now the victim of the fell disease,
which has appeared among us, as the destroying
angel of judgment, and I hereby most solemnly
pledge myself to thy service more devotedly than
at any former period.

“July 1, 1833. H. B. Bascom.”

This is true affection; it not only gives all
possible succor to the suffering, but, but when
human aid fails, goes to God, and covenants with
the Most High for help.

Well did the late Dr. Ruter say: Whatever
narrow minds may think, the wise and good will
regard this as a most noble trait in- Bascom’s
character.” And well did Bishop Andrew say:
“T honor and admire Bascom, the eloquent orator,
but most I love Bascom, the affectionate brother,
the dutiful and loving son.”

He was Benevolent and Kind.

He was benevolent; perhaps even faultily so
his was not a calculating charity: he paused not to
inquire either into the worthiness of the applicant,
or his own alility to bestow; if he had the means,
no matter what other and paramount demands
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 833

might claim them, he could not turn aay away
empty. He would not only divide his last dollar
and his last loaf with one whoappeared to be
needy, but he would give the whole.* He was in
consequence often most meanly imposed on by
unworthy persons who knew his disposition. But
he was wont to say, “better give to ten unworthy
applicants, than turn away one case of real distress.”

Nor was his charity and kindness limited to
the mere matter of giving, it ran through all his
actions. He was lenient in his judgment and his
remarks respecting others. Elevated himself, if
not above the reach of criticism, yet beyond the
fear of its effects, he seldom indulged in critical
remarks on the productions of others. If he
heard a sermon, or other discourse which, as a
whole, was deserving commendation, he would
commend it as a whole, but in clear and unequivo-
cal terms; if an inferior one, he would find such
points and features in it as had merit, if such there
were, and direct attention to that of which he

* This is literally true; of which the following is an instance.
Mrs. M..... , of Cabell county, Va,, used to tell, that when Bascom
was on Guyandotte circuit —- the circuit on which he received twelve
doilars and ten cents for a very hard year’s work -—he came to her
house on one occasion, with no shoes on; and when the reason was
inquired into, it was ascertained that he had met with a poor man
who had no shoes and no way of getting any, and he took the
only pair he had off his own feet and gave them to the man —— assign
ing ag a reason, that though he had no money. he had friends who
vould not permit him to go barefvot, but the poor man bad not.
334 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

could speak favorably with a good conscience ;
but his rule was to give no opinion at all when he
could say nothing approbatory. Ifhe departed from
this rule, it was in the instances of men who were
themselves intolerant and uncharitable in theiz
remarks on others; and then, he would not speak
of them, but ¢o them, if practicable. He felt
great contempt for such as seek their own eleva-
tion by fault finding and petty criticisms; and woe
to the luckless wight who attempted it in his
presence.

On one occasion, as he was returning from hear-
ing a sound but inornate sermon, a young preacher
who seemed to think that Bascom could relish
nothing that was not garbed in his own lofty style,
remarked to him with an air of criticism: “A
plain, old fashioned sermon to-day. What did
you think of it, doctor?” “I thought,” responded
Bascom, “that it was neither plainer nor more
old fashioned than the gospel, and that it would
have done honor to St. Paul’s, in London.”

On another occasion, after Dr. B. had delivered
one of his best sermons, an unpretending, aged
minister was called on to preach the next succeed-
ing discourse; after the latter had concluded, a
young preacher of more sprightliness than solidity,
commenced a criticism on the alleged imperfections
of the sermon, respecting some nice points in its
rhetoric and grammar, and seemed disposed to
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 33)

eas! the whole away on account of those blemishes.
“Tt was an excellent sermon,” responded Bascom
firmly, “one of which you or I might be proud,
and with defects too inconsiderable for the notice
of anything but hypercriticism; but if a man will
reject the light of the sun because of a minute
speck on his broad disc, he had better take his
classification with kindred owls and bats.”

He was the young preacher’s friend under all
circumstances of difficulty not involving crime, and
there was no man to whom such could apply with
so much certainty of aid as to Biscom.* So long
as there was hope of curing errors, or overcoming
ignorance, he would stand by them, and with them
he was almost an idol. He never forgot the time
when ihe ecclesiastical guillotine was about to
sever his head, nor the kind interposition of the
good old bishop who averted its stroke, and said:
“Give me that young man; I’ll take care of him;”’
and through life he labored to pay back that
kindness by helping others in like circumstances.

* This remark applies as well to all young men of merit and integ-
rity as to young preachers. A letter before me, under date of July,
1853, from an attorney, says: “Judging from my own case, he was
certainly distinguished for his kindness and generosity towards the
young. And my own testimony, upon that point, but confirms what
others have said, in attributing to him so interesting a trait. A
gentleman who now occupies a proud eminence upon the bench of
M....... owes, it is said, the successful shaping of his destiny to the
bishop’s discovery of a germ in the mind of a little boy behind the
sounter of a village store,
336 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

He was ever particularly attentive to the poor
and the afflicted. True, he was frequently accused
of haughtiness, but it was by those who knew him
not. Proud he may have been, in the better sense
of that term, but he had none of the mean pride
that scorns or neglects the poor or the suffering ;
it would be more in consonance with his nature
to take pride in showing marked respect to the
virtuous poor, if it were but to show the world’s
proud ones how entirely he was above being
influenced by their evil example. And his atten-
tions to the poor and afflicted were not bestowed
with an air of condescension and patronage calcu-
lated to make them feel their inferiority and
dependence; but he came rather as a kind and
respectful friend, claiming no superiority, but
seeming to regard it a privilege to visit them.
Instances of this kind might be related in great
numbers, but only a few can be admitted.*

At one time, there was a poor afflicted woman

* On Bishop Bascom’s tour to Missouri — his last —the passen
gers on the boat, gencrally, seemed for a time to regard him as
distant and repulsive in his manner; but presently the cholera broke
out among them, and though there were some medicines, there was
no physician aboard, and the panic was terrible, The Bishop had
seen much of the disease, and had administered to its victims. IIe,
therefore, went to work at once and in good earnest to relieve the
sufferers. All his skill and efforts were freely, diligently. and
constantly bestowed, and throughout the voyage he acted as physi-
cian of both body and mind; and the man who had been looked on
at first, as cold and austere, came to be regarded as an angel of
mercy to the suffering.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 337

residing nearly in the line of direction from his
dwelling to the college; he learned the fact of
her destitution, sent food from his own table, called
at her hovel, conversed with her, and prayed for
her. This was continued so long as his attentions
were necessary.

Dr. E. reports to me a case from a much
earlier period of his life, dating back to 1815-16:

“A sensible old Virginian, who had been re-
duced to indigence, and who resided on his circuit,
predicted Bascom’s future greatness, on the ground
of his devoted attentions to the poor, and to him-
self and his family, in particular. Bascom would
help the poor old man make a fire in the morning,
then pray in the family, partake of his ash cake,
venison, and wild honey, and then read and
expound the scriptures to him, until the hour for
starting to his next appointment. I knew the old
man well, and to the day of his death he would
speak of Bascom with a full heart.”

The same gentleman says, Bascom was a favorite
with the poor on that circuit — that “many a time
he would rise from his bed, go out and fell trees
and haul wood till breakfast time, then pray with
the family, breakfast, and read and expound the
word of God until his time for departure.”

I remember to have witnessed a scene in which
he was an actor, such as one is not likely to forget.

He had been sent for a distance of several hun-
22
338 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

dred miles, to deliver an address on a great
occasion He had just concluded a splendid
discourse to a concourse of thousands, and a
group of magnates had clustered around him.
including the governor and different general
officers of the state, a number of the literati, and
others, when a man and woman plainly attired in
homespun, were seen pressing through the crowd,
evidently trying to reach the great centre of
attraction for the day. Bascom’s eye fell on them.
and — for if he never forgot any ¢hing, he never
forgot any persen—he instantly recognized them
as poor plous people in whose humble cot he had
been often kindly entertained, in a distant state,
more than twenty years previous to this interview.
The great men around him seemed to be lost sight
of, and grasping their hands with fervor — “ Is it
possible! Brother and sister ! This is a most
unexpected pleasure!’’ After a few kind inquiries,
he fixed on a time and place for “a long talk about
old times,” which he said he must have with them.
Some shadow of fear had passed over their minds
that, in his present high position he would, as they
expressed it, “feel himself above poor folks ;” but
their warm welcome banished that shadow, and
overwhelmed them with delight and admiration.
IT never saw people look more happy. As they
passed out of the crowd, the old gentleman said,
with a beaming face, “He’s Bascom yet.” “Yes,

 
LIFE OF BISHOP BASUOM. 339

he is,” responded the delighted old lady; “ didu’t
I tell you they couldn’t spoil Henry? Buscom’s
apology for so abruptly withdrawing attention from
the distinguished men around him, was as indepen-
dent and noble as his reception of the poor couple
had been cordial. To apologize for speaking kindly
to poor people, was what never entered his great
soul, nor did he utter a word from which it could
be inferred, that he regarded the linsey-clad pair
in a light of inferiority, either to himself or to the
personages about him. “Excuse my inattention
to you, gentlemen; but these are old friends of
mine, whom I have not seen for more than twenty
years, and to whose kindness I am a large debtor.”
This was all. Never did Bascom appear more truly
great.

His friendship was the most “true and trusty.”
Of this, we have met with striking instances in
the narrative of his life. It was almost literally
true, that “he never forsook a friend.” Persecu-
tion, affliction, adversity, only drew him into closer
bonds of friendship, and as the storm raged louder
and more fearfully, he clung still more closely to
the pelted victim. Nothing short of crime could
cause him to relinquish his grasp; and when even
this was charged upon his friend, he was usually
the very last man in the whole community who
would yield to such a conviction, and never until
forced into it by irresistible evidence.
340 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

iis Social Habits.

To strangers Dr. Bascom was rather inaccessible ;
this was not, however, owing to haughtiness,
unsocial temper, or coldness. but to the want of a
talent for making new acquaintances with facility,
especially when there was no mutual friends to
serve as a medium of access. But when the ice
was once fairly broken, no man was more free,
communicative, or confiding; indeed, he was fre-
quently censured for then being too free, trusting,
and unsuspicious.

When these remarks are applied to him in
relation to females, they may assist in explaining
some things in his history otherwise not quite
intelligible. Towards them generally, he was
reserved and apparently cold, and was many times
accused as wanting in common courtesy to the
sex. He was by no means a gallant, and seldom
waited on a lady except when it was unavoidable.
Yet when he was repeatedly thrown into the
society of an intelligent and amiable female, and a
fimiliar acquaintance thus grew up between them,
it was in his nature to be free and friendly in his
intercourse. As this happened but seldom, when it
did occur it was not unnatural in the lady thus
singled out, to infer more from his unreserved
friendship than was intended. The like attentions
from one who bestowed them almost promiscuously
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 341

and universally would probably have excited no
expeciations at all; but when a young lady found
herself the only familiar female acquaintance he
had in a community of thousands, she was very
likely to infer more from it than mere friendship.
I have known more instances than one in which
young ladies thought themselves improperly
treated by him, and in which their friends have
charged a violation of “engagement” on his part,
which, when thoroughly inquired into, amounted to
nothing more than what has just been stated.
Indeed, there is one case in my possession, well
authenticated, in which a young woman complained
of his want of good faith in not marrying her, when
her whole ground of claim on him consisted in the
fact of his having visited her pasiorally when sick.
But candor requires a brief notice at least of
another class of cases —I say class, because there
are supposed to have been several of them. In
such cases, he became acquainted with a lady who
appeared to possess all the qualifictions requisite
to constitute her a good wife ; he was susceptible,
he intended at sometime to marry ; acquaintance
grew into friendship, and friendship into a higher
attachment, and that attachment was declared.
But he was incumbered with a family, and manacled
with debt, and so could not marry, perhaps for
several years, perhaps for many — possibly never.
Under such circumstances if was probably improper
B42 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

to form the attachment, and it may have been
more so to declare it, for such declarations are
exceedingly embarrassing —seldom terminate well,
and oftener than otherwise have to be broken off
us the best method of getting out of a difficulty
that ought to h:ve been “left off ere it was med-
dled with.”

He would 2v. marry under circumstances which
would subject his wife’s property to the payment
of his debts; and though hoping and half expect-
ing from year to year to find himself in a condition
to enter the matrimonial state, he never took this
long intended step until he had attained the
mature age of forty-three. Then, his adopted family
had become less, and consequently his current
expenses lessened; just then, too, he had saved
some three thousand dollars from the proceeds of
his lectures, and hoped to be able soon to make
his way out of the embarrassments which had so
long hung around him. But true to his principles
in this matter, he legally secured to his wife all
her own property, so that it should not be affected
by his pecuniary difficulties.

Into whatever errors or mistakes Dr. Bascom
may have fallen in relation to the subject men-
tioned above, I could not be better satisfied than
I am, that nothing was further from his heart than
a design to get the affections of a lady entangled
with an intention of disappointing her authorized
LLFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 343

expectations. His experience may however ope-
rate as an admonition to young preachers not to
enter into matrimonial engagements, or to make
declarations clearly pointing in that direction, until
they can “see the end from the beginning,” or in
other words, until they can fix with some certainty
on the period of consummation. Nearly all the
difficultics of this class in which young ministers
become involved originate in the neglect of this
admonition. But on the other hand, the remark-
able prudence and reserve of Dr. Bascom in his
general intercourse with females, may well be held
up as an example worthy to be imitated by young
preachers.

In connection with the subject of matrimony,
many anecdotes are told of Bascom, some of them
singular and amusing, but most of them probably
apochryphal. I shall relate but one, which is said
to be authentic. A lady of no common attractions
and advantages, permitted her affections to become
so deeply interested in him, that breaking through
the barrier of conventional propriety, she addressed
anote to him declaring her state of feeling, and
making him a tender of “her hand, her fortune, and
her heart.” His reply suggested to her that she
very imperfectly appreciated the responsibility,
trials and sacrifices of the position she so generously
proposed to assume—that from a knowledge of
her hibits, manner of life, and the character of her
344 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

associations, he was convinced she would not be
happy for any length of time in such a situation, and
therefore declined an offer the acceptance of which
would only render her unhappy; and concluded
by advising her to dispose of the valuable gifts
tendered, in a manner more conducive to her
happiness, by giving her “heart to God, her wealth
to the poor, and her hand to the worthy man who
might solicit it.”

Rev. Mr. Bruce has furnished me with an anec-
dote illustrative of his reserve towards females,
which is too good to be lost. Mr. Bruce in 1837,
rode the circuit within which Mr. Bascom’s father
lived and died, and during that year held a pro-
iracted meeting in that immediate neighborhood,
at which he was assisted by Dr. Bascom. After
service they dined at the house of Mr. F., a special
friend of Bascom, with whom he had lived, and
for whom he had labored before he entered the
ministry. When they were all seated at the table
Mr. F. said: —“TI must tell you an anecdote of
Henry: When he lived with us, I and Mrs. F.
made a visit to our uncle in Bourbon county, Ky.,
und left Henry and a young woman to keep house.
We were gone about ten days, and when we
returned the young woman appeared not to be in
a good humor: Mrs. I. inquired what was the
matter: ‘Well,’ said she, ‘I dont want you ever to
go away again and leave me here with Henry
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 3405

Bascom.’ ‘Why not?’ asked Mrs. F. ‘Because,’
said she, ‘he talked me nearly to death” ‘Is it
possible,’ said Mrs. F. ‘What did he talk about?’
‘Why, one night at supper he asked me when I
expected you home.’ ‘And was that all?’ ‘Yes
madam ;’ said the young woman, ‘every syllable
that he uttered to me during the whole time you

299

were gone.
Bascom as a Writer.

Writing was not the talent which he cultivated
in chief, and consequently it was not his forte.
Indeed, for one of his astonishing literary labor,
he wrote very little for the press. If we deduct
his sermons, lectures, and addresses, which were
written merely as a preparation for the pulpit and
desk, we hive only a few conference reports, his
“Methodism and Slavery,” his articles in the
Qharterly, and a few fugitive pieces as the sum of
what he wrote for publicution; and nearly all of
these were written hurriedly, and under a press of
other cares and labors. His published productions
exhibit more of the speaker than of the author —
they lack the pruned chasteness of the practiced
and finished writer, and are encumbered with a
sort of exuberance of language, better suited to
public declamition, than to compositions intended
to be deliberately read, and subjected to the cool
criticism of the eye. Yet, his published produe
346 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

tions have been received with decided favor by
the public generally. The truth is, that there is
enough of the wealth of thought, strength of
reasoning, and brilliancy of expression in his
writings, to countervail the minor imperfections of
composition.

As a Preacher and Orator,

Dr. Bascom excelled; but his excellence was his
own, and peculiar. His sermons were full of
thought and sound divinity. The great elements
of Christian theology found a place in every dis-
course, and especially the cardinal doctrine of
salvation by faith in the atonement of Christ
Jesus was never lost sight of He was brilliant, to
be sure, in a transcendent. degree, but he never
selected a subject with a view to show off that
brillimey. If his style was sparkling and opulent,
diamonds of thought and riches of holy trath
supplied more of its splendor and wealth than
pomp of diction and creation of fancy. There
was in his style a singular blending of power and
splendor — of plain truth and lofty eloquence —
of didactic theology and glittering ornament — of
pointed appeal and elegant rhetoric, not to be met
with in that of any other orator.

In his nature there was a most remarkable love
of the sublime, wh‘ch gave direction to his thoughts,
feelings, and utteranses, and influenced his whole
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 347

character. He loved to dwell on subjects of
hichest sublimity — the government of God, the
atonement of Christ, the resurrection of the dead,
the last judgment, and the glories of Heaven —
these were themes in which his very soul seemed to
revel with genial ecstasy. And in the works of
nature his delight was in corresponding themes
and objects. He loved to hold communion with
the cloud-crowned mountain, the wild cutaract,
the surging sea, the dark storm-cloud, the harsh
thunder, and the tornado. Ie loved the beauuitul,
too, whether in the natural or the moral world, but
it was the grand, the sublime, the awful, with which
he communed, and from which he drew his deepest
draughts of almost terrible inspiration. Baptized
into this inspiration, his feelings, his thoughts, his
language were sublime, and with the sublimities
of religion for his themes, and the sublimities of
nature for his illustrations, these sublimed feelings,
thoughts and words produced examples of moral
sublimity seldom equalled.

That Dr. Bascom employed what critics would
call a redundancy of words in his discourses, is
not denied, and yet the hearer was seldom willing
to part with any of the seeming redundancies; for
it appeared neeessary to perfect the impression
or fully develop the thought elaborated. If he
multiplied synonyms in expressing an idea, it did
not appear tautology at all, but great thoughts
348 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

struggling to clothe themselves in a manner suited
to their importance, and if the first term employed
appeared inadequate, another with a deeper shade
of color or power was added: or the principal
term was strengthened by qualifying words, after
the model of Paul’s “ Fur more, exceeding, aud
eternal weight of glory” — where no less than five
qualifying terms are employed to give force and
effect to the principal one.

The severe critic might find imperfections when
he judged the speaker by rules established for
forming artificial orators out of minds inferior to
Bascom’s; but it was hardly proper to judge such
a man by rules enacted dy intellects, and for
intellects, far below that of the subject of their
judgment.

A critic—made such on the model of the
schools — once said, after admitting Buscom’s
superior power as an orator to any man he had
ever heard: “He is certainly not a great oratoy,
according to the rules of Hugh Blair’ “ Hugh
Blair!” half indignantly responded a greater than
the critic; “Hugh Blair, sir, who was really no
orator, but a mere maker of artificial orators on a
small scale, Hugh Blair would have regarded it the
greatest privilege of his life to sit at Bascom’s feet
end learn the lessons of true oratory.”

Few men, however, could hear Bascom in his
happier moods of speaking, and keep themselves
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 349

sufficiently out of the tornado’s track to think of
criticism; the sentiment elicited was rather aston-
ishment, ecstasy, conviction or penitence. The
excitement was too intense for the colder employ-
ment of fault finding. His discourses were full
of deep thought, of gorgeous imagery, of ardent
fervency; and the understanding, the imagination,
the passions, were all at once excited to the
intensest degree. His voice was clear, full, and
trumpet like: his utterance so rapid that no steno-
grapher ever could succeed in catching his words,
yet so remarkably distinct that each individual
syllable received its proper articulation and em-
phasis so fully that it seemed to stand out alone in
the dense “forest of words and ideas;” his man-
ner — his elocution, though not formed on artistic
rules, was exceedingly forcible and effective; and
while he never studied a single gesture, and knew
almost nothing of his own gesticulation, and his
hearers were in like ignorance, all yet felt that
there was a wonderful, often a startling power in
his delivery. Is it any matter of astonishment,
then, that with all this mighty enginery playing
upon him, the hearer ceased to be a critic? or
that the excitement, assailing all the citadels of
heart and soul at once, should have been extreme
and absolutely prostrating? Many a public speaker
have I heard to say that he had never been more
compietely exhausted by his ywn most laborious
390 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

efforts, as by the deep excitement of thought and
feeling produced by hearing one of Bascom’s best
sermons.

No min could deny to Bascom eloquence of a
high order without subjecting his understanding or
his heart to just impeachment. True eloquence is
to be judged, not by its conformity to arbitrary
and artistic laws, but by its effects on the minds
and hearis of the hearers; and judging by this test,
Dr. Bascom’s high claims were amply vindicated.
Such too was the award of hundreds of thousands
who heard him; and “The people,” says the
eloquent Abbe Maury, “they are the best and
only proper judges of our eloquence.” Schoolmen
may try an orator by their rules; but the people
try him by the effects he produces. But in the
instance of Dr. Bascom the scholars and the popu-
lace rendered the same verdict, and the best
orators accorded to him the highest commendation.
Mr. Clay, himself a master of eloquence, pro-
nounced Henry Bascom the greatest natural
orator of the age, and other orators of fame bore
like testimony in his favor.

Preparations for the Pulpit.

His manner of preparing for the pulpit was that
adopted — substantially —by nearly all great
orators. He had a very strong aversion to reading
discourses, as we have before remarked, regarding
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 351

it as incompatible alike with the grace and effect
of eloquence of the highest order, and was himself
reluctantly driven into the habit in the latter part
of his life by the force of what seemed to be
necessity. He was nearly as much opposed to the
practice of reciting sermons or other discourses
from memory, as being mere parrot-like oratory,
suited only to the calibre of small minds. Having
selected his subject he sought all the information
necessary to a full and proper understanding of it;
and having possessed himself of this, he next fixed
on the principal heads and the «arrangement.
These he wrote down, and expanded to a limited
extent — sometimes covering the space of a sheet
of paper, at other times comprised on the surface of
a common card. With these brief notes in his hand,
or placed where he could occasionly glance at them,
he entered upon the study of his subject. This
he always did walking or riding, and his preference
was for a wood or grove to study in.* I have
known him to beat a path in a forest, while
studying a sermon, that remained unobliterated for
many months ; and it was no uncommon thing for

* From Dr H....,....., an early friend of Dr. B., I have the
following: ‘“\t was always his custom to walk and study. It would
seem that his mind became so surcharged with thought, that his
body was impelled to action. He generally betook himself to the
woods for mental preparation. I remember an amusing incident
in this connection. In 1816, he had gone into a skirt of woods
near to where an Trishman was laboring. and it so happened
362 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

him to walk his chamber during half the night in
preparing for the delivery of a sermon the following
day. His study of a sermon was not the study
of fine sentences, but his object was to become
perfectly imbued with the spirit of his subject —
to feel the full force and importance of it; believing
that to thoroughly wrderstand and feel a subject
is the best preparation for speaking on that subject
effectively—impressively. Having possessed him-
self of the points, the thoughts, the feelings of his
subject, he then laid it completely aside, until the
hour for appearing before the public, and sought
repose or recreation.

From this habit young orators might learn a
lesson of instruction. Nothing is more common,
perhaps, with public speakers, than to study
intensely their subjects up to the moment of
appearing in public; the natural effect of which
is to weaken, if not prostrate, the mental energies
and exhaust excitability, before coming to the
point where these must be called fully into action,
or the speaker fail. Bascom understood the phi-
losophy of the mind and feelings too well to expend

that he discovered Bascom in his retired promenade. He came
running to the house under excitement, and declared there was a
“crazy man in the woods. How do you know he is crazy ? I asked,
‘Why sir,’ he replied, ‘he is quite in a doldrum, he has been walking
for an hour between two trees, and seems to be wonderfully taken
with a deep study; do you think he is quite right in his mind?’ Go
to church to-morrow, said I, and you may judge whether he is crazy.”
2
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 353

in the drill the strength essential to success in the
battle.

Bascom’s Piety.

Bascom made no ostentatious display of piety,
and was, therefore, suspected by some of being
greatly defective, if not totally destitute, as
regards this essential Christian quality. The
truth is, that early in life he conceived a strong
aversion to a morose sour piety, which he thought
savored more of pharasaic affectation than of deep
and rational devotion, and was generally the off
spring of weakness, hypocrisy, or, at best, of habit,
drawn from one or the other of these sources.
Few men were more fervid in zeal, or had a
higher relish for lively and sensible religious
enjoyment in devotion, and no one more enjoyed
or was more inspirited by the hearty amen, when
uttered responsively to the fervent petition offered
to Heaven, than he, and no one entered into
deeper sympathy with the groans of the penitent,
the raptures of the pardoned, and the rejoicings
of the happy Christian ;* but groans mechanically

¥ Ile took peculiar pleasure in witnessing the religious enjoyments
of the sons of Ham, with whom he was ever a great favorite. Many a
time, at camp meetings, have I known him steal away from the white
congregation, to enjoy the religious exercises of the blacks, and to
remain listening to their singing and their artless but earnest
prayers, long after the whites had gone to rest. On one of these
occasions, he found himself in a position rather embarrassing to him,

23
a

354 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

uttered in devotion, without feeling, and from
habit or affectation, he looked upon as sadly out
of place in the solemnities of divine worship.
“ By their fruits ye shall know them,” is the rule
of judgment prescribed by the Great ‘Teacher ;
and Bascom’s piety is entitled to be tried by
this law.

His reverence for the character and name of
God was profound and pervading; the Sacred
Name he never used in conversation, as many
Christians do, and an expression even bordering
on irreverence never passed his lips. His rever-
ence for the word and ordinances of God was only
less than that entertained for God himself. Of that
word and its plenary inspiration, and of those holy
ordinances, he was a zealous and able defender;

but one which afforded some amusement to his brethren. It was at
B camp meeting: He had retired to bed, but the exciting
labors of the day, on the one hand, and ‘the rich tide of devotiunal
melody which still swelled up from the African quarter of the
encarapment, and rung through the midnight forest, on the other,
indisposed him to sleep. Le arose, and under cover of the darkness,
approached conveniently near to the sable singers. ‘They were sing-
ing one of those catches in which the leader sings a short sentence
— usually composed impromptu — alone, and then the whoie con-
gregation would join ina thundering chorus. ‘The leader went on
recounting the blessings and enjoyments of the meeting, and, at
length, under the inspiration of a new thought, he broke out —
“T’ve seen Bascom; he’s de Master’s champion,” and the choral
response, “ Gléry, hallelujah, etc.,” burst ont with fresh fervor. The
The leader resumed: “ ve heard Bascom ; he’s de Boanerges,” and
again came the thundering response, fa‘rly driving Bascom from hia
lurking place to his tent. :

 
rc

LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 305

and few have dealt such effectual death blows
upon infidelity and pseudo-infidelity.* It was
his daily habit, as we have seen, to read the holy
scriptures; and he was equally punctual in his
attendance on the ordinances of the sanctuary. I
never knew him to neglect an opportunity of
hearing the word or of commemorating the sacri-
fice of Christ; and the latter, especially, I never
knew him to enjoy without deep and solemn feel-
ing. And when such opportunity did not offer in
his own church, he attended the ministrations of
other churches, and communed with Christians of
other names.

Of his deep devotion to the cause of his Master,
and the work of the ministry, he gave the strongest
evidence possible. While in this work, he was

 

*Dr. H , Mentioned before, has furnished me an incident in
point, which, though received late and out of its order, is yet worth
aplace. “In the summer of 1816, at » camp meeting, he was
requested to preach a sermon on infidelity. It became noised abroad,
and an immense multitude attended to hear him. There was present
a noted infidel, who vaunted largely of the triumph of his principles, on
the supposed failure,of the youth to defend Christianity. Le, at first,
took a seat at a distance from the stand, assuming an air of great hau-
‘eur and arrogance. He listened attentively for half an our, and then,
with seeming unconsciousness, took a position near the speaker. For
some minutes he sat motionless as a statue, with a play of unquiet and
conflicting emotions on his countenance. He felt, if he felt at all,
that he was in the midst of a conflagration, that must consume the
last vestige of his hopes. He could hold out no longer against the
power of truth, falling, as it did, upon his smitten conscience, and
before the sermon was concluded, he was heard to exclaim. ‘1 give it

ap’ From that hour, he beeame penitent, and reformed his life”
356 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

enduring the sufferings of poverty, toil snd perse-
cation, yet the high road to wealth, fame, and
comparative ease was opened to him in secular
pursuits, and that too with such reliable guarantees
as excluded contingency in the question of success;
yet these tempting lures he never considered or
debated for a moment.

: Strong confidence in the providence and the
promises of God, I take to be one of the best
evidences of genuine piety; and such a confidence
he had in a high trusting degree. And of this
what has just been said above, is conclusive. He
believed that God had called him to the vocation
of the ministry, and that while he was found
abiding in the lot assigned him by the Head of
the Church, he might safely and confidingly claim
the protection of God’s providence, and the aid of
his promises; but if he departed from this work
he lost this high claim, and there was no path of
life, however bright and flattering, upon which he
dared to enter alone — without the promised help
of the Lord.

Illustrative of his principle of action, in view of
God’s providence, is an incident which I shall
relate. A special friend of his—a_ brother
minister — had suffered the loss of a good estate,
and was reduced to poverty; his salary was not
half sufficient to support and educate his family,
and he was about to enter on the practice of
LIFE OF. BISHOP BASCOM. 307

another profession, with a most cheering prospect
of success. He wrote to Bascom, not so much to
ask counsel as to inform him of his determination.
Bascom replied: “If God has called you to the
work of the ministry, whenever you voluntarily
abandon his work, you forfeit his help and protec-
tion. Besides, though that profession is honorable,
that of the ministry is most honorable, and by
abandoning it for any other you relatively degrade
your high vocation —a thing to which I trust no
stress of temporal adversity will ever drive you.
I might, perhaps with equal reason and equal
prospects, pursue a like course; but, poor and
embarrassed as Iam, I am resolved to have no
client but Him who at the first employed me to
plead the great cause of human salvation; and I
know my fee will be certain and large.” His
friend felt the force of the rebuke, abandoned his
purpose, and has ever since thanked God for the
timely admonition.

There was one striking peculiarity in Buscom’s
confidence in God; whenever he got into deep
tribulation, it was his habit, after the minner of
Old Testament saints, to make a solemn vow to
God—a covenant—to be more devoted and
faithful if God would grant him the special deliver-
ance. This vow he recorded and preserved, that
he might not forget it. I find a number of these
vows or covenants, and can but regard it as
348 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

remarkable, that in every one of which I have
knowledge, “he was heard in the thing he feared.”
Once it was made for his own recovery when at
the point of death, and soon he was well; once for
the recovery of a dear friend, for whom there was
scarce a hope, and soon the disease was rebuked ;
once for deliverance when a storm of persecution
raged madly, and in a short time his persecutors
were put to open shame and publicly confounded ;
and so of others.

And when he came to the closing scene, his
plea still was, “All my trust and confidence is in
Almighty Goodness, as revealed in the cross of Christ.”

His faith was pre-eminently Christian; Christ
and the cross were never lost sight of And as he
was a man of fiith, so was he of prayer. In this,
too, he has been misunderstood. Indeed, few
men have been so extensively known, und at the
same time so zmperfectly known. No one could
have more confidence in the efficacy of fervent
prayer than Bascom. Secret prayer he constantly
attended to. The writer, when occupying the
sime lodging room with him—as was often the
case — has frequently awoke long after midnight
and found him wrestling in secret prayer; especially
when he had any great difficulty to encounter, or
any unusually important work to perform. He
regarded secret prayer as an essential part of
preparation for the pulpit, and it was the only
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 359

preparation he allowed himself to engage in, near
the time of entering the pulpit.

A lady of piety and intelligence related to me,
many years ago, an incident which may be worth
recording in this connection. —“I had heard of Mr.
Bascom as an eloquent speaker,” said she, “but
also as a clerical fop destitute of piety. Under
this prejudice I went to hear him, and his first
appearance did not satisfactorily discredit the
report. While the congregation were singing the
hymn preceding the sermon, I watched him
attentively. His eye was on vacancy, his brow
contracted as if in deep thought, he evidently saw
nothing, and so complete appeared to be his
abstraction that I feared he would not notice the
ending of the hymn; but just as the last stanza
was closing, he slightly raised his eyes heavenward,
and such a pleading look of supplication I never
saw; silently, but most intelligently and implor-
ingly it said— ‘Lord, help me, or I sink,’ Every
vestige of my prejudice was gone, and instantly I
began with all my heart to beseech God for help
in his behalf”

Finally, if reverence for God, and ardent love of
his holy word and ordinances —if a benevolent
heart and a charitable hand — if strong confidence
in the providence and promises of God—if visiting
and ministering comfort to the sick, to the futherless
and widows in their affliction —if a consuming
360 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

zeal, and a life of uncommon services and sacri-
fices in the cause of God and humanity—if a
tranquil death, cheered by the hope of the
gospel, through the merits of Christ, be admis-
sible evidence, then was Bascom’s claim to the
character of a pious Christian well sustained.
CHAPTER XXIII.

MR. BASCOM’S CONNECTION WITH THE MOVEMENT FOR
MODIFYING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH.

We have seen already that at least as early as
1822* Mr. Bascom’s sympathies were with the
party that proposed a modification of the govern-
ment of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and that
for such a bias his mind was specially prepared by
a course of treatment towards himself which he
regarded as illiberal and unjust. We must now
give some further account of his connection with
this movement. This is called for by that candor
which should characterize -every writer of biogra-
phy, and perhaps is no less due to the character of
Mr. Bascom himself. But in doing this it will be
necessary to give a sketch of that movement itself,
in general outline.

The agitation arising out of the “Presiding
Elder question” in 1820—aided by the circu-
lation of a monthly periodical devoted to the
discussion of the subject—extended itself through

* Mr. Bascom says, in a paper dated April, 1826, that he siened a
memorial to the General Conference of !816, asking modifications in
the government of the church. I suppose he refers to a petition 9a
the presiding elder question.
362 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

the different departments of the church, so that at
the General Conference of 1824, a considerable
number of petitions were received, some from local
preachers, and some from the laity, praying for
modifications in the government of the church, but
very much differing as to the nature of existing
grievances and defects, and of course proposing the
application of different remedies. Those petitions
were received with but little favor by the con-
ference, and a response was made to them which
many of the petitioners regarded as rather ungra-
cious. They saw, however, at once, that while
their prayers were not only different but even
conflicting, it would be unreasonable to expect the
relief, and indeed impracticible for the conference
to grant it. This view of the case suggested, very
naturally, the necessity of unity of object and
harmony of action in order to success in their
enterprise. To devise means for effectuating this
object, a meeting was called during the sitting of
the General Conference in Baltimore, of such as
happened to be present in the city, and friendly to
the object, to consult on the subject. That meeting
was made up of traveling and local preachers, and
laymen, indiscriminately. It was there insisted,
that, in order to unity, the “Reformers” must give
themselves an associate identity by some form of
organization, and that they should have a periodical
as a medium of intelligence and communication
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 363

The then existing periodical —“ Wesleyan Reposi-
tory’ —was represented as having become offensive
by its caustic severity, and must be superseded by
a new one, which was to be placed under the super-
vision of the proposed organization. It was farther
agreed that the organization should be styled the
Union Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
inasmuch as its avowed object was to promote union
among the friends of reform, and to keep those who
were inclined to secede— of whom there were said
to be many in the North—in union with the church.
These preliminaries being settled, a committee was
appointed to prepare a constitution in accordance
with them—at the head of which committee was a
talented member of the General Conference, then
in session. A constitution was reported and
adopted, and by its provisions the new periodical
was to bear the rather whimsical name of “The
Mutual Rights of the Ministers and Members of
the Methodist E. Church,” and was to be conducted
by a publishing committee of the Union society -—
in which society any member of the Methodist
Episcopal church was eligible to membership.

The new periodical soon went into operation,
and for a while was conducted avith a reasonable
degree of moderation — publishing articles from
writers on both sides of the controversy. But
after a time a less temperate spirit came in, and
articles appeared on both sides manifesting little
364 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

or nothing of the gentleness and charity of the
gospel. Matters grew worse and worse until the
spring of 1827, when a circumstance occurred
which tended to excite the parties in a still higher
degree. At the annual session of the Baltimore
conference of that year one of its members was
charged with having read and recommended the
periodical under notice —“The Mutual Rights”
—and a promise was required of him, that he
would not do so in future. Seeming to regard this
as an interference with his private and personal
rights, he refused to submit to the requirement.
The conference, claiming the right to determine
what was proper and what improper for its mem-
bers to circulate, resolved to leave the offender
without an appointment during the next year.
This proceeding excited a great deal of feeling on
the other side; the Baltimore Union society, and
several other Union societies, passed resolutions
strongly condemning the proceeding of the con-
ference, and several individual writers denounced
the proceeding without stint; and among the
latter, Mr. Bascom.

When Mr. Bascom went to Baltimore in 1824,
as before stated, a large proportion of the acquaint-
ances he formed happened to be among those
who were prominent und active in the movements
above detailed, and doubtless his feelings were not
a little influenced by the sympathy which warm
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 368

friendship naturally engenders. He had, I believe,
written a few articles for the Mutual Rights before
the occurrence of the difficulty above noticed, but,
I think, of a general and temperate character, yet
he had not identified himself with the reform
movement by joining any Union society, or by
any similar act. He now heard the report of the
proceeding of the Baltimore conference, in the
case of Dorsey —the case stated above — and
perhaps heard it with some degree of coloring.
He did not know the man personally, but he
received the strong impression that Dorsey had
been illiberally, oppressively dealt with; he under-
stood that Dorsey was poor, that he was in very
low health, and had a young family dependent on
him. Any one who truly knew Bascom, will not
need to be told that such a representation would
at once awaken his deepest sympathy for the
sufferer, and his indignation against the alleged
oppressors.

In such a state of feeling, Bascom wrote a com-
munication for the Mutual Rights respecting the
affuir, which, it must be confessed, was in some
passages exceedingly caustic. These movements
in behalf of the “martyr” aroused the other party
to still farther action. A public meeting of
members of the church was called in the city of
Baltimore, at which the proceedings of the confer-
ence were zealously defended, and the “sympa-
366 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

thizers”? denounced with great severity; and the
article of Mr. Bascom, particularly, was branded
as one which “outraged all decency of language,
and applied to the conference the most abusive
epithets to which mulignity itself could resort.”
This, of course, did not tend to soothe Mr. Bascom’s
feelings, or to draw him into closer connection with
the dominant party.

In writing his views of the case, he had brought
up a certain tribunal, long since abolished, in
illustration of the matter in hand. One who set
up higher pretensions, reviewed his article with
great severity, and pardcularly sneered at his
ignorance of the chiracter of the tribunal to which
he had referred, alleging in substance thit he
understood nothing of its character and objects.
This brought Bascom out with such an arrey of
authentic evidence, proving his entire correctness,
as effectually silenced his assailant. But this
victory was, in a sense, a defeat: it made for him
a powerful eneiny.

Matters at last grew to such a pitch, that in
August of this year, (1827,) official proceedings
were instituted in Baltimore against a number of
local ministers and members, with a view to bring
them to abandon the Union society and the
Mutual Rights, or to exclude them “from the
church. A very large proportion of the arrests
were among Bascom’s most special friends in the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 367

city. This tended still more to strengthen his
sympathetic union with them.

In November, 1827, a general convention of the
friends of Reform met in the city of Baltimore,
and adopted a memorial to be presented to the
ensuing General Conference — which was to. meet
in May, 1828 — praying for certain modifications
in the government of the church.

Soon after this a large meeting was held in the
same city, which adopted a sort of protest or bill
of exceptions to the proceedings had in the case
of the arrested members and preachers, on the
ground of their supposed inconsistency wih the
spirit or letter of the discipline of the church.

Immediately after this, followed the excommu-
nication of the members, and soon after, the
ministers who had been put on their trial for their
connection with the Union society and the Mutu:l
Rights. This was immediately succeeded by the
withdrawal of a large number of the relatives and
friends of the expelled persons, and their temporary
organization into a society, based on Mr. Wesley’s
General Rules, to await the decisions and results
of the coming General Conference.

Tt was earnestly hoped, that the General Con-
ference might be able to open the way for the
restoration of the expelled ministers and members,
and for healing the wound which had become so
deep and wide. Many, on both sides of the eon
368 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

troversy, were very anxious for this; they were
weary of strife, and longed for peace. Mr. Bascom
ws a member of that General Conference, and
employed his best efforts to bring about that
resuli. To this end, he drew up the following
paper, and presented it to the chairman of the
committee having charge of that class of business:

“ Pittsburg May 19, 1828

“Dear BrotHer:— The brethren who have been expelled the
church in Baltimore, will, and do hereby concede, that publications
may have appeared in the Mutual Rights, the nature and character of
which were inflammatory, and so far do not admit of vindication ;
that individuals and facts, for want of proper information, may have
been unintentionally misrepresented. They regret these things, in
every existing case. They agree, that the Mutual Rights shall be dis-
continued at the filling up of the present volume, in doing which
they will avoid just cause of offence to any brethren. That Union
societies shall, by their advice and influence, be abolished, and no
more formed.

“These concessions are made through us, in behalf of reformers
generally, to aid the work of conciliation, as conditions for the
restoration of the expelled brethren in Baltimore and elsewhere, to
the church, on terms respectful to all parties. By these concessions,
they are not to be understood as relinquishing the freedom of speech
and of the press, which they enjoy in common with their brethren;
nor of peaceably assembling for proper and justifiable purposes.

We concur in the above.
A. Sainn,

H. B. Bascom,
Nicno.as SNETHEN,
Cuarues Avery,
Henry D. SEviers.”

Towards the close of the conference, a preamble
was adopted, setting forth the existing difficulties
and facts in the case, as the grounds of their
action, followed by two resolutions, the first of
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 36%

which, in view of an adjustment of the difficulties,
recommends, that no farther proceedings should
be had against the reformers, and the second pro-
vides, that if any of the expelled persons would
make the concessions expressed in the foregoing
paper — though the existence of that document
is not recognized — they might be restored to the
church; provided, that the quarterly conference
and the preacher in charge of the circuit or station
should consent to such restoration; and provided,
also, that the preacher in charge should be under
no obligation to restore a member to any official
station he may have held previously, and provided,
that no other periodical devoted to the controversy
should be established, but allowing individuals te
publish what they chose on their own responsibilty.

These provisos, and especially the first, were
unacceptable to the expelled members, inasmuch
as it put it into the power, as they alleged, of
those who had expelled them to prevent theis
restoration; or, if they choose, to restore some
and reject others, and so divide and scatter them.*

Here, then, ended the attempt at conciliation,
and not long after the adjournment of the General

* I find, by a letter from Mr. Snethen, that he regards it as a prin
cipal cause of the failure of this measure, that while the paper, signea
by himself and others — quoted above — admits, that articles unjusti-
fiably severe, may have appeared in the Mutual Rights, the conference
resolution required the expelled persons to acknowledge that such
articles aetually have appeared, ete

24
370 LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM.

Conference, the work of expulsion, was resumed
at new points.

In the autumn of 1828, a general convention
was held, at which articles of association were
adopted for the proposed new ecclesiastical organi-
zation, — which took the name of the “ Associated
Methodist Churches.” With this convention and
these organizing measures, Mr. Bascom had no
connection, but went on regularly in the perform-
ance of the duties assigned him as a traveling
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church. True,
he sympathized with his friends, and felt rather
sore himself, from denunciations aimed against
him by the dominant party, and especially from a
contemptuous philippic inflicted on him on the
floor of the General Conference —or at least, what
he regarded in that light.

In the autumn of 1830, the newly organized
Associated Methodist churches, sent up delegates
to another general convention, the object of which
was to frame a regular constitution for the new
connection, — which was thenceforth styled the
Methodist Protestant Church. With this last
convention, the name of Mr. Bascom has been, in
an indirect manner, associated, as being the author
of a “ Declaration of Rights” which was published
with the proceedings of the convention, though not
adopted by that body.

The facts in this case are as follow: a short
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 371

time before the meeting of ihe convemion, &
prominent member of the new organization, and a
special friend of Mr. Buscom, wrote to him suggest-
ing that the convention would probably adopt a
declaration of rights, and requesting him to prepare
and forward such an instrument to be laid before
the convention. Bascom consented to undertake
the work; «nd to be the more fully prepared for
it, he visited Cincinnati, procured the “ Federalist”
aud some other books, and, that he might be
entirely secluded, he retired to a country inn, a
few miles back of the city, and there shut himself
up until his work was completed. This done, the
paper was forwarded to his friend, and by him laid
before the convention. The name of the author
was not announced in the convention, but generally
it was attributed to the true source. It arrived at
a late period of the convention, and this served as
apretext for not receiving it; but the better
reason was no doubt correctly stated by those who
alleged that the convention was not quite so
dependent as to be obliged to receive important
aid from one, who was not even identified with
the new organization, and who, probably, never
would become so. The Declaration was, therefore,
rejected by the convention, but the book agent,
regarding it as a valuable document, added it at
the end of the new discipline, and it was published
in various other forms.
512 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

In November, 1830, the new church commenced
the publication of a periodical in the west, and, at
the solicitation of its conductors, Mr. Bascom
became a contributor, and wrote seven numbers
on the righ's and duties of the Christian ministry.
These numbers dealt almost exclusively in general
principles, and referred in no direct way, to the
existing controversy. In March, 1831, appeared
the last of these numbers, and the last of Mr.
Biseom’s writings, respeciing the questions in-
volved in the controversy. He wrote anonymously,
but being suspected of writing the “Letters of
Paul on the Ministry,” he was complained of
before the conference of ovhich he was a member.
He confessed the writing of the “letters,” but
pleaded that he only laid down historical facts and
general principles, and nothing directly against the
Methodist E. Church. And here the matter ended,
—at least, this is my recollection of the affuir.*

It is not the business of the biographer, as I

* A communication on this subject, written by him for the Pitts-
burgh conference of 1831, says — “I owe it to myself and to you, to
say, that a course of conduct has been ascribed to me, and complained
of as inconsistent with the relation I sustain to you, and the obliga-
tions | owe you. I have to say, that the part I have ucted, does not
sustain the truth of the complaint, and that no act of mine can be
construed, as I believe, into a violation of the obligations I owe to
you and the church. I certainly intended no such violation, but on
the other hand, was disposed to avoid every thing of the kind, and I
am compelled to think. that under all the circumstances, the alleged
offence exists but in seeming, and not in fact. And as the acts

a
alluded to, were intended to benefit one portion of society, without
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 373

conceive, to defend or condemn the opinions of
him whose life he writes, yet it may not be
improper to state what is certainly known of Mr.
Bascom’s opinions and the ground of them, as also
the reasons which governed him in his particular
conrse of action.

Whatever opinions Mr. Biscom entertained at
variance with the polity of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, I am satisfied, may be traced to two posi-
tions which he assumed as correct, and perhaps
fundamental. These were, (1), that order in the
ministry necessarily implies a divine institute; and,

injuring any other, 1 cannot think that my conduct merits chastise-
ment, farther than an expression of opinion opposed to my views, bv
those from whom I may happen to dissent upon questions unsettled
by the decisions of revelation. As motive and character were not
assailed by me, I cannot consent that mine in return should be
assailed, m the instance alluded to, without the remonstrance of
candor and conviction, which become the right of every man under
suitable cireumstances, No alienation of the parties concerned, was
contemplated at the time, nor in prospect, and I sincerely hope, that
none will be urged.

«I suggested an interview last evening with Bishop Hedding, and
twelve or thirteen membcrs of this conference, the object of which
was to discuss amicably my relations to this conference, and thus
prepare the way for my dismissal from this, and removal to another,
with those views and feelings which always become us as brethren
and ministers. On this subject, therefore, I refer you to Bishop
Iledding, and brethren Young, Fleming, Elliott, Monroe, Lambden,
Skarp, Moore, Mack. Limerick, Waterman, Cook, and Brunson.
Such reference, under all the circumstances involved, [ trust, will be
satisfactory, Ihave only to add, may mutual forgiveness obliterate
mutual in‘ury, and may the mantle of charity cover reciprocal
wrongs, — if such have existed. I leave you in peace. and it is the
first and last wish of my heart, that the God of peace may be with
us all.”
574 LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM.

_(2). that the church is a voluntary association pre
cisely as a civil government is.

In his fourth letter on the ministry he assumes,
that in the ministry as instituted by Christ Jesus,
there was “perfect equality of rank ” — that the
office of deacon was “purely secular” — that
“bishops and presbyters were identically the same
in office and function,’ and hence infers that all
mmparity in the ministry is created in contravention
of the arrangements settled in the church by its
Head. Had he adopted the opinion that Christ
did not settle orders in the ministry at all, but
simply the ministry, broadly leaving the distribu-
tion of its powers into orders to the church’s
discretion, his premises had conducted him to no
such conclusion as he reached. With his views,
however, believing that episcopacy as a distinct
order was not instituted by Christ, he of course
regarded it as spurious and unwarrantable. But
he became convinced that, in this view of the
subject, he was inerror. In a letter addressed to
the writer, March 1850, Mr. Bascom says : —“The
attempt, some twenty years since, to make it appear
that our episcopacy was valid, becuse derived from
anterior forms of episcopal jurisdiction, proved so!
revolting to my understanding and reason, that I
doubted for some time seriously, whether I could
honestly remain a party to an assumption so ridi
culous, and, as I believed, mischievous in tendeney
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 379

But so soon as I became satisfied that ours is a
legitimate presbylerial episcopacy, instituted and
created as a separate, distinct order, by conventional
consent, and the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery, and that in order to its validity it was
not necessary to invoke the miserable humbug of
regular episcopal succession, as independent of the
rights and powers of the body of presbyters, I was
content to await the results of time and inquiry,
and each succeeding year has but tended to con-
firm me in the correctnes of my views.” He
adds : — “ We assume that in the matter of mere
organic form, as it regards government, the scrip-
tures have left the church to its own judgment,
and that according to the scriptures, ecclesiastical
history, and the practice of the best churches of
antiquity and of modern times, it 1s competent for
a church to originate an organic law, like that giving
birth to Methodist episcopacy, without any depar-
ture from the New Testument or ecclesiastical
usage.” Here we perceive what views of the
subject Mr. Bascom entertained at the time of the
controversy —into which views he says in the
letter quoted ubove— he was lead by “unsafe
guides,” meaning our writers on episcopacy, and
which views came near causing him to leave the
communion of the church, regarding the theory of
our wriicrs, and the organization of the church ag
incompatible with each other.
376 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

The other point of difficulty, not to say error,
with Mr. Bascom was, overlooking the fact, that
in instituting a church on earth, Christ com-
mitted the whole duty of preaching the gospel, of
administering the sacraments, and, therefore. of
receiving members into the church, to the hands
of the ministry; that the gospel ministry was
before church organization, and has ever gone
forward in advance of it, from the beginning until
now. Failing to recognize any original and vested
rights in the ministry by the Divine commission,
Mr. Bascom very naturally regarded the organiza-
tion of a church as being absolutely subject to the
control of the will of the populace, precisely as
people organizing a civil government adopt just
such laws and forms as they may prefer, there being
no one divinely commissioned to act in the premises
in any manner different from every other member
of the entire community.

In accordance with this view of the subject, he
says, in the 9th article of his Declaration of Rights,
“Ministers and private Christians, according to the
New Testament, are entitled to equal rights and
privileges.” If it be the right and privilege of
ministers to preach the gospel, to administer the
sacraments, to receive converts into the church
by the initiatory ordinance of baptism, and to
form them into religious organizations; if these
tights and privileges were committed to the
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 377

minisiry, specifically, by Jesus Christ, and were
not committed to the membership at large, then
there must be some mistake in the broad and
unqualified declaration, that “ministers and _pri-
vate members are, by the New Testament, placed
on a ground of strict equality;” and so thought
Mr. Bascom before he died.

His famous Declaration of Rights was written
in full view of these two positions; and yet it is
much more generalizing and abstract in its aver-
ments than might have been expected from such
premises. Indeed the title of the instrument
itself is quite general and vague—“ Declaration of
Righ‘s, explanatory of the reasons and principles
of government;” but what sort of government
even is not specified. Much of it applies properly
only to civil governments, some portion is aimed
against such ecclesiastical usurpations and abuses as
are scircely to be looked for this side of Rome, and
some of its positions are most sound and excellent,
whether applied to civil or ecclesiastical government.

A question has often been put, and especially
by the Reformers, as they were called: “If Mr.
Bascom was in general sentiment and sympathy
with that party, why did he not secede from the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and unite with the
new organization?” I am not bound to know all
his reasons, but. some light may possibly be cast
on the subject. He had never been connected
378 LIFE CF BISHOP BASCOM.

with any Union Society, nor with any of the con-
ventions, and seems to have thought it expedient
to await the result of the organizing measures of
the new church, and not identify himself with it
unless he believed it, on the whole, better calcu-
lated to do good and advance the cause of vital
religion than the old church. He felt free to act
as a pacificator, as at the General Conference of
1828; but never having acted as a leader in the
oviginal movement, he did not feel bound to take
any part in the organizing measures. The con-
vention of 1828 adopted only a temporary bond
of union, under which societies might form if they
chose, but from this platform* nothing could be
certainly known of what the church would be when

* Respecting those articles of confederation, a leading layman of
Bess, sutncatiens , Writes to Bascom in the year after its adoption, “ Very
few, except some local preachers, approve of them ”— (the articles
of association.) A distinguished minister, who had identified him-
self with the party, in feeling and action, writes “that he cannot
unite under such a bond of union.” Another minister, who had been
active in Union Societies, conventions, etc.. says to kim: “ Situated as
J am, I have felt bound to unite with the persecuted party; but your
ditterent relation may not impress a like conviction of duty on your
mind.” As late as 1833, a gentleman, among the most prominent ir
that church, inquires of Bascom about his church relations, and says,
that whatever he might see proper to do in the future, there had, up to
that date, been no time when it would have been proper for him te
withdraw from the Methodist Episcopal Church. And yet, before
the writing of this letter, by one who understands the subject much
better than the multitude, Bascom had been repeatedly denounced,
publicly and privately, as a changeling, a coward, because he had
not done what aleader of the organization said it would have been
improper for him to do.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 379

finally and fully organized. Finally, when the
convention of 1830 formed a constitution and
discipline as a regular church, there were leading
features in that organization, of which he could
not approve. Particularly this, that while it
raised strong walls—on paper—to guard i114
itinerancy, he believed that it had incorporated
into it those elements which must necessarily
render its itinerancy inefficient, and probably short-
lived; because, as he said, while ié/nerancy was
legally guarded, itinerants were without adequate
securities and encouragement — the working men
in the itinerancy being put under the control of
those who had no part in their peculiar toils and
trials.

I know it has been said that these objections
were but a ruse to cover his retreat, but this is
judging harshly, for some of those most prominent
in the movement, from the beginning were far
from being satisfied with some leading principles
on which the new church was organized, though
their relation to 1t was such that they did not feel
at liberty to retreat, but rather to hold on and try
to remedy the evils they could not prevent. Aud
that I may not be regarded as drawing a fancy
sketch, I have a letter before me from which I
will make a few extracts. That letter is from
one who was more prominent in the reform move-
ment, from the very beginning, than any other
380 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

man — one who united with the new church, and
never withdrew from it. It was written after the
adoption of the constitution, and before the meeiing
of the first General Conference, held under it.*
He says:

“All my bonds of duty to this Protestant
Church, are, of course, dissolved. I am dead to it,
and I die with a clear conscience. The cause, I
fear, will go down. On the east side of the
mountain I saw nothing but gloom and discourage-
ment; and I see little in the west, notwithstanding
our increase, to minister much relief to my fears.
In the coming General Conference, what can we
do? Are not our hands tied?” After a few
remarks respecting the General Conference, he
adds: “I think I foresee, that if it be not agreed
on to call a new convention, the first General
Conference will be the last. You can have no
idea what a rope of sand we be unless you see our
strength tried. Under the touch of contention
we fall to pieces. All fear of self-destruction is
lost in our zeal against the common enemy. The

* Remarks of an illiberal and censorious character having been
made and published against Bishop Bascom, since his death, with
much more freedom than before that lamented event, his biographer
has felt called on by asense of duty to vindicate his memory against
charges of insincerity and selfishness, as silence under such circum.
stances would be liable and likely to be construed into acquiescence:
and he has therefore selected the accompanying testimony from a
large amount of like character in his possession — wishing only, as
the representative of the dead, te act defensively.
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 381

philosophy of government has no place among us.”
If one of the fathers and founders of the new
church could write thus about it presently after
the adoption of its constitution, is it unreasonable
to suppose that that constitution may have im-
pressed Mr. Buscom’s mind alike unfavorably, and
of course prevented him from entering a union
which its earliest friend styles a “rope of sand.”*

Under a conviction, that the new organization
was less safe and stable than the old, Mr. Bascom
resolved to abide where he was. Anda calmer
survey of the whole ground convinced his mind,
that he had been in error respecting the two
capital propositions noticed above, and that there

* In 1839, a rumor having crossed the mountains, to the effect that
the late Rev. Mr. S...., contemplated a re-union with the Methodist
Episcopal Church, the writer, at the instance of Rev. J. R. W., and
others in B., had a conversation on the subject with Mr. S., at his
own house in Alleghany city, in July of that year. His reply was
in his own peculiar style of candor and clearness: ‘“ You are well
aware,” said he, “that I do not regard our government as perfect, nor
what I wished and hoped it would be, and there are, it appears to me,
influences —if not principles — at work, calculated to prevent the
perfecting of it; yet, there was a principle involved in my uniting
with the new church, which I deem it important to maintain, and
while I believe that this principle can be better sustained in my
present relation than by a change, I expect to remain. ‘That prin-
ciple is not directly republican freedom in church government, but
individual freedom of speech and action respecting matters of church
government. Had the latter not been invaded, I could not have
felt justified in forsaking the communion of the church to secure the
former.” Such were the sentiments, and very nearly the exact words
of his reply ; and he expressed himself very explicitly to others on
the same subject, and to the same effect.
382 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

was really less error and impcrfeciion in the
primary elements of Methodist Episcopal Church
government, than in the interpretation and appli-
cation of those principles.

Mr. Bascom had a right to sympathize with the
“reformers,” and to co-operate with them to the
extent of his convictions of duty and propriety;
he did so, and, of course, incurred the censure of
the dominant party. When a secession took place,
it was his unquestionable right to judge and decide
whether the old or the new organization was better,
and whether it was his duty, under all existing
circumstances, to unite with the latter or abide
with the former; and after mature reflection, and
calculating the relative probabilities of stability
and usefulness, as between the two churches, and
his own prospect of doing good, he decided
against a change of his church relation. This
he did in the most quiet and least offensive
manner possible: he announced no purpose, at
any time, to secede, and he proclaimed no inten-
tion to remain where he was, but simply stood
still. He bestowed his labors under the direction
of the old church, but heartily rejoiced in the sue-
cess of the new, in winning souls to Christ; and
his personal friendships were bestowed indiscrimi-
nately among the members of both. It was his
right, on conviction of error or mistake, to change
his opinions too hastily adopted; and this he did,
LIFE OF BISIIOP BASCOM. 383

but so prudently and inoffensively to the feelings
of others, that, except to one confidential friend,
I believe he avowed no change of opinion, pub-
licly or privately, for near twenty years after
the secession.

His continuance in the Methodist Episcopal
Church disappointed some of his friends on the
other side; not that he had promised to secede,
but that they expected it, and hence censure was
cast on him, on account of his course. Yet.
during his lifetime, this was hardly so abundant
or so bitter as he expected ; and to whatever of
it there was, he made no reply, no compliuint. It
is believed that he was never heard to utter
a word unfriendly to the Methodist Protestant
Church, nor to do an act that could prejudice hcr
interests or reputation; so,if it could be said thit
he was reviled, it can be said, he reviled not again.

The freedoms taken with his name and confiden-
tial correspondence, since his death, has brought
out nothing to his discredit, and will detract as
little from his fair fume, as it will add to that
of the actors in the affair.

In this matter, all that can be said of Dr.
Bascom, is, that in a period of thirty years, he
changed some of his opinions respecting things
non-essential; and he who has read and thought
for thirty years, without changing any of his
opinions, has had none of his own to change.
CHAPTER XXIV,

WR, BASCOM’S CONNECTION WITH THE CONTROVERSY ON
SLAVERY.

In 1812, as we have seen, Bishop Asbury con-
vinced Mr. Bascom, that slavery was to be treated
as a civil institution, and with due regard to the
laws of the states where it existed, and that con-
flict with the civil authorities was to be avoided
in church action on the subject; and in accord-
ance with this teaching, we find him, in 1819,
earnestly opposing the majority of the Tessessee
conference, when that body refused ordination or
admission into the itinerancy to preachers who
were the owners of slaves, in States which did not
permit their emancipation, and we have seen his
name on the protest entered up against those
proceedings. The General Conference of 1820
repealed the rule allowing annual conferences “to
make their own regulations relative to buying and
selling slaves;” and this, it is understood, was
brought about by the counter action of the mino-
rity of the Tennessee conference, with which
Bascom was concerned.

From this time forward to 1836, the subject
oa
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. o85

attracted little attention, and elicited no General
Conference action worth recording; but in the
General Conference of this year, modern aboli-
tionism commenced that unhealthy agitation on
ihe subject of slavery, which has ever since becn
fermenting up the most unhappy results. Several
norihern delegates publicly lectured in favor of
abolitionism during the session of the conference,
and produced much excitement. This proceeding
induced the conference to tike up the subject:
and after a full and eluborate discussion, adopted
a preamble and resolutions expressive of its sense
on this point. The first resolution condemned
the conduct of the delegates who had lectured in
adyocacy of abolitionism. The second declares
the conference to be “decidedly opposed to
modern abolitionism, and wholly disclaims any
right, wish, or intention to interfere in the civil
and political relation between master and slave, as
it exists in the slaveholding States in this Union.”
The pastoral address of the conference treated the
subject, according to these views, at considerable
length. The action of the conference was taken
by the decisive vote of one hundred and twenty
in favor to fourteen against it; yet the agitation
went on, and particularly in New England.

To the General Conference of 1840, there were
sent up a large number of petitions and memoriala

on the subject of slavery, which were referred to a
25
386 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

committee, consisting of one member for exch
annual conference. Of this committee, Dr. Bangs.
was chairman, and Dr. Bascom was a member.
They appear not to have made any general report,
and the partial one they did make, seems to have
received no final action. This was probably owing
to the fact, that the subject came up, and was
elaborated, reported, and acted on in the cases of
the colored testimony resolutions, and in the
Westmoreland case. In the first, a preacher had
received the testimony of a colored person, against
a white member under trial, in a state where such
testimony could not be admitted by the civil
tribunals; and for this, his conference decided that
he was guilty of maladministration. From this
decision he took an appeal to the General Confer.
ence, and that body refused to sustain the annual
conference in its decision. Subsequently, the late
Dr. Few, introduced the following resolution:
“Resolved, that it is inexpedient and unjustifiable
for any preacher among us to permit colored
persons to give testimony against white persons,
in any state where they are denied that privilege
in trials at law.” This resolution, afzer being
freely discussed, was adopted by a large m jority ;
but, a few days afterward, another debate sprang
up, on motion to reconsider the vote adopting this
resolution. Finally, Bishop Soule submitted a
series of resoluiions on the subject which sccured
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 387

the support of a very large majority of the
conference.

The Wes‘moreland case was this;—a number
of local preachers memorialized the General Con-
ference, setting forth that they resided in a part
_of the state of Virginin that was under the juris-
dictiou of the Baltimore conference,—that they
were the owners of slaves, and that the laws of the
state in which they lived, would not permit them
to manumit their slaves, and that on this account
alone, the Baltimore conference had refused them
ordination. This, they regarded as a violation of
the law of the discipline, which did not intend to
inflict penalties or impose disibilities on account
of their not doing an act forbidden by the law of
the state. The case was referred to a select
committee, of which Dr. Bascom was chairman.*

Near the close of the conference, Dr. Biscom
read a full argumentative report, concurring entirely
in the views of the case taken by the petitioners,
and concluding with the following explicit resolution :

“Resolved, by the delegates of the annual con-
ferences, in General Conference assembled, That
under the provisional exception of the general

*It is worthy of notice, that the chairman of this committec, wae
requested by at least some of the bishops, if not all, so to frame his
report as to cover fully the principle involved, and to serve as a rule
of action thereafter. The report and resolution were written with
this view, and it is confidently believed, that the conference had the
same object in view in adopting the document.
388 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

rule of the church, on the subject of slavery, the
simple holding of slaves, or mere ownership of
slave property, in states or territories where the
laws do not admit of emancipation, and permit the
liberated slave to enjoy freedom, constitutes no
legal barrier to the election or ordination of minis- _
ters to the various grades of office, known in the
ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
cannot, therefore, be considered as operating any
forfeiture of right in view of such election and
ordination.”

This action appeared to settle an important
rule for the construction of law, and its practical
application in the administration; but so thought
not the Baltimore conference, for the correction of
whose administration 15 was specially designed; for
though their delegates made no objection to its
passage, they refused utterly to be governed by
it—as we shall see presently.

Rev. Dr. G. Peck says, that he was opposed to
the report and resolution at the time, [we have
heard of no other negative votes,] and adds—*“I
thought it an artful document, which required
time for examination and analysis. I saw that the
resolution especially, was so worded, that it might
be pressed into the service of a slave holding
episcopacy.” Slavery and Episcopacy, p. 33.

Without pausing to enquire, why the General
Conference so readily adopted a report, in which
LIFE OF BISNOP BASCOM. 389

the sagacity of at least one member detected
artfulness and danger, we will take the tesimony
on the same subject of the venerable Dr. Bangs,
the historian of the church. In his history of the
Methodist Church, vol. iv, p. 404, he says, —“A
very able report was adopted near the conclusion
of the conference, on the subject of ordaining
ministers in slave-holding states who own slaves,
aud will not liberate them from their bondage.
This arose out of the practice of the Baltimore
conference, in refusing to ordain some local
preachers, who lived in the state of Virginia, where
they pleaded that the laws would not permit
emancipation. As this subject had never before ,
been so fully investigated, and as the report, drawn
up by Dr. Bascom, very clearly unfolds the princi-
ciples by which the church has ever been governed
upon this grave and important question, I think
the reader will be pleased to have the entire
report before him.” He then copied the whole
report into his history.

It was, at any rate, the legal act of the highest
judicatory of the church, and one would suppose,
entitled to be respected as such; and it is, there-
fore, not very material, whether we regarded Dr,
Bangs, — acting as the calm, impartial historian, or
Dr. Peck — acting as a partizan advocate — as
the more reliable authority, respecting the reel
character of that action.
390 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

From this time until the General Conference of
1844, the excitement on this vexed question,
seemed to be much quieted down, and particularly
so, after a few leading abolitionists at the north
had seceded from the church, so much so, that
through the south and south-west, it was confi-
dently expected that the General Conference of
1844 would have no annoyance, or none of a
serious character, from that quarter. But this
portentous quiet was but the calm which precedes
the fearful earthquake; for after the conference
became organized, on the very first call of the
chair for petitions and memorials, between seventy-
five and one hundred were presented on the subject
of slavery, and the whole aspect of affairs showed
conclusively, that the north had prepared for
determined and vigorous action.

But now an unanticipated circumstance changed
the scene of action and the mode of warfare. A
member of the Baltimore conference, Mr. Harding,
had married a lady, who was the owner of several
slaves, and as the laws of Maryland did not permit
him to emancipate them in that state, he felt
himself protected entirely by the church law, as
defined and applied by the action of the General
Conference of 1840, already noticed. But the
Bultimore conference required Mr. Harding to
emancipate the slaves, regardless vf the laws of
the state, and the action of the preceding General
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 391

Couference. Neither party would yield, and the
result was, that Mr. Harding was suspended from
the exercise of his ministerial functions, by the
conference. From this decision he took up his
appeal to the General Conference. Abolitiondom
rejoiced in this, as greatly aiding the “good cause.”
The Baltimore conference had constantly acted
with the south in opposition to the ultraism of the
north, but the abolitionists now at once saw that
by setting aside the church law as interpreted by
the General Conference of 1840, the Baltimore
conference, their old adversary—adopted their
own principles substantially, and became the leader
in an attack onthe south. The front was changed.
Baltimore took the lead, and New England only
followed. The result, of course, was, that the
decision of the Baltimore conference, was sustained
triumphantly —117 to 56. The abolitionists
could not but regard this as a great victory. To
be sure, they had quarrelled with the discipline as
giving general protection to slavery; but if the
conservatives could devise a way by which they
could make the discipline mean all without change,
that they sought dy a change, the road to this
goal was made so much the more short and easy.
And if the conservatives would but declare it
sinful in a minister to obey the laws of his state,
where slavery was concerned, common sense would
point to the conclusion, that what was sinful in a
392 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

minister, could not be entirely innocent in a private
member.

This victory very naturally emboldened the
abolitionists to undertake a more important one ;
and accordingly Bishop Andrew was selected as
the victim. He had inherited a slave, one had
been bequeathed to him — both without his con-
currence — and he had married a lady who was
the owner of several slaves; and according to the
laws of the state in which he lived, if he attempted
to emancipate those slaves, they would be taken
up and seld into perpetual bondage, and he would
be subjected to a large amercement or fine in eaca
case. But, no matter, he was legally a slave-
holder, and this could not be tolerated. After a
most protracted discussion, he was virtually sus-
pended from the exercise of his office as a bishop
of the church.

However abolitionists and others might rejoice
in this success, the delegates from the southern
conferences could not fail to perceive, that if they
silently submitted to this action, the days of
Methodism were numbered in the south, and
Methodist preachers would be completely cut off
from the confidence of masters, and from access
to the slaves.

It was a critical conjuncture; the abolitionists
declared that the north would secede rather
than submit to a slaveholding bishop; the south
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 393

believed that acquiescent submission to the degra-
dation of a bishop for such a cause and under such
circumstances would be their ruin. The middle
men, or conservatives, as they loved to call them-
selves, held the balance of power. They had
acted conservatively with the south in 1836 and
1840; but, unfortunately, they had themselves
originated the present difficulty, and they were thus
thrown into necessary alliance with the abolitionists.
The south was driven to the wall, and had nothing
left but to protest and declare against the pro-
ceeding. Accordingly, the southern delegates,
who had, throughout the discussion, assured the
conference that, if the proposed action were taken
against Bishop Andrew, separation would become
inevitable, now presented a declaration to the
effect, that the action of the conference, and,
particularly, that in virtually suspending Bishop
Andrew from his office, “must produce a state of
things in the south, which renders a continuance
of the jurisdiction of this General Conference over
those conferences, inconsistent with the success of
the ministry in the slaveholding states.” They
also gave uotice of an intention to enter their
formal and solemn protest against the doings of
the conference; but as such a protest must be a
strong argumentative document, and not a simple
expression of dissent, Dr. Bascom was selected
as the most proper person to prepare the protest
304 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

Dr. Bascom was one of the last, and I think
the very last man of the southern delegates to
come into those measures, which, he felt assured,
would issue in a division; but when fully con-
vinced that these measures were essential to the
well-being of the south, as he was not a man to
do things by the halves, he entered with resolute-
ness and zeal upon what he regarded as the
discharge of unpleasant but solemn duty. He,
therefore, promptly signed the declaration referred
to above, which elicited the plan of separation ;
and in preparing the protest, he entered elabo-
rately and argumentatively into the bearings and
consequences of the position taken by the General
Conference. He attempted to show how the south
must be affected by that action, and to point out
the particulars wherein the majority had adopted
theories and maxims of government to meet the
occasion, which were at variance with the principles
of justice and the settled usages of American
Methodism. It is certainly a powerful document ;
and that the General Conference regarded it in
this light, is evident from the fact, that that body
felt it necessary so far to depart from the usage
of deliberative assemblies, as to appoint a com-
mittee of its most able members to prepare a
reply to the protest. From these two documents
—if they may be regarded as expressing the
sense of the respective parties —~ it appears, that
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 395

the emergency had either originated or developed
two very opposite theories of government, and
especially of episcopacy, as being held by the two
parties.

In the following autumn, (1844,) Dr. Bascom
read to his own annual conference, along and
elaborate expose of the whole affair, intended,
especially, as a rejoinder to the reply of the
General Conference Committee. The views em-
bodied in this document, he afterwards amplified
into a book of considerable size, which was pub-
lished the year following, under the title of
“ Methodism and Slavery: with other matters in
controversy between the north and the south;
being a review of the manifest of the majority,
in reply to the protest of the minority of the late
General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, iv the case of Bishop Andrew.”

Whatever may be thought of the peculiar doc-
trines contained in this book, candor demands the
acknowledgment, that it contains an amount of
information on the subject of which it treats,
much greater than is to be found in any other
volume of equal size. The research displayed in
it is indeed astonishing. That it is deficient in
arrangement, order, classification, and runs on
more in the manner of a continuous speech —
which it originally was— than a well-arranged
book, is not to be denied, yet no man but Bascom
396 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

could have collected and thrown together the
matter even as it is, and especially under a con-
stant pressure of other labors and duties. This
work elicited uninvited commendation of a high
order from some of the mightiest minds of the
age; such men, for example, as the late John C.
Calhoun, Henry Clay, and others, the first of
whom pronounced it superior to anything that
had appeared on the subject.

This book called out an answer from a member
of the committee, which framed the reply to the pro-~
test, under the title of “ Slavery and Episcopacy,”
ete. It contained a good deal of special pleading
and small criticism, with many things which, in
the earlier history of the church, would have been
thought rather strange in a Methodist production.

In May, 1845, a General Convention of Dele-
gates, from the southern annual conferences,
assembled in the city of Louisville, Kentucky,
to consider and determine on the necessity and
expediency of forming a Southern Methodist
Episcopal Church, under the provisional plan of
separation. There was but one great item of
business to be transacted, and, of course, one
general committee ; the chairmanship of this com-
mittee — the committee on southern organization
—was the post of difficulty and distinction, and
this post was promptly assigned to Dr. Bascom.

This committee consisted of thirty members,
LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM. 397

including a large proportion of the talent of the
convention; but after a few meetings and a free
interchange of views, the whole business of pre-
paring the report, wis left to the chairmin. The
convention met on the first day of May, and on
the 15th, Dr. Bascom read his report to the con-
vention, in the presence of a large concourse of
spectators; and it was received with great cordiality,
and indeed enthusiasm, and adopted by the unani-
mous votes of the convention, with the exception
of only two members.

The ability and importance of this document
would entitle it to a place in this work; but to
guard against undue enlargement we are compelled
to exclude this with some other documents which
we would like to insert. But as these have all
been published and are accessible to such as wish to
read them; their exclusion is, on that account, the
less to be regretted.

In 1848, Dr. Bascom, with the other Commis-
sioners of the South, attended the session of the
Northern General Conference; but not finding
themselves able to accomplish anything desirable
in the way of adjusting the difficulties between
the two conneciions, they retired, and agreed {o
lay the matter before the public in the form of a
“Brief Appeal to Public Opinion, in a serics of
exceptions to the course and action of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, from 1844 to 1848,
398 LIFE OF BISHOP BASCOM.

affecting the Rights and Interests of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South.” This Appeal was
written by Dr. Bascom, but, of course, also signed
by his eclleagues, Drs. Green and Parsons. That
it manifests ability of a high order, is not to be
questioned; yet are there in it expressions of
severity, which, doubtless, he would willingly have
erased when he come to die. Indeed, on his
dying bed he said: “I have acted throughout
this whole controversy under an imperative sense
of duty, and, bating the use of a few ¢erms, have
nothing to regret, nothing to retract.”

Firmly believing his cause just, and that he was
advocating the right, it was natural with him to
be led by his zeal into the use of exceptionably
strong language, which, upon reflection, he would
be disposed to revoke. But had he lived to
finish that work of adjustment, no man would have
more heartily rejoiced, or more deeply sympathized,
in the noble spirit of reciprocal magnanimity which
has, since the first part of his biography went to
press, brought about an amicable adjustment of
the chief difficulty between the two great branches
of the American Methodist family, and which
caused him so much labor and care. That it might
be the harbinger of a better feeling and a closer
union between the kindred parties would have
been his fervent wish and prayer, as it is of every
true hearted Methodist and Christian.
APPENDIX

BASCOM AS A PROFESSOR.

As it regards the manner in which he discharged .
the duties of his professorship, we. may call in
the following testimony of one of his students,
—now a distinguished professional gentleman of
the south:

If Dr. Bascom succeeded well as President of ‘Transylvania
University, he succeeded still better in his chair as Professor. We
shall devote this paper to a portraiture of him in this capacity. He
took charge only of the senior class. He taught Mental and Moral
Science, and Political Economy, and lectured daily on Natural
Theology, Evidences of Christianity, and Constitutional and Inter-
national Law.

llis instructions were unique, full of interest, and exceedingly
attractive. Ife would not be satisfied with a superficial acquaintance
with any subject presented, on the part of a student. He sought to
cultivate views the widest, the most searching, and the most
comprehensive.

Ican hardly imagine the students of the Portico to have hung
with more pleasure on the lips of Plato, than we often did upon the
words of this magnificent man. I have known students the most
indolent, of the most superficial and desultory habits of study, to
have their attention awakened, and held without weariness throush-
out the recitation ; and they have gone away with more satisfactory
knowledge, and that more powerfully interwoven with the web of
mind, than if they had devoted days to the closest study of the best
text-books. He seemed to give them intense glimpses of their own
minds, and reveal to them capabilities in themselves, of which they
never dreamed before. Thus, he led them to cultivate proper habits
of thought and study far more suecessfully, than by the imposition
400 APPENDIX.

of difficult tasks, and the infliction of punishment for their nen
performance. .

And, is not this failure to explain and illustrate a subject, so as to
maxke it interesting and attractive to the student, that which peoples
duncedom with so many learned fools? Jt is difficult to become
proficient in any study, unless it is pursued con amore. Abuse,
railings, black-mark, and floggings, never made a good scholar.
Teach the student to love his book, because he understands and
Appreciates its principles and beauties, and then the fear will be, not
that he will study too little, but too much.

For text-books, the doctor had little use, farther than to suggest
subjects for thought and remark, and afford « plan rather than
subject-matter in its detail for private study. In the course of one
recitation, he would give you the outlines of a far better text-book,
than any within your acquaintance. In explaining and enlarging
upon the study before you, he talks in an apparently loose and
rambling manner, but every word tells. His sentences are bricf and
terse. They shoot like tongues of flame into the subject, and its
deepest mysteries are bared to your gaze. There is no transcenden-
talism about him; not the smallest bit of moonshine. All is clear
daylight, without fog, and unclonded.

The most abstruse principles and definitions lose their mystery
and abstractness, and almost seem common-place, from the ease with
which they are understood. It is as though one stood on Mount
Blane at sunrise. Below, mountain and valley are lost in the fogs
of the morning; but, as the clouds retreat before the sunbeams,
mountain after mountain reveals its summit; the cragcy steeps are
seen: the valley, with its cataracts, and streams, and villages, lies
defined in minute outline, until the whole lovely panorama of
mountains and torrents, and towns, rivers, and groves, and vineyards,
aud forests, all glowing in the morning sunshine, spreads out a
boundless vision of magnificence and splendor.

I think, I see him now. (On account of some affection of the
head, he usually wore his hat during his recitation.) His head is
moving irregularly, his eyes flashing with thought, his whole body
sympathizing with the movements of his mind. Those who have
witnessed his pulpit efforts, have been impressed as by a man of
gigantic powers ; but those who have not known him in the recita-
tion-room, are not prepared adequately to appreciate the man. In
the pulpit he appears in all the awful energy of a great soul
thoroughly aroused; an ocean stirred in its mightiest depths by
fierce winds; a Vesuvius in eruption. In his professor’s chair, he
APPENDIX. 401

appears im all the quiet calmness of a great soul in repose; the
ocean in calm, with the beautiful heavens mirrored in its depths;
the volcano without the eruption, clad with vines and purple
fruitage, yet lifting itself from the vale in all the serene granieur of
the Italian mountain.

We should notice his strange and interesting criticisms on Looks
and authors. They were full of wit, discrimination, learning and
power. I have often waded through the pages of a long review
article, without obtaining half so much insight into the merits of a
book or author, as were sometimes contained in a few of his weighty
sentences. Occasionally he would show up the defects of a book;
and then, shades of Jeffrey and Gifford! such merciless handling,
such crushing exposure of unphilosophical statements, improper
definitions, and puerile absurdities! Woe to the book over which
the breath of his criticism passed in censure! It was like a western
prairie after the passaye over it of consuming flames. It was left
“utterly wasted, and withered by the tide of fire he rolled over it.”
You felt, not only a sense of the entire defectiveness of the work, but
a kind of pitying contempt for the author.

We must not suppose from this, that he was harsh or unkind to
modest mediocritg He willingly honored any one of however
meagre talents, who honestly strove to fill the sphere for which they
fitted him; but when he saw dullness aspire to leadership —a man
without one clear idea in his head writing text-books on the exact
sciences, the ass in lion’s skin —his indignation was stirred; and
with a few brief, sharp, emphatic sentences, he scattered his preten-
sions to the winds; and if complaint was made, he secmed to answer
with old Dr. South, “If owls do not wish to be hooted at, let them
keep on the inner boughs.” What a magnificent review writer he
would have made! His criticisms would have been read with
avidity, and have given him a distinguished, if not the first, position
emong American critics. Oh, if such a purifier of literature could
arise now, and be induced to enter heartily upon his work, what a
change would come over the spirit of many an inflated authoi’s
dream low many, who are now ranked among the literati, would
be sunk to their proper level! How would pretentious stupidity be
hooted into obscurity! Much that men now call literature, would
be considered little better than useless trash; intellectual food fit
only for the maw of a fool. He would strip off the peacock feathers,
in which so many modern quacks strut about, and reveal the true
jackdaw to the contempt and hisses of an outraged public. If the
criticirms of such a man were to sweep over the literature of this

26
402 APPENDIX.

land, the shores .of the great deep of letters, would be literally
strewn with stranded books. We need a review exercising such an
influence as the Edinburgh Review exerted for many years after it
was first established ; and we necd a Bascom to edit it. Then we
might expect a literature worthy of our nation and our age.

But, to return: one thing we especially note, was the readiness of
the doctor at repartee. Several witty members of my class were in
the habit ot indulging their wit at the expense of the good-humored
professors. When we began our recitations with the doctor, they
expected to continue their sallies. They tried it but once. One
flash of his eagle-eye, one sharp sarcastic reply, accompanied by
one significant shake of his finger, was enough. They cowered
before him, and looked as though it would have been unspeakable
relief to have crept from the room. His retorts were perfectly
withering. He left his enemy literally peeled from head to foot.
Yet, they only came when provoked, and where only bestowed
where he thought they were deserved, and where no other instru-
mentality would have accomplished his end so well. He always
retorted in excellent humor, so that, however cutting the retort, the
student was not offended. He manifested usually a spirit of great
kindness to all the class. He proved to each gat he was deeply
interested in his welfare; and thus bound himself to them by the
strongest ties. He took no delight in searching out and displaying
the weak points in a student; he sought rather to discover and
develop whatever traits were redeeming in him, That mental
constitution, whose strange versatility seems to have fitted him for
every sphere he was called to fill, made him the best of instructors
The impressions received, during my attendance in his department,
are linked indissolubly with my being; and, while thought lives in
the temple of th2 soul, will they remain -— flashes of pure intelligenca
— fruitage from the tree of intellect.
APPENDIX. 103

BASCOM AS AN AUTHOR.

We might fill many pages of this work by
copying eulogistic notices of Bascom’s hook of
sermons, but we shall give place to but two — the
first from a secular, the other from a religious
paper. To the latter is appended an extract
from the work itself, which is also admitted :

Dr. Bascom’s Sermons —It has long been the desire of the
friends of this distinguished divine, that his pulpit performances,
which have been the theme of such universal admiration, and the
subject of a world-wide fame, should be sccured to the public in
some more permanent and tangible form than their mere inscrip
tions upon the tablet of memory. ‘This has at length been done,
and a neat volume, containing twelve of his most popular discourses,
is now issued frum the press of Morton & Griswold, in this city.

We have long becn familiar with the peculiar style of eloquence
of Dr. Bascom. Unlike the dull and meaningless formalties of
school-taught manner and gesticulation, and yet exhibiting a most
exquisite finish, both in word and action, he has frequently appeared
to us as almost ‘sui generis'in the list of American orators. His
personal physique demonstrates him one of Nature’s noblest
conceptions of a man, while his mind exhibits in his speech a
ponderousness, not of manner but of thought, which rolls from the
sveaker like an avalanche descending the mountain gorge, and
sweeping all before it. If the future historian. in recording the
astounding intellectual achievements of the present age, shall arrive
at the scriptural conclusion that ‘there were giants in those days,’
we opine that the Doctor’s book will demonstrate that there was
Hercules among the giants.

We have but hastily glanced through the work, and yet we
have read enough ta convince us, that the learned author has fully
imparted, both himsclf and the spirit of-his calling to the printed
page. There is a kind of Gothic grandeur, a massiveness of
404 APPENDIX.

intellectual wealth displayed unequalled in any publication of
the age,

With all our admiration of the talents of the author, we cor-
dially agree in the sentiment of a distinguished doctor of divinity,
with whom we have conversed on the subject, that ‘“‘we have never
known the man so well before.”

Bascom is the ecclesiustical Macaulay of this country, and we
doubt not his book is destined to as wide a circulation as the works
of that eminent historian.

The other says: —

Other ministers may please the fancy and excite the feelings —
may instruct the judgment and impress the heart; but in addition
to all this, no man that we have ever heard, possesses the power to
wake and wield the higher powers of the soul— to captivate and
control the imagination, like Dr. Bascom.

With this reputation for pulpit eloquence, it was thought by
many, and predicted by some, that the written and read sermons of
Dr. Bascom would fall below his fame, and disappoint the public
mind. But we venture to predict the reverse will be the result:

In listening to him from the pulpit, the mind is so oceupicd
with the imp-essiveness of his manner, the loftiness of his concep-
tions, the sublimity of his style, and the unremitted splendor of his
incessant imagery, that it is utterly impossible to appreciate and
digest one half that he says; so that, at the close of one of his
sermons, the hearer may compare himself to a traveler, who, with
railroad speed, may have passed,in a very short time, w thousand
magnificent cities, or as many charming landscapes, without stop-
ping long enough to learn the names of the one, or define the
beauties of the other. In reading his sermons, the circumstances
will be materially and favorably changed, both for the writer and
the reader, so far as appreciation and benefit are coneerned. In
this performance, the reader may frequently pause to survey, and
then again put forth his collected energies to grasp the mighty
conceptions of the writer; and he will find material enough ou many
a page, if not in many a paragraph for an exercise of this sort.

In regard to the style of Dr. Bascom, the reader will find it to com-
bine the beuuty of Young, the strength of Wesley, the eloquence of
Chalmers, and the sublimity of Hall — without, perhaps, any of their
imperfections. We should think, that in forming his style, the Dr
had read, if not studied closely, the writings of Dr. Chalmers
‘There is a considerable similarity between these writers ; especially
in the beautiful imagery which they employ, and in the varions
APPENDIX. 403

figures of speech which they use, particularly in the frequent
instances of alliteration which abound in their discourses. But we
unhesitatingly give the palm to Dr. Bascom. The style of Dr
Chalmers is flowing, that of Dr. Bascom is overwhelming. The
one is soft and splendid, the other is glowing and magnificent.
The style of Dr. Chalmers may be represented by a volume of cloud,
floating beautifully through the heavens, borne along by a gentle
breeze, and dissolving itself in copious showers. That of Dr.
Bascom may be represented by the same cloud, impelled before a
mighty wind, and frequently changing before its aspects, emitting
lightning and thunder in its progress, but discharging abundant
showers at the same time, and finally retiring, (to use one of his
own expressions) “orbed in the rainbow of splendor’ — an object
of interest and magnificence to all. If there be any objection to
Dr. Bascom’s style, it consists, perhaps, in the length of some of
his sentences; but this is not often the case; generally, they are
short and comprehensive, and many of them might be selected and
published as independent aphorisms, affording foundation and food
for the reflections of many an hour.

But we have said enough of the character of these sermons
and their distinguished author; and now, we ask leave to present
one or two specimens, that our readers may see and judge for
themselves. The following is the closing paragraph of the sermon
on “The Institution and Functions of the Pulpit.” — Speaking of
the final and full success of the Christian ministry, and the cause
he pleads, he remarks : —

“He who hangs the universe on his arm, and feeds its vast
family at his table, can, and will, protect and supply them. He
who opposes them is like the silly ‘hracian, shooting his harmless
arrow at a thunderbolt; for they are the heralds of a holier, a
sublimer message than ever charmed the ear of earth before, and
the idols and ceremonies of every other creed or worship shall bi
consigned to tke custody of neglect, oblivion, and scorn — the moles
of their desolate grottoes-—the bats of their desolate temples!
And when infidelity lies buried in the grave of years, epitaphed in
characters of execration by the millions disabused of its sorceries,
the ministry shall receive the homage of ages, and share the admi-
ration of a virtuous universe! Ministers of every creed and name
—of every color and clime—are imperceptibly wearing, falling,
and dropping into the ranks and lines of Christian enterprise and
evangelical reform; and soon will they present an extended front
of bristling bayonets, the gates of hell cannot resist! The pulpit
has survived the tempest which has covered the ocean of time with
shipwreck, It has stood like a column, erect among ruins —an
editice unshaken and undefaced amid the surrounding overthrow of
palaces and temples — peering Ike the magnetic rod, around which
the fightpings of heaven play, but cannot harm —and the lamp of
406 APPENDIX.

its glory, as the Pharas of the world, shall live and ourn immortal
and undimmed ! :

“It is thus the ministry under God shall spoil principalities and
powers, making a show of them openly, as the spoils of battle and
the trophies of conquest. Thrones shall crumble and dynasties
fall, and altars and temples shall rise to repair the desolation and
perpetuate the change! Headed by the great Captain of their salva
tion, they shall victoriously push the conquests of the cross from
Zembla to Cape Horn, and from the Equator to either pole, until
the religion of the Bible—the only glory of the pulpit — orbed in
the rainbow of her own grandeur, and throned in celestial light, shall
hold her culminating point in the heavens, and everywhere shed her
redeeming radiance on the evening of the world !”

We have only room for one more brief extract from the sermon
on “Heaven,” in which are contrasted the sorrows of time with the
joys of eternity: —

“This is a state of pupilage and probation, that of dignity and
promotion. Here is conflict, there, victory. This is the race. that,
the goal. Here we suffer, there, we reign. Here we are in exile,
there, at home. . . How striking the contrast! . . . What
did Moses care for the perils of the wilderness, when, from the
storm-defying steep of Pisgah, he viewed the land of promise, imag-
ing forth the green fields of Heaven’s eternal Spring! — Look at
Elijah, the immortal Tishbite. exchanging the sighs and solitude of
his juniper shade, for wheels of fire and steeds of wind that bore
him home to God! Look at Paul — poor, periled and weary amid the
journeyings and conflicts of his mission ; the hand that once stretched
the strong eastern tent, or wore the dungeon’s chain, now swecps, in
boldest strain, the harps of heaven! What cared the holy John for
his banishment into the rocky sea-girt Patmos, when his residence
there was overshadowed by the flight of angels, and he looked for-
ward to Heaven as furnishing the rewards of persecution — and
what does he now care for the edicts of Nero, and the cruelty of
Rome! . - What has earth of rich or rare — the gems of the
Orient, the mines of Golconda, the rose and the glory of Cashmere
—that must not want attraction, and be poor indeed, when Heaven’s
undying freshness mantles, and her eternal columns rise in grandeur
to the eye! What think you Pisidia’s martyr — the murdered
Stephen — cared for his toils, his travel, and his watchings; or even
the stoning of the bigot mob, when the magnificent pomp of opening
Heaven, with the vision of the crucified, tranced his wondering senses
into awe! ‘

“ The want and_suffering of earth are exchanged for the celestial joys
ind service of the Heaven, whither we journey.”
APPENDIX. 407

One of the few things written by him for the
periodical press, is his description of the cataract
of Niagara, which we think proper here to append:

A Cirreyman’s Virw or Niacara.—In order to diversify our
‘ Glance,” we have cast an eye over the pages of the Knickerbocker
for April, a bright and brilliant number, and sparkling with many a
literary gem. ‘The two most prominent, are contributions by Wash-
ington Irving, the celebrated author of the Sketch Book, and Rev
H. B. Bascom, the equally celebrated pulpit orator of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. For the former, we may find a place hereafter,
but the following brilliant passage from the latter—‘ A Sketch at
Niagara” — is too good to be postponed, even for a week:

“T have seen, surveyed, and communed with the whole ! ~ and
awed and bewildered, as if enchanted before the revealment of a
mystery, I attempt to write. You ask me, in your last, for somo
detailed, veritable account of the Falls, and I should be glad to
pratify you; but how shall I essay to paint a scene, that so utterly
bafiles all conception, and renders worse than fruitless every attempt
at description? In five minutes after my arrival cn the evening of
the fifth, I descended the winding-path from the ‘ Pavillion, on the
Canadian side, and for the first time in my life, saw this uncqualed
cascade from ‘ Table Rock; the whole indescribable scene, in bold
outline, bursting on my view. I had heard and read much, and
imagined more of what was before me. I was perfectly familiar
with the often-told, the far-traveled story of what I saw; but the
overpowering reality on which I was gazing, motionless as the rock
on which I stood, deprived me of recollection, annihilated all curi-
osity; and with emotions of sublimity till now unfelt, and all
unearthly, the involuntary exclamation escaped me, ‘ God of Gran-
deur! what a scene!’

“But the majesty of the sight, and the interest of the moment,
how depict them? The huge amplitude of water, tumbling in foam
above, and dashing on, arched and pillared as it glides, until it
reaches the precipice of the chute, and then, in one vast column,
bounding with maddening roar and rush, into the depths beneath,
presents a spectacle so unutterably appalling, that language falters ,
words are no longer signs, and I despair giving you any idea of
what I saw and felt. Yet this is not all. ‘The eye and the mind
necessarily take in other objects, as parts of the grand panorama,
forests, cliffs, and islands; banks, foam, and spray; wood, rock, and
precipice: dimmed with the rising fog and mist, and obscurely
gilded by the softening tints of the rainbow. These all belong to
the picture ; and the effect of the whole is immeasurably heightened
by the noise cf the cataract, now reminding you of the reverbera-
tions of the heavens in a tempest, and then of the eternai roar o.
ocean, when angered by the winds !

*The concave bed of rock, from which the water falls, some
two hundred feet, into the almost boundless reservoir beneath. is the
408 APPENDIX.

section of a circle, which, at first sight, from Table Rock, presents
something like the geometrical curve of the rainbow; and the
wonders of the grand ‘crescent, thus advantageously thrown
upon the eye in combination, and the appropriate sensations and
conceptions heightened by the crash and boom of the waters, render
the sight more surpassingly sublime, than anything I have ever
looked upon, or conceived of. As it regards my thoughts and feel-
ings at the time, I can help you to no conception of their character.
Overwhelming astonishment was the only bond between thourht
and thought; and wild, and vague, and boundless, were the associa-
dons of the hour! Before me, the strength and fullness of the
congregated ‘lakes of the north, were enthroned and concentrated,
within .a circumference embraced bya single glance of the eye!
Here I saw, rolling and dashing, at the rate of twenty-five hundred
millions of tons per day, nearly one half of all the fresh water upon
the surface of the globe! On the American side, I beheld a vast
deluge, nine hundred feet in breadth, with a fall of one hundred
and eighty or ninety, met, fifty feet above the level of the gulf, by a
huge projection of rock, which seems to break the descent and
continuity of the flood, only to increase its fierce and overwhelming
bound. And turning to the ‘crescent, I saw the mingled rush of
foam and tide, dashing with fearful strife and desperate emulation
—fonr hundred yards of the sheet rough and sparry, and the
remaining three hundred a deep sealike mass of living green —
rolling and heaving like a shect of emerald. Even imagination
failed me, and I could think of nothing but ocean let loose from his
bed, and seeking a deeper gulf below! ‘The fury of the water, at
the termination of its full. combined with the columned strength of
she cataract, and the deafening thunder of the flood, are at once
neonceivable and indescribable. No imagination, however creagiye,
san correspond with the grandeur of the reality.

“T have already mentioned, and it is important that you keep
-tin view, the ledge of rock, the verge of the cataract, rising like a
wall of equal height, and extending in semicircular form across the
whole bed of the river, a distance of more than two thousand feet ;
and the impetuous flood, conforming to this arrangement, in making
its plunge, with mountain weight, into the great horse-shoe basin
beneath, exhibits a spectacle of the sublime, in geographical scenery,
without, perhaps, a parallel in nature. As J leaned over Table
Rock, and cast my eye downward upon the billowy turbulence of
the angry depth, where the waters were tossing and whirling. coiling
and springing, with the energy of an earthquake, and a rapidity that
almost mocked my vision, I found the scene sufficient to appal a
aterner spirit than mine; and I was glad to turn away and relieve
my mind by a sight of the surrounding scenery; bays, islands,
shores, and forests, everywhere receding in due perspective. ‘The
rainbows of the ‘crescent’ and American side, which are only
visible from the western bank of the Niagara, and in the afternoon,
scem to diminish somewhat from the awfulness of the scene, and to
give it an aspect of rich and mellow grandeur, not unlike the bow
of promise, throwing its assuring radiance over the retiring waters
of the deluge.”