LIFE AND TIMES OF WILLIAM McKENDREE Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church BY ROBERT PAINE, D.D. Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South NASHVILLE, TENN. DALLAS, TEX.; RICHMOND, VA. PUBLISHING HOUSE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH LAMAR & BARTON, AGENTS 1922 htA Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by ROBERT PAINE, in the District Court of the United States for the Middle District of Tennessee PREFACE BISHOP McKENDREE was the first native American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He served it long, faith- fully, and efficiently. His ministerial life began with the early history of the Church, extended through the period of its great- est trials, and closed after its perfect development as a great ecclesiastical organization. The time when he ceased "at once to work and live" was marked by unusal prosperity and peace in our communion. While Bishop Asbury was preeminent in founding and spreading Methodism in America, to Bishop McKendree may be justly awarded the distinction of carrying forward the work and securing its permanency and success by his remarkable legislative and administrative abilities. He combined in a high degree the prescience and strong com- mon sense required in a legislator and evinced also the highest ecclesiastical statesmanship in his administrative acts; and then his unshrinking submission to all the sacrifices and labors which the system of government exacted of him and his profound and uniform piety gave great moral force to the cause which he adorned and beautified by his life and labors . He loved the Church, the whole Church. He lived and labored for it and for nothing else, and his name and character are the com- mon heritage of Methodism, especially of American Meth- ism. It is from this standpoint the author has attempted to write his "Life and Times." He was painfully aware of the difficulties of his task, and as he has not been able fully to satisfy himself, he cannot hope to satisfy others. He has, however, endeavored honestly and impartially to do his duty to all concerned. He trusts that this attempt to perpetuate the memory and the influence of a great and good man and of his colaborers may contribute to a more perfect history of our fathers and promote zeal and primitive Methodistic devotion in the ministry and membership of the Church. Bishop McKendree has been dead thirty-four years. His biography ought to have been published long since. At his death he bequeathed "all his papers of every description to Bishop Soule, to be used at his discretion, under the advice 4 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of the Rev. T. L. Douglass;" but neither of them wrote a line as his biographer. At the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1854, Bishop Soule called attention to this subject and stated that owing to his afflictions and the want of leisure he had not been able to write the biography of his ven- erated and departed friend, and despaired of ever being able to do so, and, thinking it ought to be done, he desired to turn over the task to another. At the concurrent request of the Bishop and the General Conference, the writer reluctantly consented to undertake the work. . The work is sent forth with an earnest wish that it may contribute to the glory of God and the cause of pure reli- gion. ABERDEEN, Miss., July 28, 1869. INTRODUCTION THE General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at its session in Columbus, Ga., May, 1854, requested Bishop Paine to write the biography of Bishop McKendree. The Conference was happy in its selection of a biographer of the venerable Bishop. Dr. Paine was for many years in- timately associated with Bishop McKendree; he traveled thou- sands of miles with him; frequently heard him preach; assisted him in the preparation of his addresses to the General and Annual Conferences and other important pa'pers; he was fa- miliar with all his views of the constitution and polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church and gave them his cordial indorse- ment; he was, though comparatively young, the particular, con- fidential friend of the Bishop and entertained for him the most devoted affection and veneration; and he still cherishes for his memory, as a son in the gospel, the most profound regard. He was thus eminently qualified to write his biography. Bishop Paine was a member of every General Conference from 1824 to 1844, at which session the Church was provi- sionally divided. He was consequently acquainted with the leading men of the Church who were associated with Bishop McKendree and whose characters are appropriately and im- partially sketched in this volume. In this work, indeed, will be found a history of the Methodist Episcopal Church down to the time of the death of Bishop McKendree, as he was identified with its principal movements from the begin- ning. Bishop Paine has wisely allowed Bishop McKendree to be, to a very great extent, his own biographer, having made great use of his Diary, Journals, and other MSS. These extracts exhibit the devotion and zeal of Bishop McKendree and his associates. The work is thus of immense value to their suc- cessors in the ministry, who, it is hoped, by its perusal will be stimulated to reproduce the self-sacrificing spirit and labors of those holy men. THOMAS O. SUMMERS. NASHVILLE, TENN., August 1, 1869. CONTENTS CHAPTER I Birth Parentage Occupation Residence Character of the family Their circumstances Father Mother Their children Will- iam Lucinda Dorotha Frances Her marriage by Bishop Asbury Character and death John Thomas James Nancy D. Like the Bishop Family lov 15 .X.:>M CHAPTER II McKendree becomes a soldier and an officer in the army of the Rev- olution At Yorktown Early life Education Intellectual char- acter His early moral and religious character The Church and clergy His account of himself Joins the Methodists Is discour- aged and retires Convictions renewed under John Easter Con- version Temptation Revival under Easter Opposition to it Easter's manner Success Other eminently useful preachers of',.; that day Garrettson, Ellis, Watters, Hull, Cooper, Moore, What*nw coat, Lee Account of Philip Bruce 20 CHAPTER III Letter from W. McKendree to Bishop Asbury in 1803 His conver- sion Entrance on the ministry Joins the Virginia Conference Misled by Mr. O'Kelly Returns to the work 31 CHAPTER IV Mr. McKendree joins the Virginia Conference 1787 Appointed to Mecklenburg Circuit Burchett, Massie, Valentine Cook, and John McGee admitted the same time Numbers in Society Conference of 1789 Cumberland Circuit Conference of 1790 Ordained dea- con The Council a failure Appointed to Portsmouth Circuit Rev. D. Jarratt Extracts from Diary 43 CHAPTER V Extracts from his Diary Preaches two hours Vessels in a gale Feels like a wanderer Conversions Preaches in the open air In Portsmouth and Norfolk Bands Very busy Children's class Duty to baptized children Self-dedication Emancipation Is changed to another circuit "Power" Good breeding New cir- cuit His course of life. . 57 8 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree CHAPTER VI McKendree's Diary Fasting Reproof Mr. O'Kelly attacks the Council His course Itinerancy Tobacco Preparation for preaching Selecting and changing texts Different kinds of style The kind for the pulpit O'Kelly's Convention The regular Coun- cil Mr. Asbury gives it up McKendree visits his father Meets Bishop Asbury Is delighted Mr. Wesley's death Dr. Coke goes to England McKendree ordained elder December 25,1791 69 CHAPTER VII McKendree appointed to Greenville Circuit in 1791 General Con- ference, 1792 O'Kelly withdraws and dies McKendree declines the work, but soon resumes it Asbury appoints him to Norfolk Conference in Petersburg in 1773 Travels three months with As- bury Union Circuit Philip Bruce, presiding elder Tobias Gib- son, his colleague Conference in 1794 at Mabry's John Kobler Conference, 1795 Is made presiding elder Continued three years 1798 he presides in the bounds of Baltimore Conference In 1800 Bishop Asbury takes him to the West Large District Diffi- culties Labors Usefulness 1801 travels through the wilderness with Asbury In 1804 General Conference Jerks Dancing Shaking Quakers Seceders from Presbyterian Church Marshall- ites Stoneites McKendree chief conservator of Methodism in the West 85 CHAPTER VIII McKendree presides at the Western Conference, 1804 Bishop What- coat's death, 1806 McKendree in Illinois and Missouri Review of the work in the West Delegated General Conference needed A bishop wanted New York plan to elect one Defeated by Vir- ginia Conference General Conference, 1808 McKendree made bishop His qualifications Dr. Coke's letter 105 CHAPTER IX 1808 an era in Methodism Bishop McKendree's first tour and first Conference at Liberty Hill Action on slavery The South Caro- lina Conference First missions to slaves Two Virginia Confer- ences Philadelphia and New York Conferences Steamboat ex- citement New England Conference Camp meetings at Pike Run, Zanesville, and Collins's Camp Grounds Western Conference at Cincinnati, September 30, 1809 Extracts from his Journal Meth- odists taxed for the benefit of Congregationalists in Connecticut His presidency Dr. Coke His overture to Bishop White in 1791 explained and vindicated His proposal to divide the work with Bishop Asbury His death and character 125 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 9 CHAPTER X Bishops McKendree and Asbury go from Cincinnati to South Caro- lina Conference Thence to Virginia Conference To Baltimore Easton, Pa. New York New England Genesee Conference Camp meeting Conferences Through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee Bishops Asbury and McKendree go on horseback to South Caro- lina Winter tour Letter from Bishop Morris Method Mrs. Mabry's letter Attends various Conferences Letter to Bishop Asbury about stationing the preachers General Conference of 1812 Presiding elder question No bishop elected Earthquake War Letters 150 CHAPTER XI Difficulties and comforts New York Conference New England Conference changed on account of war Tendency of selling pews Genesee Conference Ohio Steubenville Tennessee Conference Cannot attend Louisiana Conference T. L. Douglass Bishops Asbury and McKendree on slavery Blackman's position on the subject He goes as chaplain to volunteers at the call of General Jackson William Burke's letter South Carolina and Virginia Conferences "Official decisions" Buxton New York Confer- ence Bishop Asbury's opinion of Bishop McKendree's sermon Joshua Marsden in United States He applies for employment Resigns it Why? Bishop Asbury's condition His will Why he expected to live long Painful round of Conferences in 1814 Bish- op McKendree's fall Wounding hip and ribs Tennessee Confer- ence held at camp meeting in Logan County, Ky. Neither of the bishops can be at the Mississippi Conference Genesee Conference Tornado Gets to Cincinnati South Carolina Virginia Maryland Pennsylvania Asbury preaches Found Dr. Coke at Albany, N. Y. Ohio Conference at Mechanicsburg "Long, ear- nest talk" Bishop Asbury crosses Alleghany sixty-two times Both bishops attend the Tennessee Conference Separated never to meet again on earth McKendree at South Carolina Conference Asbury within thirty miles Very feeble Hammet's people re- turn Virginia Conference at Raleigh Bishop McKendree's father dies Baltimore Conference Bishop Asbury absent, and preaches his last sermon in Richmond, Va. His death Bond's letters in- closing Asbury's views and last letter to McKendree His person and character 169 CHAPTER XII Bishop Asbury's valedictory His Birth Death Burial Remains removed to Baltimore . . . 186 10 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree CHAPTER XIII General Conference of 1816 Bishop McKendree's address George and Roberts elected bishops Sketches of them Bishop McKen- dree's Journal The work divided New York and Kentucky Con- ferences Bishop McKendree organizes the Missouri Conference McKendree and George at South Carolina Conference Changes made by General Conference From Middlebury to Tennessee Norton rejoins him To Mississippi Conference on horesback McMahon and wife with him Mississippi Conference at Midway, 1817 To South Carolina Conference Griffin with him Difficul- ties of traveling Crossing the Chattahoochee General Gaines Indian murders In Sparta Myers Conference in Augusta, Ga. Roberts arrives They go to Virginia Conference in Norfolk Dr. Phoebus Travels alone and leads a pack horse In Tennessee Visits Southwest extensively Ohio Conference of 1818 Mis- souri Troubles at Tennessee Conference Writer's first acquaint- ance with him Starts to Mississippi Conference with Seaton and Edge The shock Very much affected Mississippi Conference Back to Tennessee Bishop Roberts's letters Notes on preacher's qualifications Dr. Emory Letters between them Their subse- quent intercourse 202 CHAPTER XIV General Conference of 1820 Address of Bishop McKendree Au- thorized to travel at his discretion A bishop to be elected J. Soule elected Presiding elder question Positions of the bishops "Com- promise" or "peace measure" Soule desires leave to decline McKendree's statement Facts Powers of General and Annual Conferences and bishops Soule's letter Bishops confer Pre- pare to ordain Soule The resolutions suspended- Bishop McKen- dree's appeal to the Annual Conferences Precedent for it Soule declines His reasons The other bishops to do the work next four years Bishop McKendree troubled, but resolves to do what he can Gets to Tennessee Conference 231 CHAPTER XV Bishop McKendree's appeal to the Annual Conferences as to the sus- pended resolutions The Southern and Western Conferences con- sent Five others reject it It fails By whom and why Wes- leyan Repository Mutual Rights Methodist Protestant Church Journal resumed Henry Smith's narrative Visits extensively Preaches at camp meeting He goes South South Carolina Con- ference J. Soule's letters Dr. Capers's letter His character and influence His second letter The era of missions Cherokee and Choctaw Missions to slaves Bible and Sunday School Societies. . 258 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 11 CHAPTER XVI Tennessee Conference in 1823 Bishops McKendree and George pre- sent Vertigo McKendree's purpose to cross the mountains in the winter abandoned The promise to take him to Baltimore in the spring Starts in March, 1824 Companions in travel Difficulties on the route Crosses the Cumberland Mountains Winton's Wilkerson's Crosses the Alleghany Mountains The night at the hut Crosses the Yadkin in a canoe Wilkesboro Salem Guil- ford Battle Ground The effect of that battle in 1791 Person County Crosses Roanoke River At Taylor's Boydtown Adam's Crossing Meherrin River Calls, on the families of his friends on his route R. C. Boothe's In Petersburg, Va. Rich- mond Alexandria Georgetown At Judge McLean's McKin- ney's Mr. Calhoun's letter Dr. Bascom chaplain to Congress In Baltimore W. Wilkins Dr. Samuel Baker Impression made by the tour 283 CHAPTER XVII General Conference of 1824 Messrs. Reece and Hannah Commit- tees Petitions Report on Episcopacy Winans on the report and the constitution "The constitutional test" Bishop's veto Amendment to the constitution proposed by the bishops and others J. Soule's views Question carried The suspended resolutions question Left as unfinished business Quorum broken Bishop Roberts and Freeborn Garrettson Soule and Hedding elected bishops Ordained Sketches Bishop McKendree's Address He is gratified 292 CHAPTER XVIII The Bishops divide the work for four years Bishop McKendree starts on a tour of three thousand miles His letter to Dr. Sargent His route from Baltimore to the Wyandotte Mission Bishop Soule and family Jacob Crist Finley meets him at Columbus, Ohio Visits and preaches to the Indians Weary Bear skin bed on the ground Gets to Kentucky Conference at Versailles At- tends the Missouri Couference Returns to Tennessee very feeble His letter to Bishops Roberts and Soule resigning the active duties of the superintendency Resumes his travels in the spring of 1825 B. T. Crouch's letter Mr. Summerfield 301 CHAPTER XIX Richard Reece and John Hannah messengers from England Mr. Reece's letter Bishop McKendree's reply He goes through Ken- tucky Rests five days in ninety-five Attends Kentucky Confer- ence with Bishop Roberta J. B. Finley and Dr. M. Ruter Thence 12 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree to Jonesboro, East Tennessee Attends the Holston Conference Lynchburg Hezekiah G. Leigh Portsmouth Attends the Balti- more, Philadelphia, New York, and Genesee Conferences Thence to South Carolina Virginia in the spring of 1827 Baltimore Philadelphia Thence west to the Wyandotte Mission, through Ohio Kentucky Conference Winters in Tennessee In 1828 he and Gwin go to the General Conference -at Pittsburgh Retrospect A true, apostolic episcopos Jesse Walker Bishop McKendree's characteristics Old Gray Another round Philip Bruce Jeffer- son and Adams die South Carolina Conference in Augusta, Jan- uary 11, 1827 Roberts and Soule there also Back to Baltimore Sick Gets to the Wyandottes, then to Nashville His skeptical doctor convinced Freeborn Garrettson's death Indian letter Henry Smith's letter Letter from Lewis Garrett 312 CHAPTER XX General Conference of 1828 at Pittsburgh Bishop's Address Sus- pended resolutions lost "Wesleyan Repository" "Mutual Rights" McCane and others expelled Memorial Report upon it by Dr. Emory Dr. Thomas E. Bond and Dr. Emory defend the Church Canada question settled Action of the General Confer- ence Inferences Dr. Capers elected delegate to the Wesleyan Methodist Conference Dr. Fisk Bishop McKendree's account of this Conference A crisis in the history of the Church The Bish- op's Journal Travels back to Tennessee Attends quarterly and camp meeting in Kentucky and Tennessee His route to Georgia over Lookout Mountain Preaches to an Indian Council Gets to Athens, Ga. At Asbury Hull's Sick Ordains Stephen Olin Sketch of him 332 CHAPTER XXI McKendree at Augusta Savannah Preaches to whites and blacks Conference at Charleston Bishop Roberts absent Not able to preside Returns to Lynchburg, to the Virginia Conference To the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences Thence through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky to Tennessee Douglass' camp meeting His voice Conversion of a mute Bishop George's death Sketch The Bishop's homes at Nashville J. T. Elliston's and H. R. W. Hill's Down the Mississippi River The Colonel His plan Liberia 344 CHAPTER XXII Begins his tour in 1830 in feeble health Friends protest Breaks down at Jonesboro Returns Discontinues his Diary In 1831 starts again Spends the winter in Baltimore General Conference of 1832 Bishops' Address Action of the General Conference as to Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 13 Bishop McKendree J. O. Andrew and John Emory elected Bish- ops Sketches Emory as President 354 CHAPTER XXIII Bishop Emory's visit to the South His death His letter to Bishop McKendree Both died the same year Bishop McKendree takes final leave of old friends Gets back to Tennessee on a bed in a car- riage Letter from Bishop Morris Dr. Adam Clarke's letter Mel- ville B. Cox His account of himself Goes as missionary to Li- beriaDies 360 CHAPTER XXIV McKendree attends the Tennessee Conference in Pulaski, 1833 Bish- op Roberts fails to get there Bishop McKendree unable to pre- side His substitutes Meteoric shower He appoints T. L. Doug- lass presiding elder Sketch of him Bishop McKendree's Address to his colleagues His sermon Returns to Nashville exhausted Preaches Resumes his Journal Watch night Starts to New Or- leans, January 1, 1834 His account of the tour At Vicksburg C. K. Marshall At Natchez Judge Edward McGehee and the Rev. John C. Burruss Dr. Tooley " Slight paralysis" His letter to the Rev. F. A. Owen Returns to Tennessee His last camp meeting and interview with William Burke His last Conference at Lebanon, Tenn., 1834 Requested to prepare his biography His reply Last document 370 CHAPTER XXV Bishop McKendree leaves all his papers to Bishop Soule and T. L. Douglass The Lebanon Conference a time of great interest He visits the Conference for the last time Bids adieu Gwin, Page, Douglass, and McGee there Returns to Nashville Preaches his [last sermon there, November 23 Goes to his brother's Depressed His last battle Victor His sufferings Effect of prayer Fam- ily love The closing scene "All's well" His burial Should his remains be removed? Review of his life and character. 385 14 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree APPENDIX PAGE. SERMON ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. WILLIAM MCKENDREE 398 LETTER FROM BISHOP ASBURY TO THE REV. JOSEPH BENSON 434 DR. WINANS'S LETTER TO BISHOP MCKENDREE GIVING PARTICU- LARS OF SAMUEL PARKER'S DEATH 447 LETTER FROM WILLIAM WINANS TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 453 BISHOP MCKENDREE'S LETTER TO BlSHOP ASBURY 456 THE REV. ANDREW MONROE'S NOTES OF TRAVEL WITH BISHOP MC- KENDREE 457 LETTER FROM BISHOP MCKENDREE TO BISHOP SOULE 461 BISHOP MCKENDREE'S LIBERALITY 463 BISHOP ASBURY 's PAPERS BEQUEATHED TO BISHOP MCKENDREE AND DANIEL HITT 464 BISHOP MCKENDREE TO DR. SARGENT 465 BISHOP MCKENDREE'S ACCOUNT OF THE UNION OF THE PRESBYTE- RIANS AND METHODISTS IN 1805 THE ORIGIN OF THE CUMBER- LAND PRESBYTERIANS 468 BISHOP MCKENDREE'S ESSAYS ON OUR CHURCH GOVERNMENT 475 LETTERS FROM BISHOP MCKENDREE TO JOSHUA SOULE 485 LETTERS OF BISHOP MCKENDREE AND BISHOP GEORGE 490 DONATIONS 492 FROM BISHOP MCKENDREE TO BISHOPS GEORGE AND HEDDING 494 LETTER FROM BISHOP MCKENDREE TO BISHOP ROBERTS 496 METHODIST TRACT SOCIETY 499 LETTER FROM BISHOP ROBERT PAINE TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 500 LETTERS FROM T. L. DOUGLASS TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 502 LETTER FROM THE REV. IRA ELLIS TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 506 BISHOP MCKENDREE'S REPLY TO BISHOP GEORGE'S STRICTURES UPON His VIEWS OF THE SUSPENDED RESOLUTIONS 508 BISHOP MCKENDREE'S PAPERS COMMITTED TO JOSHUA SOULE, DR. WILKINS, AND T. L. DOUGLASS 512 LETTERS FROM JOSHUA SOULE TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 513 LETTER FROM DR. SAMUEL BAKER TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 521 LETTER FROM WILLIAM MCMAHON TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 523 LETTERS FROM THE REV. DR. CAPERS TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 525 LETTER FROM COLONEL MCKINNEY TO DR. CAPERS 532 LETTER FROM DR. JOHN EMORY TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 534 LETTER FROM DR. NATHAN BANGS TO BISHOP MCKENDREE 537 SACRAMENTAL SERMON IN NASHVILLE BY BISHOP MCKENDREE 539 CHRISTMAS SERMON IN NASHVILLE, DECEMBER 25, 1833, BY BISHOP MCKENDREE.. . 544 LIFE AND TIMES OF BISHOP M C KENDREE CHAPTER I Birth Parentage Occupation Residence Character of the family Their circumstances Father Mother Their children Wil- liam Lucinda Dorotha Frances Her marriage by Bishop Asbury Character and death John Thomas James Nancy D. Like the Bishop Family love. WILLIAM MCKENDREE was born in King William County, Va., about forty miles northeast of Richmond, July 6, 1757. His parents, John and Mary McKendree, were both natives of the same State. His father was a planter, and William was brought up in the same occupation. He was not only taught the art of husbandry, but was also trained in early life to habits of industry and frugality. Our history of the McKendree family begins with the birth of William, the eldest child, while residing in King William County; but before he was seven years of age, they removed to James City County, about sixty miles southeast of Richmond, and near Williamsburg, the well-known seat of William and Mary College. A few years afterwards they again changed their place of residence and settled in Greenville County, upon Meherrin River, and near the southern boundary of the State. Here they remained for many years. Their pecuniary condi- tion was not such as in Virginia would be called wealthy; although from incidental allusions found in the Bishop's Diary, as well as from other reliable sources of information, they were doubtless in comfortable and independent circumstances. They were a plain, industrious, and moral family, without preten- sions to fame or extraordinary talents, yet even in the Old Dominion holding a reputable position for intelligence, in- tegrity, and honorable estimation. John McKendree, the father of the Bishop, seems to have been in every respect a most worthy and exemplary man. To make provision for the wants of his large family and to guide them by precept and example to honor, usefulness, and piety were the great objects of his efforts. With strong domestic affections and without any desire for notoriety, he led an humble, in- 16 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree dustrious, and religious life. In 1810 he removed from Vir- ginia to Sumner County, Tenn., in company with his son, Dr. James McKendree, his son-in-law, Mr. Charles Harris, with tlieir families, and his two unmarried daughters. In October, 1815, this venerable and excellent man gently breathed his last, leaving a dying testimony to the truth and power of re- ligion corresponding with his exemplary life. He died on his eighty-eighth birthday. The patriarch was buried near the residence of his son James, in Sumner County, Tenn., in a re- tired and beautiful rural locality and beneath the wide-spread branches of a cluster of venerable forest trees. It is said that the Bishop was often heard to express a wish, should he die near there, to be buried by the side of his venerated father; and as he did die at the very place, he was interred there, and his mortal part still reposes in that consecrated spot. Mary, the mother of Bishop McKendree, \vas a great suffer- er. About the year 1769, she became so prostrated by severe affliction that she was ever afterwards con fined to her room and generally to her bed. Her health, however, gradually improved, so that she was able to oversee her domestic affairs, devolving upon her daughters the more active duties of the household. But, although an invalid and confined to her room for twenty years, her example of patience, her tact in planning and direct- ing her domestic duties, and her kind and Christian manners were of inestimable value to her family. Such sweetness of temper, so many sensible lessons upon the proprieties of life, and such a consistent exemplification of the purity and power of religion as she exhibited throughout these long years of affliction made an ineffaceable impression upon her children; and doubtless that impression was stronger from the fact that these lovely traits were seen in a fond and suffering mother. But this deeply afflicted lady, having been mercifully spared to train her young family for twenty years after she became a hopeless invalid, was at last permitted to rest from her sor- rows and to die in the triumphs of Christian faith. Her death occurred in 1789. The memory of his patient, tender, bed-ridden, and yet re- signed and happy mother lingered in the heart of her devoted son to his latest hour and always associated with the name of mother all that is pure and lovely in humanity sanctified by Christianity. The children of this family were 1. William, the subject of this biography. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 17 2. Lucinda, who married Jesse Jordan and died in Virginia about 1778, leaving an only child. This child was a daughter who, upon the death of her mother, was taken into her grand- father's family and treated as his own child. 3. Dorotha, married to Mr. Charles Harris, in 1797, and who with her husband followed the fortunes of the family to the West. She had four children, and died in Alabama in her seventy-fourth year. 4. Frances, born June 22, 1763; converted in July, 1778; was married to the Rev. Nathanael Moore, October 12, 1815 ; and died near Columbia, Tenn., January 3, 1835. Bishops Asbury and McKendree were both present at her marriage, having called to spend a few days with the family while making a tour of the Western Conferences. The following characteristic notice of the event is found in Bishop Asbury's Journal in October, 1815: Tuesday, 10. At James McKendree's; Nathanael Moore has come to take away our Sister Frances McKendree. All parties are pleased. . . . On Thursday, I officiated at the marriage of Nathanael Moore and Frances McKendree. We believe it is of the Lord. They are a worthy couple and nearly of an age. The marriage license of these persons is found among Bishop McKendree's papers, signed by David Shelby, clerk, and cer- tified by Bishop Asbury as solemnized by him October 12, 1815. Bishop McKendree exceeded all men I have ever known for keeping all papers that fell into his hands. Why this was not filed in the clerk's office, I cannot conjecture. Perhaps it was forgotten. From a personal acquaintance with this estimable and pious lady, the writer formed the opoinion that, as to intellect and sensibilities, she very much resembled her brother, the Bishop. A week spent at her house in 1824 in company with Bishop McKendree afforded the opportunity of witnessing her piety and patience under affliction as well as her attachment to the almost idolized brother. From an extended obituary notice of her, prepared by the Rev. Thomas Logan Douglass and in- serted in the Methodist Magazine for 1826, this history of the McKendree family has been principally derived. The materials of this history are understood to have been fur- nished by the Bishop himself. Her death was a remarkably calm and happy one. Her 2 18 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree loved and honored brother was permitted to be with her for many days during her long and painful decline and was with her at her death. And who that has ever heard his soft and sweetly musical voice at the bed of a dying Christian but can appreciate the privilege of having such a counselor at such a crisis? Nor is it strange that so conscientious and de- voted a Christian, consoled and instructed by one so dear to her and so eminently capable of soothing and strengthening her, should have been found composed and triumphant when the solemn hour of her exit arrived. Such was her end. She had no child. 5. John was the fifth child. He removed to South Carolina and died in the city of Charleston, November 28, 1817, aged fifty-three years. His wife preceded him to the grave about six months. They left four children Thomas, William, John Dudley, and Lemuel Joseph. 6. Thomas; he also went to South Carolina and died in that State, October, 1817, on Cooper River. He left two children, John James and Caroline. 7. James, the seventh child, married in 1792, always lived in the vicinity of his parents, and brought up a large and re- spectable family. His house was the Bishop's home, if he can be said to have had a home who spent his whole time as an itinerant. At his house their father died; there the Bishop closed his eventful and useful life; and there, in a few years aft- erwards, James and Frances were interred by his side to await "the resurrection of the just." 8. The eighth and last child was Nancy D. In many re- spects she greatly resembled her eldest brother. In mind, heart, and manners, she seemed to be his counterpart. Like a min- istering angel, she devoted herself to the welfare of others. She watched over and soothed her father during the long period of his decrepit old age, attended her sister Frances in her protracted sufferings, and was the constant and favorite nurse of the Bishop in his last years, and particularly in his final ill- ness. Indeed, her father, Frances, and William, literally died in her arms. The Bishop may not have been aware of the fact, but she was evidently his favorite. He had too much sense and too large a heart to exclude any one of those who held the same relation to him from his warm and fraternal love; but could he help loving Nancy more than the rest? She loved him as only a pure-hearted, orphan sister can love a noble and Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 19 fond brother. Toward the latter part of their lives, they had little else of earthly objects to love. There was a sameness of condition for, like him, she never married a congeniality of taste, temperament, and mind, which strongly knit them together. She sympathized with him in his anxieties about the Church as well as in his other mental and bodily afflic- tions, entered with liveliest interest into his feelings of entire consecration to the one high and holy end of his life, and doubt- less felt more than any one else could feel a sisterly pride in his position, his worth, and his usefulness. They were truly kindred spirits. Having lost all her nearest relations, she, too, passed away, in 1838, to reunite, doubtless, with her precious brother and to join the "great multitude whom no man can number." She was buried at the head of the Bishop's grave. Pleasant in life, in death they are not divided. A peculiarity which marked the McKendree family and dis- played itself on many occasions must have been cherished while the children were all around the domestic hearth. The allusion is to their very strong family love. In the course of this bi- ography, we shall find abundant evidence of the strength of this principle in several members of this amiable and pious family especially in William, Frances, and Nancy. And who can estimate the importance of this principle? Without it society loses one of its surest guaranties and religion one of its most potent class of motives. It is the great principle of moral gravitation, binding society together, giving bliss and sanctity to our homes, and preserv- ing order and harmony in the body politic. It cultivates the noblest instincts of our nature, opens new and pure fountains of enjoyment, restrains our impetuous and dangerous passions, and, regulated by enlightened and earnest piety, almost re- stores to earth again the long-lost pleasures of paradise. CHAPTER II McKendree becomes a soldier and an officer in the army of the Revolution At Yorktown Early life Education Intellectual character His early moral and religious character The Church and clergy His ac- count of himself Joins the Methodists Is discouraged, and retires Convictions renewed under John Easter Conversion Temptation Revival under Easter Opposition! to it Easter's manner Success Other eminently useful preacher* of that day: Garrettson, Ellis, Wat- ters, Hull, Cooper, Moore, Whatcoat, Lee Account of Philip Bruce. Mr.McKENDREE was about twenty years old when the mem- orable struggle of our Revolution began; and although from his extreme modesty he very rarely alluded to the fact in the latter part of his life, yet there can be no doubt that he took a decided part in that eventful and glorious war which resulted in our independence. Rumor had connected his name with Bruce and other early Methodist preachers as having been engaged in the Revolutionary War on the side of his country, but until his death called before the public the evidence of the fact, the part he had borne was generally unknown, except among his old acquaintances. In the Western Methodist of 1835, a long and well-written obituary of Bishop McKendree appeared, in which it was said of him: "He was an adjutant in the levies of his native State during the latter part of the Revolutionary War and was in the commissary department and showed his accustomed energy of character in making impressments of cattle and food to sustain the allied armies of Washington and Rochambeau at the siege of Cornwallis at Yorktown." The Rev. Henry Smith, in his "Recollections of an Old Itinerant," p. 59, says of the Bishop: "He had been in the Revolutionary War, and was at the battle of Yorktown when Cornwallis was taken. In 1820, I passed with him over the ground, and he showed me where his camp was." And the same author, in a letter to the writer, dated Baltimore County, Md., February 6, 1855, says upon this point: "From what Bishop McKendree told me, he belonged to a company of volunteers raised, I presume, in his own immediate neigh- borhood. They were present at the siege of Yorktown; he pointed out to me the place where they were encamped when, in October, 1820, I traveled with him over the ground. He spoke of exercising their horses when they expected to be called Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 21 into action," etc. The fact is also stated in the sketch of Bishop McKendree given by Dr. McClintock, p. 69, and also the " Life of McKendree," written by Benjamin St. James Fry, p. 14, who says: "When the war of the Revolution was commenced, and the call went forth for volunteers, as might readily be expected, he was found among those who took up arms in the cause of liberty. The extent of his service in the army is not known, but it is certain that he attained to the rank of adjutant and was for a time at least connected with the com- missary department." He continued with the army for some years; indeed, the war virtually closed with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis on October 19, 1781, although a general peace was not proclaimed until April 19, 1783. The writer was for many years as familiar with Bishop McKendree as anyone could be who was so much his junior. He was his traveling companion and amanuensis for several months at a time; passed with him by short stages through Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia, over several battle fields of the Revolution; visiting the vicinity of Mount Ver- non; talking with him occasionally about his recollections of Washington and the war of independence; sitting with him in Washington's family pew, which had the initials of his name still upon its door; but in all these long and solitary rides and these familiar conversations upon kindred topics, he never heard him allude to his own services in the Revolution. Perhaps he was afraid of appearing vain of his reputation as an officer in the noble struggle for national independence and wished to set an example of modesty and humility. In him the soldier of civil liberty was merged in the nobler character of a true and valiant soldier of the cross. Having done his duty to his country in the capacity of a patriot soldier, he was contented, and never boasted of his feats nor sought a pension for his services. Worldly honors and riches were far below his aim. Bishop McKendree's early life seems not to have been dis- tinguished by any very remarkable incidents. He grew to manhood at a period in our colonial history unfavorable to mental culture. There were very few schools then in Virginia competent to give a good English education, while only three or four colleges had been founded in America, and only one in his native State. His education, therefore, was such as the country schools afforded, perhaps neither better nor worse than was usual with those who, like himself, belonged to the middle class of 22 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree society. That he was not a classical scholar, nor when he entered the ministry a good English scholar, we have no wish to con- ceal; but he had a fair rudimentary education; had taught school, had a quick apprehension, a sound and discriminating mind, and such a refined taste as gave great accuracy to his selection and use of words. Combined with these qualities was his ardent desire for knowledge and his tenacity of purpose in the pursuit of it; and then, after he had taken upon himself the vows of the ministry, he drew "all his cares and studies this way, " being " diligent in prayers, and in reading of the Holy Scriptures, and in such studies as help to the knowledge of the same, laying aside the study of the world and the flesh." This concentration of mind and heart upon the work of his vocation soon began to develop his intellectual power. Nor must we leave out of the account that element of all true greatness, known as common sense, which he possessed in an eminent degree; destitute of which, whatever other qualifications he might have had, he could not have wielded the influence that he exerted as a preacher and a bishop. This quality of mind is displayed in the calm and just exercise of the reasoning powers, in the skillful adaptation of means to an end, and in the prudent use of such means. It implies a ready appre- hension of the characters of men and of the motives that actuate them. Its possessors usually exhibit self-reliance and firmness and are distinguished for sound practical views. Call this shrewdness, good judgment, common sense, or whatever else, it is an all-important qualification for success in every department of life; and in none is it more requisite than in a Christian minister and especially in a bishop. Without it, the most splendid talents in a preacher are frequently useless, and sometimes worse than useless; they but give notoriety to his errors, and thus elevate him to render his fall the more ob- vious. The history of many a brilliant mind furnishes a strik- ing illustration of the truth of these remarks. The comets which blaze athwart our field of vision, attracting for a while every eye and causing the beautiful constellations to pale be- fore their gorgeous splendors, soon retire into obscurity and leave our planet to its former nightly gloom; and then the late- ly obscured and forgotten stars resume their office, lighting up the dome of the Creator's sublime temple of the natural universe with the sheen of their thousand lamps. Give me the less brilliant but constant stars in preference to the more glar- ing meteor and the fiery comet. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 23 Few men have been more distinguished for sound and un- sophisticated judgment than Bishop McKendree. The want of early advantages threw him upon his own resources, induced self-reliance, and a manly independence in the investigation of truth and in the expression of his convictions. Of his schoolboy days we have no minute account. We only know the boy by the man. We confess we have heard him quoted as an instance of those who develop slowly the faculties which eventually distinguish them as preachers and logi- cians, but whose early pulpit efforts discourage the hopes of their friends. Doubtless there have been many examples of this kind; nor do we make any claim to precocious smartness on behalf of Bishop McKendree. It may possibly be true that some of his friends were disappointed by his early performances; yet, if his powers developed slowly at first, it is certain that the rich, ripe fruit at last appeared in abundance and continued to mature beyond the ordinary term of human life, presenting a result which heightens our respect for the dignity of our common nature and the character of our holy religion. But we are constrained to say that we do not believe his early life, and especially his early ministry, evinced a want of mental quick- ness. It is a legend which may have comforted many a lazy and unpopular young preacher, but, so far as can now be known, is without foundation. The evidence is to the contrary. That he was modest, timid, and exceedingly sensitive and that his taste was in advance of his capacity to execute, insomuch that his hesitation in selecting words seemed sometimes almost stammering, we have no doubt; but th,at he was a dull boy or an unpromising young preacher, we resolutely deny. Those only could think so who did not know him or were incompe- tent to judge him. The God of nature gave him not only a quick ana logical mind, strong common sense, and an insatiable thirst for all useful knowledge, but so much of the imaginative faculty as enabled him to array the vivid conceptions of his mind in striking and appropriate topics; and yet these powers were so balanced by a keen sense of the ridiculous and the sophistical, and so regulated by his love of order, by an instinctive per- ception of propriety, and by an enlightened conscience that in his mature years he presented as fine a specimen of a gentleman, a Christian, and a bishop as this or any other country has ever produced. Such a character is the product 24 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of native talent, mental culture, and divine grace. If either be deficient, the pattern is spoiled. We would not disparage the ministry. On the contrary, we regard the Protestant ministry as the most unselfish, pure-minded, and useful class of society. The world could poorly afford to do without them; and yet that there are so few among them whose whole lives exhibit an elevated and commanding apprehension of the nature and ends of their vocation is matter of humiliation; but that there are some who evince such a beautiful coincidence between profession and practice and such ability and perseverance in the discharge of duty calls for gratitude. Our Divine Master raises up some such in every age, as if to show of what our poor humanity is capable under the influence of his gospel. His own account of himself, as well as the statements of others, agree in representing him to have been virtuous and comparatively moral. His parents were members of the Church of England \ moral in their deportment and regular in their at- tendance upon the ordinances. Of course the family was brought up under the religious instructions of that Church, which was then the prevailing religion of the Southern colonies. The standard of Christian morals was, however, very low at that day; for when the clergy were given to ease, attending horse races, balls, wine parties, and indulging in dancing and card playing, it might be expected that the religious training of the youth of the Church would be sadly defective. By com- mon consent, it has been called an era of spiritual darkness, both in Europe and America. The Church, notwithstanding her doctrinal orthodoxy and her boasted beautiful formulas, was laboring under a moral paralysis. In vain did a few of her gifted and truly pious ministers strive to resuscitate her. Whitefield, the Wesleys, and their coadjutors, with almost superhuman eloquence and power, essayed to arouse and reanimate her; and although they accomplished much good and laid the foundation for a great reformation, yet, as a Church, she either coldly frowned upon these, her best friends and truest sons, or openly denounced and persecuted them. Her doors were everywhere shut against them. Her clergy cheered on the rabble, who, finding their vices denounced and their consciences alarmed by the plain and fervid appeals of these holy men, were ever ready to resort to the most violent means for the purpose of silencing them. Their solemn protestations against their alleged defection toward the Church and their oft-repeated assertions of love to it and of their seeking its je and Times of Bishop McKendree 25 reformation in spiritual matters alone were disregarded. Those in authority denied the necessity of a revival and contemptu- ously spurned both them and their services, and in the same breath with which they sought to degrade these heroic men of God they justified the fashionable follies and prevailing vices of the times. Thus the distinction between the Church of Christ and the world was either utterly obliterated or was seen only in the external observance or nonobservance of the ceremonies and sacraments. In morals, the line of division was invisible. Yet, even under such unfavorable circum- stances, young McKendree was restrained from gross immor- alities and preserved a character for virtue and morality. The following is his own account of this period of his life: "I do not recollect to have sworn more than one profane oath in my life, yet, as far back as memory serves, I am conscious of the prevalence of evil passions, of a heart disposed to wicked- ness, so that notwithstanding the restraints by which I was kept within the bounds of a respectable morality my heart was far from being right with God. It was ' deceitful and desperate- ly wicked.' Of this deplorable state of things I became ex- quisitely sensible by reading the Holy Scriptures in school when I was a small boy. For want of proper instruction, my apprehension of God the Redeemer and of the Holy Scriptures was very superficial. I literally 'understood as a child,' and with the simplicity of a child I yielded to the dictates of con- science, refrained from what appeared to be wrong, and, as a child, endeavored to imitate those holy men of God as set forth in the Scriptures." Bishop Soule, from whose sermon on the death of Bishop McKendree, delivered before the General Conference in 1836, we quote, adds: "Had these impressions been cherished by pious instructors and by parents who had the power as well as the form of godliness, there can be little doubt that this pious youth, like young Timothy, would 'from a child' have ' known the Holy Scriptures' in such a manner as to have be- come 'wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus,' and thereby prepared the way for his entering upon the arduous duties of the ministry at a much earlier period than he did; but for want of such helps and in consequence of op- position and discouragement from those who should have taught him the way of righteousness and aided him to walk therein at this tender age his impressions were weakened, conscience 26 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree became more inclined to slumber, and his religious resolutions were shaken. But still the fear of God did not forsake him." It was about the commencement of the Revolution that the Methodist preachers (then under the direction of Mr. Wesley) first visited that section of Virginia in which the McKendree family resided. William was then about nineteen years of age, possessed of exquisite sensibilities and a heart all buoyant with anticipation. The ministry of the word was attended with the power of the Spirit, and many were convinced that these were the servants of the Most High God. The early religious im- pressions, which in a great measure had become extinguished in the mind of this interesting young man by the amusements of the world, were now revived and strengthened. He "yielded to conviction and resolved to lead a new life. " In conform- ity with this resolution, he proposed to unite with the Methodist Society as a seeker of religion and was received on trial; but here again his resolution was shaken; and, halting by the way, he failed to obtain the prize. His own undisguised represen- tation of his case clearly shows the danger of awakened persons associating with those companions, however civil they may be, who neither fear nor love God, especially before age and experience have fortified the heart. "But my attachment to worldly associates," says Bishop McKendree, "who were civil and respectful in their deport- ment had grown with my growth, and my conviction was not accompanied with sufficient firmness to dissolve the connection; and their conduct being accommodated to my reformed man- ners, I continued to enjoy the friendship, both of the Society and of the world, but in a very imperfect degree. They con- tinued to counteract and impair each other, until theloveof the world prevailed and my relish for genuine piety departed. I peaceably retired from the Society, while my conduct continued to secure their friendship." The narrative of Bishop Soule proceeds: "In this situation, with no material change in his religious state, except a gradual decline of concern for the salvation of his soul, he continued for several years; but his abiding conviction of the importance and necessity of religion and his exquisite sensibility to con- sistency of character preserved him from gross immoralities and prevented a rapid progress in the way of sin. In the year 1787, he being about thirty years of age, a powerful and exten- sive revival of religion commenced in Brunswick Circuit, in which he lived, under the ministry of that devoted servant of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 27 God, the Rev. John Easter. In the course of this year Mr. Easter added about twelve hundred members to the Church. " This year (1787) was the period of his conversion to God, the year in which he received that inward and spiritual revela- tion of the Son of God which is an indispensable qualification for preaching his unsearchable riches. This great change is thus described by his own pen: "My convictions were renewed; they were deep and pungent. The great deep of my heart was broken up; its desperately wicked nature was disclosed and the awfully ruinous consequences clearly appeared. My repentance was sincere. I was desirous of salvation, and became willing to be saved upon any terms; and after a sore and sorrowful travail of three days, which were employed in hearing Mr. Easter and in fasting and prayer while that man of God was showing a large congregation the way of salvation by faith with a clearness which, at the same time, astonished and encouraged me, I ventured my all on Christ. In a moment my soul was de- livered of a burden too heavy to be borne, and joy instantly succeeded sorrow. For a short space of time I was fixed in silent admiration, giving glory to God for his unspeakable goodness to such an unworthy creature. " But, alas! although this change was great and glorious, al- though conscious of sensible comfort, and at the same time enabled to cry, "Abba, Father," yet his experience accords with but too many in this, that the delightful state of his emo- tions was presently succeeded by doubts as to the depth and reality of the change. In this state of temptation he continued six weeks; then a new and overwhelming blessing removed all doubt and assured him of peace and pardon. The enemy had suggested that it was presumptuous to believe that so impor- tant a work could be accomplished so soon, if at all; and the vast interests which the profession of religion involve made him correspondingly fearful of a mistake in relation to it. His temp- tations were strengthened, doubtless, by the denunciations which he often heard of those "strange zealots," those "ir- regular lay preachers, " who, ignoring the doctrine of a personal and unbroken succession of three distinct orders in the ministry and the indispensableness of ordination from such supposed monopolists of all clerical authority, dared to preach .Christ crucified to their fellow men; for, unfortunately, there were those then, as now and as there were in the beginning of the Christian Church, who were ready to forbid all others from casting out devils who "follow not us." But if Christ, who 28 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree actually did daily cast out devils, so pointedly reproved this prescriptive spirit in the apostles, with what language would he speak to those now who would hinder others from doing the good which they either cannot or will not do? Surely those who claim the exclusive right to preach and to save souls ought to be remarkably zealous in their vocation; and even then, if they would imitate the Master, they should not refuse the cooperation of any who truly "cast out devils"; for if they who cast them out in his name "cannot speak evil" of Christ, surely Christ's apostles cannot speak evil of those who "do the works of Christ." This revival, which began under Mr. Easter and of which young McKendree and thousands of others became the happy subjects, was a novelty to many. Most of the clergy of the Es- tablished Church opposed it publicly and ridiculed it in private. The great body of the Church stood aghast at it. It was "wildfire," "self-delusion," or "hypocrisy." No doubt hun- dreds of honest and conscientious persons thought they were doing God service in striving to repress what they regarded as a "religious frenzy." In their estimation, Mr. Easter and all those who, like him, strove to arouse the torpid consciences of sinners and proclaimed a present pardon and an internal evidence of that pardon were disturbers of the peace of society as well as heretics. To the Churchman both the preacher and his matter were offensive, the first wanting the odor of suc- cession, the latter, at the same time, condemning his profession, his experience, and his practice. To the honest and devout Calvinist, having in his mind Calvin's "horrible decree," the earnest offer of Christ's death and mediation, as means avail- able by faith for the salvation of all men, without distinction and without reservation, seemed presumptuous, if not profane; so that, in whatever else they disagreed, Churchmen, Calvin- ists, and Quakers united in condemning those who seemed to be "turning the world upside down." Still the people flocked by hundreds and thousands to hear them, and multitudes be- came the subjects of this strange work. Their plain, earnest, and scriptural appeals to conscience; their solemn and devout manners; their disinterestedness and the extraordinary faith and dauntless moral courage which Easter and his associates exhibited, and, above all, the wonderful power which attended their ministry, were well calculated to excite attention. And they did excite attention. The private houses, old-field school- houses, and the few meetinghouses where circuit preaching had Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 29 been ordinarily heard were soon found insufficient to contain the immense throngs of eager listeners . The barns were resorted to, but were soon found to be too small. To the groves, Nature's own temples, the crowds repaired. The villages were emptied of population; the mechanic laid aside his tools; the farmer stopped his plows and mounted his family upon the horses, sometimes two and three upon a horse; servants and those who could find no other means of conveyance started on foot. The roads were crowded. The vicinity of the place of worship was covered with horses and vehicles, and thousands gathered around the temporary pulpit and held their breath to catch every syllable of the man of God. Mr. Easter was a man of great purity of life, of a sound mind and deep religious feelings, and what he clearly appre- hended and strongly felt he spoke with the confidence of one who knows he delivers a message from God. He never indulged in metaphysical discussions and rarely in doctrinal expositions. His themes were repentance, salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, and the witness of the Spirit. His preaching was of the experi- mental and practical kind, his manner hortative. Those who knew him revered and loved him. When, upon such an oc- casion as adverted to above, he arose in the immense congrega- tion his appearance and manner inspired awe. His piercing black eyes, his awful earnestness, and his almost miraculous faith arrested every hearer and transfixed the most careless. His sentences, in the beginning of his addresses, were short and his language solemn and pointed. There was no mannerism nor circumlocution. He was full of his subject and intent only upon the rescue of sinners from impending wrath. At once he went to work invoking the presence and power of God, admon- ishing Christians to pray, and when his faith was "mighty," assuring them that souls would be converted there that day. Then he would begin his appeal to sinners. Their depraved and guilty condition, their duty, the necessity for decision, and the consequences involved, together with the means and evidences of pardon and regeneration, were concisely and overwhelming- ly exhibited. His voice was of wondrous pathos and power, now soft as an aeolian harp while persuading the hesitating or soothing the penitent, anon ringing out like the denunciations from Mount Ebal when successive peals of curses reverberated against the incorrigibly impenitent; and then again, "in lan- guage sweet as angels use," whispering to the believing peni- tent blessings richer and more abundant than ever died away 30 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree in soft and melodious echoes fron Mount Gerizim over the beau- tiful Valley of Shechem; and yet his whole manner was natural and unstudied. He would have despised himself if he had felt conscious that he was aping the orator or seeking aught but the salvation of his hearers. His communion with God was too intimate to allow any less serious or worthy motive, for he. who walks closely with God will be fearfully earnest while pleading with man. The power of the Almighty attended his efforts. The pious portion of his audience sustained him by their prayers and rose with him in faith and zeal as he increased in fervor and force, until the immense concourse, agitated by the conflicting emo- tions of consternation, grief, and joy, at last could restrain themselves no longer and gave vent to the long-pent but now resistless feelings of their hearts. Some fled with alarm, others felt as if impaled, while many fell to the ground as if stricken with a sudden bolt from heaven. Many were happily converted while he was speaking, until at last some fresh accession to the number of penitents, or converts, would so swell the wave of emotion that his voice would be drowned; and then mingled shouts, prayers, and songs would rise like the paeans of victory and the wail of the wounded over a battle field. Such were the scenes often witnessed in those days; and let others call it confusion, fanaticism, or whatever they may please, I believe it to have been the work of God and pray that such scenes may never cease in the Methodist Church. And let all who revere his memory recollect that Bishop McKendree was a subject of this glorious work. Surely his life and his death might be regarded as a vindication of such revivals. CHAPTER III Letter from W. McKendree to Bishop Asbury, in 1803 His conversion Entrance on the ministry Joins the Virginia Conference Misled by Mr. O'Kelly Returns to the work. AMONG the papers of Bishop McKendree is the following highly interesting communication. It appears that Bishop Asbury had repeatedly urged him to give a narrative in writing, of the kind, and it is addressed, therefore, to him, and was written in 1803. As it was prepared with some care and gives a more minute account of his early life and also of his conver- sion, his call to the ministry, and of a very interesting incident of his life in connection with the secession of the Rev. James O'Kelly than can be found elsewhere, the letter is given in full. The reader will pardon the repetition, in substance, of a part of the last chapter: Respected Friend and Brother: You have repeatedly requested me to give you a written, circumstantial account of the dealings of God with my soul, my call to the ministry, and some of the most remarkable events of my life. Until very lately I have indulged such an aversion to writing about myself that I did not intend to comply with your request; but your solicitation, having been seconded by others, this, together with a thought that my own soul may be quickened thereby, first, by meditating on past mercies and blessings while I call to mind my former exercises and God's tender mercies and gracious dealings with my soul; and, secondly, should you see proper to send it to the press, that I may derive benefit, in future, from reading what the lapse of time and trouble might make me forget, these considerations have triumphed over my natural aversion to the task. I shall therefore attempt a plain and simple narrative, and cast it as my mite into the treasury. It is now fifteen years that I have been in the traveling ministry, from the year 1788 to the present date, in which time I have traveled extensive- ly through Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and the territory west of the Ohio, now State of Ohio; as also some parts of North and South Carolina. The first divine impression that I remember to have been under was when I was a schoolboy. By reading the exercises and practices of holy men as related in the Bible; of their holy lives, prostrating themselves be- fore the Lord, praying and conversing with Jehovah, and the Lord God speaking to and comforting them, my soul was filled with such a sense of his majesty and goodness as awed my feelings into reverence. And I had such ideas of the condition of those holy men that my heart glowed to be like them. I would frequently seek solitary places in the woods, there fall upon my 32 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree face and weep freely while I thought I was talking to Jehovah. This practice I followed until I became so serious that I was taken notice of. The school- master, who was a vain man and boarded at my father's, and others began to laugh at me and make remarks, and finally laughed me out of all my seriousness. I then heedlessly pursued the pleasures of the world and do not remember to have had any more serious impressions for several years. My own experience has led me to care for those who are under religious impressions in their early days. Many are their dangers; great is the blessing of proper instructors, and the want of these is, in all probability, the cause of much infidelity. The next religious impression which I distinctly recollect was occasioned by hearing the following verse sung: Ye sons of Adam, vain and young, Indulge your hearts, indulge your tongue; Enjoy the day of mirth, but know There is a day of judgment too. " The day of judgment " left an impression on my mind. It sunk deeply into my thoughts and interrupted my peace for many days, but it gradually wore away, and I once more freely enjoyed the pleasures of youth. Some time after the Methodist preachers came into the neighborhood, a revival of religion took place, my father, mother, and several others be- came professors of religion, and many joined the Church. I was then deep- ly convinced of sin and resolved to set out and serve the Lord. For some time I was very serious, but after a while my religious concern gradually abated, and I insensibly glided into the spirit of the world and drank deep- er into the practice thereof than I had ever done before. In great com- passion the Lord still extended his mercy to me and checked my thought- less career by a severe attack of bilious fever. I was brought to view death as at the door, all human help seemed to fail. I now viewed myself as within a step of eternity, and alas, I was without God! I had no hope of future happiness! I was convinced that, dying as I was, I should be eternally miserable, and, to complete my astonishment and wretchedness, I could not indulge a hope of obtaining mercy in that situation. I con- sidered myself as one who had preferred the service of the devil to the en- joyment of religion to the very last, and now to ask God to pardon my sins and take me to himself when I could serve myself no longer appeared to be the most unreasonable thing in the world. I therefore utterly despaired of mercy unless God should be graciously pleased to raise me up from my bed of affliction and thus grant me an opportunity to seek his face. For this I earnestly prayed. While sore be- labored with pain, the world appeared insignificant and of trivial conse- quence; indeed, could I have purchased peace by giving the whole world, the price then seemed to me inconsiderable. But even while it seemed to myself that I was so willing to embrace mercy upon any terms, I well re- member a thought that threw me into confusion by showing me my error. The following idea was suggested: "If the Lord would raise you up and convert your soul, would you be willing to go and preach the gospel? " At Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 33 this nature shrunk, will refused, and I trembled when I found myself indis- posed to prompt obedience. Yet I continued to plead, and the Lord raised me from the jaws of death, "covering the bones with young flesh." But alas, how weak are reso- lutions springing from fear! As my strength returned, I lost sight of my danger, and the resolution, which I thought was so firm,weakened in pro- portion. At last I lost the desire and returned to my old companions and the business of the world. In this situation I continued until the great revival of religion took place in Brunswick Circuit, under Mr. John Easter, in 1787. On a certain Sabbath I visited a gentleman who lived in the neighborhood; he and his lady were going to church to hear a Mr. Gibson, a local Methodist preacher. It was, of course, during the Revolutionary War, when the church was open to any occupant, the clergy having abandoned their flocks and the country and fled home to England. Upon my going to the house of my friend, he declined going to church, sent a servant with his wife, and we spent the time in reading a comedy and drinking wine. Mrs. stayed late at church, but at last, when we were impatient for dinner, she returned and brought strange things to our ears. With astonishment flushing in her countenance, she began to tell whom she left "in a flood of tears," who were " down on the floor, " who were " converted, " what an "uproar" was goimg on among the people, cries for mercy and shouts for joy, etc. She also informed us that Mr. John Easter was to preach at that place on the following Tuesday. My heart was touched at her representation. I resolved to seek religion, and began in good earnest to pray for it that evening. Tuesday I went to church, fasting and praying. Mr. Easter preached from John in. 19-22: "And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, " etc. The word reached my heart. From this time I had no peace of mind; I was completely miserable. My heart was broken up, and I saw that it was evil above all things and "desperately wicked. " A view of God's forbearance and of the debasing sin of ingratitude, of which I had been guilty in grieving the Spirit of God, overwhelmed me with confusion. Now my conscience roared like a lion. "The pains of hell got hold of me." I concluded that I had committed the "unpardonable sin" and had thoughts of giving up all for lost. For three days I might have said: " My bed shall comfort me, then thou scarest me with dreams, and terri- fiest me through visions, so that my soul chooseth strangling and death rather than life." (Job vii. 7-15.) But in the evening of the third day deliverance came. While Mr. Easter was preaching, I was praying as well as I could, for I was almost ready to despair of mercy. Suddenly doubts and fears fled, hope sprang up in my soul, and the burden was re- moved. I knew that God was love, that there was mercy even for me, and I rejoiced in silence. Mr. Easter confidently asserted that God had converted my soul; but I did not believe it, for I had formed to myself an idea of conversion, how 3 34 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree it would come, and what must follow; and what I then felt did not answer to my idea. Therefore I did not believe that I was converted, but I knew there was mercy for me, and I greatly rejoiced in that. However, I soon found myself in an uncomfortable condition, for I immediately began to seek and expect a burden of sin, answerable to my idea, in order to get converted. But the burden was gone, and I could not recover it. At times I had flashes of joy, yea, felt the life and power of living faith; but as soon as I would advert to my conversion, faith would fail, hope lan- guish, and comfort die, because I doubted my conversion. With desire I sought rest, but I thought that greater distress than I had felt must pre- cede that blessing, and therefore refused to be comforted. And thus, sir, for several weeks I experienced all the anguish of grasping at an object of the greatest importance, and missing my aim, of laying hold of life and salvation, then falling back into the vortex of disappointment and dis- tress, until I may say I was as a lone "sparrow on the housetop"; "my teeth chattered like a swallow, my bones were pierced in me in the night season, and my sinews took no rest." (Job xxx. 17.) But deliverance was at hand. Mr. Easter came round, and his Master came with him, and in the time of meeting the Lord, who is merciful and kind, blessed me with the witness of the Spirit; and then, sir, I could re- joice indeed, yes, with joy unspeakable and full of glory! Within twenty-four hours after this I was twice tempted to think my conversion was delusive and not genuine, because I did not receive the witness of the Spirit at the same time. But I instantly applied to the throne of grace and, in the duty of prayer, the Lord delivered me from the enemy, and from that day to this I have never doubted my conversion. I have pitied, and do still pity, those who, under the influence of certain doctrines, are led to give the preference to a doubting experience, and therefore can only say, "If I ever was convert- ed," "I hope I am converted," "I fear I never was converted," etc., but can never say: "We know that we have passed from death unto life." In this respect, "darkness, in part, has happened to Zion," but I hope the time is not far distant when truth and religion shall triumph over error and form. Not long after I had confidence in my acceptance with God, Mr. Gibson preached us a sermon on sanctification, and I felt its weight. When Mr. Easter came, he enforced the same doctrines. This led me more minutely to examine the emotions of my heart. I found remaining corruption, em- braced the doctrine of sanctification, and diligently sought the blessing it holds forth. The more I sought the blessing of sanctification, the more I felt the need of it and the more important did that blessing appear. In its pursuit, my soul grew in grace and in the faith that overcomes the world. But there was an aching void which made me cry: "Tis worse than death my God to love, And not my God alone. One morning I walked into the field, and while I was musing such an overwhelming power of the Divine Being overshadowed me as I had never Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 35 experienced before. Unable to stand, I sunk to the ground, more than filled with transport. My cup ran over, and I shouted aloud. Had it not been for a new set of painful exercises which now came upon me, I might have rejoiced "evermore"; but my heart was enlarged, and I saw more clearly than ever before the danger of an unconverted state. For such persons I prayed with anxious care. At times, when called upon to pray in public, my soul would get into an agony and the Lord would, in great compassion, pour out his Spirit; souls were convicted and converted, and Zion rejoiced abundantly in those days. Without a thought of preach- ing, I began to tell my acquaintances what the Lord had done for me and could do for them. It had its effect, and lasting impressions were made. Thus I was imperceptibly led on until the preachers and people began to urge me to speak more publicly. This brought on a painful affliction of mind. While I have meditated on the subject with a disposition to submit, if it was the will of the Lord to call me to preach, the Scriptures have opened to my mind and presented me with such lively pictures of virtue and vice, and their consequences, as would fill me with " painful joy and pleasing smart"; and I would be almost ready to say: "Here am I, send me." But when I would reflect on appearing in public with the qualifications which I possessed, I felt deeply humbled and greatly discouraged. The importance of the cause, and what it might suffer from an incompetent and an injudicious advocate, made me fear that my exercises were not from God, that he never would call such a creature as I was to preach his gospel. Thus worried and distressed, I have fallen on my knees and with many tears begged the Lord to take me to heaven and so put an end to the doubt- ful case. My mind was entirely diverted from my temporal concerns and wholly devoted to the subject of religion. On a certain day, as I sat at a table, my father stepped in and addressed me thus: "William, has not the Lord called you to preach the gospel?" I answered: "I cannot tell; I do not know what a call to preach the gospel implies." He added: "I believe he has, and I charge you not to quench the Spirit." For a moment I was as one thunderstruck. We both shed tears. I asked him why he thought the Lord had called me to preach the gospel. He answered: "While you lay sick of the fever" alluding to my illness already mentioned "when the doctor and all your friends had given you up for lost, I was greatly afflicted at the thought of your dy- ing in your sins. I applied myself to the throne of grace and prayed in- cessantly. While I was on my knees, the Lord manifested himself to me in an uncommon manner, and gave me am assurance that you should live to preach the gospel, and I have never lost my confidence, although you have been too careless. " He then repeated his caution not to quench the Spirit. In this undetermined condition of mind I continued until it pleased the Lord to lay me upon a bed of affliction. Mr. Easter visited me. On the next day, when they were about starting to meeting, he prayed for me, not as men gdherally pray, but in a manner and with a zeal peculiar to himself. 36 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Under his prayer I was blessed; my soul was filled with joy. He proceeded to tell the Lord that "the harvest was great, but the laborers were few, " that I had been urged by the Spirit, but had refused to obey. He prayed the Lord to raise me up, and thrust me into his vineyard. I recovered; and from that time I spoke more frequently and freely in public, and the Lord condescended to encourage me by blessing both my hearers and myself. In the ninth month after I received the witness of my acceptance, the District Conference came on. It was held in Petersburg, Va. Mr. Easter requested me to fix myself and attend the Conference. I did so, and he kindly took me to his lodging. Upon his going to the Conference room, he invited me to come up at a certain hour and see the preachers. I went accordingly, and the first thing after prayer was to read out the preachers' stations; and you announced that I was appointed to Mecklenburg Circuit, with Philip Cox. This, I confess sir, was an unexpected shock; but your gentle manner of proceeding with the young preachers presently restored me to a degree of ease. When dismissed, I was walking in another room when my presid- ing elder came in and, discovering my agitation, took me in his arms and said: "While you were standing before the Conference, I believe God showed me that he had a work for you to do," and repeated, "Don't de- ceive me," in the most feeling manner. This, sir, had the most happy effect. It determined my unsettled mind. I only wanted to know what was right to do it as well as I could. I had the fullest confidence in the preachers, and in reflecting upon the character and judgment of those who had recommended me and of the Conference who had admitted me, strengthened by what the presiding elder with flowing tears had just said to me, I resolved to reject my doubts, submit to their judgment, take the work to which I was appointed, and fill my place as well as I could. Thus for more than eight months of painful suspense my heart was "fixed," and I set out for my circuit. But before I enter upon the ensuing part of my own history, suffer me to make some observations on what I have witnessed respecting my much loved friend and father in the gospel, John Easter. When Mr. Easter came to Brunswick Circuit, there was very little ap- pearance of religion in our neighborhood. Upon his coming, a revival took place, and in the course of the year about two hundred and fifty joined the Church within ten miles of where we resided, and about eighteen hundred were added in the circuit. 1 Mr. Easter possessed an uncommon 'Bishop McKendree leaves the number blank, and it is filled from the following authority: "The year 1787 is gratefully remembered in the Methodist history of Virginia for the most extensive and glorious revival of religion that ever occurred in the State." "The accounts which have come down to us of that powerful manifestation of the Spirit represent it as almost miracu- lous." "But although the work of the Lord was generally revived, its most powerful manifesta- tions seem to have been .on fined to the district over which the Rev. James O'Kelly presided, and in this district the most powerful displays of spiritual influence were witnessed in the Bruns- wick, Sussex, and Amelia Circuits. In each of these circuits great multitudes were turned to the Lord. In Sussex Circuit about sixteen hundred were converted; in Brunswick, about eighteen hundred; and in Amelia, about eight hundred." Life and Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee, pp. t04, MS; alto, History of tht Methodist Episcopal Church, by Dr. Bangs, Vol. I, pp. i6S-S67. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 37 degree of faith. It was objected to him that "instead of praying, he com- manded God, as if the Lord was to obey man." The following is a speci- men of what I was an eyewitness. While preaching to a large concourse of people in the open air, at a time of considerable drought, it began to thunder, a cloud approached, and drops of rain fell. He stopped preach- ing and besought the Lord to withhold the rain until evening, to pour out his Spirit, convert the people, and then water the earth. He then resumed his subject. The appearance of rain increased, the people began to get uneasy, some moved to take off their saddles; when, in his peculiar manner, he told the Lord that there were "sinners there that must be converted or be damned," and prayed that he would "stop the bottles of heaven until the evening." He closed his prayer and assured us in the most confident manner that we might keep our seats, that it would not rain to wet us; that "souls are to be converted here to-day, my God assures me of it, and you may believe it." The congregation became composed, and we did not get wet; for the clouds parted, and although there was a fine rain on both sides of us, there was none where we were until night. The Lord's Spirit was poured out in an uncommon degree, many were convicted, and a considerable number professed to be converted that day. Mr. Easter excited great attention. Hundreds, and sometimes thou- sands, attended his appointments. Frequently while he was preaching the foundations of the place would seem to be shaken and the people to be moved like the trees of the forest when shaken by a mighty tempest. Many were "the slain of the Lord, " and many were made spiritually alive. If my memory serves me, four hundred were converted at a four days' meeting. But Satan's kingdom did not suffer this loss without a struggle. Powerful, and sometimes fierce, was the opposition Mr. Easter had to con- tend with; but the Lord gave him grace according to his day. In the midst of a congregation, a man stepped to Mr. Easter, caught him by the bosom, and raised a horsewhip over his head. In that position, a few words passed between them. Mr. Easter began to pray, but when his prayer was ended his antagonist was gone. Mr. Easter. proceeded with his meeting without further interruption. On another occasion he reproved a man who was at a few yards' dis- tance on an elevated seat in the congregation. The man, as afterwards appeared, had covenanted to abuse the preacher, and for this purpose had armed himself with a club, which he shook at the preacher. Another and a sharper reproof followed. The enraged man approached Mr. Easter, brandishing his weapon, with vengeance flashing in his countenance. The preacher calmly said, "I regard the spilling of my blood for the sake of Christ no more than the bite of a fly, " but warned the furious man of the most awful consequences on his own part. The man was near enough to strike him, but Mr. Easter dared him to strike, telling him what God would do if he laid the weight of his hand upon him. The man's coun- tenance changed, he presently turned round and walked off. "I tcld you the devil is a coward," said Mr. Easter, as the crestfallen man withdrew. 38 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree These, sir, may serve as specimens of the displays of divine power which attended the ministry of that dear friend of ours. In 1788 I was appointed to Mecklenburg Circuit. This was a fortunate station for me. Mr. Cox, with whom I was appointed to travel, was an instructor and father to me. The old professors knew how to sympa- thize with young preachers. It looked to me like they wished to bear a part of the cross for me. In this circuit there were many deeply expe- rienced Christians, by whose walk and conversation I profited much. I hope I shall never forget how sweetly they used to talk of the triumphs of grace and the love of Jesus. After a sufficient trial, I expected the preachers would be convinced that I never would make a profitable preacher, that I should by that means return to the comforts which I had left behind. But the year rolled round, and I was "continued on trial." The dear people seemed unwilling to part with me, for we had spent some sweet moments together. In 1789 I took my station in Cumberland Circuit, Virginia, where I traveled part of the year, and then was moved by the presiding elder to Mecklenburg, an adjoining circuit, where I traveled the year before. During this year my doubts with regard to my call to the ministry subsided in a great measure. I began to enjoy a tolerable degree of com- fort in my calling. The members of the Church were very kind, and we saw, in some degree, the fruit of our labor. The old members were quick- ened and new ones added. But a painful affliction of another nature arose. A divisive spirit began to torment us. Methodism had progressed beyond all expectation. The few Church regulations which were adapted to the infant state of the Church would by no means cover all the cases that a rapid increase of preachers and people brought forth. The year before, a delegated number had been appointed to form regulations to meet our present difficulties. 1 They had met. Our presiding elder (James O'Kelly) was one of the num- ber. And they had unanimously agreed to a plan which was to be laid before the Conferences of the year to be adopted or rejected. But before the Conference came on, Mr. O'Kelly changed his mind and began, in our private interviews, to inform me of the imminent danger of near- approaching ruin which our then flourishing Church would in all proba- bility suffer; that this mischief had itself a cause, which, according to un- equivocal indications, was the want of religion in a party of leading charac- ters in the ministry, yourself, sir, at the head of them, whose unbounded thirst for power and money, as I understood him, was to pull down de- struction on the Church of God. I then had, and still have, a tender regard for the prosperity of Zion, and watched whatever I thought would injure her with a jealous eye. I examined what our delegates had done, and formed the best judgment I could, according to my information, and disapproved of the plan. This gave weight to the private representation of my presiding elder. lTh Council. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 39 On my way to the Conference in Petersburg, I fell in company with him and several other preachers, who held a consultation on the way and also after we reached town, and pretty well determined the business before it came up for action in the Conference. However, you arrived and laid that business before us. The result was, as you very well know, we re- jected it altogether and refused to adopt any accommodating plan. But I was somewhat disappointed; for, instead of breaking out like a tyrant, you proposed us all for deacon's orders. We elected each other, and the greater number of the preachers of that district were ordained to the office of deacon and appointed to the several circuits, with our former presiding elder at our head, on the south side of James River. In 1790 I was appointed to travel with Jesse Nicholson on Portsmouth Circuit, but was removed and spent the latter part of the year with William Spencer on Surry Circuit. This was a year of much comfort to my soul. I found an affectionate people indeed; many were deeply ex- perienced saints, who were a blessing to me. "As iron sharpeneth iron," so did the conversation of those brethren provoke me to love and good works. I found father, mother, brother, and sister indeed and in truth. It was my meat and drink to employ my spare moments in study. Fast- ing and prayer was a pleasure. I had an almost uninterrupted heaven below. The work of the Lord prospered in our hands, particularly in the latter part of the year. A considerable number of members was added to the societies. When elders rule well, they are to be counted worthy of double honor and esteemed very highly in love for their work's sake. But alas, my greatest affliction in those days came from where I ought to have had comfort! When my old friend (Mr. O'K.) visited us, much of the spare time was taken up in private communication and consulta- tion, the subject matter of which was "the manners of a party which more and more manifested the badness of their pol cy and principles, and must," as he said, "sooner or later inevitably ruin the Church of Godr" The result was a proclamation summoning all the preachers to meet in Mecklenburg on a certain day. It was in the interval of Conference and was a new thing among us; but the occasion was thought to be of such importance as to justify it. We met according to order and formed a council. Our elder told us much. He met with some opposition, but this gave much pain. A conclusion was formed in opposition to the offensive " party," and our old friend thought the preachers left much united, with one or two exceptions, who were supposed to be "creatures of the party." Our demand was a General Conference. I really loved God and sought the welfare of his Church and was there- fore disposed to listen to her complaints. The old gentleman (Mr. O'K.) I looked upon as her friend, her mouth, and so great was my confidence in him that his word was next to gospel with me. I heard him, and be- lieved what I heard. Upon hearing one side of the story only, so far as I received the report, I had to give up my confidence in the " party preach- ers," or the "bishop and his creatures," as they were called. 40 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Perhaps you may remember that about this time I informed you that I had lost confidence in yourself. At least, I shall never forget your answer, which was: "I do not wonder at that, brother; sometimes we can see with our eyes, sometimes we can see only with our ears." But, alas! with the loss of confidence, I began insensibly to lose my love for "the bishop and his creatures," in reality, my best friends, misrepre- sented, which prepares the way and leads into the worst of miseries. And this, sir, I conceive to be one of the broadest, foulest blots of the schismatic spirit. For " God is love, and whoso dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." And "by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, because ye love one another." But love began to fail. At the next Conference (1791) I was stationed on Amelia Circuit. Here, as well as I remember, our Conference was changed from the spring, and the next was appointed to meet on Christmas holiday. I have nothing of particular importance to remark on this station. I enjoyed peace of mind and comfortable fellowship with those among whom I kbored. We began to have some hope of a General Conference to adjust our conflicting opin- ions, and our fears began to subside. December, 1791. Conference met at Lane's Chapel. Peace seemed to gladden our hearts. We were informed that a General Conference was to meet the following November, that differences were adjusted, and our old friend was satisfied. I expect you have not forgotten the joy that appeared in the Confer- ence among the young preachers. Here I was ordained to the office of an elder and appointed to Greenville Circuit, which went through my old neighborhood. This was the first station that I felt my will opposed to. It fixed me in the midst of my old acquaintances, many of whom were in our societies before me and considered themselves my superiors. It was a sifting time in those parts, and I expected some of them would have to be excluded. This I feared they would not bear from me, which was the cause of my unwillingness to go to that circuit. But in this I was disap- pointed. I believe I never went through the buisness of a circuit with more ease. Although many were turned out, there were no fixed prejudices in consequence of the administration, that I know of. True, we had but few additions to the Church this year, yet we had many sweet and precious meetings. The work of sanctification revived. While I was preaching from "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth," a local preach- er cried aloud for the blessing. When I came to that place again, he pro- fessed to be sanctified and zealously and profitably enforced the doctrine. I went home with him from meeting. He conversed of death as a thing familiar and at hand. He professed to have only one wish, which was that he might be favored with a quick passage from this to the other world. He was a smith by trade. I parted with him to see him no more. Before I returned again, he was killed by a flash of lightning in the pres- ence of several persons while standing over his fire. Thus the Lord granted his desire and took him to rest. Happily disappointed in my expected troubles on this circuit, blessed Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 41 with refreshing showers of grace, and, as I thought, with peace among our- selves, our old friend came round. Our hearts were glad at the sight. But instead of confirming the peace we were told of at the last Conference and training me up in the way I ought to go, alas! the old subject was in- troduced, and I was informed that you were not sincere in the peace con- cluded; that it was a political contrivance, the real design being to gratify your ambition by a method which was to ruin the Church. I was unfortu- nate enough to believe the report, and from this time counteracting meas- ures were consulted. In November, 1792, the General Conference came on. Soon after I left my circuit to attend it, I fell in company with our elder and one or two others. At Colonel Clayton's the number increased. William Spencer and S. Cowles were sent forward, only two were permitted to continue in company with the elder. I was one of the favored number. We arrived at the seat of the General Conference and were appointed to lodge to- gether. Conference commenced. Division of sentiment indeed! Our lodging room was a council chamber. Evil was determined against the connection, justified by the supposition that the bishop and his creatures were working the ruin of the Church to gratify their pride and ambition. The old gentlemen broke off. I and some others obtained liberty of the Conference to return home and set out for Virginia. We had many con- sultations, were often confused in our deliberations, and, the rest of the company having left us, the old gentleman and myself traveled the great- er part of the way together. He unfolded his plan. It was to be "a glorious Church," "no slavery," etc. But it was founded upon the supposition that a ruinous government was being introduced by the revolutionizing Conference he had left. The supposed design of the bishop answered to the root, and the more ingenious of our cabinet discovered the trunk and all the branches of this tree. It was "dark," it was "popery!" It was a horrible thing! But different conclusions followed. One S. D. resolved to attend the approaching District Conference and take his station. Three broke off from the connection and set up in opposition to it. Neither of these methods would satisfy me. I therefore refused to take a regular station at Conference, because I expected to reject the "monstrous system" when it should appear, but met you and the presiding elder a few days after Conference and took a station. I was stationed in the city of Norfolk; and how was I surprised, in the course of the year, to find the form of discipline entirely different from what I had expected and also to find just cause to begin to withdraw my confidence from my old and best-beloved friend! Now I began to feel like one out at sea without a compass. Urged by my professed friend to leave my station and not appear at Conference and shot at by some of my real but injudicious friends, my condition was delicate and unpleasant. But Ira Ellis, my presiding elder, was a comfort to me. From him I ob- tained information and counsel which were of inestimable value to me in 42 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree my dilemma. In fine, it is my opinion that the Church is much indebted to Infinite Goodness for a man of his wisdom and prudence at that day. On this critical station the Lord was singularly good to me. In the midst of my confusion I had access to the throne of grace and was enabled to preach. Mercy and power attended the Word, and the people were blessed; so that I had refreshing cordials in the midst of many bitter draughts. WILLIAM MCKENDREE. CHAPTER IV Mr. McKendree joins the Virginia Conference, 1787 Appointed to Mecklenburg Circuit Burchett, Massie, Valentine Cook, and John McGee admitted the same time Numbers in Society Conference of 1789 Cumberland Circuit Conference of 1790 Ordained deacon The Council a failure Appointed to Portsmouth Circuit Rev. D. Jarratt Extracts from Diary. EVERY genuine conversion to God is characterized by love to God and man; and as the first leads to adoration and filial obedience to the divine will, so the second induces an earnest desire for the welfare of others and efforts to do them good. They are at once the evidence of Christian experience and the guarantee of practical goodness. The demonstration of their existence and of their divine origin is seen in the purity of the lives of those who profess conversion, for "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." These traits of regeneration were exhibited by young McKendree. In the artless narrative given from his own pen, in the preceding chapter, we have had portrayed his conviction, conversion, and sanctification. Shortly after his profession of religion, he began to converse with his friends and associates, telling them what God had done for his soul and persuading them to come to Christ. He could not be silent or idle. Christ was so precious, religion so important, and sin so ruinous, he must speak and work. Fealty to God and duty to his neighbor demanded it. Soon he was found taking part in the public religious exercises, such as prayer meetings, love feasts, and class meetings. Fruits of his labors began to appear; many were convicted and con- verted. Presently his mind became painfully excited upon the subject of preaching; and the fact that many of his most devoted and intelligent friends, both in the laity and among the preach- ers, believed he was called of God to the ministry, increased this excitement. Mr. Easter, his spiritual father, fully concurred in this sentiment and urged him to go with him around the cir- cuit. He yielded and started, but became so increasingly fearful lest he should go without the divine warrant for his mis- sion that he gave way to his fears and returned home before the round was completed. Deeply did he love the cause of God, but so humble were his views of his fitness for the holy office, that he shrunk from it. He had been taught to associate a classical 44 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree education and a theological training with the exercise of the ministry. He had only an English education. And then the responsibilities of the ministry were alarming to his sensitive and modest mind. Afraid to go forward, and yet dreading the result of refusing to do so, he was, to use his own language, "tossed to and fro." While in this distressed state of mind, the Virginia Conference came on, and, unable to at- tend to business on account of the anguish of his spirit, he went to Petersburg, the seat of the Conference. He had been con- verted only about nine months and had no formal recom- mendation. The preachers and presiding elder, who knew him well, recommended him for admission on trial in the itinerant work. The Conference session was held with closed doors, and he seems not to have been aware of the result. At the close of the Conference, the doors were thrown open and visitors entered the room, he among the rest. Bishop Asbury, after his usual concise and solemn address to the preachers, proceeded to read out the appointments, and William McKendree was announced for Mecklenburg Circuit. This was certainly a summary process, for there is no evidence that he had either been recom- mended to the Conference by the society or licensed as a local preacher. And as he never located, he never was a local preacher. After a severe mental struggle, and with many misgivings as to his call and fitness for the work, he determined to undertake it; and having resolved to make the attempt, with an humble and trembling heart he entered at once upon its duties. His name therefore appears for the first time in the General Minutes as having been "received on trial" in the Virginia Conference in 1788. The following is his own statement of his feelings at this period : I went immediately to the circuit to which I was appointed, relying more upon the judgment of experienced ministers in whom I confided than in any clear convictions of my call to the work; and when I yielded to their judgment, I determined not to deceive them, but to retire so soon as I should be convinced that I was not called of God, and to conduct my- self in such a manner that, if I failed, my friends might be satisfied it was not for want of effort on my part, but that their judgment was not well founded. This resolution supported me under many doubts and fears, for entering upon the work of a traveling preacher neither removed my doubts nor the difficulties that attended my labors. Sustained by a resolution to make a full trial, I resorted to fasting and prayer and waited for the kind friends who had charge of me to dismiss me from the work. But I wailed in vain. In this state of suspense my reasoning might have Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 45 terminated in discouraging and ruinous conclusions had I not been com- forted and sustained by the manner my aged and experienced brethren received me, by the manifest presence of God in our meetings, and by communion with my Saviour in private devotion. In this way I became satisfied, at last, of my call to the ministry, and that I was moving in the line of duty. The Rev. M. Thrift, of Petersburg, Va., among several inci- dents in the life of Mr. McKendree, with which he has kindly favored the writer, gives the following facts: "The first sermon ever preached by him was at the house of Robert Venable, in the county of Prince Edward. During his first year's labor, he was much depressed in spirits and was on the point of relin- quishing his work as an itinerant, but his friends, and especially the Venables, encouraged him to go on. He was greatly be- loved wherever he labored. One great cause why he obtained such a firm hold upon the affections of the people was his mild and conciliating manners." James 0' Kelly was his first presiding elder, and Philip Cox, who had charge of the circuit, was his first colleague. Mr. Cox seems to have been an excellent man and proved a great blessing to his less experienced associate. His piety, prudence, amiability, and perseverance were of inestimable importance in forming the habits and molding the character of his junior brother. He was fortunate also in having his first year's work among such a community as he found on Mecklenburg Circuit. The prominent members of the Church sympathized with him, esteemed him highly, and sustained him by their counsels and their prayers. His fears and doubts began gradually to subside. The conviction deepened in his mind that to preach the gospel was essential to his own happiness, and as he was constrained to believe that his efforts were crowned with the blessing of God in the conversion of souls his feelings became much relieved as to his duty before the year closed. The whole number of Methodists in America when Mr. Mc- Kendree joined them, white and colored, was only about twenty-five thousand. The following year (1788) added fifty per cent to this number, giving the result of the glorious revival in Virginia. The number of preachers increased nearly in the same proportion ; forty-eight were admitted on trial at this Con- ference. His first year's work closed. God had been with him, and his charge was reluctant to part with him. The agony of his mind was subsiding, the clouds were beginning to give place to sun- 46 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree shine, and his heart was becoming satisfied to work, and, if need be, to suffer and die in the Lord's vineyard. Among the number admitted on trial with Mr. McKendree at the Conference in 1788 were Henry Burchett, Peter Massie, Valentine Cook, and John McGee, all of whom, like himself, were, in after years, laborers in the West. The first two, after having toiled and suffered for a few years in the western fron- tiers, died in the work, and died in great peace. The remains of the first repose in an old graveyard, overgrown with briars and bushes, in the midst of a large field about three miles below Nashville, Tenn. Some kind hand erected a simple tombstone and inscribed it with his initials. His biography says of him, and it is among the earliest found in the Minutes: "He was a gracious, happy, useful man, who freely offered himself for four years' service on the dangerous stations of Kentucky and Cumberland. He was one among the worthies who freely left ease, safety, and prosperity to seek after and suffer faithfully for souls. His meekness, love, labors, prayers, tears, sermons, and exhortations will not be soon forgotten." He died in 1794. Mr. Massie also died near Nashville, and his resting place is about three miles southwest of that city. After laboring faith- fully in the ministry for three years, "he obtained what he de- sired, a sudden death, by falling from his seat" and immediate- ly expiring. He was a deeply afflicted, devout, and useful man. Valentine Cook, after traveling in the Virginia Conference several years, came to Kentucky and was a remarkably devoted and useful preacher. He was a learned man, rather eccentric in his manners, mighty in the Scriptures, and labored exten- sively and very successfully in planting Methodism in the West. His memory is a sweet savor throughout the region of his labors. The author has reason to remember him and to revere and love him. He sleeps in the soil of Kentucky. John McGee was one of the principal instruments of the great revival of 1800 in the West and was distinguished by his sternly simple manners, his purity of life, and the power of his appeals to the heart. He was father-in-law to Thomas Logan Douglass, and died at an advanced age in Smith County, Tenn., greatly and justly respected. Such were the men with whom Mr. McKendree entered the ministry. That band, remarkable for their primitive simplicity of deportment, their gravity, zeal, and fidelity to their mission, have all passed away; their privations, toils, and persecutions Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 47 are over. The battle was a hard one, but it is ended, and they have the victory which insures an eternity of bliss. At the Virginia Conference, held in Petersburg, and which began April 20, 1789, Bishops Coke and Asbury were both pres- ent. Mr. McKendree received his appointment to the Cumber- land Circuit, with John Barker in charge as his colleague and James 0' Kelly for his elder. His field of labor lay on James River, and principally in Washington County, Va. This seems to have been a very agreeable circuit, and he found here many kind friends and was generally warmly received. But, as was customary at that period, he was taken from that circuit after he had been there six months and was returned to Mecklenburg, the scene of his labors during the previous year. This fact is evidence of the error of the tradition which represents him as having been an unacceptable young preacher, inasmuch as his presiding elder would not have reappointed him to the same field of labor where he must have known he would not be well received and consequently not useful. We have, however, but little reliable information as to his course during this year. That he was a close and methodical student, punctual to all his engagements, and devoted to his work, none will doubt who knew him. With characteristic modesty, he confesses that he was not only treated with marked kindness by his charge, but that he "saw fruit of his labors." One important fact is clearly developed in his history, that during this year he became fully satisfied that it was his duty to preach the gospel and that he dismissed all those harassing fears which had tormented his mind upon this subject. Hence- forth we shall find him unreservedly and cheerfully giving all his energies of soul and body to his holy vocation, until he "ceased at once to work and live." The Conference was again held at Petersburg, in 1790, and began on June 14. Here he was admitted into full con- nection, and ordained a deacon. 1 Mr. Asbury, in his Journal, J The following is a copy of the original certificate of his ordination: Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Francis Asbury, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, under the protection of Almighty God, and with a Single Eye to his Glory, by the Imposition of my Hands, and Prayer, did, on the day of the date hereof, set apart WILLIAM MCKENDREE for the office of a Deacon in the said Methodist Episcopal Church a man whom we judge to be well qualified for that work; and do hereby recom- 48 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree says of this Conference: "All was peace until the council was mentioned. The young men appeared to be entirely under the control of the elders and turned it out of doors. I was weary and felt but little freedom to speak on the subject. This business is to be explained to every preacher; and then it must be carried through the Conferences twenty-four times that is, through all the Conferences for two years." The council here alluded to had been originated the year be- fore and was designed as a remedy for two difficulties: (1) The great extension of the work rendered it quite inconvenient for all the preachers to meet together annually. (2) Each Con- ference claimed the right of a distinct and separate power and regarded nothing as binding except the ordination and station- ing of the preachers unless sanctioned by all the Conferences. The condition of the Conferences was somewhat similar to that which the several States of our Confederacy held to each other before the adoption of the Federal Constitution. The various Conferences, although allied to each other by agreement as to creed and the moral and religious objects of Methodism and also by recognizing the authority of the bishops as chief pastors in conferring ordination and making the appointments, claimed and exercised supreme control upon all questions not expressly intrusted to the bishops and the General Conference. As a matter of course, no rule or regulation affecting the general interests of the Church or the itinerancy could be made, changed, or repealed, nor could any new enterprise be attempted, until it had been agreed to and adopted by each Annual Conference. To avoid these serious inconveniences and promote unity and efficiency, the plan was adopted to hold a council, consisting of not less than nine, of which the bishops and the presiding elders throughout the connection should be members. This general council, representing the whole work, was invested with "au- thority to mature everything they shall judge expedient. (1) To preserve the general union. (2) To render and preserve the external form of worship similar throughout the connection. (3) To preserve the essentials of Methodist doctrines and dis- mend him to all whom it may concern, as a proper Person to administer the ordinance of Baptism, Marriage, and the Burial of the Dead, in the absence of an Elder; and to feed the Flock of Christ, so long as his Spirit and Practice are such as become the Gospel. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal, this fifteenth day of June, One thousand seven hundred and ninety. FRANCIS [seal] ASBURV. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 49 cipline pure and uncorrupted. (4) To correct all abuses and disorders. And, lastly, to mature everything they may see necessary for the good of the Church and for promoting and improving our colleges and plan of education." This plan, in the absence of a delegated General Conference, which seems not yet to have been thought of, was certainly an improvement upon the state of things previously existing. But unfortunately there was a provision in the plan which not only required unanimity in the council, but which, moreover, declared that "nothing so assented to by the council shall be binding in any district until it has been agreed upon by a majority of the Conference held for that district." These provisions neutralized the utility of the whole arrangement. By requiring all the acts of the council to be adopted by the District Conferences nothing was gained, as to time, over the old system. And as unanimity could scarce- ly be expected among so large a number of independent bodies in reference to complicated measures connected with the inter- ests of a Church spreading over the continent, there was like- wise no increased security for the harmonious and effective cooperation of the whole body. The object of these unfortunate provisions was a laudable desire to maintain Conference rights; but it was done at the sacrifice of union and energy. The manner by which the objects of its authors was sought to be secured rendered the plan liable to attacks and exposed them to the shafts of the captious. As a political arrangement, it was a blunder, being not at all adapted to the necessities of the Church or the spirit of the times. It attempted to unite, with- out any sinister design on the part of its pure-minded advocates, the aristocratic with the most unlimited democratic element. A "maturing council," composed of bishops and their ap- pointees, was the aristocratic principle; the purely democratic feature was found in the fact that each District Conference had an unqualified veto power. This plan might answer for the Independents and for all who adopt the Congregational system of Church government, but could only result in discord and disaster in a Church which seeks to accomplish the benevolent mission of Christianity by a concentration of her influence. In justice to Mr. Asbury and those who concurred with that sagacious and pure-hearted man in recommending this measure, it should be stated that at first all the Conferences received the plan with approbation, and, under a different state of things and with some modifications, it would have been a very useful ar- 4 50 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree rangement; but after two years' trial it was abandoned by com- mon consent. The first session of this council was held at Cokesbury, on December 1, 1789, consisting of Richard Ivy, from Georgia; R. Ellis, South Carolina; E. Morris, North Carolina; Philip Bruce, Northern District of Virginia; James O'Kelly, Southern District of Virginia; L. Green, Ohio; Nelson Reid, Western Shore, Maryland; J. Everett, Eastern Shore; John Dickens, Pennsylvania; J. 0. Cromwell, New Jersey; and Freeborn Garrettson, New York. Bishop Asbury says: "All our business was done in harmony and love." " The concerns of the college," "the printing business," "economy," "union," "funds for our suffering preachers on the western frontiers," etc., were sub- jects discussed and acted on at this meeting; and no doubt their action was wise and necessary. But alas! we hpve already seen how easily all their schemes were rendered abortive by the action of the Virginia Conference. There is much significance in the laconic remark of Bishop Asbury, attributing the defeat of the "council" to the influence of the elders over the young preachers. We have already seen that Mr. James O'Kelly was a member of this council, was pres- ent at its session, and sanctioned its suggestions. But, un- fortunately for his reputation as well as for the peace of the Church in Virginia, he had scarcely returned to his district be- fore he changed his mind and began a course of systematic opposition. Whether this desertion of his colleagues and, at first, covert war against the very measures he had sustained in the council resulted from a conviction of their impropriety or of opposition to the council itself, or, which is more probable still, from jealousy of Bishop Asbury's growing influence, coupled with an inordinate thirst for popularity, must be left to the decision of the reader. But certainly his subsequent con- duct exhibits him in a very questionable light. If opposed to the principle in the organization of the council, he had time and opportunities enough to form and express his convictions without subjecting himself to the charge of gross inconsis- tency. If his objections were founded on the acts of the council, he should have opposed them in the session of the council, where one dissent would have defeated them. But we are constrained to the conclusion that other and less worthy motives dictated his factious course. He may not have been fully aware of the secret springs of his feelings and actions at the beginning of his defection, but charity itself, although it Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 51 can "cover a multitude of sins," can scarcely be so blind as not to perceive that his course is irreconcilable with candor and Christian integrity. He was an old preacher, of fine talents, and wielded a great influence over the younger preachers. He had evidently laid the train for the ruin of Bishop Asbury's favorite plan, and the ex- plosion began at this Conference. This was, however, but the beginning; the end is not yet. At the Conference of 1790, Mr. McKendree was appointed to Portsmouth Circuit, with Jesse Nicholson for his colleague and James 0' Kelly for his elder. His narrative of this year's work, of his transfer to Surry Circuit, and of the pleasure and spiritual profit he enjoyed have been stated in his letter to Bishop Asbury. The Diary of Mr. McKendree, which now lies before the writer, begins May 7, 1790. To those who recollect the manners of Mr. McKendree after he became a bishop, it may be surprising to learn that one who was usually placid, so philosophically self-possessed and bland, whether in the parlor, the pulpit, or in the chair, was remarkable for the austerities which he imposed upon himself and the fer- vor, almost verging upon excessive enthusiasm, which marked his early ministerial history. A few quotations from his Diary are given, not certainly to condemn, but to illustrate truthfully the depth and earnestness of his piety and zeal: "Friday, May 7, 1790. This being fast day, a day I much delight in, because it is a day on which Jesus often feeds my soul, I rose early, while it was yet dark, and went into the field for prayer and meditation; returned to the house and, after family prayer, sat down closely to reading, writing, and prayer. The day proved very rainy. I have no watch, and having risen so early and a few persons having come too soon, we mistook the time of day and began the meeting; a precious meeting we had indeed." This meeting, it seems, was held in a private house, and after they had closed the exercises and had waited an hour or two, and "just as dinner was set, the people began to come to meet- ing." Mortified at his mistake, but not discouraged, he post- poned the dinner arrangements and proceeded to hold another meeting. This seems to have been the better of the two, for he adds: "The great Jehovah poured heaven all over us, until I, as well as the rest, was filled, overrun," etc. "Saturday, May 8. Deep solemnity and heart agony rested 52 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree on me. how I pant after more of God! Went to meeting; found very few; spoke from, 'O Absalom, my son, my son!' etc. Felt like I wanted to send 'rivers of tears' to the ends of the earth; returned and went into the preacher's room, and Jesus met me. All my sorrow was emptied into his bosom, and I had access to a throne of grace." Having gone into the woods on that afternoon to read and pray in solitude, he says: "My heart burned, but this did not suffice. I tried this way and that, until at last I got into an agony of prayer. agony! Opain! sweet pain! how the flesh dreads agonizing prayer! But I am convinced there is no getting nigh or keeping close to God without it." "Sunday, May 9. Had a comfortable time in the morning and set off with some brethren to love feast at Brother Young's meetinghouse; had sweet, refreshing showers by the way; got within a few miles and saw such numbers on the way and the road so trodden, I felt an awe; and Satan offered me a tempta- tion, but I absolutely refused to receive it; turned into the woods, and in a beautiful valley fell at Jesus's feet. He opened heaven and filled my soul with such victorious joys that the fear of men and of devils vanished. As I stepped into the door, I felt like God was there. ... At night had prayer meeting, a time of the Lord's power, Christians shouting, and my soul de- lighted. . . . Went to bed about 11 o'clock. The Lord waked me, as usual; regardless of interrupting preachers or people, I praised the Lord, and went to bed again." This is an allusion to his habit of rising from his bed every night for devotion. "Monday, May 10. Waked at the break of day; addressed the throne of grace; went over a quarter of a mile to a fine stream and listened to the murmuring waters and singing birds; sent a volley of praise to Jesus, with strong cries for such things as I stood in need of. Began searching my heart by the follow- ing questions: " 1. For what have I left dear parents, family connections, and all that is dear to me? Answer. Not for applause or money or yet to spread my name or for any sinister view; but (1) for peace to my soul; (2) to obey God, without which I cannot keep peace; and (3) if by any means I may be helpful to sinners in my generation. "2. Why do you exert yourself in reading, praying, and meditating so much? Answer. Not to merit heaven or to rec- ommend me to God's favor or yet 'to be seen of men'; but to Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 53 become more and more acquainted with the Word of God and the Spirit of God. "3. How long do you intend to stand it? Answer. As long as I breathe." On May 18, Mr. O'Kelly came to his appointment and preached for him; and from the following remarks in his Diary no doubt Mr. O'Kelly endeavored privately and under the guise of confidence to weaken his attachments to Mr. Asbury and the government of the Church. He wrote thus: "But, poor preachers, when they come together and begin to unbosom themselves and look into their distresses, there is grief indeed! Such a time of trouble I have not felt. Heavy clouds rising; thunder begins to rumble, and lightning flash; such gloomy prospects I never saw before," etc. What a pity that one so pure and artless should be brought under the influence of a jealous, sour, intriguing old preacher! Here is more of it: "Wednesday, May 19. Brother P'Kelly preached again, surely the greatest sermon I ever heard. The dear old man got his bitter cup sweetened and his soul inflamed. This evening the preachers got together again and the griefs returned again; went to bed sorrowful." Yes, here is an elder poisoning the minds of the young preach- ers against Mr. Asbury and other holy men, assuming ex- traordinary piety and love for Methodism, leading these unsus- pecting souls to regard Mr. Asbury as despotic and mercenary, and plotting the overthrow of the very system for which he had lately voted in council. What a presiding elder! A wolf in charge of lambs! On Thursday, June 10, he took leave of his charge and started . for Conference; met with Mr. O'Kelly and continued with him to Petersburg. On the way, fell in company with a good many of his brethren going to Conference. Of course, Mr. O'Kelly could not lose so good an opportunity to carry out his miserable designs. Here is the indication of it : "Friday, June 11. Brother O'Kelly preached from Romans xi. 33. We had great preaching, but not so happy a time as I have seen; here met with several other preachers; went on after preaching, twelve or fifteen miles to Brother P.'s. Had some weighty matters brought before us," etc. Who doubts but the "weighty matters brought before" them were presented by the elder? that the object was to afflict and depreciate Bishop Asbury and the old preachers who agreed 54 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree with him, by "throwing out of doors" at the ensuing Conference the recommendations of "the council"? This is the way the elders got the "control of the young preachers." What a lesson does the subsequent history of this man teach to ecclesiastical demagogues! Let young preachers beware of such men. The following extract may be interesting as illustrative of early Conference scenes: "Monday, June 14, 1790. Got to Petersburg; found Con- ference sitting 1 and the young preachers going through their examination; and to my comfort heard eighteen or twenty re- ceived without a blemish, after standing their time of probation. In the evening, Bishop Asbury read his letters from different quarters, which gave accounts of the great work of God going on. The Lord made it a time of sweetness and power to us in general. At the adjourning of the Conference, Mr. Jarratt, an Episcopalian preacher, who was with us, went to prayer, and a time of shouting we had." "Tuesday, Second Day of Conference. We had a precious time in the morning. Mr. Jarratt preached at 11 o'clock. After preaching, seventeen preachers, being elected, were called and presented to the bishop to be ordained deacons. Such a sight I never saw before. It was a solemn time indeed and seemed to affect the extensive congregation. For my own part, I think I was never thus affected before. Felt fresh desires and stronger resolutions than ever I experienced before to live to God alto- gether. The world this day seemed to be left very far behind, and my soul encompassed with light." His parchment, signed by Bishop Asbury, dated June 15, 1790, certifies that he was one of these seventeen; although from an excess of modesty he does not say so. "A solemn time, indeed!" Doubtless it was peculiarly so to him. It was the hour of his public consecration to the ministry and of the ir- revocable vow of self-dedication to the "one work" of saving souls. The impression of that hour never was erased, that solemn vow never violated. Like Wesley, Coke, and Asbury, he gave all his time and energies, to his latest hour, to that most noble of all works. l This Conference was most probably held in a private house, as I learn by a letter from the late A. Dibrell, dated Norfolk, Va., January 26, 1855, that "Bishop McKendree was ordained deacon in the house of Mr. Gressett Davis, the house now occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Follett. There was at that time no Methodist Church in Petersburg." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 55 The Conference over, Mr. McKendree started immediately to his new field of labor and reached it in time to fill the first appointment, Sunday, June 20. Notwithstanding the length of the extracts already given from his Journal, we must give one or two more in this connection, as evincing his course dur- ing this year. "Saturday, June 26. Awoke this morning at my usual time and found myself much disordered; thought it was prudent to indulge my debilitated body with 'a little more sleep and a little more slumber.' But I soon found a fire shut up in my bones struggling for vent. I sprang up, fell on my knees, and Jesus answered : ' Here am I.' I read five chapters on my knees, as usual, with deliberation and in deep meditation, praying for every five verses and found heaven all around me. I was made so sensible of God's goodness that I sank into nothing before him, and every breath and thought seemed to be prayer or praise; could scarcely help from bursting into open praise before my strange brethren. My heart melted like wax and my soul was overwhelmed with gratitude." In the evening, after Brother Nicholson had preached for him, he says: "We went on the seashore. So noble a scene never before saluted my eyes! As I approached the foaming, raging sea, I observed the waves had their 'bounds/ and their Almighty Creator was presented to my mind. I cried out, 'Who would refuse to worship such a God as this? ' All earthly objects ap- pear small, except such as raise great thoughts about God." The incidents noted in his Journal, under date of June 30, present a new phase in his character and evince that he pos- sessed both physical and moral courage. " Wednesday, June 30. Had three hard places to preach at, where there are no societies. The second, only last Sabbath . pro- duced hundreds of hearers; some drunk, some cursing and swear- ing, and others offering the preacher grog; while he was, as he said, on his best behavior for fear of a whipping. This set me all on fire, felt as though a whipping, for Christ's sake, would be sweet, with faithful dealing with such rebels. I went and out they came. Nobody said to me: 'Alight,' 'Come in the house,' or 'Sit down;' it was a private dwelling house. I went right in, put down my things, and fixed the table to stand by. I felt a fire in my bones and began preaching from Luke xvi. 23: 'And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments.' They seemed to hear with great attention. I did not spare them in the least; 56 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree many deep sighs mixed with tears. A cloud came up and it be- gan to thunder fearfully. I claimed the thunder for my God and bid defiance to every other power, daring the rebels then to say one word. The Lord made it his time to pierce many of their hard hearts. I came off clear, road through the rain, re- joicing, to Cross Roads, and rested from my labors." One or two more extracts from his Journal will suffice for the present. "Monday, July 5. Sprang from bed at the crack of day, when all lay sleeping around me. Hurried away with my Bible to the open fields overspread with the curtains of heaven and prostrated myself before the Deity. Felt less than nothing; wrestled in prayer; ran through the fields of meditation; read ten chapters on my knees, praying fervently every five verses. The Lord bowed the heavens and came down to visit me, poured out salvation until my soul was fully delighted," etc. "Saturday, July 10. The attributes of the Lord, the provi- dence of God, all the holy angels, and the myriad prayers of thousands of saints are my friends and on my side. Storms and calms, pain and ease, persecution and prosperity, life and death you all belong to me through Jesus Christ. Glory, hallelujah! Jesus is my beloved. Enough, enough! What can daunt my soul when Jesus says, 'Go'? I'll run to and fro at his command, in ease or pain, and count the sufferings of this life not worth mentioning in comparison of the transcendent glories to be revealed." And so he did run until he found that glory. CHAPTER V Extracts from his Diary Preaches two hours Vessels in a gale Feels like a wanderer Conversions Preaches in the open air In Ports- mouth and Norfolk Bands Very busy Children's class Duty to baptized children Self-dedication Emancipation Is changed to an- other circuit "Power" Good breeding New circuit His course of life. As the leading object of this biography is to give a full and faithful portraiture of this honored and excellent minister of God, no apology can be necessary for quoting so frequently from his Diary. It would be an unpardonable display of vanity if the writer were to substitute his own description of the man for the intellectual and moral daguerreotype which his own writings furnish us. We quote his Diary again: " Thursday, July 15. Feel so little and mean. I go through a round of duties, but with so little life, I blush and ask pardon. Rode fifteen miles, found a large congregation; preached two hours and thought the time short. The word had a sweet effect. Went into class meeting; the people pressed upstairs and begged to be permitted to come in; had a good time; several joined the Church." The next sentence reveals the fact that, even at that time, he was subject to a determination of blood to his brain, which, in the decline of life, often afflicted him so much as to disqualify him for any mental or physical labor: "Was obliged to go to bed before the meeting was over; ate no dinner; kept my bed until night; was bled, and found some relief." This indisposi- tion continued several days, although he, was able to attend his appointments and had some refreshing meetings. "Monday, July 19. Preached at Annapolis to an attentive people. After meeting, took myself to solitude; found much sweet communion with the Lord on a river bank; wrestled in prayer; reading and meditating, the place became awful. A heavy cloud arose very hastily; the waves ran high; vessels hove in sight under furled sails; I sat and looked on; never in my life did the great Jehovah appear so awfully powerful; my soul shuddered. But in the midst, his providential care filled me with praise. The rain and clouds soon obscured the view; I returned to the house and cast myself at Jesus's feet in prayer. During the balance of the day I found continual peace in my soul, although I mourn on account of my little progress in the divine life and see so few souls getting converted. Lord, revive 58 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree thy work! 'Turn again our captivity, Lord, and we will praise thee!" The next quotation indicates a state of feeling in which many itinerant preachers can sympathize. He was a wanderer from home and loved friends for Christ's sake. Like his great Master and prototype, "he had not where to lay his head." The morally sublime and benevolent object of his mission was not always appreciated by those for whose salvation he labored. And even when the melancholy feeling arising from a sense of dependence among strangers, which he here expresses, may have been groundless as regards the hospitable disposition of the people, yet how natural and pardonable the emotion! "Tuesday, July 20. Find myself still very poorly and in much pain, yet I must go on, for I have no place to rest my aching head. Ye sweet birds, sing on; make your nests and raise your young in peace; but I am beholden to others for a place of shelter and rest. Rejoice, ye foxes; sport, ye active lambs, the God of nature smiles upon you." But sensible that such a strain of feelings may easily mislead him, he checks them by adding: "Beware of reasoning with Satan! "0 faithless soul to reason thus, And murmur without end! Did Christ expire upon the cross, And is he not your friend? Your Saviour is your real friend To tell your secrets to; On his advice you may depend In everything you do. Found a large congregation, lifted my heart to Jesus; he an- swered. In the beginning it was painful to speak, but I soon got well. The power of the Lord came down, the Word was like fire among the people; some that never heard a Methodist be- fore, as I was informed, sunk to the floor and cried for mercy. God bless these yielding sinners! If I go among them, they crowd around me to see who can talk to me. Fourteen mourners on the floor and two sprung to life! At night the people thronged out, and among the rest a bitter enemy of the Method- ists. The Lord poured out his Spirit. Just as I began to exhort, one was converted and sprung up; a shout bursted in the con- gregation, I turned round, and caught the old persecutor in my arms. I called upon him to repent, and told him he would be damned if he did not." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 59 " Wednesday, July 21 . So many people came to meeting; I was compelled to take my stand under a tree in the open air. About the middle of the sermon one fell to the ground. It was a solemn time; joined ten in society. Although no appointment had been made for meeting, I was astonished to see a large house crowded with people after dark. I risked my health, preached, and found the Lord as evidently present as perhaps I ever did in my life. The God of Elijah answers by fire! Two souls sprung into life, one backslider professed to be reclaimed, and others lay almost like dead men. This being a new preach- ing place, the people were amazed and gazed as if they saw wonders." The next three days he spent in Portsmouth and Norfolk, attending class meetings and preaching when well enough to do so, but still laboring under debility and pain. Mention is made of Brother Nicholson in Portsmouth, and Martin in Norfolk, as preachers in charge of these places. In the former place he be- came acquainted with a Brother George, and "found him and his family very kind and pious." " Tuesday, July 27, and Wednesday, July 28. A little com- forted in meeting, but generally feel much backwardness to my duty, which is painful to me, but not half painful enough. Lord, increase my faith, inflame my desires; like a mighty magnet draw my whole nature toward thee, that I may run after thee in full stretch, with an earnest and expanded heart and take the kingdom of heaven by humble violence! Amen, amen." "Thursday, July 29. 0, this leanness! and the worst of all is, I am too contented in it and too much at ease. Lord, pour fire into my soul and heart and bones! Shut it up there until every power is inflamed! Let me wrestle and fight and die rather than sink into a formal spirit of religion!" The next quotation is a characteristic one: "Monday, August 2. Rest day; arose early; applied myself closely to study. There are several persons present with whom I have been in company for several days and have endeavored to provoke them to good works; I hope I have succeeded. Last evening I formed five bands, one of which wept over their lean- ness and started with renewed zeal. This morning, at breakfast, they told me they rose at midnight, walked a mile, and held a band meeting while I lay asleep. I stood confounded and ashamed." 60 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree The following extract from his Diary, dated Thursday, Au- gust 5, 1790, illustrates the character of our fathers in the itiner- ancy, and the secret of their success: "Rose early; poured out my soul in prayer and praise; rode to Portsmouth; met the other preacher and at twelve o'clock met class; had a comfortable time. Rode into the country and preached at 4 P.M. The power of the Lord was amongst the people; deep solemnity rested on the whole congregation; about twelve or fifteen down crying for mercy. One was con- verted and appeared to be as happy as a creature can be. Re- turned to town, preached at eight o'clock, and went to rest at half-past ten o'clock, much fatigued in body but with perfect calmness of soul." Again he writes: "Friday, August 6. Set out soon; rode t\venty-five miles; preached, met class, and classed seventeen children." How suggestive is the closing remark! And may not the inquiry be both pertinent and important just here, whether, as Methodists, and especially as Methodist preachers, we are doing our whole duty to our children? Sunday schools have done much for them; but ought not the children of our people to be placed more fully under the pastoral oversight of our preachers in charge? Should they not form children's classes, meet them regularly, instruct, exhort, and pray with and for them? So did young McKendree. Is it not time we were all awake to the importance of this work? Christ loves "the little children," is angry at those who forbid their coming to him, says he is their King, and his kingdom is composed of, or be- longs to, such, for "of such is the kingdom of heaven," presents them as models to which adults must be assimilated, that they may enter the kingdom, thus recognizing their right to the privileges of citizenship in his kingdom and of their eternal salvation except upon a forfeiture of these blessings. Thus we understand the great Master; so the great body of the Christian Church understood him down to the Reformation. Hence the undisputed recognition of their right to baptism by the early Church. And now we baptize them and have done with them! Surely a good shepherd will take care of the lambs of his flock. Christ's lambs'should have our care. On Saturday, August 28, after preaching and attending the burial of a friend, he received a packet of letters, and among them was one from "a friend," which seems to have excited him Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 61 greatly. Whatever may have been the design of this communi- cation, it became a spur to his devotional feelings and called forth the following strong expressions of renewed dedication of himself to the service of God : "I feel fresh courage; the 'spur' provokes i. e., excites me, heaven allures me, the Father draws, and Jesus bids me come. And what shall prevent? Shall tribulation, affliction, or per- secution? No. Is anything too much to give up or too dear to part from? Shall chief friends or near connections stay me? No. Shall honor or pleasure? I spurn them. Shall the riches of Peru or the gold of Ophir be thought equal to thine eternal love, Lord? And, with all the rest, I cheerfully make the surrender of soul, flesh, and blood, and, at thy command, father and mother, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, and the yoke broke and the oppressed go free. And my life, adorable Jesus, is at thy disposal! All these do I view as valueless when they rise between thee and me. And now, Lord God Almighty, grant me one request, for Christ's sake; give me grace; give me power cheerfully to leave them all at thy command." Two remarks suggested by the above quotation may not be considered inappropriate: 1. Without a frequent and solemn reconsecration of himself and of all he has to the service of God, no preacher is fitted for his holy work. 2. There is doubtless, an inkling of his feelings on the subject of emancipation in the above phrase: "The yoke broke, the oppressed go free." Mr. McKendree, in common with the whole body of his colleagues in the Methodist ministry, and perhaps in the mem- bership, was doubtless sternly opposed to the African slave trade, then carried on extensively. The feelings of Mr. Wesley and of Dr. Coke were well understood upon this subject. Hu- manity shuddered at the injustice and cruelty connected with it. South Carolina, while a British province, passed an act prohibiting the further importation of slaves, but Great Britian rejected it. The province of Virginia repeatedly remonstrated with the crown of England against it and begged its discontin- uance, but British selfishness protected the traffic and, assisted by New England, carried it on until the South was filled with captured Africans. 1 J The colony of Virginia, beginning as far back as 1699, passed twenty- three acts to repress the slave trade. 62 Life and Timss of Bishop McKendree In her petition to the British throne in 1772, the following language is used : We are encouraged to look up to the throne and implore Your Majesty's paternal assistance in averting a calamity of the most alarming nature. The importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of Africa hath long been considered a trade of inhumanity; and under its present en- couragement, we have too much reason to fear, will endanger the very existence of Your Majesty's American dominions. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, we most humbly beseech our Majesty to remove all those restraints on our Majesty's governors of this colony which inhibit their assenting to such laws which might check so very pernicious a commerce. These petitions availed nothing. The reply which had been made to South Carolina, that the slave trade was beneficial and necessary to the mother country, and which was given to the attempts to abolish the trade in Jamaica in 1765, and repeated in 1774 that "we cannot allow the colonies to check or discour- age a traffic so beneficial to the nation," seems to have been the settled policy of England up to the period of our Revolution. Indeed, "the inhuman use of the royal negative" against the action of the colonies upon this subject is specified in the very first clause of the original Virginia Constitution as a reason of her separation from the mother country; and the first Assembly after the adoption of the Constitution prohibited the traffic. Nor let it be forgotten that the United States government interdicted the trade from her ports thirteen years before Great Britain did ; that she made it punishable as a crime seven years before, and that she fixed the period of nonimportation while Britain was still allowing and encouraging it in her colonies; and that Northern ships and capital were deeply interested in the trade. Thus to old England and New England the South al- most wholly owed her slaves, and but for Southern opposition to their "capture" and the horrors of "the middle passage," the African slave trade would not have been so soon abolished. Sympathizing with the prevailing feeling upon this subject, Mr. McKendree was decidedly opposed to the slave trade. Humanity and religion branded it as cruel and odious. Mr. Wesley and all the early preachers whom he sent to America were conscientiously and openly in opposition both to the " trade " and the relation of slavery. The number of slaves then in the colonies was comparatively small, and it was thought their emancipation was practicable; hence, under those influ- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 63 ences, many Methodists in the slave regions felt constrained to evince their sense of the injustice of capturing and enslaving the unfortunate Africans by emancipating all they owned. In this way thousands were restored to nominal freedom. As the number of slaves increased and the difficulties of the effort be- came more and more evident, this first strong emotion was, in a degree, repressed by reflecting upon the impossibility of re- storing them to their native home in Africa, the miseries which such a restoration would involve, their incapacity for the enjoy- ment of the rights of freemen here, and the degradation and wretchedness of those upon whom the experiment had been tried. Public sentiment thus gradually settled down in the un- welcome conviction that the relation was inevitable, and thus thousands who viewed the acts of their capture and deportation with horror, and who would have done anything practicable to prevent their introduction into America, finding the question of their emancipation a problem for which no feasible solution had been presented by statesmen and philanthropists, came to the conclusion that to those necessarily involved in the relation of masters, the wiser and better plan was to treat them with humanity, give them the advantages of the gospel, and await the developments of Providence. Many, however, not so familiar with the difficulties which environ the subject and impelled by their sympathies, continued to advocate emancipation at whatever risks to society and to the slaves themselves. Their consciences were implicated, and they felt they must bear their testimony against "the evils of slavery," forgetting that to modify and control an evil and to make it conduce to good is in some cases the best and only safe remedy for it. We have no wish to conceal the fact that Mr. McKendree, at this period of his life and for many years afterwards, was opposed both to slavery and the slave trade. Nor do we pretend that he was ever the advocate of the one or the other. He was too intimately acquainted with the delicate and dangerous na- ture of the subject, too wise and prudent, and, withal, loved both his country and the whole Church too much to become at any period of his life a public and violent agitator of this ques- tion. He was opposed to becoming the owner of slaves, and no doubt would have set them free if his father had given him any. When he wrote the words quoted above, doubtless he was at heart an emancipationist, as were most of his colleagues and friends. Jfe \ftas such uppn principle; and if maturer years, 64 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree more extended observation, and a riper judgment affected any change in his views and feelings upon the subject, which is said and believed to have been the case, such a change implied nothing inconsistent with the purest and most disinterested emotions of Christian philanthropy. It was not that he loved the slave less, or less detested the slave trade, or that he was more a friend of slavery, but that he became more sensible of the fact that the highest interests of all concerned made it his duty to refrain from the agitation of the question. Nothing is more evident than that in his later years the agitation of this sub- ject in the Church deeply disquieted and distressed his heart. Slavery he regarded, as it existed in the South, an infinitely less evil than civil war and ecclesiastical strife. He was born and brought up amidst slaves; his parents and all his nearest kindred were owners of them. He had witnessed the growth of the slave population, had seen the effects of slavery, and of emancipation, both in the free and the slave States; every plan which human ingenuity had devised for "the extirpation of the great evil of slavery," he had duly considered; and with his ample sources of information he came to the conclusion that under his surround- ings it was best for him, in view of all the difficulties and dangers involved, to let the subject alone, except in so far as he was bound by the Word of God to insist upon the duties pertaining to the relation of both the master and the slave. As an evidence of the modification of his sentiments on this question, by more extended observation, when his growing infirmities rendered it necessary that he should have a servant to attend upon him, he consulted with his friends, the Rev. Dr. A. L. P. Green and Mr. Elijah Boddie, about the propriety of purchasing a servant for this purpose; but they dissuaded him from it, and he dropped the subject. Justice to him demands that we add that since our acquaint- ance with him began until his death, he was the fast friend of colonization, not with the expectation that by this means they would all be speedily transferred to Africa, but that the free colored people might find a congenial home and become instru- mental in evangelizing their fatherland. Such was the consistent course of the man whose early Diary we are tracing, and which closes his account of himself, August 28, 1790, with these characteristic remarks: "I enjoy the testimony of an inoffensive conscience; and this is my continual rejoicing, 'that in simplicity and godly sincerity I have had my conversation in the world." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 65 Having been directed by his presiding elder to exchange work with another preacher, he notices the fact in his Diary, and con- fesses his reluctance to do so because of the strong mutual attachment which knit him and his charge together. To one so constitutionally modest and retiring as he was known to be, and as he was to a peculiar degree in his early ministry, it must ever have been an affliction to leave a devoted circle of friends and brethren and go amidst strangers. Yet he hesitated not, it was the custom of the times, and he was not a man likely to innovate the rules he had promised to keep or to claim a personal exemption from a common duty. "Sunday, August 29, 1790. With a heaven of peace in my soul, I preached at B. meetinghouse, from Proverbs i. 12-26. The power of the Lord came upon me, and his word was like fire shut up in my bones. Some hard hearts trembled, others ran from the power. This is the way the devil keeps possession of the people here, as soon as the power is displayed, he leads the sinners off. I went after them, but they bristled up in a bunch and opposed and condemned the work. I reasoned with them until they were softened and begged them, if they condemned me, at any rate to spare the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus Christ. I then drew vouchers from the Scriptures, which made them look about. I further said: 'You think I am wrong, and I think you are not right; but God knows who is right, and he will presently judge us all, and I know Jesus is in my soul.' I then began to shout, and they turned pale, kindly shook my hand, and bade me godspeed." God forbid that the time shall ever occur in the history of Methodism when the preachers shall cease to feel the holy fire which glowed in the heart of young McKendree or become ashamed to defend the work of the Holy Spirit! Should such, unfortunately, ever take place, then, however learned and eloquent they may be, however numerous, rich, and respectable our membership may become, the "power" will depart from us, revivals cease, and the divine Shekinah will no longer gleam upon our altar. God of our fathers, give us poverty, reproach, and persecution rather than this! Take not from us an earnest, spiritual, and faithful ministry, with those demonstrations of our divine calling which our fathers enjoyed in the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of believers ! Let thy " power " abide with us to the end of time! Omitting to notice the details of the succeeding week, as given in his Diary, evincing constant toil and much holy joy, we 5 66 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree anxiously follow him to his new field of labor. Here is his ac- count of his introduction to his new charge: ''Sunday, September 5, 1790. Took my new circuit, at N. Tavern, preached to a pretty serious and attentive people, but strangers to me. After meeting I felt, for a little while, like I must make application for some place to lay my head; but be- fore I did so, a very genteel person stepped forward and gave me an invitation. I thankfully accepted the offer and soon found it was to a lawyer's, one of the first families. The sweetness of this people's spirit has entirely won me. I am more than ever convinced that good breeding is an accomplishment next to grace. Instead of leaving the room to avoid the presence of the preacher, they give me their company when I can spare time from retirement and introduce subjects for conversation which interest and instruct. Indeed, they so won my affection that when I took my evening walk, I felt deeply engaged for them, and cried out: '0 Lord, give me this people!' that I may meet every member of this precious family in the kingdom of glory! Amen." This was a very good beginning, and the new circuit seems to have been one. of more refinement and intelligence than the old one. Will our youthful soldier find himself relaxing in self-denial, simplicity, and zeal now that he is mingling with the more polished and wealthy portion of society? What happened to the victorious followers of Hannibal after the battle of Can- nae has often since occurred to the young soldier of the cross, and hundreds of preachers who had won favor by their zeal, simplicity, and devotion to their Master have been ruined by prosperity, smiles, and flattery. Not such, however, was his fate; the secret of his strength in resisting these influences will be found in the divine grace, which he sought with great hu- mility and constant self-denial and in his unceasing labors in the ministry. The succeeding week he seems to have suffered a good deal from an attack of fever and ague; but on Monday, September 13, he resumes his Diary: "Remained poorly, but traveled and strove to preach; have had lovely meetings, Christians in a flame. My exercises have been various. I want to serve God with all my soul and dedi- cate all my gifts and substance to the Lord. But O, I do often see and feel my failures and set out afresh to amend, yet have to mourn that I am not what I ought to be! My example is not so reserved and holy as it ought to be! How unbecoming for a Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 67 Christian, especially a Christian minister, to laugh! Lord, thou that seest me now while writing and knowest how I want to love thee with all my heart and serve thee with all my strength, pardon my misgivings, pity my weaknesses, and graciously restore me to the strength of 'a perfect man in Christ Jesus' ! Endear thyself to me, Lord, until I shall be inflamed with love and be ready to lay down my life for thee at any time! Lord grant it! Amen." Let his sons in the gospel read and consider the following language in his Diary, dated Thursday, September 16, 1790: "Preached, much life and activity in religion, and pressed the subject of holiness with much diligence. Some proclaimed their fresh resolutions to go forward and acknowledged former backslidings. I felt the weight of St. Paul's language, lest after ' I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway/ what dangers I see in a preacher's resting in merely talking about and pressing it upon others and yet for want of spiritual exertions and repeated fastings, he may be losing the power of religion in his own soul ! Lord, while I minister to others, I pray thee give me to eat and live of 'the things of the altar/ lest I die! 1 Corinthians ix. 13." Daily self-denail, frequent, fervent, and protracted prayer, "in fastings often," "preaching the word in season and out of season," reproving, rebuking, exhorting, as "need required and occasion was given," combined with a constant study of the Bible and devout meditation were the means by which our fathers in the ministry "wrought wonders." Their preaching was plain and in faith, they felt the force of the momentous truths which they uttered. They realized the presence of God, and expected the aid of the Holy Spirit to attend the divinely appointed means. They looked for present effects, and they were not disappointed. Sinners were convicted and converted under the Word, and the lukewarm and self-satisfied were stimulated to seek for holiness. God honored the men by giving them the signs and seal of his favor who honored him by their confidence in his truth and power. So it has ever been, and so it will be to the end of time. We give the following quotation as another instance of the course he pursued: "Saturday, September 18. Rose early. After morning devo- tion and family prayer, I returned to my room and read five chapters in Deuteronomy on my knees, praying fervently every five verses for the Spirit and life of the Word. Precious 68 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and awful meditations rolled through my mind. I turned my eyes, and behold, all under the sun is 'vanity'; hence the con- clusion that true religion and good health are the greatest blessings on earth." He adds, at the close of the day: "This being watch night, and having to watch alone, I went to my room. After prayers for the band connection, fell to reading the 'Saints' Rest'; and really, before I got through the account of ' the hinderances to heavenly mindedness,' my heart ached. I wrestled and begged the Lord for power over my last enemy. I mourned my time out and went to bed pained and distressed for more of God." The reader doubtless understands here the allusions to the band society and the custom of its members to pray for each other at stated times, and also to the watch night usage, which required its members to devote the night, at least until after twelve o'clock, to devotion. CHAPTER VI McKendree's Diary Fasting Reproof Mr. O'Kelly attacks the Coun- cil His course Itinerancy Tobacco Preparation for preaching Selecting and changing texts Different kinds of style The kind for the pulpit O'Kelly's Convention The regular Council Mr. Asbury gives it up McKendree visits his father Meets Bishop Asbury Is de- lighted Mr. Wesley's death Dr. Coke goes to England McKendree ordained elder, December 25, 1791. As the Diary of Mr. McKendree embraces but a short period of his useful life and may be interesting and edifying to many or our readers, we subjoin further extracts: " Wednesday, September 22, 1790. Early in the morning spent an hour on my knees in fervent prayer, reading God's Word, and praising my adorable Saviour. It was a time of heavenly joys to my soul. From 10 A.M. to half past one o'clock, I spent in a lonely, awful swamp in wrestling, agonizing prayer. But surely God and his holy ones were all around me, heaven burst into my bosom, and glory filled my soul." Again: "O how sweet is Christian fellowship below! Blessed be God for the uniting spirit of love I feel to Jesus and his people! blessed be God that ever he formed a militant Church ! Glory to his name that he ever received such a poor unworthy worm as I into his Church privileges! How I am blessed! 'I had rather be a door keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness;' that I would." The practice of fasting at regular periods, it is feared, is, like some other very excellent usages among the old Methodists, becoming less strictly observed of late than formerly. Then the habit, among the preachers especially, was to fast every Friday some added Tuesday and those who were too feeble to fast throughout the entire day abstained until evening. The quarterly fasts were kept by all the members. Mr. McKendree was punctual and rigid in all these observances. Hence he says: "Friday, September 24. Having to ride fifteen miles and preach, I had some temptations to breakfast, but resisted them; and though I suffered on account of abstinence, yet the cross vanished, and I suffered less than usual on my fast days. Praise and power, honor and glory to God ! He has not forgotten to be gracious, but made one in our midst. The meeting lasted four 70 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree hours, when one of the mourners sprang up, praising God for snatching him as 'a brand from the burning.' how like heaven is the place where God revives his work!" Sunday, September 26, seems to have been to him a day of some labor and trial. He preached to a "number of professors " of religion, "pressing the subject of holiness" upon them; but it was found impossible to engage their attention, and he inti- mates that the indifference was owing to an increasing spirit of formality. Indeed, so dissatisfied was he with the result of his efforts and with the subsequent idle and worldly conversation of the members, that he could not eat his dinner, but proceeded to Brother Berryman's, a distance of twenty miles, expecting to meet his presiding elder, J. O'Kelly. In this hope, however, he was disappointed, although he found Brother William Spen- cer there, with whom he enjoyed sweet Christian communion. During the whole of this Sabbath afternoon ride he was harassed by temptations, nor found relief until shortly before he reached his destination. He had preached and held class meeting in the forenoon, and left the house of his friend, who had invited him- to dinner, not only without eating, but sorely vexed. His ride was fatiguing. He found Brother Spencer "shut up in a little room and very sick," and the brethren already collected there for meeting. To add to his excitement against worldly minded- ness in the Church, poor Spencer complained bitterly against the trifling conversation of those who had assembled. Hence Mr. McKendree, having "to hold meeting," took occasion to lecture pointedly upon Sabbath breaking and levity of deport- ment." The offenders hung down their heads; some were very penitent, while Brother Spencer and himself "were refreshed and comforted." To reprove sin is sometimes as much a duty as to proclaim glad tidings and not unfrequently requires far more moral courage, for while no one ever so delighted to comfort and bless men as did ouf divine Master, yet even he occasionally dealt in anathemas, until a stranger might have supposed that he never used any other trumpet than that of "cursing." But alas for frail humanity ! How slight an incident may give a tinge to our emotions, and how often do we mistake the suggestions of our own morbid sensibilities for the impulses of duty! "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" was the Saviour's reply to the prayer for fire to consume a village which had re- fused to receive him. He turned and rebuked his disciples and quietly went to another village. How perfect the portraiture of heavenly excellence is Christ's character as exhibited in the Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 71 Bible! He was more afflicted by the wrong temper of his dis- ciples than by the disrespect shown himself, and felt that it was more important they should be right than that he should be popular. Wrong actions in others do not justify wrong tempers in us; for if Christ's ministers continue right, the errors of the world may at last be corrected; but if they go astray, the re- covery of the world is hopeless. Doubtless Mr. McKendree but discharged a pastoral duty in the rebuke he administered in this case, and it is to be hoped that while he performed a painful duty, the manner in which it was done was also right. On the next day i. e., Monday, September 27 Mr. 0' Kel- ly, the presiding elder, came, and preached on John xvii. 7: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." "He opened the doctrine of sanctification to my great satisfaction. In his first head of doctrine, which was to show for whom Christ prayed, the people seemed sweetly happy; but in the second, which was to show why his prayer is not answered and what sanctification is, the congregation became unfeeling. We had a melting time at sacrament, and then the poor miserable council took up all our time until ten o'clock at night." Alas for Mr. 0' Kelly! Again at the miserable work of prejudicing the young preachers placed under his charge against the very measure for which he had voted in General Conference; and doubtless inveighing against the motives and administration of the honest, laborious, and unselfish Asbury; drilling his inex- perienced and unsuspecting "young men to throw the whole affair out" at the approaching Conference, and thus covertly laying the train whose explosion was to rend the Conference and the Church! Yet even this unsuspecting young preacher, who had been introduced into Conference by him, out of whose district he had never traveled, and to whom he looked up as to a model minister and Christian gentleman, even he is disgusted and worried with the oft-repeated introduction of the subject. What a poor return does Mr. 0' Kelly make to Bishop Asbury and the Church for the confidence and respect they evince in giving him a position which he employs to their injury! Unac- quainted with the bishop, inexperienced in the wiles of ambition or the feelings of jealousy, and comparatively ignorant of the government of the Church, our young preacher's guileless heart and earnest piety are not proof against such influences. In- deed, his very love of the Church stimulates to a more intense dislike of the man he is taught to regard as a tyrant. Mr. O'Kelly was a hot emancipationist. Sanctification was his 72 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree theme in the pulpit and detraction of Mr. Asbury his employ- ment out of it. Like most ambitious and disappointed men, he had a high appreciation of his own importance, and fault- finding and defamation seem to have been henceforth his daily work until he seceded. The wonder is that he did not ruin more of the young preachers than he did; perhaps their very ingenuousness and honesty of heart, which he abused to preju- dice them against Bishop Asbury, were the means of their being disabused when they came to know him better. Surely, what- ever diversities of opinion may exist upon other topics between the different organizations of the great Methodist family in America, they must ever agree and attest that Francis Asbury was, under God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to them all. In a few days, however, Mr. O'Kelly left the circuit, and Mr. McKendree resumed his labors. He confesses that he felt less inclination for his duties, "and very much concerned about the present aspect of our Church government." Left to himself and continuing his course of study and labor, his sky soon be- came bright again; for shortly afterwards we find him saying of an appointment which he reached with great difficulty: " In the first prayer my soul caught fire; felt light, life, and power in preaching; the place fairly trembled with the engagedness of the people; Christians shouted and sinners wept." Of course he held a class meeting. "The people went out for class meeting, but before the door was shut, some came back into the house. I talked with them, and they resolved to seek the Lord. We had a sweet meeting, blessed be God ! I hope the labor of this day is not in vain. I feel complete victory in my own soul, thanks be to the Lord ! " The itinerant system of preaching is of divine appointment, and unquestionably John Wesley and his sons in the gospel may justly claim in this respect to be in the "apostolic succes- sion." The great Master traveled and preached. His last com- mand was, "Go;" and "as ye go, preach." "And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them." Christ had promised to "be with them unto the end of the world." He was with them, and has ever been with their faithful successors in doctrine, experience, and labors. This system is not only necessary as a means of diffusing the Word of life among all the scattered population of the globe, but it is the great school for training and perpetuating an efficient and holy ministry. Without it, the world would be much poorer and the Church would suffer an irreparable loss. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 73 True, it is a system often involving exile from "father and moth- er, brother and sister, houses and lands, wife and children;" it devolves labor, care, and, not unfrequently, affliction and pov- erty upon those who engage in it, and sometimes even the loss of life itself; but it must never be abandoned. No cost is too great which is necessary to spread "the glorious gospel of the blessed God," and "save the souls for whom Christ died." The richest gems, the brightest intellects, the most precious lives, the hardest labors, and greatest sacrifices find their safest and best investment in this godlike work. If archangels were permitted to assume our form for a season and select their vocations, they would become traveling ministers. They would leave to others to be kings, statesmen, generals, philosophers, and jurists, and, like their and our great Lord, throw all their time and energies into the harvest field, where souls are reaped for the heavenly garner. Nor would they care much whether their fields of op- eration might be rich or poor, refined or rustic; if they might have any preference, it would be for the places where their labor might be most needed and most effective. The emotions of the "good and faithful" itinerant preacher are various and peculiar. Impelled by a conviction of duty which will not allow of indolence or silence, trembling under a sense of the delicacy and responsibility of the ministerial office, deeply and even painfully sensible of his want of qualification for the proper discharge of its various duties, and, sometimes, almost overwhelmed with the discouragements and trials pe- culiar to the itinerant pastor's work, he needs and must have a frequent baptism of the Holy Ghost to sustain him. And while a consciousness of his personal acceptance with God and a con- viction that the path in which he is treading, although often rugged and thorny, is nevertheless the way of duty may enable him to bear "the burden of the Lord" bravely and cheerfully; yet when he sees no fruit of all his toils and cares, but meets with indifference among the unconverted and neglect on the part of his members, ah, then he must have a firm faith in the truth of God's promises, or he will falter in his course. But, on the other hand, when a soothing manifestation of the Holy Spirit is given him and the seal of divine approval attests his call to the ministry in the conversion and sanctification of souls, who so happy as he? Then he feels that the longest life is too short and his utmost energies too small a contribution to so great and glorious a work. Such were the struggles and such the triumphs of young McKendree, and such has been the history 74 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of many a humble, laborious traveling preacher, who, like him, lived to work for God and souls until he died to rest forever. The next quotation illustrates his zeal and evinces his opposi- tion to the "needless self-indulgence" of the use of tobacco, an opposition which he maintained through life. " Thursday, September SO, 1 790. Rode to Brother Andrews's and met a few people. The Christians were not engaged, and the sinners looked impudently wicked. I strove to be faithful and was plain in class meeting. Some seemed a little moved, but so soon as meeting was over and they were out of class, one had a pipe, another was after a chew of tobacco, and the women with their snuffboxes until my soul was grieved." "Preparation for the pulpit" is frequently talked about, both among preachers and others; and assuredly every preacher should "study to show himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." For this purpose he should read and inwardly digest such books as may conduce to this end, and by no means be guilty of the presumption of supposing that the Spirit of God will as readily give his sanction to an undigested ebullition of fancy and rant as to those sermons which are the result of pro- found and pious study. But there is one kind of preparation for which our early preachers were remarkable, and to which, under God, they were to a great degree indebted for their wonderful success in winning souls; a preparation for which neither learning nor eloquence nay, nor every possible literary and mental accomplishment affords a substitute. Of course it is the preparation of the heart and soul. The following quo- tation from his Diary shows how the subject of this biography sought this qualification: "October 2. Being already at my preaching place since eight o'clock, I have been with Jesus in his beautiful forest in deep exercise. My book is sweeter than common. what spirit I find in the Word of the Lord! I read it much and with great delight, often on my knees. I take my flight on wings of faith and love still mounting higher to the celestial world. One-half hour humbly prostrate on my face to converse with eternity! And such deep views and bright conceptions of eternal things I never had before in all my life. But I must go; the congrega- tion is assembled, and my watch says eight minutes to twelve o'clock. Farewell, sweet and solemn place! Lord Jesus, go with me! Amen. Amen." And is it surprising that He who promised, "Lo, I am with Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 75 you," should verify his promise to such a minister? The Lord Jesus was with him blessed his labors, honored him with a long and useful life, and, after enabling him to exhibit a consistent example and adorn various offices in the ministry, dismissed him from earth and received him to himself. Should the example of this holy man be the means of perpetuating his spiritual, self-denying, and laborious course among his sons in the gospel, the writer's highest desire will have been attained in preparing this work for the press. May they at least ever remember that nothing can supersede the necessity of preparing their hearts and souls for the pulpit by devout reading and study of the Bible, fervent and frequent prayer, self-examination, and holy meditation! We do not depreciate the highest mental training, the higher the better; but without this spiritual preparation the highest is far too low for that service in which "we are workers together with God." The following week was devoted to preaching, visiting the sick, and his usual routine of religious exercises. Twice during the time he preached to congregations of colored people and was much gratified both by the opportunity and the effect. He ex- presses surprise and gratitude for the cordial hospitality he received, and particularly for the solicitude evinced by the wealthy and intelligent but unconverted for his company; thinks it an omen for good, and resolves to use it for their spiritual welfare. "Visited Mr. Hardy, who was very ill, 'of a long hard fever,' and being invited to preach to those who waited on the sick, gladly embraced the opportunity and ad- dressed them from 'Ye must be born again.'" He notices the following incident as occurring this week. It seems that Robert Green, preacher on Calvert Circuit, had visited Mr. McKendree's circuit and preached at one of his meetinghouses the day before. "I had fixed my mind upon a text in the morning, but while going into the house my mind be- gan to float. During singing, my subject became entirely foreign to my feelings, and another presented itself to my mind. I took it and, blessed be the Lord, I felt a tolerable degree of liberty, and my own soul was comforted. After meeting was over, I told Brother Green my exercises concerning the text, when he replied: 'The text you lost I preached from here yester- day.'" The plan of selecting a text as soon as possible, and always after prayer and proper reflection upon the character and con- dition of the audience, is certainly judicious; nor should it be 76 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree changed, after it has been maturely considered, for a mere whim; yet every preacher, except perhaps those who read their sermons or deliver them from memory (and it is to be hoped their number among us is small) will occasionally find himself afloat (boatman's phrase) and have to fasten to another text. Sometimes the subject is found inappropriate to the audience, but more frequently, as in the case of Mr. McKendree, it be- comes tame to the feelings, or partially beclouded. Then another theme presents itself with more vividness to the mind, and the change is effected. But let the young preacher beware lest he fall into Charybdis in avoiding Scylla; for it does not follow because one thought associated with the new text may strike his fancy or because it may seem to be a more impressive theme that he will be more likely to discuss it profitably. Too many choose their texts as silly men do their wives, for subjects have their drapery as well as persons. The first business of the preacher is to give the meaning of God's Word. He should therefore seek to find out the import of his text, and then deter- mine whether the lessons he can fairly deduce from it are likely to be appropriate and useful to his audience. In most cases the extemporaneous preacher who has studied and matured his subject without having memorized it has a decided advantage. Let us not, however, be misunderstood on this subject. We hold that every preacher should cultivate his memory and chasten his style, and as nothing contributes to the latter more than the use of the pen, of course he should write sermons. Neither would we object to his memorizing one of his own com- posing occasionally, or to his reading it on an extraordinary occasion. But such cases should be exceptions, the general rule being "to study the subject thoroughly and then depend upon his resources for language to express his ideas." In this way he will form the habit of thinldng while extemporizing, and at the same time all the mental faculties which oratory requires, having been cultivated by previous study, will be improved and adapted to the occasion. The pompous, the elaborate, and the rustic styles of speaking are unfit for the pulpit. The first aims to be impressive, avoids short words as a prudent man does contagion, affects the sublime, but is simply ridiculous and seeks to carry the citadel by high-sounding nonsense. He at- tempts to do a large business on a small capital. Words, gestures, and voice are his merchandise, while his stock of ideas is very deficient; or if perchance he should be heard to utter some scraps of blank verse, a stanza of sonorous rhyme, or a sentence or two Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 77 a little less magniloquent than his usual inflated style, it may be taken for granted that he is disingenuously appropriating the product of another's mind to his own benefit, a species of petit larceny not unfrequent with such speakers and for which they deserve to be impaled by public contempt. The second is too learned and philosophic, too stiff and artistic. This is our amateur preacher. His terms are refined and unusual. He em- ploys, like some young doctors, scientific and technical words which common people do not understand. He copies Plato and Epictetus, not St. Paul or St. Paul's great Master. Such a preacher may be styled a "beautiful speaker," "learned," and "elegant," and some may be the more impressed with his greatness because they cannot understand him, and therefore suppose he must be a very deep man; but his efficiency is about equal to a beautifully painted and neatly fashioned wooden gun. "Verily he has his reward" in the admiration of the fashionable and silly, who applaud him as they do their favorite actor at the theater, though far less warmly, and are benefited about as much by the performances of the one as the other, with this marked difference as to immediate results, that the one puts them to laughing and crying on Saturday night while the other simply puts them to sleep on Sabbath. The third uses puns, wit, anecdotes; confines himself to no rules of rhetoric, logic, or grammar; glories in thinking for himself and has a contempt for the pretensions of the first and the prudery of the second class. The proper style for the pulpit and, indeed, for every kind of public speaking is such as rises spontaneously from the subject, and it is indispensable that the subject should be clearly con- ceived and deeply impressed upon the heart. Then in one of a cultivated mind emotion will certainly suggest appropriate language. Without passion there is no true eloquence, and passion prompts to natural and simple forms of expression. Sublimity must exist in the ideas or no language can produce them. The eloquence of our Saviour and of the writers of the sacred Volume gives the noblest specimens. The most sublime and important truths ever conceived are here uttered in the most simple words. And if at any time glowing imagery is employed, it results from the fervid condition of the mind under the contemplation of glorious and awful truths which struggle for utterance. Nor is this vehemence of the mind incompatible with a certain degree of calmness and self-possession so neces- sary to instruct and guide an audience. Preaching the gospel 78 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree is the highest office in which the human faculties can be em- ployed. It is a solemn and holy work. "Woe" to him who trifles with it, as well as to him who "preaches not the gospel of Christ." The above reflections were suggested in connection with the history of Mr. McKendree's life. He seems to have had con- stantly before his mind the apostolic admonition: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." We have seen in what way he studied the Bible, how diligent he was in all the duties of a preacher and pastor, and also how he fasted, watched, prayed, and struggled in the pursuit of personal holi- ness; and we confess that we have drawn more largely from his Diary, that his successors in the ministry may for all time to come have before them his example to incite them to zeal and diligence. His style of preaching was remarkable for clearness and persuasiveness. Few .preachers studied the shades of difference in words as he did, and his language was transparent; the idea was distinctly seen, while the words employed in exhibiting it served only as a medium of intellectual vision. He was always in earnest. His soul was pervaded with a sense of God, and his heart yearned for the conversion of his fellow men. He felt "called of God" to this work, and nothing ever diverted his mind, his heart, or his physical energies from it. It was the one great end of his life; and that life, so admirable for its beautiful consistency and moral sublimity of purpose, so pure and useful, so full of labor and moral heroism, was the product of "faith unfeigned," and that faith was of "the opera- tion of God through the Spirit." What a commentary does such a life afford on the truth and excellency of the Christian religion! Friday, October 8, 1790, found him quite unwell, and fasting aggravated his sufferings. He, however, tried to preach. After dinner felt better; "had meeting at night for the black brethren" and found amongst them the life and power of religion. "How the world destroys the happiness of white folks!" "Saturday, October 9. Out in the woods by break of day, reading, praying, and meditating. Had great delight in the Scriptures, and felt very happy. Preached a close, heart- searching sermon to a serious congregation; held class meeting." "Sunday, October 10. Rose at 3 A.M.; family prayer, a time of heavenly sweetness to our souls. Went into the lovely fields when the blushing morn is dispersing gloomy night; Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 79 breathed the sweet morning air with the love of God in my soul. About sunrise I began and preached to about thirty persons from: 'And the angel said unto the' women. Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified: he is not here, for he is risen, as he said.' My dear Master gave me to feel what I preached. Love feast for the band society followed. how the saints did shout and tell the wonders of redeeming love! But had a cold time at public meeting/' "Monday, October 11. Rest day. Spent my time in reading, writing, prayer, and meditation, excepta little for conversation with my brethren. At twelve o'clock, in my general prayer for mankind, I prayed particularly for the preachers. Bless the Lord for the degree of conformity I feel to the Lord's will! O give me universal conformity and perfect resignation! In the evening walked to a distant grove and prostrated myself at the feet of the awful Jehovah. Met my brethren in covenant prayer; my soul all on fire." "Tuesday and Wednesday, October 12, 18. Comfortable peace; no temptation nor powerful exercise, but a heaven of calm, sweet peace and a continual rejoicing that 'in simplicity and godly sincerity I have had my conversation in the world.' Solitude is pleasant, meditation delightful, and my Bible is food for my soul." "Thursday, October 14- Had a comfortable morning. Bless the Lord, my soul, for his great mercy to feeble, unworthy me! I am surely one of the least of thy followers, and am not meet to be called a preacher. And then I am so backward in duty and so unfaithful in it." "Friday, October 15. Set out fasting, rode twenty miles, found a pretty large congregation, felt the spirit of preaching, but up rides a strange elder; would not preach for me. how the cross began to bear me down ! Lord , what is man? Preached ; my blessed Master made the cross light. Visited the pre- cious family of Brother Hill after dinner; met a black class to my comfort, for they seemed perfectly happy and had 'a good report." From the following Sunday to Thursday he was sick, and says th?.t, while others seem to find the time of affliction a season of joy, it is not so with him, but a time of trial, yet, upon close examination, finds no condemnation for known sin; "have had some weeping times this week." The ensuing week seems to have been a period of bodily affliction and labor, yet was he happy and exultant. On Friday, 80 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree October 22, he "arose quite unwell; rode twenty miles fasting; preached and held class meeting, had a glorious time; several were much wrought on; one joined Society, but none con- verted. At seven o'clock the moon was eclipsed; thought of the day of judgment." Saturday, October 80. Quarterly meeting began on his cir- cuit. "Rose at 2 A.M., could not lie in bed longer; read my Book, prayed, and meditated. To-day Brother Paup preached a beautiful sermon; Brother Spencer followed. At night it fell to my lot to hold meeting; Christians were happy, backsliders cut to the heart, and one soul sprang into life. My cup was filled to the brim." Sunday, October 31, was a blessed day, early exercises, as usual; "a sweet and awfully glorious time at sacrament; a great many communicants. Brother Paup preached to the white con- gregation; I went into the grove with the black people, and of a truth Jesus was there." Perhaps I have tired the patience of my readers with the minute details of Mr. McKendree's Diary. My object is to present a true portraiture of his character with an earnest desire that his exemplary and profound piety may be useful to the Church, and especially to young preachers. Having given a specimen of his daily life and labors, I shall not henceforth use his Diary very often, except to mark important incidents in his history. " On Thursday, November 4, met the preachers in conference at Brother Young's; twenty-two preachers present, and by nine o'clock agreed to send no member to council, but stand as we are until next Conference. Brother O'Kelly preached." This was not the regular session of the annual council, but was a con- vention, called by "proclamation of Mr. O'Kelly, inviting the preachers to meet in Mecklenburg," the object being to fore- stall the approaching council. It should be borne in mind that the council was a favorite measure with Bishop Asbury. That Mr. O'Kelly had already by letters prejudiced Dr. Coke against it, and that he had been untiring in his efforts to array the Vir- ginia preachers against it. Early on the next day, Friday, November 5, 1790, the Conference assembled again; the docu- ment which had been ordered was presented, approved, and directed to be forwarded to the council; thus placing the Vir- ginia Conference almost in the position of seceders. The regular session of the council was held for this year in Philip Rogers's house, Baltimore, December 1. In view of the Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 81 opposition of Dr. Coke and the disorganizing tendency of Mr. O'Kelly's course, Bishop Asbury, "for the sake of union," gave up the council, and they resolved not to send any "recom- mendatory propositions" to the Conferences, thus letting it silently pass away. Having taken an affectionate leave of his old circuit, he started immediately for a new field of labor to which he had been changed, as was then customary, by his presiding elder. Taking his father's house on his route, he gladly embraced the opportunity of visiting home and spending two delightful days with his beloved kindred. He was "comforted" and refreshed by the visit, and felt very "thankful for the opportunity." His pleasure was, however, diminished by the illness of his youngest sister and the dangerous indisposition of his aged father. When the hour came for his departure, there was a struggle in his heart. Fain would he have lingered awhile amid the scenes of his early life and watched by the beds of his sick sister and father; but duty called him away to preach among strangers the gospel of Christ, and with tears and prayers, commending his loved ones to God, he turned his back again upon his peace- ful home and felt that the preacher had triumphed over the man. His course during this year was similar to the year previous. Traveling, studying, preaching, holding class meetings, fasting, and visiting his charge from house to house were his daily history. " Rose early, lit my candle, and found the same sweet- ness in devotion and in riding the Lord's Word. Spent this day and until eleven o'clock at night in closely studying the Scriptures and reading Church history with great delight. Rode through piercing wind and a hard rain twelve miles, which gave me a violent pain in the head. Tempted to omit 'watching' on account of headache, but concluded that the more costly the sacrifice, the stronger is the proof of sincerity. Every night has been a watch night with me for some time," etc. These quota- tions evince the spirit with which he prosecuted his mission. During this year he seems to have had a great many meetings with the black people and to have enjoyed himself greatly in his labors among them, thus giving an example worthy the imitation of every minister of Christ. On December 31, 1790, while Mr. McKendree and others were holding a meeting at Brother M.'s, Bishop Asbury arrived there. He had been making a tour in the lower part of Virginia, had preached in James City and in the city of Williamsburg 6 82 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and, after crossing James River in a boat the bottom of which was covered with ice, had ridden through a snowstorm for several miles. Coming to Brother M.'s, he "found Brother Paup preaching and the people shouting." The good old Bishop says: "I preached on Ephesians v. 17-19. I afterwards had an interview with Brother Paup and a more full account of our disaffected brethren." Indeed, so soon as he entered the district of Mr. O'Kelly, he says: "I heard some painful cir- cumstances relative to our disaffected brethren. I leave these things to God." Mr. O'Kelly had scattered discord broadcast over his whole district and was likely to disaffect the whole Conference. He ought not to have been continued upon the district a day after he evinced his design. It was Bishop Asbury's leniency, not to say timidity, that gave to this dan- gerous man the opportunity of doing so much mischief. It would have been better to deprive him at once of the district. He had already gone too far to retract and nothing was gained, but much lost, by attempts at conciliating him. Mr. McKendree, who had spent all his time as a preacher under Mr. O'Kelly, was accustomed to hear Bishop Asbury alluded to by his elder as ambitious and aristocratic; and in proportion to his confidence in the latter, the former was depre- ciated in his estimation. Still he was honest and candid, and this interview must have awakened doubts in his mind as to the justness of his elder's representations. His account of this meeting with the Bishop is as follows: "Our reverend Bishop arrived, gave us a most excellent dis- course, at the close of which the power of the Lord came down on the people." "Saturday, January 1, 1791. Bishop Asbury, two other preachers, and myself rode about sixteen miles. The wind was very keen and the snow about eight inches deep; our poor horses were much fatigued and ourselves pierced with the cold. We got to Mr. Blunt's. I am astonished at the Bishop's sweet simplicity and uncommon familiarity. Love appeared to sweet- en all our conversation." "Astonished at the Bishop's sweet simplicity!" And why? Forsooth, because he had often heard him represented as austere and despotic. Yes, the pure and noble Asbury, the father of American Methodism, whose life was one continuous sacrifice, one long, yearning struggle of soul, body, and spirit for the peace and prosperity of Zion, and who literally fell a victim to unselfish and never-ceasing toil in the Master's cause, even he Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 83 astonished Mr. McKendree by his simple and familiar manners! And yet this favorable impression was soon to be erased by the unfortunate presiding elder, to be renewed again, however, and grow stronger during many years of associated labor and even until the grave had closed upon the remains of the wise and good old Bishop. The death of Mr. Wesley, which occurred March 2, 1791, deeply affected the Methodists in America as well as in England. They felt as a large and affectionate family feels in the loss of a father. Their enemies had predicted that this event would be speedily followed by the dissolution of the connection, and many of their friends were fearful of the same result. When the sad intelligence reached the United States, Dr. Coke and Bishop Asbury were traveling together through Virginia. The Doctor immediately resolved to return to England. Before his depar- ture, however, he and Bishop Asbury attended the Virginia Conference in Petersburg, April 20, and "the affair of the council was suspended until a General Conference." This seemed to give satisfaction even to Mr. O'Kelly, and the session was peaceful and happy. The time of holding the Conference was here changed from the spring to the winter, and the en- suing Conference was appointed to be held in December. Of course Mr. McKendree attended the Conference. Here he was appointed to Amelia Circuit, with John Baldwin as his colleague and Mr. O'Kelly again as his elder. As the Diary of Mr. McKendree, to which reference has so often been made, leaves here a chasm in his history, we have no other account of the manner in which he conducted himself during the remainder of this year but his own general statement. "I enjoyed peace of mind and comfortable fellowship with those among whom I labored." The Conference began at Lane's Chapel December 23, 1791, Bishop Asbury presiding. Dr. Coke was still in England. Asbury says, "This Conference began and ended in peace;" and doubtless this was greatly promoted by the announcement that a General Conference would be held the ensuing year. Mr. O'Kelly and his friends seemed satisfied. On Sunday, Decem- ber 25, 1791, Mr. McKendree was ordained elder by Bishop Asbury, as appears from his parchment of ordination now before me. And now, having followed his history up to the period of his induction into the full office of the ministry and, from the standpoint which his biographer occupies, contemplating the remainder of his long, useful, and exemplary life and labors, we 84 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree are forcibly impressed with the conviction that few ministers of Christ have ever taken upon them the solemn vows of the ordination service more thoroughly penetrated with a convic- tion of their holy and sublime import or have given such evi- dence of their inflexible purpose to keep these vows inviolable to life's last hour. Happy for the Church and the world if all his brethren would follow him as he followed Christ. CHAPTER VII McKendree appointed to Greenville Circuit in 1791 General Conference, 1792 O'Kelly withdraws and dies McKendree declines the work, but soon resumes it Asbury appoints him to Norfolk Conference in Petersburg in 1793 Travels three months with Asbury Union Cir- cuit Philip Bruce, presiding elder Tobias Gibson, his colleague Conference in 1794 at Mabry's John Kobler Conference, 1795 Is made presiding elder Continued three years 1798 he presides in the bounds of Baltimore Conference In 1800 Bishop Asbury takes him to the West Large district Difficulties Labors Usefulness 1801 travels through the wilderness with Asbury In 1804, General Confer- ence Jerks Dancing Shaking Quakers Seceders from Presbyterian Church Marshallites Stoneites McKendree chief conservator of Methodism in the West. AT the Lane's Chapel Conference, held in Southampton County, Va., December 23, 1791, Mr. McKendree was ap- pointed to the charge of Greenville Circuit, with Joel Tucker as his "helper." Several things conspired to make him reluctant to enter upon the duties of this charge. It was the circuit in which his relations and many of his old acquaintances resided; there he was converted and began his ministry. He was aware that it would be necessary to execute the rules of the Discipline upon many who were "older members of the societies than him- self," some of whom considered themselves his "superiors"; and fearing they would not bear from him this wholesome and important moral regimen, he felt strongly opposed to this ap- pointment when first announced. But as there was no alter- native except a cowardly backing out of the responsibilities which, in God's providence, had been devolved upon him, he determined to undertake his duties in humble dependence upon his divine Master. He was soon convinced that his fears were groundless. His old friends received him warmly, the com- munity evinced their respect for him by attending his ministry and treating him in every respect with the attention which his pure personal character and his holy office demanded, and al- though he was compelled in the discharge of his duty as preach- er in charge to exclude many from the Church, he says that "no fixed prejudices in consequence of the administration resulted. True, we had but few additions, yet we had many sweet and precious meetings. The work of sanctification revived," etc. The letter of Mr. McKendree to Bishop Asbury, already quoted, reveals the fact that his happiness and usefulness at 86 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree this time were diminished by prejudices engendered in his mind by Mr. O'Kelly, his old friend and presiding elder, who attacked the character of Bishop Asbury, more than insinuated that he was insincere and ambitious, and that the ruin of the Church could be prevented in no other way but by "counteracting measures." The General Conference met in Baltimore, October 31, 1792. 1 This was the first Conference of the kind held since the organi- zation of the Church in 1784 and was composed of all the travel- ing preachers in full connection. And it continued to meet quadrennially in the same capacity and with the same almost unlimited power until the session of 1800, when the terms of membership were restricted to those who had traveled four years, and in 1808 the delegated General Conference was sub- stituted for this meeting of the whole body of the preachers. The Conference of 1792 was a very important session. The several Annual Conferences had agreed to meet to review the condition of the Church, to revise and adopt such rules and measures as might be found proper, and to settle certain ques- tions which threatened the peace, if not the very existence, of the Church. The body was comparatively a large one, repre- senting every part of the connection, and in this respect was the first General Conference after the organization of the Church in : In 1858, Bishop Morris, in an article in the Christian Advocate and Journal, said: "If any regular sessions (of the General Conference) were held in 1788 and 1792, the Minutes were not printed, probably not re- corded, and are lost. It is presumable they were held, and that they were held in the autumn." To which F. S. DeHass replies: "The Bishop is right in his presumption that they were held, and held in the autumn. But we are happy to say the Minutes are not entirely lost, and at some future day we may give the Minutes of these two important Conferences in full. The first met September 10, 1788, the other November 1, 1792." We think that the Bishop and Mr. DeHass are both in error as to 1788, the former as to his "presumption," the latter as to his facts. There is no evidence that a General Conference was held in 1788. There was a Con- ference held in Baltimore on September 10 of that year, which continued from Wednesday until Sunday; but it was not a General Conference, but the annual session of the Baltimore Conference. The " Council" plan was introduced; the bishops and presiding elders met instead of a General Con- ference, from about 1788 to 1792, when that plan was superseded by a regular General Conference, or Convention. The delegated General Con- ference, it will be remembered, was provided for in 1808. If Mr. DeHass can give us the Minutes of the Conference of 1788 "in full," or evenin part, we shall be greatly surprised. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 87 1784. Dr. Coke and Bishop Asbury "presided conjointly over their deliberations." Mr. McKendree, accompanied by Mr. O'Kelly, went to Baltimore to attend its session. They lodged together; their room became the place for the meeting of Mr. 0' Kelly's discontented friends. The result of the caucus was an attempt to restrict the power of the bishops in the appoint- ment of the preachers. For this end Mr. O'Kelly brought for- ward a resolution giving to "any preacher who may think him- self injured by the appointment of the bishop the liberty to appeal to the Conference." After three days' animated dis- cussion, the resolution was lost by a large majority. Next morning he signified in writing to the Conference that he should withdraw on account of the failure of his motion. Throughout this whole proceeding Bishop Asbury behaved with his usual modesty and propriety. He resigned the chair to Dr. Coke and absented himself from the Conference that the members might be under no restraint on account of his presence. This decision by the great body of the preachers themselves in favor of con- tinuing the appointing power in the hands of the bishop, after having tested the system for many years, was a signal vindica- tion, both of the administration and their devotion to the great cardinal feature of Methodism, its itinerancy. But Mr. O'Kelly had gone too far to retract. In vain did the Conference send Freeborn Garrettson and two other members to dissuade him from secession and reassure him of their good will; Dr. Coke in vain sought to pacify his feelings in a personal, private interview. Nothing but division would do him. He broke off, left the city, and induced Mr. McKendree and some others to leave with him. All except Mr. O'Kelly, however, asked and obtained per- mission to return home without giving notice as to their ulterior purposes. Indeed, so far as they were concerned, they do not seem to have had any fixed purpose. They had many consulta- tions upon their journey home. The latter part of the trip, Mr. McKendree was the only companion of his late presiding elder. He unfolded his plan to his young protege*. It was to have "a republican, no slavery, glorious Church! Bishop Asbury was a pope; the General Conference was a revolutionizing body; the Bishop and his creatures were working the ruin of the Church to gratify their pride and ambition!" Indeed, there is a strong probability that, knowing he would be impeached on account of his denial of the distinct personality 88 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of the Holy Trinity, he felt himself " in a strait between expulsion and secession." 1 The Conference adjourned on November 14, after having re- vised the Discipline with "regard to its subject matter as a manual of Christian duty and as to the form and arrangement of the book itself, but not effecting its fundamental laws or doctrines." On November 26 Bishop Asbury opened the Conference for the Virginia District in Manchester. The interval between the General and the Annual Conferences was too short to afford time for the removal of the feeling excited at the General Con- ference. Sympathizing deeply with his old and apparently his best friend, imperfectly acquainted with the subject of Church government, and with the docility almost of a child confiding in the misrepresentations of Mr. Asbury's character and of the consequences likely to result to the Church from the action of the General Conference as instilled into his mind by Mr. 0' Kel- ly, Mr. McKendree respectfully wrote to the Conference de- clining to take an appointment for the ensuing year. At the suggestion of Bishop Asbury, the Conference generously agreed that Mr. O'Kelly, "in view of his age and services," should re- ceive his annual salary of 40, as when he traveled in the con- nection, provided he should not excite divisions among the members; and he actually received his salary for a part of the year. But, unfortunately, he resolved to rend all the ties that bound him to the Church and set up in opposition to it his ideal "glorious Church." I need not repeat the sad narrative of his subsequent history, of the prejudices he excited against the Bishop and the Conference; of his too successful efforts to draw off disciples after him; of his waning influence, until he lost the confidence and affections of the people almost alto- gether; and of his death, in 1826, in the ninety-second year of his age, preceded by a very touching interview between Bishop Asbury and himself. It is a melancholy story, and it is hoped may never be repeated in the future history of our Methodism. Shortly after the close of the Virginia Conference, Bishop Asbury passed through the neighborhood of Mr. McKendree's father. The mind of young McKendree was ill at ease about his duty and, having had an interview with the Bishop, he was treated with great kindness and invited to travel with him awhile. The invitation was accepted, and as they went from "Life and Times of Jesse Lee," p. 26. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 89 one of the Bishop's appointments to another through the eastern portion of Virginia, they calmly and fully discussed the subjects of Church government, especially Methodist government, the late attempt to change the system, the course and design of Mr. 0' Kelly, and the consequences likely to result to himself and others. Bishop Asbury did not correspond to the description which Mr. McKendree had heard of him. Instead of being austere, proud, ambitious, and bent upon subjecting the liber- ties of the membership and the ministry to his will, he was sur- prised to find him humble, devout, self-denying, and unceasing in his efforts for the welfare of the Church. He soon understood, too, the evil consequences which would inevitably follow the adoption of Mr. 0' Kelly's late favorite measure, the ruin of the general superintendency and of the whole itinerant system. The spell of the enchanter was broken; humbled and mortified at his own weakness, with characteristic candor he confessed his error, was received again into the confidence of the noble and warm-hearted old Bishop, and at once sent to the city of Norfolk as the stationed preacher. This is the amount of Mr. McKendree's defection. He had been perplexed and bewildered by the misrepresentations of his presiding elder, "cast down, but not destroyed." He did not withdraw from the Church or the ministry. His itinerancy was temporarily suspended, at his own request; but after about a month he resumed his posi- tion and his work in the ranks with his late associates, having become a wiser man. His love of the Church and the purity of his motives were unquestionable. The mental and religious struggle through which he passed in this affair led him to ex- amine more critically the system of Church government recom- mended by Mr. Wesley and adopted by the General Conference of 1784, and resulted in strengthening his attachment to the existing institutions of the Church and fixing him inflexibly against all sudden and serious changes in its polity. Disaffec- tion to Methodism, it has been said, is a disease which never attacks a member or minister but once in his life. If he recover from this attack, he is in no danger of it any more. And so it was with Mr. McKendree. Henceforth he was ever among the most zealous, able, and consistent advocates of its polity, never wavering or ceasing to defend and promote the welfare of the Church with all the energies of his soul and body to the day of his death. The name of William McKendree appears in the "Minutes of 1793," in charge of Norfolk and Portsmouth. His own concise 90 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree account of this year's work is as follows: "Though it was a year of contention and much confusion, I enjoyed peace with the members of the station." This contention and confusion were no doubt mainly owing to the efforts of Mr. 0' Kelly and his adherents to prejudice the community against the Church and draw off its membership. It was a time of trial. Many excellent members and some useful preachers, influenced by their respect for Mr. 0' Kelly and not fully apprehending the subject, were misled and abandoned the Church. Church rela- tions and family ties were rudely sundered, love and harmony were succeeded by "strife and every evil work," and the enemies of Methodism exulted at the prospect of witnessing the fulfillment of its predicted dissolution. And although the prin- cipal agent in this deplorable secession soon saw that his plan was a failure so far as regards his usefulness or the ruin of the Church he had deserted, yet within the bounds of his old dis- trict and among many of his old friends, he wrought irreparable injury. Many long years have scarcely yet obliterated the painful results of that day upon the descendants of those who were so unfortunate as to have followed him. Indeed, no one gained anything by this schism, while the Church, the commu- nity, and even the agitators themselves were injured. The lesson enforced by this sad occurrence is that a needless rending of Church relations is a great evil. To justify it, there must be a conviction that its doctrines or its economy are un- scriptural or its administration subversive of the high and holy ends of Church organization. Duty to the Church itself, as well as fealty to its Head, may demand the sacrifice of union when the Church departs from the precepts of the Bible and sets herself to a course which must work the ruin of the great object of her organization; but woe to those who for trivial causes or selfish ends seek to divide the Church of God! At the ensuing Conference, which was held in Petersburg, November 25, 1793, his character was passed as blameless; fifty-five preachers present, Bishop Asbury presiding. His appointment for the next year was to Union Circuit, with Nicholas Waters as his helper. Tobias Gibson was also ap- pointed to this circuit for one quarter. It seems that at this Conference he offered to travel awhile with Bishop Asbury, that his offer was accepted, and that the quarter spent in the company of that excellent and wise man was very profitably employed. At the close of the three months, he entered upon the work assigned him, and Tobias Gibson, according to a pre- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 91 vious arrangement, became the Bishop's traveling companion. Union Circuit was in the State of South Carolina, and his pre- siding elder this year was Philip Bruce, of precious memory. We have no record of the manner in which he conducted himself upon this circuit, but doubt not he manifested his usual zeal and industry and was useful in getting souls converted and building up the Church. Heretofore separate Conferences had been held in Virginia, North, and South Carolina; but by agreement among them, they were all to meet at Petersburg on November 25, 1794. The smallpox prevailing in that place at the time, the Conference was held at "Sister Mabry's," in Greenville County, about eighty preachers present, and Bishop Asbury presiding. At this Conference, he was appointed to Bottetourt Circuit, Vir- ginia, under John Kobler as his presiding elder. Here again we have no written data of his course; but as he was considered worthy and faithful by his colleagues, we have a right to pre- sume that neither his character nor his manner of life changed for the worse. And this inference is strengthened by the fact that by the next Conference, held at Salem Chapel, Mecklen- burg County, Va., November 24, 1795, he was appointed, by Bishop Asbury, presiding elder over a very important district in the Virginia Conference. He had now been eight years a regular itinerant preacher. He had won the esteem of every community among whom he had labored, and enjoyed in a high degree the confidence and love of the preachers. He had been studious, prompt in the discharge of every duty, zealous, and laborious. His standard of morals and religious experience had been the Holy Scriptures. He had sought and found the bless- ing of sanctifying love and in every manner had made "full proof of his ministry." Now he was called to preside over a district and at the same time was placed as preacher in charge of a circuit, for in those days "the higher the office, the harder the work." The next year his district was greatly enlarged, and he was found to be admirably adapted to this work of supervising the operations of the preachers and the general interests of the Church within his district. He remained upon it three years. As presiding elder, his sphere of useful labor was greatly enlarged. His district extended from the Chesapeake Bay over the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains and em- braced an extensive region of territory upon the western waters. The rides were long, and the charge required much preaching 92 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and devolved upon him many cares. The following is his own account of these three years of sacrifice and toil: " I was blessed with many friends on this district, abundant in kind offices, and some of them able counselors. We were blessed with a revival of religion; many professed to obtain regenerating grace and joined the Church. The members provoked one another to love and good works, and their advancement in the divine life was evident. But the abundant labors and care which the charge imposed were too great for my strength. My studies were partially prevented by attention to other branches of duty, and my nervous system was somewhat impaired. But I was fully compensated in having intimate union and communion with the adorable Saviour, and the increasing prosperity of the Church at once invigorated my zeal and increased my joy in the Lord." In 1798, he was appointed to a district lying in the bounds of the Baltimore Conference, contiguous to that he had traveled the three preceding years and which was almost as large as the former field of his labors. It extended from the Chesapeake Bay over the Blue Ridge and terminated at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains. This was to him a year of labor and trials; but he says: "They were forgotten in the overwhelming communion with God and reviving interviews with my followers. Here I found fathers and mothers in Israel by whose example I was edified and comforted." Following the narrative of Bishop Soule in his funeral dis- course already adverted to, we proceed to say that in the spring of 1800 he was returned to the district from which he had been taken the year before, and in the fall of the same year Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat passed through his district and took him with them to the Western Conference, which met at Bethel, Ky., in October, 1800. Here he was appointed to the oversight of the whole Confer- ence, in the character of a presiding elder of the district which embraced the State of Kentucky and that part of Virginia west of the Great Kanawha River, East and West Tennessee, and all the settled territory west of the Ohio River, including what is now the State of Ohio, and an extensive mission in the State of Illinois. The Natchez Mission was also connected with this charge. He had now to travel about fifteen hundred miles to compass his district, and the whole of it, with the exception of East Tennessee and Western Virginia, was a new and rapidly populating country. This was a field of labor and enterprise Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 93 well suited to the enlightened views and ardent devotion of this excellent minister of Christ. It was a work worthy of St. Paul and which required the zeal of an apostle to accomplish it. He entered into it with a deep sense of his dependence upon divine aid and with that vigorous and persevering activity which, by the blessing of God, was attended with abundant success. It should be remembered that a very large portion of the country embraced in his new charge was just being settled with emi- grants from the old States, who were subject to the discomforts common to the first settlers in all new countries. Small com- panies of these emigrants would locate themselves in neighbor- hoods many miles remote from each other, without any method of intercourse but the pocket compass, trees marked with the ax, or the tops of bushes bent down and half broken. These were the landmarks and highways of our McKendree through a large part of the Valley of the Mississippi. It was his wise and benevolent plan, with the handful of preachers in his charge, to advance with the population of the country and to plant the standard of the cross and preach Jesus and the resurrection in the frontier settlements. In the prosecution of this plan, he and his noble band of fellow laborers had necessarily to encounter and overcome many formidable difficulties. They were frequently ministers of gospel consolation to the people in their camps and cabins, in the woods and canebrakes, before their fields had been opened sufficiently to raise a comfortable support for their families. In getting to them, for the want of roads or paths, they were con- ducted through the trackless woods; and for want of bridges or boats, they swam rivers and creeks They carried their pro- visions for man and beast on their horses, cooked their simple meals in the wilderness, slept at night upon their blankets and under the open sky; owls, bears, wolves, and panthers were their serenaders, and sometimes the wily and cruel Indian dogged their steps by day and hovered around their camp fires at night, to steal or kill as his sagacity might dictate. In the morn- ing, if spared, they raised their hearts in gratitude and went on their way rejoicing. But let us hear his own description, drawn from experience, of the Methodist traveling preacher's life in the Western frontier work: "While on the way through these frontier settlements, if we came to a creek or river, we had the privilege of swim- ming it; and, when safely landed on the other bank, it was a consolation to reflect we had left that obstruction behind and 94 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree that the way to the next lay open and plain before us. If night overtook us before we could reach a house, it was our privilege to gather wood where we could find it, make a fire, eat our mor- sel, and supplicate a throne of grace with as free access as in a palace or a church. Being weary, we rested sweetly and securely under the divine protection; and when we arrived at our des- tination, if the accommodations were of the humblest kind, we had the inexpressible satisfaction of being received with a hearty welcome and accommodated with the best the family could afford; and, though very inferior in the estimation of the deli- cate and those accustomed to sumptuous fare, yet all the real wants of nature were supplied. We ate heartily, slept sweetly, and rejoiced with the pious and affectionate people who received and treated the ministers of the gospel as angels of God: and, above all, when the time arrived for us to deliver our message, the people flocked together, and seemed to want to hear what God the Lord would say. The prayers of the pious ascended the hill of the Lord; divine power attended the preaching of the word; sinners were convicted, many were converted to God, and the Church was enlarged and 'built up in the faith once delivered to the saints.'" In conclusion, he says: "My appointment required much riding. I preached often and sustained a great charge; and yet I esteem those among the happiest days of my life. Strange as it may seem, there, in the midst of exposure and many priva- tions, my impaired constitution was restored and my general health greatly improved. I enjoyed peace and consolation through faith and was enabled to walk with God." Eight years of Mr. McKendree's life i. e., from 1800 to 1808 were spent in this way while presiding over the work in the wilds of the Western frontier. They were years of almost inconceivable hardship and toil, but of great usefulness and happiness. His being selected for this post by Mr. Asbury seems to have been providential, for scarcely another man could have been found combining so many qualifications for this delicate and difficult field of ministerial labor. It evinced that great peculiarity in Mr. Asbury's character by which he seemed almost intuitively to read the characters of men and was thus enabled to select the proper preachers for the appointments. Never was a more felicitous appointment made than was the selection of this devoted servant of Jesus to the Westernjwork. His deep piety and fervid zeal, his intimate knowledge of the doctrines and Discipline of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 95 the Church, his remarkable capacity to govern and to infuse into the preachers his own spirit; his almost morbid love of order, and his methodical manner of conducting business; his wonderful astuteness and quickness of apprehension, com- bined with a grave and yet most prepossessing personal appear- ance, and his wonderful power of illustrating whatever he sought to teach all concurred to mark him as preeminently the man for the people and the country. God seems to have raised him up for this very position; and while thousands have already blessed God for it, future generations of Methodists in the West and South will look back with gratitude to his influence in building up and extending the work of God in this wide field of his operations. How much Methodism owes to him for its suc- cess in this region can never be known until the light of eternity shall reveal it. Never did the Church more urgently need an able and de- voted leader to guide and control its operations than did the vast district to which Mr. McKendree was assigned at the Western Conference of 1800. Indications of religious quicken- ing had occurred in several sections of the country in 1799; and in 1800, what is familiarly known as "the great revival in the Western country" took place. Bishop Asbury had not visited them since 1793. The district had been left without a pre- siding elder at their last Conference; the circuits, which were very large, had but one preacher, and local preachers were quite scarce. Among the latter, however, the names of John McGee, Nathanael Harris, Benjamin Northcut, Philip Taylor, and others deserve notice; while among the few itinerants scattered over the region William Burke, Henry Smith, John Sale, John Page, Thomas Wilkerson, and others not so well known, were bold and powerful ministers of Christ. Among the Presbyterians, Messrs. McGready, William McGee (brother to the Methodist preacher), Rankin, and Hodge, deserve honor- able mention for their talents and usefulness in this revival. If the history of this glorious work had not been already given to the public, it might be profitable to trace the progress and results of it, but as that has been done with sufficient minute- ness by several writers, we shall only add that it seemed to burst forth almost simultaneously in various places in Kentucky and in that part of Middle Tennessee bordering upon the line of Kentucky. Cane Ridge, Red River, and Bourbon County, Ky., were specially the places where the work received a mighty im- pulse. Meetings began to be held all over the country, attended 96 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree by immense crowds of most deeply excited hearers. The Pres- byterian and Methodist preachers labored together as brethren; a "union" was formed; the large meetings were placed under the charge of committees, who were to appoint the preachers to the pulpit and supervise the exercises as representatives of the two Churches. Camp meetings sprung up as a convenience, if not a necessity. The revival spread with unparalleled rapidity and overwhelming power; meetings were prolonged day and night for eight or ten days successively, and many thousands in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio were the trophies of the work. As might be expected in so widespread and general a state of religious excitement, there were excesses and irregularities among some of the subjects. The exercises known as jerks and dancing appeared, although discountenanced generally by the more intelligent and sedate part of the ministers and members. A great deal of enthusiasm was excited, and doubtless some fanat- icism also; yet a vast amount of good was accomplished and many who seemed to act from impulse and ran into excesses in manifesting their emotions became steady and consistent Chris- tians and closed life in peace and hope. The Churches had a fresh baptism and were united in fraternal love. Unfortunately, however, the peculiarities of Methodism class meetings, love feasts, and the regular operations of the itinerant system were suspended for the occasion, under the influence of the "union agreement;" and the supposed Arminian tendency of the Cum- berland Presbytery and their refusal to withhold licenses from men who were useful and acceptable to the community but were not classically educated brought about a serious and permanent division of the Presbyterian Church. This refusal on the part of the Cumberland Presbytery to abide by the requirements of their Church resulted in the seces- sion of some excellent ministers and the organization of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. This Church, having ma- terially modified the Calvinism of the Westminster Con- fession, and adopted an itinerant system of preaching, has accomplished much good in the West and South and continues to evince that it is a true branch of the living Vine. Mr. McKendree arrived in this country when this religious excitement was at its height, and passed, along with his vener- able traveling companions, through Kentucky, and down to Nashville, Tenn., preaching with great power and success wher- ever he went. The more he surveyed the field of his future labor, the more was he impressed with the exceeding delicacy Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 97 and difficulty of the task before him. He clearly saw that the time of sifting and of trial was at hand, that the existing state of things could not endure, the union would soon terminate, and that the least impropriety on the part of any of the preachers would be quoted as a violation of the "agreement." He re- solved, if he could, he would avoid this odium; and owing to his prudence and firmness, the Methodists came honorably out of this entangling alliance, and the parties resumed the proper and independent exercise of their respective Church regulations without a serious breach of esteem and brotherly love. 1 Mr. McKendree was now in a position which called forth all the qualities of his mind and heart and taxed to their utmost capacity the energies of his manly and vigorous body. His eminent piety and punctual attention to all the rules of holy living made him an admirable example both for preachers and members and gave force to his office and his character. His clear apprehension of biblical doctrines, his thorough acquaint- ance with Methodism, his tact in simplifying to the most ordinary capacity any subject which he had studied, his persua- sive and winning manners, united to a remarkable power of close and logical analysis, blending at the same time the tender- est pathos with an occasional burst of the sublime and even the terrible in his moments of earnest and impassioned eloquence, made him a model preacher, and, by the blessing of God, gave great efficiency to his ministrations. Yet all these qualifications, however important to his useful- ness as a preacher, would not have insured his success as the presiding officer in a great moral and religious enter- !Qur McKendree's advice to preachers and people was: "Hold fast to your doctrine and discipline. Others may get along without rule, but we cannot." This was wholesome and seasonable advice, and was attended to. It gave offense to some, but was a means of keeping us together, and we prospered. But, mournful to tell, those who got above creeds, forms, and confessions, while they professed to be Christians, went from one ex- treme to another, till three of their most zealous and flaming ministers (Presbyterian) landed in Shakerism; one, if not more, became an Arian; one, at least, went among the Christians, and the rest held fast or returned to their Confession of Faith. H. Smith's "Recollections of an Old Itinerant," pp. 59, 60. The Presbyterians in Cumberland managed their revival much better; for when they could no longer subscribe to every part of their Confession of Faith, they organized an independent Presbytery, into which they ad- mitted men of gifts and usefulness, without requiring a collegiate educa- tion, etc. P. 60. 7 98 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree prise. And happily these were not all, nor were they his chief qualifications for the post he occupied. He had a mature mind, a sound judgment, a determined will, and, what is of infinite importance to one in his position, could arrange and plan his work with a view to ulterior results with almost unequaled skill; and what he planned with so much wisdom, he executed with equal ardor and perseverance. Nothing diverted his atten- tion from the work of God. He had no family ties demanding his attention, and the pecuniary condition of those most nearly related to him was not such as to give him anxiety. As to wealth and honor, he spurned them. Personal ease had no allurements for him. If ever a human heart loved Jerusalem above its chief joy, loved it with all the tenderness and strength of a pure, deep, and filial affection, and "drew all its cares and studies this way," his was that heart and the Methodist Church was to him as a precious mother. He cared little about aught else. He firmly believed that Methodism, in its doctrines, was the simplest and best exponent of Scripture truth, that its moral regimen was practical Christianity, and its polity, especially its great itinerant system of preaching the gospel sustained by an efficient, impartial, and practical general superintendency, was the best plan yet devised for the universal diffusion of religious truth; and honestly and cordially believing thus, he threw him- self into the ranks of the brave and true-hearted who gave them- selves "a living sacrifice" to the noblest of causes, under the conviction that he had nothing too good to give to such an ob- ject and that a short life is not too long to "apply wholly to this one thing." So had he vowed in this solemn ordination, and that vow he kept. The late Rev. James Gwin, himself a resident of Tennessee and for many years a useful traveling preacher under Mr. Mc- Kendree, made the following remarks in reference to his peculiar qualifications as a presiding elder on frontier work: " Brother McKendree, having been appointed to the charge of the Western work, soon formed a plan to carry the gospel to every neighborhood. He employed as many local preachers and exhorters as he could to visit the uncultivated regions, and they went forth and the Lord went with them, and the tidings of salvation were soon heard in almost every settlement. In traveling through the barrens of Kentucky, he found a place where preaching was needed and sent that excellent man, John McGee, to it. He preached, a gracious revival followed, a society was raised, and a church built. As I commenced Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 99 about this time to speak in public, he sent me to visit the new settlement, and I continued preaching from place to place until our Conference came on; then I was received into the traveling connection on trial. The business of Jesse Walker and myself, who were received at the same time, was to enlarge the work. . . . The work spread rapidly, for until then there was but one circuit in all the region about Nashville and Gallatin. Red River and Barren Circuits were soon formed, then Green River and Roaring River Circuits were added, and Brother Walker went on forming circuits west and north until he reached the Ohio River, and Brother McKendree devised a plan to carry the gospel west of the Ohio to the Mississippi River. And as Louisiana had been purchased and brought into our government, he sent Brothers Walker and Lewis Garrett to make a trial in that region, where they soon succeeded in planting the standard of the cross." Dr. Bangs ("History of Methodist Episcopal Church," Volume II, p. Ill) says: " Mr. McKendree was the life and soul of this army of itiner- ants. Wherever he went, both by precept and example, he aroused the lukewarm to diligence, confirmed those who stood in the faith, and alarmed the fears of careless sinners by his powerful appeals to their consciences . By this means many local preachers who had moved into the country were induced to forsake their secular employments and enter the ranks of the itinerancy." The district to which Mr. McKendree was appointed in 1801 was called Kentucky District, this being the first time that names were given to districts. Its limits, however, as we have already seen, were far from being restricted to the State of Kentucky. The ensuing Conference was held at Ebenzer, in East Ten- nessee, beginning on October 31, 1801. Bishop Asbury was present, and says in his Journal: "Our brethren in Kentucky did not attend; they pleaded the greatness of the work of God." Mr. McKendree was returned to his former district. Natchez was now added to his district, and Tobias Gibson, of precious memory, was sent to that work as the only itinerant preacher in all that region. The next Conference was held at Strother's, or Station Camp, in Sumner County, Tenn., October 2, 1802, and again the aged but indefatigable Asbury was present, al- though too much afflicted to be able to preach. He says, how- ever: "I was able to ordain by employing Brother McKendree 100 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree to examine those who were presented and to station the preach- ers." The Minutes for this year show that the work was steadily advancing in the West, insomuch that it was now found neces- sary to divide it into three districts, Holston and Cumberland being added to Kentucky, Mr. McKendree continuing upon the last. Bishop Asbury continuing in very infirm health and suffering great pain from exposure and long rides on horseback, Mr. Mc- Kendree accompained him on his return to the East, through East Tennessee. Bishop Asbury,- in his Journal, speaks most respectfully and gratefully of his kindness to him on this trip and frequently alludes to his preaching. " Brother McKendree made me a tent," says Bishop Asbury, in this wilderness jour- ney, "of his own and John Watson's blankets, and happily saved me from taking cold while I slept about two hours under my grand marquee. Brother McKendree threw his cloak over the limb of a tree, and he and his companion took shelter under- neath and slept also. I think I will never more brave the wilder- ness without a tent." After some time he adds: "I have been sick for twenty-three days; ah, the tale of woe I might relate! My dear McKendree had to lift me up and down from my horse like a helpless child. For my sickness and suffering, I conceive, I am indebted to sleeping uncovered in the wilderness. ... On Monday, November 8, I parted from my dear McKendree." Mr. McKendree spent this year in his usual manner. He attended Conference at Mount Gerizim, Harrison County, Ky v October 2, 1803. The work was enlarging in the West, and the tide of emigration so astonishingly rapid that Bishop Asbury found it necessary to form a new district northwest of the Ohio River, with William Burke as presiding elder. Mr. McKendree remained on the Kentucky, John Watson on the Holston, and Lewis Garrett was placed upon the Cumberland District. As this closed his fourth year upon the Kentucky District, let us advert to the increase of the membership which had oc- curred within the bounds of his original district. The General Minutes show that in 1800 there were only 1,941 whites and 116 colored. In 1804 there were 11,141 whites and 734 colored. Instead of one district there were four; instead of 11 traveling preachers, they now numbered 45. So wonderfully had the work extended and the membership multiplied, that we are constrained to say: "What hath God wrought!" Our McKen- dree had contributed in a large degree to this unparalleled sue- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 101 cess, and, with his noble colleagues, deserves to be held forever in grateful remembrance by the Church. On May 7, 1804, the fourth regular General Conference began in Baltimore, and closed the twenty-third. Bishops Coke, Asbury, and Whatcoat were present, and, of course, presided. One hundred and seven preachers took their seats as entitled to membership. 1 William Burke, Thomas Milligan, and John Watson were from the Western Conference. It seems that Mr. McKendree had intended to go to this Conference, as every preacher who had traveled four years had a right to do; and that he received money to pay his expenses to it; but from some cause, probably because he thought it more important to stay and attend to his charge, or probably because he pre- ferred to assist Mr. Burke, he declined going, and handed the money over to the latter, adding something from his own scanty purse. It is impossible to estimate properly the importance of the service which this faithful and wise servant of Jesus Christ rendered to the cause of religion and of Methodism without considering the peculiar state of things in the West about this period. The revival, which began in 1799 and spread like a mighty inundation during several years until it extended over nearly all the populated sections of the West and Southwest and aroused the whole Methodist family in Europe and America to new and more vigorous efforts, seemed to have so excited the minds of many persons upon the subject of religion as to offer an occasion for the operation of seceders, fanatics, and impostors. Not only was it necessary to defend the Church against the attacks of some of the old traveling preachers who sought to revolutionize it by openly advocating in the West Mr. O'Kelly's notions of Church government, to sustain our doctrines against Calvinism and its Antinomian sequences, and the ordinances in l As Mr. McKendree was not present at this General Conference, its acts are not necessarily connected with his biography; yet it may net be out of place to say that the principal business of the session was a careful revision of the whole book of Discipline; that it was taken up seriatim, and every chapter and section calmly and critically reviewed, and passed by an al- most unanimous vote. It was the general impression among the oldest and most influential members of the body that the General Conference ought to be constituted on the plan of an equalized representation, according to a proper ratio, with delegated powers. Indeed, it seems this was the pre- vailing sentiment; but, inasmuch as it had not been expected by all the Annual Conferences that this change would now be made and as no plan had been matured or was presented for this purpose, nothing decisive was done in 1804, leaving to the ensuing General Conference to arrange it. 102 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree opposition especially to the popular declamation on the subject of baptism, but it was equally necessary to guard against the excesses which too frequently accompanied this glorious revival of the work of God, 1 excesses which astonish and humiliate us who are so far removed from their transaction, but some of which it is even now far easier to denounce than to account for and which were still more difficult to prevent while the whole community were like a forest agitated by a tempest. Unfortu- nately, some of those having a high reputation for piety, and even some eminent ministers of the gospel, especially among the Presbyterians, gave the sanction of their example to such un- seemly bodily exercises as jerking, jumping, running, dancing, and barking. Many pious but mistaken persons identified these violent spasmodic actions with the revival itself and were ready to doubt the piety of a preacher who might seek to prevent them. Alas for our boasted philosophy when we are suddenly brought under the influence of novel and powerful impulses, especially when subjects of a mysterious and spiritual character engross the mind! Excitable and superstitious natures, under such circumstances, are often swept from the moorings of reason and common sense and drift out into the dangerous sea of fanaticism. Such persons too often become the victims of the cold and selfish impostor, who, under pretensions to piety and zeal, opens in the temple of God a kind of moral brokerage in order to speculate upon the errors and misfortunes of society! To add to the list of troubles, about this time a company of Shaking Quaker preachers from New York came among them with their new-fangled doctrines and high pretensions to spirit- ual impulses. Their pretended zeal and piety misled many persons, and among others several valuable Presbyterian min- isters and a number of unwary members. Mr. Rankin, who had been very active and useful in the great revival, abandoned the Presbyterian Church and soon became a leader among them. About this time another portion seceded from the Presbyterian Church, who were called by different names, such as Marshall- ites, Stoneites, Schismatics, etc. These affected extraordinary zeal, denounced Confessions of Faith, Church discipline, adopt- ed immersion as the exclusive mode of baptism, and were under- stood to have imbibed sentiments derogatory to the divinity of the Redeemer with other tenets which affect the essentials of Christianity. Here, again, Presbyterian ministers seem to have : The Rev. Henry Smith, in his "Recollections of an Old Itinerant," page 50, bears his testimony to the value of Mr. McKendree's efforts in these respects. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 103 led off in these dangerous innovations. But amidst this con- vulsion in the religious community, the Methodists kept on the even tenor of their way, adhering to their excellent Discipline and uniformly teaching that system of doctrine which they had long since learned, and which was not only the popular but the use- ful doctrine of the revival. 1 William McKendree, although not distinguished like some of his associates as a revivalist in the popular sense of the term, yet was evidently and confessedly the leader and planner of their operations, the ablest defender of the doctrines and polity of the Church, and the chief conservator of its union and harmony. His counsels gave confidence, his presence inspired the timid with courage, and his self-sacrificing and consistent course exemplified and honored the character of Methodist itinerancy. With him as leader under God, the preachers and people felt certain of success. Justice to his fellow laborers requires it to be said that they were worthy of their captain. And surely with Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat as chief counselors and with such colleagues as William Burke, Learner Blackman, Jesse Walker, John Sale, Thomas Wilkerson, Henry Smith, Tobias Gibson, Jacob Young, Lewis Garrett, James Gwin, John Page, John A. Granade, John Watson, and others of like piety and zeal the cause of God ir The venerable Henry Smith narrates, in his " Recollections of an Old Itinerant," the following facts in connection with this subject: "By the recommendation of Dr. C , Mr. McNamar, a Presbyterian minister, and, of course, a Calvinist, went to hear our McKendree. The subject that day was the extent of the atonement and salvation by faith in Christ. Mr. McNamar was so charmed with the simple eloquence of the preacher and the force of his arguments that he said in himself as he went home: 'This is a doctrine that is calculated to do good.' It so wrought upon his mind that shortly afterwards, perhaps the next Sabbath, he be- gan upon the same heavenly theme in his own congregation, and the mighty power of God came down upon him and his congregation and many of them fell to the floor under it, the preacher among the rest. To the con- gregation this was strange work, but not so strange to the Methodists, for, thank the Lord, we kept the fire burning in the midst of surrounding darkness and opposition. Some of the Methodists began to talk to those in distress, and also sung and prayed; but some of the elders (who were still on their feet) said, 'If it is the Lord's work, let him do his own'; but they replied, 'The Lord works by means,' and persisted. Some soon found peace and began to rejoice. As there was some crowding among those who were down, one said: 'Don't tread on Mr. McNamar.' He heard it, and cried out: 'Yes, let them tread on me, for I deserve it. O, if I and my congregation had been called to judgment a few weeks ago, what would have become of us?' This (he adds) was the beginning of the revival in the eastern part of Kentucky." Pp. 63, 64. 104 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree was in as safe hands as frail humanity often affords. And now that they have all passed away with not a solitary exception, Gibson and Blackman having fallen early and suddenly, while Burke, Wilkerson, and Garrett have but recently sunk into the grave, as the sun goes slowly down on a long summer's eve, we may be excused from saying, that in labors, privations, practical sense, profound piety, true eloquence, and wonderful success in their holy calling they were a noble band, and deserve to be held in perpetual remembrance. What if they lived poor, 1 and died "unhonored and unsung," their graves scattered all over the great valley where they toiled and fell at their posts, with few stones to mark their places of repose, yet their "record is on high," and tiieir recompense both sure and glorious. They trusted all to God; and will he not vindicate his own truthful- ness? They loved the Church dearer than their own lives, and their names must never be forgotten. 1 From a memorandum book, very neatly kept in Mr. McKendree's handwriting, showing "moneys received from 1799 to 1804 inclusive," we make the following synopsis, premising that the salary of a preacher from 1784 to 1800 was $64 per annum, equal to 19 4s., and was raised to $80 at the General Conference of 1800: "Salary deficient four quarters 1799, on the Northern District of Vir- ginia, 5 15s. lid." Within that period he charges himself with " private gifts worth 3 6s. Qd." socks being valued at from 7s. Qd. to 6s. per pair; and then, out of the pittance of about $40 'which he received on a hard year's work, he "gave away to the poor, and other charitable objects," about $10 more; so that he subsisted that year on $30, or drew upon his own private funds for the remainder; and yet his cash account for that year shows that his actual cash expenses amounted to 15 Os. 10 %d., exclusive of traveling expenses, gifts, etc. This was almost double the amount he received in cash, clothes, etc. His memorandum from 1800 to October, 1801, shows that, although his salary was raised to $80 per annum, he only received three dollars the first quarter, and two dollars for the next. The whole deficiency of this year was 17 15s. 10d., showing that he received during his first year's work as presiding elder in the West about twenty dollars only, all told, while his expenses in traveling from Virginia to the West and for necessary clothing and fare must have greatly exceeded this amount. His receipts for the next year amounted to $43.67, making a deficiency of $36.23 for 1802, etc. Nor let it be forgotten that he charges himself in the above with all cash and clothing received as private gifts. Such was then the rule, and he always obeyed the law of the Church. Of course, traveling preachers who began to travel poor, remained poor while they itinerated. "As poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." CHAPTER VIII McKendree presides at the Western Conference, 1804 Bishop What- coat's death, 1806 McKendree in Illinois and Missouri Review of the work in the West Delegated General Conference needed A bish- op wanted New York plan to elect one Defeated by Virginia Con- ference General Conference, 1808 McKendree made bishop His qualifications Dr. Coke's letter. HAVING followed the history of the subject of this biography to the fall of 1804, we may pass along with the remark that on October 2 of this year the Western Conference again met at Gerizim, near Cynthiana, Ky . Bishop Asbury having been taken ill on his way to the West, neither he nor Bishop Whatcoat, who accompanied him, was able to attend the session. The failure of the bishops to reach the Conference and also to designate anyone to preside devolved upon the Conference the election of its President, and Mr. McKendree, having received the vote of the Conference, performed the duties of the office most admir- ably. Several preachers were admitted on trial at this Con- ference who subsequently attained considerable notoriety and most of whom are known to have been very estimable and highly useful men. Among them were Samuel Parker, the sweet singer in Israel, and a fine specimen of nature's noblemen im- proved by divine grace; Peter Cartwright, a fearless, rough, and ready man, who still lives, and has recently written his own biography; Miles Harper, my first colleague, a man of fine order of mind by nature, a revivalist, with rare gifts for declamation, a voice of unsurpassed melody, and of great physical capacity to sustain the labor of the saddle, the pulpit, and the altar, and who, if he had combined with all his other qualities greater self- command, might have stood among the foremost; James Axley, whose firmness verged on sternness and his candor on rudeness, but withal a devoted, laborious, good man, kind of heart, honest in his prejudices, and eccentric from the want of early advan- tages, and Thomas Lasley, the humble and faithful preacher and traveling companion of Bishop Asbury, who, with Gibson, Blackman, and Bowman, was a pioneer in Mississippi and Louisiana, whose long and useful life has but recently closed. This, like all the other years of his itinerant life, seems to have been laboriously and efficiently employed in the duties of his holy office. The revival was still prevailing in many sections of the western country, and thousands were annually being con- 106 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree verted to God. His district occupied all his time and energies, and the cause of God prospered. On October 2, 1805, Conference convened in Scott County, Ky. Bishop Asbury presided, and the session was a peaceful and happy one. Mr. McKendree was this year transferred to the Cumberland District, after having been five years on the Kentucky District, for, although some slight changes had been made, yet it remained substantially the same work. And this seems to be a violation of the rule introduced in 1792 limiting a presiding elder's term of service on a district to four years. I cannot therefore explain it. The Cumberland District was not only a new field of opera- tions for him, but it was a much more extensive one, and em- braced more of the frontier work; for it included not only all the populated portion of Middle Tennessee, but an appointment in Illinois also. The increase of members reported for this year justifies the conclusion that the preachers within the district were faithful and acceptable, and we doubt not the presiding elder did his part, as usual, of hard service. The Western Conference for 1807 was held at Ebenezer Church, Greene County, East Tennessee, September 20, 1806, from which he was returned to the Cumberland District. Bish- op Asbury attended this Conference, and in his Journal he says: "Sunday, September 14, I preached at the stand in the woods. Brother McKendree followed. It was a season of feeling. . . . Saturday, September 20, Western Conference began, and ended on Monday. There are fourteen hundred added within the bounds of this Conference; fifty-five preachers stationed; all pleased." Again: "The brethren were in want, so I parted with my watch, my coat, and my shirt." Bishop Whatcoat 1 having died in July, 1806, Bishop Asbury preached his funeral sermon at this Conference as was his custom at all the Conferences of the year. This was a year of great labor and privation with Mr. McKendree, for he not only attended his regular appointments in a very large district, but made a missionary tour into Illinois and Missouri. Jesse Walker had been sent to Illinois and John Travis to Missouri, and both ap- ^ichard Whatcoat was born in Gloucestershire, England, 1736; be- came an itinerant preacher in 1769; came to the United States in 1784; was ordained by Mr. Wesley previously; assisted in the ordination of Mr. Asbury; was elected bishop in 1800; and died in Dover, Del., July 5, 1806; a holy, faithful man. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 107 pointments were attached to Mr. McKendree's District. The following narrative of this tour, by the Rev. James Gwin, 1 may be interesting to those who delight to trace the footsteps of the brave pioneer preachers: In the year 1807, Brother McKendree, A. Goddard, and myself set out to visit the settlements of Illinois. We crossed Ohio River, took the wil- derness, and traveled until night. Not being able to get to any habitation, we camped out. Brother McKendree made us some tea, and we lay down under the branches of a friendly beech and had a pleasant night's rest. Next morning we set out early, traveling hard, and got some distance into the prairie, and here we took up for the night. This was a night of trouble. After we had taken a morsel to eat and offered up our prayers to God, we lay down to rest and fell into a deep sleep. About eleven o'clock Brother McKendree awoke and found our horses were all gone. After some search, we found that they had passed over a small stream and had taken back the way we had come. Not knowing whether they had been stolen or had left of their own accord, leaving Brother McKendree at our camp, Brother Goddard and myself went in pursuit of them. As the night was dark, we got dry bark, which afforded us a tolerable light. We followed their tracks across the prairie and overtook them about eight o'clock next morning, having traveled fifteen miles on foot. The next night we reached the first settlement, tarried a day there, and, crossing Kaskaskia River, we reached Turkey Hill and lodged with an old Brother Scott. Here we met with Jesse Walker, who had formed a circuit and had three camp meetings ap- pointed for us. After resting a few days, we set out for the first camp meeting. In twelve miles we reached the Mississippi and, having no means of taking our horses across, we sent them back, crossed the river, and, with our baggage on our shoulders, went to the camp ground, having fallen in with Brother Travis on the way. About forty were converted at this meeting. Here we have a specimen of the risks and fatigues endured by the Methodist itinerants in the West at that day. "There were giants in those days." Let us pursue the narrative: *The following statement, appears in Bishop Asbury's Journal, relating to this beloved friend: "Wednesday, September 28, 1808. Yesterday I returned to James Gwin's and preached here to-day with great delight to a very feeling con- gregation. "Above all the persons of my acquaintance, Brother James Gwin has distinguished himself most friendly to my comfort. Understanding that I have a dependent father and sisters, he presented me with three hundred acres of excellent land, for which he only required me to advance an incon- siderable sum for the State charges, and further takes upon himself the trouble of opening a plantation and building a cabin for their reception. O that the Father of mercies may remember and reward him and his for all his kindness, to me!" 108 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree From this camp meeting we returned across the river to Judge S.'s, who refreshed us and sent forward our baggage in a cart to Brother Gar- rettson's, where our next meeting was to be held, which was called the Three Springs. We arrived on Friday morning on the camp ground, which was situated in a beautiful grove surrounded by a prairie. A considerable congregation had collected, for the news of the other meeting had gone abroad and produced much excitement. Some were in favor of the work and others were opposed to it. A certain major had raised a " company of lewd fellows of the baser sort" to drive us from the ground. On Saturday, while I was preaching, the major and his company rode into the congrega- tion and halted, which produced considerable confusion and alarm. I stopped preaching for a moment and quite calmly invited them to be off with themselves, and they retired to the spring for a fresh drink of brandy. The major said he had heard of these Methodists before; that they always broke up the peace of the people wherever they went; that they preached against horse racing, card playing, and every other kind of amusement. However, they used no violence against us, but determined to camp on the ground and prevent us from doing harm. But at three o'clock, while Brother Goddard and I were singing a hymn, an awful sense of the divine power fell on the congregation, when a man with a terrified look ran to me and said: "Are you the man that keeps the roll?" I asked him what roll. "That roll," he replied, "that people put their names to who are going to heaven." I supposed he meant the class paper, and sent him to Brother Walker. Turning to Brother Walker, he said, " Put my name down, if you please," and then fell to the ground. Others started to run off and fell, some escaped. We were busy in getting the fallen to one place, which we effected about sunset, when the man who wished his name on the roll arose and ran off like a wild beast. Looking round upon the scene and listening to the sobs, groans, and cries of the penitents reminded me of a battle field after a heavy battle. All night the struggle went on. Victory was on the Lord's side; many were converted, and by sunrise next morning there was the shout of a King in the camp. It was Sabbath morning, and I thought it the most beautiful morning I had ever seen. A little after sun- rise, the man who had run off came back, wet with the dews of the night and with strong symptoms of derangement. At eleven o'clock Brother McKendree administered the holy sacrament; and while he was dwelling upon its origin, nature, and design some of the major's company were effected, and we had a melting time. After sacrament, Brother McKen- dree preached to a large congregation, all the principal men of the country and all in reach who could get there being present. His text was "Come, let us reason together," and perhaps no man ever managed the subject better, or with more effect. His reasoning on the atonement, the great plan of salvation, and the love of God was so clear and strong and was delivered with such pathos, that the congregation involuntarily arose to their feet and pressed toward him from all parts. While he was preaching, he very ingeniously adverted to the conduct of the major, and remarked: " We are Americans, and some of us have fought for our liberty and have Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 109 come here to teach men the way to heaven." This seemed to strike the major, and he afterwards became friendly and has remained so ever since. This was a great day. The work became general, the place was awful, and many souls were born of God. Among the rest was our wild man. His history is a peculiar one. He lived in the American Bottom, had a fine estate, and was a professed deist. He told us that a few nights before we passed his house he dreamed that the day of judgment was at hand, and that three men had come from the East to warn the people to prepare for it; that so soon as he saw us he became alarmed, believing we were those men; and having ascertained where we were from, who we were, and where going, he came to the camp meeting. He became a reformed and good man. Brother G win's narrative continues: We went to Goshen Camp Meeting. Here we had comfortable camps and an arbor large enough to shelter seven hundred persons, in the form of an L. The stand was in an unsheltered spot between the two squares. We had also a small log meetinghouse, in which our first quarterly meeting was held. Preaching began on Friday, and was kept up regularly. The people having heard of the revival at the other meetings flocked out in great numbers, many to see the strange work. Some brought brandy and cards for their amusement during the meeting. On Friday and Saturday the word preached seemed to do little good. An awful cloud seemed to rest upon us. In passing the door of the preachers' tent, I saw Brother McKen- dree alone, bathed in tears. I stepped in, and he said to me: "Brother, we have been preaching for ourselves and not for the Lord. Go, brother, and preach Christ crucified to the people." My heart was deeply affected. We fell upon our knees and implored the help of God. This was about sunset. I preached at candle lighting. My text was: "Behold the man." It commenced raining shortly after I began to preach, and, as the audience was under shelter, I did not stop, although exposed to the rain. My heart was fired and my tongue loosened in an unusual manner. For a few mo- ments nothing but sobs and sighs were heard among the people, at length the whole congregation seemed suddenly smitten with the power of God. Many fell as in battle and were presently raised to tell of pardoning mercy and encourage others to seek the Lord. We continued all night in the work. On the next day, Sunday, 9 A.M., the Lord's Supper was administered. It was a memorable day, and eternity only will reveal the result. One con- version deserves particular notice. An Indian, of the Chickamauga tribe, on a hunting trip, fell in with us at our camp meeting. I will give his own account of his conversion. He said: "When I saw so many people, I thought I would stop and get some whisky; and while you were talking in the rain, I was standing by a sapling, and there came on me a mighty weight, too heavy for me to stand under. I caught the sapling, but my hands would not hold it, and I fell to the ground; while there, blackness came over me; I tried to get away, but could not until about daylight. I thought surely I had been drunk; but then I remembered I had nothing to 110 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree drink, although I concluded not to go back; yet when they began to sing, something drew me back, and before I knew it I was among them again, and then the same weight came on me and the darkness; I fell to the ground and thought I was about to die. I tried to get up, but was too weak. At last a white man came and talked over me; and while he was talking, it got lighter and lighter, and everything looked whiter than the sun could make it look. The heavy load and the blackness all left me; I felt glad in my heart and jumped up and felt light!" Brother Gwin says that he saw the poor savage when he arose, and as he knew but few English words, he cried in ecstasy: "Good, good, good!" The narrator adds that arrangements were made to send this Indian to school; that he soon learned to read and write, and that at the last account of him he was trying to "walk in the light." "On Monday, the last day of the meeting, one hundred joined the Church." Mr. McKendree has also left a concise reference to this tour, in which he notices the following facts : The camp meeting they attended across the Mississippi River, and consequently in the present State of Missouri, was the first meeting of the kind ever held on the northwest of the Mississippi River, and that they walked about forty miles in getting to it. He further says: "Four Sabbaths excepted, I have attended popular meetings every week since the beginning of February, in which time I have rode about 2,700 miles through the wilderness to the Illi- nois and back, spent considerable time in the most sickly part of that and this country, and yet, blessed be God, my health and strength have been preserved." This trip occupied about two months and was the commencement of a glorious revival across the Ohio and upon both sides of the Mississippi. Such was the manner of life of the devoted McKendree and of his indefatigable and heroic associates, such their faith and zeal, and such the wonderful success with which God crowned their "labor of love." The ensuing Conference was held in Chillicothe, Ohio, Sep- tember 14, 1807. Bishop Asbury, then our only bishop in Amer- ica, was present, and says of it: "On Monday we opened our Conference in great peace and love, and continued until Fri- day. A delegation of seven members was chosen to the Gen- eral Conference. There were thirteen preachers added, and we found an addition of two thousand two hundred members to the society in these bounds; seven deacons were elected and Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 111 ordained and ten elders; two preachers only located, sixty-five were stationed." Mr. McKendree was doubtless reappointed to the Cumber- land District, but as the General Conference, which changed his relation, came on before the Minutes were published, the name of his successor, James Ward, is put down as its presiding elder. As this year closes the labors of Mr. McKendree as pre- siding elder, let us briefly review the progress of the Church in the West since he took charge of the only district it contained in 1800. Then there were 1,741 members, white and colored; now i. e., 1808 the Western Conference numbered 16,887 members. Then Mr. McKendree was the leader of the only band, a forlorn hope, cut off from the rest of the work by an extensive wilderness, full of warlike and cruel savages, having only eleven preachers. In 1808, that one district had expanded into five, with sixty-six preachers; and the cause of God was advancing and gaining firm footing throughout the vast Valley of the Mississippi. The Methodism planted by the heroic and holy pioneer preachers in this region was truly Wesleyan; no wild and spurious offshoot of the original stock, producing fanaticism and degrading its disciples, but a genuine root of the true vine which Paul planted, Apollos watered, which Lu- ther pruned, and Wesley nourished, and whose fruitful foliage was now rapidly spreading over England, the West Indies, and the great Western Continent. Its fruit was healing the chronic ulcers of the nations. It introduced order, social and moral, it subdued the vices, restrained the passions and vitiated appe- tites, refined the taste, enlightened the minds of men, and spread peace and happiness through society. It instituted an unequaled system of propagandism, the very plan introduced by the great Master himself, and called forth the moral heroism of martyrs in its ministers. Its doctrines were scriptural, its forms and ceremonies simple and significant, its spirit catholic, its discipline strictly evangelical, and its system of government subordinated to the great cardinal object of spreading scrip- tual holiness over all lands by an itinerant ministry. No won- der it succeeeded; it would have been far more wonderful if it had not. Every attribute of the Godhead was on its side, and every intercession of the world's Redeemer was virtually a prayer and a pledge of its triumph. The highest interests of humanity were involved in its efforts, and some of the purest and noblest of earth sacrificed their earthly all in its behalf. At the Western Conference, held in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 112 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree September, 1807, to which we have already adverted, seven delegates were elected to represent the body in the approaching General Conference, five of whom attended it. They were William McKendree, William Burke, John Sale, Benjamin Lakin, and Elisha W. Bowman. The New England Conference also sent seven representatives, while from New York there were nineteen; South Carolina, eleven; Virginia, eighteen; Baltimore, thirty-one; and Philadelphia, thirty- two making in all one hundred and twenty-five, instead of one hundred and twenty- nine, as stated by Dr. Bangs and Dr. Lee, both of whom give the Western Conference eleven instead of seven. 1 The General Conference which began May 6, 1808, 2 in Baltimore, was the most important session which had ever been held. The organization of the Church, so far as respects the inauguration of the episcopal form of government by the Christmas Conference of 1784, which was hastily convened, and, of course, was not a general attendance of the preachers, particularly as to the Conferences remote from the place of its session, was certainly an important event, whether we call it a General or Special Conference. Its acts were acquiesced in by the whole Church and were authoritative. But it was soon evident that in order to give unity, harmony, and efficiency to the Church something more was indispensable; for however unanimous in doctrines and in the outlines of Church polity the preachers and members appear to have been, and really were, and however strong their attachment to the bishops as general superintendents of the whole work, yet while each Annual Conference claimed the power to change any part of the Discipline, not excepting even the Articles of Faith, the basis of their organization, it must be evident that some other and stronger bond was necessary than yet existed to insure perma- nent union. The itinerant general superintendency feature of the system was, it is true, a highly conservative element, and the respect and regard felt by all for the character of Mr. Asbury was a guaranty against a disruption of the body except under strongly exciting circumstances. Such circumstances bang's "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," Vol. II., p. 195; "Life and Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee," p. 431; Asbury 's Journal, Vol. III., p. 268; "Life of Bishop Roberts," by Dr. Elliott, pp. 156-8; "Life of Bishop Redding," p. 171. 2 Dr. Bangs and Dr. Clark have both erred as to this date. See " History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," Vol. II., p. 195; "Life and Times of Bishop Hedding," p. 171. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 113 might arise, and that good and far-seeing man, in common with other wise and devoted friends of the Church, felt exquisitely the importance of introducing the principle of representation into the government and by restricting the Conferences in their separate capacity from the exercise of a direct power over fundamental questions to concentrate this authority, under con- stitutional provisions, in the representative body. The condi- tion of the Church at this period was somewhat similar to that of the civil government of the thirteen colonies during the Rev- olutionary War and until the formation and adoption of the Federal Constitution. And as the highest principles of patroit- ism induced Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison to advocate a constitutional union in the place of the old confederation, so, actuated with the highest sense of piety and duty, our Asbury, Lee, McKendree, Bruce, Burke, Cooper, Soule, and Garrettson united their efforts to concen- trate the law-making department of the Church in a General Conference under constitutional "limitations and restrictions." The conviction was so strong among the older and wiser members of the connection that, as we have seen, "the council" system was introduced with a hope that it would answer the ends proposed. But it failed in 1792, not less from its own in- trinsic imperfection than on account of the opposition it en- countered from Mr. 0' Kelly. In the General Conference of 1804, the propriety of a delegated representative body was felt and admitted, but as the preparatory steps had not been taken for the immediate introduction of the principle, by common con- sent the plan was deferred until 1808, when all the Conferences could meet the question after mature deliberation. It was therefore understood throughout the whole Church that at this Conference the organization of the Church should be completed by some general measures which would effect a centralization of power in a delegated body having supreme legislative jurisdic- tion. Indeed, the sense of insecurity was so strongly and gener- ally felt in reference to the episcopacy itself, after the death of Bishop Whatcoat in 1806 and the failure of the health of Bishop Asbury, consequent upon the excessive fatigue and anxiety devolved upon him, that many of the preachers thought it advisable to call a special convention of seven delegates from each Conference for the exclusive object of electing another bishop, lest the death of Mr. Asbury before the General Con- ference of 1808 might endanger the stability of the Church. With this view, "a plan agreed upon by the New York Confer- 114 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ence to organize and establish a permanent superintendency over the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and recommended to the other six Conferences for their concur- rence," was carried round to the Conferences and laid before them by Bishop Asbury. This plan proposed that the forty- nine delegated members, or electors, should convene in Balti- more, July 4, 1807, "for the express purpose, and with full powers, to elect, organize, and establish a permanent superin- tendency and for no other purpose." The original document now lies before the writer. Signed by order and in behalf of the unanimous voice of the Conference. FREEBORN GARRETTSON, EZEKIEL COOPER, SAMUEL COATE, FRANCIS WARD, Secretary. Committee. Done at New York, May 22, 1806. Appended to this circular are the following interesting en- tries in the autographs of the subscribers: The New England Conference concur with the proposal made by the New York Conference for calling a delegated General Conference on July 4, 1807, for the express purpose of strengthening the superintendency. Yeas, 28; nays, 15. THOMAS BRANCH, Secretary. The Western Conference concur with the proposal made by the, etc. "Unanimity." WILLIAM BURKE, Secretary. The South Carolina Conference concur, etc. Two members only excepted. . LEWIS MYERS, Secretary. VIRGINIA CONFERENCE, NEWBERN, February 6, 1807. The New York Conference having written a circular letter to the several Annual Confer- ences proposing a plan to strengthen the superintendency, the letter was read in this Conference yesterday, and a vote taken, "Shall we consider the subject? " Only seven were in favor of the motion. The subject was called up again to-day, and a second vote was taken; fourteen were in favor of it. It is therefore the decision of Conference not to be concerned in it. Signed in and by order of the Conference. ' P. BRUCE, JESSE LEE, THOMAS L. DOUGLASS, Secretary. There were 34 members at the Conference; 33 were present when the vote was taken, and the absent member said he would have voted for it if he had been in the room. THOMASS L. DOUGLAS, Secretary. There is also an original paper, under date of Newbern, N. C., February 8, 1807, expressing the dissent of Philip Bruce, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 115 Stith Mead, Thomas L. Douglass, and John Buxton to the action of the Virginia Conference in refusing to take into con- sideration the circular of the New York Conference. "It ap- pearing to us both injudicious and impolitic to refuse hearing a debate on anything which so nearly concerns the general wel- fare and union of our Church, more especially as we must from principle avow the propriety of equal representation; secondly, respecting their refusing to hear the letters from our brethren composing the six preceding Conferences to ours in answer to Dr. Coke," etc. They, however, attribute the course pursued by the Conference "to the state of our Conference, being com- posed of more than one-third young men, and the vehement outcries of 'Rebellion/ 'Worse than Burr/ 'Of Forswearing,' Dividing the connection!' etc., raised by two of our elder brethren J. Lee and D. Hall which so alarmed the young men that they were afraid to hear or see the letters or submit to the debate upon the address from New York." Mr. Lee's resistance of this measure has been justified by the results of the General Conference ensuing and vindicated by his able biographer. It was an extraordinary measure to meet a contingency which did not occur before the meeting of the body which had the legal control of the question and might have been a dangerous precedent. And it may well be feared that if this evident necessity for General Conference action had been anticipated in 1807, the attempt to introduce the representative principle in 1808 and to impose a constitutional check both upon the Annual and General Conferences might not have been suc- cessful, inasmuch as their necessity would not have been so imperatively felt. So that, however grieved Mr. Asbury may have been at the defeat of this attempt to call a General Con- ference, yet, as it resulted in rendering evident the indispen- sableness of a delegated General Conference to the permanency, unity, and efficiency of the Church and thus contributed to this most important result, neither he nor others could regret the failure. I confess, however, I have not found any evidence that Bishop Asbury felt very great solicitude about the matter, certainly there is none in the remarks made in his Journal about the Virginia Conference, for there is not the remotest intimation that he "labored" at all for that "dangerous plan," much less that he "labored hard" for it. The failure of the New York plan by the nonconcurrence of the Virginia Conference did not deter the former Conference from sending a memorial to the General Conference in favor 116 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of organizing a delegated body to meet at regular periods. The vast extent of the work, the number of elders, each of whom was entitled to a seat, the loss of time, the great expense of all who should attend, the preponderance which the central Con- ferences had always enjoyed and would always have in the number of members, besides the inutility of so large a body for legislative purposes, and, finally, the necessity for it as a bond of union to the several Annual Conferences were clearly and strongly set forth. It was the great question of the Conference, and upon its fate rested the prosperity, if not the future exist- ence, of the Church. The memorial was referred to a committee of fourteen, two from each Conference. William McKendree and William Burke were chosen from the Western Conference. On Monday, the 16th, the committee reported in favor of the measure, sub- mitting a plan for a delegated General Conference substantially the same as that now found in the third section of the Disci- pline. Dr. Elliott, in his "Life of Bishop Roberts," says: "On the first meeting of the committee, they conversed largely on the provisions which their report to the Conference should con- tain. After considerable deliberation, they agreed to appoint a subcommittee of three to draft a report to be submitted to Conference, subject, however, to such additions or modifications as a future meeting of the whole committee might see fit to make. The subcommittee consisted of Ezekiel Cooper, Joshua Soule, and Philip Bruce. When the subcommittee met, it was agreed, after a full exchange of sentiments, that each should draw up a separate paper comprising the necessary restrictions or regulations in the best way he could, and that each should present his form in writing, and they would then adopt the one deemed best, with such amendments as might be agreed upon. When the subcommittee met to examine their plans, Mr. Coop- er had his regularly drawn up, Mr. Soule also had one, but Mr. Bruce had nothing committed to writing. On comparing the two papers, Mr. Bruce fell in with the main points of the one brought forward by Mr. Soule. Mr. Cooper pleaded for his own with his usual ability, but he finally agreed to Mr. Soule's plan, with some slight additions or amendments suggested by the others. At the next meeting of the whole committee, al- though the plans of Messrs. Cooper and Soule were both before them, Mr. Soule's was adopted by all the members, with some slight modifications." Suffice it to say, that when the report came before the Con- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 117 ference, a long and animated debate ensued. Some were in favor of representation by seniority, and others of the election of delegates. The report favored the elective principle, and the remote Conferences were generally in favor of it, but the central ones, such as Baltimore and Philadelphia, were opposed to it. It was rejected on the 18th, by 57 yeas, 65 nays. 1 Very great dissatisfaction was manifested at this decision, and the New England and Western members, having previously agreed to leave upon the failure of this effort, the New England delegates arose and asked leave to retire and return to their work, as they could be of no further use in the Conference, giving assurance, at the same time, that they would not create any difficulty in the Church, but peaceably go home and attend to the duties of their work. William Burke arose and made the same request for the Western Conference delegates. Six members from New England and two from the West retired in a body and began to make preparations for their journey. But Bishop Asbury and Mr. McKendree sought an interview with them and others sympathizing with them, and, aided by the wise and prudent Elijah Hedding, prevailed on them to wait a day and see if a reconsideration of the question could not be effected leading to a different result. They did remain; the report was again taken up. The delegates from the central Conferences, two of which constituted almost a majority of the whole body, saw that it was necessary to adopt it to save the integrity of the Church; . Cooper's plan differed from Mr. Soule's on the third Article, by saying, "They shall not do away episcopacy, nor reduce our ministry to a Presbyterial parity," while Mr. Soule's was as it now stands in the Disci- pline. The committee of fourteen approved the latter and reported it to the Conference. The prominent advocates of Mr. Cooper's plan in the Conference were himself and John Wilson. Mr. Lee is understood to have opposed the whole thing upon the plea of "Conference rights," leading to "electioneering," etc., and to have defeated it temporarily by advocating seniority in preference to the election of delegates. When the subject was reconsidered, Mr. Soule, seconded by George Pickering, moved to amend the first Article by inserting "seniority or choice," thus leaving the mode of obtaining the delegate to the discretion of the Conferences. Mr. Lee was silent after this, and it passed by a large majority. The biographer of Mr. Lee, to whom the writer feels deeply indebted for his able and reliable work, claims that the third Restrictive Article originated with Mr. Lee. This error may be readily accounted for by the fact that Mr. Lee moved its adoption in Conference as Mr. Soule had reported it. But Bishop Soule undoubtedly originated it. The above explanations are from the lips of Bishop Soule himself. 118 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and after mature deliberation and considerable discussion, a compromise was agreed upon between Messrs. Soule and Cooper, representing the elective and seniority parties, by giv- ing to the Annual Conferences, respectively, the right of select- ing their delegates in either way, and then the general plan of a delegated Conference was adopted almost unanimously. And it is a striking illustration of the undue importance sometimes given to a mere abstraction, to an impracticable principle, that no Annual Conference has ever sent a delgegate to any General Con- ference since then upon the ground of seniority, and yet this was the point upon which the whole question mainly hinged at last. "Thus," says Dr. Elliott, "to a very considerable extent we owe to Bishop Soule the restrictive regulations, or rather the Constitution of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which exhibits a degree of wisdom and prudent foresight that characterizes men of the first mental powers. In fact, those who know Bishop Soule would expect from him the wise deliberation necessary to produce such a measure as the constitutional restrictions of the Methodist Episcopal Church." 1 Thus was thisgreat measureconsummated and theharmony and unity of the Church secured, in so far as written constitutions and compacts can insure unity in civil or ecclesiastical bodies. The very infirm state of Bishop Asbury's health, together with the absence of Dr. Coke and the death of Bishop Whatcoat, created a strong desire to "strengthen the episcopacy," by the election of one or more superintendents. And after a motion had been made to elect the presiding elders by the Conferences, instead of their being appointed by the bishop, and another to elect seven bishops, one to each Conference, and still another to elect two, and they had all failed by a strong vote, it was finally moved, and carried almost unanimously, to elect and conse- crate one. On the same day i. e., May 12, 1808 the Confer- ence proceeded to vote by ballot, and it was found that out of one hundred and twenty-eight members present, William McKendree had received ninety-five votes and was therefore declared elected; and on May 18 2 he was consecrated in Light Street Church by Bishop Asbury, assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Freeborn Garrettson, Philip Bruce, Jesse Lee, and Thomas Ware. The following is a copy of his Certificate of Ordination: l "Life of Bishop Roberts," p. 159. 2Dr. Bangs, Dr. Lee, Dr. Clark, Benjamin St. James Fry, etc., all mis- take the day of his ordination. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 119 Know all men by these presents, that I, Francis Asbury, originally of Great Britian, in great Barr Staffordshire, the Parish of Handsworth, for some years a member of the Methodist Society, and a local preacher; after- wards a member of the British Conference. In the year 1771 I came a missionary to the British Provinces in America: afterwards General Assistant, and I had the oversight of the Methodist Societies. On the 27th day of December, 1784, at a General Conference in Baltimore, after being ordained Deacon and Elder, I was elected to the office of Superintend- ent or Bishop, by the unanimous voice of the General Conference held in Baltimore, December 24, 1784. The following persons assisted in my ordination, viz., Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law of Jesus College in the University of Oxford, Presbyter of the Church of England, Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, by the ordination and appointment of Mr. John Wesley, and other clergymen of the Church of England; also assisted in the ordination, William Otterbein, Minister of the German Presbyterian Church, and Richard Whatcoat with Thomas Vasey, regularly ordained Elders by John Wesley: these four solemnly set me apart for a Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America. AND now. be it known to all whom it may concern, that WILLIAM MCKENDREE was ordained Deacon in the year 1790, and I did set him apart to the office of an Elder by my hands, In December of the year 1791. I have, this eighteenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eight, set apart William McKendree, 1 by the laying on of hands and prayer, assisted by Freeborn Garrettson, Philip Bruce, Jesse Lee, and Thomas Ware, all of them Elders in the Church; to the office and work of a Superintendent or Bishop of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, (after he had been elected by a majority i. e., 95 out of 128 members of General Conference,) as a man whom we judge well qualified for the office of a Superintendent, and one of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and fit to preside over and Feed the Flock of Christ, so long as his spirit, practice and doctrine is such as becometh the Gospel of Christ, and he shall submit to the Discipline and order of the said Methodist Episcopal Church in America. And I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight. FRANCIS ASBURY. [seal.] JESSE LEE, FREEBORN GARRETTSON, THOMAS WARE, PHILIP BRUCE. Done in Light Street Church, Baltimore, State of Maryland. The historian of the Church, the venerable Dr. Bangs, to whom the whole Methodist family in America is indebted for his able and impartial labors in this department, as well as for l Born in King William County, State of Virginia, July, 6, 1757. 120 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree his valuable services in promoting the general interests of the Church in other respects, thus speaks of this election: Mr. McKendree had been commended to the attention and approbation of the Conference by a long, laborious, and faithful service in the itinerant field of labor, during which time God had set his seal to his ministry in a most remarkable manner. ... It was from this field of labor (the West) that Mr. McKendree came to the General Conference in 1808. And such was the confidence inspired in his wisdom and integrity, in his zeal and prudence in promoting the cause of God, and such a halo of glory seemed to surround his character, that the finger of Providence appeared to point to him as the most suitable person to fill the office of a superintendent." 1 When Mr. McKendree entered the Conference he had been so long and so far from the central part of the Church that his old friends were not prepared to appreciate the improvement he had made, while to the younger members of the body he was almost unknown even by name; so that none but his recent colleagues and Bishop Asbury were aware of his powers as an orator and a divine, powers which had been matured by self-denial, close study, and the constant practice of earnest, prayerful, evangeli- cal sermonizing amidst the hardships and dangers of a hardy pioneer life. But having been appointed to preach at the Light Street Church on the Sabbath before the Conference began, he tremblingly complied. Dr. Bangs thus describes the speaker's manner, the occasion, and the result: The house was crowded with strangers in every part, above and below, eager to hear the stranger; and among others, most of the members of the General Conference were present, besides a number of colored people who occupied a second gallery in the front end of the church. Mr. McKendree entered the pulpit at the hour for commencing the services, clothed in very coarse and homely garments, which he had worn in the woods of the West, and, after singing, he kneeled in prayer. As was often the case with him, when he commenced his prayer he seemed to falter in his speech, clipping some of his words at the end, and occasionally hanging upon a syllable, as if it were difficult for him to pronounce the word. I looked at him not without some feeling of distrust, thinking to myself: "I wonder what awk- ward backwoodsman they have put in the pulpit this morning to disgrace us with his mawkish and uncouth phraseology? " The feeling of distrust did not forsake me until some minutes after he had announced his text, which contained the following words: " For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? " (Jer. viii. 21, 22.) His introduction appeared tame, his sentences broken and disjointed, and his 'Bangs's "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," Vol. II, pp. 236-238. Life and Times of Bishop' McKendree 121 elocution very defective. He at length introduced his main subject, which was to show the spiritual disease of the Jewish Church and of the human family generally; and then he entered upon his second proposition, which was to analyze the feelings which such a state of things awakened in the souls of God's faithful ambassadors; but when he came to speak of the blessed effects upon the heart of the balm which God had prepared for the healing of the nations, he seemed to enter fully into the element in which his soul delighted to move and have its being, and he soon carried the whole congregation away with him into the regions of experimental reli- gion. Remarking upon the objections which some would make to the expres- sion of the feelings realized by a person fully restored to health by an ap- plication of the "sovereign balm for every wound," he referred to the shouts of applause so often heard upon our national jubilee, in commem- oration of our emancipation from political thraldom, and then said: "How much more cause has an immortal soul to rejoice and give glory to God for its spiritual deliverance from the bondage of sin!" This was spoken with a soul overflowing with the most hallowed and exalted feelings and with an emphasis that was like the sudden bursting of a cloud surcharged with water. The congregation was instantly overwhelmed with a shower of divine grace from the upper world. At first, sudden shrieks, as of per- sons in distress, were heard in different parts of the house, then shouts of praise, and in every direction sobs and groans. The eyes of the people overflowed with tears, while many were prostrated upon the floor or lay helpless on the seats. A very large, athletic-looking preacher, sitting by my side, suddenly fell upon his seat, as if pierced by a bullet, and I felt my heart melting under emotions which I could not resist. After this sudden shower, the clouds were dispersed, and the Sun of righteousness shone out most serenely and delightfully, producing upon all a present consciousness of the divine approbation; and when the preach- er descended from the pulpit, all were filled with admiration of his talents, and were ready to "magnify the grace of God in him," as a chosen messen- ger of good tidings to the lost, saying in their hearts: "This is the man whom God delights to honor." Bishop Asbury, who was present, was heard to say that the sermon would make him a bishop, and his prophecy was verified on May 12, for upon that day he was elected, it being the same day upon which the resolution passed to elect one. The majority by which he was elected was the largest any bishop has ever received, except Bishop Asbury. He was the first native Ameri- can elected to that office in the Methodist Church, and was fifty-one years of age. However inexpedient it may appear for a Church to elect a man to an office so important upon an impulse, apparently so sudden, yet in the present case the selection was wise. With the exception of Mr. Asbury no preacher in the connection com- 122 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree bined so many qualifications for the office. His piety was deep and uniform; he was single-hearted, magnanimous, generous, and of most refined and exquisite sensibility. With the disci- pline and government of the Church he was thoroughly ac- quainted; probably more familiar with ecclesiastical law than any of his contemporaries. As a preacher, he was inferior to none in the clear comprehension and able advocacy of doctrines, in lucid and natural description of religious emotions, and in close and searching application of Christian ethics to their practical developments in the daily walks of life, while in the power and effectiveness of his ministrations he stood as a prince among his brethren. Nor was there any rudeness in his man- ners. He had enjoyed the benefit of highly cultivated society in the Old Dominion, was acquainted with the courtesies of social life, and, without sacrificing the simplicity of his charac- ter, there was something in his manners which won the esteem of all with whom he came in contact and impressed them with the conviction that while he was a true gentleman, he was also a true and noble specimen of a Christian minister. His fine personal appearance about six feet high, exquisitely propor- tioned his beaming, prominent, mild dark eyes, black hair, delicate, white skin, and noble Grecian contour of face and fore- head were remarkably prepossessing. His voice was clear, soft, and highly musical; and when, in his happiest moments in the pulpit, I have looked into his face, all radiant with intellect and smiling in every feature with the reflected piety and benignity of his full and happy soul, and listened to the accents of that most lutelike and persuasive voice, I have thought that I never heard such a voice or so felt the charm of truth and the attractions of piety. The whole man seemed to speak. And then there were associated with the words he uttered his long, self-sacrificing career, his unsuspected purity of life, his unmur- muring submission to hardships for the purpose of preaching Christ, and his daily exemplification of the power and loveliness of pure religion. Indeed, two thoughts seemed to have en- grossed the man's nature. Other preachers occasionally seem to speak and act as if they have other important interests in this world apart from religion, but he seemed to have always in view only two great thoughts: Christ and the Church. To glorify God in the salvation of men and build up the Church were all he cared much about. Everything else seemed to him too trivial to excite his heart or engage his energies. Truly Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 123 might he have said: "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." Such was the man called by the voice of the Church to the episcopal office. How this unexpected honor affected him, we may conceive when we learn from the Rev. L. Garrett that upon his election at the late Western Conference to preside in the ab- sence of the bishop, he wept like a child, and would fain have de- clined the distinction. Bishop Asbury, too, alludes to the dejec- tion of "dear Brother McKendree" on account of his election to the episcopal office. His Diary is silent here. He was like one stricken by a bolt from the sky and was too much paralyzed with the unexpected event to sit down calmly and chronicle his own election. Great questions of duty, high and holy thoughts, of love to God, his Church, and the salvation of his fellow men excluded all other considerations; and until these solemn ques- tions were settled, and he had fully given himself to the duties of his new and holy office, his pen refused to record his daily his- tory. And even after he had entered upon his work and resumed his Diary, not one allusion did he make to this solemn event of that Conference until some time afterwards. 1 He had wholly given himself to God in obedience to the voice of the Church and, with characteristic modesty, slips out of the city as soon as possible and begins, or rather renews, his career of travel, toil, and suffering never to end until "the weary wheels of life at last stand still." If he had sought the office, he would have been unworthy of it. But having neither sought nor expected it, he submitted "to be servant of all," and, with as little parade as possible, went about his Master's work. Dr. Coke, so soon as he heard of the election of Mr. McKen- dree, wrote him the following congratulatory letter. For the first time he was not present at the General Conference, nor ever afterwards visited the United States, the election of Mr. McKendree superseding the necessity of his services here, : The following extracts from his Journal, of a later date, show his feelings at this period: "At this General Conference my brethren saw proper to enlarge my sphere of action, and this at a time of life when, in my opinion, if any- thing, it ought to be diminished. This necessarily increased my labors, multiplied my cares, and fixed me in a position to have more sorrow. At times I felt resolved not to submit, but when it came to the point, I was afraid to refuse; I dare not deny. And while still deeply conscious that I did not possess qualifications adequate to the important station, yet, confident of support from my brethren and relying on divine aid, I reluc- tantly and tremblingly submitted." 124 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree while his time was fully occupied at home. And, although there is reason for thinking he might have preferred to make America his home, yet he cordially greets the brother who takes his place and ingenuously bears his testimony to his fitness for the office: TRENBY, SOUTH WALES, October, 5, 1808. To Bishop McKendree: I write to you, my very dear brother and friend, not to congratulate you on your election to the office of a bishop, for I believe you regard not office or honor any farther than you may serve God thereby, but to express my regard for you, and the pleasure I feel, notwith- standing what I have written above at your being united to my old and venerable brother, Asbury, in the great work in which he is engaged. I am persuaded God has chosen you to help my dear brother, and that you will go with him in perfect union in blessing the American Continent under divine grace. You are mild; you are moderately and properly reserved, and do not aim at an overbearing exercise of power. I have not had a large acquaint- ance with you, but your person and your voice are fresh to me, as if you were now with me in the same room, and I greatly mistake if I do not taste your spirit. Go on, brother, walking with God and united to him. Your field of action is great. You have, perhaps, ten thousand pulpits open to you. But the grand point, which must be engraven continually on your forehead as it were, and on your heart, is the harmony and union of the Methodist connection in America. God bless you! My dearest wife joins me in love to you. Pray for us. I am, very dear brother and friend, yours affectionately and faithfully, T. COKE. P. S. Please write to me. Bishop Asbury, in his Journal, Vol. Ill, p. 280, alludes to the "electing of dear Brother McKendree assistant bishop," and says: "The burden is now borne by two pair of shoulders in- stead of one; the care is cast upon two hearts and heads." Most willingly did he divide the honors of the episcopacy with his colleague the labor and care were worrying him to death. CHAPTER IX 1808 an era in Methodism Bishop McKendree's first tour and first Con- ference at Liberty Hill Action on slavery The South Carolina Con- ference First Mission to slaves Two Virginia Conferences Phil- adephia and New York Conferences Steamboat excitement New England Conference Camp meetings at Pike Run, Zanesville, and Collins's Camp Grounds Western Conference at Cincinnati, Sep- tember 30, 1809 Extracts from his Journal Methodists taxed for benefit of Congregationalists in Connecticut His presidency Dr. Coke His overture to Bishop White in 1791 explained and vindicated His proposal to divide the work with Bishop Asbury His death and character. THE General Conference of 1808 gave very great satisfaction to the members and friends of the Church. It completed the work begun in 1784, by placing the Articles of Religion, the General Rules, and the Itinerant Episcopal Form of Administra- tion, as well as the rights of preachers and members, beyond the control of the Annual and General Conferences, except under certain "limitations and restrictions/' and reserving the Articles of Religion from their control forever. This act, giving constitutional permanency to the fundamental principles of Methodism, was crowned by the substitution of a delegated representative body in the place of mass meetings of the elders. And then the election and consecration of a man so universally respected and beloved as McKendree to be associated with Bishop Asbury gave great confidence in the stability and har- mony of the Church in future. It was an era in American Methodism. The Church had now placed herself in a position of internal peace as to any immediate cause of dissension and of external union and strength which quieted the fears of many an anxious heart and called forth a general expression of grati- tude to God from all her borders. The members of the Con- ference, having dispatched their business with remarkable unanimity and affection, returned to their respective fields with fresh zeal and courage, having nobly done their duty to God and the Church; and the whole connection seemed to enter upon the work with renewed vigor. Immediately upon the'close of^the General Conference, Bish- op Asbury, 'with Henry\Boehm tt as his traveling companion, started through Maryland^Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ken- tuckyjto the first Conference for^the year, to be held near 126 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Nashville, Term.; while Bishop McKendree went through Western Virginia and East Tennessee, West Tennessee, crossed Ohio River, passed through a portion of Illinois, and, crossing the Mississippi River above its junction with the Missouri, entered the State of Missouri and joined his old friend, Jesse Walker, in holding a camp meeting, beginning on July 28, 1808, and, pushing still farther west, crossing the Missouri River one hundred miles above its mouth, they held another camp meet- ing at Big Spring on August 12. His account of a part of this journey is as follows: ' ' Saturday, July 28, Sunday, July 24, Monday, July 25, 1 808. Camp meeting in Illinois Circuit, Indiana Territory. On Tuesday morning last we left Kentucky, with four days' provisions for man and beast, crossed the Ohio River, and entered the wilderness. We were six in company J. Ward, T. Lasley, Z. Maddox, M. Shelby, and J. White. Lying out was no hardship, but the water was extremely bad and the flies intolerable. Some had attempted to go through the prairies, but had turned back and advised us not to try it, but we resolved to go, trusting the Lord. On the third day the flies afflicted us sorely, when a kind Providence sent a strong breeze and blew them all away. After twelve hours a shower of rain succeeded and blessed man and beast with water to drink. "On Friday, a little after dark, we got to Brother Scott's in the settlement. The old people were gone to the camp meeting, about fifteen miles off, but the children received and treated us kindly. On Saturday morning, one of the most affect- ing scenes I ever witnessesd occurred. As we drew near to the encampment, about thirty of the neighbors fell in with us. We rode two deep, and a number of excellent singers went in front. We were all glad, and as we moved, they sang delightfully, 'with the Spirit, and with the understanding.' And as we approached, the congregation met us with open arms and welcomed us in the name of the Lord. The Lord was in our midst, and it was like sitting in a heavenly place." Many were converted at this meeting. "Saturday, July SO, including Monday, August 1. Camp meeting in Missouri Circuit. This is a frontier settlement, lying in the fork of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, where, until lately, the Methodists were unknown, it being under the Span- ish and papal governments until transferred to us by the French. Last year we formed a circuit here, and the prospect of a gra- cious reformation was truly pleasing, until a preacher of the Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 127 Baptist order and another of those calling themselves Christians came among the people and stirred up such strife that the ref- ormation seemed to be at a stand. But the Lord manifested himself at this meeting to their overthrow and the reviving of the work of grace." " Sunday, August 7. From the above camp meeting we crossed the Missouri and held a meeting near a French village; had a refreshing time; several were converted, and the meeting lasted till night. This place became the beginning of a circuit on this side of the river. "I continued down the river and crossed the Mississippi at St. Louis, and so upon the other side to Goshen. Here we had a solemn time. The people were dying of flux: seven open graves in the church yard; one interred after we assembled." "Friday August 12, 14- Camp meeting at the Big Spring. The foundation of a good and great revival was laid at a camp meeting when we visited here last year. The people received us as angels of God, and the Lord blessed us with many conversions. On Monday, as the sun rose, I preached, and then started for Kentucky. An Indian, who got converted when I was here last year and has taken up with the white people and gone to school, stood at a distance and looked on until he could refrain no longer; then rushed through the crowd, caught me around the neck, and cried aloud, saying: 'I see your face no more.' We rode forty-five miles, lodged in the wilderness, and rested in peace." His tent at the camp meeting up the Missouri was made by sewing the preachers' saddle blankets together and spreading them over a pole, supported by forks placed in the ground like soldiers' tents. One end of the tent was closed with green boughs, the other was left open, and in front of it a fire was made. His food was bread and flesh broiled on sticks by the fire. Returning through the territories from the Big Spring Camp Meeting, and lying out in the forests two nights, he re- crossed the Ohio River, attended a camp meeting in Kentucky and another at Fountain Head, Tenn., on August 26, near the house of his old friend, James Gwin. Worn down with fatigue and exposure, he was taken sick and for more than two weeks was able to do but little. On September 24 he joined Bishop Asbury at Strother's, and, passing through Nashville, came to Liberty Hill, where the Western Conference began, October 1, 1808. "Thus in four months," says Bishop Soule, "he had ridden on horseback fifteen hundred miles, a considerable part of 128 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the journey without roads, bridges, or boats, frequently swim- ming creeks and rivers, sleeping many nights in the woods, with heaven for his covering and earth for his bed." The first extensive frontier visit of a Methodist bishop was attended with happy results. Many had conceived the bishops to be men clothed with power dangerous to society. They had considered them ecclesiastical dignitaries, inaccessible to the people, surrounded with wealth and pomp, and ruling with almost absolute authority. Bishop McKendree's appearance and manners were well calculated to correct such views and re- move the prejudices formed under such misrepresentations. Thousands flocked to see and hear the "Methodist bishop." But how were they disappointed ! Instead of costly and fashionable costume, his dress was of the plainest mode and of common materials. Instead of austerity of manners and the signs of ecclesiastical power, they found him grave, but affable, familiar, and persuasive; gentle to all men, ready to participate with ease and sweetness of temper in the circumstances of the poor and afflicted, and ever intent upon diffusing happiness in every circle of society in which he moved. The Conference at Liberty Hill was held at a camp meeting, the preachers lodging on the encampment, while the bishops, in view of Bishop Asbury's feeble health, stayed at the resi- dence of Col. Green Hill. This gentleman was an old acquaint- ance of theirs, and estimable local minister, a revolutionary offi- cer, and a simple-hearted and devoted Christian. The writer knew him well; spent the first night of his itinerant life at his house in 1817, and can never forget the godly counsel and fatherly treatment he received from this venerable man during the first year of his ministry. He lived to bring up a large and highly reputable family; several of his descendants, including a son and one or two grandsons, became useful preachers, and almost the whole large circle of his posterity have realized the truth of God's Word, which promises the divine blessing to the "children's children" of pious parents. It is related of this excellent man that during the Revolutionary War, when North Carolina, his native State, was overrun by the British, the Provincial Assembly committed its public treasure to his hands, and that, by dodging and hiding from his pursuers, he succeeded in preserving it; and after all danger was over, restored every cent of it to the proper authority. And as his early life had been distinguished by integrity, patriotism, and piety, so his old age was venerable and useful. There is a moral beauty and sub- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 129 limity in the gradual decline of a truly good and noble old man, who, passing away full of years, ripe in wisdom, and rich in grace, descends serenely and triumphantly into the grave amidst the regrets and veneration of society. Such was the life and such the death of Green Hill. The writer and Mr. Hill's old friend, the Rev. Turner Saunders, preached his funderal ser- mon on the spot where the Western Conference of 1808 was held. "As there was but one Conference at that time in the West, the traveling preachers collected here from Holston, Natchez, Opelousas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, covering a vast field of labor, an immense theater for missionary enterprise. To supply this extensive and extending field of itinerant operations, some fifty-five preachers had been em- ployed the preceding year. Many of these had been toiling on the frontier settlements and had come hundreds of miles to Conference, fatigued with travel, enfeebled by affliction, ex- posure, and labor; bare of clothing; in money matters almost penniless really itinerant, houseless wanderers but they brought cheering intelligence of opening prospects, of religious revivals, and growing spiritual prosperity." 1 Bishop Asbury laconically says: "We have had 2,500 increase; there are seven districts and a call for eighty preachers." At this Conference Bishop McKendree began the exercise of his office as President of an Annual Conference. Henceforth the whole United States and the British Provinces in Canada were the theater of his labors. He at once evinced remarkable ability in presiding over the Conferences and in every other re- spect fully met the expectations of his friends. A better presi- dent never occupied the chair of an Annual or General Confer- ence. While the writer would gladly omit all allusion to the un- fortunate subject of slavery in this work, if he could do so as a faithful biographer, it is perhaps his duty to advert to it in this connection, premising his remarks with this single observation: he recognizes Bishop McKendree's character as a legacy to the whole Methodist family in America, and would not willingly and needlessly exasperate the already too much excited feelings of this family by aught he might say upon this topic. He would infinitely prefer to be a peacemaker to being a partisan. The first Methodist Conference in this country was held in Philadelphia, June, 1773, but neither the General Rules, which, in connection with the Articles of Religion, constituted the iDr. Green, in "Biograpical Sketches," p. 112. 130 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree basis of our society, nor any act of the first six Conferences, contained a word on the subject of slavery. And doubtless the clause which was substantially retained in these Rules so long was not inserted by any Conference, but was an unauthorized interpolation effected by the famous council in 1789. As early, however, as 1780, the Conference began to disscuss the subject, asking, "Ought not this Conference to require those traveling preachers who hold slaves to give promises to set them free?" And, in connection with a sweeping denunciation of slavery, the Conference "passed their disapprobation on all our friends who keep slaves, and advise their freedom." Here the matter rested without any express law upon the subject until the Conference which began at Ellis's preaching house, Virginia, April 30, 1784, and ended at Baltimore, May 28 following, when this action took place: "Question 12. What shall we do with our friends that will buy and sell slaves? "Answer. If they buy with no other intention than to hold them as slaves, and have been previously warned, they shall be expelled, and permitted to sell on no consideration. "Ques. 13. What shall we do with our local preachers who will not emancipate their slaves in the States where the laws admit it? "Ans. Try those in Virginia another year and suspend the preachers in Maryland. Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey." Here for the first time the law and the penalty are clearly laid down. Again: " Question 22. What shall be done with our traveling preach- ers that now or hereafter shall be possessed of slaves and refuse to manumit them where the law permits? "Answer. Employ them no more, making it obligatory upon every member of our society to emancipate his slaves, prescrib- ing the age at which the slave shall be free, and adding, 'No person holding slaves shall in future be admitted into society or to the Lord's Supper till he previously complies with these rules concerning slavery. ' ' Two years are given to Virginians to consider the expediency of compliance. Again: "Question 43. What shall be done with those who buy or sell slaves or give them away? "Answer. They are to be immediately expelled, unless they buy them on purpose to set them free." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 131 But at the ensuing Conference the execution of these rules was suspended; indeed, it is understood that Bishop Asbury, perceiving the harm likely to result from them, advised the preachers not to execute them long before the expiration of the year. These rules were dropped and have never reappeared in the Discipline. Indeed, the whole subject was dropped until 1796; but in the meantime the General Rules were interpolated, as we have already stated, in 1789. The Conference in 1796 gave authority to the Annual Conferences to adopt what course each might think proper within its own bounds, "respecting the admission of persons to official stations in the Church;" and, in case of future admission to official station, security was to be required of those who held slaves for their emancipation as the laws of the States and the circumstances of the case might ad- mit. In 1800, the rule was introduced requiring "any local preacher who may become an owner of a slave to emancipate him comformably to the laws of the State under the penalty of a forfeiture of his ministerial character." The course pursued in 1804 on this subject was less stringent than that of the two preceding General Conferences, and the General Conferences of 1808 struck out of the Discipline all that related to slaveholding among private members, and substituted the following: " The General Conference authorizes each Annual Conference to form their own regulations relative to buying and selling slaves." Under this law the Conference which met October 1, 1808, at Liberty Hill, Tenn., took up the subject and, as they were somewhat at a loss what to do, they requested the bishops to give them a written opinion upon the subject. Bishop Asbury presented and read a paper, suggesting caution and moderation and discouraging legislation upon the vexed question. When he finished, there was an evident indication of dissatisfaction, indeed, it is said the audience hissed him. The good and wise old gentleman replied, suiting the action to the word: "0 well! I can tear it up." 1 Bishop McKendree then read his opinion, which substantially favored the rule that was so long in exist- ence in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Conference acted in accordance with his suggestions. Now, while fidelity to truth requires this exposition of Bishop McKendree's views upon this subject at that period of his life, it is equally due to him and to truth to say that we have evidence that he lived to greatly modify if not, as the writer believes he did, change his 'The Rev. William Burke is our authority for this incident. 132 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree opinion upon the propriety of ecclesiastical legislation upon the question of slavery. In his "Autobiography, " p. 156, the venerable Joseph Travis, formerly of the South Carolina, and late of the Memphis Con- ference, relates the following incident in reference to the views of the Bishop in his later years: I well recollect, one day when we were alone, he [Bishop McKendree] smilingly turned round to me and said: "Brother Travis, what shall we do with this part of Holy Scripture? ' Let as many servants as are under the yoke, account their own masters worthy of all honor; lest the name of God and his doctrine be blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren: but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any teach otherwise, and consent not to sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is after godliness, he is puffed up knowing nothing, but being sick of ques- tions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, contentions, evil speak- ings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." 1 (1 Tim. vi. 1-7.) I perceived the design of the question, and plainly answered it. The good Bishop did not demur nor oppose my views of the text. I verily believe that had Bishop McKendree been alive at the division of our Church, he unhesitatingly would, with Bishop Soule, have adhered to the Southern side. I was intimate with Bishop McKendree, knew his sentiments in full in relation to Church government, as also his feelings for the Southern branch of the Church, and the public may rest satisfied that he was no Abolitionist. We give an extract from a letter of Bishop Asbury to the Rev. T. L. Douglass as it relates, in part, to this Western Conference and to Bishop McKendree; it is dated November 2, 1808: "Prospects in the West exceedingly great. If we are correct, 3,437 increase; eighty-four preachers stationed; seven districts, two of them new. We have a tract of country superior to the thirteen United States now under the oversight of the Western Conference. . . . Since (General) Conference, Brother Bishop McKendree has traveled, I presume, eighteen hundred miles through New Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana Territory, to Missouri and Tennessee, East and West. Our Western Conference was held in camp order in the woods, seven days. Prospects in Missouri are great and good. Bishop McKendree has magni- fied his office and penetrated farther to the West than I have already. From the Western Conference we have traveled rapidly, we were chiefly together. We hope to strike off a thou- l Mr. Wesley's translation. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree] 133 sand or twelve hundred miles before the South Carolina Con- ference." The Diary of Bishop McKendree shows that in company with Bishop Asbury he started from Liberty Hill the day after the Conference rose and, passing by Dr. Tooley's, J. Winton's, in East Tennessee, and through Buncombe County, N. C., and continuing eastward, crossing the south fork of Catawba, he attended a camp meeting at Williamson's on November 11; thence turning into South Carolina, he preached at Devenport's meetinghouse, at Sardis, Heath's; Camden to James Rem- bert's, in Sumter District, where he attended another camp meeting, and thence went on to Charleston, where he remained preaching in the different Churches i. e., Cumberland and Bethel from November 30 to December 12. Bishop Asbury says that "Bishop McKendree was three days and nights on the Camden Camp Ground; and there was a powerful work among saints and sinners." From Charleston they went through Augusta to John Bush's, in Green County, Ga., and opened the South Carolina Confer- ence at Liberty Chapel next day i. e., December 26. This, too, was a camp meeting Conference, held in midwinter, closing on January 1, 1809. Three missionaries were appointed at this Conference: "One (M. P. Sturdevant) to Tombigbee, one to Ashley and Savannah and the country between, and one to labor between Santee and Cooper Rivers. . . . Here was the be- ginning of the missions to the slaves in South Carolina." Peo- ple were there in tents who had come one hundred and fifty miles. "Preaching and exhortations, singing and prayer with- out intermission on the camp ground, two or three thousand present, many souls converted." Increase of members in the bounds of the Conference, 3,088. From the seat of the South Carolina Conference, the Bishop arid Brother Boehm passed through Augusta and Camden to Fayetteville, N. C., crossing at Cashaway Ferry, where he realized the "mercy of not being thrown into the river, like poor Billiard Judge." Continuing their route and preaching at every opportunity, they visited Wilmington, Newbern, and Washington, and reached Tarboro, N. C., on the last day of January. The Virginia Conference began there on the next day. Bishop McKendree was now among his old acquaintances; preached admirably and ordained the elders. Bishop Asbury says there were but three married preachers in this large Conference. He notices the 134 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree fact that "the blacks are kept from us because their masters are afraid of the influence of our principles;" and very significantly asks: "Would not an amelioration in the condition and treat- ment of slaves have produced more practical good to the poor Africans than any attempt at their emancipation?" Ah! the question of "practical good" was rarely thought of in dis- cussions upon this subject by those who were not familiar with the difficulties which really environed it. 1 The following characteristic notice of the manner in which a part, at least, of this long and tiresome tour was made is given in Bishop Asbury's Journal: "We are riding in a poor thirty-dollar-chaise, in partnership, two bishops of us; but it must be confessed that it tallies well with our purses. Well, but we have great news, and we have great times, and each Western, Southern, and the Virginia Conference will have one thousand souls truly converted to God. Is this not an equivalent for a light purse? And are we not well paid for starving and toil? Yes; glory to God!" Truly, eighty dollars a year must have been a scanty supply for the purse, when every cent which clothing and traveling apparatus cost, besides every other outlay not really included in "traveling expenses," had to come out of it! But what was money or comfort to such men in pursuit of ends so high and holy? From Tarboro, N. C., Bishop McKendree proceeded through deep snow to Harrisonburg, Va., calling at his father's, in Greenville County, Va., spending a day there and preaching twice on that day; thence through Petersburg and Richmond to Fort Republic. His Diary shows that on March 2, he opened the Virginia Conference at Harrisonburg, and that it closed on the eighth. The General Minutes show that the Virginia Con- ference had been appointed to meet at Tarboro, N. C., on February 1 ; and we have seen that a Conference was held then and there, which Bishop Asbury calls the Virginia Conference, and both of the bishops notice the fact that another Conference was held at Harrisonburg. Perhaps it had been previously agreed that for the convenience of the preachers traveling re- motely from Tarboro another session of the Virginia Confer- ence should be held at Harrisonburg. The appointments made at both places are published as belonging to the Virginia Con- ference. This is believed to have been the only instance of t * " iThis was written three years before the late war. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 135 the kind which occurred after the election of Bishop McKen- dree. The bishops went from this place to Alexandria, "through deep snow, which fell on March 13." Bishop McKendree preached on Proverbs i. 23. On March 18, to Georgetown; and Sabbath, March 19, he preached in Washington City twice, his texts being Hebrews x. 35, 36; Ezekiel xviii. 3. He preached in Baltimore on March 21, and next day at "The Point." His texts were Matthew vii. 3; 2 Corinthians xv. 58. Thence, trav- eling and preaching nearly every day, they went through Wil- mington, Del., to Philadelphia, where the Conference began on April 3 and closed on April 10, Bishop McKendree preaching six times during the session. . From the Philadelphia Conference they proceeded north, passing through Burlington, Trenton, etc., to New York, which they reached on May 9, and opened the Conference on the tenth. On May 12, Bishop McKendree preached in John Street Church, on 2 Corinthians v. 20; on the fourteenth, at Bowery, on Romans i. 16; in Brooklyn in the afternoon, on Romans viii. 34; and again at John Street on May 19, being the last day of the Conference, his text being 2 Corinthians vii. 10. From New York, where their "attention was strongly ex- cited by the steamboat, a great invention," they traveled every day, Sundays always excepted, from May 19, to June 14, when they reached Monmouth, District of Maine, the seat of the New England Conference. This trip, which occupied twenty-one days' traveling, can now be made in as many hours and without any serious fatigue. In making it, they passed through Newcastle on May 22; on the thirtieth, Middletown, Conn. On Sunday, June 3, Bishop McKendree preached his first sermon in Boston, Psalms xxxiv. 19; the next day, in Lynn; on the eighth in Portsmouth, 2 Timothy iii. 5. The New England Conference lasted five days. "Eighty- two preachers received appointments, forty of whom composed the Conference." From Monmouth Bishop McKendree came through Canaan, Dartmouth, Lansingburg, Albany, and Schenectady, to Kingsbury, where he again fell in company with Bishop Asbury, who had come by another route, both of them having preached nearly every day since they parted at the New England Conference. Leaving Brother Boehm to accom- pany Bishop Asbury, Bishop McKendree passed on through Auburn, Geneva, and Greensburg, to "Dr. Wheeler's, on the 136 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree fork of Youghiogheny," where he and Bishop Asbury attended Pike Run Camp Meeting, at which Bishop McKendree preached every day. The meeting was one of great usefulness. Thence, again parting with Bishop Asbury, who proceeded to Pitts- burgh, Pa., he visited Washington and Middletown, attended a quarterly meeting; came to Steubenville on August 24 and to Zanesville, Ohio, on the twenty-ninth. On September 23, 24, he assisted in holding a camp meeting near Chillicothe, preaching each day with decided effect. On September 13, he got to John Collins's, of precious memory, and spent from the fifteenth to the eighteenth, inclusive, at a camp meeting at P. Catch's. The next week he assisted at Collins's Camp Meeting, and on September 27 reached Cincinnati. Here the Western Con- ference began on September 30, thus completing his first episco : pal tour of visitation to the Annual Conferences. The following extracts from the Journal of Bishop McKen- dree, beginning at the close of the New York Conference, May, 1809, may be interesting to many: "On Wednesday, May 10, Conference met in New York. We had much harmony, peace, and love among the preachers; but business was done in the most desultory manner, owing to an entire abandonment of manner and a flood of words. There were some attempts to correct these errors in order to facilitate business, but they proved ineffectual. However, we had a com- fortable degree of the divine presence, but not many converted. About seven o'clock on Friday, May 19 (Bishop Asbury's Journal erroneously says the 15th), Conference concluded; and, in my opinion, the business might all have been done in six days. " Here I met with a very unexpected act of kindness. Brother Sandford, from Belleville, finding I have to travel alone, pre- sented me with his son Aaron, an amiable youth about seven- teen years of age, to travel with me, and that too at his own expense. "Saturday, May 20. We left New York after breakfast, in company with Joseph Crawford and reached the White Plains in the afternoon. Here I had a full view of the ground and the situation of the armies where the battle was fought at this place. "Sunday, May 21. Preached in the meetinghouse on the battle ground; had a melting, comfortable time. "Saturday, May 27. My rides have been long. Rode through much rain; preached nine times to small, lonely con- gregations, in the course of this week; have enjoyed much peace Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 137 of mind, but suffered some unnecessary pain on account of foolish reasonings. "Sunday, May 28. Preached twice in Middletown, Conn., and administered the sacrament. The first was a lifeless ser- mon, and, as far as I can judge, as unprofitable to others as it was uncomfortable to myself. The last was comfortable to me, and, I suppose, profitable to some. "Saturday, June 3. In accordance with a plan devised for me, I have taken a circuitous route through Old and East Hart- ford, Ellington, Wilbraham, Brookfield, and Worcester, to Waltham; but, no appointments having been made for me, I have had a week of affliction and disappointment, except in Ellington. There Dr. Steel procured me a good congregation, and I hope good was done. Here the Presbyterian congregations tax the Methodists to build their meetinghouses, seize and sell their property to pay the Presbyterian minister. . . . The trav- eling preacher on this circuit is not always exempt from these polite acts of Presbyterian charity. 1 "Sunday, June 4, 1809. Yesterday evening I reached this place (Waltham, Mass.), and, Brother Bernis having.sent out and collected a congregation, I preached to them at three o'clock. "Monday, June 5. I set out this morning with the pleasant expectation of meeting Bishop Asbury in Boston, fourteen miles distant, from which place, according to our general plan, I was to have the pleasure of his company to Monmouth, about one hundred and fifty miles. We met, but what was my dis- appointment when, before I was seated, the old gentleman, in very pleasing mood, presented me with a new plan, which di- rected us to different routes. Accordingly, after a few hours, we parted. I followed directions and moved on as I could, and in a day or two he came after me, on the same road, the greater part of the way. "Saturday, June 10. Brother Heath's, in Scarboro. I have passed through nearly all the seaport towns in my course and preached in Boston, Lynn, and Portsmouth this week. There is a beautiful prospect of religion in Portsmouth, the seat of government for New Hampshire. I heard more doctrinal senti- ments and more breathing after holiness expressed in a love feast here than in any other place I have visited lately. This society has been raised and a meetinghouse purchased by George Pickering in the course of this year. l The Congregationa lists were popularly called Presbyterians. 138 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree "Of late I have been considerably afflicted. In general I enjoy peace of mind, but I do not enjoy that depth of religion which I believe it is the Christian's privilege to possess. "Sunday, June 11. I preached in Scarboro in the morning; rode eight miles and preached in Portsmouth in the evening. The Lord is present. Here the horse of Brother Sandford failed, and he determined to return, consequently I have to travel alone. Rode in company with Brother Joel Winch from Port- land to Monmouth. He is an agreeable young man. "The New England Conference commenced on Thursday, June 15, and closed on the evening of the fourth day. This is an amiable body of preachers, having many difficulties to en- counter and much love to support them. " Thursday, June 29. From Monmouth to Barnard. Have been blessed with the company and attention of Brother Branch, the presiding elder. He is a steady, pious, friendly man, his words few and profitable. Had a few meetings on our trip, a most comforting one this evening. "Saturday, July 8. At Kingsbury. From Barnard I have ridden from twenty-five to forty miles a day, and preached at Rutland, Willstown, Ash Grove, Lansingburg, Albany, Schen- ectady, and Kingsbury, but the fatigue has so overcome me that I have to stop a day and take physic. We have labored and suffered much through this country, but there is now a prospect of reaping the fruit of those who went before us. "Sunday, June 16, 1809. Capt. David Dorsey's, Lyons, be- tween Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. In consequence of confused plans, I had no regular appointments this week. It has been a time of affliction and trial. After losing more than an hour in crossing Lake Cayuga and riding twenty-five miles, I reached this place at twelve o'clock, just after the people left the meeting- house; but a very considerable congregation was collected at five o'clock, to whom I preached with satisfaction to myself, and I hope some were benefited. "Sunday, June 28. On the evening of last Sabbath it began to rain and continued without intermission for forty hours. The streams rose so high I could not go on. But few ventured to cross the outlet to-day; but I preached to a respectable congregation in Brother Dorsey's dwelling house. Although I am altogether at a loss to know how I am to get through this difficult country now, and my plan of appointments has fallen through, I have enjoyed peace of mind. Happily situ- ated, in an agreeable family, I have recovered my strength Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 139 considerably and feel resigned to the providence which awaits me. "Saturday, June 29. Amaziah Button's, on Lycoming Creek. On Monday I preached at Geneva. Here Brother Draper was kind enough to meet and conduct me through the difficulties. On Tuesday morning we started, and crossed the Canandaigua Lake and village, through Bath; crossed the Conhocton at the painted post; Canestio, Tioga, to the Blockhouse; crossed the mountain and descended the Lycoming to this place. I have enjoyed serene peace this week. To God be all the glory! ''Sunday, June 30. Preached in the meetinghouse at eleven o'clock, and in the courthouse at Port William at four o'clock in the afternoon. "Saturday, August 5. Thomas Waston's. On Monday morning I set out in pursuit of my appointments, intending to spend the next Sabbath in Bedford. We ascended the west branch of the Susquehanna, took up Eagle Creek to the iron works and reached this neghborhood on Thursday evening; and learning it is forty or fifty miles out of my way to go by Bedford to Pittsburgh, I determined to spend the Sabbath and preach here. Through the week have had unusual religious en- joyments; have been very kindly entertained by strangers, who seemed glad to see me. "Sunday, August 6. Preached at George Hyskell's Meeting- house to a large and attentive congregation; hope the labor was not in vain. Rode six miles through the rain to Benjamin John- son's. "Monday, August 7. Ascended the Alleghany through Burgeon's Gap and lodged on the mountain, but the entertain- ment was intolerably bad. "Tuesday, August 8. Rode through rain for several hours; road extremely bad on account of deep mud, rocks, and water; lodged at James Wakefield's, but was afflicted by a few men who had drunk a quart of whisky each in the harvest field this day. "On Friday, August 11, I reached the camp ground on Pike Run, in Washington County. Here I got into my appointments, after losing a whole week on this side of the mountain on ac- count of the flood. At this encampment there were between thirty and forty wagons and eighty or ninety camps and tents. "On Sunday, August 13, there were two or three thousand people on the ground ; but such a proportion of worthless crea- tures, if I may judge by their behavior, I never saw at a place of worship before. On Friday and Saturday we had comfortable 140 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree seasons, some converts; but from twelve o'clock on Sabbath the work put on an awful appearance and continued without inter- mission the greater part of the night. "Monday, August 14, was a very rainy day, but a great many serious people attended. The work was very consider- able through the afternoon and night. "On Tuesday morning the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to about three hundred and fifty communi- cants; after which it was proposed to ascertain the number of converts at this meeting, but such was the excitement of the people, it was not attempted." Bishop Asbury also was present at this meeting, having arrived there on Saturday evening. He preached once 2 Corinthians vi. 20; Bishop McKendree, four times Exodus xix. 10, 11; Isaiah xii. 6; Deuteronomy xxx. 19; and 1 Co- rinthians xiii. 13. From this place the bishops proceeded westward, taking dif- ferent routes for the Western Conference, Bishop Asbury going through Pittsburgh and Bishop McKendree passing through Washington, Pennsylvania, Steubenville, Zanesville, Chilli- cothe (Ohio), and reaching Cincinnati on September 27. Be- fore reaching there, however, he attended one quarterly meet- ing near Middletown and three more camp meetings the first near Chillicothe, the second at P. Catch's, and the last at John Collins's. At these meetings he preached nearly every day, and even when traveling usually preached either in the day or at night where he might lodge. Such were the zeal, the industry, and labor of our fathers, and thus was Methodism planted in this country. That such efforts were successful is not surprising. God was with them. If we would retain what they gained, we must love and labor like them. It is not enough to say we have John or Francis or William for our father: without their faith and works we are not of them nor like them. What would a modern star preacher think of traveling and laboring and suffer- ing like Asbury and McKendree, on horseback round the conti- nent annually? Yet they did this for many successive years. Bishop McKendree introduced a new style of things, in pre- siding over the Annual Conferences; for while Bishop Asbury always presided with dignity and impartiality, yet he was re- garded by the preachers as a father and did not on all occasions adhere strictly to the Rules of Order in the management of Con- ference business. His age, his long services, and his intimate acquaintance with the whole work and with the workmen gave Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 141 him a position no one else could reasonably expect to occupy and relieved him from the necessity of attending rigidly to par- liamentary usage. But Bishop McKendree felt that his relation was in some respects a different one . Many of those over whom he was called to preside were older and more experienced than himself and would be far less likely to submit to him, as they had done to Bishop Asbury, than to be controlled by rules made by the Conference for the transaction of its own business. Be- sides, he was a man of method, as was evinced in everything he did and said, and had long since come to the conclusion that a close adherence to established rules by deliberative bodies is not only a protection to the minority and the president, but is calculated to expedite business. He therefore made himself familiar with the rules which obtain among such bodies and insisted upon each Conference adopting and adhering to them. And as he was prompt, impartial, and courteous in deciding all such questions of law and order as properly devolved upon him, he soon became, in the estimation of the whole connection, a model president. This first round, made in company with his venerated senior colleague, exhibited the contrast in their man- ner of conducting business and evinced his fitness for the office of president. And it is believed that during the whole of his episcopal career he was rarely, if ever, known to make an official decision from which a majority dissented. The secret of his suc- cess in this respect was that he thoroughly understood the Dis- cipline and usage of the Church and was perfectly familiar with the rules of debate. Thus was he enabled to detect the least divergence from law and order; and his self-command, combined with a prompt yet mild and conciliatory mode of address, in- spired confidence and gave much weight to his decisions. We have often heard the opinion expressed by those competent to judge that Bishop McKendree was unsurpassed in Church or State as a presiding officer; and the writer, who has the mis- fortune never to have seen Bishop Asbury in the chair, is de- cidedly of the opinion that he has never seen anyone who so impressed and controlled a body of men as Bishop McKendree did in his palmy days. There were always quietness, order, and a respectful manner among all the members of Conference where he presided. The name of Dr. Coke is too intimately connected with American Methodism to allow it to disappear suddenly from any work which professes to give a general account of Method- ism'during the latter part of the eighteenth and the former part 142 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of the nineteenth century. And as we have on several occa- sions adverted to his official relation to American Methodism and shall present the reader with several letters from him to Bishop McKendree, we hope it may be pardoned if we now bring up the history of this noble-hearted minister from the General Conference of 1804 to the present date. It appears that Dr. Coke never visited America after 1804. Indeed, after the death of Mr. Wesley, in 1791, his services in England were regarded as almost indispensable, especially in connection with the foreign mission work. Hence, in the ad- dress of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference to our General Conference in 1804, they earnestly solicited the return of the Doctor; and the General Conference consented to the request, with the proviso, "that he shall hold himself, subject to the call of three of our Annual Conferences, to return when requested; but, at farthest, that he shall return, if he lives, to the next General Conference." The improved state of Bishop Asbury's health, together with the assistance he now received in the general superintendency of the work by the election of Mr. Whatcoat, rendered it less important to detain the Doctor. Immediately upon his return to England, from his ninth and last visit to America, he entered most zealously and efficiently upon his work as superintendent of missions. His operations embraced both home and foreign missions; and, by his inde- fatigable efforts in obtaining funds from friends to the cause and from his own private fortune, he succeeded in supporting them, contrary to the fears of many of his brethren. If his schemes seemed occasionally too visionary, his astonishing success in raising money to sustain them seemed to justify his views and silenced objections. Having married an estimable and wealthy lady, April 1, 1805 Miss Penelope Goulding Smith he addressed a circular to his American brethren in June, 1805, announcing his marriage and proposing to reside permanently with them "on the express condition that the seven Conferences should be divided betwixt us i. e., Bishop Asbury and himself three and four, and four and three, each of us changing our division annually; and that this plan, at all events, should continue permanent and unalterable during both our lives." Allusions have frequently been made from certain quarters to an overture made by Dr. Coke to Bishop White in 1791, for a union of the Methodist Episcopal with the Protestant Episco- pal Church; and he has been severely blamed on the one hand Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 143 as having taken an unauthorized and rash step; and on the other, his proposition has been regarded as a confession of the defectiveness of his ordination and of the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In mitigation of the censure of some and in refutation of the inferences of others, it ought to be remembered that the period when Dr. Coke conceived this purpose was one of peculiar gloom in the history of American Methodism. It was the year of Mr. Wesley's death; and, al- though the Church in America had been organized in 1784, yet the constitution of the Church had not been secured against infringement by the provision for a regularly returning dele- gated General Conference acting under restrictions and limita- tions. It was also about the time of Mr. O'Kelly's secession. These things combined to alarm Dr. Coke; and, without having hinted the matter to Mr. Wesley or consulted his colleague or any other Methodist minister, he acted from the impulse of the hour. His object, doubtless, was to strengthen the Church by the union and prevent a convulsion, which his fears had magnified into a terrible approaching calamity. But his proposi- tion, unauthorized and indefinite as it was, and which, perhaps, he had not himself elaborated fully in his own mind, looked to a union of the Churches and not to a dissolution of either of them. Nor is there any evidence that, in any event, he had become willing to disavow his ordination. He did not intend "a dereliction of ordination, sacraments, and the Methodist Discipline, but a junction on proper terms." Bishop White respectfully entertained the Doctor's plan for consideration; but, of course, it failed. The Doctor himself, upon more mature reflection, perceived the impracticability, not to say folly, of this act, and requested the Bishop to burn his letter, which he regarded as private and confidential. But it seems that Bishop White and his friends did not regard the correspondence in this light, and after the whole affair had been kept secret from 1791 until 1804, it was made public. We do not accuse the Bishop of violating a moral or honorable obligation; and, as it seems he did not feel precluded by a sense of propriety from giving it to the world, it was hardly to be expected that others less scrupu- lous and liberal than himself would suffer so good an opportu- nity to pass without using it to give their Methodist neighbor the thrust ecclesiastic. But was there any sin, or real degradation, in proposing an honorable union between two young Churches not separated by any serious differences in doctrine or ritual? The writer has reason to believe that some excellent and tal- 144 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ented clergymen, and many of the best members of the Bishop's Church, would not have been horrified at such a union even a few years ago, a thing which he regards as neither practicable nor desirable now, if it ever was. The following original letter, written by Dr. Coke to Bishop Asbury upon this subject, has been found among the papers of Bishop McKendree and is now, for the first time, given in full 1 to the press. The Doctor had but recently heard of the use which had been made of his correspondence upon this subject, and gives his version of his motives and acts in the premises: NEAR LEEDS, February 2, 1808. Very Dear Brother and Friend: For some time you got the start of me in letters; but of late I have got the start of you. Perhaps I may not hear from you till after the General Conference. I have heard there has been a paper war concerning a letter I wrote in 1791 to Bishop White. But I did everything with a pure intention. We had then no General Conference. You were then the only center of union; and you yourself saw the danger the infant connection was in, which in- duced you, I doubt not, to lay the plan of an Annual Council at Cokesbury. I differed, it is true, in sentiment, from my dear venerable brother in that respect; but, as I before observed, you laid that plan from a full conviction it was absolutely necessary to do something for the security of the union of the body. I was fully convinced of the same necessity and did then really believe (though I do not know) that a junction with the Episcopal Church, on proper terms, would, under the blessing of God, answer the end. I never applied to the convention for reconsecration. I never intended that either you or I should give up our episcopal ordination. I did be- lieve that a junction, as above, would very much enlarge our field of action, and that myriads would, in consequence of it, attend our ministry, who were then much prejudiced against us. My proposals secured our Dis- cipline in all points and the independence of our places of worship. I had no thoughts of deciding on anything (it would have been the greatest folly to have indulged such thoughts) without your full consent and the consent of the General Conference, which was to be held the next year, to deter- mine on the case of James O'Kelly's division. I only wanted to put things in a train. The proposal met with the approbation of the bishops of the old Episcopal Church in America, but was thrown out by the lower house of convention, as Mr. Ogden informed me. But all this was merely in the way of preparation; for it would have been absurd to have brought the business before the General Conference (which, for what I knew at that time, might never meet again) without knowing the minds of the old 'Dr. Emory, it seems, had seen a copy of this letter, and makes a few quotations from it in his "Defense of Our Fathers." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 145 Church. 1 It was at that General Conference, which was held on the case of James O'Kelly, that it was resolved to have, in future, regular General Conferences. But I now see that the failure of my plan, which was laid down from the purest motives, was for the best. You yourself, my dear brother, never loved the American Church more than I have done, I verily believe (excuse me for saying so), though I grant you have had more op- portunities of serving it. However, I do conjure you, my brother, by the glory of God and by every motive which can proceed from declarations of affection, on your part as well as mine, by every Christian grace, by our union in the Church, and particularly the honor of Him who is the great mystical, real, and spiritual Head of us both, that you do not suffer my character to be injured at the next General Conference. I shall say no more, but leave the whole to God. Our work in the United Kingdom goes on well, very well. We have not those astonishing, refreshing times which you have in your camp meetings; but there is a secret, gradual, and deep work on all hands, which, when it comes to be opened and examined at the Conference, gives an increase of ten thousand, nine thousand, etc. And this is the more extraordinary as there is nothing heard of but war. One hundred and thirty thousand sailors just voted for by the Parliament for the ships of war and an im- mense military force. And among all these descriptions of men, there are but few who are born again. And yet the work increases! Let God have all the glory! My precious wife and I are continually on the wing. We have no home but God, and he is indeed our home, our constant home, our comfortable home, our dwelling place, our tabernacle, our heaven here below, our all in all. Glory, forever glory be to his name ! She unites with me in love to you and our brethren, the preachers. God bless you! Pray for us. I am, my dear, esteemed friend, yours affectionately and faithfully, T. COKE. After the able and satisfactory vindication of Dr. Coke and of American Methodism by Dr. Bangs, and especially by the late Bishop Emory in his "Defense of Our Fathers," no ex- planation or defense can be necessary upon this point. Those wishing to see a full exposition of this whole affair may find it in Bishop Emory's work, referred to above. Dr. Bangs, in referring to the proviso in Dr. Coke's letter, calls it a proposition "to become a resident in America on. the condition that the continent should be divided into two parts, one of which to be under his superintendency and the other under the superintendency of Bishop Asbury." ("History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," Vol. II, p. 179.) And Larabee ifiishop Coke, as an Englishman, naturally identifies the Protestant Episcopal Church with the Colonial Church]ofJEngland, "the old Church," though in reality the Methodist Episcopal Church in America was organ- ized before the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 10 146 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree repeats the same view in his "Asbury and His Coadjutors," Volume I, p. 326. The writer confesses that, guided by these authorities, he had always done Dr. Coke the injustice of be- lieving that he had proposed a permanent territorial division of the work; whereas he only proposed a plan for permanent alternation with Bishop Asbury in superintending the Confer- ences. An original printed circular, with the autograph of Dr. Coke, dated June 1, 1805, now lying before him, first relieved his mind of the impression that the Doctor had proposed so in- judicious and unconstitutional a condition as the words of Dr. Bangs seem to express. The fact is, Dr. Coke did not think he ought to abandon his useful position in England unless he could occupy such & relation to the work in America as would give him an opportunity of at least equal usefulness. He therefore proposed to be considered as Mr. Asbury's equal in administra- tion, as he was in office; for heretofore he had not, in a single in- stance, presided over a Conference or stationed the preachers, except in the presence and under the supervision of Bishop Asbury. Should he make America his home, he required to be regarded as on a parity with his colleague. The errors of Dr. Coke in making this proposition were: First, he ignored, un- designedly doubtless, the position and claims of Bishop What- coat, who was still living and was greatly and justly loved and who was then actively engaged in the duties of his office. The Doctor, doubtless, regarded him as superannuated. Second, he called upon the preachers to divide the work; whereas, the bishops, by an arrangement of their own, can annually distrib- ute the work of visiting and supervising the Conferences. No doubt Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat would have gladly recognized him as their equal in every respect and would possi- bly have agreed to such an alternating plan of superintendence as has been practiced in America for many years. But their con- currence was not asked by the Doctor, and neither the Annual nor General Conferences, much less the preachers in their indi- vidual capacity, possessed the authority to control the question. Such an interference might have had a baneful influence as a precedent, leading to the destruction of "our plan of itinerant general superintendency." Third, this plan was to last as long as he and Bishop Asbury should live, which would have been violated by the election of another bishop during that time, however necessary it might be to have another. Of course Dr. Coke did not come back to the United States, as the Annual Conferences did not urge him to do so in view of the condition Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 147 upon which he proposed to come, notwithstanding the death of Bishop Whatcoat in 1806, leaving Bishop Asbury alone, rendered his services very desirable. The Doctor remained in England and was both useful and popular; and American Methodism was, perhaps, not greatly retarded by his declining to come. A reply to Dr. Coke's circular was adopted by the Baltimore Conference, March 17, 1806. The copy, which was carried by the bishops to the Annual Conferences, is before me, signed by the committee who prepared and reported it viz., George Rob- erts, David Hill, Enoch George, Nelson Reed, and Alexander McCaine; and by Joseph Toy, Secretary. We do not admire its temper and think it unnecessarily and unjustly severe. To some of its doctrines we are decidedly opposed, while we ap- prove its main object and its general bearing. It is a rare docu- ment. There is also before us the reply of the Philadelphia Confer- ence to the Doctor's circular, which, while it plainly and firmly declines the terms upon which he proposed to return to America, yet does so in the most mild and respectful language. It is a model document, dated Philadelphia, April 19, 1806, and signed W. P. Chandler, Secretary. About 1806 Dr. Coke finished his great work, " Commentary on the Bible," which he had undertaken in compliance with the request of the Wesleyan Conference of 1792. Dr. Coke may be justly styled the father and founder of the domestic and foreign missions of our British brethren; at least, so far as they were not the direct result of the itinerant system under Mr. Wesley. He is entitled to the credit of having found- ed and sustained the mission in the British Colony at Sierra Leone, Africa. Having failed in his first attempt to establish a mission among the heathen Africans, his attention was after- wards called to the fact that some negroes who had been carried at the close of our Revolution by the British troops and Tories from the United States to Nova Scotia had finally been colo- nized at Sierra Leone, and that some of them, having been Meth- odists in America, had introduced religious worship among the colonists, had formed a society, and built a chapel, he imme- diately resolved to supply them with a preacher. Hence the origin of British missions among the Africans. He advanced three thousand dollars to furnish the outfit of this mission; and for the outfit of the East India Mission, he offered thirty thousand dollars, if so much should be found necessary. For many years, by his personal influence, he sustained mis- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 148 sions in the West Indies, Nova Scotia, the Norman Isles, Ire- land, Wales, Gibraltar, and the destitute portions of England; and it was only a short time before his death that any perma- nent and reliable organization for raising missionary money was devised by the Wesleyan Methodists. 1 Dr. Coke does not seem to be chagrined by the course pur- sued toward him in America in declining his proposition, for at the General Conference he substantially renews his former proposal, if his services should be deemed imperatively neces- sary. His kind, congratulatory letter to Bishop McKendree upon his election, already quoted, is another evidence of his sincerity and magnanimity. It is foreign to our purpose to follow, in detail, the history of this great and good man; suffice it to say that after having devoted a life of singular purity and energy to the cause of God, to which he had given an amount of money out of his own purse which might be regarded, even in England, as a large fortune, he projected the East India Mission. On December 30, 1813, he, in company with a noble band of missionaries, embarked for India, and on May 4, 1814, he died on board the ship. His body rests under the equator, in the midst of the Indian Ocean, but we doubt not his ardent and holy soul has found a home in the Father's house. He died of apoplexy, suddenly and alone in the night, in his sixty-seventh year. Dr. Coke was very low of stature, but finely proportioned. His voice was feminine, and remarkable for melody and dis- tinctness. He was a ripe scholar, a ready debater, quick in his apprehensions, impulsive in his emotions, and a delightful preacher. He was fitted, both by nature and habit, to an active life. One great passion reigned over his life, it was a noble one: it was to do good by spreading true religion over the earth. Methodism owes him much. In England, Mr. Wesley found him a very useful helper; and after that great reformer passed away, the Doctor was of infinite service in uniting the society and guiding its missionary operations. American Methodists should never forget the man who came to help Asbury and Methodism, as did Lafayette to sustain Washington and Con- gress in the Revolution. Nor was his love for us a sudden or a transient feeling. He crossed the Atlantic nine times; and, although he did not remain long at a time, yet his talents and influence were ever ready to be employed for our welfare. '-"Larabee," Vol. I. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 149 His peculiarities were the result of his temperament and of his English education. His virtues were many and great. In connection with the constellation of the world's benefactors, his name will glitter in the historic firmament like a bright and beautiful star, forever. His body rests amid the pearls which pave the Indian Ocean; its deep, blue waves sing his requiem, but his monument is the missionary enterprise of English and American Methodism; and at the resurrection of the just, myri- ads from Africa, Europe, America, and the islands of the sea, will hail him blessed. Servant of God, well done! Rest from thy loved employ; The battle fought, the vict'ry won, Enter thy Master's joy! The voice at midnight came; He started up to hear; A mortal arrow pierced his frame: He fell, but felt no fear. Soldier of Christ, well done! Praise be thy new employ; And while eternal ages run, Rest in thy Saviour's joy. CHAPTER X Bishops McKendree and Asbury go from Cincinnati to South Carolina Conference Thence to Virginia Conference To Baltimore Easton, Pa. New York New England Genesee Conference Camp meet- ing Conferences Through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee Bishops As- bury and McKendeee go on horseback to South Carolina Winter tour Letter from Bishop Morris Method Mrs. Mabry's letter Attends various Conferences Letter to Bishop Asbury about stationing the preachers General Conference of 1812 Presiding elder question No bishop elected Earthquake "War Letters. BISHOPS McKENDREE and Asbury, accompanied by William Burke and others, left Cincinnati, the seat of the late Western Conference, on October 9, 1809. 1 As usual in those days, their appointments were in advance of them, and it became necessary for them to start at midnight in order to get to Mount Gerizim in time to meet their engagement. Passing on through Kentucky and preaching alternately, they visited Lexington and Springfield, through Green and Barren Counties; Bishop Asbury, however, taking the direct route from Lexington to South Carolina, through East Tennes- see, and Buncombe County, N. C., while Bishop McKendree turned aside to visit his relations near Nashville, Tenn. On this trip he called upon his old friends, James Gwin, Henry Tooly, Elmore Douglass, William Woodward, and others. From Nashville he started to Charleston, to attend the South Carolina Conference; and passing through the upper part of Alabama, then inhabited by the Cherokee Indians, we find him at Benjamin Watts's in Jackson County, Ga., on November 9; on the thirteenth, at Hope Hull's; the sixteenth at James Meri- wether's; on the nineteenth he preached at Athens; on the twent- ty-sixth, at Greensboro; at Milledgeville on the thirtieth; at Dudley Hargrove's, his relative, on December 5; thence by Colonel Foster's, Josiah Randle's, Weisinger's, to Augusta, reaching Charleston, S. C., the nineteenth. The Southern Conference began on Saturday, December 23, in the city of Charleston, and held a week. Here he met Bishop Asbury, and the Conference seems to have been an interesting and prof- itable one. On December 30, the Conference being over, l At this Conference "about eighty preachers were stationed, fourteen rejected, nine located; increase, 2,366." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 151 the bishops left Charleston and spent the night with Thomas McKendree, the Bishop's brother, who "fed them richly." The following Sabbath they both preached in Fayetteville, N. G.; on Wednesday, at Wilmington; Sabbath, January 14, 1810, at Newbern; twenty-first, at Norfolk, Va. Leaving Bishop As- bury, Bishop McKendree visited his father, and joined him again at Petersburg, where the Virginia Conference opened Febuary 8, 1810, and closed on the fourteenth. From the seat of the Virginia Conference the bishops pro- ceeded to Baltimore by different routes, Bishop McKendree passing through Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, Dumfries, spend- ing .a little time preaching in Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington City. The Baltimore Conference for 1810 was held in the city of Baltimore. It began on March 8, and lasted eight days. Bishop Asbury was worn down with fatigue and otherwise very unwell, and most of the labor of presiding, etc., devolved upon Bishop McKendree; He preached in Light Street Church at eleven o'clock, on 2 Corinthians vii. 12, and on "The Point" at three o'clock, on 1 John xvi . 17 . From the Baltimore Conference they went to Easton, and opened the Philadelphia Conference, on April 20, and concluded it on the twenty-seventh. There was a camp meeting in the neighborhood of the Conference, and the session was a pleasant one. The Diary of Bishop McKen- dree shows that one of them preached nearly every day while traveling, and sometimes both of them. Bishop McKendree's route to the New York Conference was through Wilmington, Del., Philadelphia, and Trenton. He reached New York on May 10, and was fully employed in visiting and preaching until the twenty-first, when the Con- ference began. It concluded during the week. The New England Conference for 1810 was held at Win- chester, Mass., begining on June 6, and closing on the tenth. From thence Bishop McKendree passed through. and preached at Lynn, Marblehead, Boston (Heb. x. 35), Wilbraham (Prov. i. 23), West Springfield, Westfield, and Schenectady, to Lyons Town, where the Genesee Conference began on July 20. This seems also to have been a camp meeting Con- ference "great order and dispatch in business" stationed sixty-three preachers, and cured some, until then, incura- ble cases." In reference to the outcry raised by certain persons against the bishops for appointing this Conference, charging them with an assumption of power, etc., Bishop Asbury adds, 152 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree in his significant and laconic style: "If the outcry of want of order came from God, the appointment of the Genesee Con- ference was one of the most judicious acts of our episcopacy." The bishops parted company at the Genesee Conference, each wending his way toward the southwest, to attend the next session of the Western Conference, in Shelbyville, Ky., No- vember 1. Both of their Journals are before me. They both attended several camp meetings on their respective routes, besides preaching almost daily and assisting at a goodly number of quarterly meetings. They were never idle or uselessly em- ployed. Bishop McKendree passed through Springfield, Ohio, attended a camp meeting on Rush Creek, on August 18; was at Chillicothe on the twenty-fifth; crossed the Ohio River at Limestone on the twenty-ninth; preached in Lexington, Ky., on the thirty-first (1 Sam. iii. 18), recrossed the Ohio at Old Trace on September 12; was taken sick next day, but was able to preach at Jeffersonville on Sabbath, September 15 (Rev. iii. 20) ; attended a camp meeting at Ferguson's September 21-24; visited Jesse Head, B. McHenry, M. Lasley, Quessenbury, Pope, etc. October 5-8, he attended the Nashville camp meeting, held at Liberty Hill, and the Fountain Head Camp meeting October, 19-22, and enjoyed the society of his relations and his old friends Gwin, Blackman, and others. The Western Conference was held this year in the field of his former usefulness. It began on November 1, and continued eight days. It was a session "of great peace and good order." The second day, "Friday, was a day of humiliation and fasting. Twenty-six were admitted, ninety-five stationed; the increase is four thousand." The Conference over, the bishops started for the far-distant Southern Conference. Even the venerable As- bury, old, feeble, and afflicted as he was, found it necessary to exchange his sulky for the saddle in order to traverse the wil- derness and get safely over the mountains and streams which had to be encountered in this long midwinter trip. On Sabbath, November 18, both of the bishops were at Bishop McKendree's father's; but the next day they were off for South Carolina. Their route led by John McGee's, Dr. Tooley's, and J. Winton's, in East Tennessee, through Buncombe County, N. C., in deep snow, etc. Bishop McKendree and John McGee started at five o'clock and rode twenty-five miles in the piercing cold, over the Buncombe Mountains, to an appointment at Edney's, and Bishop McKendree preached (Jer. iv. 14). Con- tinuing their toilsome and most unpleasant journey, they ar- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 153 rived at Columbia, S. C., in time to open the Conference on Saturday, December 22. "Order, peace, and love" character- ized the session. About eighty preachers were stationed. But it would be tiresome to the reader to follow the daily toils of this devoted man. Let the above suffice as a specimen. With the Journal of Bishop Asbury and the Diary of McKen- dree before the writer, he is more than ever impressed with the sentiment that all great, practical, useful men are remarkable for method and painstaking. The truly great man attends to little as well as great things. See this Diary; how neatly kept! as legible now, after the lapse of half a century, as if written an hour since; every day filled up with the name of the person with whom he stayed, the distance traveled, the meetinghouse in which he preached (his text given perfectly), where the Con- ferences were held, how long, etc. And when it is remembered that he was almost constantly in the saddle, frequently starting before day and traveling until dark, often in dirty and uncom- fortable taverns, never having more than a day's rest in the month, and consequently without the quietude or facilities of keeping a regular journal, it is astonishing that he was able, from year to year, to commit so many facts to paper in so regular and consecutive a manner. The love of order was a striking trait of Bishop McKendree's character; so that while he seemed constantly intent upon great and important matters, he was never known to neglect the minute affairs of life. A remarkable instance of this, and one strikingly illustrative of his scrupulous regard for the rights of others, is given in the following letter of Bishop Morris, ad- dressed to Bishop Soule in 1836: Brother Soule: The following anecdote, though unimportant in itself, may possibly serve to illustrate one peculiar characteristic of Bishop Mc- Kendree namely, his scrupulous attention to the rules of propriety in little things. You may use it or not, as may seem proper to yourself. Many years ago the precise time not recollected one day in Confer- ence, Bishop McKendree asked me for the loan of a pencil. I handed him the only article of the kind I had. It was a very small cedar pencil, perhaps two inches and a half long and less in diameter than a common rye straw, with a plain brass head. It was used primarily as a pin, to fasten a small pocket memorandum book, and to make notes on the same. The original value of the article could not have been more than three cents. Of so little importance was it to me that I did not miss it at all or remember the transaction again until a year afterwards, when the Bishop one day in Conference beckoned to me, and on my approaching him, handed me the pencil, which he had kept for me on a tour of some thousands of miles, 154 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree having perhaps forgotten to return it at the proper time. As the business of Conferences was in progress, he gave no explanation, but the sight of the pencil and a moment's reflection brought the whole transaction to my mind and afforded a theme of profitable meditation upon the character of a man who, amid the trials and perils of his extended journeys and his numerous and daily cares respecting the Church over which he exercised his general superintendency, could still charge his mind with so small a matter. He that would succeed in carrying out the principles of a great system must attend punctually to all its little details, as did Bishop McKendree in regard to Methodism. Yours respectfully, THOMAS A. MORRIS. MEADVILLB, PA. August 17, 1 63. The trait in Bishop McKendree's character so happily illus- trated in the above anecdote by Bishop Morris was developed in many ways. It displayed itself in the systematic arrange- ment of all his business. He was a man of method. He could not preach, debate, or converse satisfactorily without regard to it. His plan of traveling and preaching on the way must always be prearranged. His traveling equipage, whether he went on horseback or in a carriage, was ever most carefully adjusted. His horse was never neglected, nor could he retire to rest after having been exhausted by a long and wearisome day's journey until he knew he had received the best possible attention. As "a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast," so this good man regarded the comfort of his horse. This was strikingly displayed in the provision made by his will for the support of his faithful "Old Gray." His clothes were packed in his saddledags, or carriage trunk, by his own hands, for who could do it so neatly? His papers were folded, labeled, and put up as he only could do it. In his dress and address you perceived in a moment the neatness, simplicity, and courteousness of a gentleman who respected both himself and his company too highly to seem careless of his appearance. And while he was far from being stiff or unsocial in his manners, there was always about him a dignified and re- spectful demeanor, mingled with affability, which bespoke his character and his position. His presence always commanded respect, and his manners won the confidence of strangers; so that even those who loved to ridicule preachers felt constrained to treat him civilly; and children, reading his feelings in his face, would instinctively smile, climb upon his knees, and nestle in his bosom. There was an indescribable persuasiveness in his manner, whether in the pulpit or in the social circle. When ani- Life and 'Times of Bishop McKendree 15J> mated, there was a kind of illumination of his features, remind- ing one of the gleaming of lightning behind a thin cloud. Before his tongue uttered the words, his eyes and mildly radiant face had already half told what was coming. His sense of propriety was such that he was rarely known to say or do anything of questionable fitness. His delicacy and sensibility were remark- able* The same mental peculiarity which dictated order in everything relating to business matters, dress, etc., induced him to be careful of his words, so that "proper words in proper places " best defines his sermons and conversations. Hence, too, the ease with which he could adapt his style and manner to the capacities and circumstances of his hearers. The following communication, taken from the Sunday school Visitor of 1852, sent to me by the late Rev. Anthony Dibrell (of precious memory), was furnished by Mrs.Mabry,of Peters- burg, Va., and was addressed to children. She was the daughter of Mr. Grissell Davis, in whose house Mr. McKendree was ordained deacon in 1790, and where he often stayed. It illus- trates several traits to which reference has been made. My Dear Little Children: When I was young, nothing delighted me more than to hear my mother tell about old times; presuming you have the same kind of curiosity, and as I like children dearly and like to please them, I will give you some account of my intercourse with Bishop McKendree when I was a little girl and he a young man. My father's house was, for many years and as long as he lived a home for Methodist preachers. At one time Bishop McKendree was stationed in the town in which we lived. I do not remember how long he stayed at our house, but long enough for him and myself to become intimate friends. He was remarkably fond of children. He liked very much to have his hair combed, and I would stand, perhaps an hour at a time, on my little chair combing his beautiful black hair, which curled naturally, and twining it around my tiny fingers. It was all cut short except behind, and there it was just long enough to curl. He would almost fall asleep while I was amusing myself behind him. When I came to arrange it in front, he would take me on his knee. And when I was done, a very sweet kiss would be my reward and many thanks also. I would then take my little chair and sit close by him and count the buttons at his knees, there were five at each knee; and he wore buckles on his shoes, too. I shall never forget his appearance, for, in my opinion, he was perfectly beautiful. His eyes were bright and black, and the expression of his countenance was mild amd benignant. He had a hoiy, happy look. I remember one day I had finished combing his hair and was playing about the room when some one observed there was a cloud rising. A thunder-cloud was the most terrible thing in the world to me. I always nestled as closely as possible to my mother, because I thought she was so good the lightning would not hurt her. She mentioned 156 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree to the Bishop how much I was alarmed and how sorry she was to see a cloud on my account. I recollect that he called me to him, took me on his knees, laid my head on his breast, and soothed me with the kindest words. When the sharp lightning came, I would hide my little face in his bosom and feel perfectly safe, because I thought nothing could harm me while near him, although I knew I was sinful, for I cannot remember the time I did not know it or had not the fear of the Lord before my eyes. After the violence of the storm was over, he related an anecdote. There was a lady, he said, who feared lightning very much. She had heard that it never struck little children; and whenever she saw a cloud arising, she would gather as many around her as she could. One day she had one or two on her lap and several others about her, and felt safe. A cat and kitten were lying in the door, very near together, when there came a severe flash of lightning, which killed the cat and left the kitten unhurt. It had such an effect upon her that she began from that time to seek religion, and never rested until she found it. I could tell you a great deal about the impression his words made upon my heart at that time and in after years, when I grew up to maturity, but I am not writing my own history. Perhaps, if you like what I have now written, and my health will permit, I may tell you about some of the other bishops and preachers. I knew Bishop Asbury, Bishop Whatcoat, Dr. Coke, but never loved any as well as I did Bishop McKendree. AN OLD LADY. It might be unprofitable to follow the narrative of the Bishop's daily travels and labors through the year 1811, having given so full an account of his first two official tours around the continent; let it suffice, then, to state that his Diary shows that from the seat of the Southern Conference, in Columbia, S. C., he started on December 29, 1810, for the Virginia Conference, which met at Raleigh, N. C., on Febuary 7, 1811; thence to the Balti- more Conference, held in the city, March, 20-28; thence to Philadelphia, where the Conference was opened on April 20, to the New York Conference, in the city of New York, May 20-25; the New England Conference, at Barnard's Town, Vermont, June 20-27; the Genessee Conference, in Paris, N.Y., July 20-25, thus closing his third round of Conference visitations. In looking over the notes entered in his Journal on these tours, it strikes the reader that he was a most laborious and punctual preacher. He seems, for months, to have preached and traveled almost every day when not actually holding Conference. Mid- winter and summer were, in this respect, alike to him. Thus, in December he had two rest days; in November, none; in January, two; Febuary, none; March, two; April, none; May none; June, none; July, none; August, two; in September, none, although he attended three camp meetings in Ohio during the month and preached nearly every day. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 157 Bishop Asbury, as usual, attended all the Conferences and found time to visit Canada and see the state of the work there in the interval of the last two Conferences. The journey, how- ever, was performed in great bodily pain, and he arrived at the Genesee Conference with exhausted strength and a complica- tion of diseases. He had traveled sixteen hundred miles in sixty days. "Sore, lame, and weary," he got to Paris. He adds: "My spirit rejoiced with dear Bishop McKendree; he nursed me as if I had been his own baby." Slowly wending their way westward, inquiring into the condition of the societies lying on their routes and preaching almost daily, they began their un- ceasing round of labor again at the Western Conference, in Cin- cinnati, November 1, 1811. It appears from the following letter that Bishop Asbury at the close of the Genesee Conference, which finished the third of the Annual Conferences since 1808, urged Bishop McKendree to adopt his plan of stationing the preachers without consulting the presiding elders, to which he objected, but proposed a mod- ification of it as follows: Cincinnati, October 8, 1811. Brother Asbury; I am fully convinced of the utility and necessity of the council of the presiding elders in stationing the preachers, but you fear individuals will make it difficult, if not impracticable, for you to proceed on this plan. I am willing to assist you in the best way I can; and as I am in duty bound, so I hold myself in readiness to render the most effectual service to the Church. Consequently, I am still willing to accede to the proposition which you made at the Genesee Conference if it may be quali- fied. If it is still your wish, I will take the plan of stations, after you have matured it, call the elders to my assistance, and, after deliberate council, report in favor or dictate such alterations as may be thought necessary. But I still refuse to take the whole responsibility upon myself, not that I am afraid of proper accountability, but because I conceive the proposition included one highly inproper. Yours, in the bonds of a yokefellow, W. MCKENDREE. After the Western Conference, he went to Camden, S. C.; thence to Richmond, Va.; thence to Leesburg, Va.; and thence to Philadelphia, April 18-25, 1812, holding a Conference at each of these places. Let the reader think of one of these trips, say from Cincin- nati, Ohio, by way of Lexington, Ky., Nashville, Tenn., through the Indian Nation and Georgia, to Camden, S. C. Let him think of the distance traveled on this single tour; the cold of midwinter; the mud; the swollen streams, frequently without bridges or ferryboats; the fatigue of horseback riding to men 158 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree from fifty-five to sixty-eight years old; the discomforts of road- side taverns; and, in addition to all this, "the daily care of all the Churches," and he will have some conception of their sacri- fices and sufferings. Surely, they must have been more or less than men to endure all this unless it were for Christ's sake. At the close of the Philadelphia Conference, Bishop McKen- dree was taken sick and was not able to reach New York until several days had elapsed in the session of the General Con- ference. The General Conference, which began in the city of New York, May 1, 1812, was the first delegated convention of the Church. Eight Conferences were represented by ninety dele- gates. It was a most important assembly, inasmuch as it not only determined questions of great interest to the welfare of the Church, but especially as it tested the fealty of her represent- atives in the highest judicatory of the Church to the constitu- tion itself. Methodism was about to pass the ordeal which the civil government had experienced in the first Congress under the Federal Constitution. And, as in the latter case, the prac- tical application of the constitution was rendered both more difficult and important on account of the novelty of the experi- ment and the danger of introducing precedents which might lead to disastrous consequences; so, in the former, the utmost caution was necessary to begin the administration of the newly adopted organic laws of the Church conformably to the true intent and spirit of the ecclesiastical constitution. In both the highest qualities of mind and heart were needed. There was this obvious difference, however, in the charter under which they respectively acted. The two governments not only differ in their origin, nature, design, and mode of operations, but more- over, while the power vested in Congress is limited by specific grants of power to be exercised for the general welfare and the means necessary to execute these specific objects, the delegated General Conference possessed, by constitutional right, all power originally belonging to the whole body they represented, except certain clearly defined prohibitions. These prohibitions pro- tected the rights and privileges of the membership and ministry, the General Rules of the societies, the Articles of Religion, and the episcopal form of our general superintendency of the Church. Beyond these three great and vital questions, everything in the polity of the Church was, and is yet, under their control. The eyes of all who loved the Church were turned with the most intense solicitude to the action of the General Conference Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 159 of 1812. The bishops were to preside alternately as joint presi- dents of the body; and, fortunately, they combined the highest confidence of the Church, both as to their purity of motives and their knowledge of its true interests. Bishop Asbury's integrity of character and sagacity inspired great confidence, while all the past history of Bishop McKendree marked him as equal to the emergency. But Bishop Asbury had heretofore exercised rather the prerogatives of a father than the office of a president, and had never been remarkable for conducting business accord- ing to the strict Rules of Order. Who was to inaugurate the new state of things demanded by the Church? Happily for the Church, Bishop McKendree was the man for the occasion. The Rev. Henry Smith, of the Baltimore Conference, pro- bably the oldest traveling preacher of the Methodist Church, in a letter to the writer, dated February 6, 1855, says upon this point: Previous to the first delegated General Conference, May 1, 1812, Bishop McKendree drew up a plan of business to be brought before the General Conference. His address was read in Conference; but as it was a new thing, the aged Bishop (Asbury) rose to his feet immediately after the paper was read, and addressed the junior bishop to the following effect: "I have something to say to you before the Conference." The junior also rose to his feet, and they stood face to face. Bishop Asbury went on to say: " This is a new thing. I never did business in this way, and why is this new thing introduced?" The junior bishop promptly replied: "You are OUT father, we are your sons; you never have had need of it. I am only a brother, and have need of it. " Bishop Asbury said no more, but sat down with a smile on his face. The scene is now before me. I believe the bishops have pur- sued the plan ever since. The address of Bishop McKendree was not merely a program of the business which legitimately devolved upon the body, but was designed to call the attention of the Conference to the ad- ministration of the bishops and to the condition and wants of the Church. Mr. Asbury had been trained in the Wesleyan school, and his presidency had been similar in some respects to the British system of holding Conferences. The sessions held under him had not been conducted very strictly by parliamentary rules. Mr. McKendree knew that a careful adherence to order is not only a protection to the minority and the president, but is essential to the dispatch of business. The "new thing" which surprised the elder bishop was right in itself and most proper as emanating from one who thus modestly disclaimed the pre- 160 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree negatives of a father and voluntarily placed himself under the laws of order in exercising his office. The General Conference approved his course; committees were appointed to draw up Rules of Order and to consider the various topics of Bishop McKendree's address; and from that time until the present, the sessions of the Methodist Conferences, both Annual and General, have surpassed all other ecclesiastical bodies for their strict adherence to the established rules of debate and for the amount of business transacted in a given time. Indeed,it may well be doubted whether there is any deliberative body which equals a Methodist Conference in these respects. The intro- duction of this mode of procedure may be attributed chiefly to Bishop McKendree. Coke, Asbury, and Whatcoat were all Englishmen, and although wise, great, and good, could not conform their mode of administration to the American idea. The first native American bishop, himself a soldier and an officer in the war of independence, placed himself and his office in harmony with the feelings and sentiments of his countrymen by refusing to govern except according to law. He was right, and the Church owes him a debt of gratitude for his course. The following address was submitted by Bishop McKendree in writing: To the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now assembled in the city of New York. Dear Brethren: My relation to you and the connection in general seems in my opinion, to make it necessary that I should address you in some way by which you may get possession of some information perhaps not other- wise to be obtained by many of you. It is now four years since, by your appointment, it became my duty jointly to superintend our extensive and very important charge. With anxious solicitude and good wishes, I have looked forward to this General Conference. The appointed time has come, and the Lord has graciously permitted us to meet according to appointment, for which I hope we are prepared jointly to praise and adore his goodness. Upon examination, you will find that the work of the Lord is progress- ing in our hands. Our important charge has greatly increased since the last General Conference. We had an increase of upward of 40,000 members. At present we have upward of 2,000 local preachers, about 700 traveling preachers, and about 190,000 members. And these are widely scattered over seventeen States, besides the several territorial settlements and the Canadas. Thus situated, it must be expected in the present state of things that the council and direction of your united wisdom will be necessary to preserve the harmony and peace of the body, as well as the cooperation of the teach- ing and local ministry in carrying on the blessed work of reformation which Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 161 the Lord has been pleased to effect through our instrumentality. To deserve the confidence of the local ministry and membership, as well as to retain confidence in ourselves and in each other, is undoubtedly our duty. And if we consider that those who are to confide in us are a collection from all classes and descriptions and from all countries of which our nation is composed, scattered promiscuously over this vast continent, men who were originally of different educations, manners, habits, and opinions, we shall see the difficulty as well as the importance of this part of our charge. In order to enjoy the comforts of peace and union, we must "love one another." But this cannot abide where confidence does not exist; and purity of intention, manifested by proper actions, is the very foundation and support of confidence. Thus " united we stand," each member is a sup- port to the body and the body supports each member, but if confidence fail, love will grow cold, peace will be broken, and " divided we fall." It therefore becomes this body, which by its example is to direct the course of thousands of ministers and tens of thousands of members, to pay strict attention to the simplicity of gospel manners and to do everything as in the immediate presence of God. If we consider the nature of our business, our natural imperfections, and the history of the Church in all its attempts to reform the world, it is scarcely to be expected, in so large a body, that all will be as strictly evangelical as they should be. But it is to be hoped that such failures will be prevented as far as possible by both your action and your example. Standing in the relation I do to you and the connection generally, I feel it a part of my duty to submit to your consideration the appointment of the Genesee Conference. And perhaps it may be for the general good if in your wisdom you should think proper to take into consideration a division of the work in the western country, and a proper arrangement of the work in general; and the magnitude and extent of the work which the Lord has graciously pleased to prosper in our hands, may make it proper for you to inquire if the work is sufficiently under the oversight of the superintendency, and to make such arrangements and provision as your wisdom may approve. I would also suggest the necessity of keeping in view not only the traveling, but the relation and situation also of our local brethren, and to pursue that plan which may render the whole more useful. It may also be proper to bring into view any unfinished business of the last General Conference. Hitherto, as a body, we have been pre- served by our well-digested system of Rules, which are as sinews to the body, and form the bond of union; but it is evidence, both from experience and Scripture, that even good men may depart from first principles and from the best of rules: it may therefore be proper for you to pay some at- tention to the administration, to know the state both of the traveling and local ministry, as it relates to doctrine, dicipline, and practice. Before I conclude, permit me, my dear brethren, to express a few thoughts concerning the view I take of the relation in which I stand to this body. It is only by virture of a delegated power from the General Conference that I hold the reins of government. I consider myself bound, 11 162 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree by virture of the same authority, to exercise discipline in perfect conformity vith the Rules of our Church, to the best of my ability. I consider myself justly accountable, not for the system of government, but for my admin- istration, and ought therefore to be ready to answer in General Conference for my past conduct and be willing to receive information and advice to perfect future operations. I wish this body to exercise their rights in these respects. I take pleasure here in presenting my grateful acknowledgments for the high degree of confidence which my beloved brethren have placed in me and especially for the able council and seasonable support afforded by many, which has, I believe, with the divine aid, preserved and supported me. Dear brethren, such are the effects of our high responsibility connected with a consciousness of my insufficiency for so high a task that I move with trembling. Your eyes and the eyes of the Lord are upon me for good. We shall rejoice together to see the armies of our Israel wisely conducted carrying the triumphs of the Redeemer's kingdom to the ends of the earth, and the Lord will rejoice to " make his ministers a flame of fire." In you I have confidence and on you I depend for such aid as the wis- dom of men can give, and, above all, I trust in divine aid. Influenced by these considerations, with my situation in full view, I cannot entertain a thought of bearing such awful responsibility longer than I am persuaded my services are useful to the Church of God and feel a confidence of being aided by your counsel and support, which is for you to give in any way or form you may see proper. And while I join with you, my dear brethren, in pure gospel simplicity to commit and recommend ourselves and our several charges to the special care of the great Head of the Church, I remain, with sentiments of love and confidence, your servant in the gospel of Christ. WILLIAM MCKENDREE. NEW YORK, May 6, 1812. The following extract from memoranda of Bishop McKendree will show his wisdom in this matter: GENERAL CONFERENCE, NEW YORK, 1812. The president (Bishop McKendree) invited a committee of the most respectable and influential members of that Conference as his council. In doing this, he designedly left out some who were supposed to be his con- fidential friends and selected men of talents of different sentiments as to the polity of the Church. He stated to them his necessity of council on such occasions; complained of a distant and reserved carriage toward him, which he thought was improper and might be injurious; assured them he had no selfish ends, and then presented them with an instrument of writing which he had prepared as an address to the General Conference. And as it was a new thing among us, he asked them to consider it attentively and give him their opinion without reserve upon the propriety of presenting it; and if they 'thought an address advisable, to examine it critically, and sug- gest such alterations or additions as they might think proper. They ex- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 163 amined it and reported in favor of the address. The president was pleased with their freedom and delicacy in suggesting an amendment, he saw the propriety of doing so, and it was altered on account of its having a partic- ular bearing. W. McK. Bishop Asbury had said at the opening of the Conference, "I hope very few rules will be made," meaning thereby to dis- courage too much legislation. This was wisely said. The Church has much to fear from this quarter, and, unfortunately, has suffered greatly by overlegislating. Indeed, unnecessary interferences with individual rights have always been disastrous to the peace of both Church and State. If the ends of govern- ment are secured, the less government is felt the better. There are always, however, restless spirits in every large assembly who are ready to lead the more timid into innovations upon established usages. And the Conferences of the Methodist Church have not proved an exception to this remark. Attempts had been 1 made at every General Conference since 1792 to change the mode of appointing the presiding elders. They had always been appointed by the bishops upon the principle that as the bishops have the general superintendence of the work and are held accountable, directly or indirectly, for the inter- pretation and administration of the Discipline of the Church, they should have the power to select those to whom, in their absence, this work is committed, thus associating them with the bishops in the oversight of the Church. Those who sought to change this system wished to make the office of presiding elder elective by the Annual Conferences, and that those thus elected should constitute the bishops' "council" in the respec- tive Conferences. Mr. O'Kelly had proposed the principle in- volved in this measure in the resolution offered by him in 1792, the rejection of which was the ostensible cause of his secession from the Church. It was proposed in 1800 to make them elec- tive and was lost. This question was brought distinctly before the General Conference of 1808, "while the constitution drafted by the committee was under consideration; and a motion having been made to lay the report of the committee upon the table, and by the question it was done; and the presiding elder ques- tion, as it was called, was taken up, argued at great length and with much ability, and lost by a large majority. After this the consideration of the constitution reported by the committee was resumed, and it was adopted." At the General Conference of 1812, the effort was renewed. Many strong and good men were its advocates. Among them 164 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree were Jesse Lee, Asa Shinn, and Nicholas Snethen. Two days were consumed in its discussion, but the Conference refused to make the change. Bishops Asbury and McKendree were both decidedly opposed to the change. The South and West have always been conservative upon this question. Its defeat at this General Conference quieted the agitation for a short period, only to be renewed with increasing violence at each succeeding General Conference until 1828, when, it is to be hoped, it was finally laid to rest. Another topic which excited much interest and no little controversy at this Conference was the ordination of local dea- cons to elder's orders. Some leading members of the Confer- ence had always been opposed to the ordination of local preach- ers, yet the majority had conferred upon them eligibility to deacon's orders. Now that it was proposed to graduate the deacons to the elder's orders, the opposition was very strong. The strongest objection urged against the measure was that in view of their relation to worldly business the bishops could not consistently require, or the candidate conscientiously give, the vow to devote himself "wholly to this one thing (the pastoral ministry) and draw all his cares and studies this way." That the duties of an elder, as set forth in the ordination formulary, contemplated a real and active pastorate, and that to confer the office upon those who were known at the very time to be debarred both by law and their relation to secular matters from fulfilling its duties was not only inconsistent in itself, but would tend to diminish the sense of responsibility in the traveling ministry who should be ordained under the same vows. On the other side, it was said that if they were called to the ministry they ought to be able to perform all its functions; and that as the Church had already conferred upon them the inferior office, and especially as they might be more useful and their services were much needed, they should be admitted to the office. This view prevailed, and thenceforth the local deacons were eligible to elder's orders after four years' probation and upon their recommendation by the quarterly meeting Conference certifying their qualifications and that their services were needed in the circuits where they reside. It was also then "provided that no slaveholder shall be eligible to the office of local elder in any State or Territory where the civil law will admit eman- cipation or suffer the liberated slave to enjoy his freedom." As Bishop McKendree had in his address called the attention of the General Conference to the superintendency, the commit- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 165 tee which was appointed on episcopacy having taken into con- sideration the propriety of increasing the number of bishops, reported that it was not necessary, and the report was adopted. Thus were these three important questions settled; and after a harmonious session of twenty-two days, the Conference ad- journed to meet in Baltimore, May 1, 1816. "The Episcopal Committee" requested the bishops in the General Conference of 1812 to give their opinions as to the propriety and necessity of electing another bishop; and also as Bishop Asbury had been invited by the British Conference to visit England, the Episcopal Committee wished to know if he contemplated doing so. His reply to these questions, in his own handwriting, was given to the committee, and by them to Bishop McKendree, as appears by the indorsement of S. G. Roszell. This was his answer: NEW YORK, May 9, 1812. My Dear Brethren: Whatever I may have thought or spoken in former times upon strengthening the episcopacy, I am not at liberty to say to you at this time, Do this, or that. I am bound in duty to serve the connection with all my power of body and mind, as long and as largely as I can; and, while I am persuaded that my services are needed and acceptable, to give up all thoughts of visits out of the American Continent, I feel myself indis- pensably bound to the Conference and my colleague, never to leave them nor forsake them upon the above conditions. F. ASBURY. The General Conference over, Bishop McKendree resumed his toilsome work with the prospect before him of increasing labor and diminished assistance, for Bishop Asbury was rapidly wearing himself down by incessant travel and anxiety. When Bishop McKendree first entered in 1808 upon the duties of his office, Bishop Asbury proposed they should both attend all the Conferences and preside alternately. But after a while, having witnessed the ability of his colleague in the chair, he seldom undertook to conduct the public duties of his office in presiding over the deliberations of the Conferences and confined himself generally to the task of stationing the preachers, assisting in ordination, and occasional addresses to the preachers. Yet his presence and counsel were highly appreciated by his colleague and the preachers generally. But his strength began to fail very rapidly, and he was often prostrated by fatigue and sick- ness. The year following the General Conference of 1812 found him at every Annual Conference, and for several years after- wards he continued to drag himself along by the force of an almost indomitable will, trying to perform, as heretofore, the duties of an itinerant general superintendent; and as nothing 166 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree very unusual marked the history of this year's labor, it is not necessary to give the details of their travels. During the winter of 1811-12, the earthquakes occured in the Western Country. The whole Valley of the Mississippi was violently and frequently agitated, and the region of New Ma- drid, on the Mississippi River, seems to have been the center of subterranean convulsion. Fissures opened in the earth, lakes of considerable size and depth were formed by the sinking of the ground, all accompanied by a rumbling sound and violent con- cussions. The effect upon the river itself was such that at New Madrid boats were wrenched from their moorings, and sub- merged by the agitation of the waves. Many lives were lost. This state of things continued to occur at irregular intervals for several months, until the whole country became alarmed. In many instances this excitement assumed a religious aspect, and a widespread and glorious revival extended through the greater part of the Western work, insomuch that the two Conferences (Ohio and Tennessee) into which the Western Conference was divided by the General Conference, reported in the fall of 1812 a net annual increase of more than fifty per cent; so that the Lord had not only "terribly shaken the earth, but had also mercifully shaken the hearts of the people." The declaration of war against Great Britain by our govern- ment, June 18, 1812, and the excitement naturally growing out of it, had an unhappy effect upon the work generally and especially at first in the northern and eastern sections of the country; and as this state of things continued until January, 1815, the whole country became deeply excited with military ardor and consequently less susceptible of religious impressions. The following letter from Dr. Henry Wilkins, of Baltimore, an old and highly esteemed friend, to Bishop McKendree, may be interesting to the reader, not only because of the good sense and piety it exhibits, but also because of its allusions to the attack of the British upon Baltimore and the patriotism of our preachers and people: BALTIMORE, August, 11, 1813. Dear Brother: Your letter gave us great consolation to find you are do- ing so well under so many disadvantages. Afflictions try both our faith and our feelings; though I do not see why they should try the former, for we ought not to expect to be delivered by faith from the physical elements of the world; for faith, though so powerful against moral elements, has not acted against the physical since the gospel was fully established in the days of our Saviour and his apostles. If unbelief would rid us of afflic- tion, then our faith would be severely tried; but I believe, and in this you will join me, that religion is best both for soul and body. Since you were here I have had a full share of bodily infirmities. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 167 The British are now in sight; a score of ships of war fill up the bay from hence to Annapolis. Kent Island is in their possession; the little city is in danger. We are strong. One hundred and fifty pieces of cannon environ our city part movable. We have about eight hundred cavalry, forty- five hundred infantry, two thousand expected from the country; a thou- sand regulars at Annapolis, who will march if wanted. I hope with this force no blood will be shed, the British troops being about four thousand altogether. All parties are wishing the British to be expelled. There is no political division in our Church, though great coldness and few conversions. Our ministers are liked very well. You do better than the market people, they generally couple a fat and a lean one. You have given us three smart ones out of four. The fourth, though of pleasing, easy manners, does not show industry in reading; perhaps a defective eye may give him pain, but with- out much reading the city will soon swallow the few ideas a man has of his own. I send you some books and the love of all our family. I trust we are seeking after true riches, and gain some. As to this world, while the war lasts I must purchase stock in the Bank of Contentment, which I believe is quite as good as gold. Now what shall I say but bid you go on in the glorious path you have set out in, and may your last days be your best days and eternal glory be your reward! Your friend, HENRY WILKINS. A characteristic letter from the venerable and devoted Free- born Garrettson was received by the Bishop at the Genesee Conference. It is as follows : RHINEBECK, June 29, 1813. My Very Dear Brother: I thought duty called me to go down to New York immediately after Conference and direct in fixing matters. [Mr. Garrettson was then presiding elder of New York District.] I was sorry to find an unwillingness to receive Brother W. in Jamaica Circuit, and took the liberty to agree that he and Brother Lyon should change. I stayed a week in the city, and stepped down to Maryland; sent a messen- ger round and preached in various places and had the pleasure of seeing and visiting many of my friends. I also had the mortification of seeing the savagelike depredations in Havre de Grace, I may call it the native place of my ancestors. [This place was burned by the British under Admiral Cockburn in 1813.] I thought it a good time to give them a faithful warn- ing, but how my heart did bleed to see so many of them living in fullness and unconcerned about their eternal welfare. I have traveled about seven hundred miles since our Conference (May 20) and preached to thousands with pleasure and freedom. I must begin to preach as if every sermon were my last. In fact, I view myself as a tottering monument of mercy on the brink of eternity. As my dear Fath- er Asbury observed, I have gone in the better, though not the best way, the whole of my life. I have nothing to depend on for salvation but an interest in the meritorious righteouness of Christ. In him I have salvation. I spent one Sabhatb in Philadelphia. They are fond of Emory in the 168 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Academy. I could have wept when I found the names of Cooper and Sargent like to drop from our Conference records. It would have given us pleasure to have had you and Bishop Asbury at our house. Pray for me. If I cannot follow foot by foot, I will try to keep hard by, and hope to have some humble place in our Heavenly Father's kingdom. I profess to love Church and State; and if I knew I had a little finger to raise against the order or union of either, I would cut it off. God bless you, my dear friend ! I feel union with your spirit . Yours affectionately, F. GARRETTSON. We find the following letter in the "Life of Bishop Emory," written by Bishop McKendree in reply to a note Mr. Emory had addressed him at the close of the Philadelphia Conference, 1812. Mr. Emory was then a young preacher, and the letter is alike honorable to the writer and receiver: WEDNESDAY MORNING, April 29, 1812. Dear Brother: It is no small gratification to find you must take an affectionate leave of me, if it is by note. Your apology for not seeing me more than supplied the visit, because it was an act of favor. [The Bishop was quite sick and not able to bear company.] Indeed, I was weak, and though much better, I am far from strong now, for I tremble and have to rest while about this letter. You ask a place in my prayers. If that is a favor, you have posessed it ever since I saw you first. "God forbid I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." Dear Johnny, permit me to tell you that you possess a full proportion of my confidence and affection. I shall not forget the tenderness and respect, as of a son to a father, with which you treated me; nor the Christian meekness and deep humility depicted in your man- ners graces which I hope you will never forfeit your title to. Jesus was meek and lowly of heart. There was an expression in your countenance that attracted my attention, but afforded no satisfactory solution. Have you injured or impaired your constitution by ministerial exertions? or has the climate of affliction reduced you? or are you subject to excessive fast- ing? Useful fasting is so shamefully neglected that a check on that subject should be ministered and received with caution. But extremes are dan- gerous. Your friend and brother, W. MCKENDREE. Bishop McKendree attended the New York Conference at Albany, June 4, 1812; the New England Conference at Lynn, Mass., June 20; the Genesee Conference at Lyons Town, July 23; various camp meetings in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ken- tucky, and Tennessee; the Tennessee Conference at Fountain Head, November 10; the South Carolina Conference at Charles- ton, December 19; the Virginia Conference at Newbern, N. C., February 10, 1813; the Baltimore Conference in Baltimore, March 24; and the Philadelphia Conference in Philadelphia, April 24, 1813. CHAPTER XI Difficulties and comforts New York Conference New England Con- ference changed on account of war Tendency of selling pews Gen- esee Conference Ohio Steubenville Tennessee Conference Can- not attend Louisiana Conference T. L. Douglass Bishops Asbury and McKendree on slavery Blackman's position on the subject He goes as chaplain to volunteers at the call of General Jackson William Burke's letter South Carolina and Virginia Conferences "Official decisions' ' Buxton New York Conference Bishop Asbury's opinion of Bishop McKendree's sermon Joshua Marsden in United States He applies for employment Resigns it Why? Bishop Asbury's con- dition His will Why he expected to live long Painful round of Con- ferences in 1814 Bishop McKendree's fall : Wounding hip and ribs Tennessee Conference held at camp meeting in Logan County, Ky. Neither of the bishops can be at the Mississippi Conference Genesee Conference Tornado Gets to Cincinnati South Carolina Virginia Maryland Pennsylvania Asbury preaches Found Dr. Coke at Al- bany, N. Y. Ohio Conference at Mechanicsburg "Long earnest talk" Bishop Asbury crosses Alleghany sixty-two times Both bishops at- tend the Tennessee Conference Separated never to meet again on earth McKendree at South Carolina Conference Asbury within thirty miles Very feeble Hammet's people return Virginia Conference at Raleigh Bishop McKendree's father dies Baltimore Conference Bishop Asbury absent, and preaches his last sermon in Richmond, Va. His death Bond's letters inclosing Asbury's views and last letter to McKendree His person and character. THE years 1813, 1814, and 1815 were spent, like the previous five years of his life, in almost constant travel or in holding Conferences. He is forced to exclaim: "No rest; but little chance to read; always having company, and few opportunities of reflection, except on horseback!" But he found this state of things as unfriendly to piety as to peace and quietude. Hard rides, promiscuous crowds at taverns, a diseased body, and con- stant anxiety of mind in view of his responsible position chafed and worried him; yet, conscious of his own honesty and purity of purpose, he strove to know his duty and to do it without murmuring. Communion with God and the esteem of the Church were sources of comfort to his heart during many an hour of trial and sorrow. If his labors and afflictions abounded, so did his comforts. He that surrenders his own will to God will be satisfied to do or suffer as God wills. Happy are they to whom faith gives the victory over sin and self. The longest 170 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree life is soon over, and in its best condition is still a battle; and not he who suffers least, but he who most bravely and wisely fights that battle at whatever sacrifice is the greatest victor. Bishop McKendree presided at the New York Conference held in Amenia, May 20, 1813, where some difficulties among the preachers were amicably adjusted through his prudent and conciliatory manner of conducting the matter and by the co- operation of Freeborn Garrettson, Daniel Hitt, and L. Clark. "Blessed are the peacemakers." "The New England Conference for this year was appointed to be held at New London, but an apprehended attack upon the place by a British squadron caused it to be removed to Col- chester, 1 thirteen miles distant. It commenced June 30. The business of Conference was done with great dispatch sitting eight hours a day and concluded on the fourth day." He adds: "It is feared that our preachers and congregations in this part of our work will drop off like untimely fruit. They build meetinghouses upon congregational principles, and the preachers, . when they locate, have the art of deriving the benefit. It is reported that they are giving in to the plan of building very expensive and ornamental houses; selling pews, so that it is made difficult for the poor to hear the gospel; and fixing the government in the hands of such as may become owners of pews; so that our itinerant preachers, as well as the poor, may be excluded when men of the world may choose to do so. Are these things so? In part, if not in whole. Has not this course a tendency to injure the progress of experimental religion and destroy the itinerant plan? It has." The bishops traveled in company to the Genesee Conference at Westmoreland, July 9, 1813, and the tour was rendered more than ordinarily pleasant by the "remarkably social and familiar manner of Bishop Asbury." Nothing unusual occurring at this Conference, they resumed their long journey westward. Bishop McKendree says: "From this Conference Bishop Asbury traveled more than a week with me on my appointments. His mind was greatly taken up with his contemplated Natchez Conference. He seems determined to go to it and is much en- gaged in planning for his journey." After holding the Ohio Conference at Steubenville, September l Bishop Hedding says it was Salem. (See his "Life," p. 229.) Bishop Asbury, in his Journal, says Colchester. Bishop McKendree, in his Diary, says: "The Conference was moved to Brother Morgan's, in Colchester." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 171 1, 1813, Bishop McKendree pushed on to Tennessee in order to spend his spare time with his aged father, who had removed from Virginia and settled in Sumner County, Tenn. The Conference was held at Reese's Chapel, in Williamson County, Tenn., October 1, and was a camp meeting Conference. Both of the bishops were present. The propriety of forming a new Conference in the Mississippi Territory, which had heretofore been included in the Tennessee Conference, had been submitted by the bishops to the previous session of this Conference, and, having been approved, Bishop Asbury had appointed a session to be held there. It had been his intention to visit it in the interval between the Tennessee and South Carolina Conferences. The appointment was not inserted in the General Minutes, and Bishop McKendree had doubted the expediency of setting it off under existing circum- stances. But it was a favorite notion with Bishop Asbury, and, as we have already seen, he had been laying his plans to ac- complish it. When, therefore, the Tennessee Conference opened they were reminded of their advice given to the bishops the preceding year, and Bishop McKendree announced his readiness to go and hold the Conference, if he could obtain company for himself and help for the new Conference. Bishop Asbury, though still extremely anxious to visit that section of the work, confessed that in view of his health, the distance, and his apprehension that he might not only fail to reach it, but put it out of his power to get to the South Carolina Con- ference also, he felt obliged to decline the attempt; and the Conference dissuaded Bishop McKendree from going, by a resolution "that it was imprudent to venture in the present state of Indian hostilities." At this Conference the name of Thomas Logan Douglass, a transfer from the Virginia Conference, first appeared at the Tennessee Conference. He was a native of Person County, N. C., had filled some of the most important appointments in the Virginia Conference, was an estimable gentleman, a very fine preacher, and a most popular and useful presiding elder. 1 1 Thomas L. Douglas was of low stature, rotund, and inclined to cor- pulency. He was naturally amiable and retiring in his manners. He had been presiding elder several years, a member of the General Conference of 1812, and was greatly admired for his eloquence in the city of New York during the session. In private, his deportment was such as to gain the esteem of his associates; in the pulpit, he was charming. His voice was remarkable for melody and compass and was perfectly under his control. 172 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Two subjects gave the bishops much trouble at this Confer- ence slavery and the war. The Conference was stringent in the application of their rules against buying or selling slaves. Several local preachers had been arrested and tried; in most instances the quarterly meeting Conferences had refused to punish them. In one case, however, a local preacher was sus- pended and appealed to the Annual Conference. Learner Blackman, his presiding elder, defended him. He denied that the general rule applied to the case; urged the inconsistency of receiving and retaining members in the Church who owned them and of expelling those who bought them; said that the purchaser had made the condition of the slave much better, and may have been influenced by the most humane feelings, such as getting husbands and wives or parents and children together; that the Quarterly Conferences in the Nashville District had, in other cases, refused to enforce the construction put upon the law by the Conference, believing that it is no more a sin for preachers than for members to have them. He declared that great harm had already been done by this officious intermeddling with legal and private rights; and, finally, that as he could see no moral wrong in it, provided the slave be treated humanely, he could not and would not conform to their views of the rule. Bishop Asbury said nothing. Bishop McKendree, being in the chair, reminded him that he ought to keep the rule or change it. The Conference affirmed the de- cision of the quarterly meeting Conference. It is due, however, to the body to say that there was a strong minority opposed to such a course. The war was then raging between our country and England. The Indians on the borders were committing horrid cruelties, and our private members and many of our local preachers, fired by patriotism and a just sense of duty to their country, rushed as volunteers to the scenes of war. A requisition having been made in Tennessee for volunteers to protect Louisiana, General Jackson soon called out a large body, and shortly after the close of the Conference, Learner Blackman, having been invited and commissioned by the General to go with him as chaplain, left He was an excellent divine, had studied the economy of the Church very thoroughly, and was strong in his attachments to the old Methodist polity. He loved the Church, and the bishops loved and leaned upon him. No man has done more for Methodism in the Tennessee Conference than Mr. Douglass. The writer loved and revered him as a father; and he knows that Bishops Asbury and McKendree held him in the highest estimation. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 173 his district and most faithfully and acceptably labored as a min- ister of God in this new and trying position. They went in flatboats, and his habit was to go from boat to boat and preach to the soldiers and visit the sick. The trip was a long one, and they were disbanded upon their arrival at Natchez, whence Brother Blackman returned forthwith to Tennessee and resumed the duties of his district. This propensity among the traveling preachers to quit their regular work and enter the army gave the bishops much trouble, believing that the regular ministration of the gospel is their proper employment and that if this should be neglected the cause of God must suffer seriously. In their opinion, both patriotism and religion required the traveling ministry to adhere to their appropriate work. The following letter from an early pioneer preacher in the West, worn down by labor, possesses a melancholy interest. It was written to the Ohio Conference through Bishop Mc- Kendree: CINCINNATI, August 24, 1813. Dear Brother: I have served in the traveling connection two and twenty years, and, in my weak and feeble way, have devoted my whole time and what few talents I haVe had to the service of the Church. I have filled some of the hardest and most dangerous stations on the frontiers of Vir- ginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I have missed attending but two Annual Conferences the first at Ebenezer, Tenn., 1801, and the present, 1813. I have served in four General Conferences, and can appeal to Him that searcheth all hearts that, to the best of my knowledge, I have acted from pure motives and with no other design than to promote the cause of God and Methodism, which I have always regarded as identical. I can appeal to my brethren, who have been associated with me that I have not idled away my time in visiting either friends or relatives. I have visited my parents but once and was then only three weeks with them. In the seventeen years I have been married, I have never taken time to go with my wife to visit her friends and relatives. I have spent neither time nor money in acquiring property, having always considered it beneath the dignity of the office I was called to fill and contrary to the rules and reg- ulations of the traveling ministry. As to this world's goods, I have com- paratively nothing. I am still free from every encumbrance of a worldly nature. During the time I have labored with you, I have conscientiously devoted my whole time to the work and have avoided every needless ex- pense. I have reason to bless God that I am what I am it is of his un- merited grace. I love God, his people, and his cause. I have labored for several years under great affliction of mind. Several times I have determined to ask for a location. I am not well. Upon the slightest change of weather I am greatly afflicted with a complaint of my thorax, so that sometimes I almost lose my speech. Through the summer I have a thought of locating, but my friends, and my wife especially. 174 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree discourage this. Something, too, within me forbids it when I think of retiring from the work which I love as I do my life. If my brethren can give me a supernumerary relation, I shall consider myself under obligations to them; but if not, please grant me a location. May the God of all grace preside over your councils. Your brother, W. BURKE. In a private note to Bishop McKendree, he insists that a stationed preacher should be sent to Cincinnati the next year; that it must not be put back in the circuit; says they have seven classes and two hundred members; paid his allowance the past year without his having said a word to them about it, and sug- gests that Brother Lambdin would suit the people very well. He concludes: "And now, my dear brother, perhaps I may see you no more. When you left this Conference, I lost a valued friend, such a one, perhaps, I shall never find again; but friendship shatt live beyond the grave." These old friends and fellow laborers have doubtless met and feel no regrets at having toiled long and suffered much in their Master's vineyard. Now their rest and reward are eternal. At the South Carolina Conference, in Charleston, December 23, 1812, he says: "The Conference kindly invited me to take one of their body to travel with me at their expense." The generous offer was gratefully accepted, and James Norton was recommended and chosen; and having traveled with the bishops twelve months, returned with them to the ensuing Conference. At the Virginia Conference, the bishops were by vote re- quested to give an official decision of the question: "Whether a presiding elder could lawfully preside over a committee sitting upon the trial of a local preacher." His reply was, "He can, and sometimes he ought to do so"; but intimated that it is usually best not to do so. Bishop Asbury, not being in the chair, but present, said nothing. The Conference did not demur. Here, too, "Brother Buxton, having objected to the recom- mendation of certain local preachers for ordination because the Quarterly Conference which presented them was composed of very few members, and having moved that the Conference de- termine what proportion of the official members of a circuit shall constitute a Conference," the president decided the motion to be out of order, because it would operate against the rule of the General Conference. At the New York Conference for 1813, Bishop Asbury's Journal says: Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 175 "Sunday, 23. Bishop McKendree preached. It appeared to me as if a ray of divine glory rested on him. His subject was : 'Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them/ The appearance, manner, and preaching of Brother McKendree produced a powerful effect on Joshua Marsden, a British missionary, who has been present at our Conference." The name of Mr. Marsden, since so generally and favorably known as a distinguished and useful Wesleyan minister in England, recalls the following facts. This excellent man had been laboring in Bermuda, West Indies, as a missionary for some years. Having obtained leave to return to England, his wife and family had come to New York to visit her parents and await his arrival, but having been detained longer than he expected, when he reached the United States the embargo law was in force, the war spirit was very rife, and he could not con- veniently or safely get back home. Under these circumstances, he attended the New York Conference, and, as appears from his letters now before the writer, applied to the bishops for employment while he should be detained here. The bishops complied with his request, but he was so harassed and persecuted by political and ecclesiastical zealots that he felt it his duty to resign the work temporarily assigned him. His letter to the bishops evinced his intelligence, prudence, and piety. "No cure for old age" was verified in the case of Bishop As- bury. If indomitable zeal, courage, will, the utmost temper- ance, and kindest attention of physicians and friends could have preserved his energies, he would have defied decline. But he was now approaching his seventieth year, and the long battle of life was nearly over. If he had gone by short and easy stages to the more accessible Conferences, rested when weary and worn down by travel and disease, and been contented to suffer his younger colleague to hold the more distant Conferences alone, he might, by divine blessing, have lingered a few more years. Hosts of friends opened their doors to him and urged him to rest himself and recover his declining health. Rheumatism attacked his feet and limbs. For many weeks, and in midwinter too, he could not wear a shoe. Sometimes he had to resort to crutches, was frequently unable to get into his humble carriage without help, and often had to preach in a sitting posture. The pains in his jaws and face were sometimes excruciating, his viscera were disordered, he lost weight constantly, his ex- tremities were swollen, and his skin was so shriveled and his 176 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree face so pallid that when his eyes were closed he looked like a corpse. And yet he scorned to rest. After a few hours of fitful sleep he would be up, and the early dawn of a cold, blustering, wintry morning would find him on his way to a distant Confer- ence. If roots and ruts, rocks and mud holes were too severe upon him, and he had to groan, "My bones, my bonesf" his faithful nurse would place him on horseback until he could endure the fatigue of that mode of traveling no longer. Then, after a little rest at the first house on the roadside, always closing the interview with prayer and exhortation, he would resume his route. He felt that he ought to be at every Confer- ence. And duty was law with him. He was a soldier acting under orders from a Captain who never spared himself, and how could the faithful soldier take repose on a battle field, where prizes more precious than diadems were to be won or lost? The Church, the preachers, and the souls of the people these were the thoughts that nerved him to go. It was vain to reason with him. Christ had called and chosen him to be a soldier, and his "heart and mind and strength" he had long since conse- crated to him. That there was nothing of wild enthusiasm in the mind of Bishop Asbury, but a fervid, intelligent, and apostolic zeal like that which actuated apostles and martyrs is evident. His Journal shows that he was fully aware of his condition. Hence, with characteristic brevity and disinterestedness, he says, in June, 1813: "I have made my will, appointing Bishop Mc- Kendree, Daniel Hitt, and Henry Boehm, my executors. If I do not in the meantime spend it, I shall leave, when I die, an estate of two thousand dollars, I believe. I give it all to the Book Concern. This money, and somewhat more, I have in- herited from dear departed Methodist friends in the State of Maryland who died childless, besides some legacies which I have never taken. Let all return arid continue to aid the cause of piety." In August, he adds: "I addressed a 'valedictory' statement of my opinions to Bishop McKendree on the primitive Church government and ordination. I shall leave it with my papers." The writer having found this very interesting document among the papers of Bishop McKendree, takes great pleasure in giving it publication. It seems to have been prepared with great care and was left ready for the press. That it may not be divided, it is reserved for the next chapter. Many years ago the writer heard Thomas L. Douglass say Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 177 that he was much impressed by the remark of Bishop Asbury that "he expected to live to be an old man, because the divine promise to them who honor their father and mother applied to him." And the evidence is before the writer that he was in the habit of remitting annually to his widowed mother in Eng- land while she lived all he could possibly spare. Surely "he inherited the promise." The next round of Conference visitation was an unusually painful one to both the bishops to Bishop Asbury, on account of his increasing infirmities; and to Bishop McKendree, because of a fall from his horse, which "severely wounded him in his hip and ribs." 1 This fall prevented him from presiding at the Ohio Conference, and Bishop Asbury, although present, was too feeble to attempt it. Nor did Bishop McKendree recover entirely from the effects of this accident for several months; for at the Tennessee Conference, held at a camp meeting in Logan County, Ky., in 1814, Bishop Asbury says: "The injury received by Bishop McKendree was so great that it is yet doubt- ful whether he will so far recover as to be present at the South Carolina Conference." Bishop Asbury felt constrained to give up the attempt to visit the Mississippi Conference, lest neither of them should reach the South Carolina Conference. "Onward!" however, was the watchword of these holy and laborious men. The horrors of an Indian war induced them to avoid the Indian Nation by a circuitous route, through the up- per part of North Carolina into South Carolina, into Georgia, bishop McKendree's Journal shows that he attended the Genesee Con- ference, at Genoa, July 14, 1814; and that Bishop Asbury was absent, on account of illness; that in passing from Genoa, N. Y., to Ohio, on July 29, his "horse started suddenly, and threw him with great violence among the rocks, so that his right hip and side suffered considerable injury. That no bones were broken, is wonderful." He adds: "July SO. I was taken in a wagon and carried twelve miles, to my good friend Thomas Wes- ton's. But the roads were rough, and I suffered much." Then follows an account of five deliberate attempts to draw blood from him, failing, finally, owing to the dullness of the old lancet. After confinement to his bed for several days, then using crutches awhile, he attempted to go forward on his journey; but, after accomplishing one-fourth of a mile, he was glad to return. The people, however, came to his place of confinement, and he preached and held class meeting. After nearly a month's detention, he started to overtake his appointments. August 25. He gives an account of a tornado which overtook him on the Alleghany Mountain, when limbs and trees fell all around him. Push- ing forward, he got to Cincinnati about the time the Conference adjourned. 12 178 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree thence to Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, to the New York Conference, at Albany, May, 1815, where Bishop Asbury preached the funeral sermon of Dr. Coke. He says of himself: "Poor, wheezing, groaning, coughing Francis visited the Conference chamber on Tuesday and Thurs- day." At the New England Conference, June 1: "At Unity poor Francis was shut up alone, as at Albany." 1 From New Hampshire, .back he travels through New York, Pennsylavnia tried to preach at Little York, but wanted strength thence again across the mountains into Ohio, turning aside to attend a camp meeting at Mechancisburg; thence to the Ohio Confer- ence, at Lebanon, September 14, 1815. About this period, that "long and earnest talk" occurred between our two bishops "about the affairs of the Church and the future prospects," etc.: "The western part would be the glory of America would have five Conferences," etc. Yes, venerable men, in less than half a century from that date, it will have more than ten times five Conferences! The Southern division has now thirty Conferences, and it is presumed the Northern has as many or more; and "still they come." At the conclusion of that talk, Bishop Asbury said to his colleague that, "having passed his seventieth year, he found himself unable to keep up with the Conferences." A most reluctant admission. Still on he went, through Kentucky to the Tennessee Conference at Bethlehem, Wilson County, October 20, 1815. Here he preached, but says: "My eyes fail: I will resign the stations to Bishop McKendree." Heretofore, if he did little else at Conference, he always attended to stationing the preach- ers. He knew them all, and knew their fields of labor, and they had the highest confidence in his impartiality and skill in adapt- ing the workmen to the work. But now he resigns this almost last effort at active usefulness. He was now exceedingly emaciated. Consumption seemed to have united with asthma, rheumatism, and gravel to hasten his exit. Yet the brave old pilgrim must needs follow up the Conferences, and crossed the Alleghanies, about the sixty-second time, to reach the South Carolina Conference. Bishop McKendree's Journal states: "Bishop Asbury attended the Tennessee Conference in the fall of 1815, which was the last time I was blessed with his per- sonal presence. Here we parted, in hope of meeting again at the South Carolina Conference, in Charleston. For the ad- 1 See Bishop Asbury's letter, June 10, 1815. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 179 vantage of accommodations and a better road, he went by Knoxville and I went through the Cherokee Nation. Bishop Asbury came within thirty or forty miles, but could not reach the Conference on account of affliction. Here all the remaining members of Mr. Hammet's Church, consisting of a few whites and a considerable number of colored people, returned to our Church, a thing much desired by Mr. Asbury, particularly on account of the colored people, to whom he had acted as a father for several years. "The Conference kept up a daily communication with Mr. Asbury, and he rejoiced at the success of his long-continued kindness to those solitary and afflicted people. "At the close of the Conference he was better, and, as my arrangements did not permit me to visit him, I pursued my appointments, hoping to see him at the Virginia Conference; but in this I was sadly disappointed, and learned, by the result, that our interview at the Tennessee Conference closed our joint labors and earthly associations. "Previously to the Tennessee Conference, Bishop Asbury was with me, at my father's in the Fountain Head settlement. While we were there my father took his bed, complaining of nothing but extreme debility. In this situation he remained about two weeks, and died in peace. "I arrived at Raleigh, N. C., in time for the Virginia Con- ference, much exhausted by traveling and preaching. Here I received an account of the death of my father and that Bishop Asbury's state of health would not admit of his getting to Conference. In addition to these afflictions, the work of an important Conference devolved on me alone; but I was gra- ciously sustained and much assisted by an affectionate and very kind body of preachers. The Conference over, I pursued my appointments, still hoping to meet with Bishop Asbury at the Baltimore Conference. "The preachers met at the appointed time, and understood the Bishop's health was very bad. My health was delicate, but I was mercifully supported. The preachers felt for me and rendered me all the aid they could. Their sympathy was a comfort to me." The following letter from John Wesley Bond, the beloved and faithful traveling companion of Bishop Asbury, inclosing one from Bishop Asbury to Bishop McKendree, perhaps the last he ever wrote, will be read with interest, because it evinces the ruling passion of the dying Bishop, his love of souls, and 180 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree anxiety for the Church. It was written about a month before his death, while he was trying, "in age and feebleness extreme," to reach the General Conference at Baltimore. In the midst of his deep and complicated afflictions, although so utterly worn down that he alone thought he could travel and his best friends thought each day's short journey must be his last, this heroic man still struggled forward, and with characteristic dis- interestedness employed his thoughts about preachers and mis- sions and the General Conference. Noble old man! a martyr's zeal and reward are thine. AT BROTHER WILLIAM WILLIAMS, 18 MILES FROM LOUISBURG, N. C., February 29, 1816. Bishop McKendree Dear Brother: Not knowing where a letter would overtake you short of Georgetown, I have deferred writing until now that my letter may give you the latest intelligence. It would be a great gratification to me if we could get on to the Balti- more Conference; nevertheless, I have constantly opposed making the at- tempt, well knowing that Father Asbury's health would not admit of it. He is a little better than when I wrote last, but still very feeble. Last Sab- bath, for the first time this year, he spoke to the society at Brother King's, in Raleigh. He spoke for some time and with more strength than I expect- ed. Brother Hinds's quarterly meeting commenced in Raleigh on Satur- day last. Brother Hinds attended, but, having the fever and ague, was unable to preach. Notwithstanding my frequent loss of sleep, my health is nearly as usual, for which I cannot be sufficiently thankful. Respecting my next year's appointment, I need say nothing more than this: if I am judged worthy, I am still willing to take my present or any other work which may be thought best. As to my pecuniary demands upon Conference, I have none, Father Asbury has insisted on bearing these himself. My expenses he has borne hitherto, and he has paid my quarterage for the first three quarters, the other he will pay when due. Your affectionate, though younger and unworthy, brother in the gospel, J. W. BOND. AT BROTHER MATTHEW MYRICK'S, BRUNSWICK COUNTY, VA., March 4, 1816. P. S. Not having had an opportunity of sending my letter before now, I open it to inform you that respecting the missions, 1 Father Asbury finds his heart much set on them. He says he will hazard an opinion that you may find in the Schuylkill District alone not less than one hundred vacant or broken congregations, and that the ministers they have, whether reg- ular or irregular, he believes are just such as the devil would have them to be. The object, then, is sufficient to claim attention: the main object is to get men. He thinks Brothers Folks, Fechbye, and Swaewalder ought to 'Referring, we suppose, to the German population, to.whom Bishop Asbury wished missiona- ries should be sent. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree i8i volunteer; but if we cannot get missionaries in the traveling connection, we must get them out of the local. The work is important, the expense considerable; it will not do to be taken up and put down lightly. The printing of so many hymn books and Disciplines, together with the sup- port of so many missionaries, will require a fund of four or five thousand dollars; but this will be but like lending it to the missions, for when so- cieties are formed, they will pay it back. In the meantime they must be supported at the outset. He wishes the missionaries to make collections and try to get a living where they labor, always accountable, as every traveling preacher is, to his presiding elder and the Conference for what he receives. All the preachers he desires to exert themselves to make col- lections for the missionaries; and he thinks the mile subscriptions, properly attended to, will be competent to make up all missionary deficiencies. He wants the Conference to say what they shall be allowed for quarterage and board. He suggests about $260 to the married and $120 to the unmarried men, and they should have prompt pay. Father Asbury thinks there are half a million of Germans in our country, the poorest and richest of any people among us; and that thousands of Africans among us enjoy the advantages of the gospel means in a much greater degree than they do. J. W. BOND. Here follows the last letter of Bishop Asbury, inclosed, as stated above, to Bishop McKendree. It is suggestive as to the appointments in the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences and is in the abrupt style of the senior bishop: My Dear Son: Were it proper and possible, I should greatly enjoy to be near thee and the Conferences, but perhaps I should weary myself, as I have done, and hinder more than help you. 1. If I may say anything of the stations: does Joseph Frye hold his zeal? If so, there is no man more fit to preside in the Monongahela District. 2. If we take up Germans missions, it must be spiritedly. I wish we had four men who would offer freely, and serve faithfully, married or single; our hymn book translated; a thousand copies of Discipline, correct from the General Conference. If they will not sell, give them away to the peo- ple. Send a missionary to Schuylkill District, Susquehanna, Carlisle, and Monongahela presiding elders holding cash to pay the missionaries quarterly the missionaries making collections and being accountable for these also to the Conferences. I wish the change of Boehm and Roberts, 1 because of Henry's usefulness in German. We have covered the three hundred dollars to Virginia Conference. If ei- ther Baltimore or Philadelphia is deficient one or two hundred we are ready. Had I power to be present, the stewards would have a correct account of all we have received at Conferences and expended upon road expenses. 'Robert R. Roberts was then presiding elder of Schuylkill District, and Henry Boehm of Chesapeake District. He suggest a change of districts between these men. The former waa made bishop in about a month. 182 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree In 1816 I asked thirty dollars, they sent forty. The incredible toil of Wes- ley Bond is only known to me; I must reward him. His character is good; he has attempted to moderate his sermons; preaches to acceptance, gen- erally beloved by the preachers and the people. I have written to the General Conference; wish you to see it. I have written to Mr. Benson, 1 and wish the General Conference to hear a copy of the letter read. In great love, F. ASBURY. At the close of the Baltimore Conference, Bishop McKendree started for the Philadelphia Conference in company with his old friend, Rev. Nelson Reed, but, after one day's journey, he was violently attacked with rheumatism. The disease having apparently abated after a week, he tried to proceed, but the first day's travel brought on another attack, and, finding it impossible to go forward, he submitted to necessity, and was after a while taken to the house of his old friend, Dr. Wilkins, of Baltimore. Here he stayed until May 2, when the General Conference began in Baltimore. While Bishop McKendree was confined to his bed, between Baltimore and Philadelphia, he received intelligence of the death of his venerated and beloved colleague. After a partial recovery from his attack near Charleston, S. C., Bishop Asbury came by easy stages to Richmond, Va. There (March 24) he preached his last sermon. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday he traveled, being very intent on getting to the General Con- ference. He got to the house of his old friend, Mr. George Arnold on Friday night, about twenty miles south of Freder- icksburg, Va. Rain prevented his traveling on Saturday, and on Sunday he died. It need scarcely be said that Bishop Asbury's death was con- sistent with his life. "I die daily; I live in God," had been his motto. On Saturday afternoon, hearing his faithful and never- to-be-forgotten nurse, John Wesley Bond, talking with the family about having preaching next day, he said: "You need not be in haste." This excited their apprehensions, for they do not seem to have anticipated he would die then. Through the ensuing night he grew worse, but refused to have a physician, saying the doctor could only pronounce him dead. Being asked if he had anything to communicate, he replied that having fully expressed his mind in relation to the Church, in his address to the Bishop and the General Conference, he had nothing more iThis was in answer to a letter from the British Conference, inviting him to visit England. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 183 to add. About eleven o'clock on Sabbath morning he called on Brother Bond to sing, pray, and expound the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, and appeared calm and devout during these exercises. When he could no longer swallow or speak, seeing the distress of his friends, he looked joyfully at Brother Bond and raised his hand. When asked if he then felt the victory complete, exerting all his remaining strength, he raised both his hands, and in a few minutes died without a struggle or a groan, as a weary child sinks to sleep upon its mother's breast. He died on March 31, 1816. Thus closed the earthly career of a man who had spent fifty- five years in the ministry ten in Great Britain and forty-five in America thirty- two of them as an itinerant bishop; a man who had traveled in the United States more miles, preached more sermons, endured more hardships, and had borne heavier responsibilities than any other minister in America, before or since his time; a man of astonishing sagacity, and whose life was "without spot, blemish, or any such thing." He was a wise, good, and great man; and Methodism in America is more indebted to him than to any other man. Whether viewed as a man, a Christian, a preacher, or a bishop, in every respect he seems to have been as nearly perfect as frail humanity can well be on earth. But we are not writing his biography, and his life is his eulogy. What Moses was to the Church in the wilderness, as its leader and counselor, Asbury was to American Methodism. In meek- ness he declined the honors of the episcopacy tendered him by Mr. Wesley until urged to it by the unanimous voice of his brethren. God endued him with wisdom to organize and rule the infant Church; for nearly forty years he was its unquestioned earthly head. But, unlike Moses, he lived to lead the tribes of our Israel out of the wilderness and to see them settled in peace and prosperity over a vast continent. The Jews had but one Moses and American Methodism but one Asbury. Surely "a prince and a great man in Israel" died when he passed away. 1 1 A. description of Bishop Asbury's person, as he appeared in the first Conference held in New England, in 1792, and the delineation of his character, by Dr. Stevens, in his " Memorials of Methodism," are so beautiful and true that we cannot resist the inclination to quote them: " He was yet short of fifty years of age and in the maturity of his physi- cal and intellectual strength. His person was slight, but vigorous and erect; his eye, stern but bright. His brow began to show those wrinkles 184 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree (the effects of extraordinary cares and fatigues) which afterwards formed so marked a feature of his strongly characteristic face. His countenance was expressive of decision, energy, sagacity, benignity, and was shaded at times by an aspect of deep anxiety, if not depression. His attitude was dignified and graceful; his voice, sonorous and commanding. His parallel for practical sense and practical energy can scarcely be found. As a ruler of State or a commander of armies, he would have ranked among the great- est men of history. We will venture the remark, in all deliberation, that if ever an impartial ecclesiastical history of this nation be written, Francis Asbury, as well for his personal character as for being the chief founder of its largest religious organization, will occupy a position in it above the competition of any other name whatsoever. During about fifty years it is estimated that besides innumerable public exhortations he preached upon an average about one sermon a day. He exceeded even Wesley in his travels, averaging more than six thousand miles a year. The extent of his journeys during his ministry of forty-five years in the Uuited States alone was equal, upon an average, to the circumference ol the globe every four years, and this by private conveyance, over the worst roads, in the infancy of the nation. During the last thirty-two years of this life, he presided in two hundred and thirty-four Annual Conferences and ordained about four thousand persons in the traveling or local ministry. ' When he commenced his labors in this country, there were about six hundred members; when he fell, it was victoriously at the head of two hundred and twelve thousand.'" CHAPTER Xll Bishop Asbury's Valedictory His Birth Death Burial Remains re- moved to Baltimore. THE following is the "Address to the Bishop," referred to in Bishop Asbury's dying words. As Paul in prison addresses Timothy, so the senior addresses his junior in this epistle. It is the result of his mature reflection after much study and long observation. Some things, especially toward the beginning, which refer merely to the mode of carrying out his plan, he might have modified had he foreseen the future, but as a whole it needs neither apology nor explanation. It was evidently designed for the press, and after having been most carefully and in a most scholarly manner prepared was subscribed by his own hand. It is given verbatim et literatim: A VALEDICTORY ADDRESS TO WILLIAM MCKENDREE, BISHOP OP THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. BY FRANCIS ASBURY. [Advertisement.] Speaking to the Genesee Annual Conference in your presence on the subject of apostolical, missionary, Methodist Episcopal Church govern- ment, I was desired to commit my thoughts to writing. I feel the more disposed to do this, that I may leave a written testimony which may be seen, read, and known when your friend and father is taken from the evil to come. Sir: My advice is that there be only three effective bishops, as from the beginning, traveling through the whole continent, each one to preside alternately in all the Annual Conferences, one to preside during the sitting of the same Conference, the other two to have charge of and plan the stations and perform ordinations, assisted by the elders in both branches. The plan of stations should be submitted to the President of the Conferences, in triune order, to give a final decision before it is read out. I wish to warn you against the growing evil of locality in bishops, elders, preachers, or Conferences. Locality is essential to cities and towns, but traveling is as essential to the country. Were I to name cities, such as Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome, with all the great cities, both ancient and modern, what havoc have these made in the Churches! Alas for us! out of seven hundred trav- eling preachers, we have about one hundred located in towns and cities and small rich circuits. Guard particularly against two orders of preachers: the one for the country, the other for the cities; the latter generally settle themselves to purchase ministers, and too often men of gifts and learning intend to set themselves to sale. 186 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree I am bold to say that the apostolic order of things was lost in the first century, when Church governments were adulterated and had much cor- ruption attached to them. At the Reformation, the reformers only beat off a part of the rubbish, which put a stop to the rapid increase of absurd- ities at that time; but how they have increased since! Recollect the state of the different Churches, as it respects government and dicipline, in the seventeenth century when the Lord raised up that great and good man, John Wesley, who formed an evangelical society in England. In 1784, an apostolical form of Church government was formed in the United States of America at the first General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland. You know, my brother, that the present ministerial cant is that we can- not now, as in former apostolical days, have such doctrines, such dicipline, such convictions, such conversions, such witnesses of santification, and such holy men. But I say that we can; I say we must; yea, I say we have. And can men claim the rights and privileges of apostles if they are im- posters and not true ministers of the holy sanctuary? Instead of going to preach, they stay to preach. Hence it is that schools, colleges, and uni- versities undertake to make men ministers that the Lord Jesus Christ never commanded to be made. The present Episcopal Churches are greatly independent of each other. All the numerous orders of Presby- terians, Independents, and Baptists are also local. If we wish to see pure and unadulterated Church history, let us go to the Acts of the Apostles and mark the characters of those ministers in the time of persecution such as Paul, Timothy, Titus, Tychicus, Archippus, Trophimus, Artemas, Luke, Epaphroditus, etc. men who did honor to themselves as ministers of Christ. But there are too many the opposite of these, whom we can view in no other light, at present, than as men going into the ministry by their learning, sent by their parents or moved by pride, the love of ease, money, or honor. Are not such moved by Satan more than by the Holy Ghost to assume the sacred office of the holy ministry? Mark well what a situation the apostles were in. If unfaithful in the discharge of their duty, God would condemn and punish them the most severely. On the other hand, the people were ready to starve, stone, or beat them to death. Modern priests will please the people, that they may not be starved or beaten; but will not God condemn such teachers to everlasting destruction? We lay no claim to the Latin, Greek, English, Lutheran, Swedish, or Protestant Episcopal Church order. It will be seen that we are so unlike them that we could not stand as related to them. Would their bishops ride five or six thousand miles in nine months for eighty dollars a year, with their trav- eling expense less or more, preach daily when opportunity serves, meet a number of camp meetings in the year, make arrangements for stationing seven hundred preachers, ordain a hundred more annually, ride through all kinds of weather, and along roads in the worst state, at our time of life the one sixty-nine, the other in his fifty-sixth year? When the Methodist preachers came first to this country, one-half of the continent was overspread with different names and orders of Presbyterians, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 187 Independents, Baptists, English, French, German, Holland, Scotch, and Irish, with many Quakers. In the Southern part were Episcopalians. They had but few Churches and no bishops. At this time the Methodists were, among others, not organized and had not the ordinances among us. As some in pleasantry said: "We were a Church, and no Church." In some places we communed with the Episcopalians. In 1779, some of our brethren in Virginia attempted to organize themselves into a Church; but in 1780, the writer of this address visited them, when they agreed to suspend their administration, and with united voice call upon Mr. Wesley to make some provision for them. Accordingly, in 1784, our faithful fa- ther, Mr. Wesley, ordained Thomas Coke, bishop, or general superintencj,- ent, and Francis Asbury was elected by the General Conference held in Baltimore, Md., December, 1784, general superintendent; was first or- dained deacon and elder; on December 27, bishop, or general superintend- ent; Richard Whatcoat in May, 1800; and William McKendree in May, 1808. Dr. Coke was ordained deacon and elder by two scriptural English bishops, and so was John Wesley. Do any ancient or modern Churches stand any better ground than we do with respect to ordination, with John Wesley's apostolic right? Probably Paul was ordained with Barnabas. (Acts xiii. 1-3.) Should any ask why we did not seek ordination from other Churches, we answer them by asking if we should go to local men to be ordained trav- eling bishops. Should we go to Presbyterians to be ordained Episcopal Methodists? or to Episcopalians, who at that time had no bishop or power of ordination in the United States till application was made to the British Parliament, and that legislative body passed a law for the express purpose authorizing their bishops to consecrate and ordain bishops for the thirteen States of America, in 1785? Here let it be observed, that the Methodist was the first Church organized after the establishment of peace in 1783, and that the Protestant Episcopalians were not organized as a Church until after there was a law passed by the British Parliament. Or could we subscribe to Calvinian articles? Surely, no. Or could we submit to locality? By no means. Let local men ordain local men, baptize or rebap- tize local men; we must shape our course otherwise and prepare to meet the different Annual Conferences from Maine to Georgia and the Mis- sissippi, and to retain all the ancient essential branches of Methodism in all its parts and try sacredly to maintain our traveling plan and support a true missionary, apostolic Church. And suppose this excellent consti- tution and order of things should be broken, what shall the present or future bishops do? Let them do as your noble countryman 1 did resign and retire to private life. It is a serious thing for a bishop to be stripped of any constitutional rights chartered to him at his ordination, without which he could not and would not have entered into that sacred office, he being conscious at the same time he had never violated those sacred rights. Comparing human Church history with the Acts of the Apostles, it will manifestly appear 'George Washington. 18S Life and Times of Bishop McRendree that the apostolic order of things ended in about fifty years. With the preachers and people of that day, the golden order was lost. But we must restore and retain primitive order; we must, we will, have the same doc- trine, the same spirituality, the same power in ordinances, in ordination, and in spirit. Joseph Pilmoor had been but a short time on his mission to this country before he saw that it would not be proper for the Methodists to continue an Episcopal society. He was for forming an independent Church of England. Mr. Wesley was called for near twelve or thirteen years, repeat- edly, to do something for his people in America. Dr. Whitehead reproached Mr. Wesley, in writing his "Life," for odaining preachers in America, unless he had the voice of preachers and people in America; yet, if my memory serves me right, the Doctor grants Mr. Wesley's right so to do if he had had their voice; and this he most assuredly had, and it had been communicated to him by word and letter; or why did every heart leap with joy and the members of society and the congregations in America embrace our Church form and order and by thousands giving up themselves to the ordinances and presenting their children for baptism for nearly thirty years last past? You have often heard me say that Church governments changed with the Church into strange, incredible forms as monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, and legal establishments when scholars, lawyers, doctors, and peers became bishops and bishops became kings, temporal princes, and peers, and presbyters became assemblymen and senators; in this country they become chapains to Congress; yes, members of Congress! It will come to this conclusion, that ours is the apostolic plan. But say you, Are all apostles? Are all that we have ordained holy men? They might have been. Were Judas, Simon Magnus, and Demas faithful unto death? Ministers may fall from grace and office; and no wonder if we, on ordaining four thousand local and nearly two thousand traveling, preachers, should find some to turn out apostates. Thus I have traced regular order and succession in John Wesley, Thomas Coke, Francis Asbury, Richard Whatcoat, and William McKendree. Let any other Church trace its succession as direct and as pure, if they can. Does any one doubt the experience, piety, or labors of these men, so long tried, known, and read of all men, both friends and enemies, for so many years? William P. Otterbein, of Baltimore, a regular Presbyterian the Ger- man apostle to America whose piety, labors, and learning were great, this man of God assisted T. Coke, R. Whatcoat, and T. Vasey in the or- dination of Francis Asbury. You will say if our Church were as pure as the primitive Church, will it not, may it not, like other modern, decline? I answer, We live in a purer age and in a free country. If discipline be maintained, men that carry sand instead of salt for the sheep will be con- strained soon to leave us, to join some more honorable, but perhaps fallen, Church where they can have more ease and greater emoluments. We Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 189 have lived to see the end of such persons who left us and set up for them- selves witness Hammet and O'Kelly. Thomas Haweis, a moderate Episcopalian, fifty years a beneficed min- ister, is one of the most impartial historians on the subject of episcopacy. I shall chose this address with several quotations from his work, wherein you will see that he, without knowledge or design, has given the order of Episcopal Methodism the plume of honor above all others: " From the morning spread upon the mountains to the meridian splen- dor of the Sun of righteousness, I wish to trace the progress of his gospel amidst the storms of persecution, till his glory shall be finally revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Contemptuous infidelity, proud philosophy, bigoted superstition, athe- istical immorality, heretical and schismatical depravity, may unite their powers against the child Jesus and his everlasting gospel, but the gates of hell shall never prevail. His persecuted Church shall rise. I have con- tinued to prefer an episcopal mode of Church government, unless I can find a better. I am satisfied that the Methodist mode of episcopal govern- ment is more apostolic than the Church of England ever was, will, or can be, without a radical reformation from its essential form of locality, written sermons and prayers, State laws, and human policy." (Vol. I, p. 12, of his Introduction.) " When I speak of episcopacy as most correspondent in my poor idea to the apostolic practice and general usage of the Church in the first and gen- erally esteemed purer ages, let no man imagine I plead for that episcopacy which, rising very early on the stilts of practical pride and worldly-mind- edness, has since overspread the earth with its baneful shadow; or suppose those to be true successors of the apostles who, grasping at power and pre- eminence over Churches which their labors never planted nor watered, claiming dominion over districts, provinces, and kingdoms beyond all power of individual superintendency." (P. 14.) Here, Bishop, mark: " Planted or watered." We have planted and wa- tered; although our continent is three thousand miles in length, we have measured it year after year, embracing fifty-one or two districts, about six hundred circuits, and nine Annual Conferences, all which, with very few exceptions, we have visited. Then, according to our author, we are apostolic bishops; for we have both planted and watered, and do water still. As to temporal power, what have we to do with that in this country? We are not senators, congressmen, or chaplains; neither do we hold any civil offices. We neither have, nor wish to have, anything to do with the government of the States, nor, as I conceive, do the States fear us. Our kingdom is not of this world. For near half a century we have nevei grasped at power. "All united in one Church fellowship [so the Methodists] under the superintendency of apostolic men at first and on their decease, the most distinguished for zeal, wisdom, sufferings, influence, or respectability of any kind, was called by the suffrage of the elders and people to be their superintendent, president, prxses; hegoumenoe, a leader; and thus the 190 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree name of bishop (kat' exoehen), on account of preeminence, became very early appropriate to one who was primus inter pares; and, as Archbishop Usher says, differed only in degree of advantagement and not in order. These were, I apprehend, always from the apostolic days raised to their station by the voice of the people and their fellows. They preside in the deliberations of their several Churches, with the presbyters, their assessors. They were deputed to all synods which treated of ecclesiastical matters; and whilst every congregation judged its own members, they received the accusations against elders who were charged with offenses and censured or removed them. They examined the chosen candidates for the ministry, and, with the presbyter, ordained them by imposition of hands. This dangerous eminence marked them as peculiar victims in days of perse- cution. Far, therefore, from being an enviable or desirable situation, no man dare to aspire after or occupy it but such as counted their lives not dear unto themselves, that they 'might finish their course with joy, and the ministry which they had received from the Lord to fulfill it,' whether as confessors or martyrs." (P. 16.) " The sudden ability of illiterate men of so great a number in a moment, and with perfection, to speak in all languages, to express themselves with such propriety and force as not only to be clearly understood, but impressive on the consciences of the numerous foreigners then at Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, such a phenomenon could not but strike the hearers with astonishment and afford an evidence of divine agency too incontestible to admit of a rational doubt." (P. 28.) Now, Bishop McKendree, I will make this remark, that to take this transaction of the Divine Spirit prophetically, it saith to every minister, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;" and that in all ages to come, unlettered men should be raised up to preach the gospel with the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. One may say, This man speaks well! ah, he is a college-taught man! Again it may be said, This man speaks well; he is a scholar! But you are mistaken. He has only a common education a plowman, a tailor, a carpenter, or a a shoemaker! Then he must be taught of God, if he is not taught of man. Then we may rationally conclude that learning is not an essential quali- fication to preach the gospel. It may be said no man but a fool will speak against learning. I have not spoken against learning. I have only said that it cannot be said to be an essential qualification to preach the gospel. It was once reported that two impostors (Roman priests) came to England, entered themselves as porters or draymen, but said they had received the gift of tongues and were called to preach. But Dr. Doddridge, being in the city, was requested to examine them and found they were scholars; but when he examined them in Welsh, the cheat was found out. And too often the learned priests deceive the people by their learning, or professing so to be; because the first preachers were blest with the gift of tongues immediately from heaven; so that a man must spend four or seven years in learning languages before he is permitted to preach the gospel. And Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 191 who is to decide the question? Their practice and that of our Lord does not strictly agree. But to our author. " The Church at Jerusalem seems to have been under the presidency of the Apostle James. The great luminary was now rising to carry the light of the everlasting gospel into the heathen nations and to display a scene of labors and successes unequaled in the records of the Christian Church. The greater part of the Acts contain the account of his (Paul's) life and labors, recorded by his faithful attendant and com- panion in the work, Luke the Evangelist. Paul stands allowedly in the first ranks of eminence, in nothing behind the very chief of the apostles, whilst the generality of the others were out of the lowest orders of society (agrammatoi kai tidiotai), unlettered or private and laymen (Acts iv. 13). men of no literary acquirements. Paul seems to have been born in the superior rank of life." (Pp. 30, 31, 33.) Thus not many wise or rich men of the earth, in the past as well as the present age, have obeyed the call of the gospel. "He (Paul) flew as with the wings of a seraph over the habitable globe; and the vastness of his success corresponded with the rapidity of his move- ments and the indefatigable labors of his ministry. From Damascus to Arabia, Judea, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and round about Illyricum, he had fully preached the gospel of Christ. Returning with the same un- wearied diligence to visit all the Churches his ministry had planted, he received a divine intimation that he must shortly visit Italy also. And he extended his views into Spain. An eye (geographical) cast over this im- mense tract of country will fill us with astonishment, how one man's labor could fill so extensive a sphere, and demonstrates how much may be done when the Spirit of Jesus animates and the benedictions of the Holy Ghost accompany the Word with power and much assurance. There is one particular I may not forget and which we Gentiles are bound to acknowl- edge with peculiar thankfulness, that he is our apostle. A ministry of more than thirty years was terminated, it is probable, by martyrdom." (Pp. 36, 37.) "I regard Paul as the first of human beings, to whom more are indebted for salvation, under the great Head of the Church, than to any other crea- ture. If his labors and preaching, as recorded, be taken into the account, if we consider his Epistles to the several Churches the inestimably blessed effects of which must be felt and acknowledged in all Churches to the end of time." (P. 38.) " It seems to have been a matter decided by the Church respecting the two itinerant apostles that Paul should go to the Gentiles and Peter to the circumcision. I suppose there was great wisdom herein displayed." (P. 40.) "A multitude of worthies have their names recorded in the Acts of the Apostles whose itinerant labors, with those of Paul, had the most powerful tendency to spread the Christian faith." (P. 47.) "A Church without evidence of the influence and experience of the opera- tion of the Holy Ghost hath but a name to live and is dead, and whatever 192 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree may be its forms, or however sound its confession of faith, it hath no more title to be reckoned a Christian Church than a statue or corpse to be esteemed a living man. The form in which the Church appeared in the best, the primitive age, under the immediate inspection of the apostles and disciples of the Lord, deserves our consideration. And here, drawing around me the sacred circle, I wish to confine myself to the words of the Holy Ghost without any regard to the traditions of men. And I shall be- gin at Jerusalem. This was the fruitful womb from whence issued the noble army of martyrs, confessors, and evangelists, who, holding up the word of light, diffused the blessings of the glory of God the Saviour to the ends of the earth. These were the fruits of our Lord's ministry during his labors in Judea and the adjacent countries. They consisted of twelve men, first chosen, called apostles, or persons sent. To these were added seventy others, who were sent out to preach and teach. They were all endowed with miraculous powers; and on their return from their itinerancy through the nation, reported with triumph the wonders they had wrought. About five hundred brethren were summoned to behold our Lord's ascension into heaven." (P. 52.) "Three thousand believed on the first day (Pentecost), and myriads followed them. The immensity of this number affords us two views of their Church order: First, as necessarily distributed into various congre- gations, no one place being capable of containing such myriads or any one bishop or elder sufficient to administer the ordinances among them. We accordingly find them breaking bread from house to house (Acts ii. 46), preaching and teaching in every house (Acts v. 42), which seems to de- scribe the Church at Jerusalem. Second, these several house Churches formed one united Church body under the presidency of James, and not Peter. (Acts xv. 13.) He was at the head of the first council. To him Paul addressed himself (Acts xxi. 18) when all the elders or presbyters being as- sembled by him he reported to them the happy success of his ministry among the Gentiles. The necessity of a president where so great a number of elders resided and so many congregations were formed seems as natural for the preservation of order as it appears actually the case in this mother of all the Churches." (Pp. 54, 55.) "The care of the poor widows led to the institution of the order of dea- cons. This originated in a complaint of real or supposed partiality in the distribution of the alms of the faithful to the native Jewish widows, in preference to the Hellenists. (Acts vi. 1.) The apostles themselves being too much engaged to attend to these temporal concerns, recommended it to the Church to elect seven persons for the discharge of this office. These were accordingly chosen by general suffrage, not for each separate con- gregation, but for the whole body, and were set apart by the apostles after solemn prayer and imposition of hands, to this service. Though the care of the widows was immediately intrusted to them, it prevented them not from being employed in other labors of love. Philip was an evangelist and Stephen a like zealous advocate of Christ and his cause. In conse- quence of his boldness in the synagogue of the Libertines, the blood of this Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 193 first martyr was shed by the fury of his enemies, and a great and general per- secution following, all the principal disciples were dispersed except the apostles who remained at Jerusalem. (Acts viii. 1.) These, flying in different directions, everywhere preached the gospel and with great success through Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and some as far as Antioch, Damas- cus, Phenice, and Cypress. They were village preachers, highway preach- ers, and were not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Paul (Acts xxiv. 23), in revisiting the Churches which had been planted principally by himself, edifies, comforts, and establishes them by ordaining elders in every Church with prayers and fasting." (P. 56.) "Returning through Pisidia and Attalia, they arrived happily at Antioch, communicating the glad tidings of^their success and of the Gentile Churches which they had planted. I can only observe here that I find in all these widely dispersed and numerous congregations no mention made of any appointment but that of presbyters, all cemented in one bond of union under the supervisal of the great itinerant evangalists." (P. 62.) And so it should have continued, and would have continued, if there had been a succession of a faithful seed of holy men to follow apostolic order, but as early as the second century they must have their local bishops or local apostles. "Though James was not superior to Peter or the other apostles at Jeru- salem [he may mean he was not superior as to age, gifts, or standing, but certainly he was superior, inasmuch as he had never so publicly denied his Lord], he had been evidently appointed to fill the place of president, or primus inter pares. Yet neither he nor any of his apostolic associates assumed to themselves authority to decide but by the suffrage of the whole body of the Church under immediate divine direction." (P. 63.) Our Annual, or more particularly our General, Conference resembles this grand council at Jerusalem, where James presided and all the other apostles, elders, and brethren solemnly discussed the cause or causes be- fore them, and James pronounced sentence according to the unanimous suffrage of the assembly, and the definitive decree was in favor of Gentile liberty. Paul and Barnabas separated for a while (Acts xv. 39) ; but probably God overruled this for good, and perhaps the Churches were more profited by their distinct labors than if they had traveled in company. Dr. Haweis continues: "It is evident that Timothy was still but a youth (ch. iv. 14), and whatever office he sustained or with whatever gifts he was endued he received them by the laying on of Paul's hands and of the presbytery. (1 Tim. iv. 14.) Did presbyters then ordain bishops, or were the terms synonymous? " Query, Had there not been two distinct acts in his ordination? Compare 1 Timothy iv. 14, and 2 Timothy i. 6: " The laying on the hands of the presbytery, stir up the gift of God, which is in thee, by the putting on of my hands." "That Timothy was left at Ephesus with superintending authority, where there were many bishops, is evident. (1 Tim. i. 3.) He was enjoined to encourage and honor those who presided over the congregations well, and especially such as 13 194 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree were more actively laborious in preaching and catechising. (V. 18.) Re- specting hands, he was to lay hands suddenly on no man; and, without partiality or personal respect, he was to admit none into the ministry but after proper examination and conviction of their call and qualifica- tions. He was also cautiously to receive and weigh accusations against elders who should give offense and pronounce the sentence due to their unfaithfulness, acts strongly marking superior jurisdiction,and I hence infer that particular Churches neither ordained nor censured their own ministers, althouh they elected and recommended; and, if faulty, accused them by two or three witnesses before the great itinerant evangelists." (P. 76.) Mark well the similarity of apostolic order and government and the Methodist Episcopal form of things! In the Second Epistle to Timothy, Paul appears to have "returned again to the house of his prison at Rome, and ready to be offered up on the altar of martyrdom. He had detached his faithful itinerant helpers to a variety of services [although a prisoner, yet clothed with the authority of Christ, he appointed men of God their work], Cresens, to Galatia; Titus, to Dalmatia; while Timothy himself had been left in Asia, from whence he was shortly to proceed to Rome with Mark, who had once departed from the work, but had now returned to the labors and dangers of itinerancy. The principal subject of the Epistle is the dying charge of the great apostle to his beloved son respecting his own teaching and conduct and worthy the attentive consideration of every bishop or presbyter upon earth." (See P. 77.) Paul's two favored sons, Timothy and Titus, were his chief companions, and greatly employed in the regulation of the congregations which had been raised by his labors. The postscript of his first Epistle calls Timothy the first bishop of the Church of the Ephesians; but there is no such title given him by Paul or any intimation of his being at Ephesus but as one of the great itinerant evangelists, the companion of Paul and deputed by him to assist in bringing the congregations into a regular order of worship and discipline. "It nowhere appears that Titus was more the Bishop of Crete than of Dalmatia (2 Tim. iv. 10) or of Nicopolis (Titus iii. 2) or had any fixed residence or diocese, he being one of the great itinerant evangelists who went about preaching everywhere in season, out of season. And there- fore as soon as he had settled the Cretan Church in the most edifying manner, he was ordered to come and winter with Paul at Nicopclis, and Artemas or Tychicus should be dispatched to fill his place in the Cretan congregations. "A general superiority in all the Churches which they visited appears to have been exercised by these great evangelists, though none appears sta- tionary in any one place. They ordained, censured, regulated, were the cementing bond of union to the different Churches [so should the Method- ist bishops be], maintaining a unity of order and procedure through the whole. They all bore the name of apostles (2 Cor. viii. 23), were every- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 195 where received with reverence and obeyed with filial affection. ['If any inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you; or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the Churches and the glory of Christ.'] They assumed no domain over their faith, but were helpers of the joy of the faithful wherever they went. The gifts, abil- ities, and zeal which they displayed, with every divine temper which adorns the Christian ministry, could not but give them weight and procure them influence by whatever name they might be distinguished, and in every Christian Church, in the very nature of things, such men must possess su- periority, whatever be its constitution. Even where the most absolute parity is established, to these their fellows naturally give place. They are the presidents in all associations; heard with respect, commanding obe- dience; capable of awaying the decisions of their brethren; consulted in all difficult cases, and placed foremost in the hour of danger. To them is intrusted the care of eleemosynary distributions for the benefit of the body to which they belong, and in private and public all concede to them the seal of honor." (P. 78.) If the elders that rule well are worthy of double honor, then the bishops that rule well must be worthy of triple honor, especially when they do so large a part of ruling, preaching, and presiding in Conferences. "In the primitive Church [in speaking or writing, it was common to consolidate the first Churches into one, although they consisted of many societies, so we say the Methodist Episcopal Church], this superiority, was vested in the apostles and their companions, the great itinerant evan- gelists, Barnabas, Silas, Artemas, Tychicus, Trophimus, Titus, Timothy, and many others, chief men among the brethren." (P. 79.) Notwithstanding all these were great men in the Church of God, yet, as we have seen, none of them were writers. The Epistle to Titus bears some resemblance to that to Timothy. Men placed in similar situations were called to act under the same principles and to employ the same means. If we are willing, here we may see the propriety of our superin- tendency, presiding elders, as in the second part of the primitive Church, which order was lost in the first and not found again until the seven- teenth century, partially in Europe but more perfectly in America in the organization and establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church. " I conclude, as soon as a little society was formed of Christians, a room was opened for their assembling and the most apt to teach appointed to minister to them in holy things. [Perhaps not unlike a class leader and local preacher in one.] He was a man of gravity, generally of the more aged, approved by his fellows and willing to devote himself to their service. His appointment was signified by prayer and imposition of hands by the Apostle Paul or some of the itinerant evangelists and the presbytery, and without this I meet no ordination. Every Church [that is, every society] exercised discipline over its own members, to admit, admonish, or expel. Before these itinerating evangelists all accusations against offending esbyters were brought. [These evangelists seem not to have been sta- 196 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree tionary, but to have gone about everywhere, chiefly under the direction of the Apostle Paul.] "These evangelists were usually supported by the Churches [or societies] but often, like Paul, maintained themselves by their own labors. During the first ages, the ministry was not appropriated to gentlemen or scholars. No man was bred to it as a profession or went into it for a maintenance. They were pastors of a different stamp. The stationary presbyters, or bishops, during the lives of the apostle and his associate evangelists, were under their superintendency. But it will appear very early in the second century, when the first race of great itinerants departed [or were slain for the testimony of Jesus], that one among the ministers in every place began to have the name of bishop (kaf exochen) on account of preeminency, with presbyters, hjs coadjutors, acting with him as one body." (Pp. 86, 87.) This leads me to conclude that there were no local bishops until the second century; that the apostles, in service, were bishops, and that those who were ordained in the second century mistook their calling when they became local and should have followed those bright examples in the apos- tolic age. I am not under the difficulties that some are respecting the same men who were ordained elders being called sometimes bishops, I am not sure that what was written to Timothy and Titus, that they themselves must be blameless as bishops, or overseers, excluded them from being evangel- ists. As to those at Ephtesus who were elders in office, they were in charge and duty overseers. In some sense among us every leader of a class, every local preacher, traveling preacher, and every officer in the Church may be called an overseer. Bishops, presbyters, and deacons, seem to have been the established form in all the Asiatic Churches in the second century. " Hitherto not a man eminent for science or letters had appeared in the Church. All those whose works have come down to us bear a stamp of simplicity divested of human attainments. Yet by these the gospel had been supported in its purity, afforded a noble army of martyrs, and been spread to the ends of the earth, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Par- thians, from the savage nations of the North to the Indies and Abyssinia." (P. 146.) " Considering the time and regarding the persons called to be saints, a learned ministry cannot be supposed in the primitive Church. The presby- ters have been, in general, men simple and unlettered, though full of faith and the Holy Ghost, the qualifications which then determined the suffrage of the several flocks. And after all the fine things so elegantly written (by the heathen philosophers) about virtue and morals, their own con- duct afforded a pregnant example of the impotence of the doctrines which they taught, whilst the Christian bishops not only lived what they pro- fessed to teach, but were every day ready to go to prison and to death for the name of the Lord Jesus." (P. 126.) No man counting his life dear who stood for Jesus, "bold to seal the truth with blood." "A learned and ingenuous age prides itself on its superiority in de- fense of revealed religion and apologizes for the Bible, but what hath (this mode) of arguing proved? The plain story of a plain unlettered man Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 197 telling of the sufferings of Christ and the glory which hath followed with their consequences hath done more in the way of conversion to real and vital Christianity than all these great polemics put together. [The learn- ed may smile in Saul's armor, but give me the sling and the stone, and the gigantic Goliath falls.] I see the smile on the wise academician and the contemptuous infidel, but I am not ashamed of that gospel of Christ which is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, nor of the sound though unlearned teacher who, having diligently read his Bible and then taught of God himself, is blessed with their conversation." (P. 148.) O my son, by diligence, discipline, and faithfulness, God hath made us a blessing to hundreds and thousands of those who have died within these last thirty years! Thus our work and reward have gone before us and more work and reward are given to us daily. Let the Annual Conference?, the quarterly meeting Conferences, let the presiding elders, deacons, and preachers, all feel their dignity, do their duty, and especially guard against every danger and innovation. Alas for us, if ever our excellent consitu- tion and order of things be changed or corrupted! (It is said that a good old bishop prayed that he might be taken away if Arius were restored, but the heretic himself was taken away.) I believe that those who would divide the body of Christ will be " divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel." Thirty years' labor and experience have taught us something. Be diligent to see and know how the different charitable contributions are disposed of. Sign no journals of an Annual Conference till every- thing is recorded, everything appears correctly and fairly. Should there be at any time failures in any department such as you cannot cure or re- store, appeal to the General Conference. Be rigidly strict in all things. Examine well those who come as candidates for the ministry. It is ours to plead, protest, and oppose designing men from getting into the ministry. It is the peculiar excellence of our Church and the superintendents' glory and stronghold that the character of every minister among us must under- go a strict examination once a year. Put men into office in whom you can confide. If they betray your trust and confidence, let them do it but once. Of all wickedness, spiritual wickedness is the greatest; and of all deceptions, religious deception is the worst. Beware of men who have a constitu- tional cast to deception. Let every office, grade, and station among us know his place, keep his place, and do his duty; then you need not fear for the ark of God. The Lord Jesus will take care of and support his own cause. If we have not men of great talents, we have men of good hearts. En- deavor to obtain and preserve a noble independence of soul, the willing servant of all, but the slave of none. Put full confidence in men who merit your confidence. Never be afraid to trust young men; they are able, and you will find enough willing to endure the toils and go through the greatest labors; neither are they so likely to fail as old men are. " The simplicity of gospel truth ill accords with a farrago of rites and ceremonies. Nothing could be more unadorned than the primitive wor- 198 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ship. A plain man, chosen from among his fellows, in his common garb, stood up to speak, or sat down to read the Scriptures, to as many as chose to assemble in the house appointed. A back room, and that probably a mean one, or a garret, to be out of the way of observation, was their temple. Hymns sung to Christ, as their God, appeared to the heathens a prominent and striking feature of the Christian worship. The Holy Scriptures were read in portions; and the presbyter, or bishop, or two or three of the congregation who were endued with talents, spoke a word of exhortation to the people agreeably to the scripture which had been read. Prayer from the heart, without a prompter, followed, to which the people replied with a loud and audible amen. He that led the worship prayed from his hearrt, and out of its abundance. I have no doubt the Lord's Prayer always made a part of their public services. The Supper of the Lord closed the devotions of his day. I think it was as constant as the return of that day, and every member of the Churches as constantly par- ticipant. A friendly feast, or meal, called agape, from the love and union with which they kept it, served at one as an opportunity of ministering an act of charity to the poor, where all distinctions of rich and poor were laid aside and no man took before others his own supper, but all with humble equality acknowledged themselves members of the living head, Christ, and of one another." (P. 150.) "Then, also, I apprehend every man produced, according to his ability, weekly what he had laid by for charitable purposes, which formed a fund of obligations under the control of the Church, through the ministration of the bishop, presbyter, and deacon, for all the various purposes of general good such as purchasing the elements for the Lord's Supper, the provisions for the table of the agapae, for the necessaries for the poor, the support of evangelists, the relief of the persecuted, and for the welfare of such Churches and persons whose indigence called for the help of their richer brethren. As yet I can perceive no part of this fund appropriated to pay the salaries of any minister of the sanctuary, unless he came under the title of an itinerant evangelist, and, being incapable of providing his own maintenance and wholly occupied in the gospel work, was justly entitled, as preaching the gospel, to live by the gospel. I very much doubt if the bishop or presbyter and deacons received anything for their labors of love. I am persuaded they thought their work their best wages. " Amid the flames of persecution kindled without and the corruptions and errors broached within the Church continued to raise her scarred head, en- circled with glory, and to enlarge her borders farther and wider. After the departure of the great itinerant evangelists to their rest in glory and on the increasing extent of the Christian Church in every place the desirableness of a stationary president seems to have introduced a change in the govern- ment of several evangelical cities and Churches. The very learned Chan- cellor King endeavors to prove that in the largest cities there was but one Church and one bishop. I have already given my reasons for differing from him and for supposing the necessity of many house congregations where the body of Christian professors was so great, and as they sought to avoid Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 199 observation and to attract as little as possible the attention of the rulers, they would not, assuredly, in such immense multitudes, have assembled in one place. That about the beginning of the second century a bishop ap- pears at the head of a presbytery, can hardly be doubted, and the name became appropriate to one which before all the presbyters had equally borne. Being now no longer under the superintending care of the great apostolic evangelists, who went about everywhere to establish, to preserve the unity of the Church, and be the cementing bond of the whole body, the several presbyters and Churches seem to have chosen one of their own body to supply the precedence these had before exercised. Whether the largest cities, as King argues, formed only one congregation with many presbyters, or rather, as I think, consisted of many congregations with pres- byters in each of them, the whole seems now to have formed one body under a superintendent (or episcopus, overseer) chosen by themselves. Every Church exercised discipline over its own members, in which the whole assemblage of the faithful gave their suffrage. Their reverence for their pastors was great; but clerical dominion had, as yet, found no place." (P. 126.) We have a few more thoughts to add. It is my confirmed opinion that the apostles acted both as bishops and traveling superintendents in plant- ing and watering, ruling and ordering the whole connection; and that they did not ordain any local bishops, but that they ordained local deacons and elders. I feel satisfied we should do the same. I found my opinion on Acts xiv. 23: "And when they had ordained them elders in every Church, and had fasted and prayed with them, they commended them to the Lord." "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should set in order things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I have appointed thee." (Titus i. 5.) That is, do what Paul has left undone. Mark! it was in the second visit that Paul and Barnabas established order; and why was Timothy or Titus sent if elders could ordain elders? And why had the apostles to go or send, if it was not held as the divine right of the apostles to ordain? I shall not unchristian any Church or Churches that have the truth of the gospel and the power of God among them, as I have already said. The Presbyterian Churches, at the first, should have established a mod- erate episcopacy and apostolic .form from whence they came, one from the high steeples of the Church of Rome and the other from the high steeples of the Church of England. An elective, easy government, and a traveling and local ministry, with a judicious discipline, would have been better than steeples, bells, schools, colleges, and universities to make men minis- ters whom the Lord never called. The ninth century appears to have been the time of midnight darkness. The light of the Reformation began to dawn in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The reformers were great men; but such was the state of affairs that no doubt there was yet much darkness mingled with the light; hence, it might be said: "All heads, and no heads." And I should be more afraid of a many-headed monster than of a single-headed one. You know that for four years past I have, with pleasure, resigned to you 200 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the presidency of the nine Annual Conferences. This has removed a great burden of care from me and given me much ease. You have my letters addressed to you on the subject. It may be objected by some that our form of Church government partakes too much of the government of the nation. It does not partake of its nature; but there are some similitudes of form, but not of nature. The one is civil, the other spiritual and entirely disunited. Our government being spiritual, one election to office is suffi- cient during life, unless in cases of debility, a voluntary resignation of the office, corruption in principle, or immorality in practice. The great diversity of gifts, both among our traveling and local ministry, is happily diffused abroad by our mode of circulation, to the benefit of hundreds and thousands. Many of our local ministers are men of approved abilities, with grace and gifts worthy to fill any pulpit. Many of them travel hundreds of miles in the year, are gladly received, and readily em- ployed to preach by their traveling brethren, and feel themselves at per- fect ease and completely at home on the different circuits and at camp meetings where they visit, having no fear they will be considered as in- truders. Further, it may be asked, Is it proper to have no learned men among us? Answer: Men who are well read I call learned men; and we have men of learning among us, both traveling and local. Where are our young men who are bred to the law? and some are doctors; and many others who are very studious and making great progress in Latin and Greek; and many have competent knowledge of the English language. Particularly, see in the British connection such men as Drs. Coke and Clarke; a Benson, Creighton, and others. And in many instances men who profess the least know the most. A venerable German divine once wrote in Latin to the English doctors; but he had to complain that they answered him in English. But you may say, Would we not derive great advantages from reading the Scripture in their original tongues and judging of the correctness of the translations? Undoubtedly; but these advantages are in the margins of the best editions of the Bible. As to our translation, it is, perhaps, one of the best and most correct upon earth. To attain to a proper knowledge cf the etymol- ogy of all the words used, even in the Septuagint, I know not how many languages you must know besides the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. If you suggest anything more, I will maturely consider it. My dear Bishop, it is the traveling apostolic order and ministry that is found in our very constitution. No man among us can locate without or- der, or forfeit his official standing. No preacher is stationary more than two years; no presiding elder more than four years; and the constitution will remove them; and all are movable at the pleasure of the superin- tendent whenever he may find it necessary for the good of the cause. It is the privilege of every traveling minister with us to say: "I am not obliged to serve you another year; I will speak to the superintendent who will not impose on you a second year." We must conclude that all the ancient, imperial, Latin, and Greek Churches were episcopal from their Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 201 foundation to this very day, though in a crooked, muddy succession; per- haps all corrupted in ordinances, and many of them in doctrines; and, in too many instances, the vilest of men have filled the most sacred offices in the Church. The Reformed English, Scotch, Danish, Swede, Episcopal Churches, have all corrupted their ways before the Lord. Let Presbyterians say and write what they may, as if episcopacy never existed, it must be granted that in the first, second, and third centuries many of the bishops were holy men, who traveled and labored in the ministry very extensively, not unlike their grand pattern, St. Paul, and the other holy apostolical men, of which wi have good historical evidence, which is all the evidence that can now be given. To the people of our day we give ocular demon- stration, and the generations to come may read our Church records and Conference journals, where they shall see what vast tracts of country we traveled over in visiting the nine Conferences annually. As to the doc- trines of the Reformation, we have said, in a second reformation they were the real gospel. They have been well introduced and complete forms of Church government established. Presbyterians and Independents were formed too about the sixteenth century. Finally, farewell in the Lord ! Yours, FRANCIS ASBURY. LANCASTER COUNTY, STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, August 5, 1813. This "Valedictory" needs no explanation or 'apology and is a proper finale to the life of its great and good author. His remains were interred in the family graveyard of Mr. Arnold, at whose house he died, but at the request of the citizens of Baltimore and by order of the ensuing General Conference, they were disinterred, removed to that city, and deposited in a vault under the pulpit of the Eutaw Street Church, Baltimore. Very properly his honored remains, with those of Bishops Emory and Waugh, have been transferred to the beautiful Mount Olivet Cemetery near the city. Bishop Asbury was born in England, August 20, 1745; entered the ministry at the age of seventeen; came a missionary to America in 1771; was ordained bishop December 27, 1784; and died March 31, 1816. He was the apostle of Methodism to America, and a true scriptural itinerant bishop. Two millions of Methodists in America at the present revere his memory, and thousands of millions in ages to come will gratefully claim him as their spiritual ancestor and the great benefactor of our coun- try and our race. May his successors in the ministry and the episcopacy imitate his purity, zeal, and fidelity, and the whole American family, however they may differ in other and less important respects, approve themselves as his spiritual children by maintaining the doctrines and discipline which he labored to establish and imitate the experimental and practical holiness he professed and exemplified ! CHAPTER XIII General Conference of 1816 Bishop McKendree's address George and Roberts elected bishops Sketches of them Bishop McKendree's Journal The work divided New York and Kentucky Conferences Bishop KcKendree organizes the Missouri Conference Bishop Roberts organizes the Mississippi Conference McKendree and George at South Carolina Conference Changes made by General Conference From Middlebury to Tennessee Norton rejoins him To Mississippi Conference on horseback McMahon and wife with him Mississippi Conference at Midway, 1817 To South Carolina Conference Griffin with him Difficulties of traveling Crossing the Chattahoochee General Gaines Indian murders In Sparta Myers Conference in Augusta, Ga. Roberts arrives They go to Virginia Conference in Norfolk Dr. Phoebus Travels alone, and leads a pack hcrse In Tennessee Visits Southwest extensively Ohio Conference of 1818 Missouri Troubles at Tennessee Conference Writer's first acquaint- ance with him Starts to Mississippi Conference with Seaton and Edge The shock Very much affected Mississippi Conference Back to Tennessee Bishop Roberts's letters Notes on preachers,' qualifica- tions Dr. Emory Letters between them Their subsequent inter- course. THE second delegated General Conference met in Baltimore, May 1, 1816. Out of one hundred and fifteen preachers elected by the nine Annual Conferences, one hundred and six took their seats in this body. The recent death of the senior bishop, so long their revered and faithful leader, cast a gloom over the Conference as well as over the whole Church. Among their first acts was to make arrangements to remove his remains to the city of Baltimore and to read his Valedictory Address. The address is stated by Dr. Bangs to have been incomplete, being merely the heads of what he would have said more fully if his health had permitted and was directed to the Conference and must not be confounded with that to Bishop McKendree contained in the last chapter. In a few days a vast concourse of the citizens of the city, with clergymen of other denomina- tions and the members of the General Conference, preceded by Bishop McKendree, followed the corpse of Bishop Asbury from Light Street to the Eutaw Street Church, where, after a funeral oration by Bishop McKendree, it was deposited as already re- lated. The death of Dr. Coke in 1814 and the loss of Bishop Life and Timeslpf Bishop McKendree 203 Asbury had left the Church with only one surviving bishop, and he was then in a feeble state of health and suffering from severe pain as well as general debility. Bishop McKendree was, however, able to preside in the organization of the body and before it proceeded to its regular business delivered an address "on the general state of the work, and the necessity of adding strength to the episcopacy." This address, of which Dr. Bangs says he could not find a copy, was as follows: BALTIMORE, MAY 1, 1816. To the General Conference. Dearly Beloved Brethren: We believe God's design in raising up the preachers called Methodists in America was to reform the continent by spreading scriptual holiness over these lands. The end is not fully ac- complished, therefore our mission is not out. But there is no reason to apprehend that the plan and means which have been adopted and so suc- cessfully pursued heretofore are not fully calculated to accomplish the desired object. But, alas, our success of late falls far short of what we have had in former days! According to the divine plan, the prosperity of the Church depends very much upon the spirit and conduct of the ministry. It is therefore proper at all times for the General Conference to pay par- ticular attention to the state of the ministry and their charge, to remove hindrances, and supply necessary means. To this end it may not be amiss for your superintendents to suggest for your consideration subjects which appear to them closely connected with your peace and prosperity. It is useless to have rules and regulations by which to govern the Church unless they are attended to, and it is ultimately with you, whose prerog- ative it is to form them, to see and know they are carried into effect. That the executive authority is conferred on the general superintendents is true, but it is so fixed in order to constitute a proper medium through which to supply every part of this extensive work with the necessary wisdom and experience as it relates to gospel doctrines and discipline, and at the same time to bring the whole administration under your inspection as general superintendents of the work. Therefore an effective general superintend- ency is essentially necessary. It is the center of union and harmony be- tween the several members cf the general body and the only means the General Conference has to carry our economy into complete operation and perpetuate the episcopal government and the itinerant plan of preach- ing the gospel. But such is the manifest weakness of the superintendency at present that it cannot fully discharge all the duties connected with this department. You will therefore feel the necessity of affording suitable aid, as you may think proper. It was the intention of your superintendents to have visited the Mis- sissippi, conformably to the arrangements of the last General Conference; but the hostile disposition of the Indians and the situation of the country in opinion of judicious brethren were such as to prevent them in the first instance and Bishop Asbury's health in the second, so that they have done Life and Times of Bishop McKendree nothing in the formation of the contemplated Conference. That section of the work, therefore, remains as it was; but those best acquainted with it are of opinion that it is essentially necessary to the prosperity of the work that the superintendents should visit that section of the country. It is our misfortune in some parts of the work to have a ministry always in its infancy and sometimes very deficient in numbers in consequence-of location, while the hands of those who remain and nobly refuse to leave the work are made to hang down by reason of the weight of family concerns. What can be done to prevent the admission of such into the traveling con- nection as feel themselves at liberty tc depart from it at pleasure, like men of the world, who change their pursuits for their temporal interests? To rescue others from such family afflictions as might be removed consist- ently with the spirit of the gospel and our principles of government and at the same time not to impose improper or unnecessary burdens on the Church of God, is both a delicate and difficult undertaking; yet it is pre- sumed to be possible, if wisdom and prudence conduct the business and would no doubt contribute much to the permanency and prosperity of the work and order established among us. And while making the necessary provisions for the needy, it may be very proper you should notice the manner of circulating books among our people and guard against attempts, should they be made, to divert the course of our charitable institutions to the personal interest of individuals and to convert our worshiping as- semblies into places of traffic. It is with regret that the superintendents have to advise measures to stimulate the preachers to a more uniform attention to the duties of their station. It is presumable that so much more time than is necessary is taken up in going to and returning from the Annual Conferences and in leaving their charges for other purposes in the course of the year that some circuits lose one-fourth of their time, if not more, and thereby suffer an irreparable loss. It is our professed business "to bring as many sinners as we can to repentance and with all our power to build them up in that holiness with- out which they cannot see the Lord." In making full proof of our call to this work, it is expected that we should visit from house to house, as well as preach the word publicly, to instruct the children, visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, and to enforce vigorously, but calmly, all the rules of the society. Are these points properly attended to among us? The management of this important work is with the superintendents; and it is for the General Conference to know the state of affairs in order to correct errors and give tone to the executive, when their aid is necessary in carrying the plan into complete effect. Therefore the whole is cheer- fully submitted to your inspection. I remain, as ever, your brother and fellow laborer, W. MCKENDREE. The Committee on the Episcopacy, appointed to consider that part of the address which referred to that subject, brought Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 205 in a report recommending the election of two additional bishops; and on May 14, Enoch George, of the Baltimore Conference, and Robert Richford Roberts, of Philadelphia, were duly elected, the former receiving fifty-seven and the latter fifty-five votes out of one hundred and six. Bishop George was a native of Eastern Virginia, about fifty years of age. He was converted under the ministry of John Easter; began to travel and preach in 1789. After a few years he went, at the call of Bishop Asbury, to the Southern Confer- ence, and labored in South Carolina and Georgia several years. His health failing, he returned to Virginia and about 1800 entered the Baltimore Conference, where he filled various im- portant appointments and districts. He was a widower, with four children; low of stature, but stoutly built. His features were grave and expressive of strong emotions; his eyes, small and deeply seated beneath an overhanging, heavy brow, twinkled, or melted into tears, as the sentiments he uttered might demand; and his voice thrilled or softened the hearts of his auditory, as he poured out his soul with a pathos the writer never heard excelled; for he can never forget a sermon the Bishop preached in Tennessee at his first visit to that Confer- ence in 1817. .His text was: "And this is the victory that over- cometh the world, even our faith." There was something in his manner of address, in the tones of his voice, the subdued yet earnest and fervid spirit of the preacher that affected the whole audience. He explained faith and illustrated its victory by Bible incidents in the most simple and appropriate style and blended arguments with exhortation and appeals to the under- standing with those to the heart until the entire assembly seemed to be completely under the control of his holy eloquence. There was nothing boisterous in his voice; no remarkable exhi- bition of intelligence; least of all was there any attempt at oratorical display. He was not a "son of thunder," but of yearning pity and holy sympathy. He wept over sinners; tears were constantly welling up in his eyes, and, without pausing, he would slip a finger behind his spectacles and brush away the blind- ing tear, to be replaced by another at the very next sentence. Before my imagination, he seemed to be another John who had leaned on the bosom of Jesus and returned from Patmos where visions of heavenly brightness and fadeless beauty had en- tranced his mind and filled his soul with adoring love. I was young and had just begun to preach. Since then I have heard many impressive sermons from the best preachers of the land ; 206 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree they have instructed, charmed, and thrilled me, but I have never heard a man who so strongly wrought upon my feelings and kept me bathed in tears from the beginning to the close of his sermon. The image of that man of God and the scenes of that hour are still vividly fixed in my memory; and yet, with all his purity, his zeal, and wonderful power over the heart, it cannot be said that he was well adapted to the duties of the episcopal office. Without professing to have a thorough personal ac- quaintance with him, the writer must be allowed to say that he was not remarkable for his knowledge of the polity of the Church; his very kindness of heart and love of peace inclined him to make concessions and compromises for the attainment of harmony which might have been very prejudicial to the general interests of the Church if they had been adopted. He was deficient in the methodical arrangement of his plans arid too indifferent to the enforcement of rules of order to make a superior presiding officer. In these respects he differed entirely from Bishop McKendree. During a little more than twelve years he continued to perform the duties of his office. He was greatly revered and beloved for his many virtues and his labo- rious and useful services. No one ever questioned his piety or integrity. He was deeply pious and of a most, childlike and affectionate heart. He lived a toilsome and suffering life and died rather suddenly at Staunton, Va., August 23, 1828, on his way to the Holston Conference. Short as was the warning, he was found ready and willing to depart, shouting in his last moments: "Glory, glory! I shall soon be in glory!" Bishop Roberts was a native of Frederick County, Md., and was born in 1778. His parents were in humble circumstances, having a family of thirteen children, of whom he was the ninth. They were moral and respected for their integrity, and although inclined to the Episcopal Church, were not professors of religion. The literary advantages of the Bishop were therefore quite inconsiderable in early life, although his parents seem to have appreciated the importance of an education and gave him all the opportunities of mental culture which their moderate means and their locality enabled them to afford him. When he was about eight years of age, they removed from Maryland to Pennsylvania and settled in a retired valley at the western base of the Alleghany Mountains, in Westmoreland County. Amid the wild grandeur of their new home, away from the bustle and fashion of the world, he grew to manhood. Under the min- istry of the Methodist traveling preachers, he and his father's Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 207 family generally were converted and joined the Church. Sub- sequently the family sought a residence in Shenango Valley, in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania, where an almost unbroken and uninhabited forest surrounded them. Soon, however, their backwoods section of country began to be filled up with hardy and industrious pioneers, and there he began his ministry. In 1802 he was admitted on trial in the Baltimore Conference and appointed to Carlisle Circuit. It was the same year in which John A. Granade, Frederick Stier, Joseph Toy, William Ryland, Thomas L. Douglass, George Dougherty, and Nathan Bangs entered the traveling connection. Alas, all of this list of noble spirits have passed away from earth! But they all died in faith and are united with the general assembly and Church of the firstborn. Mr. Roberts married before he became a preacher, and his wife proved herself worthy of such a man. They never had any children. At the General Conference of 1808, in Baltimore, he appeared as a member, clad in backwoods style, but such was the impres- sion produced by his preaching that at the solicitation of many of the most intelligent and prominent members of the Church, shortly after the close of the session, Bishop Asbury directed him to quit his work in the Western backwoods, and take charge of the Baltimore City Station. Thenceforth it is useless to trace his course; suffice it to say, he was always acceptable and useful, whether in the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia, or on the Schuylkill District as presiding elder, from which last- mentioned work he was transferred by the vote of the General Conference of 1816 to the episcopacy. The writer first saw Bishop Roberts at the Tennessee Conference of 1817, held in Franklin, and heard him preach in the courthouse on Hebrews ii. 3. He was a large man, weighing two hundred and twenty pounds. His whole person indicated him to be one of nature's noblemen. His features were large, benignant, and intellectual. His head was of an uncommon size; his forehead high and mas- sive; his eyes blue or hazel colored; his manner of address al- ways easy and graceful; his voice a deep bass, but soft and musi- cal. There was nothing constrained or unnatural in its modu- lation, but it was an earnest and animated conversational tone. When excited by "thoughts that burn," his majestic frame seemed to expand, his mind-illumined face glowed, and his voice would now swell like the notes of a bugle, and anon sink into the low and trembling tones of pity and persuasion; and yet there were no abrupt or startling variations, but only such 208 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ,as harmonized with the theme, the words of the speaker, and the feelings of the audience. The art of oratory he never studied; and yet occasionally he almost reached the highest standard of that noblest of all arts. He practiced the art without knowing it, for nature and grace made him an orator. The writer re- members most distinctly two sermons he heard him deliver many years apart, the one in Franklin, Tenn., alluded to already, the other in Huntsville, Ala. On the former occasion he held an immense audience as if spellbound for more than an hour while he portrayed the fearful consequences of neglecting the great salvation. In that vast assembly there stood by the side of the writer a friend from Nashville, Mr. John Price, who, having sought for mercy for months with deep contrition and many tears, had almost sunk into despair. The writer and other young converts had labored in prayer and exhortation with him a good part of the previous night, the remainder of the night he had spent upon his knees alone in his room. He went with a heavy heart to the courthouse to hear the Bishop, having refused all sustenance for many hours. But while the speaker was dwelling -upon the greatness of the salvation tendered to penitent sinners on the condition of faith in Christ, my friend stood and listened as if transfixed and charmed. After a short but eventful mental struggle, the tears gushed from his eyes, a faint smile stole over his lately dejected countenance, and pres- ently he sunk down with the unutterable peace of a soul justified by faith. More than thirty years afterwards, this friend of my early ministry was taken from a steamboat de- scending the Mississippi River, and at midnight was left alone on a wharfboat at Vicksburg. A drayman carried him to the hotel, which refused to admit him because he had the cholera; and before day, in an old unoccupied house, he breathed his last. The black man who carried him to that house and was the only human companion in his last mortal struggle reported that he died (as he had lived) in the full triumphs of the great salvation. The other sermon alluded to was preached by the Bishop in the Presbyterian Church of Huntsville, Ala., on Sabbath morning of the Conference. The text was: "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." (Rev. xix. 6.) It was a glo- rious sermon, worthy of the man and the occasion, and as worthy of the theme as any I ever heard. It seems strange to many that men whose literary advantages have been so limited as Bishop Roberta's should make such emi- nently popular and useful preachers. Such persons lose sight of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 209 the fact that Mr. Roberts, although only an English scholar, had a most vigorous mind, read and studied much after he entered the ministry; was by nature a graceful and fluent speaker; and that in the itinerancy of the Methodist Church he enjoyed the privilege of graduating in one of the best schools for training young preachers and making them "able ministers of the New Testament." For surely, if success be a test of ability, they may claim rank with any in the world. Bishop Roberts was remarkable for modesty, humility, and simple dignity of manners. He was surprised at his own popu- larity as a preacher and was humbled rather than elated by the discovery, and his election to the episcopacy almost over- whelmed him. He always shunned notoriety; and, but for conscience' sake, would have retired to his humble cottage home, in the most secluded portion of Indiana, and spent his life unnoticed and unknown. Never have I known a man of a more unaffectedly humble and guileless heart, or one to whom strife and controversy seemed more repugnant. And yet, although so mild and almost apparently timid, when a sense of duty to the Church, to truth, or to the character of a brother required it his firmness and moral courage were equal to any emergency. He made an excellent bishop. The only deficiencies under which he labored originated in his size and his sympathies. Owing to his great weight he failed, on many occasions, to reach the Conferences at the proper time, and, occasionally, to get to them at all. For, on account of the want of public conveyances and the condition of the roads, especially in the West and South, he was obliged to travel on horseback; and no horse could be found capable of bearing him through his long tours. Nor were these long rides much less painful to himself. His sympathies were so strong that he could not always resist their influence, even although his judgment might demur; so that many a truant young preacher received a mild rebuke who deserved a severe reprimand. He presided over the preach- ers in Conference like a father among his children, and no bishop was ever more generally or deeply loved. His long and weari- some journeys, his exposure to every change of weather and climate for so many years, and the never-ending care of all the Churches, which came upon him daily, after twenty-seven years of faithful and acceptable service as an itinerant bishop broke down his vigorous constitution, and he died in the spring of 1843. His death was peaceful and resigned; his work was 14 210 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree done, and he was ready to depart and go to Christ. And rarely has so pure and lovely a spirit passed from earth to heaven. A few of his neighbors were present at his burial, who, having prepared for him a grave on his own little farm, quietly laid him away to rest in one of the most sequestered places in the West. Subsequently the Indiana Conference consented to the re- moval of his remains to Greencastle, the seat of the Indiana Asbury University; and within the inclosure of the college grounds they now repose, awaiting the resurrection of the just. What a rich legacy has the Methodist family, North and South, in the character and labors of their early bishops! And while we should never be proud of our succession, we have cer- tainly no reason to be ashamed of it. May it ever be so in every branch of our Methodism! Such were the men who, by the vote of the General Con- ference, were made joint superintendents with Bishop McKen- dree. The field of their labor was also extended by the addition of the Mississippi and Missouri Conferences, making now eleven Conferences. Although the war between our country and Great Britain had been terminated by the Treaty of Ghent, signed December 24, 1814, yet the effects of that struggle continued to be felt for some years afterwards. The excitement of the war and the demoralization which always accompanies it, however, gradually gave way to a more healthy state of public feeling. But it is evident that from 1812 to 1816 the Methodist Church was less successful in increasing her membership and ministry than during any other equal term before or since. The Journal of Bishop McKendree notices this fact in the following statement: "In 1812, we had 195,257 members and 688 traveling preach- ers. In 1816, there were 211,165 members and 695 preachers, giving an increase of 15,808 members and but 7 preachers in four years." He proceeds to say: "At the close of the General Conference, my health was so far recovered as to justify an attempt to resume my labors, especially as there were two bishops added, who, I expected, would relieve me of a great part of the labor; but neither of them was acquainted with the general state of the Church or with the peculiarities and difficulties of the episcopal duties. It was therefore advised that they should attend the first three Conferences in company, in order to adjust their Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 211 views and mode of presiding, so that ttiey might administer harmoniously when separated. Bishop Roberts approved of the plan, and went with me." But, as it was thought to be neither necessary nor advisable for all the bishops to attend each Annual Conference, they made a division of the work among themselves, "mutually agreeing to attend the Conferences alternately, thus changing their work every year; and for the bishop whose turn it might be to attend a Conference to be the responsible president of it, and the other bishops, if present, to be his counselors. And, if they should not find it best to attend as counselors, or assistants, for the time being, they were to employ the intervals in visiting the Churches," etc. Thus was begun the practice of dividing the work of superintending the Conferences by the bishops them- selves, and also of alternating, a method which, it is hoped, will be perpetuated as most consistent with the genius of our Church constitution and best calculated to promote union and perpetuate the itinerancy. We quote again from the Bishop's Journal: "The bishops are personally responsible for their moral conduct, but, as general superintendents, they are jointly responsible for the administration of the discipline or for the management of 'the spiritual and temporal business of the Church/" which is subject to their oversight. Conformably to this view, immedi- ately after the General Conference adjourned, the bishops met together to arrange their plan of future operations. Bishop George proposed a division of the work into three districts, each to take his part or lot. To this the senior bishop objected, and proposed that as two were but just entering upon the important work, they should all go to the New York and New England Conferences, see the state of things, harmonize their views and mode of transacting their official duties, in order to prevent a difference in their administrations when apart. Bishop Roberts acceded to the proposition, but Bishop George had business which called for his attention, nor could he see it "necessary for three men to go and do one man's work." From the New England Conference Bishop Roberts, according to the plan proposed, was to return by Baltimore, take his family to the western country, and meet his colleagues at the Ohio Conference. From that point they were to commence their general plan of operation. According to this arrangement there was an ideal division of the work into three parts the senior bishop taking the first, Bishop George the second, and Bishop 212 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Roberts the third. Each was bound to attend his allotted part; not, however, to the exclusion of the other two, who were at liberty to attend officially, if they could do so, or to visit the Churches as circumstances might direct. Bishop George fell in with the senior bishop at the Genesee Conference, at Paris, N. Y., July 17, 1816; thence they traveled together through Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio, to Louisville, Ky., the place of the Ohio Conference. Here they met with Bishop Roberts, all in good health after long journeys in very hot weather. The Conference began on September 3. It was a very sickly season, and many of the preachers suffered. From this place the bishops had to separate in order to organize the lately constituted Missouri and Mississippi Conferences. The senior proposed to attend one and his junior colleagues the other, with liberty to select which they would attend. But it did not suit Bishop George to attend either of the frontier Conferences. The senior went to Missouri, and Bishop Roberts to Mississippi, which made it necessary for the former to add to his travel about 1,500 miles, and the latter about 800. William McMahon consented, in Nashville, to accompany Bishop Roberts to Mississippi, but they were both taken sick. Bishop Roberts partially recovered, and, in a very feeble state of health, pur- sued his journey, accomplished his work, and returned safely. Bishop George went immediately to Georgia, and improved the time in visiting and preaching to his old acquaintances in those parts, and then accompanied his elder colleague, whose course, according to the general plan, commenced with the South Carolina Conference. By this arrangement, the Mis- sissippi Conference would have fallen to Bishop Roberts the following year, which would have imposed too much riding and absence from his family upon him. To obviate the difficulty, the senior bishop volunteered to serve it in his stead. "At the South Carolina Conference, held in Columbia, I accordingly fell in with Bishop George, when we had a profitable time with the preachers in Conference, a pleasing account of the work in their respective charges, and an edifying time in the congrega- tions. Bishop George continued with me the remaining Conferences of my work, and then entered upon his own course. But instead of relaxing my labors, I continued with Bishop George to the Conferences in his division of the work, although I had attended them last year with Bishop Roberts." For the present, leaving these laborious, faithful men to pur- sue their toilsome round of duty, let us take a concise review of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 213 the condition of the Church and the acts of the General Con- ference. And the first thing which strikes our attention is the absence of asperity and undue excitement, as evinced by the action of the Conference. That there was a difference of opinion, as there always had been, in reference to certain measures of polity, there is no doubt; but perhaps in no General Conference since 1784 had there been more unanimity; so that the changes which were proposed in the important principles and mode of administration of the government were rejected with increased majorities, except in reference to slavery, while the few changes which were made on points of minor importance were evidently beneficial. Let us examine a few of them. The ratio of representation in the General Conference was altered from five to seven. The proviso at the close of the Restrictive Rules, which rendered it necessary to obtain "the joint recommendation of all the Annual Conferences," to enable the General Conference to change any part of the constitution of the Church, was stricken out, and "the concurrent recommendation of three- fourths of all the members of the several Annual Conferences who shall be present and vote on such recommendation," was substituted. A new clause was inserted in the Discipline, making it the duty of the bishop to prescribe a course of reading and study to be pursued by candidates for the ministry. Two new Conferences, as already stated, were added viz., Missouri and Mississippi. The annual salary of a traveling preacher was changed, in 1800, from sixty-four to eighty dollars; and in 1816, from eighty to one hundred dollars. Since 1808, each Annual Conference had been authorized "to make its own rules about buying and selling slaves;" but in 1816, the General Conference resolved that "no slaveholder shall be eligible to any official station in our Church hereafter where the laws of the State in which he lives will admit of emancipation and permit the liberated slave to enjoy freedom." This was a decided advance. Of course the vexed question as to the election of presiding elders came up at this Conference, as it had done before and continued to do for several subsequent sessions. "On May 7, Samuel Merwin offered to amend the Discipline respecting the mode of appointing presiding elders, so as to read, 214 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree "'Question. How shall the presiding elders be appointed? "'Answer. At an early period of each Annual Conference, the bishop shall nominate a person for each district that is to be supplied, and the Conference, without debate, shall proceed to the choice, the person nominated being absent; and if the person nominated be not chosen according to nomination, the bishop shall nominate two others, one of whom it shall be the duty of the Conference to choose. "'Ques. By whom shall the preachers be appointed to their stations? "'Ans. By the bishop, with the advice and consent of the presiding elders.' "Subsequently, Nathan Bangs offered to amend the first answer by appending the following words to it: 'And the pre- siding elder so elected and appointed shall remain in office four years, unless sooner dismissed by the mutual consent of the bishop and the Conference, or unless he be elected to some other office by the General Conference. But no presiding elder shall be removed from office during the term of four years, without his consent, unless the reasons for such removal be stated to him in the presence of the Conference, who shall de- cide without debate on his case. ' " l The whole question was lost by a vote of forty-two to sixty, showing an increased majority against the innovation. We now resume the Journal of Bishop McKendree, beginning with his tour, in company with Bishop George, to the New England Conference. "On our way to the New England Conference, at Concord, N. H., which met on May 16, 1817, we traveled two days in full view of the winter snow on the mountains in that State, while the people were planting corn at the foot of the mountain. "May 15. We traveled through a fall of snow, the weather being so cold that some of our company, from the South, had their faces frost-bitten. From Concord we went to the New York Conference, which was held at Middlebury, Vt., June 3, 1817. From the top of the mountain and highlands in Ver- mont we saw an abundance of snow on the mountains in Canada. Our Conference was received and treated in a respectful man- ner by the citizens of Middlebury, and the Lord made the preach- ing of his word by us a blessing to them. But the Congrega- tional minister manifested stern opposition; however, we had an official invitation to preach and ordain in the Congregational ^'Life and Times of Jesse Lee," p. 500. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 215 meetinghouse, it being the largest in the place. The court, then sitting, adjourned and attended; we had a large congre- gation. "In order to redeem my pledge to attend the Mississippi Conference, in Bishop Roberts's place, I parted with Bishop George at Middlebury. At the head of Lake Champlain we turned a little off the direct road, to view the British fleet which had been captured in the lake by Commodore McDonough, September 11, 1814. We thence urged our way to New York and Philadelphia, visited the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and went across the bay to Baltimore. The excessive fatigue of riding on horseback induced me, while in Philadelphia, to pur- chase a light dearborn wagon, which met me at this place. After a few days we set out again, and passed through Maryland and Pennsylvania, and crossed the Alleghany to Wheeling, Va. Thence, through Ohio and Kentucky, I went to my brother's in Summer County, Tenn. Here I met with my beloved friend, James Norton, who, at the South Carolina Conference of 1813, was appointed to travel with me; but Bishop Asbury's aid hav- ing failed, I gave up Brother Norton to supply his place. At the General Conference of 1816, Brother Norton was a member, and seeing I was afflicted, offered his services as my traveling companion. The offer was thankfully accepted. We continued together until the fall, and then, to supply the deficiency of a preacher, and by his consent, he was appointed to Fountain Head Circuit. At his quarterly meeting, held for that circuit at Stephenson's Meetinghouse, October 4, 1817, he resumed his place as companion in travel. "As the road we were to take to Mississippi was not adapted to carriages, we sold our little wagon and procured a pack horse to carry our provisions through the Indian Nations. We left Fountain Head in good spirits. In Franklin, Tenn., Brother William McMahon and his wife joined us, on a visit to her father's, Judge Seth Lewis's, in Louisiana. We were blessed with very agreeable company. We traveled through heavy rains and encountered high waters, not without some appre- hension from drunken Indians, but got through safely. Brother McMahon and his wife pursued their way to her father's and we arrived in good time at Midway, where the Mississippi Con- ference began November 7, 1817. "The Conference was a very agreeable one; but the rains having continued, we found the water courses very high. We set out, however, attended by Thomas Griffin, who conducted 216 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree us to Fort Claiborne. The creeks and rivers overflowed; some- times for miles the country was inundated. Ferrymen took us over the streams and through the woods as far as the boats could go, but occasionally we had to swim. Many were our difficulties before we reached Georgia. The most alarming were in crossing a creek in Alabama and at the Chattahoochee River, in the Creek Nation. A preacher from the South Carolina Conference, who came to meet and escort us, arrived at the creek alluded to in the evening, and, finding it impassable, re- mained near, waiting for the water to subside. We lay in the woods all night, left our camp fire early, and arrived at the creek about nine o'clock in the morning and found the water very high an9 the boat sunk. The ferryman, being stimulated, obtained additional aid, raised and bailed and calked the boat, and ventured to cross over to our side. We got the horses on the boat, and off they pushed, rowing and bailing as hard as they could, with the water rising in the boat all the time. Our hopes and fears were nearly balanced. If the boat should sink, we were to swim. But the Bishop could not swim; however, he could hold on to the tail of a horse and let him swim. So soon as the boat rested on the other shore, the water poured in at both ends, but men and horses hastened out while it was sink- ing. The next night we camped with a family moving to the West, who knew us. A hog was killed, and we were comfortably entertained and had meeting with them. Another night we camped with a number of families, and preached to them. Our journey was made more pleasant by falling in with a gentleman and his servant, who were returning to Georgia with an empty wagon, for the remainder of his family and property. He gen- erously consented to carry our provision for ourselves and our horses, and our horses as well as ourselves were thereby safe from starvation. "The Chattahoochee is a considerable river where it runs through the Creek Nation. As a compensation, in part, for the privilege of having a road through the Nation from Georgia to Alabama, the United States supplied a good ferryboat, and fixed a substantial rope across the river, but the late freshet had swept off the boat, and a very indifferent one had been substi- tuted; so light and narrow was it that travelers had to take their wagons over empty, with a wheel on each side in the water. It could carry over but two horses at a time, and they must stand lengthwise in the boat and keep quiet. Thousands of movers were on the road; and many carriages and wagons were Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 217 on the east side of the river awaiting their turn to cross. As we were from the West, we had to wait no longer than the return of the boat. The first boat took in the two preachers i. e., Bishop McKendnee and Brother Norton and their saddle horses, one of which was young and restive. After getting out some distance from the shore, by the bad management of a ferryman, the boat began to take in water, the ferrymen became alarmed and let go their hold of the rope, and we were instantly floating down a deep and very rapid stream, without oars or poles, and with nothing but a hand spike or two on board. Find- ing our condition so dangerous, we endeavored to calm the agi- tation of the black ferrymen, who had been substituted for the regular Indian ferrymen; and, encouraged by our composure and the promise of a fee, we at last effected a landing on the same side from which we had started, and about one hundred and fifty yards below; but the feat was made with great difficulty and at the only point where a landing was practicable. We succeeded in getting the boat back to the starting place, and were finally put across the river after two hours of danger and detention. The bank was thronged with anxious spectators, who cordially welcomed us upon our safe arrival. "A part of the Creek Nation was then at war with our people and killed one of General Jackson's soldiers upon one of the nights we lay out and not far from us. We were informed of this fact by General Gaines, whom we met going into the Na- tion as we were leaving it. But the Lord helped and preserved us; and, after a toilsome and hazardous journey, we safely arrived at our beloved friend and brother's, Lusas's, in Sparta, Ga." Let the reader pause and think of a tour from Vermont to Middle Tennessee; thence, on horseback, through Indian tribes, to Louisiana; thence, amid drenching rains, over swollen streams, and through a hostile band of Indians, to Georgia; and this per- formed by a man advanced in life and infirm in health; and rec- ollect, this is but one of the many similar tours which our bishops took to carry out our system of itinerant general super- intendency. Such were the men and such the labors they en- dured for souls and for Christ's sake. His Journal proceeds: "At Sparta we were about sixty miles from the place where the Conference was to meet; and, having some spare time before us, I determined to rest and recruit my health and strength, while Brother Norton went to see his mother, after two years' absence. But the good people pre- 218 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree vailed on me to be contented to rest the horses while they took me to popular meetings on the two following Sabbaths. After having given the horses nine days' rest, I set out with Brother Lewis Myers and visited Louisburg, about forty miles from the seat of the Conference, Savannah, and Charleston, and arrived at Augusta, Ga., the day before the Conference began, 1 making four hundred miles instead of forty. I had now visited the Mississippi Conference for Bishop Roberts, as I promised, in- tending, after our interview to return and visit the Churches in Illinois and be ready to take my course of work, commencing with the Ohio Conference. At the South Carolina Conference we had to manage some of the most delicate and eventful busi- ness. Bishop Roberts's assistance was greatly needed, especially as it was his special charge, according to our division of the work. But the distance to the Conference was greater than he expected, and, his horse failing, he did not arrive until the fifth day of the session. The important business was adjusted in a way satis- factory to Bishop Roberts; and we were well pleased at the re- sult, which was peace and brotherly love. This was Bishop Roberts's first visit; he knew neither the country nor the people, and therefore was desirous I should accompany him to Norfolk, to hold the Virginia Conference. But as this would add six hun- dred miles' traveling to my already excessive labors, I was not disposed to do so, and therefore took leave of him, and set out on my westward tour. But, reflecting on his situation a stranger to the way and the people, his horse with a sore back, and having barely time to get to the Conference after riding five miles I determined to return and accompany him, if he had not gone. I found him, and he was delighted. We started early next morning for Norfolk, Va. Our time on the trip was dili- gently improved, traveling from thirty to forty-five miles a day; rain did not stop us. Saturday we had our linen washed; Sab- bath preached; and thus we pushed on, and got to Norfolk the day before the Conference opened. The back of the Bishop's horse was well, and the preachers and people were glad to see us. Here we unexpectedly met with Bishop George, in good health, with Dr. Phoabus and his family, from New York. The Doctor had been appointed a missionary to New Orleans and was on his way there. The other bishops had not been con- sulted in this appointment. The Doctor was approved, the size and consequent expense of supporting his family being the l The Minutes show that this Conference was appointed to be held at Louisville, July 27, 1818, but it was held at Augusta. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 219 only difficulty. It was supposed that a thousand dollars would hardly support him, and he was then without money to bear his traveling expenses. Bishop George requested me to under- take the management of this business, but I declined; loaned the Bishop one hundred dollars, and bound myself to raise five hundred dollars in the West for the support of the mission, if it should be carried into effect, provided my colleagues would raise the balance. Dr. Phoebus was sent back to New York, and the hundred dollars returned. The Conference closed with encouraging prospects and the 'preachers parted in love. I parted with my colleagues, and set out for the western country, being about one hundred and fifty miles farther from my ob- ject than when I returned to Bishop Roberts, in Georgia. I had the company of preachers from Norfolk to Lynchburg, but from there to Kentucky I traveled alone, leading my pack horse all the way. About the last of March, or the first of April, I arrived safely at my brother's residence, in Sumner County, Tenn. Having rested a few days, I took a young preacher with me and resumed my plan of visiting the Churches upon our frontier work. We passed through the southwest corner of Kentucky; crossed the Ohio River at Golconda; passed through the southern part of Illinois ; crossed the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau, visiting the frontier Churches in Missouri, and in- tending to see the Churches about Boone's Lick, but sickness and high water induced me to stop with Brother Murphy. After a week's rest, I crossed the Merrimack and Missouri Rivers, and attended a camp meeting between the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers, where I met Brother Walker, the presiding elder. Here we held a profitable camp meeting, which is the third I have attended since I crossed the Mississippi River. I had the pleasure of meeting many of my friends from the old States and of seeing the work of the Lord prospering in the new settlements. We then went to St. Louis ; crossed the Mississippi ; visited the Churches about Turkey Hill, Vincennes, the forks of White River, and the little towns on the way to Jefferson- ville. Here we crossed the Ohio to Louisville, Ky., where I had sent an appointment for preaching. They had made it a two days' meeting. I was pleased. The congregation was very large and the meeting good. The next appointment was in Shelbyville, Ky., about thirty miles distant. From there I visited Frankfort, Lexington, and Maysville, in Kentucky, and as many congregations between them as I could. From Mays- ville I crossed over into Ohio, to West Union, Chillicothe, New 220 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Lancaster, Zanesville, Barnesville, Mount Pleasant to Steuben- ville, August 7, 1818. From Middlebury, June 3, 1817, to this place, I have traveled over a very large tract of country; my rides have been excessively hard, my ministerial services in Conferences, camp and quarterly meetings, added to visiting the Churches through the districts and circuits, have been abun- dant, and I am now feeling the effects in a manner heretofore unknown to me, and, instead of relaxation, my work is rather more rigorous. Here, according to our division, my course be- gins, and terminates at the Mississippi Conference. "The preachers met, and the Ohio Conference commenced its session at Steubenville, August 7, 1818. All the bishops were present, in health, and bore their part in the labors of the Con- ference. Joshua Soule, our Book Agent from New York, at- tended. Qur business was conducted in an orderly and proper manner. "At the close of this Conference, my strength was so exhaust- ed that some of the preachers, especially Bishop Roberts and Brother Soule, objected to my attempting to pursue my plan of Conference visitation, but having lately visited the Missouri Conference extensively, and the preachers having voluntarily changed the seat of their Conference from Mount Zion Meeting- house, in Murphy's settlement, to a meetinghouse in the forks of White River, Ind., which saved several hundred miles riding, I concluded to proceed. I would gladly have accepted a sub- stitute for the Mississippi Conference, but the others were con- veniently situated. Bishop Roberts offered his services for the Mississippi Conference, but I thought his long absence from his family was a sufficient reason for me to decline his generous offer. "I sustained the journey and the business of the Missouri and Tennessee Conferences much better than I expected. At the latter our spirit was troubled, and harmony interrupted by the conflicting subject of slavery." The Tennessee Conference, which began October 1, 1818, in Nashville, marks the time of the writer's acquaintance with Bishop McKendree and of his admission on trial as a traveling preacher. He had attended the previous session of the Con- ference in Franklin, and had traveled the Nashville Circuit the past year, under the employment of Thomas L. Douglass, the presiding elder of the dictrict, his colleague being Miles Harper. Nashville was then in the circuit, and as the Conference was held in his work, it afforded him an opportunity of becoming Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 221 acquainted with all the preachers. Bishop McKendree was the only bishop present and was greatly admired and loved. The Conference held its session in an office or session room near the old Presbyterian Church. It was not the custom then to let anybody into the Conference room except the members. I remember there was "trouble" and want of "harmony" at that session, for as I and many others hung about the premises, we often saw the members come out of the Conference room with a sad countenance, and when they would meet a confiden- tial friend, a suppressed but earnest and sad conversation would take place, which indicated anxiety and sorrow. No one own- ing slaves could be admitted unless upon a promise to emanci- pate them. This was adopted as a rule of action by a large party in the Conference, although it could not always be carried into effect. But in most cases it was. Dr. Gilbert D. Taylor, a man in every respect eminently worthy, was refused admis- sion because he owned slaves, although he avowed his purpose to set them free, a purpose which he effected by taking them to the State of Pennsylvania, after having in vain memorialized the States of Tennessee and Alabama to allow him to emanci- pate them. Alas for his slaves! Their freedom was their mis- fortune. But let us follow the Bishop. "From this Conference I took John Seaton and Benjamin Edge with me for the Mississippi Conference and set out in good spirits. Being indisposed and intending to take Carroll's road, we stopped at the fork to spend the night, but learning we must go seven miles farther or lie in the woods the next night, we went forward . I became very much exhausted, and a little before we reached the stand / received a very uncommon shock. My whole system was affected, and es- pecially my head. I avoided falling from my horse by easing myself off. After resting on the grass awhile, I mounted, and went slowly to the Indian house where I expected to stay all night. From this place we went by short stages to the house of Brother Ford, where the Conference was held. On the first day of the session, October 29, 1818, 1 presided, but was exceedingly debilitated, owing mainly to my attack and partly to the error I committed in having blood taken and using an emetic. The second day, the little Conference of ten members met in my room. I was in bed, but the president pro tern, sat near my bedside, and the business of Conference was done properly. It was a camp meeting Conference, and on the Sabbath there was preaching on the camp ground. I was taken in a carriage to the 222 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree camp ground, and lay on a bed near the stand during preaching, having been assisted to the place and supported by two preach- ers while performing the ordination. I was taken back immedi- ately by the kind and attentive physician to the house of Broth- er Ford. Monday morning the preachers met, received their appointments, and took an affectionate leave of each other, except Thomas Griffin, John Lane, and Benjamin Edge, who waited a few days to see the progress of my complaint. After I had endured the third shock, the doctor said I must not move shortly. Seaton went to his circuit, Edge stayed with me, and Brother Lane was to prepare the Minutes and take them to Conference in South Carolina to Bishop Roberts. "A few days decided my situation. I could not move. Broth- er Lane left me, but with one of the kindest families to be found. Every mark of attention was shown me, insomuch I was humbled under a sense of obligation to the whole family. Sister Ford was a mother indeed to me, and her daughters were nursing sisters. A colored lad voluntarily took to nursing me. He would lie by my bed at night and wake up at the slightest noise and was in every way the most attentive boy I ever saw. Broth- er Edge had been sent to a circuit, but left it to attend to me. "Some time in February I ventured to move, and by short stages reached Colonel Richardson's; was comfortably enter- tained there and at Brother Winans's, and especially at Judge McGehee's. In March, accompanied by Brother Winans, I ventured to visit New Orleans, to see the infant Church or mission there, and returned to my asylum in Wilkinson County. The physician advised his patient to leave that country before summer. For this purpose my esteemed friend, Judge McGehee, presented me with a light Jersey wagon, which was generously stored with provisions, and, accompanied by John Lane and Benjamin Edge, I left the State about the middle of April. 1 I *The following note, in the Bishop's own handwriting, has reference to this period of his life, and evinces his candor and humility. It shows, too, that it is possible to employ our time and talents faithfully and zealously in the work of God and yet be so oppressed and harassed with the details of Church business and the anxieties connected with a highly responsible position in the Church as to suffer loss in spirituality; so true is it that there is no substitute, not even working for Christ and his Church, which supersedes the absolute necessity of prayer, watchfulness, and daily com- munion with God through the Holy Comforter; in a word, a daily sense of personal religious fellowship with Christ must be maintained by all preach- ers and bishops, as well as private Christians, no matter how conscien- tiously in other respects they may give themselves to his work in order to Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 223 think it was about ten days after we entered the Choctaw Na- tion that we crossed the Tennessee River. The stands were 'few and far between'; and as we traveled too slowly to reach them, we lodged in the woods, stopping as weariness dictated. I think we camped out eight nights, but received no injury from it, indeed, the trip rather improved my health. The weather, however, was favorable, and we reached my brother's in Ten- nessee safely. "After resting a few weeks with my brother, I set out with Brother W. McMahon and wife for the Harrodsburg Springs, in Kentucky; lodged with Brother Head (then a warm friend of ours, but turned against us since) ; here I was comforted, and the water benefited me. Assisted from place to place, I visited my old friends, preached at times, attended camp meetings, and got to the Ohio Conference, in Cincinnati, August 7, 1819. Bishop George arrived in good health, and the preachers were well and in good spirits. "From the Ohio Conference I returned through Kentucky by slow and short movements to Fountain Head, in Tennessee. There Andrew Monroe, a representative to the ensuing General Conference, came to my assistance and kindly consented to con- tinue with me on my trip to Baltimore. We arrived in George- have the witness of their acceptance with God. So then we may decline in love and joy in the midst of the hardest labor and greatest sacrifices. Yea, we may give our bodies to be burned, and yet such zeal will not do without love to God. The Bishop says: " During this affliction I was brought to examine my life in relation to eternity closer than I had done when in the enjoyment of health. 'The spiritual and temporal business of the Church' has become so complicated, spread out over so vast a territory, and involves so many responsible and delicate official acts, that I have been almost constantly mentally em- ployed, and frequently greatly perplexed and distressed in its manage- ment. In this examination relative to the discharge of my duties toward my fellow creatures as a man, a Christian minister, and an officer of the Church, I stood approved by my own conscience, but in relation to my Redeemer and Saviour, the result was different. My returns of gratitude and loving obedience bear no proportion to my obligations for redeeming, preserving, and supporting me through the vicissitudes of life from infancy to old age. The coldness of my love to him 'who first loved me,' and has done so much for me, overwhelmed and confused me; and to complete my unworthy character, I had not only neglected to improve the grace given to the extent of my privilege and duty, but for want of that improvement had, while abounding in perplexing care and labor, declined from first love and zeal. I was confounded, humbled myself, implored mercy, and re- newed my covenant to strive and devote myself unreservedly to the Lord." 224 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree town, D. C., before the Baltimore Conference adjourned. It began March 8, 1820. The brethren received us with live- ly expressions of gratitude to God for the preservation of my life." 1 We have already seen that Bishop McKendree, while he was ill in Mississippi, sent the Minutes of the Conference by Brother Lane to meet Bishop Roberts at the South Carolina Conference. Brother Griffin also wrote to Bishop Roberts, informing him of the extreme prostration of Bishop McKendree. The following letter from Bishop Roberts will be read with interest, not only because of the fraternal love it breathes, but also because very- little of the composition of that excellent man has been pre- served: CAMDEN, S. C., December 30, 1818. Dear Bishop McKendree: With mingled emotions of sorrow and joy I received the information communicated by Brother Griffin's letter, sorrow to hear you are pressed down with a weight of afflictions so that you could not be present at this Conference, and joy to find from the same letter that you are on the recovery. may the great Head of the Church shortly re- store you to health, that you may go in and out before his people for many years ! Our Conference commenced at the time appointed. The members were generally present, and did their business with considerable dispatch. Thirteen were admitted on trial as candidates for the traveling ministry. Three of the number admitted last year found to be incompetent and were dropped; one departed this life namely, Absalom W. Phillips; and four- teen have located. So we have but a partial supply for the present year; but partial as it is, we have thought proper to send one (Alexander Talley) as a missionary to Alabama. I have just received a letter fron Brother Mark Moore, our missionary in New Orleans. He writes me that prospects are flattering. Have put three hundred and fifty dollars in the hands of Brother Lane to be applied to the support of that mission. Brother Lane tells me it is likely to be a very expensive one; but we must support it as well as we can. Any money I may collect for it, as I go on to the East, I will place in the hands of the J The Rev. Andrew Monroe, who is still an efiective and useful traveling preacher in the Missouri Codference, has kindly furnished an interesting account of this trip of a thousand miles. A part of this contribution is wanting: but we learn the Bishop, although very af- flicted and feeble, went on horseback from Tennessee to Lynchburg, where his friends pre- vailed on him to go the remainder of the route to Georgetown, D. C,, in a little carriage. Brother Monroe was delighted and edified with the conversation and example of his suffer- ing and heroic companion, nnd warmly eulogizes his character as a gentleman, a devout Christ ion, a wise man, and a model bishop. The Bishop devotes a few words only to this long and toilsome journey. It is regretted that the narrative of Mr. Monroe cannot be had, as the fragment of it contains some striking illustrations of the Bishop's character and manner of life. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 225 Book Agents, and take a draft for the presiding elder of the Natchez Dis- trict, who, I understand, is one of the committee to superintend the New Orleans Mission. There were several letters in the post office here directed to you. I opened them all, and found they were mostly on business relating to the Conference. But three of them were from Ohio one from David Young, another from James Quinn, and the other from Moses Grume. There is a great work of religion in Brother Grume's district; and in the upper part of the State, with the exception of some parts of Brother Finley's district, all things seem to continue as they were. There is a good work going on in some parts of the Virginia and Balti- more Conferences. In this Conference the increase of whites last year does not exceed two hundred; and I think there is a decrease, taking the white and colored together. The Conference was, however, rich in funds and able to pay off all demands against it. My sheet is nearly full, and it is now past midnight; so I must close. My health is good, my mind tranquil, and I trust, my heart fixed to do the will of God. Yours affectionately, R. R. ROBERTS. Although Bishop McKendree had generously determined to make the tour to the Mississippi Conference, which resulted so disastrously to his health, rather than suffer Bishop Roberts to be so long from his family, yet Bishop Roberts with equal unselfishness was willing and ready to undertake it. The fol- lowing letter was written after the interview between them, in which the senior bishop had volunteered to do this work, and sometime before he had started on his journey: STEUBENVILLE, OHIO, August 11, 1818. Dear Bishop McKendree: May grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied to you and every gospel blessing be yours, in time and eternity! The reason of my troubling you with these few lines is to let you know that the thought of your going to the Mississippi Conference this fall afflicts my mind. If you say the word, I am still willing to go for you, and if you go yourself and the journey be too great for you and anything dis- agreeable should occur, these lines will bear me witness that I am not the cause and keep my conscience and character clear. I remain, as ever, yours in the bonds of the gospel, R. R. ROBERTS. Surprise has often been expressed at the good judgment man- ifested by Bishops Asbury and McKendree in the appointment of the preachers to their work; but while we give them credit for great sagacity in discerning the characters of men and in 15 226 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree adapting the workmen to the work, it should be remembered that they visited the whole work annually, and that conse- quently they never lost sight of a preacher. The following memorandum, found among Bishop KcKendree's papers, may serve to explain this matter: "The characteristics of the persons admitted on trial in the Ohio Conference, A. D. 1818: "Samuel Adams. Married; a man of talents, though much cannot be expected from him, because of age and family. "James Smith. Single, young, pious, moderate abilities. "Charles Elliott. Single, young, good acquired abilities. He is a mathematician, a Greek and Latin scholar, also has a considerable knowledge of Hebrew. "G. R. Jones. Middle-aged, married, though prepared to travel a length of time; his usefulness promising. "L. Swormstedt. Single, about nineteen years of age, has more than ordinary abilities, has been genteelly raised, is pious and diligent in his studies. He promises great usefulness. "A. W. Elliott. Married, aged about thirty years, has a family of seven children, cannot go far from home, has useful abilities; a son of thunder." The Journal and the letters of Bishop McKendree show the high estimation in which this sagacious and good man held the talents and character of the late Bishop Emory while he was yet comparatively young and unknown and the strong mutual attachment which existed between them. John Emory was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in 1789. His parents were intelligent, highly respected, and pious. His early indications of unusual mental activity and of strong convictions of moral obligation induced his father to give him a collegiate education. Following the wish of his father and the natural bent of his own mind, he became a stu- dent of law in 1805; and he embraced religion the year following. Shortly afterwards (in 1807), he was licensed as a local preacher, yet pursued his legal studies and became a practicing attorney. But in 1810, he resolved to abandon the law and give himself wholly to the work of the itinerant ministry. Providentially, about this time he met with Bishop McKendree, "accompa- nied him to Virginia, and thence back to the Philadelphia Con- ference." At this Conference (the venerable Asbury presiding) Mr. Emory, then just twenty-one years of age, was received on trial. It was thus the intimacy and attachment began between Bish- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 227 op McKendree and Bishop Emory. What a blessing it was that the young Timothy had the privilege of associating with such a Paul in the beginning of his itinerant career! How invaluable to him was such an example of piety, prudence, and fidelity. The impression seems to have been indelible. In 1817, Mr. Emory was selected by the Bishop as his travel- ing companion on a tour of the continent, but on account of the unwillingness of his charge to give up their pastor, the Bishop consented for him to return, after having had his company through the Northern and Eastern Conferences. Having been stationed the two preceding years in Washington City, he was elected a delegate to the General Conference of 1820. It will be seen that in this body he dissented from the views of the Bishop and the majority upon the presiding elder question; and although in the general excitement which grew out of the pro- ceedings upon this subject a degree of coolness occurred between him and his old friend, yet he was appointed unanimously by the bishops a delegate from the American General Conference to the British Conference. Having acquitted himself most hon- orably, both to himself and the body he represented, in adjust- ing the difficulties which had sprung up between these two great divisions of the Wesleyan family in reference to Canada, and having impressed our trans-Atlantic brethren very favorably, he soon returned to the United States and resumed his labors as a traveling preacher. The following letter shows the cordial correspondence which was kept up between Mr. Emory and the Bishop and is in reply to one he had just received from the Bishop. It awakens some pleasant and melancholy reminiscences: WASHINGTON, April 29, 1819. Reverend and Dear Sir: Your favor of October 5 last, from Nashville, was dully received and would have been long since answered if I had known where to address you. It was with much concern that I heard of the arduous and dangerous journey which you then meditated, notwithstanding your infirmities, the effect of which we were but too sensibily apprised of by your absence from our late Conference. I was not present when Bishop Roberts informed the Conference of the cause of your absence (not having then arrived), but he had the goodness, afterwards, to show me your letter to him, from which it affords me much satisfaction to learn that you had so far recovered as to be able to ride. That you may be speedily restored and permitted to visit us again is not only my prayer, but I doubt not of many in this part of your extensive charge. Our Annual Conference, on the whole, was an agreeable one. The in- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree crease in our numbers was said to be about two thousand. In this station (in which I am continued), I think our prospect is still pleasing. The congregation is large, respectable, and seriously attentive, and our numbers have increased from 133 (the number returned by Brother Burch) to over 170 whites and 48 or 50 colored. Brother Roszel is our presiding elder, we being now attached to the Baltimore District; Brother John Davis, in Georgetown; Monroe, at the' Navy Yard, and J. Wells in Alexandria. It will give me much pleasure to hear from you, if you can at any time find leisure enough to write me a few lines, if it be only to inform me how and where you are. My wife, although not personally acquainted with you, yet begs me to assure you of her affectionate regards, of which, I must tell you, she has given a mother's proof in expressing a particular wish that you should have baptized our little son had you been at our Conference, as was ex- pected. She calls him John; he is now eight weeks old. My Robert, who is a well-grown, hearty boy, is not now with me, but I expect to have him this summer. Pardon me, sir, for this family digression. A stranger might think I was forgetting myself in writing thus to you, but you will not. We hope for an interest in your prayers, and be assured I remain, as ever, respectfully and effectionately your son in the gospel, J. EMORY. P. S. The Baltimore Conference has authorized the publication of Bishop Asbury's "Life," if approved of by the committee, of which I have the honor to be one. Dr. Jennings gives us hope of having the manu- script soon. They have also authorized the publication of Bishop Asbury's Journal. The difference in opinion between the Bishop and Dr. Emory alluded to, as it involved no loss of confidence in each other's integrity, was not permitted to quench their esteem or affection. Its effects were temporary. Upon the first opportunity that presented itself after his return from England, an interview between them took place in which they interchanged sentiments on the presiding elder question. On the next day, Bishop McKendree sent him the following note: SHARPSBURG, July 13, 1822. Dear Brother: The friendly conversation which you introduced yester- day had for its object the perpetuation of that confidence and harmony by which we have been so long united and was therefore pleasing to me. I am cordially disposed to meet your advances in the accomplishment of so desirable an object. Nothing short of sin gives me so much pain as to see and feel declension in Christian fellowship. Situated as we are, to understand each other is of vital importance. For this purpose your at- tention is invited to the following particulars, in order to know whether I understand you correctly, and if not, I hope you will correct me: 1. I understood you to say, in different parts of our conversation: "It Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 229 is to be presumed that the General Conference will not knowingly pass an unconstitutional law." 2. " That the bishops have no right to decide against the decisions of the General Conference; therefore, if all the bishops believe an act of the Gen- eral Conference to be unconstitutional, they are bound to submit to the superior judgment of the General Conference and carry the act or resolu- tion into effect." 3. A decision on the constitutionality of an act and carrying the reso- lution into effect have exclusive reference to the understanding and judg- ment of the executive, conscience has nothing to do with it. Are the following sentiments [being those the Bishop had expressed] correct? If not, please to point out the errors: 1. "The executive authority, or the power by which the bishops are en- abled to oversee the spiritual anf temporal business of our Church, consists in the power of appointing and controlling the preachers, especially the presiding elders." 2. The suspended resolutions transfer the power of constituting the presiding elders from the bishops to the Annual Conferences and invest them with executive authority. A direct and plain answer will oblige your old, sincere, and aggrieved friend, W. MCKENDREE. P. S. The above is intended in perfect accordance with the principles of confidence and brotherly love. It is a matter of regret that we have not been able to find Dr. Emory's reply to these questions, which was doubtless alike honorable to his head and his heart. We know, however, that without a disavowal on the part of either of them of the senti- ments they had entertained, their former intimacy was renewed and that their mutual esteem continued to the end of their lives. Perhaps the crisis which had then arrived in the history of the Church and which tested the fealty of her sons hastened a re- union which had never extended to a loss of esteem. In that struggle which was, even in 1822, already beginning, Dr. Emory, with many others who had differed from Bishop McKen- dree and the majority in 1820, was found doing valiant and ef- fective service by the side of the faithful old Bishop in endeav- oring to preserve the Church they loved from the evils of rad- icalism. The writer can never forget the effect produced upon the General Conference and an immense number of spectators by the reading of his report as chairman of the Committee on Lay Representation at the session of 1828. It was a masterly and overwhelming defense of our economy. Indeed, so clear, so strong, and yet so kind and conciliatory was it, that the Rev. Asa Shinn, one of the leaders of the reformers, rose immediately Life and Times of Bishop McKendree after Dr. Emory had closed and moved its adoption and the printing of five thousand copies. It is due also to others to say that many of those who, with Dr. Emory, had favored the adoption of the suspended resolutions, were, like him, found to be faithful and true to the Church in the day of her trial. And, in the language of his biographer, his own worthy and lamented son: "When, in 1832, Bishop KcKendree, then rapidly hasten- ing to the termination of his long and honorable career, learned that Mr. Emory had been elected as his colleague in the epis- copate, he sent for him to come to his lodgings, and, as he en- tered the room, the venerable man, rising to meet him, ex- claimed, 'Bishop Emory, John Emory, come to my arms!' and, with an affectionate embrace, welcomed him to his new office." Bishop McKendree did not confound the advocates of the suspended resolutions with radicals, and it were unjust to do so. Dr. Emory, although not a member of the General Conference of 1824, was its Secretary, and was elected Book Agent, a post which he filled with distinguished success until he was made bishop in 1832. Although but partially known at the South, having made but one tour of the Southern Conferences, yet such was the high estimate of his character that several literary institutions in this section of the country bear his name and many a sympa- thizing heart mourned over his untimely death. Indeed, such was the influence which he seemed likely to obtain over the whole Church that it has often been said if Bishop Emory and Dr. Fisk had lived until 1844 the separation of the Church might not then have occurred. CHAPTER XIV General Conference of 1820 Address of Bishop McKendree Authorized to travel at his discretion A bishop to be elected J. Soule elected Presiding elder question Positions of the bishops "Compromise" or "peace measure" Soule desires leave to decline McKendree's state- ment Facts Powers of General and Annual Conferences and bishops Soule's letter Bishops confer Prepare to ordain Soule The resolu- tions suspended Bishop McKendree's appeal to the Annual Confer- ences Precedent for it Soule declines His reasons The other bish- ops to do the work next four years Bishop McKendree troubled, but resolves to do what he can Gets to Tennessee Conference. THE General Conference which met in Baltimore May 1, 1820, was composed of eighty-nine delegates from the eleven Annual Conferences and was a very important session. By the meas- ures it adopted, it gave a new impulse to the educational enter- prises of the Church, organized the Missionary Society, estab- lished the system of District Conferences for local preachers, and, after having for many years left the Annual Conferences to manage the subject of slavery under the General Rule clause as they might severally think best, again resumed the task of legis- lating for the whole Church upon this subject. But the prin- cipal topic of excitement was the presiding elder question and the consequences growing out of the action of the Conference upon this subject. The Conference was opened by Bishop McKendree in the usual manner, his colleagues, Bishops George and Roberts, be- ing present. He also gave a written address stating his views of the condition of the Church and suggesting such subjects for their consideration as he deemed the interests of the work re- quired. Oral communications were also made by the other bishops, and they expressed the conviction that in view of the declining health of the senior bishop and the great extension of the work the episcopacy should be strengthened by the addition of another bishop. Committees were accordingly appointed to consider and report upon the various important themes of their addresses. Here we are again reminded that we are indebted to Bishop McKendree for the custom of presenting a written episcopal quadrennial address to the General Conference and the reference 232 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of the topics contained in it to appropriate committees, a course which is likely to be followed. The following is the address of Bishop McKendree, a copy of which Dr. Bangs says he regrets he was not able to find and is perhaps the only copy extant: To the General Conference to be held in Baltimore, May, 1820. Dear Brethren: Through sore affliction for more than eighteen months, my regular course of traveling and my ministerial labors have been inter- rupted; but in the deepest bodily distress the Lord has mercifully sup- ported me, and by his graciously supporting hand I am brought to see the opening of another General Conference. So far as I can judge for myself, the burden which I have been accus- tomed to bear is too heavy for my present strength, and I can scarcely hope that I shall be able soon, if ever, to do as I have done. I am disposed, however, to do what I can. It is probable that excessive labor contributed much to my affliction. Friends foresaw and premonished me of the danger; but I acted under a sense of duty, was supported by a pure intention, and have no cause to reproach myself. I am deeply sensible of my lack of talents to render the service which so good a cause and the important station to which I am appointed continu- ally require, and I am well prepared to submit to the dispensation in hope of seeing the mighty task more amply performed. Many have been my imperfections and errors; and no doubt I should have committed more but for the aid of friends, whose council came to the help of the Lord. For well-timed support, as well as for the comforts re- ceived from the Lord and his people, I desire to be unfeignedly thankful. As my labors have been restricted, my knowledge of the state of things in many places must be imperfect. To my worthy colleages, therefore, whose privilege it has been to travel extensively, I must look to supply the deficiences of my address. From 1784 to 1808 the General Conference was composed of all the traveling preachers who had fulfilled the requisite probation. The preach- ers, who met according to appointment, whether many or few, considered themselves invested with full power to correct, alter, or change the Disci- pline at pleasure; and our system of government passed the scrutinizing ex- amination of five such Conferences. The General Conference of 1808, satisfied with the principles and utility of the system, constituted a delegated Conference, and by constitutional restrictions ratified and perpetuated our system of doctrines and dicipline and the rights and privileges of all the preachers and members; in a word, all the essential parts of the system of government. It is presumed that no radical change can be made for the better at present. An important advantage resulting from the present state of things is the power which, through the responsibility of the general superintendents, the General Conference derives to regulate or correct an improper admin- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 233 istration, to enforce the rules, and to carry the whole system of our itiner- ant ministry into complete effect. This is undoubtedly the dictate of wisdom and evinces the indispensable necessity of an effective general superintendency. The increase since the last General Conference, according to the Min- utes, is 108 traveling preachers and 29,759 members, probably in all not less than 3,800 traveling and local preachers and 240,924 members. And eight of eleven Annual Conferences have produced an increase of 69 travel- ing preachers and 16,331 members for the next return. But the utility of our ministry and plan of spreading the gospel is not confined to our own Church. Our example and labors have a beneficial influence upon other denominations. It must be admitted that many who were formerly opposed, not only to our traveling ministry and the doctrines which are denominated Methodist doctrines, but also to that experimental and practical religion which is supported by the direct witness of the Spirit and for which we contend, are now warm advocates for missionary preach- ers and speak favorably of virtue and piety and even imitate us in many things. Thus the propriety of our system is admitted, and in this I do re- joice and will rejoice. To what can this astonishing change be attributed with more proba- bility than to the beneficial influence of the example of the Methodist min- istry on other denominations? Whilst we on our part cheerfully follow the laudable activity of many who are engaged in the important work of obtaining the requisite means and of instructing the ignorant, let us carefully guard against and avoid the destructive doctrine and example of those who stop short of experimental religion and who content themselves with literary and moral attainments, who have not that faith which works by love and purifies the heart and have but a name to live while they are dead. To you who observe the lives of professors and the superficial manner in which Christian experience is treated by some and who try all by that saying, "By their fruits ye shall know them," this will not appear a severe censure. The influence of the rich, the great, the learned, the powerful, and nu- merous friends, who have embarked in the defense and circulation of the Bible, in connection with missionaries, to bear the glad tidings to the heathen abroad and to the destitute at home, at once confounds the op- poser and emboldens the feeble advocate of truth. When the Church is thus honored, many press into her service and par- take of her advantages without counting the cost or partaking of her real joys. The desirable intimacy which subsists among different denominations, the terms of admitting persons of various education and sentiments, and the danger of being injured by the influence of men, especially of men of the world professing religion, will suggest the propriety of a strict exami- nation of our administration both as it respects doctrines and discipline and experimental and practical religion. 234 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree It should not be surprising if among so many preachers and people thus situated you will find a deficiency in experimental or practical religion or in the use of the means. Among so many, should some, for purposes of profit or ease or honor require, as in days of old, an injurious change in our well-tried and ap- proved system of government, their misguided wishes, it is hoped, will be overruled by your wisdom and prudence to whose patronage this inval- uable treasure is so confidently committed. "God forbid," said St. Paul, "that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." Influenced by this principle, we may desire the best gifts and ought to support profitable offices. An effective general superintendency is essentially necessary to our itinerant plan of preaching the gospel. One of your superintendents is unable to do the work of an effective man; you will therefore see the pro- priety of strengthening the episcopacy. Your attention is called to the rule which at the last General Conference was formed to prevent the distilling of spirituous liquors, and it may be proper for you to examine our relation to the subject of slavery, particu- larly in reference to the transfer of power to make rules and regulations respecting the buying and selling of slaves. The regulations which concern the state of our meetinghouses may like- wise need your attention. To perpetuate a living and respectable ministry, both traveling and local, is of the utmost importance. More attention to the qualifications of candidates for the local as well as the traveling ministry, by examina- tion before a judicious committee or by other means, might have a good effect. The acquisition of territory, the extension of settlements, and the form- ing of new circuits may call your attention to the boundary lines of some of the Conferences. Perhaps we have not paid sufficient attention to the voice of Providence calling to a more general as well as a more detached spread of the gospel among the Indians and among the destitute of our cities and of many re- mote and scattered settlements. The means have always been within our reach, as appears from the success of mite collections, of town and country missions, and of missionary and Bible societies all of which are but im- provements on Mr. Wesley's system of penny collections for the spread of the gospel. At this moment your attention is emphatically called to this subject by an address from the Wyandotte Indians requesting us to send missionaries among them, by the wants of thousands of uninstructed souls in the cities, towns, and cottages of our widely extended country, and by societies already formed with a design to raise money for such purposes. Our children, who are partially instructed, and the thousands of unin- structed children, who, though not of us, yet are completely within our reach, have an undoubted claim on our attention. Great and wonderful Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 235 things might be done for the rising generation by a strict, consistent, and persevering attention. Had we an enlarged and doctrinal catechism and were this duly used to train the children of the Methodists so as to establish them in the religion of their fathers; were proper pains taken to invite the children of those who constitute our congregations to partake of these benefits; were families more diligently sought out by our preachers, class leaders, and active young men and women and solicited to unite in the good work of saving their children by these and such like means as your wisdom under God may devise, the rising generation may be made early to see the danger and vanity of the wealth and splendor of the world and to appreciate the dignity and happiness of true godliness and intellectual worth. The children of the Methodists would no more withdraw from the good cause of God to lend their influence to support institutions and opinions from which their an- cestors thought it their duty to retire; and many who without this care might become the curse of their country would be raised up to be strong pillars in the house of God. The "Life of Bishop Asbury," which, in consequence of affliction and a press of business, was not proposed to the last General Conference, is now in a state of forwardness and is recommended to your patronage. Accept, dear brethren, the affectionate assurance of my love in the gos- pel, and my fervent prayers for your prosperity and peace. W. MCKENDREE. The Committee on the Episcopacy brought forward a re- port pretty early in the session approving the administration of the bishops during the past four years, and adding: "In relation to strengthening the episcopacy, they have re- garded with deep and affectionate concern the declining health and strength of our senior superintendent. Worn down by long, extensive, and faithful labors in the service of God and the Church, your committee feel a solicitude which they doubt not is equally felt by the Conference that every practicable pro- vision may be made for his relief and comfort, hoping by a pru- dent relaxation from labor for a time the Church may yet be blessed with the benefit of his very desirable services and coun- sel." Dr. Bangs adds: "Whereupon the following resolutions were submitted by the committee, and concurred in by the Con- ference: " ' 1. That it is the wish and desire of this General Conference that Bishop McKendree, during his afflictions and debility, should travel in such directions and remain in such places as he may judge most conducive to his own health.and comfort, and 236 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree that he be accordingly, at the close of the Conference, respect- fully and affectionately requested so to do. "'2. That whenever Bishop McKendree shall think himself able, it is the desire of this Conference that he should continue, so far as his health will permit, the exercise of his episcopal functions and superintending care. " '3. That the committee appointed by the last General Con- ference to make provision for the families of the bishops are hereby continued, and that the same committee be directed to take into consideration the present state of Bishop McKendree's health and to provide for defraying any extra expenses which, in their judgment, his afflictions may make requisite.'" These resolutions, so expressive of sympathy and affectionate esteem, were duly appreciated by the Bishop, and were remem- bered with grateful feelings in many an hour of subsequent suffering. They were as honorable to the Conference as they were kind and complimentary to him. This committee further reported, on May 9, that (in view of the declining health of the senior bishop and the increase of trav- el and labor which would devolve upon the superintendents) "it is expedient that one additional general superintendent be elected and ordained at this General Conference," which was adopted by the Conference. And it was on "Saturday morn- ing, May 13, moved, etc., that the Conference will now pro- ceed to the election of a general superintendent. Carried. Re- solved, etc., that before we proceed to act on the above reso- lution, the Conference go to prayer. Carried. Brother Gar- rettson gave out a few verses of a hymn and then prayed. The roll was called to ascertain who was absent, and it appeared that the only one absent was Loring Grant, who was sick. In conducting the election, two persons viz., S. G. Roszel and D. Ostrander were appointed to receive the votes. On receiving and counting the votes, it appeared that there were 88 votes, and that Joshua Soule of this number had 47 votes; Nathan Bangs had 38. There were three scattering votes. Joshua Soule was declared duly elected to the office of Bishop." l The events which followed almost immediately upon this election were so important in themselves and so connected with Bishop McKendree's life that his biographer hopes to be ex- cused for narrating them with more than ordinary minuteness and detail. His authorities for his statements are reliable man- uscripts and published documents. 1 Extracts from the Journal. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 237 Before the Conference had elected the bishop, the presiding elder question, as it is called, had been, as usual, introduced. From the very organization of the Church there had always been some members in every General Conference who were de- sirous of modifying or taking away altogether the power of stationing the preachers by the bishops. Mr. O'Kelly's seces- sion turned, professedly, upon the rejection of his motion in the General Conference of 1792 to give every preacher an appeal to his Annual Conference from the appointment of the bishop. In 1800 attempts were made to restrict the power of the bishops. In 1808, as we have seen, while the constitution of the dele- gated General Conference was under consideration, an attempt was made to render the office of presiding elder elective by the Annual Conferences. At the General Conference of 1812, this question was brought forward by a member of the New York Conference, and all the delegates from the New York, Philadelphia, and Genesee Conferences voted for it. The ma- jority against it was greatly reduced, being only three, the Southern and Western Conferences having defeated it. "In 1816, the same fate attended a similar motion, although one of the bishops (George) elected at that Conference was known to be favorable to the proposed change in the mode of selecting the presiding elders." ' The plan of 1816 was that the bishop should nominate and the Conference elect. If the nominee of the bishop should be rejected, he was to nominate two others, one of whom the Conference should appoint. Those thus ap- pointed were to remain in office four years, unless dismissed by the mutual consent of the Conference and the bishop. The pre- siding elders, moreover, were to constitute a council to assist the bishop in stationing the preachers. This was rejected by a vote of 38 ayes and 63 nays. "Early in the second week of the General Conference of 1820, T. Merritt, of New England, seconded by B. Waugh, of Balti- more, moved so to amend the Discipline that the answer to the first question in Section 5 of Chapter I, 'By whom are the presid- ing elders to be chosen? ' should read as follows : ' Ans. By the Con- ferences.' After considerable discussion (twenty-one speaking, thirteen in favor of the motion), Ezekiel Cooper moved that it lie on the table, to bring forward one that he supposed would be accommodating to both parties, which was that the bishops should nominate three times the number of presiding elders wanted, out of. which number the Conference should choose l "Bangs's History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," Vol. II, p. 333. 238 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree or elect the number necessary. After considerable debate, a motion was brought forward by William Capers, seconded by N. Bangs, that a committee consisting of three from each side should be appointed, to confer with the bishops on the subject. This motion prevailed; the committee was appointed, Bishop George then in the chair. On the side of the alteration in the government Ezekiel Cooper, John Emory, and Nathan Bangs were appointed. On the side of our present form of government S. G. Roszel, Joshua Wells, and W. Capers were appointed. "The committee met the bishops, and after conferring with them, came to no agreement, but appointed to meet next morn- ing. Roszel, Wells, Bangs, and Capers were in time, the others not appearing, nothing was done. When the Conference ad- journed, at twelve o'clock, Bishop George desired the committee to meet him in the gallery of the Eutaw Church. We met ac- cordingly. Mr. Cooper, in bringing forward his motion, had ob- served it met with his (the Bishop's) approbation, and, if I am not mistaken, said, in fact, it was the Bishop's motion. Mr. Merritt then stated that he held in his hand a note from Bishop George, stating that all hope of an accommodation was at an end. Some on the old side felt their minds afflicted, considering themselves forsaken by Bishop George. In the gallery, he went into an explanation, which, as it respected the note men- tioned by Brother Merritt, appeared different from the views it presented when Merritt mentioned it, but stated he was in favor of the accommodating plan, and that he could not see the principle was affected or changed by its adoption. After con- siderable details, in which Mr. Cooper stated he understood him correctly, and cordially agreed with him, S. G. Roszel ob- served, after all that was said, he must confess he did not under- stand him, and wished him to be so minute in detail that he could not be misunderstood, and asked Bishop George, ' Do you mean that if six more presiding elders are wanted, you are to nominate three times the number and the Conference to elect or choose out of that number? or do you mean that you nom- inate three, and the Conference choose one out of the three nominated, until the number necessary be obtained?' He re- plied that that was his meaning i. e., the last-named plan. On that principle the committee united, those members in favor of the old rules having assurances that nothing more would be required. The report was written by John Emory and signed by all the members, and at the afternoon sitting was brought Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 239 forward and passed by Conference, 61, I think, voting for it." x The following is the report mentioned above: TUESDAY, May 19, 3 O' Clock. The committee appointed to confer with the bishops on a plan to con- ciliate the wishes of the brethren on the subject of choosing presiding elders recommend to the Conference the adoption of the following resolutions, to be inserted in their proper place in the Discipline: Resolved, That whenever, in any Annual Conference, there shall be a vacancy or vancancies in the office of presiding elder in consequence of his period of service of four years having expired or the bishop wishing to re- move any presiding elder, or by death, resignation, or otherwise, the bishop or president of the Conference, having ascertained the number wanted from any of these causes, shall nominate three times the number, out of which the Conference shall elect by ballot, without debate, the number wanted; provided, that when there are more than one wanted, not more than three at a time shall be nominated nor more than one at a time shall be elected; provided also, that in case of any vacancy or vacancies in the office of presiding elder in the interval of any Annual Conference, the bish- ops shall have authority to fill such vacancy or vacancies until the ensuing Annual Conference. Resolved, That the presiding elders be, and they hereby are, made the advisory council of the bishop or bishops, or president of the Conference, in stationing the preachers. EZEKIEL COOPER, J. WELLS, STEPHEN G. ROSZEL, J. EMORY, N. BANGS, WILLIAM CAPERS. "Great joy was expressed at this union. All now were in fel- lowship, if words could be taken as evidence. Many in favor of the old rule did not vote for it, and, being very uneasy, wished it reconsidered. "A few days afterwards, Bishop McKendree came forward and stated his objections to the rule adopted, and had read in the Conference a letter from Joshua Soule, bishop elect. To the sentiments of Bishop McKendree and Mr. Soule those in favor of a change took exceptions, held a caucus without con- sulting those not in favor of the change, and agreed to arrest the ordination of J. Soule. Those originally in favor of the old rule (but who had agreed to the compromise for the sake of peace and union) considered themselves no longer bound by any agreement on accommodation measures. A motion was made to reconsider the vote on the election of presiding elders, and while this was under consideration, J. Soule, understanding l Extracts from a manuscript, " Statement of the Proceedings of the Gen- eral Conference of 1820, by a Member." 240 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree he was to be publicly opposed, came forward and by letter asked liberty to resign. The subject of his resignation was taken up, and, at the instance of S. G. Roszel, it was postponed until next morning. On the motion before mentioned, to reconsider, there was a tie vote 43 to 43 Bishop Roberts refusing to give the casting vote. "A motion was then brought forward to suspend the reso- lutions making the presiding elders elective until the next Gen- eral Conference. This motion prevailed 45 for, and 34 against it. "Brother Soule's resignation was then taken up, and 'S. G. Roszel moved that Brother Soule be, and hereby is, respectfully requested to withdraw his resignation, and submit to the wishes of his brethren in being ordained a bishop.' This prevailed, 49 voting for it. When this was stated by Bishop George to J. Soule, he still stated his wish to resign; upon which James Quinn remarked, 'We cannot accept or receive his resignation'; and no vote was taken on it. Permission, therefore, was not given him by vote of the Conference to resign. Of course he stands bishop elect. "After Brother Soule's wish to resign, Bishop George ob- served to S. G. Roszel, privately, that the Conference must elect another bishop, for they could not cover the work, Bishop McKendree not being effective. S. G. Roszel replied that we, the majority, will vote for no one but Brother Soule. Then, said Bishop George, you will compel us to resign. The reply was: 'We had rather have no bishop than one we cannot confide in.' On Friday before the Conference adjourned, Bishop George observed to S. G. Roszel that Brother Soule would now serve; that he believed many of the minority would vote for him; that he had been talking with Bangs and Redding. Bishop George then notified the Conference that they must meet next morning and elect a bishop, and that he could be ordained the Sabbath following. That evening the minority had a meeting, and came to a determination to address Bishops George and Roberts, requesting them to decline having another bishop appointed. This address Bishop Roberts showed to S. G. Roszel after the Conference adjourned. On Saturday morning, when the Con- ference had met, Bishop George stated that, as it was a late pe- riod of the session, and the minds of some were much afflicted, they had thought proper to advise not to elect a bishop at this time, but the majority could do as they thought proper. Broth- ers Capers and Wells brought forward a motion to elect a bishop, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 241 etc.; but, after some observations made by Bishop George, it was withdrawn. S. G. Roszel renewed it. Bishop George beck- oned him to come to him in the altar, and asked him to with- draw it, that the minority would not agree to it, or would break off, or something to that effect. It was withdrawn." 1 The above statement was made for the information of Bishop McKendree, who, as will appear, was unwell and out of the city. The author was not only a member of the Conference, but of the committee who conferred with the bishops and reported the resolutions, which afterwards were known as the suspended res- olutions. The reader will readily identify him; and, of course, his statement is reliable. Bishop McKendree filed it away and kept it very carefully. We subjoin the following statement from Bishop McKendree's Journal, in reference to these transactions: "The superintendents requested the General Conference to give them the assistance of another bishop. The request was granted, the Rev. Joshua Soule was elected, and the day of his consecration was fixed by the bishops, and announced in the Conference. On account of his health, the senior bishop then went into the country until the time should arrive. After this, the question of transferring the power of appointing the pre- siding elders from the bishops to the Annual Conferences was taken up and warmly discussed. This would so manifestly effect a radical change in our system of government that it be- came pretty evident the motion would be lost; yet the debate was protracted until the time fixed for the consecration was fast approaching. The bishop elect was known to be in favor of the constitutional system of government. When the senior returned, in expectation of attending to the ordination, he was informed that Bishop George had postponed it, and consequent- ly preparation for the ordination had not been made. At this late hour the Conference appointed a committee to consult with the bishops on this momentous subject. The bishop elect was precluded from this consultation by the delicacy of his po- sition. The senior bishop disapproved of the proposed change; the other two were favorable to some change, the extent not pointed out. At the adjournment of the first session of the Con- ference on the next day, Bishop George invited the committee who had waited on the bishops, consisting of three from each side, to meet him. In this meeting the proposition before the ^Extract from a manuscript " Statement of the Proceedings of the Gen- eral Conference of 1820, by a Member." 16 242 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Conference was so changed as to authorize the bishops, when a presiding elder should be wanted, to nominate three persons, one of whom should be chosen presiding elder by the Conference." When the Conference met again, the long-protracted sub- ject was presented in this new dress as "a compromise," "a peace measure," and with but little if any examination was passed. This decision seriously affected the senior bishop; forasmuch as he did conscientiously believe that it was a violation of the constitution, that a principle was ceded by virtue of which the members of the Church might be deprived of their constitu- tional rights, and the itinerant system of government entirely changed contrary to the constitution. Originally, the itinerant preachers exercised unrestricted pow- ers; but they saw proper, in their wisdom, to constitute a dele- gated General Conference, invested with such powers as the preachers collectively deemed necessary to perform the duties assigned it. Their powers were expressed. What is not expressed is, consequently, withheld. From the same authority the bishops derive their powers and the preachers and members their rights and privileges. And by virtue of the same authority, arising out of our compact, the powers and rights of the delegated Conference, the bishops, the preachers, and the members are secured by "the Limitations and Restrictions," otherwise called the Constitution of our Church. By the same authority i. e., the convention of the preachers in 1808 the bishops were made amenable to the General Con- ference for their conduct as general superintendents for the spiritual and temporal business of the Church. To discharge the duties assigned them and stand justly amenable as overseers, they are authorized to choose the presiding elders, to appoint the preachers to their work, "and, in the intervals of the Con- ference, to change," etc. But the delegated Conference, by these resolutions, attempted: 1. To divest the bishops of a power which they held by the same authority which created that body and conferred its pow- ers. 2. To invest the bishops with power to nominate persons for presiding elders. 3. To invest the Annual Conferences with power to elect pre- siding elders, all of which are unknown to our form of Discipline, to the Constitution of the Church, and to Episcopal Methodism. It follows, from our view of this subject: Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 243 1. That by the same authority by which the Conferences divest the bishops of the right of choosing the presiding elders, they may deprive the preachers and members of their rights of trial and appeal, etc., and of any of their privileges as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 2. As the General Conference assumed the power to give the bishops the right to nominate and the Annual Conferences the authority to elect the presiding elders, they might take away what they had conferred and thereby paralyze the itinerant system. 3. As the bishops alone are responsible to the General Con- ference, and as the power to perform their duties consists main- ly in appointing and changing the preachers, this resolution would deprive the General Conference of the power of carrying their own "rules and regulations" into effect, because they could not justly hold the bishops accountable for the work after having divested them of the power to perform it. 4. It manifestly appeared to be an act of usurped authority likely to involve a train of alarming consequences. Under this state of things the senior bishop drew up the following as his view of the subject, intending, at a suitable time, to read it to the Conference: BALTIMORE, May 22, 1820. To the bishops and General Conference, now in session. On Saturday evening I received a copy of the resolution which passed on the nineteenth instant, which, contrary to the established order of our Church, authorizes the Annual Conference to elect the presiding elders, and thereby transfers the executive authority from the general superin- tendents to the Annual Conferences and leaves the bishops divested of their power to oversee the business under the full responsibility of general superintendents. I extremely regret that you have, by this measure, re- duced me to the painful necessity of pronouncing the resolution unconsti- tutional, and, therefore destitute of the proper authority of the Church. While I am firmly bound, by virtue of my office, to see that all the rules are properly enforced, I am equally bound to prevent the imposition of that which is not properly rule. Under the influence of this sentiment, and considering the importance of the subject, I enter this protest. If the delegated Conference has a right in one case to impose rules con- trary to the constitution which binds hundreds of preachers and thousands of members in Christian fellowship and on which their own existence and the validity of their acts depend, why may not the same right exist in another? why not in all cases? If the right of infringing the constitution is admitted, what will secure the rights and privileges of preachers and people, together with the friends of the Church? If the constitution can- not protect the executive authority, in vain may the moneyed institution and individual rights call for help from that source. 244 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Believing, as I do, that this resolution is unauthorized by the constitu- tion, and therefore not to be regarded as a rule of the Methodist Episcopal Church, I consider myself under no obligation to enforce or to enjoin it on others to do so. I present this as the expression of my attachment to the constitution and government of the Church and of my sincere desire to preserve the rights and privileges of the whole body. Your worn-down and afflicted friend, W. MCKENDREE. . Shortly before this document was finished, Bishop Roberts entered his room and presented him with a paper from the bish- op elect, addressed to Bishops George and Roberts. Bishop Roberts thought that the bishop elect was not disposed to sub- mit to the authority of the General Conference. The other (Bishop McKendree) thought that such a sentiment would form a serious objection to his ordination, but did not think it was expressed in the document or held by the writer. "It was agreed that Bishop Roberts should see Brother Soule, and re- port at a meeting of the bishops to be held next morning. Soule disavowed the sentiment which the letter was supposed to con- tain, and stated his views on the back of the letter in terms too plain to be misunderstood." The following is the original letter, and postscript on the back of it, alluded to by Bishop McKendree above: Dear Bishops: In consequence of an act of the General Conference, passed this day, in which I conceive the constitution of the Methodist Episcopal Church is violated and that episcopal government, which has heretofore distinguished her, greatly enervated, by a transfer of executive power from the episcopacy to the several Annual Conferences, it becomes my duty to notify you, from the imposition of whose hands only I can be qualified for the office of superintendent, that under the existing state of things / cannot, consistently with my convictions of propriety and obligation, enter upon the work of an itinerant general superintendent. I was elected under the constitution and government of the Methodist Epis- copal Church unimpaired. On no other consideration but that of their continuance would I have consented to be considered a candidate for a re- lation in which were incorporated such arduous labors and awful respon- sibilities. I do not feel myself at liberty to wrest myself from your hands, as the act of the General Conference has placed me in them; but / solemnly de- clare, and could appeal to the Searcher of hearts for the sincerity of my inten- tion, that I cannot act as superintendent under the rules this day made and es- tablished by the General Conference. With this open and undisguised declaration before you, your wisdom will dictate the course proper to be pursued. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 245 I ardently desire peace, and if it will tend to promote it, am willing, per- fectly willing, that my name should rest in forgetfulness. I remain, with sentiments of unfeigned affection and esteem, your son and servant in the gospel Christ, JOSHUA SOULE. BALTIMORE, May 18, 1820. P. S. At the special request of Bishop McKendree, I hereby certify that in the above statement I mean no more than I cannot, consistently with my views of propriety and responsibility, administer that part of the government particularly embraced in the act of the General Conference above mentioned. JOSHUA SOULE. It is not a little surprising that this document, so character- istic of the author's candor, conscientiousness, and firmness, should have been imagined to indicate disloyalty to the del- egated Conference. Fealty to the constitution and an honest and manly protest against its violation is the highest evidence of loyalty to the Church and the constitution. This communi- cation needed no " P. S." It is a monument to its author. We proceed with the narration of the events which followed the presentation of the above communication, as stated in Bishop McKendree's Journal, and, of course, in his own hand- writing: "The bishops met early next morning, and the communica- tion was attentively considered. It appeared that the difficul- ties of the bishop elect rested entirely upon the question of the constitutionality of the resolutions; and it was proposed for the bishops to express their opinions on their constitutionality. Bishop Roberts was of the opinion that the resolutions of the Conference were an infringement of the constitution. Bishop George chose to be silent. The senior bishop considered them unconstitutional. The next question was the propriety of ordaining the bishop elect under existing circumstances. It was unanimously agreed that he should be ordained. The time was agreed upon, and Bishop George was appointed to prepare the credentials and to preach the ordination sermon. 1 The sen- 'That this determination to ordain him was not conditional is positively asserted by Bishop McKendree and is evident from the fact that all the necessary arrangements were agreed upon for it. Not only was Bishop Roberts to take the chair instead of Bishop George, in order that Bishop George might prepare to preach the ordination sermon and to have the credentials got ready, but the Rev. Thomas Mason left the Conference at the request of the bishops to attend to the business of having the parch- ment printed and prepared for the occasion. "He completed the creden- tials, fixing the date according to the time announced by Bishop McKen- dree for his consecration, and Bishop George notified the bishop elect to be 246 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ior bishop then suggested the propriety of informing the Con- ference of the state of things. It was approved, and he was re- quested to make the communication, and the bishop elect, having been informed of the design, approved of the course. When the president, Bishop Roberts, had called the attention of the Conference, the senior bishop laid the case before them. The letter of the bishop elect to the bishop was read; the con- clusion of the council of the bishops and their resolution to or- dain Brother Soule were stated, as well as an intimation of their opinions respecting the constitutional difficulty. The senti- ments of the bishop elect having been prepared and, with a little modification, having been read, he retired, and the Conference resumed its business. A warm contest ensued. The bishop elect was attacked in different ways and sorely pressed, so much so, that at length he asked leave to decline his ordination. This was objected to, and he was requested to withdraw his pe- tition by a larger majority than that by which he had been elected. However, after a tedious and painful debate, it was announced from the chair that it was accepted, but that it was accepted by a vote of the Conference was not ascertained. "For the General Conference thus to attack the bishop elect, and for the president to suffer him to be pursued in this way, appeared to the senior bishop to be very unfair. The Confer- ence, by the vote of a respectable majority, had put him into ready; and Bishop George certainly would not have done all this ii the or- dination had been suspended on a condition." Again: " The Conference did not understand the ordination to have any conditional reference to them, or that they had any legislative control over it; therefore a protest was contemplated, perhaps prepared, to be presented at the time of the con- secration. While these things were going on, Bishops George and Roberts, who were in favor of carrying the resolutions into effect, took J. Soule with them to Bishop McKendree's room in order, if possible, to prevail on them i. e., McKendree and Soule to submit to the authority of the General Con- ference. The senior bishop avowed his readiness to submit to the author- ity of the General Conference, but opposed the want of legitimate author- ity as his objection to those resolutions, and, addressing Bishop Roberts, said: 'You, brother, as well as I, believe these resolutions an infringement of the constitution.' Such an appeal, under such circumstances, laid the bishops, especially Bishop Roberts, under an imperious obligation, if the statement were erroneous, to have objected to it; but no objection was made. A silent pause ensued. Since this interview, Bishop Roberts has not only said the resolutions are an infringement of the constitution, but that by them 'the principle was ceded,'" meaning that they assumed the principle of overriding the constitution by GeneralJDonference legislation. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 247 the hands of the bishop for ordination. In this situation he cer- tainly had a right to address a letter to the bishops, and when he was involved in difficulties by a subsequent act of the Con- ference, he certainly acted an honorable part to inform them of his difficulties prior to his ordination and thereby put it in their power to guard against future difficulties. For this letter and its contents Brother Soule was accountable to the bishops, not to the Conference. Had the bishops judged his conduct un- worthy of the trust confided to him by his election, they would have returned him to the Conference with their objections to his ordination. This would have brought him under the juris- diction of the Conference so far as to reconsider and rescind their vote or confirm it and order his consecration. But in- stead of this, after a formal examination of the subject, they i. e., the bishops had admitted his principle, resolved on his ordination, and, that nothing might be done in the dark, they previously informed the Conference of their design. The Gen- eral Conference had a right to take exceptions, but they should have been directed against the bishops and not against the bish- op elect, who was not accountable to them for this act and was then under the protection of the bishops, who were amendable to the Conference for their official acts. For the Conference to undertake to convince the bishops of an error in their determi- nation to ordain the bishop elect under existing circumstances would have been proper, and as the bishops had resolved to ordain him, it would have been better for the president to ar- rest proceedings against Brother Soule and invited the attack upon themselves. "Ultimately the business assumed another form. The reso- lutions which were the occasion of all this trouble were attacked, and finally their operation was suspended for four years. "The suspension of these resolutions opened the way for another effort to save the constitution, to preserve the peace of the Church, and perpetuate the itinerant system objects which, in his estimation, deserve every effort and sacrifice he can make. This was to lay the constitutionality of these resolutions be- fore the Annual Conferences as the only legitimate and supreme authority to decide in such cases. To this course he was pro- videntially directed by a previous case in our administration. Under a provision in the Discipline, the bishops formed the Genesee Conference in 1809. In the Virginia Conference there was an objection to this act, being, as it was supposed, uncon- stitutional. The bishops submitted the question to the Annual 248 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Conferences. They acted upon it as a proper subject of their de- cision, and confirmed the act of the bishops. By this act the bishops and the Annual Conferences tacitly declared the Annual Conferences to be the proper judges of constitutional questions, and the senior bishop is fully persuaded that, conformably to the genius of our government, all such cases as cannot be other- wise adjusted ought to be submitted to their decision until otherwise provided for by the same authority on which the pre- sent General Conference depends for its existence. "The senior bishop, in hope of succeeding in this good work, prepared an address to the Annual Conferences, the object of which was to obtain a decision on the constitutionality of the suspended resolutions. If the decision should be in their favor, they would go into operation as soon as might be; but if against them, he advised the Annual Conferences to give their consent for the ensuing General Conference to introduce them conform- ably to the constitution. This he did, not that he considered the change an improvement of the system of government, but because, in his opinion, the advocates of the measure had gone too far peaceably to return without this concession and that a less efficient plan, properly managed, would answer a better purpose than a more effective one in the midst of confusion and contention." Having followed the narrative of Bishop McKendree's Jour- nal to a period subsequent to the close of the General Conference and thereby anticipated the result, let us now return and fol- low the proceedings of that body more in detail and in the reg- ular order of action. We have seen that J. Soule was elected on May 13; that short- ly afterwards the discussion was renewed on the presiding elder question, resulting, on the eighteenth, in the adoption of the compromise resolutions presented by the committee; that upon the same day J. Soule addressed a letter to the bishops, already inserted; and that the bishops, with the approbation of the bishop elect, brought the letter and the topics it referred to be- fore the Conference. We have, moreover, seen that the newly elected bishop tendered his resignation, and that the Conference declined its acceptance. We now quote an extract of the Jour- nal: " Tuesday, May 23, 3 o'clock. The following was submitted, signed D. Ostrander, James Smith: "Whereas, Brother Joshua Soule, bishop elect, has signified in his letter to the episcopacy (which letter was read in open Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 249 Conference), that if he be ordained bishop, he will not hold himself bound to be governed by a certain resolution of this Gen- eral Conference relative to the nomination and election of pre- siding elders; therefore, "Resolved, That the bishops be earnestly requested by this Conference to defer or postpone the ordination of the said Brother Joshua Soule until he gives satisfactory explanations to this Conference.' "After some debate, Brother Soule made some remarks. "Moved and seconded that this resolution be indefinitely postponed. "Before the question was taken on this motion, the resolution was withdrawn. " Wednesday morning, May 24- It was suggested by Broth- er Reed that if we go into the ordination of Brother Soule, it was now time we adjourn. 1 Five minutes before eleven o'clock, Brother Joshua Soule rose and expressed a wish that the Gen- eral Conference should by vote request the episcopacy to delay his ordination for some time. "No order was taken on the subject. "Bishop George stated that the episcopacy had deferred the ordination of Brother Joshua Soule to some future period. "Thursday morning, May 25. Bishop George informed the Conference that the ordination of Brother J. Soule would take place at twelve o'clock to-day, in this house. "Brother J. Soule presented a communication in which he stated his resignation of the office of a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church to which he had been elected." The course by the bishop elect was dictated by several con- siderations. 1. His conviction that the constitution of the Church was infringed by a law which he would be expected to execute. 2. The bishops themselves were in trouble. All of them had agreed to ordain him and were anxious that he should submit to it, but there is reason to believe that two of them desired this as a concession to the Conference, and perhaps with the expect- tation that he would so far yield his scruples as, for the sake of peace, to administer the objectionable law; while the senior bishop desired his ordination not only because he regarded him as eminently worthy and fit for the office (as did also his col- leagues), but moreover because he had been lawfully elected and would resist the unconstitutional aggression which he be- ir The ordination was appointed to take placej|at 11 A.M. on this day. 250 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree lieved had been made by the compromise resolutions. The resignation was designed in part to harmonize and relieve them. 1 3. The Conference was in great trouble. The majority had, for the sake of peace, adopted a measure which, upon reflection, they believed unconstitutional. They harmonized with the man whom they had chosen for their bishop and desired his election, although they believed he would not obey the law. Yet they hesitated to repeal the law for fear of dissensions and strife. The resignation of their bishop elect was designed to relieve them. Many of his oldest and most cherished friends opposed his intention to resign. They urged him by his love of the Church, of constitutional Methodism, and by the fact that a respectable majority persisted in demanding his ordination to submit. Upon the other hand, the office had no charms for him. He had a large young family from whom he must be almost estranged if he accepted. He delighted in the regular pastoral work of the ministry. But, above all, he felt that he could not perform the functions of a general superintendent under this new law and honestly believed that in administering this law fealty to the delegated General Conference would be treason to the Church. Therefore, to avoid this conflict with the Conference and an apparently arrogant assumption of power, he felt constrained to reject the councils and entreaties of his friends and, by re- signing his office, to throw back the responsibility upon the Conference. It is difficult to conceive the mental agony which such a train of circumstances would produce in an intelligent, conscientious, and sensitive mind. The following letter from Joshua Soule to the bishops is an apology for his course and needs no explanation: Bishops McKendree, George, and Roberts. Dear Bishops: The course which I have pursued in presenting my resig- nation to the Conference may savor of disrespect to you and therefore needs apology. I spent the night in a sleepless manner and could not prepare the com- munications which I designed to make to you and to the Conference in time to see you until after Conference hours. Not having the least inti- mation or idea of the appointment for ordination this morning, my inten- tion was to have seen you together, immediately after the morning session, and to communicate to you first my resignation and to the Conference at the opening of the afternoon session. But on coming to the Conference I learned that the ordination was notified for this morning; and in order to 1 See note on page 245. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 251 prevent improper excitement as to the time appointed for ordination, I presented my resignation to the Conference when I did. I hope you will not pass a severe censure on me until you shall hear the reasons which have led to this measure. Yours most respectfully, JOSHUA SOULE. MAY 25, 1820. We now resume the extracts from the General Conference Journal. "May 25, 3 o'clock. At the opening of the Conference, Brother Joshua Soule expressed a wish that the Conference would come to a decision on his letter of resignation offered this morning. "Moved and seconded that Brother Joshua Soule be re- quested to withdraw his resignation. This motion was with- drawn. "Moved, etc., that the Conference do not express their de- cision on the subject before to-morrow morning. Carried. "Friday, May 26, 3 o'clock. The letter of Brother Soule to the General Conference, in which he tendered his resignation, being called for and read, it was moved and seconded that the Conference accept the resignation. Withdrawn. "Moved that Brother Soule be and hereby is requested to withdraw his resignation and comply with the wishes of his brethren in submitting to be ordained. Signed S. G. Roszel, S. K. Hodges. Carried, 49 ayes. "Brother Soule, having come into Conference, again stated his purpose to resign. His resignation was accepted." No formal vote, however, seems to have been taken. The following letter to Bishop McKendree was written by Joshua Soule about this time and reveals the writer's mental agony under the trying circumstances of his position. It was a private and confidential communication, vindicating his resig- nation against the importunities of his friends and the objections of his opponents. It is like its author. Dear Bishop McKendree: I cannot doubt you will think me sincere when I assure you that the labor of my mind in the extraordinary situation in which I am placed has weighed down my spirits and, in some measure, broken down that firmness of resolution which dignifies the human charac- ter, and of which, I trust, I have not been altogether destitute while I have encountered that portion of adversity which, in the administrations of Providence, has fallen to my lot. I entered the Methodist Episcopal Church when I was but a child. I have grown up in her bosom, and my attachment to her institutions has increased with my increasing years. My happiness has been ingrafted on 252 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree her communion, and I have contemplated her apostolic order with admi- ration and delight. The constitution which secures her government and guards the powers and privileges of her ministers and members, I have ever held sacred. To touch it in any other way than that which is provided in the constitution itself awakens my sensibility and gives me indescribable pain. In this state of things the important question is, How shall I act! O, that wisdom from above might guide my decision! I was elected to the office of a superintendent when the constitution and government were untouched, but by an extraordinary train of occurrances be- tween my election and consecration to office, a law has been passed with special reference to the episcopacy which, in my judgment, transfers an important executive prerogative from the episcopacy to the Annual Con- ferences, and which law I cannot conscientiously administer, because I firmly believe it to be unconstitutional and therefore doubt my right to administer it. If I receive the imposition of hands under these circum- stances without an open and honest declaration to the body which elected me, how shall I sustain the character of integrity! What shall answer when, in the course of my administration, I am placed at issue with the law? I have seriously reflected on the subject of a partial (sectional) visita- tion of the Conferences. I have attempted to analyze this in relation to our plan of itinerant general superintendency, and I perceive a dissonance which I cannot harmonize. I apprehend that my path, should I proceed, would inevitably lead me to a point where I should be at issue with my predecessors and seniors in office. I declare to you, my dear sir, that these considerations, connected with the train of consequences which must fol- low, drink up my spirit and involve me in a torrent of difficulties and re- sponsibilities which that portion of fortitude that Providence has imparted to me is not sufficient to sustain. // this is weakness, I am weak. Had I been ordained previously to the passing of that resolution, my path would have been marked with sunbeams; it is now quite otherwise. By many I shall be considered an enthusiast, and, shall, probably, sink in the estimation of all; but my conscious integrity I hope to retain as long as I live. And rather than practice the least deception, I will cheerfully suffer the loss of all I hold dear on earth. From these considerations, the final decision of my mind (not unac- companied with prayers and tears) is, that / cannct receive the imposition of hands without a full and undisguised development of my situation to the General Conference. To every man who spoke to me on the subject previous to my election, I unequivocally declared my entire adherence to the old-established plan, and that I stood or fell with the constitution and the government. I believe no one can say, with a knowledge of my sentiments, that I have deceived any man. I have betrayed no trust. I cannot say that I feel no sensibility at the thought of losing the con- fidence ol those friends to whom I have been bound by the most sacred ties for a succession of years, and if I am doomed to sink in your estimation, suffer me to entreat you to consider fully the diffculties of my situation and Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 253 ascribe to the frailty of human nature that which I most solemnly assure you is dictated neither by perverseness of will nor impurity of motive. And whatever loss I may sustain in your confidence, permit me to beg that I may live in your prayers. JOSHUA SOULE. The day on which the resignation of the bishop elect was de- clared to have been accepted was marked by another very important act, the suspension by vote of the General Conference of the presiding elder resolutions. This, of course, created a good deal of excitement. And yet, now that the occasion has passed away and we are prepared to look more calmly into this matter, who can doubt but that on both sides there was an hon- est difference of opinion among brethren equally good and true? Who doubts that Garrettson, Cooper, Bangs, Hedding, Picker- ing, Emory, and Waugh, and their colleagues on one side; and Collins, Capers, Andrew, Roszel, Reed, Soule, and their asso- ciates on the other side, were aiming with equal zeal and integ- rity to promote what they sincerely believed to be the perma- nent interests of the Church? All but one of them have now gone to the Church triumphant and have embraced each other as fellow laborers on earth and heirs of the promises above. Or who can doubt that McKendree, George, and Roberts were alike sincere in their views of Church polity, however differing as to the means of securing the end at which they with equal purity of motives aimed? That McKendree and Soule were right in their sentiments, the writer believes; but he also be- lieves they were all right at heart. Upon the resignation of the newly elected bishop, the ques- tion came up as to the ability of the bishops to perform the nec- essary labor of visiting the Conferences and the other duties of general superintendents for the ensuing four years. All seemed impressed with the conviction they could not do it, and some were anxious to have another election. The minority thought that no one would likely be elected who would give satisfaction to the whole work, and therefore that it was best to postpone the election until next General Conference. On the next day, May 27, a protest was sent to the bishops against entering into another election, signed by thirty members. The original paper is before the writer in the handwriting of Dr. Bangs, with the signatures attached of many prominent mem- bers of the New York, New England, Genesee, and Philadelphia Conferences. The reasons assigned are the agitations created by the recent election and resignation and the excitement growing out of the 254 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree suspension of the presiding elder resolutions, producing such a state of feeling as precluded the deliberation necessary to such an act. They suggest that "it would be placing any man in a very hazardous situation to put him, at this time, into the episcopal chair." They also complain of the majority for the manner in which they secured the suspension of the presiding elder resolu- tions "on yesterday, by obtaining the signatures of said ma- jority"; and that now they are so leagued together that they can and will carry any measure they choose, however obnoxious to the feelings and views of the minority. They therefore say: " We most earnestly wish the present session to come to a close." The fact is, the majority would have voted for no one but Joshua Soule, and as that under the existing circumstances would have been afflicting to him and perhaps add to the unpleasant agita- tion of the Conference, there was a general inclination to put off the election if it could be done without too serious detriment to the work. When, therefore, the two effective superintend- ents came forward and proposed to undertake the task for the succeeding four years, with only such assistance as the senior bishop might be able to give them, the proposition was gladly concurred in and the Conference speedily brought to a close. On this point Bishop McKendree's Journal says: "After the termination of this important subject, the Con- ference hastened to a close, and the members departed for their respective charges, but with very different views relative to our Church polity, the result of the Conference, and the state of the episcopacy, and their conflicting views and apprehensions were but too freely disseminated among the people. I left the Gen- eral Conference under great weakness of body and deeply con- cerned for the perpetuation of our government and the pros- perity of the Church. I did not think the bishops could manage the extensive and difficult work they had undertaken. The part which I had acted at this Conference subjected me to an inadversion and misrepresentation. The traveling preachers had, in my opinion, pushed their political views too far for an amicable adjustment without some modification in the execu- tive department. I therefore concluded instead of regulating my movements for the benefit of my health, as the General Conference had advised and as my own judgment approved, to continue to travel as extensively as possible in order to render some assistance to my overburdened colleagues and to contribute to the pacification of the Church. To reduce the power of the bishops in stationing the preachers, which was the only avowed Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 255 subject of controversy at this time, I did not consider to be a wise or profitable regulation, yet was disposed to admit it, provided the change should be made conformably to the constitution, which was intended to preserve an efficient itinerant episcopal form of government. "I am fully persuaded that confidence, peace, and harmony among the preachers and people and the perpetuity of our itinerant system now in successful operation very much de- pend upon the confidence reposed in the delegated General Con- ference as to their intention to preserve the constitution invio- late and regard it as their rule of conduct. My opposition to the 'peace measure resolutions,' as they were called, arose from a conviction that they were a violation of the constitution and contravened a principle destructive of the 'limitations and re- strictions' imposed on the delegated Conference; and as these restrictions were imposed by the traveling preachers collectively and from whom the delegated body derived its being and all its powers, I considered them the proper judges of the constitu- tionality of their acts. Influenced by these views and a hope of adjusting our difficulties and harmonizing the traveling preachers, an address to the Annual Conferences was drawn up in which I gave my reasons for believing the suspended resolu- tions to be unconstitutional, intending if a majority of the An- nual Conferences were of a different opinion to submit to their judgment as a legal decision and upon that authority admit, recommend, and act according to the provisions of those reso- olutions; but in the event that my opinion should be confirmed, to advise the Conferences to recommend their adoption by the ensuing General Conference, and thereby introduce them con- formably to the constitution. "The address was first presented to those Conferences most inimical to the proposed change, and it was satisfactorily as- certained that seven of the twelve Annual Conferences judged the suspended resolutions unconstitutional; and yet, for peace's sake, although they were not considered by them an improve- ment, they authorized the ensuing General Conference, as far as they could do so, to adopt them without alteration. But the five other Conferences, in which the steady friends and most powerful advocates of the proposed change were found, refused to act on the address, and thereby prevented its adoption in a constitutional way, and, of course, set in for another vigorous contest at the next General Conference. In this way my hope of a safe and peaceable adjustment of our difficulties and the 256 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree prevention of a dangerous probable schism in the Church was frustrated and the way for the spread of the schism already commenced was made more easy. "Until that time I had, so far as I know, the confidence and affections of the preachers generally, but after that I had to feel the effects of an astonishing change. Old friends met me with cool indifference or with retiring, forbidding reserve, and sometimes even with rudeness. My best-intended movements were misconstrued, sometimes converted into faults or mag- nified to my disadvantage and to the injury of the cause which we were mutually bound to support. In this furnace of afflic- tion I discovered my own imperfections as well as those of my brethren, saw wherein I might have acted more wisely and pru- dently in many cases, and that some of our afflictions might have been prevented and the same end obtained by a course a little different, and therefore better, because less liable to mis- representation. But the great Head of the Church still presided and prospered his work in our hands. I still respected my old friends, from whom I was suffering exquisitely for their former friendship and kindness, as well as for their continued dispo- sition to minister to my increasing necessities and, above all, I was humbled under a sense of the grace of God, by which I was preserved in this fight of affliction. "Between the General Conferences of 1820 and 1824, my health was very delicate and my trials very great, but I pursued my course as well as I could until the fall preceding the General Conference of 1824, when, observing the method adopted by some and thinking that I could not attend the Annual Confer- ences without interfering with their measures, or at least seem- ing to interfere in the election of delegates to the ensuing Gen- eral Conference, which I deemed derogatory to my station, there- fore, notwithstanding the fate of our controversy depended on the representatives to be chosen at the three following Confer- ences, I committed the cause to God, and went no farther than the Tennessee Conference. Great were the efforts to secure a majority in favor of the suspended resolutions, but they proved unsuccessful." The course pursued by Bishop McKendree throughout this very unpleasant controversy was characterized by great dis- crimination, deep devotion to the interests of the Church, and a moral heroism rarely equaled. His position was a very deli- cate one, inasmuch as in opposing the measures under consider- ation, he seemed to be advocating the prerogatives of his own Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 257 office, and thus his opposition might be construed into a self- ish and ambitious principle. Yet nothing was more foreign from the truth. He believed, and his conviction was deep and abiding, that the change contended for was subversive of the constitution and might be made the precedent for a most fearful train of revolutionary measures. He could not, durst not, yield to them. 17 CHAPTER XV Bishop McKendree's appeal to the Annual Conferences as to the suspended resolutions The Southern and Western Conferences consent Five others reject it It fails By whom, and why Weslyan Repository Mutual Rights Methodist Protestant Church Journal resumed Henry Smith's narrative Visits extensively Preaches at camp meet- ing He goes South South Carolina Conference J. Soule's letters Dr. Capers's letter His character and influence His second letter The era of missions Cherokee and Choctaw Missions to slaves Bible and Sunday School Societies. THE following is the address of Bishop McKendree to the Annual Conferences in relation to the suspended resolutions referred to in the last chapter. It exhibits the character of his mind, clear, logical, and analytical, and is a triumphant vin- dication of his ecclesiastical politics as well as of his unwaver- ing opposition to the changes involved in these resolutions. It well deserves a careful and repeated perusal; for although the occasion which called it forth has passed away we trust forever so that few if any are now found, even in the North where they were most popular, to advocate their introduction into the pol- ity of the Church, the South continuing, as she has ever been, true to the constitution, yet, to prevent the recurrence of sim- ilar scenes, it is important that our Church government should be studied and understood; and it is believed that no single doc- ument which has ever been published upon this subject pre- sents such a clear, concise, and powerful array of arguments against the innovations alluded to as does this address. Its effect was most decidedly conservative. Multitudes of preach- ers and members who were likely to be misled by the popular clamor against episcopal power were brought to see the tend- ency and anticipate the result of this "peace measure"; and many of the excellent and pure-minded men who had advocated it lived to appreciate the motives and honor the noble old Bish- op who so bravely and yet so meekly withstood it. To the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, commencing with the Ohio Conference, to be held in Lebanon, September 6, 1821. Dear Brethren: Forasmuch as a considerable branch of the Church of Christ is committed to our care, so as to involve us in high responsibility both to God and man, I am induced by the present state of a long-pro- tracted controversy respecting the powers of our general superinterdents to lay the subject fully before you, hoping you will direct it to a proper conclusion. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 259 For a number of years a respectable minority in our General Conference have been endeavoring to divest the bishops of the power of choosing the presiding elders and of stationing the preachers. They wish to change our present form of government so as to invest the Annual Conferences with the power of choosing the presiding elders, instead of their being appointed by the bishops, and then to transfer the power of stationing the preachers from the bishops to the presiding elders. But this change, in the opinion of your superintendent, would radically affect our system of government in several ways. 1. It would effectually transfer the executive authority from the bishops to the Annual Conferences and thereby do away that form of episcopacy and itinerant general superintendency which is recognized in our form of Discipline, and confirmed in the third Article of the Constitution. 2. By doing away the present effective general superintendency, our itinerant plan of preaching the gospel would be greatly injured if not en- tirely destroyed. 3. In point of law, it would effectually divest the members of our Church of all constitutional security for their rights and reduce them to the neces- sity of depending entirely on the wisdom and goodness of the General Conference for those inestimable blessings. That the proposed change would effectually transfer the executive authority from the bishops to the Annual Conferences, and thereby do away that form of episcopacy, with the itinerant general superintendency, which is recognized in our form of Discipline and confirmed in the third Article of the Constitution, will appear from a due attention to our form of Discipline. According to our system of government, it is the duty ot the bishops " to travel through the connection at large, to oversee the spiritual and temporal business of the Church." But to oversee, or superintend, implies power to overrule or manage business officially. In order, therefore, to qualify the bishops to oversee the important business .committed to their charge and to carry our system of rules into complete effect, they are authorized "to preside in the Conferences;" "to fix the appointments of the preachers for the several circuits;" to form districts, and choose the presiding elders; and, in the intervals of the Conferences, to change, receive, and suspend preachers, as necessity may require and the Discipline directs." And in order to secure a faithful performance of their duty and, at the same time, guard against an abuse of power, the bishops are obliged to act in strict conformity to rules formed by the preachers, over whom their authority is exercised, to whom they are amenable for their adminis- tration and by whom they may be expelled for improper conduct. In the appointment of preachers, those who are to have charge of cir- cuits, districts, etc., are selected and, by virtue of their appointment, are invested with full power to discharge the duties of their respective stations; and in case they should neglect or refuse to do their duty as pointed out in the Discipline, it becomes the duty of the general superintendent (after suitable admonition) to remove such from office and supply their places with others, who will attend to the duties assigned them. 260 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 1 . By employing preachers in the intervals of the Conferences and making such changes from district to district and from Conference to Conference as the situation of our work may require, the general superintendents are enabled so to enlarge the field of missionary labors that the blessings of the gospel of Christ may be carried to the destitute wherever they may be found, especially to the poor. In this way uniformity in the administra- tion may be preserved throughout the Conferences, errors in the adminis- tration corrected, and the rules and regulations of the General Conference carried into effect; while the whole administration, even from the very ex- tremities of the work, through the responsibility of the general superin- intendents, is brought under the inspection and control of the General Conference. Thus qualified for their work, it is the bishops' reasonable duty to travel through the connection at large; "to oversee the spiritual and temporal of the Church"; and it is equally reasonable and just that they should be responsible to the General Conference for the faithful per- formance or discharge of the duties of their episcopal office. From this view of our government, it evidently follows that the ex- ecutive authority, or the power by which the bishops are enabled "to over- see the business of the Church," consists in the power of appointing and con- trolling the preachers, and especially the presiding elders, because they are authorized to exercise all the powers of general superintendents in the bounds of their respective districts, except that of ordination; and might, but for their being subject to the control of the bishops, so counteract and render the general superintendency useless and nugatory as effectually " to do away that episcopacy and itinerant general superintendency recognized in our Discipline and confirmed by the third Article of the Constitution." The presiding elders, at present, are under obligations to attend to the in- structions of the general superintendents, but were the proposed change adopted they would then be under obligations to follow the instructions of the Annuafc Conferences, consequently the bishops would have no more control over them than the Annual Conferences have under the present regulations; and there would be no propriety in requiring the bishops to travel through the connection at large (say six thousand miles) annually, "to oversee the business of the Church"; nor could they justly be respon- sible for the administration while thus deprived of official control; for, al- though they might travel through the connection and see abuses, the in- structions of different Conferences clashing, their presiding elders admin- istering differently, and coming in contact with each other in the execu- tion of discipline, their interference would be unofficial and of no effect. Therefore, the change under consideration would completely destroy the plan of our general superintendency. 2. By doing away the present general superintendency, our itinerant plan of preaching the gospel would be greatly injured, if not entirely de- stroyed. That the itinerant plan of preaching the gospel may be differently modi- fied and still succeed under different circumstances is freely admitted. Could all our traveling preachers attend one Annual Conference to account Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 261 for their administration and receive their appointments and instructions, the itinerant plan might go on and prosper in America as it does in England without either General Conference or general superintendency. But our situation is widely different from theirs. Our work extends over more than twenty States and has to encounter difficulties arising from the civil regulations of different State and Territorial governments. We are divided into twelve Annual Conferences. These are all equal in power and in- dependent of each other, no one having power to impose laws on another. The jurisdiction of each Annual Conference is restricted to its own bounds, and each presiding elder to his own district. Out of this state of things arises the necessity of a General Conference to make rules or laws for the united Annual Conferences and of a general superintendency to enforce those rules, to preserve a uniform administration of discipline, to pre- serve the union of the several Annual Conferences, and by removing preachers from district to district and from Conference to Conference (which no Annual Conference nor presiding elder can do) perpetuate and extend missionary labors for the benefit of increasing thousands who look unto us as teachers sent of God. Such is our situation in this country that our itinerant system can no more do without an effective general superintend- ency, sufficiently under the control of the General Conference itself. It was, therefore, ratified by the constitution after twenty-four years' ex- perience in proof of its utility and necessity. Forasmuch, then, as the harmony of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the success of our itiner- ant system depend so much on an effective general superintendency, it can- not be done away without greatly injuring, if not entirely destroying, our itinerant plan of preaching the gospel. 3. In point of law, it would effectively divest the members of our Church of all constitutional security for their rights and reduce them to the neces- sity of depending altogether on the wisdom and goodness of the General Conference for those inestimable blessings. Before the constitution was formed the General Conference possessed unlimited powers and made such changes in the form of Discipline as they saw proper. Out of such a state of things the judicious apprehended se- rious consequences might arise. The preachers, therefore, composing the General Conference in 1808, in full possession of all the powers of the Con- ference of 1784 (which organized the Church), proceeded to constitute and organize the delegated General Conference and invested it with full powers to make rules and regulations for our Church under certain limitations and restrictions. Those restrictions forbid their changing our Articles of Re- ligion, erecting new standards of doctrine, or changing our form of govern- ment so as to deprive the preachers or members of their privileges, or ap- propriating the funds of the Church contrary to the will of their constit- uents. The third Article in the Constitution says: "They (the delegated General Conference) shall not change or alter any part or rule of our gov- ernment so as to do away episcopacy or destroy the plan of our itinerant general superintendency"; and they very judiciously secured to the An- nual Conferences, jointly, the right of recommending any alteration that 262 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree might be judged proper in any of the aforesaid restrictions. These re- strictions being all equally binding, if the delegated General Conference may infringe or set aside one part, why not another? Yea, why not all? For it requires no more power to change our Articles of Religion, erect new standards of doctrine, and do away the rights of preachers and members, than to do away our general superintendency; and, if the delegated Gen- eral Conference is not bound by these restrictions, then their power is un- defined and unlimited, they may make what changes they please and there can be no legal redress, no constitutional guarantee for our rights and priv- ileges. Your superintendent most cordially disapproves of such a state of things and will do nothing which he believes will produce it, because he conceives it would go to deprive both preachers and members of constitu- tional security, and reduce them to the necessity of relying solely on the General Conference for all their rights and privileges. Before the consti- tution was formed, the powers of the General Conference being undefined and unlimited, and our form of Discipline subject to any alterations and amendments thought to be necessary, each succeeding General Conference, for upward of twenty years after the Church was organized, made such amendments in the system of government as to them appeared most for the glory of God and the benefit of the people; and during those days your superintendent (as well as others) felt himself at liberty to propose and de- fend such alterations as were judged profitable and expedient; but, since the powers of the General Conference were restricted and rights defined and secured to members of the Church by the formation of a constitution, your superintendent has both thought and acted very differently. Since that memorable era in Methodism, your superintendent conceives the Gen- eral Conference to be bound as sacredly to observe all those restrictions (as the laws by which their proceedings are to be tested) as each member of the Church is bound to submit to the examination of his conduct accord- ing to the legitimate rules enacted by said Conference, because the restric- tions arise from the same source and are supported by the same authority which gave evidence to the delegated General Conference and validity to their rules and regulations; consequently, they must both stand or fall together. From these remarks, it is very evident that the General Confer- ence has no right to make such innovations in our system of government, regardless of the steps pointed out by the provisionary clause in the sixth Article of our Constitution. At the last General Conference the long-protracted controversy con- cerning the power of the superintendents came to an eventful crisis. In all probability, however, the matter would have ended as formerly had not what was thought an accommodating plan been introduced, which pro- duced the following resolutions: "1. Whenever, in any Annual Conference, there shall be a vacancy or va- cancies in the office of presiding elder, in consequence of his period of serv- ice of four years having expired or the bishop wishing to remove any pre- siding elder, or by death, resignation, or otherwise, the bishop, or president of the Conference, having ascertained the number wanted from any of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 263 these causes, shall nominate three times the number, out of which the Con- ference shall elect by ballot, without debate, the number wanted; provided, when there is more than one wanted, not more than three at a time shall be nominated or more than one at a time elected; provided, also, that in case of any vacancy or vacancies in the office of presiding elder in the interval of any Annual Conference the bishop shall have authority to fill the said vacancy or vacancies until the ensuing Annual Conference. "2. That the presiding elders be and hereby are made the advisory coun- cil of the bishop, or president of the Conference, in stationing the preach- ers." Could your Superintendent have subscribed to these resolutions as con- stitutional, he might, in all probability, have enlisted in his favor the feelings of many whom he highly esteems and participated in the general pleasure. But this he could not do consistently with a good conscience. In his judgment the delegated General Conference has no authority to make such changes in our system of government, unless the previous steps be taken as pointed out in the sixth Article of our Constitution. It is very evident that the above resolutions contemplate taking the authority of appointing the presiding elders from the episcopacy, at least so far as to leave nothing but a simple nomination. But if the General Conference possesses the right to go thus far, certainly they may, on the same principle, take away the power, or privilege, if you please, to nominate likewise, and thereby introduce presiding elders, independently of the bishops' appoint- ment, nomination, or control, and, in the issue, entirely destroy our itiner- ant episcopal form of government, as has already been shown. Moreover, if the General Conference may deprive the bishops of one part of their of- ficial powers, in defiance of the constitution, why may they not of another? why not of all? The authority that can take away one part of the execu- tive power from the bishops, may take away another, until they do away episcopacy and destroy the plan of our itinerant general superintendency entirely; and the same power and authority that can effect this may effect whatever change they please, both in doctrine and discipline. The sub- ject involves the most serious consequences. It does not turn so much on the iitility or inutility of the change proposed as on the constitutionality thereof, because on this point all our rights as preachers and members de- pend. With this view of the subject, your superintendent could not sub- mit his delegated powers to the General Conference without being charge- able with a breach of trust; nor can he conceive how they can legally de- prive him of that power without first attending to the steps pointed out in our constitution. He thinks it would be a precedent which would subject the government to perpetual changes and thereby render the security for the rights and privileges of preachers and members very precarious and uncertain. Your superintendent, therefore, informed the General Confer- ence that, in his judgment, the resolutions were unconstitutional, and con- sequently did not feel himself at liberty to carry them into effect. He point- ed out some of the consequences of infringing on constitutional rights; and to avoid such consequences, advised (if the change must take place) that 264 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree it should be done according to the provision in the constitution; or, as the last resort, he intimated an appeal to the Annual Conferences. This was a painful task, especially as it was performed in a state of great bodily de- bility, and nothing but a deep sense of duty and obligation to maintain and preserve inviolate (as far as he could) that system of government which in trust was committed to him as general superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in which both preachers and members are so deeply interested, could have induced him to venture the attempt. But as many of the preachers who voted in favor of the above-mentioned resolutions at the last General Conference saw they had exceeded the bounds of the restrictions under which they acted, they suspended the op- eration of the resolutions for four years. Hence your superintendent is enabled to lay the subject before you clear of embarrassments with which it otherwise must have been encumbered. And, although your superin- tendent, for reasons already assigned, could not submit or give up the pow- ers he possessed, as general superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church to the disposal of your representatives in the last General Confer- ence assembled, he will most cheerfully resign them whenever they are constitutionally authorized to receive and dispose of them in conformity to your instructions. From the preachers collectively both the General Con- ference and general superintendents derive their powers; and to the An- nual Conferences, jointly, is reserved the power of recommending a change in our constitution. To you, therefore, your superintendent not only sub- mits the case, but he would advise you to adopt such measures as you in your judgment may deem most prudent by which to recognize the adop- tion of the change proposed in the resolutions, conformably to the pro- vision in the sixth Article of the constitution. Not that he believes the change would be an improvement of our system of government, or that it would fully answer the expectations of its advocates, but as an accommo- dating measure, on the utility of which men equally wise and good may, in some degree, differ in opinion. Your superintendent is, therefore, dis- posed to submit his opinion for the harmony of the body as far as is con- sistent with his duty and obligations to the Church. And, as a majority of more than two-thirds of the last General Conference, after having re- ceived assurances that it would be satisfactory and put the controverted subject to rest, voted in favor of the resolutions, they tacitly say, all things considered, the change is at least prudentially necessary. To this decision all due deference is paid. In the opinion of your superintendent, no sacri- fice for peace and harmony which can be made consistently with the con- stitution and preservation of our general itinerant plan of preaching the gospel is too great. With your recommendation and instructions, your representatives in General Conference may act as they may judge most for the glory of God and the good of his Church. Thus introduced, the case would commend and establish the constitution and form an effectual bar- rier against any future infringement of that bulwark of our rights and lib- erties. This advice flows neither from the fear of frowns or a desire of ease, honor, or profit. Let me be anything or nothing in those respects, so the Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 265 work of the Lord may prosper. The peace and prosperity of the Church of God are the objects of my pursuit. For these I have labored, for these I pray, and in this cause am willing to suffer. Could I contribute to this important end, live to see it permanently established, and then be per- mitted to rest in peace, my desire on earth would be accomplished. My work is almost done; the time of my departure is fast approaching when I shall resign the whole of my charge into the hands of the great Head of the Church under whose authority I act as your servant. WILLIAM MCKENDREE. The result of this appeal to the Annual Conferences we have already seen. Seven out of twelve of them declared the reso- lutions unconstitutional, but for the attainment of peace and in compliance with the wishes of the senior bishop gave their consent for their introduction, conformably with the constitu- tion, at the next General Conference. These were the Southern and Western Conferences, which had always stood firmly op- posed to all innovations. It was a magnanimous surrender of preference for the sake of harmony, but it was a dangerous con- cession and proved unavailing, although well intended. The other five Conferences refused to accept the changes as a con- stitutional measure, because they were unwilling to acknowl- edge the want of power in the General Conference to effect it. They laid the address upon the table and there let it lie, virtual- ly refused to act on it, and thus tacitly avowed their determina- tion to carry the change into effect independently of the con- stitutional scruples of the bishops and other Conferences. Great exertions were made to effect this purpose. Many hard things were said and written against the senior bishop, that "he would not submit to the authority of the General Conference," "that he acted independently of the other bishops," etc. Against such accusations he could not condescend to make a public and formal defense of himself. His uniform and faithful administration of the laws and regulations of the General Con- ference, the absence of all personal and private motives to act contumaciously, and his life, now almost exhausted in the la- borious and consistent discharge of the duties of his ministerial and episcopal offices were their satisfactory refutation. He enjoyed that which is far preferable to applause or to success, the consciousness of deserving them. His own heart and con- science bore evidence to his integrity, and he could with humble confidence appeal to his great Master in proof of the fact that not for himself, but for the sake of the Church, he had taken his course. To those acquainted with the peculiar sensitiveness, 266 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of the Bishop, it would be needless to say that the temporary alienation of many old friends and the attacks upon his charac- ter and the government of the Church which this controversy was the occasion of producing were to him exceedingly painful. The most mortifying circumstance in this affair was that his motives were impugned and the Discipline denounced as "anti- republican," "popish," etc. And yet, while he could not un- der any array of circumstances succumb to what he regarded as a palpable violation of the constitution which he had pledged his solemn vow to sustain, he did so far try to conciliate the ad- vocates of the measure as to seek and advise its incorporation into the laws of the Church upon constitutional principles. Un- der the circumstances, this may have been best; and, as it turned out, doubtless it was politic and practically harmless; but, oc- cupying the standpoint we do in the history of the Church, we are compelled to confess our opinion that he owed it to his clear, strong conviction of the impolicy and highly injurious tendency of the change in the organic laws of the Church, to have stood firmly and uncompromisingly against the whole of it, from first to last. And yet there were several considerations which pal- liate, if they do not fully justify, his course. The excitement growing out of the long-continued agitation of the question, and especially out of the position which the bishop elect and him- self felt compelled to take, was very considerable and threatened the peace of the Church. The bishops themselves were divided upon it, the senior bishop regarding the resolutions not only as impolitic but revolutionary, if passed without the concurrence of the Annual Conferences; one of his colleagues admitting their "infringement of the constitution," but willing to see them go into operation under existing circumstances; and the other, without an open avowal of his opinion as to their constitutional character, evidently favoring their adoption. To secure har- mony in the episcopacy, maintain the authority of the constitu- tion, and, by yielding his preference as to the mode of adminis- tering the polity of the Cuurch, obtain a fresh indorsement of the constitution, and thus restore peace without the sacrifice of a vital principle, were certainly his objects. Perhaps the con- sideration which least influenced him was that in proposing and recommending the change he vindicated his office as well as his own motives and character from imputations. These weighty reasons preponderated, and, as we have seen, the "compromise measure " was proposed to the Annual Conferences. Fortunate- ly for the Church, the effort failed; but by the manner and Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 267- cause of its failure, the odium of its defeat did not attach to him or to those who agreed with him in sentiment. He yielded everything but principle for peace; but the advocates of the res- olutions, while professing to have no wish for anything more, refused to accept them, unless at what he regarded as the sac- rifice of the constitution. And it is ever thus with innovations, both in Church and State. The intelligent and sincere who commence the work are soon pushed aside or impelled forward to ends they did not contemplate at the beginning by those less scrupulous and more ambitious. Parties are formed, passions are excited, and the positions gained by concession become the grounds of further demands. And hence the danger of beginning to innovate. One good effect, however, resulted from the agitation of this subject. The Church was aroused to the study of our system of government, and the great majority of her most intelligent and sincere friends were brought to see and appreciate its na- ture and scriptural character. The spirit of innovation culmi- nated, among the traveling preachers, at the General Confer- ence of 1820. Its fate was sealed by the discussions and devel- opments which grew out of the action of this body, and its strength was never afterwards so great among the traveling ministry; for although, as we shall see hereafter, it continued for several years to agitate the Church, yet it had received its death wound and was slowly but surely dying. And if the ques- tion be asked, To whom is the Church most indebted for her preservation from the evils which this change must have oc- casioned? we answer, To William McKendree and Joshua Soule. As an illustration of some of the foregoing remarks and in historical connection with this attempt to modify the govern- ment of the Church by diminishing the power of the epsicopacy, we may here advert to a subject which constitutes a very im- portant chapter in the history of American Methodism and can- not be overlooked in the "Life of Bishop McKendree." We mean the question of lay representation. In almost every effort which had been made at innovation upon the polity and usages of Methodism, from the days of Mr. O'Kelly, more or less stress had been laid upon the propriety of introducing lay representatives into the Annual and General Conferences. The leaders in all these movements, aware of the general and strong attachment of our countrymen to the principle of civil liberty and to representation in the law-making department in our political institutions as a means of preserving our rights, 268 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and, ignoring the radical difference between the powers and rights that belong to men as citizens of civil government and such as pertain to them as members of an ecclesiastical organ- ization, have always availed themselves of the popular cry for "equal rights." Like the cry of persecution, with which it has been often connected, it strikes a chord in the American bosom which, whether proceeding from demagogues or patriots, from oppressed innocence or canting hypocrisy, rarely fails to excite sympathy. And so strong is this tendency that even in Church politics a great many persons, instead of holding their passions in abeyance until they calmly inquire whether the oppression complained of be real or only imaginary, at once take the part of the disaffected against the discipline and usages of the Church. So it has ever been, and so perhaps it will always be; although the history of such agitators among us has proved the truth of the old saying that "those who are loudest in their complaints against oppression are least disposed to submit to be governed and most ready to be despotic when they get the power." Doubt- less the effort which the itinerant preachers were making to transfer the selection of presiding elders from the bishops to themselves enlisted the sympathies of many of the local preach- ers and laymen of the Church in their behalf and kindled afresh the almost extinguished spark of disaffection on this question. Some of those among the ministry who favored the change were secretly in favor of a congregational instead of an itinerant sys- tem and naturally sided with the policy to introduce laymen into all the Conferences of the Church; while it is certain that many of the wisest and best of those who advocated the former change opposed the latter. But, as a general rule, those itiner- ant preachers opposed to the suspended resolutions were against lay representation, while those of them who favored the latter were also friendly to the former. Many local preachers and lay members, especially in the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences, became excited upon the subject of their rights and privileges. The spirit of inno- vation became epidemic, and during the period from 1820 to 1824, and even to 1828, the Church was constantly agitated upon the subject of lay representation. A paper was estab- lished at Philadelphia, called the Wesleyan Repository, to which several popular preachers contributed largely. It soon became clamorous for reform, and with increased bitterness discussed the subject until it seemed determined to change or destroy the government of the Church. Its radicalism alarmed the fears of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 269 some who had espoused the cause of the suspended resolutions and brought them to see that whatever speculative sentiments tend to a disruption of the Church ought to be abandoned for the sake of the Church. The Repository was superseded by The Mutual Rights, published in Baltimore. The contest which en- sued was a most unfortunate and mischievous one and was not quieted for many years, resulting, in 1827, in the secession of many ministers and members and the formation of The Meth- odist Protestant Church. The South and West, having always been the friends of the Church as it is and opposed to sudden and serious changes in her economy, were less affected by this agitation than the East and North and consequently suffered in a much smaller degree. One benefit, however, resulting from this controversy was that the evils of agitation became so pal- pable that those seeking the passage of the suspended resolutions lost sympathy of the Church generally, many regarding radical- ism as the offshoot of the attempted innovation upon the power of the episcopacy. And, although this connection was dis- claimed by many of the pure-minded and excellent men who orig- inally advocated the election of presiding elders and was op- posed most sternly and ably by some of them, yet, however undesigned on the part of such, doubtless this opposition to the existing rules of the Church in reference to presiding elders did contribute to the excitement which resulted so disastrously. The moral taught by this part of the history of the Church but repeats the lesson lately suggested, that to innovate upon a well-tried and efficient system of Church government in order to carry out speculative views or conform the polity of the Church to that of the State is a dangerous experiment, since no one can foresee the end of such agitation. 1 The excitement growing out of this attempt of the "reformers" was an additional ingredient in Bishop McKendree's cup of anx- *The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1866, tendered to her laymen and local preachers a representation in her Annual and General Conferences without its having been demanded and when no other vexed question was connected with it. But in the case re- fered to above, this question was associated with others of a most serious character, involving the efficiency, if not the very existence, of episcopacy and itinerancy. To have yielded then in one instance would have neces- sitated other and more damaging concessions, or the quiet of the Church would not have been secured. How this change will affect the Church in the South remains as yet an unsolved problem. The writer hopes and be- lieves it will work well. 270 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree iety for the four years succeeding the General Conference of 1820. He seems to have anticipated that the struggle among the preachers would lead to another, in which the laity would imitate them by claiming their supposed rights also; and we shall see that his opposition to this measure was such that he would enter into no compromise. In resuming the examination of the Journal of Bishop Mc- Kendree, we find that he remained in Baltimore, and at Dr. Wilkins's, near the city, for some time after the General Confer- ence of 1820 closed its session. He had been excused from the regular official work on accout of his want of health and advised to seek its restoration. He was therefore under obligation to take only such exercise as might conduce to this end. Having recovered a little strength, he very soon began to feel restless, and, having been so fortunate as to obtain the Rev. Henry Smith as his traveling companion, they started from Dr. Wil- kins's on a tour of preaching and visiting the Churches. The following account is given of that tour from "Recollections of an Old Itinerant," by H. Smith, p. 268: "We visited Churches and families on our way to Frederick City namely, Ward 's, Bennett's, Elliot's, and Gore's and then A. Warfield's. In every place the Bishop was able to preach, to the edification of the Church and left a blessing in every neighborhood and family. Thence we went to Liberty, Win- stead's, Willis's, and Frederick; thence to Samuel Phillip's; thence to Thomas Key's. . . . The Bishop preached at Charles- town, Brucetown, Thomas Baldwin's, Winchester, Stephens- burg, Crum's Meetinghouse, the White House, Sharpsburg, and in other places, besides delivering many exhortations in families and private companies. In every place he was received as an angel of God and his labors were greatly blessed to the people. He made use of the Shannondale and Sulphur Springs waters, and also those of the Balinda Springs, near Sharpsburg, and gained strength. "On our return to Baltimore, we attended a camp meeting on Frederick Circuit. The Bishop's preaching put me in mind of former days, when he went forth in the vigor of his strength and preached in the power and demonstration of the Spirit. Our visit to Virginia did not only improve the Bishop's health, but was attended with great good to others. We soon returned to Baltimore, and about the last of September left the city for the South. We moved on slowly, visiting the Churches in Wash- ington, Georgetown, Alexandria, Dumfries, Fredericksburg, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 271 and many neighborhoods on our way to Williamsburg. From thence we proceeded to Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suf- folk, Summerton, Murfreesboro, and through Tarboro, to New- bern, N. C.; from thence to Wilmington and Georgetown, and so on, to Charleston, S. C., preaching in many country places, as well as in cities and towns. "We entered Charleston a few days before Christmas and had summer's heat. The gardens and everything looked 'gay and green/ green peas in full bloom and fine lettuce in abundance. But before we left there (about January 1, 1821), we had heavy frost, and on our way to Columbia, where the South Carolina Conference was to meet, we had snow, rain, sleet, and ice an inch thick. It was disagreeably cold, and great were the sufferings of the people, white as well as colored. The houses were gen- erally open and the people thinly clad and not prepared for such a change. Some of the oldest people said they had never seen such a winter. There is something very disagreeable in a South- ern winter's air. "In Columbia, S. C., we met the Conference. Bishop George presided, and a body of more holy, loving, and zealous ministers of Jesus Christ I never saw. I never saw more strictness ob- served in the examination of characters in any Conference. Plain, humble, cross-bearing men are its members, as ready to wait on themselves as any other Methodist preachers, and re- markably kind and friendly to servants." From Columbia, S. C., the Bishop, with Brother Smith still as his traveling companion, came back to the Virginia Conference which was held at Raleigh, N. C., on Februray 28, 1821. Here, leaving the Bishop in the care of Lewis Skidmore, Smith re- turned to Baltimore, remarking (p. 271) upon this tour: "Per- haps in no part of my life did I serve the Church more faithfully and usefully than while I was helping along our aged and afflicted Superintendent. ' ' The following letter from the Bishop to the Rev. Joshua Soule, is dated Raleigh, N. C., February 27, 1821: My Dear Brother: My health, in some good degree, has improved, and I begin to apprehend that not much more improvement is to be expected; and yet such is my remaining debility that I am utterly unable to do the duties of an effective man. Such is the state of the roads of this country, with the shortness of the time between this .Conference and that of Baltimore, that it will be impossible for me to get there in time. Indeed, Bishop George thinks he cannot accomplish the journey in time. Therefore, at the earnest solicita- 272 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree tion of Bishop George, I have given up Brother Smith to go on with his horse, that the Bishop may follow on in the stage after Conference. Per- haps we might have found some other way; but the experiment has con- vinced me that the benefit which the Church would derive from my ser- vices will not justify me in making such a sacrifice of my remaining strength. Hence I have relinquished the idea of pursuing the Conferences any farther for the present. You have too much sensibility to suppose that this conclusion has been arrived at without some feeling on my part. This is increased by the obli- gation I brought myself under to attend the New York Conference, if the Lord permit. I have pursued this intention as long as I could see my way clear and now give it up reluctantly, though with a clear conscience. From these considerations, I have determined more fully to adopt the advice of the General Conference, as also that of my physicians and friend- ly counselors, in respect to my course of conduct in order to canvalescence. I believe the Lord called me to the ministry, but I was called to the su- perintendency by the General Conference, and by the same authority I am released from the duty and responsibility of that station. Consequent- ly I feel pretty much at rest while I contemplate what lies before me in my expected course. The course I took at the last General Conference respecting the sus- pended resolutions to lay the subject before the Annual Conferences must be carried out. I intend to pursue the same course taken by Bishop Asbury and myself when the constitutionality of appointing the Genesee Conference was called in question. I expect to begin at the next Ohio Conference and so go through the Conferences. I design to lay the sub- ject so before them as to set them completely at liberty, so far as respects me, as to authorize the adoption, and thus put an end to strife, if this will do it and thereby give additional strength to the constitution, which will guard us against infringements for the future. However, I do not regard the proposed change to be, in reality, any improvement of our system; and I very much doubt if it will operate for the better any length of time. But it is alleged that civil usages are against us, and perhaps it is the best we can bear; and if admitted so as to prevent future injuries, I think the system of government may still be carried into effect, at least so long as we work harmoniously together. And without this the most perfect sys- tem could not save us. The Lord's system of government did not continue to please the Israelites, and "he gave them statutes that were not good." I have but few confidential associates, nor do I seek more; consequently, I have to stand too much alone in the midst of such momentous affairs. This made the contemplated interview with yourself so much the more important to me. But I learn patiently to submit to disappointments. I desire, dear brother, to hear from you. Please write freely and senti- mentally. I observe in a letter to Brother Mason that I consented to your con- tinuing in New York, intending you should understand it before I could write to you. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 273 My respects to Brother Phoebus and inquiring friends. Present my respects to Sister Soule, and remember me at the throne of grace. Your brother, W. MCKENDREE. To JOSHUA SOULE. The Bishop received the following letter from Joshua Soule, in Baltimore, who, after the General Conference of 1820, having declined the Agency of the Book Concern, was stationed in the city of New York: NEW YORK, September 1, 1820. Dear Bishop: Your letter of the fourteenth ultimo came to me while at the camp meeting on Long Island, and I am unable to express the satis- faction it gave me, especially when I learned that by the blessing of a gra- cious Providence, your health, which was so precarious when I left you, was improving with a prospect of its being confirmed. It is impossible for me to describe the sensations of my mind during the recent session of the General Conference, when I saw your feeble state, your emaciated frame, your strength prostrated, and your debilitated con- dition, like a reed shaken by the wind. I feared, not for you, but for the Church of God committed to your charge. I strove in vain to free myself from the painful apprehension that in all human probability your super- intendence of the great work was near its close at the very time that the state of the Church, both in the ministry and membership, was such as to require the continuance of your oversight. My chief source of consolation during this conflict was a firm persuasion of the wisdom and rectitude of the divine councils and of the unerring superintendence of the providence of God. To the events of this providence, however dark and unscrutable to the comprehension of limited agency, I desire to bow with humble sub- mission and walk by faith when sight is not permitted to guide me. But as it has been a matter of prayer with me that the great Head of the Church would raise you up and preserve you as a light and shield to our Zion, so shall the answer of it be a subject of thanksgiving and praise. With reference to my conduct at the last General Conference, although it was not dictated by passion, but was the result of the most calm and de- liberate reflection of which I was capable under the circumstances, the time which has elapsed since that memorable period has afforded me the opportunity of reviewing that whole matter with sober deliberation, and after the most careful, and, I trust, the most impartial investigation, I feel a satisfaction in my own mind in recurring to the measures I then pur- sued, for the absence of which no earthly emolument could be a considera- tion. I firmly believed at the time, and have perceived no evidence to change my opinion, that the resolution of the General Conference by which the presiding elders were made elective by the Annual Conferences was a vio- lation of the constitution and a radical change of the government of the Church. With this conviction I might have gone silently, and perhaps without opposition, to the altar of consecration. But how should I have 18 274 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree stood in .the judgment of my own mind? or how should I be able to answer for this silence to that great religious body to which the voice of the Con- ference had placed me in the most responsible relation? I think, consider- ing the nature, continuance, and extent of the controversy, he must have been a superficial observer of human nature who should suppose that the subject would rest sufficient for the time being, that the principle was ceded and the foundation laid for the perfecting of the contemplated building. The best defense which could be made at the future period would be weak and ineffectual after such an obvious relinquishment of the grand principle upon which our ecclesiastical polity rests. Under this view of the subject, had I entered upon the duties of a general superintendent with submission, I should have felt myself bound to give a reason for my conduct to hun- dreds of thousands who are already in the fellowship of the Church and who have subscribed to our form of episcopacy. This was a responsibility which I was conscious I could not sustain. Since the General Conference I have frequently thought that, under the extraordinary circumstances in which I was placed, I may have spoken or acted with apparent disrespect to you or Bishops George and Roberts or to the Conference. Should you or they have marked anything of this kind, I deeply regret it and can give assurance that no irreverence was designed. And, under the necessity of differing in opinion, I wished to express that difference in as respectful language as I could, consistently with that frankness which I have ever valued as one of the brightest ornaments of the human character. I had reason to expect that on my return to this section of the work my situation would not be very pleasant. But the most profound silence has prevailed with respect to the business of the Conference, and I am treated with much greater apparent respect than before. As I was not able to control my temporal circumstances without a sac- rifice which I was unable to bear and, at the same time, receiving a letter from Brother Roszel in which he expressed an opinion that, all things con- sidered, it might be as well for me to remain here for the present year, I received an appointment in the city. At the same time I received instruc- tions from Bishop George to remove to the Baltimore Conference at its next session. This is my inclination and desire. But I wish it to be explicitly under- stood that I hold myself in perfect readiness to move to any part of the work where it shall be judged most expedient. I have resigned all ideas of a local nature. House and home affect me no more, and I have cause to praise God that after a long and painful struggle my dear companion is fully with me in this view. I owe no man anything and, though poor, I have enough. I covet no man's silver or gold or apparel, but prove by happy experience that " godliness with contentment is great gain." You will doubtless see Bishop George in Baltimore or its vicinity and receive from him a narrative of the disastrous events which have transpired in this station, suffice it to say that several hundreds have separated them- selves from the fellowship of our Church, established an independent con- gregation, and embodied under a system of government which secures a Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 275 perfect equality of rights and powers to every member, male and female, properly speaking, an ecclesiastical democracy in the most extensive sense of the word. 1 The poor deluded Africans, both in the city and in Brooklyn, have de- clared themselves independent of us and are, it is to be feared, approaching a state of the wildest disorder and of ruin. Deeply involved in debt and without the means of extricating themselves, their churches mortgaged for security, and the periods of payment approaching, their situation is truly lamentable. While they were subject to us there was a disposition in the public mind to aid them, but convinced that they are incapable of govern- ing themselves and consequently that assistance would be thrown away were it given in their present state, that disposition has subsided. Various have been the ostensible causes which have led to these un- happy effects. But there is a real cause which is unperceived or, if per- ceived, is unacknowledged. I think, soon after my appointment to the charge of the Book Concern, I communicated to you my persuasion that serious and very unpleasant events awaited us in this city. Whether the grounds on which this persuasion rested were assigned, I do not recollect. I was then the silent and unofficious observer of men and measures, and I clearly saw that the seed was sown and had taken such deep root as to warrant the expectation of a copious harvest. I frequently heard the cry of "popery," "ecclesiastical tyranny," "un- limited power," "oppression," etc., from those who had promised to "act as sons in the gospel," and with some of those who had sounded the alarm there was too strong an appearance of the existence of what they would be thought so much to oppose. To this cry there was a responsive action in the official department of the Church; and so powerful was the sentiment of "equality" and "independence," that it was extremely difficult, not to say impossible, for the proper officer to keep the official body, when met for business, subject to the common rules of order. Through the official mem- bers this strange fire was kindled in the classes. The consequence was that the ministry was not only treated with disrespect, but with contempt. To be charged unblushingly with deceit, hypocrisy, and falsehood became the order of the day. At length it comes to issue on a plain and unequivocal point of discipline. The question is, Shall it be carried into effect? A num- ber of the influential official characters say it shall not. The preacher in charge says it shall at all hazards. It is a point which admits of no modi- fication; and the official men in opposition immediately resign their office and withdraw from the Church. The explosion is tremendous; many leaders follow the example and carry their classes with them. Admitting this to be the true state of the case, you will perceive how difficult it is either to prevent or cure the evil. The fatal source of it is deep and wide. Happy would I be if I could believe it would stop in this city, but the deadly principle is too extensively diffused. You will also perceive how critically I am situated, entertaining these views of the 'This is doubtless an allusion to the secession of a preacher Jamea M. Stillwell and about three hundred members of the Church in the city of New York. 276 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree origin and progress of this schism. Pray for me, that I may be guided by that "wisdom which is from above." how ardently I could wish that you could visit us and aid us by your council and your influence! With reference to the acts of the General Conference in relation to local preachers, my situation at the time of the passage of the rule was such as to prevent me from analyzing it in that way its importance required. I have since given it a careful investigation, the result of which is that it is attended with several serious difficulties which I must make the subject of another communication. But I need not suggest to you how important it is that the greatest prudence be observed in all communications on this subject. We have reached an eventful epoch in our history. May the great Head of the Church preserve us in the unity of the apostolic faith and in the harmony and simplicity of the gospel order of discipline! Yours, most affectionately, JOSHUA SOULE. A few days after the foregoing letter was written, the following communication was dispatched. As it explains its object and illustrates the character of the Bishop by the influence which it was thought he could exert over the disaffected portion of the Methodists in New York, we insert it: NEW YORK, September 7, 1820. Dear Bishop: At a meeting of the stationed preachers in this city, to- gether with the presiding elder of the district yesterday, I was requested to write to you immediately, requesting you, if possible, to visit this sta- tion without delay. It is believed by the preachers that your presence and council at this crisis of affairs here might be of essential benefit to the Church. The principle actors in the late separation, while they appear to have lost all confidence in the men placed in charge, manifest the most implicit confidence in you; and some of them have expressed a desire for you to come, and have inquired after you with apparent solicitude, saying if you had been here, things would have been otherwise, For myself, I have no expectation that your influence would bring back to the Church any considerable number of those who have departed from us; yet I am fully persuaded that a visit from you might be of great use under the present circumstances. The grounds of this persuasion are of such a character as to render it difficult to communicate by letter. Let nothing of a pecuniary kind prevent you from visiting us. I pledge my- self for the reimbursement of your expenses. I would have been in Balti- more to present the case to you and attend you to this place but for the imperious call for my services in this city. You will please to give me an answer immediately on receiving this; and, if it is possible for you to visit us, let me know the probable time when we may expect your arrival; otherwise, let me know where I may meet you by mail from this time until the South Carolina Conference. Yours, with esteem and respect, JOSHUA SOULE. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 277 We cannot deny ourselves and our readers the gratification of inserting the following very interesting letter. The writer was then the stationed preacher in the city of Savannah, which was visited by that most fearful pestilence, the yellow fever. Multitudes had died and thousands had fled the city, but our beloved brother had braved the danger and, with his family, stayed in his charge and faithfully and alone ministered to the religious wants of the striken city. In this season of peril and affliction, the Bishop had assured him by letter of his sympathy and encouraged him to duty by promising to remember him in prayer. Those who may have been similarly situated can appreciate the feelings of the writer, a man who never deserted the post of danger and whose triumphant death in the midst of arduous duty has afforded a suitable finale to such a life: SAVANNAH, October 31, 1820. Very Dear and Reverend Sir: Your most kind letter was as dew to the parched grass. Brother Hall, of Norfolk, had before given me the long- wished-for intelligence of your better health and intimated its being prob- able that you would attend our Conference. That you had purposed to do so, I was not uninformed, but I greatly feared your want of health. I do most heartily join you, my dear father, in blessing and praising God for all his mercies to you and the Church; and surely you have my humble prayers that you may more amd more prevail against all evil and live to the edification and comfort of the Church. I cannot tell you with how lively a feeling of love and thankfullness I read the expression of your good wishes for me, how sincerely I thank you for praying for me. Well, it is even as you desired. The dreary, heartless scenes of woe upon woe, disease, and death, and desolation, are passing or passed away, and I still live. My wife still lives, my children and my serv- ants all are alive and in health. We have had no death or sickness in our family through all this sickening, dying time. Blessed be the Lord God who hath kept us for his word's sake and that none may be discouraged when sent to serve the Church in this valley of the shadow of death! I am unable to give you anything like an account of the state of the Church in this place. For nearly two months we have had (strictly) no Church no sacrament, no love feast, no class meeting. Our people have been scattered abroad, wherever they could find a retreat from the deso- lating sickliness of the city. I might almost say, I was left alone. But hope anticipates a brighter day at hand. O that God may return with the people and fill us with salvation! I said we have had no Church, no class meetings. We have had nothing that is peculiarly ours; and perhaps my situation for the last six or seven weeks has been as novel as it has been difficult and delicate. When the character and prevalence of our death-bearing disease had so alarmed the city as to drive six-sevenths of its entire white population from 278 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree their homes, our people fled with the rest; and I had not remaining steward or leader or as many members as would form a class. Our Church was situated in the most fatal and the most deserted part of the city and re- mote from the remaining inhabitants generally. I was solicited to remove preaching to the new Presbyterian Church, which was recommended from its being in a central and more healthful part of the city. And this was further urged because the remnants of the Baptist and Presbyterian con- gregations, as well as the few remaining ones of my own, were all looking to me for the services of the ministry. It was also proposed that the pews should be made free and that collections should be made upon the same plan and for the same uses as in the Methodist Church. Under these cir- cumstances, and for the present distress only, I consented. As far as I can yet judge, the measure has had a good effect. On next Sabbath I return to our church. I hope the state of religion in our Conference generally is better than the last year. Accounts are good from the upper parts of this State. Columbia lives, and Camden is all alive. Poor Savannah ! We trust in the Lord that we shall be saved from dying. Charleston is as formerly, little increase, but no declension of the Church. A local preacher, by the name of Triggs, has been laboring on the south of the Altamaha River, just above the Satilla Circuit. He tells me that he has formed a two weeks' circuit and has joined fifty in society. They wish a circuit preacher. Triggs has been employed in this good work constantly since the month of May. He represents the people as being very destitute and the face of the country as being better than within the Satilla Circuit. With the sincerest reverence and affection, your dutiful son, W. CAPERS. P. S. Please give my love to the brethren, Hall and Smith. W. C. It was about this period that the attention of the Bishop was turned with great interest to the condition of the Indian tribes within the United States. But the newly organized Missionary Society was not able to supply the funds necessary to carry for- ward his plan. He aroused the preachers to the importance of the enterprise, planned and advocated the system of general and systematic contributions for missionary operations, and may be justly regarded as the father of the missionary finan- cial plan which has already done so much and promises to do vastly more for the conversion of the children of the forest as well as for other fields of missionary effort. It was during the early part of the year 1822 that he resolved to send a missionary to the Cherokee Indians, and the writer, at the Bishop's request, had consented to undertake the task. But the state of his health and the remonstrances of his charge, which was likely to be left destitute of a preacher the remainder of the year, induced the Bishop to decline sending him. Not long afterwards, how- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 279 ever, in 1823, he found others whom he appointed to that Na- tion, and whose success was wonderful. Having resolved upon attempting to Christianize the Indians, Dr. Capers was selected and appointed missionary to South Carolina Conference and to the Indians in 1821, with instruc- tions to visit the Choctaws should the Creeks refuse to receive missionaries. Of course this devoted servant of the Church did not hesitate to enter promptly upon the duty assigned him. Brought up in af- fluence, accustomed to the refinements of a city life, and highly cultivated in mind and manners, he had cast his lot with the Methodists at a period in the history of the Church in South Carolina when it greatly needed his personal and family in- fluence. His position in society, his learning, talents, and zeal, were fully and most efficiently devoted to the cause of Method- ism. A train of unfortunate events had transpired in Charles- ton tending to divide the Church and degrade her ministry in popular estimation. The wealthy and intelligent portion of the community looked down upon the Methodist preachers with mingled feelings of suspicion and contempt. It remained for Dr. Capers to correct this state of public sentiment and by his purity, zeal, and eloquence to elevate both the character of the Church and the ministry. Born near Charleston, in 1790, of a family respected and honored by the whole community; a grad- uate of the State College, and of unquestionable personal in- tegrity, God seems to have raised him up for the defense and propagation of Methodism in that proud and chivalrous section of the country. In addition to all his other advantages, he happily blended the most bland and prepossessing manners with a simple Christian gravity and unstudied dignity; and, superadded to all, the attractions of extraordinary eloquence. That eloquence was not the timid and superficial counterfeit which too often passes for the genuine, but combined all the elements of true evangelical eloquence. It was instructive, per- suasive, pungent, powerful; full of argument and illustration, earnest, searching, and replete with the demonstration of the Holy Ghost and with power. It was impossible to form his ac- quaintance without being struck with his manners or to hear him without feeling an attraction. The Church loved him as much for his humility and unselfishness as she admired his tal- ents and success; and thousands of ears which heretofore had been closed by pride or prejudice to Methodist preaching, lis- 280 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree tened with rapture and reverence to the sweet and pursuasive tones of his musical voice. The following interesting communication was addressed by Dr. Capers to Bishop McKendree: LODEBAR, August 14, 1821. Reverend and Dear Sir: Just a week ago I returned from an excursion into Georgia, in which I visited Augusta, Wrightsboro, Greensboro, Salem, Athens, Lexington, Elberton, and Washington, besides Camden, Columbia, and Edgefield Courthouse, in this State. On this tour I was occupied forty days and obtained $600 for the mis- sion. The whole amount now collected stands at about $2,800. To-morrow I set out for the Creeks. As far as at present I can be de- termined, this visit will be confined to the Creeks and is intended to ascer- tain whether they will receive us or not; and if they receive us, to select and secure a site and engage for occupying it without delay. This done, I purpose to return to them with a missionary, perhaps Brother Hill; or, if they will not admit us among them, he will accompany me to the Choctaws. Whether, in the event of a favorable reception among the Creeks, I ought to seek more than one infant mission among them, or whether, having planted one grain of seed in that field, I should go on to the Choctaws, re- mains yet to be determined. In either case, I must prefer the gospel's own way of disseminating itself. Two men, or a half dozen men, or men with their wives, or a helper each, not huddled together at the outset, but placed at different points, may grow into so many enlarged missions, with branch- es detached through the intermediate country so as to cover the whole. I now purpose to go directly to the agent for the Creek Nation (Colonel Crowell), and having delivered a letter from the Secretary of War (Mr. J. C. Calhoun), will concert with the agent and such other persons as I may approve the best introduction to the Indians. At Milledgeville I hope to meet with Col. Richard A. Blount, and will probably obtain an interview with General Mitchell, lately the agent. I have not been unmindful that with the Creek Indians especially it is of importance to distinguish between the charity of the Church and the policy of the government. In this work both seek the same object; but the Indians may be less suspicious of the one than the other. While in Georgia, I was careful to be informed who of the more distin- guished citizens of that State not immediately connected with the govern- ment are known to advantage among the Indians and sought the counte- nance of such for our mission. I now have a letter from General Mclntosh to the Indian chief of that name, and, when at Milledgeville, expect to re- ceive letters from General Mitchell and General Merriwether. Perhaps there are none of our countrymen who can better serve us than these gentlemen. Is it not a pity that I have not a letter from the Bishop or the bishops and Conference to the chiefs and council of the Nation, setting forth our objects and the motives that induce us to it and soliciting them to talk with Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 281 me as their brother and the agent of the Church? I am not sanguine of success among this tribe, but in case of a failure I would not have it charge- able to any omission on our part. But I am sorry to say I make poor work in enlisting missionaries. Brother Christian G. Hill is the only preacher upon whom I can depend willing to enter upon the bold, blessed service. If I go to the Choctaws, I must make large calculations on Brother Hersey. Indeed, as moderate as have been my collections, I fear the want of men, more than of money, will give limits to our work. You shall hear from me as soon as anything shall have transpired be- tween us and the Creeks. I know you always pray for the blessing and di- rection of God in this great business. I have no confidence but in his prov- idence. As for myself, I feel every way assured of an unfitness, not to say inadequacy, to its accomplishment. I feel much, I fear much, and I should set out despairing, but that I hope for help from the Almighty and succor from his Spirit. Your son in the gospel, W. CAPERS. Dr. Capers succeeded in procuring two sites for missions in the Creek Nation, Asbury and McKendree, to which preachers were regularly appointed at the ensuing Conference. In a year or two, however, the name of McKendree was dropped from the Minutes, although Asbury Mission continued to be filled with missionaries until the Indians determined to emigrate to the West. Dr. Capers was also the superintendent of this work for three years, although filling the station of Milledgeville a part of the time. We have now arrived at an important era in the history of Methodism, as well as in the life of Bishop McKendree, the era which dates the beginning of a more systematic and vigorous effort to extend the blessings of the gospel, by missionary oper- ations, to the Indians, and to the colored people both in Ameri- ca and Africa, enterprises with which Bishop McKendree deeply sympathized and to which, by his wise and far-seeing councils, as well as by his official and personal influence, he greatly con- tributed. Among the appointees to the Cherokee Missions, at different times, were Andrew Jackson Crawford, William McMahon, Francis A. Owen, Dickson C. McLeod, John B. McFerrin and his brother William, A. L. P. Green, J. W. Hanner, Greenberry Garrett, James J. Trott, and others. Various schools and cir- cuits were organized. Revivals occurred in different places, and an increase of over six hundred members was reported in a sin- gle year. The Tennessee Conference furnished the missionaries to this tribe. 282 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Similar scenes took place in the Choctaw Missions, and Alex- ander Talley, of the Mississippi Conference, published an ac- count of a most glorious work of grace in that Nation. Nor were these revivals temporary in their effects upon these aboriginal tribes; for long subsequent to their removal across the Missis- sippi River, and down to the present time, these large tribes have retained their Christian character and Church organiza- tion. The writer has repeatedly visited the Wyandottes, Dela- wares, Shawnees, Chickasaws, Kickapoos, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Creeks, held Conferences for them, and witnessed their piety and devotion to the cause of Christ. Thousands upon thousands of them have passed to the upper kingdom and their places in the Church are yet filled with zealous and holy suc- cessors. The names of McKendree, Bangs, Soule, and their associates, who were foremost in organizing the Missionary So- ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1819, and of those heroic men who have carried into practical effect the benevo- lent design of that Society through fifty years of privation and toil will be honored while the world shall endure. This was the era in which American Methodism strikingly developed the animus of her founders and illustrated the true, apostolic spirit of Wesley, Coke, and Asbury. Almost simul- taneously the Indians, the slaves in the South, their race in Africa, and the natives of South America, the work of Bible distribution and Sunday school instruction called forth the sympathies and earnest efforts of the Church. It was a glorious era. Prominent, not to say foremost, in planning and sustaining these noble enterprises was our venerated Bishop. Such works engrossed his thoughts and occupied all his time and energies. He thought and cared for little else. His whole life was one long, yearning effort to spread the pure gospel of Christ over all classes of men. He was always planning and working for this end, even to his last hours. In looking back to the events alluded to in this chapter and to the noble-hearted and devoted men who were the leaders and agents in arousing and developing the energies of the Church, the writer, who began his itinerant career in the fall of 1817, feels a grateful satisfaction in having had a personal acquaint- ance with many of them. Few of them survive, but their mem- ories and their deeds will ever live in the respect and affection of Methodists. CHAPTER XVI Tennesse Conference in 1823 Bishops McKendree and George present Vertigo McKendree 's purpose to cross the mountains in the winter abandoned The promise to take him to Baltimore in the spring Starts in March, 1824 Companions in travel Difficulties on the route Crosses the Cumberland Mountains Winton's Wilkerson's Cross- es the Alleghany Mountains The night at the hut Crosses the Yadkin in a canoe Wilkesboro Salem Guilford Battle Ground The effect of that battle in 1791 Person County Crosses Roanoke River At Tay- lor's Boydtown Adam's Crossing Meherrin River Calls on the families of his friends on his route R. C. Boothe's In Petersburg, Va. Richmond Alexandria Georgetown At Judge McLean's Mc- Kinney's Mr. Calhoun's letter Dr. Bascom Chaplain to Congress In Baltimore W. Wilkins Dr. Samuel Baker Impression made by the tour. ON November 26, 1823, the Tennessee Annual Con/erence began its session in Huntsville, Ala. Bishops McKendree and George attended. The health of the former was very infirm from a complication of chronic diseases, and his strength was nearly exhausted from travel and exposure, having recently at- tended the Missouri and Kentucky Conferences; yet he would undertake to preside when invited to do so. On one occasion, and during the pendency of some rather perplexing business, he became a little excited and confused from vertigo. It was the first, and, indeed, the only time, the writer ever saw him so in the chair. His old and faithful friend, Thomas Logan Douglass, observed his embarrassment and modestly assisted to relieve him upon the question of order under consideration. After the session of the day had closed, the same friend visited him pri- vately and told him he had noticed he was suffering from verti- go; and when he should find himself in that condition, he ought not to consent to take the chair. The Bishop took the sugges- tion very kindly, thanked him, but seemed dejected at the ap- prehension of becoming useless in the Church. What old and laborious minister who has come to the "sear and yellow leaf of life" cannot sympathize with him in these feelings? After the close of the Conference, Brother Douglass and the writer waited upon the Bishop to ascertain his contemplated movements before the ensuing General Conference. He replied that he must be in Baltimore by May 1, and that to be certain 284 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of it, he must start forthwith to cross the mountains. We re- minded him it was then about December 1, the roads were al- ready bad, the weather cold, and the distance so great that, be- fore he could make it, he would be caught in the snowstorms of the mountains and be compelled to take refuge in some cabin, where he would find himself without acquaintances or comforts; that, in view of his feeble health, we could not consent to see him start on such a journey, especially without a traveling compan- ion. We therefore advised him to remain with us until the spring should open, and promised that if he would do so, we, being delegates to the General Conference, would go with him to Baltimore. After hesitating awhile, he yielded to our re- monstrances, with the proviso we should start whenever he should require and travel at such stages as he could bear. The winter of 1823-4 he spent in Middle Tennessee, alter- nating between his brother James's, in Summer County, Nash- ville, and his brother-in-law, Nathanael Moore's, near Colum- bia, preaching whenever he could, meeting the classes occasion- ally, and corresponding with old friends. Early in March, 1824, notice was given us that we must be ready to comply with our promise in a few more days, as he would start on his journey to Baltimore. The winter had been a very cold and wet one, the spring opened slowly, and the roads were horribly muddy. We found him quite feeble and scarcely able to sit up. But go he must, and start he would. For a week or two during the past winter, the writer had been engaged, at his dictation, in preparing an address to the General Conference, explaining his views as to the constitutionality and expediency of the questions which had agitated the General Conference and vindicating his own course in the premises. He also dictated a valedictory address to the Conference, both of which documents were to be presented if, by any means, he stiould be prevented from attending it. r During the process of composing these ad- dresses, his accustomed caution and fine taste in the selection of the simplest and most expressive words were very strikingly exhibited. These documents constituted our recreation, when- ever a leisure hour occurred, throughout that whole tour, from March 10 to May 1. They were transcribed, or rather written almost anew, about three times, amended, revised, and cor- rected with the greatest possible care. Every word was weighed , every sentence criticized to a degree which gave a new appre- hension of the labor of composing. Our company consisted of the Bishop in his barouche drawn Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 285 by two small but excellent horses; Mr. and Mrs. Douglass on horseback, neither of them weighing less than two hundred pounds; their faithful servant Aaron, leading a pack horse; and the writer on horseback. Sometimes he would ride my horse a little, especially when the road became difficult or endangered an upset, but usually he kept his seat in the carriage while I drove. We passed up the Cumberland River, spending a night with his old colaborer and friend, the father-in-law of Brother Doug- lass, the Rev. John McGee; thence recrossing the river at the mouth of Caney Fork, we struck out along a very rugged road, the old trail of the emigrants to the western country, for the Cumberland Mountains. We found the roads exceedingly bro- ken and rough. To add to our troubles, torrents of rain poured upon us. The unbridged streams were swollen so as to endanger our safety, and houses were few and comforts scanty. Our stages were short, sometimes we were compelled to halt and tie up for a day. Occasionally the Bishop was so wearied and painful he would get out and lie down to rest on the side of the road. Descending the mountain, we crossed the beautiful Clinch River; spent a delightful Sabbath at Kingston; preached to large congregations; visited some of the Bishop's old friends, the Wintons and others; proceeded through Knoxville to Straw- berry Plains, resting a day and night with his valued former fel- low laborer, the Rev. Thomas Wilkerson, 1 of precious memory, and near Jonesboro encountered the Alleghany Mountains. Our tour across this mountain was, if possible, more disagree- able than over the Cumberland; but at last it was accomplished, and just at nightfall near the foot of the mountain we found quarters at a miserable little hut. It was our only chance. It Thomas Wilkerson was received on trial in 1793. After traveling ten years in the Virginia Conference, he located and removed to the West. Here he resumed his labors and was very useful late in life. He married an excellent lady, and their house was a delightful resting place for the travel- worn and weary old Bishop. Mr. Wilkerson had traveled extensively in the West as well as in the East and was universally esteemed for his talents and piety. His simplicity of manners, his dignity, amiability, and remark- ably good sense gave him great influence among all classes and particularly among the most intelligent. After his readmission into the itinerancy, his name continued upon the Minutes down to 1850. I have often thought that in his intellectual, moral, and social characteristics he strikingly re- sembled Bishop Roberts. Bishop McKendree had known him many years and loved him highly, regarding him as singularly prudent and reliable in everything. 286 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree was getting dark, no other house for several miles, and the Bish- op was sick and in great pain. Indeed, he was almost utterly exhausted. We carried him into the house and laid him half dead upon a miserable bed in a dirty room, which served as a parlor, bedroom, dining room, and kitchen. After supper, of which none of our company partook but the Bishop's driver and our colored companion, there is a distinct recollection that some- body, not the colored man, fed, washed off, and plentifully greased the legs of three jaded horses. Then returning to the hut, through a drenching rain, he found that he must share with the Bishop a very narrow bed or seek sleep upon his blanket on the floor. Next morning was the blessed Sunday! It had rained all night, and every little mountain brook now brawled and foamed as it dashed headlong toward the valley. Now, what was to be done? To stay there, even on Sunday, was out of the question, unless it was sinful not todoso. The Bishop had neither eaten nor slept. He was feverish, nervous, and profoundly silent, lying on his wretched bed with closed eyes. Brother Douglass and the writer held a consultation. We learned that the Yadkin River was nine miles ahead : it was a fearful mountain torrent when swelled by rain; if not crossed immediately, it would detain us several days, as there was no ferryboat, and, finally, that there was no white man's house this side the river where we could stay. We agreed it was necessary to go at once, and, after everything was ready, the Bishop was aroused and politely asked to take his seat in the carriage. He remonstrated, but, as we could not stay, he submitted, and we hurried off. On arriving at the Yadkin, it was found to be unfordable, and rapidly rising, with every prospect of overflowing its banks be- fore night. We soon ascertained, from a group of negroes as- sembled to see the river, that the ferryboat had been carried off by the flood, that there was no lodging place for us on this side, and that we must cross soon or retrace our steps to our late miserable stopping place. "There!" said the Bishop, "what have you gained in breaking the Sabbath?" We replied that it was a work of mercy to get him to a place where he could eat and rest, and, besides, we were going to Wilkesboro to have preach- ing at night. We made a bed for him with the cushions of the carriage and our blankets under the shade, and he was soon fast asleep. But how to cross the river was the question. Ascer- taining that there was a large canoe, dug out of the body of a huge tree, lying a mile or two above, we presently got it floated Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 287 down and quickly carried all the baggage and equipments across with Mrs. Douglass to keep "watch and ward" over them. Then the horses swam over by the side of our craft, and finally the carriage was placed astride it and carried over. This was a difficult and hazardous affair, but it was quickly and safely done. As the canoe left the bank and started with its bow up the stream to make the landing on the other side, all the carriage wheels, impelled by the force of the rapid current, began to re- volve, and the spectators, who watched our movements with great interset, at once shouted: "Steamboat! steamboat!" This aroused our sleeping friend, and he saw with alarm his carriage whirling across the torrent. He looked around, and horses, baggage, and friends had all gone. Soon, however, he was hailed from the other shore and informed that all was safe. In a short time he was across and moving rapidly. Wilkesboro was soon reached and delightful quarters obtained. The Bishop had a clean and comfortable bed, enjoyed a sweet, sound night's sleep, and next morning was ready to resume his wearisome journey. He and Mr. Douglass were both now in the bounds of their former field of labor, and many old acquaintances greeted them with a hearty welcome. The latter preached at night to a large audience. It was one of his best sermons, clear, evan- gelical, eloquent, and powerfully impressive. The Church was edified, and penitents came forward for prayer. The Bishop and his party left Wilkesboro, N. C., on March 29, and stayed that night at the village of Jonesville, where he found an old friend (Parks) likely to die. Of course he visited and prayed with him. The next night was spent in Huntsville, and on the thirty-first we came on to Salem, the seat of the fa- mous Moravian Female School. The town seemed orderly and prosperous, and the whole is owned by a German colony. In the afternoon we were conducted by the superintendent to "the Sisters' House," where were one hundred and fifteen young la- dies, students of the school; thence to the church, and heard the grand old German organ; thence to the cemetery, the Potter's House, and garden all neatly and beautifully arranged. There were no idlers nor drunkards there. Everything moved like clockwork. On April 1, we rode from Salem to Mendenhall's, another old friend of both the Bishop and Mr. Douglass. The next day we passed over the old Guilford Courthouse battle ground, on which a battle was fought between Lord Cornwallis and General Greene, March 15, 1781. It was one of the hardest battles of 288 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the Revolution, and the loss in killed and wounded was about equal on both sides. Lord Cornwallis claimed a victory, of which Mr. Fox remarked, when it was reported in the British Parliament: "Another such victory will ruin our army in Amer- ica." Indeed, this battle was the turning point in that struggle, as it frustrated the plan of the British commander, diverted his course, and induced him to retreat next day, with our men in hot pursuit. And then the skill and courage of a part of our army on that occasion awakened stronger confidence on our side and resulted in a more vigorous prosecution of the war, so that seven months afterwards (on October 19, 1781), Lord Corn- wallis surrendered at Yorktown the whole army, and peace and independence followed. As we rode over this field, the Bishop pointed out where the lines were during the engagement and some trees which were said to have lost their tops by the artillery. From his familiarity with the topography of the place and the incidents of the day, it is more than likely that he was in that battle with the Virginia troops, but here, as else- where, he became reticent when it was attempted to draw him out upon this subject, for, although he was not only in the rebel army, but was certainly an officer in the battle of Yorktown, yet he always avoided conversation upon war topics with young preachers and generally even with his old comrades and friends. We had now arrived in a section of the country where Mr. Douglass and myself were born and where we intended to rest awhile among our relations; so, leaving my company at Menden- hall's with a promise to meet again and pursue our journey to- gether, the writer departed. Passing through Greensboro (where he had the pleasure of meeting again with the families of Judge Dick and Dr. R. P. Williamson), he went into Person County and spent over a week with his relations there. In the meantime the Bishop arrived, and in a few days we left and re- sumed -our way. Soon we passed my father's former residence, then my grandfather's, places endeared by earliest and fondest reminiscences, and on the next day, April 10, crossed the Roan- oke River and stayed among the Taylors (Allen, Howell, and Edmund) several days. These were Methodists of the old and genuine stamp and old friends of McKendree and Asbury. The Bishop visited Boydtown, subsequently the seat of Randolph- Macon College, which has lately been transferred to Ashland, to prove an honor and a blessing to the State and the Church. On April 12, we went thirty-five miles, to the elegant and hos- pitable residence of Brother Adams. In crossing^the Meherrin Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 289 River, we found it very high and rising rapidly, the long bridge without banisters, one side considerably lower than the other, and a torrent of water rushing over more than half of the bridge. The Bishop was startled and thought it hazardous to attempt to drive over; but, giving him the reins, I alighted, coaxed the frightened horses upon the bridge, and, wading, led them safely over. In a brief time afterwards the entire bridge was covered with the swollen stream, and, I believe, washed away. As we proceeded by easy stages through Virginia, it was very impressive to hear the Bishop call the names and give the his- tory of almost every family whose residence we passed. He would frequently say: "Robert, I must stop awhile here; I knew the old folks and must look after the children." Some- times the interviews were deeply affecting. They would em- brace him and once or twice an old, gray-headed sister would, almost involuntarily, try to kiss him. Tears, smiles, and prayers followed, and after prayer we would hurry away. In the afternoon of April 13, we drove to Robert C. Boothe's and tarried there until next morning. It was a fine specimen of a Virginia Methodist family, and the Bishop was truly at home. Thence we went to Petersburg, where he was admitted on trial in 1787. Brother Archer's was his pleasant lodging place, as it had often been before. The stationed preacher, G. W. Charlton, was considered a very promising young preacher. On Sunday, at eleven o'clock, the Bishop preached to a large audience of old acquaintances and their children, many of whom he had baptized in their infancy. The sermon over, they crowded around him, fervently welcoming him back again in his old age and feebleness. After Sunday, he proceeded to Richmond, and remained there until the nineteenth. He preached, on Sunday, at Shochoe Hill, one of his characteristic sermons to a very large, attentive, and weeping audience. From Richmond we passed on to Alexandria, staying a night at Brother Ware's, another at Fredericksburg, and the third at Dumfries. Passing in sight of Mount Vernon, the conversation naturally turned to General Washington, whom he greatly ad- mired and loved. We stopped to lunch at the old, forsaken parish church, and, driving out a flock of goats, entered it. The usual inscriptions (the Ten Commandments, Creed, and Lord's Prayer) were over the pulpit, and upon a pew was the name of "George Washington," in gilt letters, and next to it "Robert Treat Paine." It seemed a pity that such a house should be given to the goats. The residence of Brother Hoffman furnished 19 290 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the Bishop a kind and comfortable home in Alexandria for a day or two. Here I formed the acquaintance of that eloquent and good minister, William Ryland, and was deeply impressed with his piety and talents. Several days were spent at Brother Foxhall's, in Georgetown, and at the house of Judge McLean, the Postmaster General. Mr. Monroe was then in the last term of his presidency, and J. C. Calhoun was Secretary of War, while Thomas L. McKinney was in the Indian Department. Several official letters now be- fore the writer, addressed to the Bishop, attest the deep interest felt by these officers of the general government in the civiliza- tion and Christianization of the Indians, one of them, dated April 26, informing the Bishop that "an additional allowance of $300 had been agreed on in favor of the school of Upper San- dusky." Another letter from Mr. Calhoun, addressed to Gen- eral Crowell, agent for the Creek Indians, says: "The President takes a deep interest in the success of every effort the object of which is to improve the condition of the Indians, and desires that every aid should be furnished by the Indian agents in ad- vancing so important an object," etc. While these communi- cations evince the estimate placed by the President and Mr. Calhoun upon the Indian Missions, they also show their high regard for the venerable Bishop, to whom, in a great degree, they attributed the establishment and success of these missions and through whose influence these allowances were made. We had the pleasure of seeing our mutual friend, Dr. Bascom, here. Through Mr. Clay he had been, unexpectedly to himself, elected a chaplain to Congress, and, as it was in session, he was here in his official character. Unfortunately, his first sermon, although eloquent and able, was too long to suit the taste of his .audience, who preferred short sermons and long dinners; so that, while the most intellectual and piously disposed part were de- lighted with his preaching, a good many were disinclined to hear him again. On visiting him, he was found in bed, suffering from a very painful affection. He was, however, devoting every -hour which he could employ to the study of the Hebrew lan- guage, under the tuition of an able Hebraist. On April 28 we reached Baltimore, and were domiciled in the family of William Wilkins, Esq. It was a delightful family. In view of the Bishop's need of medical attention, his physician and devoted friend, Dr. Samuel Baker, claimed and took him to his house. Here I surrendered my precious charge, after nearly two months' constant intercourse, on a tour of more than Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 291 a thousand miles of slow and toilsome travel. But they were months of inestimable value to me. From many days' conver- sation with that wise and holy man, I learned and enjoyed much. The origin, nature, and proper administration of Methodism; the character and labors of its early ministers; the importance of adhering closely to all its essential peculiarities; the duties of its officers, and especially of its pastors, and the indispensa- bleness of zeal, holiness, and promptness were topics upon which he delighted to dwell. And now, after the lapse of forty- five years, I must avow that my sentiments upon these subjects are still McKendreean, and, I presume, will remain so through the remainder of my life. Most devoutly do I thank God for having in his providence given me the inestimable privilege of so intimate an association with a man so wise and pure. CHAPTER XVII General Conference of 1824 Messrs. Reece and Hannah Committees Petitions Report on episcopacy Winans on the report and the con- stitution "The constitutional test" Bishops' veto Amendment to the constitution proposed by the bishops and others J. Soule's views Question carried The suspended resolutions question Left as unfin- ished business Qourum broken Bishop Roberts and Freeborn Gar- rettson Soule and Hedding elected bishops Ordained Sketches Bishop McKendree's address He is gratified. ON Saturday, May 1, 1824, the delegated General Confer- ence began its fourth quadrennial session in Baltimore, Bishops McKendree, Roberts, and George being present. The number of delegates from each Conference was as follows: From New York, 16; New England, 14; Genesee, 16; Philadelphia, 13; Baltimore 14; Ohio, 13; Kentucky, 11; Missouri, 5; Tennessee, 9; Mississippi, 3; South Carolina, 11; Virginia, 9; in all, 134. After the usual opening exercises, Bishop McKendree in the chair, Thomas L. Douglass was made Secretary pro tern.; and committees on "public worship" and to draw up "rules" were appointed, and the Conference adjourned until Monday. At the next session the body organized by electing John Emory Secretary. The Rev. Richard Reece, as messenger, and the Rev. John Hannah, his companion, from the Wesleyan Methodists of England, were then introduced to the General Conference and delivered impressive addresses. Committees on episcopacy, boundaries, itinerancy, local preachers, the Book Concern, missions, churches and parsonages, people of color, revisal, and education were appointed. A special committee was ap- pointed on Canada affairs. Two more days were consumed in arranging business and adopting rules. To the writer, the youngest member of the body, it was an imposing spectacle. Bishop McKendree observed the action of the body with great solicitude. In a few days petitions and addresses began to pour in, declaring that "the people were the source of legislative authority;" "the power of the bishops to be found nowhere else but in popes;" "we have no constitution;" "the restrictive parts of the Discipline not binding on succeeding General Conferences after 1808, nor upon the laity, as they were made by a legislative body, without the design or authority to adopt a constitution;" "let the Church try and expel her own mem- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 293 bers;" "laity to have an equal representation," etc. Several remonstrances were made against presiding elders as needless, and doing "a work of supererogation," etc. And among others, on the same topic, one asking that "no slaveholder shall be a member of the Church. " Such were the memorials from cities, towns, and country; from quarterly meetings, Sunday schools, and other official bodies, as well as unofficial petitioners by scores and hundreds of subscribers. Ten or more of them were from the West or South. It was astounding to hear such attacks upon the very fundamental principles of our economy. Could they find advocates in a Methodist General Conference? Of course the reports of the various committees to whom these papers were referred brought up all these topics for dis- cussion. That upon episcopacy was about the first which was reported: 1. Approving the conduct and character of the bishops. 2. Bishop McKendree to continue in his present relation i.e., without regular work. 3. That it is necessary to strengthen the episcopacy by the election of two bishops. 4. The bishops, if necessary, to lay off episcopal departments. Attempts were made to modify each of these items of the re- port except the second, but the principal opposition was made to the last two, some contending we had as many bishops as was needed. The motion to recommend was lost by a vote of 54 to 60. The fourth item was discussed at considerable length. It was contended that the General Conference had authority to lay off the work in departments temporarily; some wanted the bishops' work laid off for four years. William Winans said that on this question there are three different opinions; that his own was that the bishops have the prerogative to divide their work for their own convenience and the good of the Church; and, as one of the restrictions upon this delegated body is that "they shall not destroy the plan of our itinerant general superintendency;" and, inasmuch as the exercise of the authority by the delegated body in limiting and thus localizing the bishops violates the plan of our itinerant general superintendency, it is, and must be, a violation of the constitution of the Church. He said it was ab- surd to deny that we have a Church constitution. By what authority do members occupy their seats here as delegates or the bishop his chair but by the constitution? These restrictive ar- ticles, adopted by a convention of the whole body of ministers 294 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree in 1808, are as truly a constitution to the Church (and to this body) and for the expressed purpose of restricting this delegated body as the Constitution of the United States is to this nation. In short, if these articles do not constitute a part of the organic law of the Church, in all its departments, we have no constitu- tion, and this body is lawless. This speech was thrilling. The report was adopted, leaving it discretionary with the bishops to divide their work temporarily. Friday, May 20, another question of importance came up, called "the constitutional test," the object of which was to pre- vent hasty action, violative of the constitution, by giving the bishops a qualified veto, with an ultimate reference of the ques- tion to the Annual Conferences. It involved constitutional questions only. The bishops, anticipating some action of the kind, had agreed to unite, and, if desired, present to the Con- ference the following amendment to the sixth Article of the "Limitations and Restrictions, "adopted by the General Confer- ence in 1808, signed by their own hands, and by two others, to wit : Resolved by the delegates of the Annual Conferences in General Conference assembled, That it be recommended, and is hereby recommended to the several Annual Conferences, to adopt the following Article as a provision, to be annexed to the sixth Article of the Limitations and Restrictions, adopted by the General Conference in 1808, to wit: "Provided also, That whenever the delegated General Conference shall pass any rule or rules which, in the judgment of the bishops, or a majority of them, are contrary to, or an infringment upon, the above Limitations and Restrictions, or any one of them, such rule or rules being returned to the Conference with- in three days after their passage, together with the objections of the bish- ops in writing, the Conference shall reconsider such rule or rules; and if upon reconsideration they shall pass by a majority of two-thirds of the members present, they shall be considered as rules and go into immediate effect; but in case a less majority shall differ from the opinion of the bish- ops, and they continue to sustain their objections, the rule or rules ob- jected to shall be laid before the Annual Conferences, in which case the decision of all the members of the Annual Conferences present when the vote shall be taken, shall be final. In taking the vote in all such cases, in the Annual Conferences, the secretary shall give a certificate of the number of votes taken in the affirmative and negative, and such certifi- cates shall be forwarded to the Book Agent in New York, who, with one or more of the bishops who may be present, shall be a committe to canvas the votes and certify the result." We recommend the adoption of the above resolution. W. MCKENDREE, THOMAS L. DOUGLASS, ENOCH GEORGE, WILLIAM CAPERS. R. R. ROBERTS, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Whether the subject was brought into Conference by thepres- ? entation of this document or by another series of resolutions- the writer cannot say, but the discussion of the subject was upon substantially a similar if not an identical presentation Of the question. A motion to lay on the table was lost by 61 to 65. J. Soule said: "The General Conference is not the proper judge of the constitutionality of its own acts. The course of the last General Conference in the case of the suspended resolutions shows it thought thus. If the General Conference be the sole judge in such questions, then there are no bounds to its power. The General Conferences held and exercised unlimited power until 1812, because they met en masse and not by virtue of their election or delegation. This was felt to be a dangerous state of things and unfair to the more distant portions of the work. And one great controlling motive in introducing the representative principle was to lessen the danger of sudden and violent changes in the fundamental polity of the Church by establishing a delegated legislative body under restrictions, thus insuring stability to the organic institutions and equality in representation. It matters not by what name these restric- tive rules may be called, the design and effect were to take the questions enumerated from under the control of the delegated Conference, except in the way and manner specified." He called it a constitution. L. McCombs and James Smith opposed the resolution at con- siderable length, and W. Winans replied in one of the strongest, most analytical, and effective speeches ever delivered on the floor of the General Conference. The question was carried by a vote of 64 to 58. A heavy load was lifted from the heart of the senior bishop. His face put on a subdued smile, and he breathed freer. But the subject which had in some form or other agitated the body since. 1808, and which had, in 1820, culminated in the adoption of certain resolutions, which were subsequently reconsidered and suspended, and hence were known as the "Suspended Res- olutions/' was yet to come up. No questions had so long and so deeply disturbed the entire Church as those involved in these resolutions. Their purpose was to diminish the power of the ' bishops, by the election of the presiding elders, and investing them with the stationing prerogative. In 1820, it was carried.; as a compromise, or peace measure, many voting for it as such who really disapproved it. But no sooner was this done than 296 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the real and baneful tendency of the measure began to be per- ceived, as already stated in a preceding chapter, and so general was this conviction that it was suspended until 1824. The great and avowed cause of opposition to it was that it was an infringe- ment on the constitutional authority of the episcopacy, who nevertheless agreed to submit it to the several Annual Confer- ences, and, if they should sanction it, to consider it passed. It appeared that Bishop McKendree had done this at the Confer- ences he had attended, and probably the other bishops had done so too; but some Conferences had voted against it and some for it, while several had failed or refused to vote on it at all. It was evidently against the wish of a majority of the members of the Annual Conferences. A motion was made on May 24, declaring the suspended resolutions null and void. Almost the entire day was spent in discussing the matter, and upon taking the vote, it stood 63 for and 61 against the motion. But as there was a complaint that several Conferences had not voted, whose votes, if in the affirmative, might carry the question, there was a dispo- sition among the majority to hold the decision in abeyance un- til these Conferences might have another chance to vote, and if there then should be a majority in favor of these resolutions, they should be considered as adopted. To this it was replied, The principle is now lost, and the resolutions themselves are not of so much importance. On May 28, Lewis Myers moved "to take up the motion on the subject of the suspended resolutions." Dr. Capers said there was a division of sentiment on these resolutions. "A majority of the members of the Annual Conferences, as well as of the Con- ferences themselves, have said they are unconstitutional. There is a division of sentiment among the episcopacy, and if things are left as they are, will not the bishops be delicately situated? May it not produce confusion in the administration? For surely they will not give practical effect to the measure, after what had transpired." Dr. Winans wished the resolutions to be considered "unfin- ished business." It was finally moved by the writer, and seconded by Dr. Capers, that "the suspended resolutions, making the presiding elders elective, etc., be considered as unfinished business, and they shall not be inserted in the new edition of the Disci- pline or go into operation before the next General Conference." In putting the question to vote (Bishop Roberts in the chair) the quorum was broken twice; but, under the remonstrances of Life and^Times of Bishop McKendree 297 the venerable Freeborn Garrettson and the chairman, at last it was carried, and the Conference soon after adjourned sine die. After the decision that the resolutions so often referred to were null and void, the reason for the refusal of Joshua Soule to submit to consecration being thus removed, it was greatly de- sired by his friends to have him reflected to the episcopacy; and as two were to be inducted into office, Joshua Soule and Elijah Hedding were elected bishops. And on May 27, after a ser- mon by Bishop George, they were solemnly ordained as super- intendents of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America. These two men were in many respects eminently qualified for the high positions assigned them and proved themselves worthy and useful shepherds of the Church. 1 When it was evident that the Conference was approaching its close, the senior Bishop determined to carry out his meditated purpose of giving to its members a brief address. Mr. John Summerfield, the renowned and justly popular Anglo-Irish preacher (between whom and the Bishop there existed the strong- est feelings of attachment), was requested to join the writer and take down the address in shorthand. We accordingly pre- pared ourselves and recorded every word he uttered as it fell Joshua Soule was a native of Maine, born in Bristol, Hancock County, 1781. He entered the itinerancy in 1798, having been converted the year previous. He died in Nashville, Tenn., March 6, 1867. His long ministe- rial career was crowded with labor and eventful scenes. He enjoyed the esteem of Bishops Asbury and McKendree, and deserved it. When shall we have his biography? It is to be regretted that in the very valuable and usually fair and liberal "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," by Dr. Stevens, writen since the Bishop's death, the author, in sketching his character, could find so little, comparatively, to say about him, and of that little so much that is depreciating. Elijah Hedding was born in the country of Dutchess, N. Y,, June 7, 1780; was converted December 27, 1798; admitted on trial in 1801; elected bish- op in 1824; and died April 9, 1852. He had been a faithful and efficient laborer in the Northern and Eastern section of the work and was highly respected for his purity of character, his amiability, and his talents. He was a large and venerable looking man, and lived and died with a spotless reputation. During the General Conference of 1824, the writer heard him preach in Light Street Church, Baltimore, on " God is love." He illustrated the great truth in the text as exhibited in creation, providence, and grace. It was clearly and fitly spoken, but seemed not to make a very strong im- pression. In his episcopal duties he was popular and much revered for his wisdom, piety, and fidelity. His labors were not extended to the South- west. Dr. D. W. Clark has given us an excellent biography of him. 298 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree from his lips, and, after comparing our notes and making out a copy of his address, handed it to him. It was a striking and touching scenic presentation. There he stood before the as- sembled representatives of the Church, with every one of whom he was acquainted, and with some of whom he had been a fel- low soldier on many a moral battle field for about forty years, whose thin hairs were white as his and whose bodies, like his, were wasted and worn with unceasing toil and care. The mo- ment he arose, noise and motion ceased in the crowded house. He paused awhile, and, then in a low and hesitating voice, began. After saying that he would avail himself of the present oppor- tunity to state his views upon a subject on which some brethren had misunderstood him, the following were his words: At the last General Conference, unexpected circumstances led to a de- velopment of our situation in certain matters which was of a serious and painful nature after which difficulties were to rise out of this which af- fected the peace and harmony of the Church. Soon after, I understood that brethren supposed me to have said that I considered it my right and prerogative to negative the laws of the General Conference. This surprised me, for I had disavowed this principle above thirty years ago and had never changed my sentiments, but have disavowed it at all seasonable opportunities, and do still. This I suppose quite sufficient to satisfy those who know me; and yet I perceived the other day, from the statement of a brother in this Conference, that this sentiment still lives and was again attributed to me. If I had at any time, in the multiplicity of cares and of business, suffered anything to escape me which by possibility could be con- strued to have this meaning, I should still have thought that my disavowal, so frequently made public among you, would have been sufficient to guard against such a construction. I therefore add that in my estimation no con- struction of this kind can be legitimately drawn from anything I may have said. After Conference, I took a course in this business which has been ob- jected to by many. I have no hesitation in saying that the act was not with- in the limits of our restricted powers; but I was induced to do it from a pre- cedent which had been once set by that venerable man, Bishop Asbury , who may perhaps be considered as the father of the American connection. Soon after I was ordained a bishop, an objection was made against an act of the administration, and the objection was on constitutional principles. As- bury deplored that our Discipline made no provision for adjusting such a controversy, and determined to lay it before the Annual Conferences. The first that met was the Baltimore Conference. After it had been submitted to them he carried it forward to the Philadelphia, New York, New Eng- land, and Genesee Conferences, in each of which it was acted on, and the difficulties were adjusted. This was the plan on which I acted; unappre- hensive of any evil tendency, I laid this matter before the Annual Confer- ences. Look now at its tendency. I viewed it on constitutional principles, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 299 and my reasonings are still in existence. I thought from the first, and I do still think, that the Annual Conferences have the power of determining the question ; and if they had said, "We think them constitutional" i. e., the uspended resolutions I was bound to submit. However, as they did not, I simply advised them to recommend it to the General Conference. In all this I saw no evil tendency whatever. At the commencement of the present General Conference, your bishops consulted together to devise some way to harmonize the brethren and the connection at large. It is true they have had their difficulties, and I would ask if any three men could unite their views on every subject for eight, or even four years? Yet, after all, when they came togather, they were anx- ious to agree upon some plan which would harmonize the body. They thought they saw a plan open, and they entered in. The plan was to in- vite the brethren on both sides to vote a peace measure which should meet the wishes of all. In order to guard against a recurrence of like disagree- ments, they agreed to recommend to the General Conference a constitu- tional test which should forever settle these things. I was pleased with an adjustment which is calculated to heal the past by the peace measure pro- posed and to guard against a recurrence by the constitutional test. Having concluded this topic, he spoke of the importance of the present time in the history of our Church, the extension of the work, and the increase in the number of the Conferences; thence deduced and maintained the necessity of an efficient superintendency and the importance of leading on the thousands of our Israel to inward and outward holiness and of training up the hundreds of thousands of the rising generation. He enlarged on the necessity of united councils and exertions to carry on this great work, and expressed his anxiety to see his brethren go hence to their work in perfect harmony. He rejoiced to know the differences of opinion would produce no division in the Con- ference. He said the office of a bishop among us is not an en- viable station; that in truth it is an accumulation of toil, labor, and privation superadded to the "care of all the Churches;" and that anyone who would desire the office of a bishop "as a good thing" for any other motive than to increase the general hap- piness of man and the glory of God thereby had not counted the cost. He briefly adverted to his age and infirmities and the prob- ability that he would not live to meet them four years hence. He then proceeded to advert to the labor and anxiety they had endured through the long session about to close and congratu- lated them upon the measures adopted and the degree of har- mony and brotherly respect which had generally prevailed. He exhorted them to love the Church and each other, to avoid strife, to cultivate deep personal piety and an unwavering de- 300 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree votion to the high ends of their holy vocation. Finally, after expressing a joyful hope of renewing in heaven the friendship and sanctified affection begun on earth, he invoked the blessing of God upon them all, and in tremulous tones, his cheeks mois- tened with tears, bade them, as he supposed, a long farewell. The whole audience continued awhile in profound silence, in- terrupted only by partially suppressed emotions. He concluded his address with the apostolic benediction, and retired. Various other measures were adopted by this Conference, which, upon the whole, was one of the most important sessions of the body ever held in the United States. Bishop McKendree was especially gratified. His well-known opinions upon several vital issues had been sustained, his course fully vindicated, an untrammeled episcopacy and primitive itinerancy perpetuated, and two able and trustworthy colleagues had been added to the aged but excellent college of bishops. The Church, especially in the South and West, was delighted at what was regarded, and has proved to be, virtually a peaceable disposal of harassing and dangerous attempts at innovations, and the preachers felt renewed confidence in the recuperative energy and perpetuity of their beloved Alma Mater. Thus closed the memorable General Conference of 1824. 1 1 There are several discrepancies between the notes made by the writer at the time and Dr. Bang's valuable "History" viz.: He says, on page 277 of Vol. Ill, the election of the two bishops occurred on the twenty-sixth, and their consecration on the twenty-seventh. My notes, made at the time, say the election was on the twenty-eighth, and the consecration on the twenty-ninth of May. Again, he says Bishop McKendree preached the ordination sermon; my record says Bishop George preached it. On the first balloting, William Beauchamp was next to Soule, Hedding next, and Emory last. Emory withdrew has name on the third balloting, and Hed- ding was elected by a small majority. CHAPTER XVIII The bishops divide the work for four years Bishop McKendree starts on a tour of three thousand miles His letter to Dr. Sargent His route from Baltimore to the Wyandotte Mission Bishop Soule and family Jacob Crist Finley meets him at Columbus, Ohio Visits and preaches to the Indians Weary Bear skin bed on the ground Gets to Ken- tucky Conference at Versailles Attends the Missouri Conference Re- turns to Tennessee very feeble His letter to Bishops Roberts and Soule, resigning the active duties of the superintendency Resumes his travels in the spring of 1825 B. T. Crouch's letter Mr. Summerfield. IMMEDIATELY after the close of the General Conference of 1824, the bishops agreed to a division of the work among them- selves for the ensuing four years, conformably to the views ex- pressed by that body. For the first two years Bishops Roberts and Soule were to attend the Western and Southern Conferences and Bishops George and Hedding the Eastern and Northern, and to exchange their fields of labor for the ensuing two years, thus enabling each of them to attend every Conference before the next General Conference. After spending a few days in Baltimore, and at the residence of his long-tried and devoted friend, Dr. Henry Wilkins, then living in the vicinity of the city, and finding his health and strength a little improved, he resumed his travels, intending, if possible, to visit the Indian missions and the Northwestern and Southern Conferences, a distance of more then three thousand miles. From Sharpsburg, Pa., he wrote to Dr. Thomas Sargent, Pres- ident of the Philadelphia Missionary Society, in reply to a note just received from him, and, after several suggestions as to the application of missionary funds to the various Indian missions, and especially in aid of New Orleans, he proceeds to say: Our Church politics is strangely embarrassing. The course I took rela- tive to the suspended resolutions was not to defeat them, but to bring, them into operation conformably to the constitution, and thereby confirm the " peace measure " and harmonize the preachers. To this the preachers who prefer the old system are willing to submit for the sake of peace. On the commencement of the late General Conference, the bishops took the subject into consideration and unanimously agreed to recommend the in- troduction of the suspended resolutions so soon as they should be recom- mended by those Annual Conferences which had not already authorized the change. This the old side, the majority, I understand, are willing to do. 302 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree But this our reformers refused to do. The majority, still desirous of an amicable adjustment of differences, would not destroy the resolutions, but perpetuated their suspension. This is my view of the matter. Hence this change in our government, which was dictated by the reformers, is de- feated by the reformers. It is said by authority to be relied on that noth- ing short of investing the Annual Conferences with authority to constitute the presiding elders, independently of the bishops, and to make the pre- siding elders thus appointed a committee to station the preachers, in which the bishop shall have only the casting vote, will satisfy the Northern breth- . ren. This change would, in my estimation, effectually "destroy our itiner- ant general superintendency"; and I am deliberately of the opinion that an effective general superintendency is as necessary to the preservation of our itinerancy and the harmony of the Annual Conferences as is the Gen- eral Conferencef-ftself. Both one and the other rise out of the division of our work into so many Annual Conferences, which are equal in power and independent of each other. Could all our preachers meet in one Annual Conference, the itinerant plan might be preserved in America without either a general superintendency or a general Conference, as it is in Eng- land. I expect to be at the Ohio Conference, at Zanesville, in September, when I hope to receive a letter from you." The following extract from his Diary will show the route he took from the General Conference: "At the Baltimore Conference, Jacob B. Crist was appointed to travel with me. I went to the Philadelphia Conference, and at its close returned to Baltimore. From there we went, in company with Bishop Soule and his family, as they were moving to the State of Ohio. On Sabbath we both preachedat Hagers- town. Thence we went to Sharpsburg and Uniontown, Pa. Bishop Soule and family go on, and we stopped. Preached at Brownsville, Washington, Wheeling, Barnesville, and Zanes- ville, and spent the Sabbath at New Lancaster. On Monday we reached Columbus, where Brother Finley was waiting for me, and the next day we set out for the Wyandotte Mission. The weather was very hot, and one of my horses having been lamed at Lancaster, I had undertaken to go on horseback. I suffered considerably and was greatly fatigued, but arrived safely at the mission about August 7. Preached to the Indians on Sunday, spent several days visiting the Indian families, and rode sixty miles in two days, to Urbana. I had to lie down and rest, in a house if we could find one, if not, a bear skin on the ground made a very good bed. When musquitoes were plenty, we would strike fire, raise a smoke, and rest comfortably. From Urbana we attended the Ohio Conference at Zanesville. Thence we visited Springfield, Xenia, Ridgewell, Hillsboro, Chillicothe, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 303 Lebanon, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Lexington, Ky., on our way to the Kentucky Conference at Versailles, October 11, 1824. Besides preaching in the towns and societies in the country, we attended quarterly meetings and camp meetings, rendering such services as we were able." It has been already stated that he attended, with Bishops Soule and Roberts, the Missouri Conference, which succeeded the Kentucky. His route was through Louisville, crossing the Ohio, through Indiana to Vincennes, through Illinois to Pads- fields, attending the Missouri Conference in November, return- ing through Southern Illinois into Kentucky, visiting Hop- kinsville and Russellville, and passing into Tennessee. During all this long journey he was so feeble as to need assistance to get in or out of the carriage. The roads were very bad, the streams high, frequently the horses were near swimming, and once, in crossing a deep and dangerous stream on a cold day, the water came over the backs of the horses and wet the Bishop above his knees. His clothes were soon frozen, and in this condition he had to ride four miles to reach a house. The bishops were greatly delighted at the change which had resulted from the labors of the missionaries among the Wyan- dottes, both in the temporal and spiritual condition of this peo- ple. Their religion had consisted of paganism and some of the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. They were really pagans, although baptized by the priests and claimed by them as Christians. They kept up their heathen worship their feasts, songs, and dances; and so strong was their belief in witch- craft, that numbers had been put to death as witches under this belief. Drunkenness, poverty, nakedness, and misery abounded. The chase was their chief, if not their only resource, for a living. But now a large majority had renounced their old faith and practices. Many had joined our Church and were strictly at- tentive to the means of grace. The tomahawk and the scalping knife, the rifle and the bow, had been substituted by the ax, the plow, and the hoe. The habits of Christian, social, and domes- tic life prevailed. At the manual labor mission school a fine farm was in full operation, supplying abundantly the wants of the mission family and school with corn, wheat, oats, rye, flax, and a great variety and profusion of vegetables. The Indians were imitating this model establishment. On the Sabbath both of the bishops preached to a large assembly through the inter- preter. By appointment, they met a number of the leaders of the Nation the chiefs and the moderator of the national coun- 304 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree cil. Bishop McKendree, after addressing them, invited them to inform him of their views in relation to the mission and the general interests of the Nation. Menoncue, Punch, Gray Eyes, Peacock, Between-the-Logs, Driver, Washington, and Big Tree replied. They gratefully adverted to the change in the creed, manners, morals, and condition which had resulted from the mission, and earnestly asked that it might be continued. " Bish- op McKendree/' says Bishop Soule, "continued visiting from house to house, attended by an interpreter," explaining experi- mental religion and enforcing its practical precepts. On Au- gust 14 they left, impressed and delighted with the visit. Bish- op Soule, who had never before been among the Indians, was especially surprised and pleased; and both of them, through the remainder of their lives, often adverted to the scene, which seemed to linger in their memories like the echo of an enchanting song heard "long time ago." It awakened a deeper sympathy for "the poor Indian." On their route from the Missouri to the Tennessee Confer- ence, to be held at Columbia, they arrived on November 21 at the Rev. Nathanael Moore's, the brother-in-law of Bishop Mc- Kendree, and found his sister, Mrs. Frances Moore, in a very feeble state of health from consumption. Having attended the Tennessee Conference and returned to the house of his brother- in-law, he yielded to the advice of friends and the entreaties of his sisters and relations not to venture farther during the winter. Indeed, his health was very infirm, and the succeeding Confer- ences were likely to be so well supplied with episcopal super- vision that it was alike unreasonable and unnecessary for him to try to go. Bishop Soule went on his way to the Mississippi Con- ference, and Bishop McKendree now fully devoted himself to instruct and soothe his dying sister. Having already alluded to this subject, suffice it to say that after a protracted and terrible scene of physical suffering and occasionally of mental depression, she became exceedingly happy some weeks before her departure and died while her be- loved brother was by her bedside soothing and encouraging her to trust all to Jesus. Her last struggle was triumphant; her last word was "Glory!" This occurred January 3, 1825. The re- mainder of the winter of 1824-5 the Bishop continued in Ten- nessee, visiting among his old acquaintances and preaching as he had ability. Besides his brother-in-law's, the Rev. N. Moore's, and his brother's, Dr. James McKendree's, his prin- lAje and Times of Bishop McKendree 305 cipal resting places were Joseph T. Elliston's and H. R. W. Hill's, Nashville, and T. L. Douglass's, near Franklin, Tenn. The excessive fatigue and exposure he had undergone in his late tour, and his consequent debility and suffering, deeply im- pressed him with the conviction of his inability to perform ef- fectively the active labors of an itinerant general superintend- ent; and while laboring under the depression produced by this conviction, the following letter was addressed to Bishops Rob- erts and Soule, in which he proposed to retire from the duties and responsibilities of the superintendency, with suggestions as to certain important items which he commends to their special attention; and although several preceding General Conferences had authorized him to do so, and notwithstanding this formal announcement of his purpose, yet so soon as his health and strength were a little recruited by rest and kind nursing, he was again on the wing around the continent striving to build up the Church and save souls from death. NASHVILLE, December 12, 1824. Much Respected Brethren: Two considerations incline me to retire more effectually from the important duties and high responsibilities of the epis- copal charge: 1. My infirmities are such that I can neither bear the fatigue of travel- ing from Conference to Conference nor perform the duties when present. 2. The episcopal duties can be discharged as well without me; yet I am as much as ever disposed, whether present or absent, to render all the as r sistance in my power. Having made these remarks, suffer me to suggest a few things for your consideration, which have occurred to me as points deserving serious at- tention: The importance and utility of our missionary operations are sufficiently demonstrated by the success with which they have been attended. To carry the design into complete effect, much depends, as I conceive, upon the bishops. By them the attention of the last General Conference was invited to the establishment of a mission at Liberia, with an eye of thus opening the way for the gospel among the native Africans. You doubtless recollect that the General Conference approved the de- sign and authorized the bishop to send out a missionary or missionaries immediately, but as yet nothing has been done. Can it be that a suitable man cannot be found among all our ministers? or is the failure attributable to us? Dear brethren, let us strive to effect this grand object. The Lord will surely smile upon the undertaking. That some of our missionaries are not sufficiently attentive to the in- struction of the Indians is evident to some of us. Should we not inquire not only whether they are faithful in preaching and meeting the classes, but also whether they visit them with a view to instruct and incite them 20 306 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree to agriculture and housewifery? a very important part of their duty. It is scarcely necessary to caution our missionaries against entering into any questions involving civil politics. Can you not devise some means by which our people and friends can be more effectually roused to the importance of sustaining and enlarging our field of missionary operations? Would it not be well to converse freely with the presiding elders on the subject and strive to excite them to use their best efforts within their respective limits to raise societies and collect funds? or would it answer better to appoint suitable persons to travel and raise funds exclusively for this object? One thought more and I will conclude. What has been intimated rel- ative to the laxity of the preachers in missionary operations may apply in some degree to the " duties of a preacher," " the building of churches," " the doctrine of holiness," and conformity to the world. Remember, dear brethren, that it is our duty as general superintendents "to oversee the spiritual and temporal business of the Church," and we are holden jointly responsible for the administration. Let us, therefore, dis- charge our duties faithfully; then shall we not be ashanied at our approach- ing examination, but be able to render up an account to the General Con- ference with joy and not with grief. Yours affectionately, W. MCKENDREE. During the summer of 1825 he attended several quarterly and camp meetings and preached to the edification of thousands. In the latter part of the summer he passed into Kentucky. The following letter to the writer from the Rev. B. T. Crouch, Sr., shows his habits on such occasions. Alas! the worthy author, and recently his excellent widow, and his noble son and name- sake, as well as the Bishop, have since all gone to the grave. In the autum of 1824, my health being very poor, my brethren persuad- ed me to take a superannuated relation; but not being disposed to rest, my labors were not abated, and the presiding elder of the district, having to be absent several weeks on business, employed me to attend a whole round of his quarterly meetings in his stead. I think in June, 1825, at one of those meetings, Bishop McKendree came up, greatly to our surprise and joy. He was on a pastorial tour eastward and northward, and hearing of the quarterly meeting, he came to it, intending to avail himself of the presid- ing elder's company for several weeks. The absence of the proper incum- bent of the district, the Rev. William Adams, of precious memory, did not change the Bishop's purpose. He took me for his traveling companion and favored us with his services at four successive quarterly meetings. Truly, this was to be remembered! During that time I enjoyed the con- stant companionship of a grave and dignified man, whose godly example, spiritual wisdom, sanctified conscience, and rare piety filled up my idea of a bishop of apostolical times and New Testament type. I traveled with him over bills and valleys, labored with him in the pulpit, at the altar, occupied Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 307 the same room, and often shared with him the same bed; retired with him, when other convenient places failed, to the same grove for prayer, and wit- nessed by day and night his sore afflictions of body and deep travail of spir- it for Zion's peace; and surely of patience, meekness, calm submission, for- bearance, and, in a word, every grace, every virtue, exhibited on a most exalted scale and amidst extraordinary afflictions and sufferings, gave evi- dence of a pious mind and a mature Christian; his claim to that character was fully vindicated and his living credentials entitled him to the first honors. It is now twenty-nine years since the events transpired which furnished the matter of this record, and the gems of knowledge then received and the lessons of piety, and propriety which his example and conversation taught have never been forgotten. On the division of the powers of government and administration law, as comprised in the ecclesiastical polity of Method- ism, Bishop McKendree held some views which did not accord with the politics of some of our expounders of Church law. He did not indorse the doctrine that a superior officer had a right to claim the place, or even to take it, except for special reasons, and to perform the appropriate and law- prescribed duties of an inferior during the term for which the inferior officer is held responsible for those duties and while he is recognized as the legal incumbent of the work and place assigned him. He did not hold that the presence of a bishop superseded the official relations and nullified the au- thority, for the time being, of all inferior officers, from the presiding elder down; so that a bishop, because he is present, is ex officio, dejure presiding elder, and everything else, even to the Omega of the official list. He be- lieved that such a policy might become the source of great confusion, that it would defeat the ends of government by overleaping the checks and bal- ances of power which distinguish the several departments and proportions of Methodist polity. The Bishop was drawn out fully on this point of ecclesiastical discipline by an occurrence which brought the subject directly to view. The presid- ing elder was absent; his proxy was attending a series of quarterly meetings for him; but while it was competent for the proxy to take the place of his principal in the pulpit, in the altar, at the sacramental table, and yet, in the absence of the presiding elder, placed the preacher in charge of the cir- cuit in the chair of the Quarterly Conference, and therefore the proxy could not preside over that body. But there was a bishop present, and the preacher in charge, as well as the proxy, urged that he, being a superior officer, should preside in the Quarterly Conference. To this, however, the Bishop objected; and, in stating his reasons, taught substantially this important lesson: a bishop has the right, under law, to displace or remove a presiding elder, and either to preside in the vacated place himself or to appoint another to do so; and a presiding elder has a right, in common with a bishop, to remove a preach- er from his charge in the intervals of the Annual Conferences, and either in person to perform the duties of the vacant charge or to appoint another to the charge; but no bishop has a right, in the face of law, to usurp the po- 308 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree sition which, for a definite time, has been assigned to an underofficer until that definite time shall have expired or the underofficer, for sufficient cause shall have been displaced. He allowed, indeed, that a superior officer might accept, as a courtesy, the place of an underofficer; but that even this should not be done where the harmony and safety of judicial proceed- ings might thereby be jeopardized; as, for instance, where such an act might subject an officer to the necessity of presiding twice over the adjudication of the same case: first, in the court of original proceedings; and, secondly, in the appellate court. 1 Being the subject of an inveterate dyspeptic habit, he was very partic- ular in his diet. Plain corn bread or cold wheat loaf, with very little, if any, butter; seldom any flesh, choosing a small relish of broiled bacon; some- times a cup 01 tea, but more frequently a glass of milk or cold water, com- pleted the good man's richest variety of table luxuries. He possessed the happy talent, when in a talking mood, of making his conversation interesting and instructing. And while his usual themes were the doctrines and institutions of the Bible, ecclesiastical history and polity, and the preacher's duties as teacher and pastor, occasionally he would narrate interesting incidents or discuss natural phenomena. He had traveled much in frontier settlements; had seen much and heard more of Indian character, and felt the liveliest concern for their welfare. Their sagacity struck him forcibly. I shall not soon forget an anecdote he re- lated, as illustrative of their shrewdness. I do not know but it has gone to print before this, nor whether he claimed originaly for it, but it impressed and amused me. It ran thus: A party of Indians, on a hunting expedition, had pitched their tents near a white settlement, in the backwoods, when one of them found his tent had been robbed of some meat: he started in pursuit, and presently meeting a white man on horseback, inquired if he had seen an old low white man, with a short gun and a stump-tail dog. " Yes," said the horseman, " I met just such a man." "He stole my meat," said the Indian. "How do you know it was a white man stole it? Might not an Indian have stolen it? " "No; when Indian walk, he toes turn in; when white man walk, he toes turnout. Man stole my meat he toes turn out, he white man." "How do you know he was an old man that stole your meat? May it not have been a young man? " "No; he old man. Young man active, step long; old man stiff, he step short. Man got my meat step short, he old man." " But why do you think he was a low man? " " Why? Meat not high, he got block to reach my meat; high man no want block to get my meat, he low man." "And how do you know he had a short gun?" " 'Cause, while he get my meat, set he gun on ground and lean it against tent-pole log, and make mark. I measure it; it short gun." " Well, how on earth do you know he had a short-tail dog? " " Well, while man get meat, dog set down out there, look at man and shake he tail in snow; make short mark, he short-tailed dog." 'Is it not possible that the Bishop's position on this point was misunderstood, in part? Certainly it does not accord with his carefully written address to his colleagues in 1833, which Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 309 After relating this amusing incident, the Bishop remarked that this and many similar things give us some idea how the children of the forest make an effort to compensate the lack of the knowledge of letters. Mention has been made in connection with the Bishop's ad- dress to the General Conference of 1824 of the name of John Summer-field, and from the correspondence between them it readily appears that, while the Bishop felt a tender and fatherly affection for this highly gifted and eloquent young minister of Christ, it was reciprocated by a deeply reverential and filial affection. A number of letters before us attest these facts. Few, if any, of his years have so arrested public attention and been so much admired and loved as Mr. Summerfield. He was born in England, January 31, 1798; was carefully trained by devoted parents, and enjoyed the advantages of a good literary education. His father having moved to Ireland in 1813, he was there converted to God in his seventeenth year, and immediate- ly began to hold meetings and to labor for the salvation of souls. In 1819, he was admitted on trial in the Irish Conference. Such were his zeal and pulpit eloquence that, notwithstanding his youth, he was chosen to act as missionary through the country. His constant labors and devotion to his work in less than three years impaired his health and, after a short absence in England, where he was greatly admired, he emigrated with his father and family and landed in New York in March, 1821. He was at once admitted on trial in the New York Conference and began a brief and brilliant career of ministerial usefulness in this coun- try. His first public address was at the anniversary of the Ameri- can Bible Society and excited the admiration of a large and in- telligent audience. His unpretending modesty and simplicity of manner, the catholicity of his spirit, his chaste style, and the subdued fervor of his devotion, combined with the unbroken flow of an elocution resembling a beautiful, transparent river gliding equably onward to its destination, riveted the attention and moved the hearts of his hearers. His youthful appearance and the traces of suffering in his pallid face added to the effect of his sermons by exciting the apprehension of an early death. The sympathetic emotions which usually arise between the hearers and the speaker were toward him of a peculiar character. Always willing and ready to preach or to labor in any way and anywhere for his divine Master's glory, and ever doing it so humbly, so modestly, and yet so well, prejudice, rivalry, and pride were abashed under his ministry; and he seemed the ideal 310 Life and Times of Bishop* McKendree of purity, the impersonation of the genius of our loving and holy Christianity. Mr. Summer-field's labors in the United States were abun- dant, too abundant for the frail and delicate tabernacle of such a soul. He was in demand everywhere now in New York, then in Philadelphia, and then in Baltimore, Washington City, and in the towns and regions adjacent. Ministers, old and young, of all denominations, pushed through dense crowds and sat with respect and rapture under his sermons and invited him to their pulpits; some pastors of other denominations doing, as did Bishop Soule in Baltimore, who, when he and Mr. Summer-field had appointments to preach at different churches at the same hour, dismissed his congregaion, and said, " Come, let us go and hear our beloved John," and hastened to sit and weep under his ministry. The writer feels it a privilege to have been drawn, through the influence of our mutual and venerated friend, Bish- op McKendree, into close association with this godly and guile- less man and to have heard him repeatedly for a month in the pulpit and in addresses at missionary anniversaries and to chil- dren in Sunday schools. Never can he forget hearing him for the first time in Baltimore, May 9, 1824. He confesses, too, to have had a feeling somewhat akin to prejudice, of which he soon became ashamed. Everybody was extolling Mr. Summer-field in terms of the highest eulogy. He could but suspect that such popularity must excite the vanity and work to the injury of the young man, and that it was unreasonable to suppose there could be solid ground for such laudation of anyone whose mind must be so immature. And yet his excellent and intelligent hostess, Mrs. W., praised him; Bishop Soule admired and loved him as a son, and, I feared, was a little proud of his pet; and even Bishop McKendree spoke of him in his quiet way in a man- ner which showed his high esteem and profound affection. So I resolved to hear and see for myself. To do this, I got a ticket for the love feast to be held in the Caroline Street Church, Balti- more, before preaching, and found the building nearly full, quite so, except the galleries. The whole General Conference seemed there visitors, citizens, strangers all who could get tickets had come, and a vast crowd thronged about the church. The love feast closed, that crowd literally rushed in, and in a few minutes every foot below and in the double galleries was close- ly occupied, while the aisles, the doors, the sidewalk in front, and on each side of the house and the street back to the opposite side were covered with a compact mass, eager to see the preach- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 311 er or catch a word from his lips. I could but deeply feel the re- sponsibility of his position at the minute he appeared, but there was no chance to enter at the front, so his friends took him to the rear, and, lifting him upon their shoulders, he crept through the window near the pulpit. He entered it without looking around at the immense audience and fell upon his knees. Pre- sently he gave out his hymn in a low but inexpressibly clear and sweet voice. It was a grand and familiar old hymn, but the reading developed both sentiment and beauty I had never be- fore observed in it. A short, solemn, sweet prayer followed, and then the sermon. The hymn was " Away, my unbelieving fear," and the text was Philippians iv. 6, 7. The skeleton of the ser- mon may be found by turning to the second of his published discourses; but, alas ! it is merely the skeleton. The living, pale, but beautiful little man is not there. His clear, sweet voice, not loud and startling, but low, distinct, and musical as the mel- ancholy notes of an aeolian harp are not heard; the expressive, dove-like eye; the symmetrical, diminutive form, weighing not over one hundred and ten pounds; the pallid face, at first wear- ing a cast of sadness, then beaming with intellect, and presently half radiant " with thoughts that breathe; " and the few gestures in which the whole man speaks out and give emphasis to the "words that burn" all are wanting. The sermon was simple and practical; and while it was evident that he suppressed his imagination, yet a few flashes of chaste and thrilling imagery seemed spontaneously and irresistibly to burst forth. The ef- fect was that the vast concourse retired instructed, impressed, and edified. The following year he fell, by consumption, into a state of great debility, which neither a sea voyage nor the genial climate of Southern France nor the best medical skill could arrest. On June 13, 1825, he died in peace and went to rest. Nearly fifty years have transpired since this "bright particu- lar star" rose in splendor and beauty in our ecclesiastical sky, and, after attracting the eyes and winning the hearts of thou- sands, sunk beneath the horizon in cloudless effulgence. Truly does the poet Montgomery describe him as "the delight of won- dering, weeping, and admiring audiences wherever he went." Such was the holy man whose many letters, written neatly and correctly to his "dear Bishop," now lie before me, and such the gifted and sainted genius who called forth the fatherly affection of his venerable friend . Who can doubt they have long since met and embraced each other again in their "Father's house"? CHAPTER XIX Richard Reece and John Hannah messengers from England Mr. Recce's letter Bishop McKendree's reply He goes through Kentucky Rests five days in ninety-five Attends Kentucky Conference with Bishop Roberts J. B. Finley and Dr. M. Ruter Thence to Jonesboro, East Tennessee Attends the Holston Conference Lynchburg Hezekiah G. Leigh Portsmouth Attends the Baltimore, Philadel- phia, New York, and Genesee Conferences Thence to South Carolina Virginia in the spring of 1827 Baltimore Philadelphia Thence west to the Wyandotte Mission, through Ohio Kentucky Confer- ence Winters in Tennessee In 1828, he and Gwin go to the General Conference at Pittsburgh Retrospect A true, apostolic "episcopos" Jesse Walker Bishop McKendree's characteristics Old Gray Another round Philip Bruce Jefferson and Adams die South Caro- lina Conference in Augusta, January 11, 1827 Roberts and Soule there also Back to Baltimore Sick Gets to the Wyandottes, then to Nashville His skeptical doctor convinced Freeborn Garrettson's death Indian letter Henry Smith's Letter Letter from Lewis Gar- rett. THE REV. RICHARD REECE, the messenger of the Wesleyan Methodists of England to the General Conference of 1824, was an aged, dignified, and worthy representative of the body which deputed him, and manifested the liveliest interest in the spiritual welfare of American Methodism. His companion, the Rev. John Hannah, was a much younger man, but was a profound and able minister. The former long since closed his consistent and useful life, the latter more recently, after having filled repeatedly the presidential chair of the Conference and of one of the famous Wesleyan Theological Schools. They closely ob- served the operations of our system of Church government, and after they returned to England, Bishop McKendree re- ceived the following interesting letter from Mr. Reece, dated September 27, 1825: Reverend and Dear Sir: I reflect with sincere pleasure on the few months which I spent on the American continent and the free and affectionate intercourse which I had with the members of your Church, or, in English phrase, "of your society." The kind attentions which I everywhere re- ceived from the preachers and the people have laid me under additional obligation to do and to say all that I can to promote the individual happi- ness of my friends and to advance the prosperity of Wesleyan Methodism, which is the cause of Christ; with this cause all our happiness and useful- ness are identified. Can I do this more effectually than by stating what has Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 313 appeared to me to be a difference between our system of discipline, or ac- tion,, and yours, and then leaving you to determine whether the peculiarity of your circumstances renders a conformity to our plan impracticable and your own better adapted to spread and establish scriptural Christianity through your vast country? 1. With us it is an indispensable duty of the pastoral office to see the individual members of our society every quarterly visitation at least, to know how their souls prosper, and then to renew the quarterly ticket, with suitable advice, admonition, and reproof, and also to receive the quarter- age which every one gives. This brings the pastor and his flock into close and immediate contact and intercourse; and while the one acquires a knowledge of the spiritual state and improvement of the souls committed to his care, the others have an opportunity of freely stating their cases and opening their hearts to him who is appointed to watch over them as one that must give an account to God. By this the parties are mutually endeared and the public ministrations of the preacher are more acceptable and more efficient. The delivery of the quarterly tickets is peculiarly, exclusively, and indispensably the duty of the preacher. 2. In addition to this, we are bound to meet the societies every Sun- day evening, after preaching, when we speak pointedly to them on the discharge of relative duties, the government of their families, the religious instruction of their children, their diligent attendance on all the ordi- nances of God, their observance of the rules, and many other subjects which have an important influence on the formation of the Christian character. I have feared that your custom of beginning public worship so late as eight o'clock must greatly hinder this, if it do not supersede it. I grant, the labor of the preacher is greatly increased, but to these we are inured. 3. Our band meetings have a most powerful influence on the experience and improvement of our people. The deep things of God form the subject of their conversation at these meetings, and the freedom and openness with which they speak upon them promotes their intellectual growth, so that these often become the most exemplary and useful members of our societies, furnishing male and female leaders of a high and excellent charac- ter. Mr. Wesley was aware of the importance of this part of Methodist discipline, and he used to say: "Where there are no bands, there is no Methodism." 4. The leaders of our classes are required to collect weekly what each member can give to the support of the work, according to the rule, and to mark it down in the class papers, and at our weekly leaders' meeting to pay this into the hands of the society steward, by which means a supply is provided for the support of the preachers; and, as the sum is small which is individually subscribed, it is not felt a burden by the poorest of our mem- bers, nor does it excite discontent or complaint; on the contrary, the people are more alive to the interests of a cause which they support. In your scattered population, it would be difficult for the preachers to carry the whole of the Methodist discipline into effective operation; but in 314 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree those cities and towns which I visited, I could see no insurmountable obstacles. All that I could perceive wanting was a vigorous and united determination among the preachers to act in concert in carrying the point. Many of the people with whom I had intercourse greatly long to see these things established among them, convinced of the general advantage which would result from them to the body and, indeed, to the country at large. I thought of multiplying these remarks, but at present will desist. It has afforded me much satisfaction to learn that the spirit of innova- tion, which prevailed when I was with you, has subsided and is likely to evaporate without doing much evil. I wrote to Dr. Jennings on the subject of his publishing Mark Robin- son's pamphlet, and sent him a copy of a review which places that subject in a proper light, claiming, on the ground of "mutual rights," that it might be inserted in that publication. English Methodism will then be presented in a more correct light before our American brethren, which we are anxious should be the case. Whether he will comply with my request, I have not heard; but as the review was quickly afterwards sent to your editors, in our July and August magazines, possibly they may insert it in their publication. If we can mutually benefit each other, and contribute to the greater efficiency of Wesleyan Methodism on both sides of the Atlan- tic, the great end of our more frequent and free intercourse will be an- swered. I send you a copy of the Minutes of our last Conference, from which you will see that the increase of our members has been but small, for which we are not able to assign any reason, as the general state of our societies is prosperous as it regards stability and a deepening of the work of God. However, our prospects are encouraging. A glorious revival has com- menced in the Isle of Man since the Conference and is now extending very much. Many sinners are awakened and converted to God, and many of the believers have received a deep baptism of the Holy Ghost, preparing them to be "vessels unto honor, meet for the Master's use," in extending and establishing this work. We have lost two most valuable men, in the vigor of their life, since the Conference, highly gifted, eminently holy and useful men, removed sud- denly from the work and their families. The dispensation is mysterious, but the rod has a voice and speaks impressively, "All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof as the flower of the grass," etc. Others, it is true, are raised up to supply their places, but their knowledge, experience, and godly influence are not soon acquired; their loss is therefore pain- fully felt. We are looking forward to the next Conference with pleasure, when we expect to receive our American brother, the messenger of the Churches, and are praying that he may come in the fullness of the blessings of the gospel and bring us glad tidings of your prosperity. May his coming be a blessing to us and contribute to our encouragement and edification! I beg to be kindly remembered to all my American brethren and friends with whom you may meet in your travels. I remember them with growing Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 315 affection, and hope to meet them in a better state, where there are no sep- .arations. I am, reverend and dear sir, your affectionate friend and brother, R. REECB. To which the Bishop replied from Baltimore, July 10, 1826: Reverend and Dear Brother: Your kind and truly interesting letter of September 27, 1825, did not reach me till the fourth instant. This will ac- count for what otherwise might appear to be unjustifiable delay in recipro- cating your favor. Accept my thanks for your letter and the documents accompanying it. I shall always rejoice to hear from you. Letters or pamphlets addressed to the care of Armstrong & Plaskit, of this city, will hardly fail to reach me. Your friendly visit to this country could not have been more pleasing to yourself than to the American preachers and societies who were favored with a personal acquaintance with you or had the opportunity of enjoying the benefit of your ministerial labors. In addition to every personal and individual consideration, your visit to us was rendered deeply interesting, as it was the pledge of union in doctrine, discipline, and affection between the Wesleyan Methodists throughout the world; and I trust that I shall not cease to pray to the God aind Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is Head over all things to the Church, that the same faith and order and brotherly love may continue and abound more and more. That there has been and still is considerable laxity in regard to discipline among us in the particu- lars which you notice is certain, and the effects are to be deplored. For it is very obvious that as the rules of the societies are neglected or the ad- ministration let down in accommodation to the wealth, influence, habits, or education of men, or from whatever other cause, there will be a loss in experimental and practical holiness, in inward and outward conformity to God. Two circumstances have had very considerable influence in produc- ing and perpetuating this laxity. The first is the vast extent of our field of labor. We occupy, with pretty closely connected circuits, districts, and Conferences, the whole of the Atlantic States, extending from the Bay of Fundy to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of more than two thousand miles, on the most direct post roads, and have spread over the frontier States and Territories situated from five hundred to one thousand miles from the ocean. Occupying such an extensive country, where the in- habitants are collected from nearly all the civilized nations of the world and where the emigration from one State to another is perpetual, it is extremely difficult, not to say impossible, to establish and preserve the discipline of the Church as effectually as might be done in a condensed and permanent state of society. The infancy of our ministry is closely con- nected with the extent of our labor and tends to render the administration of discipline inefficient. Most of the preachers in this country enter the connection very young and without any extraordinary advantages of education; and, in general, the means of improvement in their circuits are very limited. Locations are frequent; consequently, we have compara- 316 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree tively very few men of age and experience in the itinerant work. In many instances we are compelled to commit the charge, not only of circuits, but of districts also, to young men of too little experience for such stations. But, notwithstanding this state of things, we have ground to hope for better days, especially since the last General Conference. Among the preachers generally, there appears to be a conviction of the necessity of a more uniform and diligent attention to a strict observance of the rules. It has become a subject of serious interest in the deliberations of the An- nual Conferences; and many thousands of our members, especially those who have seen both the former and the latter times, are earnestly de- sirous of the same thing. The appointment of a messenger to visit your Conference the present year (as you will have heard before this letter arrives) has failed; but I am happy to say that the failure was not occasioned, even in the most remote manner, by a want of disposition to cultivate the most friendly and harmo- nious intercourse with our brethren in England, but from causes alto- gether extraneous and local. But, although we have not been able to ac- complish this desirable object the present year, I indulge the hope that it will be effected the next; and I trust that the visitation will not be unac- ceptable to our British brethren on account of a year's delay. We have much cause of gratitude to God for the increasing prosperity of the work generally through these States. The increase of members the last year, commencing with the Mississippi and closing with the Ten- nessee Conference, was upward of twenty thousand, and the increase of preachers for the same period eighty-one. There is cause to believe that the exertions which have been made to produce disaffection to the government and discipline of the Church will fail to accomplish the desired effect to any considerable extent, and that, in the ministry and membership, we shall still preserve the "unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The history of those who have separated themselves from us and set up "altar against altar," is not calculated to afford ground of gratulation or encouragement to adventurers, but rather marks the enterprise as hazardous. The itinerant ministry, preserved in the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power," will be our salt and the salt of the earth. The great body of local preachers and members are identified in doctrine, spirit, and order with the great itinerant system. Attacks have been made upon us and will be repeated. Men, ambitious of rule and restless under the administration of wholesome and godly dis- cipline, will not cease to complain of injured rights, grievances, and oppres- sion; and in every extensive community individuals will be found to re- spond to these complaints. Such individuals have appeared among the Methodists on both sides of the Atlantic; but hitherto the great body of the ministers and members has been firm and steadfast, and I trust will continue to be "strong in the Lord and in the power of his might," and to abound more and more in the unity and fellowship of saints. The success of our missionary labors is cause of encouragement, grati- tude, and joy. Although the number of our stations and our means of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 317 supplying them are small compared with those of our British brethren, we are (thanks be to God!) accomplishing a great and blessed work. Thou- sands of the poor and scattered population of the States and Territories are through this means receiving the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Most of our missions among the Indians have succeeded far beyond the most san- guine expectations of their warmest friends at the commencement. You will be in possession, it is probable, of the latest official reports from the missionaries and the Board of Managers before this reaches you, in which you will have a more circumstantial account than could well be furnished in a private letter. In view of the great and marvelous work which God has wrought in the four quarters of the globe by the instrumentality of the Methodists since the day on which he raised up that "burning and shining light," the Rev. John Wesley, of most precious memory, it is very meet that we should be humble and thankful, and, as regards the future, that we should strive together in the meekness of Christ, and in steadfast dependence upon divine agency till truth and righteousness fill the whole earth. As it respects myself, the time of my departure cannot be far off. I have entered the seventieth year of my pilgrimage and now tremble, leaning on my staff. Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and the witness of the Spirit and the hope of the gospel are the solace of my age. Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied to thee and to the Church of God, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen. Yours affectionately, W. MCKENDREE. So soon as the roads became passable in the spring of 1825, the Bishop started from his brother's, in Tennessee, and re- sumed his labors in visiting the Churches and preaching. On April 15 he left home, or if that term does not apply to a man who, like his Lord, never really had a home on earth, Fountain Head. He reached Slaughter's, Ky., in the rain, on the sixteenth, preached there on the seventeenth from John iii. 19-22; preached in Russellville on the twentieth, at Cook's Meetinghouse on the twenty-second from Matthew v. 6; preached Fell's funeral sermon on the twenty-fourth; on the twenty-sixth, preached from Matthew xi. 30; traveled through "a great rain" to James's; through rain again, to Staley's and Taylor's; another funeral sermon, May 1, from Isaiah Ixv. 22; funeral sermon next day, from 1 Samuel xii. 23; then to Barret's, Owen's, Mount Zion, and so on, through Hardinsburg, to Lebanon, preaching or traveling every day. Thence he proceeded to B. McHenry's, Springfield, Puller's, and Ferguson's, and preached nearly every day until June 3, when he reports himself sick. But in a day or two he is on his way again, twenty miles, to a quarterly meeting. Thus on he goes, through Harrisburg, Lexington, and George- 318 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree town, by Leroy Cole's, etc., until he reaches Cynthiana, June 17, resting only five in ninety-five days. Pretty good work for an old afflicted man ! Most of our young preachers would think it hard work. On this tour he falls in with Brother B. T. Crouch and spends a month with him, as already related. Then we lose sight of him for a short time, but presently he is found in Shelbyville, attending the Kentucky Conference with Bishop Roberts at Russellville, September 22, 1825, and we find among his papers regular Minutes of the whole proceedings of the body, appoint- ments and all. There he gets a long letter from the Rev. J. B. Finley, the laborious and useful missionary to the Wyandottes. He answers with a heart warm to his correspondent and full of love to the Indians. He almost shouts in the letter, saying: "The Lord is very good to me. My spiritual strength is re- newed; I am growing in grace, and ripening for heaven; for which I desire to be deeply thankful, and entirely devoted to God." There, too, he gets a kind letter from that noble and devoted servant of the Church, the Rev. Martin Ruter, who threw himself, from the purest religious motives, into the active duties of the missionary work and fell a martyr to the cause in Texas, where his remains and his memory are honored by his brethren. Whether the two great bodies of American Methodism, which separated in 1844, will ever again unite is very uncertain. At present this seems improbable, not to say impracticable; but certainly there are ties which tend to amity and fraternity of a strong and peculiar nature. A common origin, similarity of creed, Church polity, and usages, and a strong affection and sacred reminiscences of many honored and precious names equally dear to both must exert an attracting influence upon them. Among many other names, Dr. Martin Ruter's is one. From the seat of the Kentucky Conference he takes our old route over the Cumberland Mountain, and through East Tennessee to Jonesboro, where the Holston Conference held its session. Thence crossing the Alleghany Mountains, he reaches Lynchburg, Va., attends a quarterly meeting with Hezekiah G. Leigh, of honored and precious memory, and hastens down through the snow to the quarterly meeting on old Greenville Circuit, where he exercised his early ministry and where are found "our most disaffected members of this district." He reaches Mecklenburg, December 5, to recruit and write letters, one of them to Bishop Soule in Milledgeville, Ga. Portsmouth Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 319 brings him to a short halt; from there to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Genesee Conferences, and returns to the South in the fall. The following winter he spent in attending the South Carolina and Virginia Conferences, and came back to the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences in the spring of 1827. At the close of the Philadelphia session he returns to Balti- more, and in May starts back to the West; crossing the Allegha- ny Mountains by way of Cumberland; passing into Ohio to visit, for the third time, his beloved Wyandottes and their faithful missionaries. Returning, he again passed through Urbana, and visited many of the towns in the southern part of Ohio, and attended the Kentucky Conference in Versailles in October. Thence he went down into Tennessee and spent the winter among his friends, visiting the societies and preaching as he was able. In March, 1828, he set out with two delegates of that Con- ference, one of them his old friend, James Gwin, for Pittsburgh, the seat of the General Conference, and arrived there a few days before it began. Having thus given a concise account of his travels and labors for the past four years and up to the session of another General Conference, we have reached a point from which it is proper to retrospect the past. We see a man who has been granted a superannuated relation for the last eight years and requested to do only such service as his health and convenience might justify, now over seventy years of age, enfeebled by forty years' in- cessant toil, afflicted with rheumatism, piles, hernia, vertigo, and asthma, and yet making the circuit of the United States annually, not in stagecoaches over macadamized roads or on railroads, but generally on horseback, slowly traversing Indian territory, climbing mountains, fording and sometimes swimming swollen streams, through muddy roads and swamps, often lying in miserable huts and open, dirty cabins, subsisting, frequently of necessity, on coarse and badly cooked food, going through malarious regions under a burning sun, and then through the rains and sleet and snows of winter; of a tempera- ment peculiarly sensitive, carrying on a correspondence with persons in every part of the country, and, above all, oppressed with "the care of all the Churches." And yet he never willingly ceased his painful travel or murmured at the hardships and sufferings endured! And was not he a true "overseer"? a Pauline "episcopos"? a real New Testament bishop? What if he could not trace an undoubted personal ordinal succession 320 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree from Peter or John? Who really can? And what if anyone can? Alexander VI, Leo X, John XII, Benedict IX, Sylvester III, and Gregory VII "horrible monsters as ever lived" even the four popes living at the same time, each anathematizing the others and calling them devils and antichrists yet each and all claimed it. Equally absurd is the claim of the Protestant Church of England, the Church of Henry VIII, whose "Majesty is the only supreme head of the Church of England and Ireland," which, in severing her allegiance from the Romish Church, claimed to do so, not, of course, on the ground of succession, but of prescription i. e., a right before and independent of all written law a "divine right" and yet, from the youngest proselyte to the episcopacy, they are now claiming that they only are the successors, by virtue of their official lineage, of the apostles; while Coke, Asbury, and McKendree are no bishops at all! Well, let the Chief Shepherd decide. Among the many correspondents of the Bishop during 1825, he received one letter from his old friend and colaborer, Jesse Walker, dated Sangamon, 111., May 18, 1825. Mr. Walker was a rare character. He joined the Tennessee Conference in 1802 and traveled under Bishop McKendree as his presiding elder for several years. His literary education was quite limited, and he was a married man. Bishop McKendree was an excellent judge of men, and soon selected him to take the van of the pioneer army of preachers in the West; and the result vindicated his wisdom. Jesse Walker was a brave, self-reliant, zealous Christian minis- ter. He feared only God, and his great purpose was to be good and useful. The poor, the frontier settlements, where women and children endured the hardships of isolation from society and were exposed to the tomahawk, the scalping knife, and, what was worse, to the torture of fathers and sons and the captivity of wives and daughters, excited his sympathies; and the poor pagan Indians themselves, often as "much sinned against as sinning," aroused his Christian zeal. He may have had also an inclination for adventure and an instinctive passion for a roving life among the grand old forests and the wide, flowering prairies of the West. But his ruling passion was to preach Christ "in the regions beyond." For this kind of life he was admirably adapted physically, intellectually, and morally. To a consti- tution of iron a strong, compact frame, capable of great en- durance was added a calm, shrewd mind of fine common sense, and a wonderful aptitude to adapt himself to his circumstances, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 321 and thus gain the confidence and exert a controlling influence over the rude settlers of the backwoods and the more wary and suspicious Indians. Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri were the fields of his labor. He planted the gospel in St. Louis and by his personal effort built the first Methodist church there. He has been styled the Daniel Boone of the Church, but he was more; his impulses were holier, his motives and ends were nobler. He had a tender and manly love for his wife, and an occasional visit to his home was relished as a reli- gious holiday. His family enjoyed the narratives of his travels and toils and entered into his feelings and plans for the good of souls. From his letter to the Bishop, now before us, we learn he had established missions among the Indians at Fort Clarke and Chicago and was about to go farther northwest to other tribes. He survived Bishop McKendree only eight months, and died calmly at home in Illinois, saying: "God has been with me from the time of my conversion, and is still with me." Few preachers have equaled him in enduring hardness as a good soldier or been so useful as a missionary on the frontiers and among the wild Indians. Little things sometimes better develop the true character of a man than his professions or public actions, as the finer touches of the limner's pencil best reveal the original. The great ocean is made of little drops of water; the Himalaya Mountains by the aggregation of small particles; so of great characters. Bish- op McKendree was not transcendently great in anything; others surpassed him in many particulars, and yet, in the aggre- gate, very few equaled him. Some are great in great things, but small in little things intellectually great, but deficient in heart and practically useless, if not pernicious, and they resemble a huge, bare mountain, composed of blocks of volcanic rocks; not a tree or shrub hides its ruggedness or a single wild flower adorns it, or even a lichen or sprig of Iceland moss finds foot- hold for its hardy roots; but the snow-crowned and ice-clad monarch is utterly barren of good and serves only to chill the air and dwarf the vegetation around its base. So was Lord Byron. Bishop McKendree was only a man, a frail, fallen one, like all his race; but he was a full-grown and symmetrically proportioned man, in body, mind, and heart; and the whole man was permeated and elevated by piety. He had not only a mind of rare analytical and logical acumen, of extraordinary legisla- tive and administrative ability, but of strong and tender sympa- thies. No unfortunate preacher need ever be afraid to approach 21 322 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and tell him all his wants and woes. He was stern only toward sin and exacting toward himself alone. The following incident will at once illustrate his kind and genial nature: Like all the early Methodist preachers of the ecclesiastical cavalry corps, he valued his horse. He did not swap horses and did not profess much skill in judging as to age, etc. ; when obliged to get a horse, he usually deputed some old friend who better un- derstood the subject to swap or purchase one for him; but when he got one that suited him, no money could purchase it. If his horse got sick or lame, he would leave him in good hands and buy another, and in six or twelve months would return, or send for him. An instance of this kind occurred in 1825 on one of his long tours, and, from a letter before us, he had written back to Tennessee for his nephew to go for him and take good care of him until he should return. It was his famous "Old Gray." He had ridden this horse again and again around the circuit of the United States. His qualities as a riding horse suited his aged master. They suited each other, and there was a strong mutual attachment. Gray was almost as well known by thou- sands as was his owner. In the Bishop's last will and testament, he bequeathed to Old Gray money sufficient out of his little savings to furnish him plenty of food, a good stable, a nice blue-grass pasture for life, and an honorable burial. The last time we heard from Old Gray he was about thirty years old, and was fat and flourishing in a gray old age. The events of 1826 were too important to be passed over cursorily. We have followed Bishop McKendree from the West to Virginia, and through the snows of the winter of 1825- 26, making his toilsome journey to Portsmouth; there meeting Bishop Soule, they presided over the Virginia Conference, February 15, 1826, where the project was initiated for the estab- lishment of a literary institution of high grade, which ultimated in founding Randolph-Macon College. On March 8, the Balti- more Conference was attended by the same bishops. The Philadelphia Conference followed, April 12; and on May 7, Bishop McKendree preached and dedicated Willett Street Church, in New York, Bishop Soule preaching in the afternoon and Bishop Hedding at night. May 15, the seventh anniver- sary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was held in old John Street Church, New York, Bishop McKendree presiding, Bishops Soule and Hedding, Dr. Bangs, Dr. Luckey, Dr. Fisk, Samuel Merwin, and Freeborn Garrettson taking parts in the meeting. It was an exceedingly interesting Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 323 occasion. The place in which it was held the cradle of Ameri- can Methodism the venerable and talented ministers who bore a conspicuous position in it, as well as the great object of the meeting, all conspired to give it dignity and interest. The New York Conference began May 10, 1826, attended by the three bishops named; and the Genesee Conference began at Palmyra, N. Y., June 7, Bishops McKendree and Hedding pre- siding. A camp meeting, attended by ten thousand persons, was held in a grove at the same time. Bishop McKendree preached at ten o'clock Sunday to this immense concourse. 'May 10, the Bishop's old colleague and long- tried friend, Philip Bruce, died in Giles County, Tenn., in the triumph of Christian faith. He entered the itinerancy in 1781, seven years earlier than the Bishop, and died a superannuated member of the Virginia Conference. He was a wise, holy, and useful man; assisted greatly in laying the foundation of the government of the Church, and was always true and faithful to its interests. The Bishop mourned his death as a brother. 1 l When Philip Bruce became an itinerant preacher in 1781, there were only about 20 preachers, and less than 10,000 members in America. (See Minutes, 1780.) He is said to have been teaching school in North Carolina when the war of the Revolution occurred; quit his school, raised a company of volunteers, acted gallantly in the great battle of King's Mountain, and became distinguished for his zeal and usefulness as a preacher. He was for many years a presiding elder in the Virginia Conference; bore a con- spicuous part in forming the constitution and polity of the Church, and was regarded by Asbury and McKendree as a wise and trusty adviser; and, after he had become superannuated, he came to Tennessee and re- sided at his brother's. The writer knew him well and revered and loved him greatly. He was indeed a holy, cheerful, and useful preacher. Dr. G. D. Taylor, who was with him at his death, says the night before he died he requested "to be left alone with God." And when the Doctor entered his room, at the early dawn of day, and asked how he was, and how he had spent the night, his countenance brightened, and he replied: "O Doctor, I am perfectly happy! I have been almost in heaven all night! Such views of God, of Christ and glory ! " And thus, in perfect rapture, he passed from earth to heaven. Like McKendree, he never married, but gave his whole life to God and Methodism; and, like him, he died happy. He professed to enjoy the blessings of sanctifying grace; he preached it; lived an exempli- fication of it, and died its witness. He resided in the immediate neighbor- hood of my father; baptized, married, and buried several of our family, and was a great blessing to the community even in his extreme old age. His memory is dear to many, and to none more than to the writer. What a state of society must that be in heaven made up of such as he! But a greater and lovelier than he is there! 324 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree After attending the Philadelphia Conference, in June, he returned South by way of Baltimore, arriving in Washington City soon after July 4, upon which day Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, just fifty years after they subscribed the Declaration of Independence. Thus its author and its ablest advocate "were not in death divided." August 29, Bishop McKendree leaves his old friend Foxhall's, Georgetown, to go South and attend the South Carolina Con- ference, at Augusta, Ga., passing through and preaching (1 Thess. v. 21-24) in Fairfax, Fauquier, and Culpepper Counties, to Madison Camp Meeting, where he preached twice (Isa. xlv. 22); thence .to Timber-lake's, in Fluvanna, where he preached three times at a camp meeting (Matt. v. 6; Matt. xi. 28-30; Eph. vi. 1-4). He attended and preached three times the next week at a camp meeting in Nelson County; the same the following week at the Buckingham Camp Meeting; then at a camp meeting in Mecklenburg, and spent a few days among his old friends Edmund, Howell, and Allen Taylor preaching nearly every day. Thence, crossing Roanoke, through Granville and Person Counties, N. C., to a camp meeting in Halifax, Va.; and thence, resuming his route, through Caswell and Guilford, N. C., stop- ping to rest a day at Mendenhall's, after riding thirty-four miles the previous day, attending several meetings. Crossing Pee- dee River, he pushed forward to Columbia, S. C.; thence to Charleston, December 9, 1826. Here he rested a few days, if preaching, writing, and visiting daily may be called resting; and, after attending two quarterly meetings and preaching four times on the way, he arrived in Augusta, Ga., January 8, 1827.. The South Carolina Conference commenced here January 11, Bishops Roberts and Soule being present. The three bishops, after the close of the Conference, left in company; Bishop Roberts went home and the other two traveled back to Balti- more together, going through Camden, Fayetteville, Raleigh, Fredericksburg, and Georgetown, arriving at Baltimore, March 27; and, after attending and presiding at Conferences and anni- versaries in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York Bishop McKendree gets back to Baltimore, May 4, and reports himself sick and no wonder. Thus in his seventieth year did he go on, on in his never- ceasing round of travel and sufferings. We have already referred to the fact that his next move was for his Indian friends; and, after a long and wearisome ride, he Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 325 again gets to the Wyandottes, June 16, 1827; thence back again to Tennessee, where winter overtook him and compelled him to lie up until spring. Here, in the society of his relatives, and at Nashville, in the hospitable mansions of Joseph T. Elliston, whose excellent wife had been the widow of his beloved and lamented colaborer, Learner Blackman, and H. R. W. Hill, both of whom kept a room known as the Bishop's room, where he was ever welcome and most kindly treated, he passed much of his time during the winters spent in Tennessee, always busy writing or reading. An incident occurred about this time at Mr. Elliston's which is perhaps worth recording. He was very sick and suffering exquisitely. A doctor was called, and, upon ex- amining his venerable patient, became alarmed and also" greatly surprised that under such torturing pain he was so quiet and uncomplaining, and referred to it, saying, "Bishop, how can you bear such pain so quietly?" The old gentleman opened his eyes, and, looking with a smile at the inquirer, answered: "Doctor, does your philosophy explain how a Christian can be perfectly happy while his body is in agony? Must there not be a soul in him? " The doctor was silent, for he was skeptical, and then said: "Bishop, it must be so." On September 27, 1827, Freeborn Garrettson, another of the Bishop's old fellow laborers and a most laborious, useful, and lovely man, died in New York. He was a native of Maryland; born 1752; converted in 1775, and began to preach the same year. His labors extended throughout Maryland, Pennsyl- vania, New York, and New England, Virginia, North Carolina, and Nova Scotia. His faithful and highly useful life as an itin- erant preacher was continued to his death, covering an eventful period in Methodism of fifty-two years. His piety was pro- found and uniform; and few men have done more for Methodism and for the conversion and salvation of souls. He had recently parted for the last time from the Bishop at the New York Con- erence. The year previously Bishops McKendree and Hedding had visited and rested several days at his hospitable house at Rhinebeck, and, just before his death, he had been again elected a delegate to the General Conference of 1828, but his long and arduous labors were succeeded by perpetual rest, and his spirit went to God who gave it. He lived and died professing perfect love, and his life and dying testimony vindicated the truthful- ness of his profession. He was greatly and justly respected in life, and his name and memory are honored by all who knew him. 326 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Throughout the whole ministerial life of Bishop McKendree we are impressed with his devotion to the cause of missions. The frontier settlers, Africa, the slaves in America, and the Indians all shared in his sympathies and efforts. Here we find him again enduring another long and tiresome journey to visit the Indians, and that this affectionate concern for their spiritual welfare was appreciated by them, the following letter demon- strates: UPPER SANDUSKY, September 5, 1825. Father: On the fifth day of the first fall month we are assembled to- gether, and all of us salute you in the Lord; returning thanks to God that he has spared us all alive and that all the leaders that you saw here when you were with us last are still alive and have good health with most of our Nation. Bishop McKendree, father in the Church, we, your brethren and children, send you this letter to let you know some of the good that has fall- en to us through your exertions in sending us the most blessed gospel. We still are watching and laboring, and are determined to do so till the end comes. Many of our people are still on their way to heaven and are happy in the love of God; and we, your leaders in the Church, are still going from house to house, and trying with all our might to banish all evil from amongst our people. But, father, we must tell you the bad with the good. Some of our people slid back. This we know will not be so pleasant for you to hear; but you must pity us and help us by your prayers; though we are not out of heart, for we still believe the Lord will hear our prayers, and the work we will never give up. Although we have many difficulties to encounter, the Lord helps us, and we are much encouraged, and we think we are gaining strength. One of our chiefs, Warpole, that did not belong to us, has joined, and this day was received into full connection and appointed one of the leaders. We hope he will prove faithful and make us a strong stake. The school is still prospering, and our children are like the buds of the trees in the spring; and although we have not yet tasted the ripe fruit we see the blossoms and rejoice in expectation and believe we will not be dis- appointed. We still pray that you continue your care for us and our children; and through you we return our thanks to all our friends that have contributed to help forward this great work among our Nation. We hope they will not get tired, but as they have helped us to wake out of our deep sleep and on to our feet, they will still help until we can walk and gather food for ourselves. In our farming business we are still on the march, and go the slower be- cause we are poor and unacquainted with the business; but our condition is altered very much for the better. Father, when we last took you by the hand, you told us you was old, and did never expect to see us again. This made us very sorry, but we still hoped God would bring you back this last summer; but we heard you do not expect to get here. It may be God will Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 327 appoint a day for us to see one another on earth again; but if not, we are determined to do as you told us and hold fast until we meet in heaven. There we hope to meet you, and all your brothers in the ministry. Father, we cannot express our minds to you and your brothers (the bishops) as we feel for the gospel; and we do thank you all, and want you to know that we pray for you all, and we hope you will not forget to pray for us. BETWEBN-THE-LOGS, his X mark. JOHN HICKS, his X mark. MENONCUE, his X mark. PEACOCK, his X mark. GEORGE PUNCH, his X mark. SUMMENDERWITT, his X mark. HARREHOOT, his X mark. JAMES BIG TREE, his X mark. This letter was dictated by Between-the-Logs and Menoncue and inter- preted by Isaac Walker, United States interpreter, and written by myself as interpreted. Certified by me. J. B. FINLEY. We cannot forego the pleasure of inserting here the following letter to the author from the Rev. Henry Smith. He entered the traveling connection in 1794 and was associated with the Bishop, both in the Atlantic and Western Conferences, for many years. It was written in 1855, having heard that the writer had been requested to prepare and publish the life of the Bishop. He was then residing near Baltimore and was among the oldest, if not the very oldest, of living itinerant Methodist preachers, being eighty-five years of age and about sixty years in the itinerancy. He has since gone to rest. The greater part was written by a lady friend at his dictation, the remainder by his own aged and trembling hand. It is a valuable memorial of its venerated author, as well as an affectionate tribute to the memory of his beloved old colleague and friend. To Bishop R. Pain. Reverend and Dear Sir: I am truly glad that we are at last to have a Memoir, or Life, of that extraordinary man, Bishop McKendree. I think the Conference has been happy in their selection, and have reason to be- lieve it will be a fair and impartial history of that excellent man and his times. I fear you are not furnished ample matter to enable you to do justice to your subject. Our early preachers seemed to have lived and labored not for history, but for the generation they were appointed to serve; a Garrettson and Waiters have left something to perpetuate their memory, but of the talented E. Cooper and his associates the present generation knows very little. Now, dear Bishop, it would give me pleasure, and I would esteem it an 328 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree honor, to furnish you with some material to make your "Life of McKen- dree" complete; but alas! my sight and memory are greatly impaired; withal, I am troubled with vertigo, and my kind doctor forbids me to read or write much; but when my old and esteemed friend Bishop McKendree is concerned, I am inclined to disobey the doctor, and venture to furnish you with a few scraps; perhaps you can pick something out of them. Of Bishop McKendree's early history I personally know nothing; and yet I think I can correct Dr. McClintock in one thing which he says in his sketch of McKendree, on page 69. That William McKendree was a patriot of high order, there remains not a doubt; but from what he told me while riding over the ground in October, 1820, he belonged to a company of country volunteers, raised, I presume, in his immediate neighborhood. They were at the siege of Yorktown, and he pointed out to me the place where they were encamped and where they were drilled; but what rank he sustained in the army, or what part he bore on that memorable occasion, I never heard him say; but McKendree could not be hid or found in the rear of any important enterprise. I never saw McKendree until May 4, 1800, at the Baltimore Conference, held at the Stone Chapel, about five miles from where I write. He preached to a crowded house, while Jesse Lee preached to a still greater crowd out of doors. His sermon showed plainly that he was "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." On the General Con- ference floor, on May 6, 1 first heard him exhibit his peculiar talent for de- bate; he certainly had a remarkable gift for analyzing and sifting a subject to the bottom. His clear, penetrating, far-seeing mind qualified him for this. After this, I never saw Bishop McKendree until October 21, 1802, when he appeared as our presiding elder in Kentucky. We needed at that time just such a man. We had then a Bush, a Wilkerson, a Kobler, a Sale, a Page, and other worthy men; but still just such a spirit as our McKendree was needed. He succeeded in bringing a firmer union between the local and traveling ministry, and more fully getting our preachers and people to profit by the great revival which had just commenced. His charge was heavy, his responsibility great; but he never shunned responsibility where the cause of God was concerned. Though naturally a man of keen sen- sibilities, if he saw a storm coming, could shut up his feelings, as he used to call it, and calmly and boldly meet every difficulty; and then his clear, comprehensive mind and sound judgment developed itself. Those who had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Mr. McKendree can never forget him, and the present as well as future generations should gratefully remem- ber his labors of love in the West. His administrations were judicious and wise and were crowned with success. I presume Mr. McKendree was then in the prime of his life and usefulness. In the pulpit he was original, his method and oratory entirely his own; nothing artificial about it; natural and fascinating. His voice, though not loud and thundering, could he heard in the open air by thousands. His preaching was often attended with a soul-searching, melting, subduing influence that bore down all before it. Christians were made to jump and shout, yes, more than shouting happy, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 329 while sinners were cut to the heart. I saw and heard Bishop McKendree in his prime and shall never hear or look on such another. In the General Conference of 1808, he distinguished himself in favor of a delegated General Conference. I did not hear the sermon he preached in Light Street Church, in Baltimore, at this Conference, which Bishop Asbury said would make him a bishop. The records will show that he was elected to the episcopacy by an overwhelming majority. At the first delegated General Conference, May 1, 1812, Bishop McKen- dree drew up a plan of business to be brought before the Conference; but as it was a new thing, the aged Bishop Asbury rose to his feet immediately after the reading of the paper by the secretary, and addressed the junior bishop to the following effect: "I have something to say to you before the Conference." The junior bishop also rose to his feet, and they stood face to face. Bishop Asbury said: "This is a new thing. I never did business in this way, and why is it introduced? " The junior smiled, and promptly replied: "You are our father, and we are your sons; you never had need of it. But I am only a brother, and have need of it." The senior bishop said no more, but sat down with a smile on his countenance. The scene is now before my mind. The action of the General Conference, which met in Baltimore in 1820, relative to the presiding eldership question, greatly afflicted our worthy Bishop, the more so as his colleagues differed from him in opinion on the subject. I had several conversations with one of them on the subject; and so far as I could learn, they were both, so far as personally concerned, satisfied with the rules as they were, but thought it best to yield this point for peace's sake, for they feared a split in the Church. Bishop McKendree conscientiously believed that as an important principle was involved, the measure was an infringement of our constitution and fraught with mischief. All this bore heavily on his constitution, already broken by labor and care. I sympathized with him and became his traveling com- panion, as he wished to travel for his health and visit the Churches and families of his old friends. I knew the man in the vigor and tide of useful- ness, and I now saw him almost a wreck; but his concern for the Church and his zeal for the cause of God were not at all abated. On June 19, he left the house of his old friend, Dr. Henry Wilkins, and made a visit to Virginia, calling on many families, and preaching as often as he could. Upon our return to Baltimore, we called at a camp meeting on Frederick Circuit, where the Bishop preached, and was divinely aided. The sermon had a prodigious effect, for he rose above his weakness, and it reminded me of former days. That sermon is still remembered and spoken of by a few of the many who heard it, the most of whom have passed away. Very frequently we were on our way before daylight and stopped by the wayside to refresh ourselves with what we had brought with us, and in this he rebuked many of the present race of preachers. He tried to imitate his Master, "who went about doing good." I must here conclude by saying that I am sorry I can afford you so little aid. I should like to have a copy of your work, should I live to see it 330 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree published. I am as well as I could expect to be, after passing through eighty-five winters. My general health is better than it was forty years ago, but weakness and the infirmities of age attend me; yet still "the Lord is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Respectfully and very affectionately, yours in the bonds of the gospel, HENRY SMITH. PILGRIM'S REST, HOOKTOWN, BALTIMORE, MD., February 6, 1855. The Rev. Lewis Garrett, Sr., who died in peace some years since in Canton, Miss., sent the author several communications, from which the following extracts are made. Lewis Garrett entered the itinerant ministry at the same time with Henry Smith, in 1794, and, like him, traveled with the Bishop, both in Virginia and the West. He was a preacher of unusual power and force of character. He was editor of the Western Methodist, pub- lished in Nashville, Tenn., and wrote an interesting little volume of "Biographical Sketches," chiefly of Western preachers. "In the autumn of 1795, 1 was called by Bishop Asbury to go from Holston to the Virginia Conference. On my way, at the house of a brother, I first saw Mr. McKendree. His plain and affable manner interested me. At the Conference he was ap- pointed .presiding elder of a district east of James River and placed in charge of Williamsburg Circuit. I was appointed to Orange Circuit, in that district. In 1797, he presided over the same district enlarged, and extending from Gloucester to Green- brier. In 1799, he presided over a district in the northern part of Virginia embracing Alexandria. In 1800, he was on his old district, and I on Gloucester Circuit. We met at the General Conference, in Baltimpre, May 1, 1800. The smallpox was very prevalent. I was inoculated ; he knew it. Late at night he came to my room. I had had a chill, was covered up, and had a high fever. He jerked off the cover and alarmed me, showing much concern for my safety. He was a kind friend. In the fall of 1800, he was sent to Kentucky, where there was no presiding elder, and in 1801, presided over the whole Western country. Having lost my health in the lowlands of Virginia, I obtained leave to return to the West, and met him at the Western Con- ference, held at Earnest's, on Nolichucky, East Tennessee, October 1, 1801. He being appointed to the same district, and I to Lexington Circuit, Ky., we traveled together to Kentucky. This was an interesting journey to me, because I never met with a more agreeable traveling companion. Always prompt and 'at the time/ economical of time, and careful in prearrangement, a Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 331 oiterer or one devoid of forecast would be left behind. He was also social and communicative. "William McKendree had no talent for getting up or carrying on a revival; and yet his discourses were animating and in- structive in a high degree. The great revival of 1800 had awakened inquiry. The dogmas of Calvin and Antinomian delusions had received a shock, and controversy was prevalent. Mr. McKendree was the man for the times. He was then ro- bust and of commanding personal appearance. I have seen him enchain for two hours the attention of large crowds with his ingenuous, argumentative, and animating sermons. Though modest and retiring, when duty called he was prompt and fear- less. In 1804 and 1805, 1 traveled Cumberland District, and he remained on the Kentucky District. In 1805, I located, and he succeeded me on the Cumberland District. We met again at the Western Conference, held at a camp meeting at Liberty Hill, October, 1808. He was then bishop. I love and respect his memory and desire to see his successors imitate him in zeal, purity, and usefulness." CHAPTER XX General Conference of 1828 at Pittsburgh Bishops' Address Sus- pended Resolutions lost "Wesleyan Repository" "Mutual Rights" McCane and others expelled Memorial Report upon it by Dr. Emory Dr. Thomas E. Bond and Dr. Emory defend the Church Canada question settled Action of the General Conference Infer- ences Dr. Capers elected delegate to the Wesleyan Methodist Con- ference Dr. Fisk Bishop McKendree's account of this Conference A crisis in the history of the Church The Bishop's Journal Travels back to Tennessee Attends quarterly and camp meetings in Kentucky and Tennessee His route to Georgia over Lookout Mountain Preached to an Indian Council Gets to Athens, Ga. At Asbury Hull's Sick Ordains Stephen Olin Sketch of him. WE have seen that Bishop McKendree had arrived at Pitts- burgh, Pa., a few days before the General Conference began its session there on May 1, 1828. One hundred and twenty-five delegates were present out of one hundred and seventy-seven elected, and all the five bishops were there McKendree, Roberts, George, Soule, and Hedding. The senior bishop opened the session, as he had done since the death of Bishop Asbury. Dr. Martin Ruter was elected Secretary, and the quadrennial Address of the Bishops was read and referred to the committees. It referred gratefully to the general prosperity of the Church and especially to the extensive revivals during the past three years, to the importance of sustaining the missionary work, the Sunday School and Tract Societies, and to the admin- istration of the government of the Church. The bishops re- gretted their failure of sending a delegate to the British Con- ference, asserting it had not been owing to any want of affection for their British brethren or of respect for the expressed will of the last General Conference; and, without stating the cause of this failure, they suggested that the Conference itself should select and send one. The General Conference of 1824 requested and directed the bishops to select and send a preacher as a repre- sentative from the American Methodists to the British Con- ference, and the senior bishop had endeavored to get all his colleagues together to make the selection. This was found diffi- cult to accomplish; but the principal impediment had been that three of them nominated Dr. William Capers, of South Caro- lina, for this mission, and an objection had been made on ac- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 333 count of his connection with slavery; and so, after several in- effectual attempts, the matter was dropped, and the true reason was not stated. It also appears that Dr. Capers declined the nomination, giving as his reasons the responsibility of the office and his dread of crossing the ocean, as well as the time it would take him from his work and his family. Bishop McKendree, in common with many others, felt no little solicitude as to the course this General Conference would pursue in reference to several important measures. "The sus- pended resolutions," which were calculated to diminish very seriously the authority of the episcopacy in the appointment of the presiding elders and stationing the preachers, were expected to come up for final action; but the subject had been so generally discussed, and opposition to the measure had been so decidedly expressed by the Annual Conferences, that it was lost by an overwhelming vote. Indeed, many who at the last General Con- ference had been inclined to favor these resolutions, after they saw the violent spirit which its leading advocates exhibited and finding it was to be only the "entering wedge" of innova- tion, became alarmed and withdrew their names and influ- ence from the measure. Between 1824 and 1828, the spirit of innovation was strongly and dangerously exhibited in claiming the right of the laity to an equal representation with the traveling preachers in the Annual and General Conferences. A periodical styled the Wesleyan Repository, was started in Trenton, N. J., avowedly to agitate this subject, which soon became bitterly personal. The contributors were mostly anonymous, and the course pur- sued became so unpopular that its publication was discontinued. Shortly afterwards another originated in Baltimore, styled the Mutual Rights, advocating the same principles, which had the sanction and influence of a few traveling preachers and of several well-known local preachers, as well as a good many laymen. But, as in all such revolutionary associations, the more violent and factious spirits soon took the lead, drawing after them those not so fully imbued with their temper. It cul- minated in the expulsion of a notorious local preacher, Alexan- der McCane, who had published an outrageous attack upon the government of the Church, implicating and slandering its founder and fathers. Other expulsions and withdrawals fol- lowed. A society of "Associated Reformers" and "Union Societies" were formed, and a convention was held in Baltimore in 1827, constituted of preachers and laymen. Thus the line 334 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree between the friends and foes of the episcopal form of our Church government was distinctly drawn; and, a memorial having been presented from this convention to the General Conference of 1828, brought up the subject. Several members of the con- vention, who. had been honored and useful traveling ministers, attended the Conference who were invited to seats and re- ceived appointments to preach. The chairman of the committee to whom the memorial was referred, Dr. John Emory, brought in the report, which was read amid profound silence. It was such a document as few could write, exhibiting a thorough comprehension of the whole question, set forth in the simplest language and in the clearest and most convincing manner. The points were distinctly made and argued fairly, logically, and in a conciliatory spirit. The writer watched the countenances of the Rev. Asa Shinn and his confrere, the Rev. N. Snethen, who represented the convention, during the reading of this report, and thought then, as he does now, that they appreciated it and were con- vinced by its unanswerable arguments. But, alas! they had too far committed themselves. Dr. Bangs deserves the thanks of the whole Methodist Episcopal family for inserting it in full in his valuable "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church." The moment the reading of it was concluded, Mr. Shinn sprang to his feet and proposed that five thousand copies be printed. Of course the report was adopted by a vote nearly or quite unan- imous; and as it provided, upon reasonable terms, for the return to the bosom of the Church of those who had withdrawn, it was believed and hoped by many that this would end any further serious alienation; and, although this very desirable result was not fully realized, yet this action of the Conference greatly tended to check the disaffection and diminish the asperity of feeling which had unfortunately arisen. The "Appeal" to the Methodists in opposition to the changes proposed by the re- formers, by Dr. Thomas E. Bond, and the "Defense of our Fathers," by Dr. Emory, were timely and masterly vindica- tions of the polity of the Church and contributed much to the same end. May we not hope that now, after the lapse of more than forty years, when nearly all those who took part in this division have passed away with the prejudices and passions of the occasion, a reunion may take place? Bishop McKendree was a close observer of these acts of the General Conference, and when he found that these perplexing and dangerous questions had been adjusted with great unanim- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 335 ity, he thanked God and took courage. He had suffered much anxiety and labored long for the great principles involved in these controversies, and when he saw them settled in accordance with his views, he felt reassured of the prosperity and perma- nency of his beloved Church. He also felt a good deal of solicitude as to another delicate and important question which came before the Conference. It was what is called "the Canada question." The case was simply this: When our preachers had extended their work to the north- ern limits of the United States, they were invited into Upper Canada. They went and formed circuits and stations and were requested to continue and extend their labors. The question came up whether the bishop had the right to appoint preachers to labor out of the limits of the United States, inasmuch as the Church only claimed to be "the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America," and Bishop Asbury dis- claimed the authority to do so, and sent none but volunteers, with the understanding that it was done by agreement or com- pact between the Canadian brethren and our preachers. His successors took the same view and acted conformably to it. But after a while it was found that our preachers laboring there were subjected to great disabilities; they were regarded not as citizens, but foreigners, and could not celebrate the rites of matrimony even among the members of their own charges. Various other difficulties grew out of the position which our preachers and members occupied, and prejudices naturally sprung up to limit the usefulness of our ministers. Difficulties, too, occurred between our preachers and the English Methodist ministers. A petition from our people there, borne by a delega- tion from the Canada Conference, was presented to this General Conference, stating these and other facts, and asking to be set off as an independent body, and the ordination of a bishop for their work. A committee was appointed to consider and report upon the request. Dr. Emory and others, including the writer, were placed upon the committee, and reported in substance that, as our relation to the Canadian brethren was founded upon a compact, and not upon our right to organize and govern a Church in Canada; and inasmuch as one of the parties to the agreement now asked that the compact be dissolved, the Gen- eral Conference should agree to its dissolution, and consent that the Canada Conference organize and elect its own bishop. And further, that our bishops, or any one of them, be author- 336 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ized to ordain a bishop for Canada whenever one shall be elected and presented for this purpose. The following extracts from the Journal of the General Con- ference show the action of the body upon this subject: t MAY 17, 1828, William Ryerson offered the following resolutions, viz: Whereas, The Canada Annual Conference, situated in the province of Upper Canada, under a foreign government, have, in their memorial, presented to this Conference the difficulties under which they labor in consequence of their union with a foreign ecclesiastical government and setting forth their desire to be set off as a separate Church establish- ment; and whereas, this General Conference disclaims all right to exercise ecclesiastical .jurisdiction under such circumstances except by mutual agreement; therefore, Resolved by the delegates of the Annual Conferences in General Conference Assembled 1. That the compact existing between the Canada Annual Conference and the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States be, and hereby is, dissolved by mutual consent, and that they are at liberty to form them- selves into a separate Church establishment. 2. That our superintendents or superintendent be, and hereby are, re- spectively advised and requested to ordain such person as may be elected by the Canada Conference a superintendent for the Canada connection. 3. That we do hereby recommend to our brethren in Canada to adopt the form of government of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, with such modifications as their particular relations shall render necessary. 4. That we do hereby express to our Canada brethren our sincere desire that the most friendly feeling may exist between them and the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. 5. That the claims of the Canada Conference on our Book Concern and Charter Fund, and any other claims they may suppose they justly have shall be left open for future negotiation and adjustment between the two Connections. G. R. JONES, MOSES CRUMB. The question on the first resolution was decided in the affirmative, 104 for and 43 aganist it. The other four resolutions were, on motion, referred to a special com- mittee, to consist of five members. May 21, it was, on motion, resolved, that the subject of the petition from the Canada Conference be resumed; whereupon the resolutions, as reported by the last committee appointed on that subject, were read. It was then resolved that the subject shall now be considered and acted on. Samuel H. Thompson moved, and it was seconded, that the resolution, as reported by the committee, be adopted. The question being taken, it Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 337 was decided in the affirmation, 108 voting in favor of adoption and 22 against it. N. Bangs moved, and it was seconded, that the following be referred to the consideration of the same committee: That, if the Canada Conference should be set off so as to become inde- pendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, the General Conference be recommended to make such alteration in the Con- stitution of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church as shall authorize the Board of Managers to make an appropriation, to a certain amount, of the funds of that institution for the support of the Indian missions in Upper Canada. And the motion prevailed. The principle involved in this decision is truly an important one. The following conclusions seem to follow from the action of the Conference in the premises and the opinions expressed by leading members of the body: 1. That the Church cannot rightfully claim ecclesiastical jurisdiction beyond her territorial limits, except by consent of parties. 2. That therefore she has not the right to ordain a man for an independent or foreign Church. 3. That the General Conference can authorize its bishops to ordain a man for an independent or foreign Church after he shall have been selected and presented by that Church with the understanding that his functions are to be limited to that Church. 4. That to "set off" a Conference as an independent Church, and within its territorial jurisdiction without the consent of the laity as well as the preachers, would be an unjust and dangerous precedent, except, perchance, for moral cause, such as heresy, defection of morals and practice after proper efforts to reclaim them. 5. That it is competent to ordain and supervise men as mis- sionaries in any country, and to continue to do so even after the missions shall have been organized into Conferences, so long as it may be done by mutual consent, the absolute right to do so being another question. The writer does not say that these opinions were announced ipsissimis verbis, by the bishops, Dr. Emory, Dr. Bangs, and others; but he lays them down as his own deductions from what was said and done, and is persuaded that they harmonized in the main with the sentiments of the bishops and Conference. He doubts not they did with Bishop McKendree's. It will be seen that these views fully apply to a Church which, by its assumed 22 338 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and legal title, is limited to a specified territory, as "in the United States of America." The expediency of omitting such a limitation, and to what extent, if any, such a change of title would modify the deductions stated above may be subjects of reflection. The Church of England has authority coextensive with the dominions of the crown, because it is "by law established;" but it required the consent of George III and an act of Parliament to authorize her bishops to consecrate Bishop White for America, and then his functions were expressly inhibited as to the posses- sions of Great Birtian. As yet our country is free from a legal- ized ecclesiastical hierarchy. May it ever remain so! The bishops having failed to comply with the request of the last General Conference to select and appoint a delegate to the Wesleyan Methodist body in England and having invited the Conference to make a selection and carry out this purpose, the Conference proceeded to elect one, and the Rev. W. Capers was chosen. Dr. Capers was then in the prime of life. His personnel washandsome and impressive, his literary and theological attain- ments, his refined and dignified manners, and his well-known abilities and earnest devotion to God and his Church conspired to render him well adapted to this responsible office and vindi- cated his previous nomination by Bishops McKendree and Soule. 1 Dr. Wilbur Fisk, who received the next highest vote, was con- siderably his junior, and consequently less known. He first came conspicuously into notice at this General Conference, and soon attained a very high and deserved reputation as president of the Wesleyan University, a scholarly and able divine, as well as a lovely and liberal-hearted man. His reputation was based upon talents of a very high order, and he was among the few who could rise above early impressions and prevalent prejudices and take an enlarged and independent view, with moral courage to act upon it. Methodism suffered a great loss in his early death. But more of him hereafter. The fifth session of the delegated General Conference closed on May 24, 1828. It was a session remarkable for its general harmony, its rapid dispatch of business, and for the final settle- ment of several important questions which had long and deeply agitated the Church. No new member was added to the Episco- pal College, and it was thought it was not necessary and there- tore would be improper. l Bishop Roberts agreed to hia nomination when it was first made. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 339 The following brief account of this session is all that the Bishop says about it: " On May 1,1828, the General Conference was organized. The appearance and spirit of the members savored more of simple- hearted Christians than of determined controvertists. The suspended resolutions were taken up and the vote taken without debate. They were voted out in a peaceable manner. The memorial from the local convention was treated in a formal and respectful manner; upon examination, it was found the advo- cates for changes in the government were very few, not more, perhaps, than one in a hundred, if that. They were treated with lenity and tenderness. From the conduct of their representa- tives who were present, it was hoped the breach would be healed; but it turned out otherwise, and time must declare the ultimate result. These eventful cases having been disposed of, the Con- ference concluded in peace. A few subjects of interesting im- portance were introduced, but concluded peaceably." The General Conference of 1828 marked a historical crisis in the Church, and the preachers and members, who truly loved its old landmarks, felt like those in a vessel long buffeted by stormy winds and threatening waves upon a dangerous coast at last emerging into calm and open waters and gliding smoothly and safely beneath a sky serene under a gentle and favorable breeze. Thus, it seemed, our ecclesiastical ship had weathered the tempest without serious damage to hull or sail and the glad passengers looked back with gratitude and forward with hope. The Bishop's narrative proceeds: "From Pittsburgh I came in a steamboat with many preach- ers to Maysville. With their help I formed a plan to visit the Churches as far as Missouri this summer, and return with the Conferences in the fall; but upon further consultation, they judged it altogether inexpedient, if not impracticable, for me to accomplish the undertaking. It was therefore given up. Broth- er Tydings conducted me to Lexington, Ky. I attended the quarterly meeting at Frankfort, and the Kentucky Confer- ence in Shelbyville, October 23, 1828; then a three days' meet- ing on my way to Elizabethtown, where Brother Crist met me. Hitherto I have had the company and help of friends; have preached considerably and hope good has been done. We at- tended a meeting at Bowling Green, at Fountain Head, a camp meeting at Carr's, Goose Creek, and another at Woodward's. After this, Crist was taken with the fever, and declined going farther. My nephew. John McKendree, left his business and 340 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree came to me at Smyrna camp meeting. I was at a camp meeting at Douglass's, one near Murfreesboro, a quarterly meeting in Nashville, and another camp meeting near Shelbyville. Thence I set out for Georgia, crossed the Tennessee River safely, and reached the foot of Lookout Mountain; but having arrived there sooner than my friends, who were to meet me, expected, I placed my nephew at the wheels to scotch the carriage, and undertook to drive it myself. It was hard work for man and beast, and in some places dangerous. Indeed, the undertaking was objected to as dangerous and impracticable by travelers; but we surmounted the difficulties without any serious injury. After resting a while, we began to descend the mountain, and met Brothers Goody and Scales, with a black man and a yoke of oxen, coming to take us up the mountain, having been informed by a traveler we were on the way. We rested at Brother Ross's on Friday, saw and conversed with the missionaries from Brain- ard, about fifty miles distant, and preached on Sunday to a small congregation of Cherokees; hope our labor was not in vain. In the evening we rode home with Brother Scales, a mis- sionary from the Tennessee Conference. Mr. Ross and an old Indian were moved under preaching, for the first time, as their acquaintances said. Tuesday Brother Scales set out with us for the place where the chiefs of the Nation were assembled in grand council. We visited an afflicted native woman on the way, and from the manner we were received I hope she will make a happy end. We lodged at the house of the Widow Hicks, a disciple of the Moravian missionary. Next day we arrived at the 'Indian National Council;' preached to them Thursday night; on Friday, went to the missionary station and camp ground and preached to a large congregation. Saturday, rode to Mr. , and established a school. Here Brother Gunter, the interpreter, and Turtle Fields, the Indian traveling preacher, met us. Sunday, we preached in the schoolhouse to a considerable number of people. Gunter returned to the Coun- cil, and Turtle Fields went with us to Mr. , where we lodged that night, and accompanied us next day to Mr. Betts's, on the Georgia Road. In the evening the neighbors were collected, and we held meeting. Tuesday, we left our friends and set out for Georgia in company with a man, his wife, and son, in a carriage, who were returning from a visit to their friends in the West to their home near Athens, Ga. They had a tea- kettle and a coffeepot, and we, as well as they, had provi- sions; so we fared pretty well. Through the day we were at Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 341 home in our carriages and at night in taverns. We were ever received and treated kindly in the Indian Nation. In Athens, Ga., we put up with Brother Asbury Hull and preached there the last Sunday in October, 1828; and the first Sunday in No- vember preached at the Cherokee Corner, at Lexington; at- tended a three days' meeting at Greensboro, and on Monday a brother kindly took me in his carriage to Eatonton. I was un- well. Doctors visited me in the evening and took a pint of blood; two hours afterwards returned, opened the same orifice, and took another pint. Tuesday, I was feeble. Wednesday, I must needs be taken in a carriage to the meetinghouse, to be seen at least. There was a congregation, and I commenced speaking, forgot myself and preached an hour, a feeling time. Thursday, I rode to Brother H.'s. Next day it rained; rode in company with Brother Hodges, to a quarterly meeting at War- ren; preached twice. Thence I went to Milledgeville, put up with Brother Hodges; preached and visited considerably; or- dained Brother Olin. Next went to Sparta; preached; Powel- ton; preached; preached at Washington; crossed Broad River; passed through Petersburg to Brother Rembert's, where I rested a day or two. In the fork of Broad and Savannah Rivers there is a considerable space without preaching. The land be- longs to rich men. There are few whites, but many colored peo- ple. The gentlemen engaged to support a single preacher, if one could be spared. From Rembert's we crossed the Savannah at his ferry, his carriage and family going with us about eight miles to a meetinghouse, where I preached, ordained a brother, and lodged with Brother . Next day I traveled, and preached in town; stayed all night. Thence to Mount Ariel ; rested Saturday, preached Sunday. Recrossed the Savan- nah and proceeded on to Augusta, Ga. ; attended their quarterly meeting. Stayed over the second Sunday, including Christmas; preached and visited considerably. Left Augusta December 27; Saturday, got to Brother Wade's. Here Brother Hill met us and continued to Conference. Sunday I preached to a large congregation; an impressive time." Among the names mentioned in the above extract of the Bishop's Journal which deserve more than a passing notice is that of one who attained a high and well-merited reputation for extraordinary talents, ability as a preacher, ripe scholarship, and usefulness as an educator. The Bishop notes the fact that at Milledgeville, Ga., November 20, 1828, he "ordained Brother Olin/' This was the Rev. Stephen Olin, at that time and for six 342 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree years subsequently professor of ethics and belles-lettres in Frank- lin College, Athens, Ga. Dr. Olin was a native of Vermont, born 1797; graduated at Middlebury College, 1820, with constitution shattered and ruined by excessive study in his senior year; went to South Carolina for his health; taught an academy in Abbeville District Mount Ariel, now Cokesbury; was converted; became a Methodist preacher in 1822. In 1823, he was appointed pro- fessor in Middlebury College, but declined it because he would not become a Congregationalist. In 1824 he was admitted into the South Carolina Conference and stationed in Charles- ton; but after six months' efficient labor his health failed, and he was never afterwards able to perform the duties of the pas- torate in the regular ministry. In 1826, he was elected profes- sor of ethics and belles-lettres in Franklin College, Athens, Ga. i. e., the University of Georgia. In 1828, he married Miss Mary Ann Bostick, of Milledgeville. In 1833, he resigned his professorship at Franklin College, and in 1834 entered upon the duties of the presidency of Randloph-Macon College, Vir- ginia, with L. C. Garland, Edward D. Sims, and Professor Dun- can as associates in the faculty. His health failing, he sailed for Havre in 1837, and traveled extensively through Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land. He lost his wife at Naples, in 1839. In 1840, he returned to the United States, and succeeded Dr. Fisk as President of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. In 1846, he attended the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance, in London, and in 1851, closed his useful and eventful life by a calm and triumphant death. Dr Olin was gigantic in stature, mind, and heart; a great sufferer from nervous prostration; a profound thinker, a clear and elegant writer, and unsurpassed as a preacher. It is doubt- ful whether Methodism in America has ever produced a greater mind. He was a delegate to the General Conference of 1844, when the separation of the Church occurred and expressed the conviction that it was inevitable, under the circumstances; and perhaps few members of that body deplored the necessity more truly and deeply than did he. Indeed, such was his men- tal agony on that occasion that he was compelled to leave the General Conference before it closed. He was one of the few truly great and good men with whom it has been permitted us to become acquainted. We thought then he should have imitated the example of Bishop Soule in vindicating his claim to the highest moral courage; but he did not think so ; and we have Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 343 long since concluded to let him judge for himself and to love and respect most highly his precious memory. When, in 1834, he became president of Randolph-Macon College, Virginia, he was associated in the faculty with Langdon C. Garland, Edward Drumgoole Sims, and Professor Duncan each of them singularly adapted to the responsible task of in- structing and training his charge to the highest intellectural and moral standard of education. Professor Garland succeeded Dr. Olin as president of Randolph-Macon College, and afterwards became president of the University of Alabama, and, upon the destruction by fire of its buildings by Federal soldiers during the late war, accepted the professorship of physics and astrono- my in the University of Mississippi, at Oxford, which he now occupies; in all of which places and positions he has deservedly gained the highest esteem as a profound scholar and superior instructor, as well as an earnest and working layman of the Church. The Rev. Edward D. Sims was for several years the intimate and beloved friend of the writer and his associate in the faculty of Lagrange College then for some time a student in the universities of Germany. Upon his return to the United States, he became a professor in Randolph-Macon College, and afterwards in the University of Alabama, where he suddenly closed his life, regretted and respected by all who knew him as a man of rare purity, learning, and amiability. Professor Dun- can, the veteran professor of ancient languages, has left his im- press upon hundreds as a thorough and successful teacher of ancient Greek and Roman literature, and bequeathed to the re- juvenated college a son who worthily fills the position once held by Dr. Olin. CHAPTER XXI McKendree at Augusta Savannah Preaches to whites and blacks Conference at Charleston Bishop Roberts absent Not able to preside Returns to Lynchburg to the Virginia Conference To the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences Thence through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky to Tennessee Douglass's Camp Meeting His voice Conversion of a mute Bishop George's Death Sketch The Bishop's homes at Nashville, J. T. Elliston's and H. R. W. Hill's Down the Mississippi River The Colonel His Plan Liberia. WE resume the Bishop's Journal: "Thursday, January 1,1829. Preached to a number of the colored people, in presence of the whole family, in an apartment of the dwelling house. The Lord was present. "January 2. We rose early to start for Savannah and were called to prayer and breakfast by candlelight, but I was taken so sick I was obliged to lie down. I lay until 8 A.M., and set out without eating anything. Brother Wade took me fifteen miles in a remarkably easy carriage. We accomplished our journey of thirty-odd miles before sunset and reached Savannah next day. Here we stayed and preached two Sabbaths; through the week visited the brethren, met the society, and received visits. The Presbyterians seem disposed to be friendly with us. Next week we left Savannah. Brother Hill accompanied us, by the Sisters' Ferry, through the Black Swamp Circuit, to Brother Lowery's. In addition to his own, he manages an estate of a wealthy planter who invites preaching among his colored people. There are sev- eral such men in this neighborhood. They wish their slaves to be instructed in the Christian religion. On Sunday we preached to a large congregation of white and colored people. Brother Hill gave them a night meeting. It is hoped our visit is not in vain. The way is opening to have the gospel preached to the slaves. "We arrived safely in Charleston on the twentieth and found the preachers, their families, and our brethren in health. We now had a few days to rest and to visit the societies and friends. This is an agreeable and profitable part of a minister's duty. "Bishop Roberts was to have attended the Conference; we waited in expectation. On January 28, the Conference began according to appointment ; Bishop Roberts not arrived . ' ' After- wards he adds: "He did not come at all." Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 345 In reference to this Conference and his ability to preside, he says: "Being the only bishop present, the business necessarily de- volved on me. Having received no information from either of my colleagues as to their absence, it seemed providential that I had come. I commenced with considerable confidence in my ability to perform the duties, but the experience of the first day convinced me of my utter inability to bear the labors of my office." This no doubt greatly mortified him, as it evinced that his days of extensive travel and active usefulness were nearly over. No one who has not been thus tried knows the feeling of sadness incident to such a state. No man ever felt more acutely this sensation than the good old Bishop. But he was not the man to succumb and soon resumed his course. Quitting Charleston, he goes through Georgetown, Fayetteville, Raleigh attending the North Carolina Conference thence to Petersburg, Richmond, and Lynchburg. Here he meets the Virginia Conference. Thence he goes back to Richmond, and proceeds to Ports- mouth and Norfolk, and from thence to Baltimore on March 14, 1829. And after attending the Baltimore Conference, he goes through Philadelphia, to Trenton, N. J., and there attends the Philadelphia Conference. Back again he travels to Baltimore, and goes thence to Washington City, Hagerstown, Sharpsburg, and Uniontown, making one hundred and thirty miles in four days, to Barnesville, Ohio, July 25. And after attending the Ohio Conference at Urbana, and the Kentucky Conference at Lexington, he gets back to Nashville, Tenn., and spends the winter of 1829-30 there. The Bishop confessed that the anxiety and labors of the Gen- eral Conference fatigued him, and that his health was not so good at its close; and yet we have followed him through an un- ceasing tour of several thousand miles, everywhere preaching and trying in every possible way to do good. His power of endurance and his moral courage were wonderful. The Bishop alludes to his having been at a number of quarter- ly and camp meetings during the summer and fall of 1828 in Tennessee. Several of them were in the Nashville District, of which the writer was then the presiding elder. At Douglass's Camp Meeting there was an immense concourse, and the Bishop preached for me at eleven o'clock, September 7, to at least six thousand people; and, although his voice seemed feeble, yet was it so distinct and penetrating and so perfectly silent was the 346 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree vast crowd that after the first five minutes he could he heard by all. In order to regulate his voice properly, he requested me to take my position near the outskirts of the assembly, and, by signals, let him know whether he could be heard; and after he understood that he spoke loud enough, he continued in the same key to the close. He was in his proper element and preached with great logical clearness and spiritual power. The lesson was a valuable one to public speakers, teaching that the distance at which the voice can be distinctly heard de- pends not so much upon the volume of sound as upon distinct- ness of articulation. Preachers often bring on a premature ruin of voice and health by not practicing upon this lesson, and some of them commit a species of suicide. If Bishop McKendree had not learned this lesson, his usefulness, and perhaps his life, would have terminated twenty years before he died. An incident occurred at this camp meeting which interested him greatly. While he was preaching the sermon alluded to, there were sitting immediately before him and near the pulpit an intelligent and worthy family by the name of Tullis. The father and mother were members of the Church, but one of the daughters was deaf and dumb. The family being in good cir- cumstances, she had enjoyed all the advantages of education possible; had a sprightly mind and a fine person, but she was not pious. Her attention was soon riveted on the venerable preach- er, and she seemed to understand his speaking face and signifi- cant gestures. She became absorbed in thought and bathed in tears, and when mourners were invited she arose and knelt. The Bishop, with her parents and friends, gathered around her and offered prayers for her conversion, and after an apparently severe mental struggle, in which penitence and prayer were clear- ly indicated by her tears, her countenance, and her actions, she suddenly arose, and, with a face radiant with joy, embraced her parents and the venerable preacher. She was converted. Nor is this the only instance of the kind the writer has known. The Bishop attended several, other camp and quarterly meet- ings within the Nashville District during this year, at all of which, as well as at the writer's own home, he enjoyed the pleasure of his society; and he can never cease to feel toward him and Thomas L. Douglass, his father in the gospel, the pro- foundest respect and love. The death of Bishop George occurred in this year. He was born in Lancaster County, Va., 1767 or 1768; became a traveling preacher in 1790; was ordained bishop in 1816, and died August Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 347 23, 1828, at Staunton, Va. Having traveled two or three years in the Virginia Conference, at the call of Bishop Asbury for volunteers for South Carolina he went there and labored in that State and Georgia four or five years. Finding his health much impaired by incessant labor and the sickliness of the climate, he returned to Virginia and located, believing he could not render efficient service and feeling unwilling to become a burden on the Conference. Thus thrown out into the world sick, poor, and incapacitated for ordinary worldly business by his past exclusive devotion to his vocation, he "resorted again to his old alternative, school keeping." Having despaired of being able to continue in the itinerant ministry, he married a lady of "piety, industry, sympathy, and sincere affection," who died in 1816, leaving four children, one of them only a few weeks old. He never married again. The field of his labors as a bishop required him to travel into Canada and through the United States, and during the twelve years of his episcopate he faith- fully attempted to perform all his arduous duties. Parting with Bishop Hedding at the close of the New York Conference, he started for Jonesboro, Tenn., to hold the Holston Conference; and, having been taken violently ill of dysentery at Staunton, Va., after a few days of great suffering he breathed his last. He died not only resigned, but willingly and joyously, exclaiming: "Glory to God!" As a Christian, he was devout and holy; a man of much prayer and strong religious feelings; as a preacher, he excelled in pathos. He preached "in the demonstration of the Spirit and with power. " What he felt deeply he spoke with great simplic- ity and sensibility. Having heard him repeatedly, the writer can attest that he never heard anyone who surpassed him as a pathetic preacher. At our first visit to a Conference in 1817, held in Franklin, Tenn., he and Bishop Roberts attended, and he preached at eleven o'clock on Sunday, in the Methodist Church. His text was 1 John v. 4, "This is the victory," etc.; and he had scarcely got through his exordium before he and all his hearers were in tears. It was indeed a "pathetic, powerful, and usefu)" sermon. His appearance, voice, and manner, as well as his matter, conspired to excite and overpower the audi- ence. He was a weeping prophet. He wept, and everybody caught the spirit of the preacher. His way of removing the tears which blinded his small and deeply seated eyes, by run- ning his finger behind his spectacles and uttering in soft and subdued tones, "Glory!" was peculiar and impressive. He was 348 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree low of stature, with a broad chest, a short neck, large head, long, flowing hair turned back; his face broad and short; his eyes twinkling like diamonds beneath an expansive forehead and heavy, overhanging brow. In private, as in public, he avoided ostentation, and was simple and affectionate in private intercourse. He detested an assumed dignity, and won the respect and love of all with whom he had intercourse by his urbanity and unstudied dignity. He was not a learned man; and his early literary opportunities had most probably been confined to "the old-field schools" of Virginia; but he had traveled much, mingled in the best so- ciety among our people in Virginia and Maryland, and spoke correctly and fluently. He had no fondness for office or noto- riety, but was humble and strictly conscientious. As a bishop, while he loved the Church and strove to do his whole duty, yet his want of method and inattention to the rules of order occasionally involved himself and the Conference in confusion. He wanted the administrative talent of the senior bishop. The latter had an analytical and remarkably logical cast of mind. His office was to instruct and to legislate and to govern. The former, endowned with stronger feeling and more sympathy, carried by storm the citadel of the heart. They were both rare men, but differed in the spheres in which they moved and shone. McKendree, like Asbury, could read character, foresee the results of movements, and adopt means to frustrate or advance them with remarkable astuteness and success. George, not so prescient nor such a tactician, and more timid, was easily affected by his views of the apparent and present. Both were equally honest, and worked for the same ends. Bish- op McKendree could have made a prime minister, or the king of a nation, and would have made it greater and happier. Bishop George was adapted to the rostrum of a popular assembly and might have been a leader in a time of excitement. But they were holy men and Christ's ministers; and therefore, while Mc- Kendree assisted to make a great Church out of a little one by his administrative ability, George contributed to the same end by his impassioned pulpit eloquence. Bishop McKendree's throne was the chair in Conference and council; Bishop George's throne was the pulpit. McKendree taught, George moved his audience. Both excelled in their spheres; both were necessary, and God gave both to the Church. It is worthy of note here that each of these bishops was awak- ened and converted under the preaching of that great revivalist, Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 349 John Easter, and were inducted into the ministry by Philip Cox. How many others became preachers and members of the Church through the labors of Mr. Easter eternity alone will reveal. Let Methodists, and expecially Methodist preachers, beware how they depreciate revivals; for if, in our pride of higher intellec- tual attainments and our boast of colleges and universities, our graduates and doctors of divinity, we undervalue and speak of them as merely sensational and of transient influence, may not God curse us with spiritual barrenness and leave us like pot- sherds to strive with potsherds without the aid of the Holy Ghost? During the winter of 1829-30, Bishop McKendree passed the greater part of his time in Nashville and its immediate vicinity. The residences of H. R. W. Hill and J. T. Elliston, where he had homes and where every comfort and kindness which in his debility and sickness he could need, were his principal places of staying. Both of these gentlemen deserve a passing notice. Mr. Hill was converted at Conference in Franklin, Tenn., in 1817. His mother was a devout Methodist of the old Virginia type; and, at the time of his conversion, he was a clerk in a store. His business capacity was remarkable, and he accumulated a fortune by merchandising in Nashville and as a commission merchant in New Orleans. A crisis in monetary matters occurring, his house in New Orleans failed to the amount of about three mil- lions of dollars, owing to his having entered into acceptances for planters who did not meet their engagements. Upon his return to his family shortly after his failure, he said to the writ- er: "I have lost everything, and am in debt three millions; all is gone except my character and what I have given away." He lived, however, to pay his debts, and died a wealthy man; but, notwithstanding his liberality, his cares injured his piety. He never stinted his benevolence. Not only did he afford Bishop McKendree a home, but when Bishop Soule came to the South, he gave him a comfortable house and valuable little farm near Franklin, worth from three to five thousand dollars. He liber- ally assisted in erecting an excellent house in Nashville for the occupancy of a bishop, known still as the Bishop's house, in which Bishop Soule resided awhile and where a worthy col- league now lives. In New Orleans he was equally generous, having, under the leadership of that princely layman, Hon. Edmund McGehee, of Woodville, Miss., given ten thousand 350 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree dollars at one time toward the erection of the McGehee Church. His wife was a sincere Christian lady, plain and devout. Both have passed from earth. Joseph T. Elliston was also a man of fine business talent, and by foresight, tact, and economy amassed a fortune, but never speculated or sought wealth by hazardous means. He was a plain, unpretending man, of great prudence and common sense; happy in his domestic and social relations, and always at work as trustee or steward for the benefit of the Church. He was the person to whom, principally, is due the honor of erecting the McKendree Church in Nashville, as well as the parsonage and Bishop's house. His excellent wife was in every respect a worthy helpmeet to her devoted and noble-hearted husband. They, too, have gone to rest. Is it not fit that an old friend, who has often enjoyed the hos- pitality of these laymen, should chronicle their names in con- nection with the life of one who so often enjoyed their hospi- tality? For, although not preachers, they were truly their friends and comforters. And may we not trust that He who rewards "a cup of water" given to a disciple will not fail to reward those who give them food and shelter, and, like minis- tering angels, watch over them in age and affliction? Without such friends, what must have been the fate of many an old and feeble man whose youth and strength have been spent in preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ ! Such deserve to be classed with the house of Stephanas, who "addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints." In their quadrennial address to the late General Conference, the bishops made no suggestion as to the necessity of increasing their number; but in reply to an inquiry made by the committee, through S. G. Roszel, as to the propriety and necessity of doing so, they said that if any more Conferences should be made, it would certainly be necessary to strengthen the episcopacy; whether it was necessary to elect any more unless this should be done, the Conference could judge. The four efficient superin- tendents had evidently enough to do. The death of Bishop George had reduced them to three, and consequently their tasks were onerous. To contribute what he could to assist his colleagues, Bishop McKendree resolved to visit the societies and to attend as many Conferences as his health would allow. In conformity with this purpose, he resolved to go South Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 351 during the winter, and embarked on a steamboat at Nashville. From a letter to J. B. Finley, dated January 29, 1830, we learn that he was then "on the steamboat Nashville, at the mouth of the Cumberland River, to visit the Churches as low down as New Orleans, and as extensively as possible;" that he expected to return in March; and that as soon as the roads would allow, and he could procure suitable assistance, he would visit the Churches in the West; that he had written to his old friend, Abbott Godard, to induce him to go with him to Illinois upon a visit to his old friends, and he concluded it by sending his love to Brother Spencer, Brother Smith's family, his Newport friends, and especially to his beloved Brother Holliday. It appears that he stopped at Natchez, with Dr. Henry Tooley, and spent some time there, preaching and paying pastoral visits and enjoying the company of W. Winans, B. M. Drake, Thomas Clinton, B. Pipkin, and other valued and beloved friends. The greater part of his time was spent in New Orleans, where the necessities of the Church required his influence and counsels. He also paid a visit to Bayou Sara, and to Woodville, Miss., where, in the family of his greatly respected friend and brother, Judge Edward McGehee, he was always a most welcome and honored guest. Thus passed away the winter. Upon this steamboat trip to New Orleans, he had the com- pany of A. L. P. Green, then associated with James Gwin in the Nashville Station. The well-known genial temper and social qualities of Brother Green rendered him always a most de- sirable companion to the Bishop. He had a high esteem and reverential affection for Bishop McKendree, and to the close of the good man's life was his attentive, tender, and trusted friend. It was on this trip to New Orleans that the incidents occurred which are narrated in Dr. Green's admirable sketch of the Bishop in the "Biographical Sketches of Itinerant Ministers," edited by Dr. Summers, in 1858. I hope I may be pardoned for making the following extracts from this work, which ought to be circu- lated throughout the whole Methodist community. Dr. Green says: I think, in the year 1830, while descending the Mississippi on a large steamer crowded with passengers, the weather being cold, we were com- pelled to live in close community about the stove. The company was a mixed one old and young, ladies and gentlemen so that various sub- jects of conversation were up. from time to time, until an old lawyer and politician, who no doubt mistook the Bishop's character in part (thinking fhat the Church had made him bishop on account of his goodness and 352 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree lamblike nature, never once supposing there was any of the lion in him), concluded, no doubt, that he would make some capital by a controversy with him on Church government. A greater mistake no poor man ever made, for the Bishop would have been his equal on any subject; and upon Church government he was too strong for anyone, for he had given to that subject extraordinary attention. Having been a little troubled in that direction in his youth, he had threshed, fanned, and sifted it with his powerful intellect for years, until there was not a comma, a crossed t or a dotted t in the whole empire of Church government which he did not have by heart and at his fingers' ends. The old colonel commenced by saying to the Bishop that he differed from him on Church government, to which the Bishop answered: " So, so." The colonel, finding he had not got the Bishop to his liking, said next that he thought the bishops of the Methodist Church had too much power. The Bishop answered by saying that he wished he had more power than he had, that he once had power enough to travel around this continent in a year, but now he had hardly power enough to walk. This produced a laugh around the circle, which was anything but comfortable to the colonel; so at once he commenced an argument against the government of the Church and the power of the bishops. Finding that nothing else but a controversy would do him, the Bishop met him prompt- ly, with a force that evidently overpowered him. The colonel rallied and came again to the attack, but was again routed, with great slaughter of his arguments. Next he attempted to escape without calling for quarter by saying he had not words to express his ideas, or he would make it appear very different. But the Bishop had determined that as nothing but a con- test would do him, he would make him cry out. The Bishop repeated slow- ly the words of the colonel: "Words, words," said the Bishop, "to express your ideas! Words," said he, "are the signs of ideas, and you cannot have ideas without signs. Now, friend," said he, "if you have any ideas that you have not conveyed, you have received and retained those ideas by a certain set of signs. They may not be the best signs for the purpose, but do you use just such signs as you have, and I will undertake to understand them. Now," said he, "use your signs," and dropped his head. All sat in perfect silence for half a minute, waiting for the signs to be given; but not one word was said. The Bishop then looked him fiercely in the face and said, with a manner of earnestness not common to him, "Use your signs," and another pause ensued and to the poor colonel it was an awful pause but no signs were given. Then said the Bishop: "Friend, you are mistaken; it is the want of ideas." I felt two badly for the poor colonel to laugh; but the sympathies of the circle were with the Bishop and the controversy closed with a burst of laughter at the colonel's expense. After awhile, when the Bishop and myself retired to the stateroom for me to read to him (which he requested me to do at stated periods), I said to him: "You treated that gentleman too badly." He an- swered by saying: "Let him let me alone." From New Orleans he wrote to the Book Agents at New York: Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 353 I intend to stay here some ten or twelve days, then take steamboat for Bayou Sara, then land and visit the Churches as extensively as I can, to Natchez, then go by steamboat to Nashville by the last of March. From Nashville I intend to resume my course of visiting the Churches, through the lower part of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois; thence return, with the Conferences, from the West across the mountains, and visit the Atlantic States and Conferences. From Philadelphia, where Brother Emory left me last spring, I set out to visit the Churches through Virginia, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, where I expected to take up my abode for the winter. I have attended three Annual Conferences and ten or twelve quarterly meetings. I have seen great and very good times and rejoiced in the prosperity of Zion. For want of a steamboat, I failed to attend the Mississippi Conference." Thus his soul could plan and his zeal could dare to try and execute; but his strength enabled him to effect a part only of- his program of labor. Having concluded the object of his tour to Mississippi and Louisiana, he returned in the early part of the spring, and was at his brother's on April 20, 1830. There he received a respect- ful and affectionate letter from his old friend and fellow laborer, Abbott Godard, regretting his inability to accompany him, as requested, on account of his poor health. He then again called on J. B. Crist to go with him, who, in his usual kind and respect- ful manner, readily consented. Preparations were soon made, and he started to visit and preach at popular meetings and in towns through the West. About this time he received an official communication from the Board of Managers of the Missionary Society, through their committee (S. Merwin, S. Luckey, and James L. Phelps), calling his attention to the subject of a mis- sion in Africa and suggesting Liberia as a suitable site for such an establishment and promising "the means for such mission or missions." The writer is fully aware that for eighteen years at least the Bishop had been anxiously looking around for the men and means to send the gospel to Africa, and he received the letter with high gratification. The result and the mission of the lovely and lamented Melville B. Cox to that benighted region and his heroic and untimely death will appear hereafter. 23 CHAPTER XXII Begins his tour in 1830 in feeble health Friends protest Breaks down at Jonesboro Returns Discont nues his Diary In 1831 starts again Spends the winter in Baltimore General Confernece of 1832 Bishops' Address Action of the General Conference as to Bishop Mc- Kendree J. 0. Andrew and John Emory elected bishops Sketches Emory as President. WHEN Bishop McKendree started, in the spring of 1830, to accomplish his proposed campaign of pastoral duties, it was evident to others, as it was presently to himself, that he was physically unable to endure the labor of so great an enterprise. He was no longer the Jupiter of our ecclesiastical system, the largest and brightest in the episcopal train, and sweeping along a vast orbit, but, like Mercury, moving in a smaller circle, seldom seen, but ever near the sun. Instead of making the tour through the West, South, and East, as he had proposed, he had to confine himself to a small part of the West during the spring and summer; and even that was effected in great pain and weari- ness. In October, however, he was present at the Kentucky Conference, in Russellville. It seems that he had not yet fully made up his mind to relinquish his cherished project, and it re- quired the earnest and repeated protests of his old friends to dissuade him from attempting it. At last, however, he con- sented to a compromise. He was to cross the Cumberland Mountains, attend the Holston Conference at Ebenezer, Greene County, East Tennessee, November 4, and thence travel east, if his strength should allow, across the Alleghenies; but should he find himself greatly exhausted, he agreed to return from Ebenezer to Nashville. The tour began. Slowly and painfully he journeyed over the mountains, for about the sixtieth time; and before he reached the seat of the Conference he could neither get in nor out of his carriage without assistance. Fre- quently he had to be carried in the arms of others, his sympa- thizing and faithful traveling companion, J. B. Crist, being often constrained to shed tears over his precious and suffering charge. Yet he complained not, except occasionally by an involuntary, half -suppressed moan. No murmur escaped his lips. Upon the second day of the session he arrived, pale, haggard, and utterly exhausted. The preachers were struck with amazement and admiration, and gathered around him, some in tears and some Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 355 with smiles. He was confined to his bed nearly the whole ses- sion, visiting it but once and but for a few minutes. But it still required the earnest advice of his friends to divert him from his proposed tour. At last he yielded, and with tears welling in his eyes, said: " I approve your judgment and submit." Sad, sick, and very feeble, the good old Bishop began the re- turn tour soon after the close of the session . He could not venture to remain there during the winter, already setting in. He was at the base of the highest mountain range in the United States; and the long and severely cold winter must greatly aggravate his asthmatic and rheumatic complaints. It was death to stay and little less to go. The distance was nearly four hundred miles, over as mountainous and rough a road as could be found. He had accomplished nothing by coming, except to convince himself that the circle of his future movements must be a con- stantly diminishing one, with constantly increasing pain. Yes, and he doubtless learned also that it is both duty and pleasure, "in age and feebleness extreme," to be able to say: "Thy will be done!" Recrossing the Nolichucky River and passing through Green- ville and down the Valley of the Holston to Knoxville, and thus on and over the mountains and down to Nashville he came, reaching his brother's about Christmas. Who can imagine what that trip cost him, when motion itself was wearying and every root and rut and rock over which the carriage jolted was an in- strument of agony! The Bishop was accustomed to keep a diary for each year; some portions are lost, but others have assisted in tracing his footsteps and delineating his character. We have no such traces during this era of his sufferings, not a line from his own pen. He seemed to act on the principle that his bright days and active labors for the Church should be scored down and remembered, but that days of sadness and suffering should be left unrecorded and unremembered. The fact is, from the spring of 1830, no regular diary has been found. i> !ft& From his return home to the ensuing spring he remained in winter quarters, not venturing to go far or taxing his strength very much, having become convinced that unless he could get strong- er, he could do but little in future. Of course he preached and visited in the neighborhoods of his temporary residences, as he had opportunity. This prudent course revived him considera- bly, and in the spring of 1831 he went forth again. His course was through Kentucky and Ohio, passing over the mountains in the 356 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree fall and spending the winter in Baltimore, staying principally with his old friend, Dr. Henry Wilkins. Throughout this tour he, as usual, attended quarterly and other meetings and preached frequently. The following letter from Dr. Emory was received at this time: NEW YORK, April 17, 1832. Dear Bishop: Your favor of the fourteenth instant reached me last evening. I am much gratified to learn that you will visit us on the twenti- eth instant, and will meet you with a carriage at the boat. ^ Permit me to add that a large and beautiful new church of ours, in a central part of this city, is to be opened on Friday next, twentieth instant, at 4 P.M., the opening sermon to be preached by Brother Fisk, of Middle- town, and one in the evening by Brother Merwin. A joint committee of the trustees and preachers have requested me to supply the pulpit on the first Sabbath morning viz., the twenty-second instant, at half-past ten o'clock, with the privilege of inviting any other person to supply my place at my discretion, and knowing, as I do, the great satisfaction it would afford to have your services on that occasion, I beg that you will have the goodness to accept the appointment and allow me to have it announced (as may very conveniently be done on Friday evening) that you will preach there, the Lord willing, at that time. A line from you by return of mail signifying your assent will very much oblige me. Should you be too much fatigued to write yourself, some friend will do it for you on your dictation. It may be proper to inform you that our Missionary Anniversary is to be on Friday, the twenty-seventh instant, at 5 P.M., and not on the twenty-fifth. With great respect, very affectionately yours, J. EMORY. In the latter part of March, 1832, he passed from Baltimore to Philadelphia and lodged with his old and long-tried friend, Dr. Thomas Sargent, where unremitting and affectionate attention was ever shown him by the kind and amiable family. The General Conference of 1832 began as usual, on May 1, in Philadelphia. Two hundred and twenty-three delegates had been elected by the twenty-three Annual Conferences viz., New York, 20; New England, 14; Maine, 11; New Hampshire and Vermont, 11; Oneida, 12; Genesee, 6; Pittsburgh, 11; Ohio, 15; Illinois, 7; Holston, 8; Kentucky, 13; Missouri, 3; Tennessee, 13; Mississippi, 7; Georgia, 12; South Carolina, 8; Virginia, 14; Baltimore, 17; Philadelphia, 18; and Canada, 3. After the organization of the body in the usual manner, the bishops pre- sented their Address, and it was referred to appropriate com- mittees. This Address congratulated the Conferences that the troubles and dangers which had threatened the peace and pros- perity of the Church had nearly passed away; that, whilst these Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 357 troubles had elicited a more general and careful attention to the economy of the Church, the result had been a clearer conviction of the excellency of our polity, and especially of the efficiency of our itinerant system; and consequently, peace, harmony, and reciprocal confidence had been greatly increased and confirmed. They therefore suggested that the chief business of that assem- bly was to preserve this state of things and to devise measures for the more extensive and efficient operation of that system which has been so remarkably successful. The attention of the Conference was invited to the subjects of missions and temperance, with various other topics, particu- larly to the necessity of "strengthening the episcopacy in view of the death of Bishop George and the enlargement of the work." Bishop McKendree was greatly delighted with this repre- sentation of the condition of the Church and of the peaceful and harmonious indications in the Conference. Bishop McKendree, having been solicited to preach the funeral sermon of Bishop George and preside at the ordination of the bishops elect, delivered an appropriate and impressive sermon on May 25, 1832. The following extract from the Journal of the General Con- ference of 1832, shows the action of that body conformably to a Report of the Committee on Episcopacy in relation to Bishop McKendree's work and compensation for the next four years: PHILADELPHIA, GENERAL CONFERENCE, May 24, 1832. In consequence of the age and increased infirmities of our venerable and beloved Bishop McKendree, it is recommended that his present relation be continued, and that the sum of $250 be allowed him annually for extra expenses and to defray the traveling expenses of a traveling companion, and $100 for the allowance of said traveling companion, and that he be authorized to draw this amount from the Book Concern. He was too feeble to attend constantly the sessions, but occasionally would be seen walking up the aisle and taking a seat by the side of his colleagues, but would remain in the room a short time only. His last visit to the Conference was made the day before the adjournment. Having remained as long as his strength would allow, he arose to retire. He was but too conscious of his approaching dissolution to expect ever to meet his brethren again in another General Conference. Leaning on his staff, his once tall and manly form, now bent with age and infirmity, his eyes suffused with tears, his voice faltering with emotion, he exclaimed: "Let all things be done without strife or vainglory, and try to keep the unity of. the Spirit in the bonds of peace. My brethren and children, love one an- other." Then, spreading forth his trembling hands, and raising his eyes to 358 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree heaven, he pronounced, in faltering and affectionate accents, the apostolic benediction. Slowly and sadly he left the house to return no more. 1 The whole assembly rose and stood till he disappeared. It reminded the writer of Joshua's farewell to the assembled elders and people of Israel at Mount Ephraim; our Moses had departed in 1816, and now his successor takes his last, fond look at "the heads of the tribes," his old and tried fellow soldiers on many a moral battle field, and bids them adieu! In compliance with the suggestions of the bishops and the Report of the Committee on the Episcopacy, the Conference proceeded to elect two more bishops, and James 0. Andrew and John Emory were elected on the first ballot, the former by a vote of 140, the latter by 135, out of 223 votes cast. The two persons elected to the episcopacy were eminently fitted for the office. James 0. Andrew was about thirty-eight years of age. He was admitted on trial in the South Carolina Conference in 1812, and had faithfully and usefully filled many important appointments in South Carolina and Georgia. He was in the prime of life, and of a spotless reputation, both as a man and a minister. In his private and social intercourse he was cordial, sincere, and affectionate; and as a preacher he was earnest, strong, and useful, grasping his subjects firmly and often presenting his thoughts with peculiar force and effect. His strong common sense, combined with his piety, intelligence, and undoubted devotion to the Church, pointed him out as a suitable man for the office. How he has fulfilled its duties, we must let his future biographer tell. He still lives as the super- annuated senior bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, honored and beloved by all who know him, as a man and a bishop, without guile or reproach. John Emory was a native of Queen Anne County, Md., born 1789. He received a classical education, and devoted himself to the study of the law with ardor and success. Before he had reached his majority, he obtained license as a lawyer and soon secured an honorable position in his profession. His parents were Methodists and belonged to the best class of the community. He joined the Church at seventeen years of age and entered the itinerant ministry in the Baltimore Conference in 1810. In person, he was below the medium height, thin, not weighing over one hundred and twenty pounds. His features were indic- ative of intelligence, benignity, and thoughtfulness. His man- iLarabee, p. 228. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 359 ners were easy, grave, and always dignified. His early classical and professional training had developed a mind naturally clear and vigorous. His piety was steady; his sense of duty strong. In debate, he seized upon the point at issue at once, cleared it of all extraneous verbiage, and discussed it logically. Such was the estimate placed upon his character and abilites that he was sent in 1820 as a representative of the Church to the British Conference, and in 1824 was elected Book Agent with Nathan Bangs. Mr. Emory had filled every position with great pro- priety and success, and brought to the Book Agency the very highest capacity for the management of that difficult work, and, in association with his laborious and worthy colleague, effected great and useful results. Take him all in all, as a scholarly and thoroughly trained mind, he had no superior in that General Conference. He had, therefore, rare qualifications for his office. This was tested severely immediately after his consecration. It is a custom, which would be "more honored in the breach than in the observance," to place the newly elected bishop in the chair the first session after his ordination. In Bishop Emory's case this happened to be the closing session of the body. It was, moreover, a night session, the members were impatient, had arranged to leave early next morning, and there was a great deal of unfinished business and some perplexing matters to adjust. I think I never saw a General Conference session which threatened to be more difficult to control, and I truly sympathized with our episcopal novitiate when the elder bishop placed him in the chair that night. But, to the surprise of all, he had not occupied it five minutes before there was perfect order. He was calm, self-possessed; understood thoroughly the Rules of Order, and applied them promptly, impartially, and to the admiration of all present. Thus a great amount of business was dispatched quietly and intelligibly; delicate questions were settled; notices given; and late at night the largest body of our ministers which had ever convened in the United States adjourned in good order, to meet in Cincinnati, Ohio, May, 1836. It was the most harmonious and conservative session held since the organization of the delegated body in 1808. CHAPTER XXIII Bishop Emory's visit to the South His death His letter to Bishop McKendree Both died the same year Bishop McKendree 'takes fi- nal leave of old friends Gets back to Tennessee on a bed in a carriage Letter from Bishop Morris Dr. Adam Clark's letter Melville B. Cox His account of himself Goes as missionary to Liberia Dies. BISHOP EMORY returned to New York the day after the close of the General Conference, and the writer, having a lady in charge, had the pleasure of his company. He had known him for eight years, but had not been much with him, ex- cept in General Conferences and committees, and was much pleased with his affable manners and gravely genial spirit. Upon arriving by steamboat at the New York wharf, there was as usual a great crowd, and a rush of hack and cab drivers for baggage and passengers. The Bishop advised me to stand by our baggage until he should select a conveyance, and then we must take it and leave the management of the baggage to him until he should come to us. When all was ready, we were surprised to see him get in, too, and order the driver to carry us to a certain private boarding house. It was nearly night, and we knew that his family resided out of the city, and remonstrated against his taking the time to accompany us out of his way. He persisted, introduced and commited us to his friends, and then left for his own home, promising to call on us at our far-distant Southern home "some day." This promise he made good during his only tour to hold the Southern Conferences, greatly to our surprise and gratification; for late one afternoon in 1833 who should ride up to our home in La Grange, Ala., but the Bishop? He had traveled on horseback pretty much alone the whole distance from his house to Alabama, and was en route to the Mississippi and Louisiana Conferences. With us he tarried and rested about a week. Knowing his peculiar tem- perament, and that he could not sleep unless all was silence and darkness, he was domiciled in a retired room, and at night all his fire was extinguished, the doors and windows tightly fastened, and the utmost quietude was enjoyed; even the watchdog was interdicted from barking. While here, he wrote out his plan for a four years ' course of study instead of two, with various other important suggestions upon this and kindred Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 361 ten at this time and place. He visited and preached for us, and the writer went some distance with him when he left. His visit taught us to love him deeply; we had respected and ad- mired him before. The ensuing year (1835) he was thrown from his carriage and was found on the turnpike near Baltimore, bleeding and dying. Then the Church suffered a great loss, and we mourned over his early death as for a brother beloved. The writer has perpetuated his name in his own family and his memory in his heart. The following is his interesting letter to Bishop McKendree, just refered to above: LA GRANGE, ALA., OCTOBER 28, 1833. Dear Bishop: If your health will allow it, as I hope it will, I beg your consideration of the following thoughts and your judgment on them at your convenience. It has long been my conviction that our course of study for young preachers should be the same in all the Conferences; that it should be more simple and Methodistical than it has been in some of them, the indispensable books being such as all the candidates can everywhere and at all times obtain and the measures for examination to be more efficient. A sketch of this sort may be found in the course proposed by Bishop Hedding and myself to the Philadelphia Conference in April last and very unanimously adopted. It is contained in the Christian Advocate and Journal of May 10; and though it was drawn up in haste amid the business of Conference, yet I beg leave to refer you to it as an outline of what I propose for the present, subject to the improve- ments of experience and time. The course is there divided into two years in reference to the present rule for admission into full connec- tion; but I shall hope that we may agree to recommend to the next General Conference the extension of it to four years in reference to graduation to the full powers of eldership; by which means also the course may be made more comprehensive and elders be trained up who will be prepared to advise and examine others on doctrine, discipline, and government, as well as on language, history, geography, etc. The necessity for such a uniform course of study of the same standard works for both traveling and local preachers as you will presently see my plan embraces appears to me the most obvious, not only from the mere fact of the great annual increase of our members spread over so great an extent of country, but also from the multiplication of books and any speculations which are issued from the press, whether our own or others, through the periodicals or otherwise. I propose, also, that the committees of examination be always appointed at the Annual Conference preceding; that each member of the committee be informed on what particular branch of the course he will be expected to ex- amine; that the candidate be required to meet the committee in 362 Life and Times of BishoplMcKendree the morning of the day before the sitting of the Conference; that the members of the committee be in part changed annually, so as to circu- late the work of examining through the Conference and thereby to excite the older members to study in order to. prepare themselves for this duty; and also that we ourselves in the general superintendency, on whom the effective administration rests, make ourselves familiar with the course as far as may be convenient, which may the more readily be done when it shall be the same in all the Conferences; at- tend the examinations when practicable, and give such advice and assistance as we may judge expedient, thereby exciting both the can- didates and examiners to greater diligence, promoting uniform views and practice, acquainting ourselves personally with the qualifications of those whom we have to station, and on whom to lay hands, not to mention the improvement (which I feel much the need of having my- self) which we ourselves may derive from those present on these occasions and thus assisting to teach. And now, in reference to the local order, the great nursery for the itin- erant connection, why may we not, through the presiding elders or other- wise, recommend to all the quarterly meeting Conferences to require attention to the same course of study, suitably divided, on the part, for example, of all those applying for license to preach, or for renewal of license, or recommendation of orders, or to travel, that they shall, in these respective cases, have previously acquainted themselves with such a part of the course as shall have been prescribed? This, in the first place, will tend to check the licensings of wholly unfit persons and the recommending of such, either for orders or to travel; and, in the second place, local preachers who had previously gone through this uniform course of training would, in case of their admission into the traveling connection, find their subsequent progress easy; and the way would be also thus prepared for a future enlargement and improvement of the course. Indeed, I see no reason why the Annual Conferences and the quarterly meeting Conferences, by consent, on our advice, might not now act on these principles, preparatory to the establishment of some such uniform and efficient measures by the General Conference. In all cases of committees for examining local preachers on the course, I should think it desirable that one or more of the preachers of the cir- cuit or station should be of the committee, and that the presiding elder should be present and give his advice or assistance as he might judge expedient in the same manner as is proposed to be done by the bishops in the case of itinerant preachers, thus securing or promoting, as far as practicable, a harmony of views and practice between our two great ministerial bodies. One other great point which I have much at heart, believing it vitally important for the preservation of our economy and to both spiritual and temporal prosperity, is the effecting of a greater unformity in the administration of discipline throughout our widespread charge. In this I fear there is not only increasing neglect, but great Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 363 variety, if not contrariety; as a preventive, or a remedy in part, I think of proposing to the bishops 1. That we severally keep a record of all decisions made by either of us, and of all those of a general nature made by any Annual Conference which we may attend, and that we communicate them to each other at the close of our respective rounds of Conferences, or oftener; that we may sustain each other when we agree or endeavor to convince each other and come to an agreement when we differ. 2. That we direct the presiding elders to keep a record of all of their decisions and those of any quarterly meeting Conferences which they may attend and to furnish us with a copy when they meet us at our re- spective Annual Conferences. 3. That all preachers in charge be directed to consult their presiding elders in all cases of difficulty or doubt, and the presiding elders, in cases of difficulty or doubt to them, to consult the bishop most convenient; and if we ourselves individually doubt, to consult each other by letter, giving such temporary instructions in the meantime as we shall judge most prudent. I had once, indeed, thought of proposing that one of us be designated to whom all such communications should be made in the interval of Conferences, and that one to communicate with the rest in cases of difficulty at such times as he should judge proper. This would obviously throw on such an individual great labor, and I am not sure whether it would be the best plan; yet, if any one of the bishops be willing to take it, I should heartily concur, or should even be will- ing to render any service in this way in my power, if desired, rather than to fail in the object. 4. That the bishops agree to meet always several days (perhaps a week would be little enough) previously to each General Conference, then and there to discuss all points remaining unsettled in our proper prov- ince; by which means also we would be better prepared to make such farther recommendations as we would judge requisite. With best wishes and prayers for your health and happiness, Very affectionately, J. EMORY. P. S. The Conferences which I am next to attend, the Lord willing, will be held at Natchez, Miss., November 13; Montgomery, Ala., De- cember 11; Washington, Ga., January 8; Charleston, S. C., February 5; after which, to Baltimore; and shall at all times be happy to hear from you, and to receive your counsel, or any suggestions which may occur to you. J. E. The foregoing letter, whatever opinions there may be as to some of his suggestions, and the writer is free to say he sees no seriuos objections to any of them, exhibits strongly the characteristics of this great and good man's mind. Many of his suggestions have been adopted in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and, it is believed, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, also. In thinking of Bishop Emory, and of his equally 364 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree talented son Robert, and of their early death, the exclama- tion involuntarily rises to our lips, Why, why, were such men taken away so soon? We must wait for the answer until the day of judgment. Until then, we must bow with submis- sion to the providence of a wise and good God. The death of Bishop McKendree and Bishop Emory oc- curred in the same year, 1835, the former, like the evening star, slowly and majestically sinking below the horizon of a cloud- less sky; the latter, as if The brightest star in all the train, The glory of night's diadem, should rush from the meridian and become suddenly extinct. But they are not extinct, they have risen in another hemisphere to shine forever! ' 'The General Conference of 1832 having closed, the senior bishop took an affectionate leave of his friends, and especially of the preachers, expecting to see them no more until he should meet them in the heavenly city. " With mingled emotions of sor- row and joy, this final farewell was uttered, they "sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more;" and that, however white the widespread harvest field might be, the arm that had swung the sickle so long and so effectively was now palsied by age and the voice that had rung its clarion shouts of "Onward!" to his fellow toilers in the glorious work was like the daughter of music brought low; the doors were being shut in the streets, the sound of the grinding was low, the almond tree flourished, the grass- hopper was a burden, desire failing, and man was going to his long home. On his part, doubtless, there were tears, and sor- row, too; but could we look into the depths of his heart, we should find that this sorrow was not on account of youthful pleasure gone or for declining health and strength; still less for cares and toils and sufferings endured, but rather that he could work and suffer no longer for Christ's sake. Returning to Baltimore, he spent a few weeks enjoying the society of many endeared to him by long years of Christian love and fellowship; then, turning his face to the West, "he crosses the Allegheny Mountains, which he had so often crossed in weariness and affliction before, the last time. Passing through the western part of Pennsylvania, the north of Virginia, the States of Ohio and Kentucky, he at last reached his friends in Tennessee. In the latter part of this journey it Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 365 became necessary to fix a bed in the carriage on which he might lie down, being too feeble to sit up." In connection with the foregoing, and as illustrative of the feelings entertained by the members of the General Conference as well as of the Church generally toward the Bishop, I hope I violate no courtesy which will not be conceded, by inserting the following letter from the Rev. Thomas A. Morris, now senior bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, long the loved and trusted friend of Bishop McKendree, as also of the writer: CINCINNATI, OHIO February 27, 1833. Bishop McKendree: Perhaps when we parted in Philadelphia, I shook hands with you for the last time in the land of our pilgrimage, but am not without hope of seeing you in peace when the redeemed shall be called home. You have had your day of toil, peril, and now while you retire from the field to recount your campaigns, toils, and victories, it must be a source of much consolation to lift up your eyes, look eastward, west- ward, northward, and southward and behold the land posessed by your brethren and children in the gospel. What wonders God has wrought in these latter days! The history of our Church in this place the present year, if carried out in all parts, would be somewhat remarkable. Three of our local preach- ers have died and many of our members. During the cholera, we lost by removal, etc., two hundred, which reduced us far below twelve hun- dred. But we had more than all this to discourage us. . ."". Yet God was with us, and this was enough. The work began to appear in October, among the brethren first, and then the wicked. It gradually increased, until Brother Maffitt came on the last of November, which formed a new crisis in the history of a revival that has now become both deep and wide. Seven hundred, at least, have now been regularly admit- ted on trial, and I risk nothing in saying, more than five hundred souls have been "born again." Many of the old members have obtained the full, flowing evidence of perfect love. Class meetings are feasts of joy among us, and Zion puts on her "beautiful garments." Infidelity.in its various modifications, has suffered much from this work, but the Church is greatly strengthened, both in grace and members. The work still goes on, and we hope to realize a thousand new members in this station this present Conference year. Glorious revivals are now in progress in many of the towns in Ohio. May the swelling tide roll on and increase until the glory of God shall cover the whole earth! I trust, Father McKendree, that amidst all of your earthly suffer- ings, you hold on to the sheet anchor, and when your heart and your flesh shall fail you, may God be the strength of your heart, and your portion forever! Your obiedient son in the gospel, THOMAS A. MORRIS. 366 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree As there had been an interchange of delegates between the British and American Methodists at the two preceding Gen- eral Conferences, it was hoped that as we had sent one in 1828 (Dr. Capers), another would be sent by the British Confer- ence to the General Conference of 1832; and as it was greatly desired by Bishop McKendree, as well as by others, that Dr. Adam Clarke should visit us, it appears that certain well-known ministers wrote him a letter, inviting him to visit the United States. The following highly interesting reply is found among the Bishop's papers: To Messrs. J. Emory, B. Waugh, N. Bangs, and George Suckley. Gentlemen and Reverend Brethren: Having been absent in the West of England for a considerable time, your letter did not reach my hand till some weeks after its arrival. Your kind invitation to visit the United States was gratifying to me, and had I been apprised of your intention a few months earlier, I should most certainly have endeavored to meet your wishes, and by doing so I have no doubt I should have been both gratified and profited. But the warning is too short, and I am engaged so far, both to England and Ireland, in behalf of our mission- ary cause, that I cannot by any substitute redeem those pledges. I had proposed also to have visited the Zetland Isles, if possible; but as I had not pledged myself to the voyage, I would have waived my purpose in favor of America, to visit which I have been long waiting for an opening of providence. I might add that I should have wished to have had the appointment of our Conferences for the voyage. Now, although I feel a measure of regret that I am disappointed in this wished-f or visit to the American continent, yet I am far from supposing that there may not be a providential interference in the way. I am, as no doubt you have already learned, an old man, having gone beyond threescore years and ten, and consequently not able to perform the labor of youth. You would naturally expect me to preach much, and this I could not do. One sermon in the day generally exhausts me; and I have been obliged for several years to give up all evening preaching, as I found the night air to be peculiarly injurious to my health. My help, therefore, must have been very limited, and in many cases this would be very unsatisfactory to the good people of the United States. This defi- ciency I grant might be supplied by an able assistant, who might be inclined to accompany me; but even this would not satisfy the eye or ear of curiosity. But as the journey is now impracticable, these reflections are useless I respect and wish well to your State, and love your Church. As far as I can discern, you are close imitators of the orginal Methodists (than whom a greater blessing has not been given to the British nation since the Reformation), holding the same doctrines and acting under the same discipline; therefore have you prospered as we have prospered. There is no danger so imminent both to you and us as departing from our Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 367 original simplicity in the spirit, in manners, and in our mode of worship. As the world is continually changing around us, we are liable to be affect- ed by those changes in our manners and in our mode of worship. We think, in many cases, we may please well-intentioned men better and be more useful to them by permitting some of the more innocent forms of the world to enter into the Church. Whenever we have done so we have infallibly lost ground in the depth of our religion and in its spirit- uality and unction. I would say to all, Keep your doctrines and your discipline not only in your Church books and in your society rules; preach the former without refining on them; observe the latter without bending it to circumstances or impairing it by frivolous exceptions and partialities. As I believe your nation to be destined to be the mightiest and happiest nation on the globe, so I believe that your Church is likely to become the most extensive and pure in the universe. As a Church, abide in the apostolic doctrine and fellowship. As a nation, be firmly united; enter- tain no petty differences; totally abolish the slave trade (if it be not yet done); abhor all offensive wars; never provoke even the puniest, and never strike the first blow. Encourage agriculture and friendly traffic; cul- tivate the sciences and arts; let learning have its proper place, space and adequate share of esteem and honor. If possible, live in peace with all nations; retain your holy zeal for God's cause and your country's weal and, that you may ever maintain your liberty, avoid, as its bane and ruin, a national debt. I say to you, as it was said to Rome of old: 1 Tu regere imperio populo, Romane, memento; Has tibi crunt artes; pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos Virgil. But whither am I running? Will it be a sufficient excuse to allege, "The zeal of your house hath eaten me up"? Truly, truly do I wish you good luck, in the name of the Lord; and therefore, with my best prayers for your civil and religious prosperity, and hearty thanks to each of you individually, for the handsome and honorable manner in which you have framed your invitation, I have the honor to be, gentle- men and reverend brethren, your obliged humble servant and most cordial well-wisher, ADAM CLARKE. HAYDON HALL, MIDDLESEX, February 6, 1832. Melville B. Cox, a member of the Virginia Conference, who had been stationed in the city of Raleigh in 1831, and was a re- serve delegate to this General Conference, volunteered to go as a missionary to Liberia, on the western coast of Africa, and having been accepted, and appointed, attended the General Conference on his way to his distant and dangerous field of labor. In mind and heart he seemed admirably adapted to this enterprise, while some thought his health and constitution too frail for it. Great admiration and much sympathy were iThe appropriateness of this quotation in its application to the United States, as well as its morale, may be questioned. 368 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree excited in his behalf. He was a very promising, intelligent and lovely man, in the prime of life and full of heroic Christian zeal. Bishop McKendree, feeling a lively interest in the man and the cause, requested him to give in writing the incidents of his life, especially his own conversion and religious experience. The following is his answer, written when on his way to em- bark for Liberia: PHILADELPHIA, May 28, 1832. Reverend and Dear Father: Below are the data of my Christian and ministerial experience, which you were pleased so kindly to inquire after. Though my life can have been of little or no consequence in this world, save that I love and am trying to serve God, still, the interest which prompted the inquiry by one so venerable in age and so high in the government and confidence of the Church, I assure you, is very grateful to my feelings. That the God whom you serve may bless and be with you, that he may particulary sustain and comfort you under the infirmities of age and the care of all the Churches, and that your life may long be preserved to us and to the world is my sincere wish and ardent prayer. I am thirty-two years old. I was born in Hollowell, Me., Novem- ber 9, 1799. In 1818, July 1, I think I found peace in believing and joy while alone in the woods, pleading for mercy in the last language of hope, if not in despair. In a few weeks after I joined a small class of Methodists, and from that time to this my name has been among them. Early in 1820, during a gracious revival, I took charge of a class, and on December 17 of the same year I preached my first sermon. In March following, I was licensed as a local preacher by the Kennebeck District Conference, and immediately commenced traveling under the pre- siding elder. At the Bath Conference of 1822, I was received on trial and put in charge of Exeter Circuit. I traveled as an effective man until May, 1825, when I was taken sick and was left that year as a super- numerary with little prospect of recovering. In 1826 and 1827 I was superannuated, passing the winter of 1826 and the spring of 1827 in Mary- land and the lowlands of Virginia, where I have remained until now, except the last year, in North Carolina. In 1828 I located, and took charge of The Itinerant. In 1830, finding myself about a thousand dollars poorer than when I commenced my editorial labors, under deep family afflictions, and with lungs too sensitive to endure the cold, I left Baltimore for a more Southern climate. The kind manner in which I was received by my Virginia brethren, and anxiety once more to be in the traveling connection, induced me to join that Conferene, and, live or die, once more to try to preach to sinners. As yet I have no cause to regret it. It has been a year of greater profit to my soul than any I have ever experienced. I have sufferd much, but enjoyed more. Some souls were converted, and my own more filled than for years. "God was with us." At present, I am in peace. Death looks Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 369 pleasant to me, life looks pleasant to me, labor and sufferings look pleasant to me, and last, though not least, Liberia looks pleasant to me. I see, or think I see, resting on Africa the light and cloud of heaven. I thirst to know that the winds of heaven are wafting me there. I pray, at least, that my frail body may enrich the soil. Very affectionately and Christianly, your son in the gospel, M. B. Cox. On March 9, 1833, he arrived at Liberia and immediately began his labors. He found many members, class leaders, and preachers, and organized them into a branch of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. He planned three missions and an academy at Monrovia. On March 29, he held the first camp meeting ever held in Africa. But in less than five months from the time of his arrival he died, and his body rests in the soil of Africa. Nevertheless, he laid the foundation of a great mission and vindicated his sincerity by prescribing as his epi- taph: "Let a thousand fall before Africa be given up!" Alas! twenty-five white missionaries had died of the climate, or fled from it with ruined health, in seventeen years, while only four colored laborers had died in the same time. 24 CHAPTER XXIV McKendree attends the Tennesse Conference in Pulaski, 1833 Bishop Roberts failed to get there Bishop McKendree unable to preside His substitutes Meteoric shower He appoints T. L. Douglass pre- siding elder Sketch of him Bishop McKendree's address to his col- leagues His sermon Returns to Nashville exhausted Preaches Resumes his Journal Watch night Starts to New Orleans, January 1, 1834 His account of the tour At Vicksburg C. K. Marshall At Natchez Judge Edward McGehee and the Rev. John C. Burruss Dr. Tooley "Slight paralysis" His letter to the Rev. F. A. Owen Returns to Tennessee His last camp meeting and interview with Wil- liam Burke His last Conference at Lebanon, Tenn., 1834 Requested to prepare his biography His reply Last document. So utterly debilitated was the Bishop by his long and pain- ful journey from Philadelphia to Tennessee, after the Gen- eral Conference of 1832, that a considerable period of repose was necessary before he could begin to move about; but, as usual, rest and kind nursing after a while revived him, and in the latter part of the spring of 1833, and throughout the re- mainder of the year, he exerted his utmost ability in preach- ing, visiting, and attending quarterly and camp meetings. In August, 1833, he attended at Saunder's Camp Ground an in- teresting camp meeting, and, of course, preached. His kind hostess, Mrs. H. R. W. Hill, met him there, and carried him to his home in her house at Nashville. There, besides the kindest attention, he could enjoy frequent religious privileges and the society of his friends Elliston, Garrett, his old fellow laborer; Gwin, another firm and devoted friend; A. L. P. Green, whose fine social qualities and reverential attachment to the Bishop always made him an agreeable companion; F. E. Pitts; and Thomas L. Douglass, upon whose fidelity, sound judgment, and love of primitive Methodism he ever relied with unshaken confidence, besides many others who always made his stay in that vicinity most agreeable. The Tennessee Conference met in Pulaski, November 6. Bishop Roberts was expected to preside, but he was taken ill in East Tennessee and did not get to Conference. Bishop McKendree arrived, but was so feeble and afflicted that after opening and organizing the body he despaired of being able to attend effectively to the duties of his office. Indeed, he was in Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 371 bed most of the session. He informed the Conference of his inability to attend to the onerous detail of the business, and especially in making the appointments, and that he would select two men who must act for him, subject to his general supervision; claiming, especially, the selection of the presiding elders and the arrangement of the districts. He then named Lewis Garrett and the writer as his substitutes. The session closed on the fifteenth. It was a long and laborious one. On the night of Tuesday and Wednesday, November 12, 13, occurred the memorable meteoric shower, which is admitted to have been the most magnificent on record. The Bishop's sub- stitutes and cabinet had been engaged to a late hour, and the writer had just fallen into a profound sleep, when he was aroused by loud calls from without. Upon going out, the most glorious scene was presented. The heavens were illumined by countless meteors. Some seemed small, gliding down like snow flakes; others were like great fire balls; a few of these separated into fragments, leaving long and luminous trains behind. Look wherever you might, the whole hemisphere was full of them. It was literally a great shower of meteors. The display be- gan before midnight, increased until 3 or 4 A.M., when it became surpassingly grand, and continued, with little if any diminution, until daybreak. Many displays of this kind are recorded, dating back to A.D. 902, the most remarkable of which was that seen by Humboldt and Bonpland, at Cumana, in South America, on the night of November 12, 13, 1799, the time of the writer's birth. He had just been reading the account given by these savants of that shower and their speculations upon the nature of these bodies, their source, and the height of our atmosphere; and his first thoughts upon witnessing the scene of 1833 were as to these speculations. The meteors of 1799 were observed from the equator on the south, over North America to Greenland and Labrador, and on the other side of the Atlantic to Germany, and from their bearing and course at different points, their elevation was computed to be 1,419 miles. The display of 1833 was seen over all the United States, the West India Islands, Mexico, and Canada, and their source, as computed by Professor Olmstead, of Yale College, could not have been less than 2,238 miles, and consequently was far beyond our atmosphere. Astronomers now, I believe, agree that they emanate from a nebulous body which revolves around the sun and intersects the earth's orbit periodically. Their nebulous character is inferred from the fact that, though they 372 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree seem to fall toward the earth with great velocity, none of them ever reach it in a solid state, but are so dissipated that nothing is found to discover their nature. It is also supposed that there are several such bodies, or streams, which periodically intersect the orbit of our planet; and that the most brilliant displays are seen while passing through the densest group of these streams. Meteors are not to be confounded with aerolites. There was considerable religious interest in Pulaski at the time, and this awfully sublime phenomenon startled and im- pressed the people very greatly. The less informed believed "the stars were falling," and the day of judgment had come. Prayers, shouts, and screams arose in many places of the town. Several preachers had asked to be located the previous after- noon; next morning all withdrew their request except one. Some one observed in the Conference: "While the stars seemed falling last night, I thought what a pity it would be to locate on the eve of the judgment!" About forty professed conversion and joined the Church. After a long session, the Conference closed on November 15. The appointments having been completed, excepting the presiding elders, the list was presented to the Bishop, when the incident occurred alluded to in Dr. Green's sketch of Bishop McKendree, and as it exhibits the delicate and responsible nature of this office as well as his fitness for it it may be properly introduced: Thomas L. Douglass had long been known as singularly adapted to the presiding eldership. He was a model preacher, well-versed in the history, doctrines, and usages of the Church, administered the Discipline admirably, and dearly loved Methodism. Owing to a fall from his horse, he had been disabled, and had not been effective for four years; but his health had improved considerably, and at this Conference he became effective. A prejudice, however, had arisen against him, both among some of the preachers in the Conference and some of the stewards in his former district, simply and exclu- sively because he insisted that in the distribution of the Con- ference collections, and the quarterage on the circuits, the law of the Church gave to every legal claimant his pro rata share; and that in neither case had the stewards the right to constitute themselves a committee on necessitous cases and divide the funds at their discretion; that if a preacher was rich, this did not effect his lawful claims, and that he preferred to be the almoner of his own money. He admitted that the Conference Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 373 could appoint a committee on necessitous cases, who could appropriate such funds as might be obtained for this purpose; but the money raised according to the Discipline is not of this kind, and therefore by right belongs to the regular claimants. In this he was undoubtedly correct; but, on account of these views, there was said to be opposition to his being sent to his old district as presiding elder. Bishop McKendree, no doubt, understood it all, and coincided with Douglass as to the law of the Church, yet was distressed because by appointing him to the district he would seem to disregard the wishes of the stewards, and in rejecting him would not only lose the best man for the position, but appear to sanction a departure from the rule of the Discipline. After revolving the subject anxiously and maturely, he felt it his duty to appoint him to the office. In this he certainly did right, and his decision was fully vindi- cated, for Brother Douglass was continued on the district dur- ing four years, with increasing popularity and usefulness. Then, full of years and weighed down with infirmities, he retired from the effective ranks which he entered in 1801. In 1843 he closed his life in peace, honored for his talents and usefulness and loved for his many virtues. While at the Tennessee Conference, Bishop McKendree dispatched to each of his colleagues the following document, giving his views of the rights and duties of ministers and the proper manner of trying members according to the Discipline and Scripture. It was addressed to the bishops and, if they approved of it, to the preachers generally. We do not know whether the other bishops concurred in his views or whether it was ever submitted by them to the Annual Conferences. It presents his matured views and was his last attempt to bring about a consistent and uniform administration of the Discipline in the premises: Beloved Brother: In passing through our work here and there, our at- tention is frequently arrested and called to notice the course pursued in the administration of discipline; and we apprehend there is a danger, in some instances, of a departure from the spirit and letter of the rule, both to the injury of individuals and the work generally. We have therefore thought it advisable that something be done, both to preserve the execution of dis- cipline in its purity, and to maintain uniformity of procedure throughout our societies; and. as the bishops are responsible for a correct administra- tion of the government, it would seem to us that it is our business to unite in such a course as will have a tendency both to correct errors and abuses and harmonize the views of our preachers on this all-important subject. 374 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree In view of this object, the accompanying address has been drawn up, for the purpose of being presented to the preachers in the Annual Conferences. There may be some things needing correction not noticed in this address, but those which are mentioned are, to us, very evidently of high importance. They are submitted to you for inspection and concurrence. Explanations of this kind cannot be given with propriety or authority, in the intervals of General Conference, except from the episcopacy; and we shall be greatly strengthened and sustained therein by consulting and knowing that old men and men of experience approve and concur with us in those things. With continued prayers to Almighty God that he may prosper and bless you in all your labors in his vineyard, we remain, as ever, your brethren in the love and fellowship of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. To the preachers and brethren whose duty it may be to execute the discipline of our Church. Dearly Beloved in the Lord: It is admitted to be the glory of Methodism that it is virtually the same in every part of the world; our doctrines are the same both in Europe and America; our discipline the same throughout the United States; and the execution of discipline, or the administration of the government of the Church, ought to be the same throughout the so- cieties. In this respect, however, we have found considerable difference of sentiment and practice, owing, it is presumable, to the different circum- stances and situation of things in different sections of our widely extended field of labor. It is therefore thought proper that a short explanatory view of our rules for conducting the trials of preachers and members in our Church should be presented to you for the all-important purpose of pre- serving and maintaining, if possible, a uniform practice among us in every respect conformable to our excellent system of discipline. As the grand object of the gospel is to save men, consequently the de- sign of gospel discipline is to convict, reform, and fit them for happiness, and not to destroy or render them subjects of misery. In the execution of discipline, punishment or expulsion in the last operation consequent upon man's continuance in unbelief and crime, and this is a painful work to the administrator. When our Lord pronounced sentence against the Jewish nation, he wept. Luke xix. 41-44. St. Paul suffered much persecution from the backslidden Corinthians, but he preserved in the exercise of gospel discipline by applying the doc- trines of justice to convict and mercy to encourage a return to reformation until he succeeded and triumphed in their salvation. (See Epistles to the Corinthians.) In conformity to this view of gospel discipline, our rules and regulations are carried into operation with the explicit understanding that crimes are divided into two classes: The first comprehends all such as are "expressly forbidden in the Word of God" (see Discipline, p. 68); and to this class only is the act of punishment or expulsion extended in the first instance of the exercise of discipline. The second class of crimes comprehends neglect of duties, etc. (See Book of Discipline, p. 70.) In all such cases, the first step in the exercise of discipline is private reproof, given by some one hav- ing the charge over the supposed offender; and if there be an acknowledg- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 375 ment, etc., the person is to be borne with. On a second offense that is, on the crime being repeated one or two faithful friends are to be taken, and if the person be not then cured, the case is to be brought before the Church, as the Discipline directs; and if there be no sign of real humiliation, he must be cut off. And when a person is clearly convicted of such a crime or crimes, nothing short of expulsion will satisfy the rule, unless there be such a manifestation of genuine repentance and humiliation as will justify the extension of pardon to the offending person; in such case, the connec- tion between crime and its punishment is dissolved. Such cases may pos- sibly occur, and when they do, much care and prudence- is necessary to guard the Church from reproach and injury and at the same time save the offender. In all cases of the second class of crime, the first and second steps ought to be taken previously to bringing the offender before the Church, and the continual intention should be to "save a soul from death" and the Church from reproach and influence of bad example consequent on hold- ing persons guilty of crime in fellowship. James v. 20; Jude 20-25. The Discipline, when rightly understood, in connection with the nature of our episcopal government, very clearly points out the mode of trial to be pursued in regard to the different grades in the ministry, and also the pri- vate members; and there are some important principles closely connected with the administration of discipline which should never be forgotten. A bishop or superintendent, having the general oversight of the spiritual and temporal concerns of the Church, is, of course, authorized to attend to any and all matters, small and great, in the execution of discipline. A presiding elder, who is, in fact, the agent of the bishop, is, in virtue of his appointment, authorized to exercise episcopal authority within the limits of his district (ordination excepted) ; consequently it is his business, when present, fully to attend to every part of the execution of discipline. The assistant preacher is indeed the presiding elder's aid and has the more particular oversight and care of the circuit or station to which he is appointed. (See his duties as contained in the Discipline, p. 39.) The helper is one placed on a circuit or station with the assistant and is under his direction in anything he may do in the execution of discipline. The class leader is restricted to his own class; and, if active and zealous, may do much for God and souls in keeping up order and discipline therein. It should never be forgotten that the privileges of our ministers and preachers of trial by a committee and of an appeal and the privileges of our members of trial before the society or by a committee and of an appeal are sacredly guaranteed to them by the Constitution of our Church. The great object of committees is to attend to complaints or charges in the intervals of Conferences and thereby rescue the character of innocent brethren, wrongfully accused, from injury and preserve their usefulness by acquitting them when not found guilty; and, if judged to be guilty, to save the Church from reproach and injury by suspending them until the ensuing Conference. The suspending power is clearly restricted to such crimes as are expressly forbidden in the Word of God and to such as are persisted in after gospel reproof and admonition have been given. And it 376 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree may be further remarked that neither the organization of a committee nor any of its acts can abridge the powers of a Conference when they after- wards come to act on the same case; and should a case occur at or during the sitting of Conference, or although known of be neglected; or if it should be of such a recent date as not to afford time to call a committee, and should then be brought before the Conference, there is nothing in disci- pline or reason to prevent the Conference from hearing and deciding there- on without the intervention of a committee, and especially if the person accused desire it. But, as the Conference has the entire control of all cases in which its own members are concerned, subject to the order of discipline, they may, or they may not, appoint a committee, as they may judge prop- er; but they cannot, in any case, transfer their authority as a Conference. The committee can only acquit if not guilty or suspend if guilty, and if sus- pended the Conference must finally determine the case. The accused ought always to have timely notice to prepare for trial; and, while on one hand, the administrator of discipline does not rule him to trial unprepared, so, on the other hand, he ought not to put off or lay over the trial of a case without good reasons. The assistant preacher in a circuit or station is invested with full power to oversee all the concerns of the Church as far as his jurisdiction extends in attending to the complaints and wants of each member without par- tiality and very strictly, but mildly, enforce every part of the Discipline as occasion may require. If he obtains a knowledge of any misconduct or violation of discipline by any of his members or preachers, it is his duty, as soon as possible, to attend to the case and have it settled, without wait- ing for a formal charge to be handed to him. He himself must act in be- half of the Church, as God's minister appointed to that work. Ezekiel iii. 17; xxxiii 7; 1 Corinthians v. 1-5; Revelation ii. 1, 2, 12-15, 18-20; Hebrews xffi. 7, 17. No person ought to be permitted to come forward in the character of a prosecutor. Such a character is not known of in all our economy. The accuser is to be brought face to face with the accused. If this cannot be done, "let the next best evidence be procured; consequently, the accuser is the very best evidence in the case. An aggrieved person may be a com- plainant; but our Discipline does not recognize anyone as an accuser, un- less he be a witness in the case against the accused. Any and all testimony offered on the trial of a case ought to be read or heard; but if any be of doubtful character, the Church is at liberty to give it as much weight as they think it deserves. We have no rule making it illegal to admit what is called ex parte evidence. No accused preacher or member ought to be suspended or expelled unless found guilty by a majority of those by whom he is tried. On taking a vote, the question ought always be put in the pos- itive. If any accused person has any well-grounded objection to anyone called to sit on his trial, a prudent and judicious administrator would leave out the person objected to, and, if necessary, supply the place with another. But the right of challenge, so called, is not recognized in our Discipline. We do not think it advisable or consistent with propriety or the nature of Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 377 things that a person should vote in the same case in condemnation of an accused person, both in the society or select number, or on a committee and in Conference, or in more then one Conference where appeals are taken. We think it prudent and a mark of sound judgment to pay due respect to the opinions and advice of the aged who have had experience, because from such it is expected that a knowledge of primitive usage and custom may be obtained; and in every point there ought to be frequent recurrence to first principles. These are generally best expressed in the original words which contain them. Observe well the old landmarks, inquire after the old paths and rally around the old standards, the standards of our fathers. The careful reader will perceive a discrepancy between some things in the above document and Brother Crouch's remarks as to the Bishop's sentiments about his authority to preside in a quarterly meeting Conference, if Brother Crouch did not mistake his unwillingness to do so under ordinary circumstances for an avowal of his want of authority to do it under any cir- cumstances. I suppose our fathers generally agreed with the views set forth on this point in this document. Bishop Asbury, it is said, coincided with Bishop McKendree. The Bishop was evidently much exhausted at this Confer- ence and returned to Nashville slowly, stopping to rest on the way at Brother Douglass's and other old homes. We hear from him, however, on the first Sunday of December, preaching a very clear and impressive sermon in Nashville and admin- istering the Holy Eucharist. On December 25, he preached in the same place on Luke ii. 8-14 (see Appendix), and again holding a watch meeting in the same church on the last night of the year 1833, addressing a large audience on "the goodness of God," and closing the meeting with the Lord's Prayer. He now resumed his habit of keeping a Journal, and says: "For several years I have not been able to travel and preach as formerly, and therefore had no matter for a Journal except my own experience as an afflicted man; but as I am yet spared, I will notice some of the displays of Divine goodness for my own comfort and improvement. "On Wednesday evening, December 31, 1833, I attended a watch night in the new church in Nashville. It was a solemn time. I felt my spiritual strength renewed. I returned with Brother Hill and his family, and at four o'clock I arose refreshed and in a comfortable state of health. "About ten o'clock, January 1, 1834, took passage on the spacious steamer Tennesseean, commanded by Captain Thomas P. Minor. The river was low. We arrived at the Harpeth 378 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Shoals in the evening. The steamer Pacific was aground. We put off one hundred and ninety bales of cotton and succeeded with difficulty in getting over the shoals. "Thursday, January 2, was a cold, snowy day. We had about fifty cabin passengers, a very agreeable set, and one hundred deck passengers. "Friday, January 8. Last night was very cold; at ten o'clock at the mouth of Cumberland River. "Sunday, January 5. The thermometer was below zero. At three o'clock I preached to an attentive congregation, on Hebrews ix. 27. "Monday, January 6. Large addition of freight and pas- sengers. Rrver covered with ice, breaking the paddles and arms of the boat. " Thursday, January 9. Abundance of ice coming down the Mississippi River; the captain thinks it the hardest freeze he ever saw from so short a spell; so foggy, could not run at night. "Friday, January 10. Passed Memphis; foggy. "Saturday. Foggy; laid by at night, and until 6 A.M. "Sunday, January 12. Preached from Romans vi. 23. The hearers serious and attentive. Hope for good. "Monday, January IS. Boat ran all night for the first time; ice in the morning three-fourths of an inch thick. "Tuesday, January 14- At Vicksburg. The stationed preacher at this place (C. K. Marshall) came on board; had an interesting conversation with him on different subjects for nearly two hours. There is a meeting house and a flourishing society in this town and a circuit in the neighborhood of several hun- dred members. Yesterday a duel was fought across the river, a man was dangerously wounded. " Wednesday, January 15. Arrived at Natchez 5 A.M.; found myself in a deplorable condition. It seems of twenty- seven days there have been but two fair days; mud in the streets knee-deep, shoe-deep on sidewalks. "For my passage I paid $20; to waiters on boat, $1.75; to porter, 50 cents; waded shoe-deep in mud to tavern; for riding in dirty hack, $1. Got to my old friend Dr. Tooley's; found all well; met with a hearty welcome," etc. Here was a trip of fifteen days from Nashville to Natchez! He was now in good quarters, but mud and weather bound. Preached on Sunday, January 19, to white people in the fore- noon and to large colored congregation at three o'clock. A profitable time! Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 379 "Sunday January 26. Another rainy week. Dr. Tooley preached an ingenuous sermon from Genesis i. 22, 23, 24. "Tuesday, January 28. Very cold for this climate; rain, snow, and sleet; but I am comfortable; excellent coffee every morning at six o'clock greatly relieves me of headache. "Sunday, February 2. Got to meeting; heard the stationed preacher, Brother F. A. Owen. I administered the Sacrament; a profitable meeting. Sacrament to the colored members at three o'clock. " Tuesday, February 4- Judge Edmund McGehee and John C. Burruss called to see me." The Rev. J. C. Burruss was a native of Virginia, removed to North Alabama in 1819, and settled near Huntsville, where his talents and family position gave him great influence. He was a very fluent and impressive preacher, of fine address, and un- usually agreeable social qualities. At the time this interview occurred, he was in charge of Wilkinson Circuit, in Mississippi, and was the father-in-law of Judge McGehee. The Bishop's Journal states at length certain events in his early history in connection with Mr. O'Kelly's proselyting and schismatical course in Williamsburg and Hanover Circuits, Va., in 1796-97, and the Bishop's success in counteracting his efforts was brought to his recollection by Brother Burruss. Under date of February 6, he notices the fact that although he had been in Natchez twenty-two days, he had preached only twice, the state of the weather and the streets preventing, but, assisted by Dr. Tooley, had paid many visits to the poor and afflicted. He says: "Our method was to introduce religious conversation at once; after this, prayer; commit them to God, and take our leave. . . . The visiting of families to dine or take tea, I designedly avoided: " 1. Because I doubt if the minister's time is most profitable spent in that way. "2. Whether social intercourse of this kind promotes family piety as much as purely religious visits. "3. Unless the rich and poor are treated alike, the latter is liable to think the minister partial. "Friday, February 7. Dr. Tooley took me seven miles to Washington. I put up with Brother Miles Harper, a friend of more than thirty years' acquaintance. Here I was comforted with temporal, social, and spiritual blessings. "Sunday, February 9. Preached to a large and attentive 380 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree audience on Psalm xxiii. 1. Hope good was done. In the after- noon returned to Dr. Tooley's. "At eight o'clock, Monday, February 10, left Dr. Tooley's in a hired hack for Judge McGehee's, Wilkinson County, Miss. Brother Owen offered to go with me; I thought it unnecessary, but he persisted. Soon I was thankful for his kind attention. For seventeen miles the road was pretty good; but after crossing the Homochitto River, the mud was very deep, and the horses refused to pull and, after taking them from the carriage, Brother Owen and the driver carried it by hand to the level of the bridge, from whence the horses took it to the next bad place. Got to Brother Grooms's, and stayed all night. "Tuesday, February 11. We left before eight o'clock, and went fifteen miles to Judge McGehee's by 3 P.M., through horribly muddy roads. All glad to see us. "Wednesday, February 12. Very sore to-day from yester- day's work. " Thursday, February 13. My head very much disordered. "Sunday, February 16. Preached in Woodville on Galatians vi. 9. The Church here in a very formal state. "Wednesday, February 19. Last night had another slight shock of what I consider as paralysis. My physicians reject this idea, but I regard it, as I have for years, as gentle visitations of paralysis, and apprehend it may terminate in death, and am therefore admonished to 'be always ready/ "Sunday, February 23. Quite unwell; preached, left pulpit very feeble. Dined with Brother Chew; lectured at night at Brother McGehee's to a number of colored people on Isaiah xii. Weary. "I fear the societies in this quarter have but little of the power of religion; yet the families where I have been appear to attend regularly to the form." His last entry in this Journal is, "Monday, February 24, my health is better, my strength increasing." After spending a short time in Woodville and its vicinity enjoying the princely hospitality of the Judge and his excellent family, he continued his trip to New Orleans. He had ever manifested much solicitude for the spiritual welfare of this city, which he foresaw was destined to become the great mart of Southwestern commerce. Having returned to Natchez, he there took passage for Nashville on the same boat, Tennesseean, about April 18. The following characteritsic note was addressed Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 381 to the stationed preacher and shows his constant vigilance as a supervisor of the preachers and the Church generally: NATCHEZ Miss, April 16, 1834. Dear Brother Owen: For a stationed preacher regularly to attend to his appointments for preaching, class meeting, and visiting the sick from house to house is his indispensable duty. But the spirit of enterprise will carry him further. Were you to select proper places for preaching and prayer meetings in private houses, much good might be done; and if the flat-bottom boats were to be visited with sermons, the good effects are be- yond calculation. On these boats there are some religious persons and some well disposed to religion that would be instructed and built up, in- stead of losing their good desires, and seed might be sown among the care- less to bring forth fruit and spread the gospel in their neighborhoods on their return home. The correctness of these sentiments has been realized among us. You have a fair opportunity to make the experiment, and I think it will be inexcusable if you do not. Brother Owen joined the Tennessee Conference in 1822, was a superintendent of the missions to the Cherokee Indians, a delegate to several General Conferences, Agent of the Southern Methodist Publishing House, besides filling many important appointments in the regular itinerant work. He is yet a mem- ber of the Memphis Conference, and doing service in the Mississippi Bottom District. On May 10, 1834, the Bishop preached an unusually long and interesting sermon in Gallatin, Tenn., and he officiated at the communion and was in pretty good health for him. Through the spring and summer he continued to preach and visited as much as he could, and Dr. Green gives a very interesting account of his last camp meeting: It was in Sumner County, at Old Salem; and we were also favored with the presence of the Rev. William Burke. I had the pleasure of seeing them meet. They held each other's grasp for some time, the Bishop saying, " I am happy to see you once more at camp meeting," while Mr. Burke says: " We have camped together before, Bishop." Tears came into their eyes. They talked together by the hour of other days, with an evident pleasure which was refreshing to observe. Mr. Burke was not at that time in con- nection wiuh the Methodist Episcopal Church, but was the pastor of an independent congregation in Cincinnati; yet I put him up to preach, so that the thousands that attended the meeting had the great pleasure of hearing each of these old veterans preach once a day for three successive days; and I would perform a pilgrimage now to enjoy such a privilege. Soon after this meeting was over, the Bishop said to me: "I would like to live until next General Conference, for one thing." "What is that, Bishop?" "I want to see Brother Burke back again in his place in the 382 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Church." Although the Bishop did not live to attend the Conference, Mr * Burke was restored, and died in the Church. The last Conference this good and venerable man of God attended was the Tennessee, held in Lebanon, November 5, 1834. It was an affecting sight to witness the reverence and filial affection of the Conference toward him. He had set apart most of the members to the work of the ministry, had baptized many of them in their infancy. Their fathers had known and loved him. He had been the organizer and defender of Method- ism in the West, a pioneer presiding elder in 1800, when his district was an empire in extent, embracing all "the Western country." He had submitted cheerfully to the privations of frontier life, whether traversing the wilderness, in the wigwam of the Indian, or in the cabin of the white pioneer, to unceasing travel over mountains and plains, through the rains, snows, and sleets of winter, and the drought, heat, and malaria of the South in summer. He had instructed, guided, and governed the young and feeble, animated the desponding; had been always in the front rank, charging against the strongholds of sin and Satan, himself never dismayed or despondent, but ever brave and true. Far-seeing, calm, and unselfish, their oracle in Church polity, and never descending to draggle himself or others in the cesspool of partisan politics; "without partiality and without hypocrisy;" loving devotedly the Church, the whole Church, its doctrines, its simple and significant scriptural formularies, its governments, especially its itinerancy, because of its ef- ficiency in spreading the gospel among the poor and destitute; for these eminent qualities, and lastly, for his unchallenged purity, he ought to have been, and was, revered and loved as a father. The Conference was impressed with the conviction that the Bishop could not live much longer; for, while his mind seemed clear and vigorous when aroused, yet its tabernacle was evi- dently falling away. All knew that, while his life had not been marked by any startling events, yet it was very desirable to have the history of it, for the instruction of themselves and the edification of the Church. The following preamble and reso- lutions were therefore presented by R. Paine and T. L. Douglass, and adopted: Whereas our venerable and beloved brother, Bishop McKendree, is now far advanced in the decline of life and is almost the only remaining minister among us of the early race of Methodist preachers in America; Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 383 and whereas he possesses much valuable and interesting information in relation to the organization and government of the Church in these United States, the spread of the work of God, especially in the West and South, the lives and labors of many of his copartners in the ministry, and much other information which may be useful; therefore, Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed to wait on Bishop McKendree and respectfully request him to prepare, or have prepared, for publication so soon as convenient, such a history of his own life, and such information on the various points suggested above, as he may deem proper and expedient. Whereupon, Thomas L. Douglass, James Gwin, Lewis Garrett, Robert Paine, Alexander L. P. Green, Greenville T. Henderson, and George W. D. Harris were appointed a committee to carry said resolutions into effect. The committee appointed to wait on Bishop McKendree report that, in compliance with the foregoing resolution, they have waited upon him and acquainted him with the request of the Conference as directed. In reply, the Bishop states that he belongs to the Methodist Church, that it has a right to claim his services, even to the dregs, and that he will en- deavor to comply with the request of the Conference as he may be able and find it convenient and practicable. T. L. DOUGLASS, Chairman. LEBANON CONFERENCE, November 14, 1834. The following document explains itself; and as it refers to the preceding communication, and is probably the last he ever wrote, it is inserted here. The original very clearly exhibits a marked change in his penmanship; and toward the close, he fails to keep in parallel lines, running them diagonally across the sheet of paper. AT BROTHER ELLISTON'S, December 1, 1834. When I set out to preach the gospel, I commenced a regular Journal of my life and ministerial labors. This was continued a number of years, Until my papers were consumed in a house that was burned down. By this time I had observed such a sameness in this kind of writings that its utility was greatly depreciated in my estimation. My lot, too, seemed fixed in an old, settled country, where religious exercises were so familiar as to afford no material of sufficient importance to interest the public mind. My own experience was common among Christians, therefore though my mind was deeply impressed with many occurrences, they did not appear to be of sufficient importance to interest or profit either the Church or the world. I concluded that my time would be better employed in discharg- ing the various duties assigned me as a Methodist preacher. My field of labor constantly enlarging, I gave up my Journal and devoted all my time to my regular work. For this omission I had many checks during thirty years, have made some ineffectual attempts to resume it, but have con- tinued my course. Some time before the late Tennessee Conference, I was earnestly addressed upon this subject by individuals. I objected to the want of strength of body and mind for the work, but wa,s met with assur- 384 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ances of such assistance as would need only the outlines of the plan, with suitable items, and the work would be done without burdening me. This it was thought, I could do. I approved of the plan and consented to do what I could. But instead of meeting my expectations they contented themselves with telling me what to do. I therefore abandoned the hope of help from them. Yet, as I have come under obligation by promise, I shall do what I can, which will be very little, very little. Since the Tennessee Conference, one or two have proffered to assist me, on condition that I would wait on them at suitable times. I shall neither seek nor go one mile out of my way for assistance, but will do what I can and dispose of it as may seem best. W. McKENDREE. Like old men generally, he miscalculated his strength. "Will do what I can." Alas! he could do no more. That hitherto indomitable will which had impelled a body emaciated and enfeebled by age and sufferings to continue to travel and preach when it should have been resting could no longer drive the physical machinery; and even that mind, once so elastic, so clear, and so vigorous, always planning and working for God and the Church, was wearied and found it impossible to isolate itself from its frail tabernacle. "Very little" indeed could he do in any other thing, and as to writing his history, sketching the lives of his colaborers, and the wonderful progress of the Church for forty eventful years, he could absolutely do nothing. It would have been an impracticable task for the most competent member of the Conference to collect the material, assort and arrange the chaotic mass of his papers between the time of the Conference and his death. It ought to have been begun years before. The fact is, it could never have been done by him unless he had been imprisoned. He would go to the last, and only ceased to go when compelled to stop; then body and mind both protested: "Too late!" And for this neither he nor anyone else is to be blamed. CHAPTER XXV Bishop McKendree leaves all his papers to Bishop Soul and T. L. Doug- lass The Lebanon Conference a time of great interest He visits the Conference for the last time Bids adieu Gwin, Page, Douglass, and McGee there Returns to Nashville Preaches his last sermon there, November 23 Goes to his brother's Depressed His last battle Victor His sufferings Effect of prayer Family love The closing scene "All's well" His burial Should his remains be removed? Review of his life and character. BY his "last will and testament," Bishop McKendree left his papers of every kind to Bishop Soule, to be assisted by T. L. Douglass in the use of them. The latter received the little old "hair trunk," and found it full, but a jumble. He seems to have done no more than to look over some of them, and write a few lines of advice as to what should not be published. Bishop Soule received it with authority to make such use of it as he should see fit. But he never found time to do more than to put most of the letters into packages and indorse on them the names of their authors and their dates. Not a line from his pen toward a biography has ever been found. Neither of these good and highly competent men could command the necessary leisure for the task. And if they could not do it in twenty years, surely the old Bishop could not have done it in two or three months. It is rather a remarkable incident that the first Conference he attended as bishop was at a camp meeting at Liberty Hill, in 1808, at Col. Green Hill's, with whom he and Bishop Asbury camped during the session; and at this, his last Con- ference, his kind hostess was Mr. Hill's granddaughter. The Lebanon Conference was a very interesting occasion. More than the usual number of the Bishop's old associates were present. He had lately parted in tears from Burke; and here were Gwin, "one of the kindest friends he ever found, who had given him, for his father and sisters, three hundred acres of land, " the place he called home and where his re- mains now rest with his father's and sister's; Garrett, who pre- ceded him to the West, and in 1803, as presiding elder of Cum- berland District, divided the work with him and lived and died his true and admiring friend; John McGee, who with his Pres- byterian brother, William, was a leader in the beginning of 25 386 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the great revival of 1799 and 1800, the most powerful and extensive work which has occurred in the United States, not only spreading over the whole West and South, but sweep- ing like a great ocean wave over all the Northern and Eastern States; John Page, a veteran in the cause; and his greatly loved "Logan Douglass," besides a host of younger preachers, who revered him as a father. Among those mentioned above as special friends and former laborers of the Bishop is John McGee. He was in several respects a remarkable man. He was admitted on trial in the Virginia Conference in 1788, with William McKendree, Peter Massie, Henry Birchett, and Valentine Cook; all of them, with perhaps an exception of the last, were converted in the revival under Mr. Easter, as was also Enoch George. What a galaxy! How much does Methodism owe to those great, old-fashioned revivals, which, like earthquakes, shake States and continents! After spending five years in the itinerancy in the Atlantic portion of the work, Mr. McGee located and came to Ten- nessee; married and settled in Smith County. His marriage was a fortunate one, and his domestic relations were happy. But worldly prosperity did not diminish his zeal and usefulness. He was known far and near as a bold, zealous, and powerful preacher. Plain in his dress, pointed in rebuking sin, and sometimes almost irresistible in his appeals to the conscience, he was "a terror to evil doers and a praise to them that do well." His ministry was "in the demonstration of the Spirit and with power. " The writer first saw him in 1818 and heard him for the last time at the close of the funeral discourse preached on the occasion of the death of the Rev. L. D. Overall, at the Tennessee Conference at Lebanon, in 1835. Such an unction of the Holy Spirit he has scarcely, if ever, witnessed before or since. It was his last interview with his beloved Bishop. He had an excellent farm, a comfortable and well-furnished home, and abundant pecuniary means; and, although sur- rounded by wealthy neighbors and in the midst of a large slave population, he never would own a slave. He had the moral courage "to work with his own hands," and teach his family the lesson of self-reliance. He considered slavery a misfortune, if not a curse, to the slaveholder, and would not be plagued with slaves. Such was the man whom God honored as one of the prin- cipal instruments of the great revival in 1799 and 1800. We Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 387 have already said he was the father-in-law of Thomas L. Douglass. Bishop McKendree 's last and perhaps his only appearance in the Conference room has often reminded us of General Washington in his last review and final farewell to his army in 1783. In ancient times the Roman Senate decreed a triumph to a victorious general upon his return to Rome after the subjec- tion of a province or a great decisive victory over a formidable foe, and, as he entered the city, a pompous ceremony was performed in honor of the victor. He came crowned with a wreath of ever- greens, a scepter in one hand and a laurel branch in the other, riding in a splendid open chariot, preceded by a herald, the Senate and chief magistrates, musicians, the spoils of the campaign, and captives in chains, and followed by his veteran officers and victorious army on foot. They advanced through the crowd- ed streets amidst the enthusiastic shouts of thousands to the Capitoline Hill, where feasts were prepared, sacrifices offered, and he received the congratulations of the Senate and people of Rome. How different the scenes before us! Here is a man, bowed down with years; his tottering steps scarcely sustained by his long staff; pale, emaciated, and tremulous; yet he, too, is a victor, has fought the good fight, and won the field. He, too, has spoils and captives and honors. He has conquered himself, ruled his own spirit and the hearts of thousands by the power of truth and the spirit of gentleness and love; but his trophies are unstained with blood, while thousands of cap- tives grace his triumphs, not taken in unprovoked and cruel war, in the carnival of death, on bloody battle fields, but slaves of sin and Satan, rescued by grace, and made to pass under the easy yoke of the meek and lowly Prince of Peace. No manacled wretches nor weeping widows and orphans swell his train, but the song of Moses and the exultant response of Miriam rise to heaven in gratitude for deliverance from worse than Egyptian bondage. He bears no scepter in his hand; he flaunts no insignia of his high office on his breast; no coro- nal of laurel decks his head; not even a chaplet of simple wild flowers adorns his brow and binds his few gray hairs; no shout- ing sycophants hail him welcome, nor venal muse, in sweet, poetic melody, celebrates his deeds; but a great multitude call him a benefactor of his race and award him the honor due a long life unvaryingly and intensly devoted to the salvation 388 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree of men and the glory of God; no pompous pageant attends him, but as a weary, earnest, good old man, having served his God and his generation faithfully, he comes in Christian meekness to greet his children for the last time, to bid them to love one another, and then go away to lay him down and die. The Conference closed on the night of November 14, and, as usual, the preachers hurried away to their respective fields of labor, except one or two, who lingered with the Bishop to see him safely back to Nashville. Passing the Hermitage, he reached the city on the fifteenth, but was too unwell to at- tend Churchmen Sunday, the sixteenth. During the week en- suing he rallied a little, and, at the urgent solicitations of the preachers present and of his old friends, who greatly desired to hear words of counsel and comfort from his lips once more, he consented, and preached his last sermon November 23, 1834. The church was a very large and substantial edifice, recently finished, and, in honor of his memory, had been dedicated as the McKendree Church. On that occasion the spacious house was filled to overflow- ing, and Dr. Green, who had the privilege of hearing him, says: "In my imagination I can see him at this moment, as he last stood on the walls of Zion, with his sickle in his hand; the gray hairs thinly covering his forehead; his pale and with- ered face; his benignant countenance; his speaking eye; while a deep undercurrent of thought, scarcely veiled by the external lineaments, took form in words and fell from his trembling lips as by the eye of faith he transcended the boundaries of time and en- tered the eternal world. But he is drawing to the close of his sermon. Now, for the last time, he bends himself, and reaches his sickle forth, ripe to the harvest. How balmy the name of Christ as he breathes it forth, standing midway, as it were, be- tween heaven and earth and pointing to the home of the faithful in the sky ! I look again ; the sickle sways in his hand ; his strength is measured, and he closes his ministerial labors on earth with the words, 'I add no more!' while imagination hears the response from the invisible glory: 'It is' enough!" 1 This sermon was reported verbatim, and forms the first num- ber of the Western Methodist Preacher. His work was well done; but when he could do no more, and suffering the will of God is as much a part of our duty as doing it and quite as im- portant to the full development of the higher Christian graces, so our Heavenly Father in mercy suffers him to pass through Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 389 the crucible of affliction before he realizes the eternal weight of glory. About December 22, he left Nashville for his brother's residence in Sumner County, under a presentiment, as is sup- posed, that his end was near and in accordance with a long- cherished wish to die at home and be buried there. But be- fore he started on his last trip, a little portion of the skin by the side of the nail on the forefinger of his right hand had be- come loosened; in pulling it off, it reached the quick, and made it sore. Presently it inflamed and became swollen and very painful. He thought that the ink from his pen had got into it and poisoned it. The inflammation and the pain in- creased until his rest and sleep were much interrupted, yet he was enabled to reach his brother's before Christmas. And now, having attended his last Conference, preached his valedictory sermon, and bidden farewell to his kind hosts and their fam- ilies and his numerous friends in Nashville, like his Mas- ter, he is met by the enemy at the portal of the grave for a last encounter. The conviction that he can travel and labor no longer to build up Zion and win the souls to Christ saddens him. It was not the resignation of his office, he had not sought it nor desired it; it was not its emoluments, he had received no more than the youngest and humblest circuit preacher; and one hun- dred dollars for a year of such work as he had done was no com- pensation; nor was it that he loved power and prerogative, for in his office power and sacrifice are inseparably united. No, it was none of these things; but it was because he could sacrifice and labor no longer in the blessed work of soul saving. He was de- pressed and, for a season, seemed to be in a severe mental strain. Doubtless his physical condition had much to do in this trouble; and the adversary, who always adapts his suggestions to the circumstances of the tempted, endeavored to use those sur- rounding this holy man to his discomfort and thus involve his mind in clouds. But the clouds soon broke, faith and prayer triumphed; the disconcerted tempter fled, and the sunshine of his Heavenly Father's face again shone upon him. It was his last battle with Satan. "He now boldly stepped beyond the val- ley of dejection and over the enchanted ground quite into the celestial land of 'Beulah,' where heavenly voices are heard and ministering spirits from the better world are not few and far be- tween." The incorrigible tumor on his finger, however, continued to give him excruciating pain, in despite of all medical aid, until 390 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree his finger wasted away, while the agony seemed to involve, by sympathy, his back and head. It is affecting to learn the aid to which he resorted while in pain. Such was his faith in a prayer- answering God that while he would be in the greatest agony he would call on any Christian present to pray, saying to one on a certain occasion: "Pray with me on account of my pain; not as you pray in your family, but in faith, with direct reference to my pain." After prayer, he smiled, raised his head, and said : "It is easy now!" Indeed, it invariably happened that after prayer, and sometimes before its close, he would be in a slumber as calm as an infant. God designed the family as the training school for this and the future world; and domestic love is the purest instinctive feeling on earth. And if a sister ever loved a brother with a deep and holy affection, it was the case with Nancy McKendree toward her noble, loving brother William. They both lived and died un- married; and she seemed to live for God and her brother. She waited upon him and watched by his bedside unceasingly. Once awaking from slumber in the night, he looked at her and his nieces, who were sitting by his bed, and said, with a smile: "You are like a lamp, burning while I sleep, to cheer me when I wake." On Sunday, four days previous to his death, his brother, the doctor, said to him, "Bishop, you are sinking fast. We shall, in all probability, soon be separated." He replied: "Yes, I know it; but all is well." To questions in regard to his last wishes as to his funeral arrangements, when both of them (having been similarly afflicted with asthma) were seized with a fit of cough- ing, no reply could be given. Soon after, the Bishop made a sig- nal that he wished to speak. To his nephew, Dudley McKen- dree leaning over him to receive his communication, he said : "All is well for time or for eternity. I live by faith in the Son of God." In his most emphatic manner, he repeated: "I wish that matter to be perfectly understood, that all is well with me, whether I live or die. For two months I have not had a cloud to darken my sky. I have had uninterrupted confidence in my Saviour's love." He began to repeat a part of a stanza of one of Charles Wesley's beautiful hymns, Not a cloud can arise to darken my skies, Or hide for a moment my Lord from mine eyes; but not being able to finish the couplet, it was finished for him. As to his interment, he said: "I wish to be buried in the ancient Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 391 Methodist style, like an old Christian minister. ' ' Being asked if he had any choice as to the text of his funeral sermon, the hymns, etc., he replied that he had none. When subsequently asked if he had a choice as to the preacher, his answer was: "Not par- ticularly; Logan Douglass as well as anyone." The Bishop now seemed to summon all the powers of his soul to pass the cold stream of death. He ordered the bedstead on which his venerable father had died, years ago, to be brought in, and, if we mistake not, the same bed and bedding to be placed upon it, as he wished to die where his father died; and upon this couch he waited the coming of death. From this time he suffered but little pain, but was calm and composed, like one whose work is done, waiting the coming of his Lord. Many were the gracious words which fell from his lips to the friends around him. To one he said: "Follow me, as I have fol- lowed Christ, only closer to Christ." He was remarkably fond of the phrase, "All is well." To almost all inquiries as to the state of his soul, this was his invariable reply. This was, indeed, his last connected expression, although the last word was "Yes," in answer to the question asked him while dying, "Is all wellnow?" Being interrogated again, on the day of his death, as to his fu- neral arrangements, he said: "I leave it all to my friends, only preserve the plainness ; my friends know my wishes." After this, his kind and tender sister asked if he was in pain. He answered : "No." He had long been subject to coughing fits, and was obliged to be raised up, to avoid suffocation. While in this posi- tion, with one of his kind nurses sitting behind him and supporting his head, the question was asked for the last time, "Is all well?" and again he answered: "Yes." Just then, by a sudden, spas- modic contraction, he seemed to have a darting pain in his right side. The muscles in the left cheek seemed to suffer a correspond- ing spasm, and knotted up with a deep wrinkle, which remained after the pain in the side had passed off. The Bishop, sensible of this muscular contraction, made two energetic efforts to smooth down his countenance. The second effort succeeded, and a dying smile came over the brow and descended upon the lower features of his face. Then the senior bishop of our episcopacy surren- dered the parchment which he had held since 1808. He returned it as stainless as the mountain snow. The struggle was over. He had fought the good fight, he had finished his course, he had kept the faith. The chariot had gone over the everlasting hills. After death, the Bishop's features were calm and beautiful. The wars of earth had all passed away. No trace of agony re- 392 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree mained. There was a noble sublimity in the inanimate clay, connected with the circumstances of his long and useful life that made the gazer linger over it as if he were looking upon features he would see again in radiant scenes over which the curtain of futurity yet hangs its folds. In conformity with the wishes of the deceased, he was shroud- ed in a grave robe of black silk, inclosed in a plain but substan- tial walnut coffin; and on Saturday he was interred, at the left hand of his father, about forty yards from the old family man- sion, where he died. 1 His epitaph, by an unknown hand, is as follows: Sacred TO THE MEMORY OP THE REV. WILLIAM MCKENDREE Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church In the United States of America Born King William County Virginia July 6th 1757 Died at his Brothers Dr James McKendrees *Many of the Bishop's friends were very desirous he should be interred in Nashville, but his relations, who occupied the old homestead and its vicinity, were understood to be unwilling; and, as his father, brother, and sister were buried there, and he had intimated a wish to rest by the side of his father, the subject was dropped; and it has recently been pro- posed to erect a church edifice there, which shall be a memorial to his character and a convenience to the community who might worship in it. One or two Conferences, I believe, have proposed to aid the attempt. The writer is strongly impressed now, although formerly opposed to it, that (as the old house and premises have passed into the hands of strangers, all the immediate relatives moved away, leaving scarcely even a distant kinsman in the county; the locality of the grave, secluded from any town, village, or thoroughfare of travel, surrounded by a sparse population, with churches sufficiently convenient, and the grave without inclosure, evincing utter neglect) it would be far better to remove his remains to the Nashville Cemetery, and place them by the side of his noble colleague and old friend, Bishop Soule. This conviction has been deepened by the perusal of a letter from the Rev. Joseph F. Redford, published lately in the Nashville Christian Advocate, in which he describes the condition of the tomb and the general aspect of the place. The brick walls of the tomb, it seems, were taken down by Federal soldiers, during the late war, and the slab engraved with his epitaph was thrown on the ground, where it still lies; and the whole scenery is desolate and dreary, without one re- deeming circumstance. It is, moreover, understood that his relations now interpose no objections to the transfer. Let it be done, and quickly; and let the congregation of the McKendree Church do it, and let Dr. Green see to it. Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 393 In Sumner County Ten. March 5th 1835 He was elected and ordained Bishop. In the city of Baltimore. May 1808 He labored in the ministry of the gospel 47 years With uncommon zeal ability and usefulness. And for near 27 years discharged the duties Of the episcopal office with such wisdom Rectitude fidelity as to secure the Confidence respect and esteem of the Ministers and people of his official Oversight in travels and labors for The advancement of the Redeemers Kingdom and the salvation of the Souls of men. He occupied an elevated Position among the most eminent ministers Of Christ and has furnished an illustrious Example for Christian pastors and Bishops He finished his course in peace and triumph Proclaiming in his last moments "All is well" The personnel of Bishop McKendree was a true index of the man. He was nearly six feet high, and finely proportioned. His forehead was high and broad, his eyes dark, large, and some- what protruding, their predominant expression, under ordinary circumstances, was benignity, but they were capable of spark- ling with vivacity or of expressing severe rebuke. All his features taken together were in harmony, and when he was excited it was the most speaking face I ever looked upon. His skin, even in the decline of life, was almost pearly white, and reminded one of a fine mezzotint engraving. The writer first saw him in 1817, and, although he was falling into "the sear and yellow leaf" of life, his appearance was very prepossessing and expressive. In dress he was very neat. A black, round-breasted coat, white necktie, short breeches, with knee buckles and shoe buckles, and a white, broad-brimmed hat, was a costume that gave to his fine form a venerable and commanding appearance. In his later years, he exchanged the short clothes and buckles for pantaloons, except on special occasions, but retained the other items of dress. He must have been an active and vigorous man in his prime and more than ordinarily fine-looking, not to say handsome. His voice was soft and yet penetrating and was wonderfully per- suasive and melodious. His early educational advantages were not great; but with his quick and observant mind, which he was daily improving, he 394 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree became a correct and effective speaker. He had fine taste in se- lecting the best words to express his ideas. He thought, read, and studied much, especially on moral and religious subjects. In the department of biblical doctrines and Church history and government, he had few equals. His mind was logical. He excelled in what is called practical or common sense. The Holy Scriptures were read regularly and studied attentively. He believed them implicitly and devoted his whole soul to their teachings. His preaching was spiritual. All merely speculative ques- tions he avoided in the pulpit. Christ crucified for the world, the manner and means of receiving him, and the evi- dences of having done so, as well as the duties arising from our obligations were his favorite themes. He was an attractive and instructive preacher, and sometimes a powerful one. Splendid displays of imagination culled in the field of fancy and carefully stored in the memory to be used for gaining admiration were distasteful to him. He was solemn and deeply in earnest in de- livering his message. His first and only aim was to be under- stood by all and to draw his hearers to Christ, and he would as soon have put on gorgeous apparel as to have dressed his sermons in an ornate, oratorical style. He preferred in this re- spect to imitate Christ, his apostles, and Wesley. His piety was profound. Conscientiousness was a promi- nent trait in his character, and one more truthful in word and deed I never saw. He prayed much and regularly, took all his cares and wants to God in prayer. His standard of religion, ex- perimental and practical, was a high one. He watched, prayed, fasted, and labored in earnestness. He was a holy man, loving God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. No one ever was known to doubt his purity of character; in this he was a bright exemplar. In his social intercourse there was nothing light or frivolous. A simple gravity was characteristic of his manner; and yet there was in it nothing repulsive. It seemed impossible to associate with him and not to respect and venerate him; and in an ingenuous mind these feelings soon warmed into love of the most enduring kind. He loved the Church. It is doubted whether any man since St. Paul, not even excepting Asbury, loved it more. Such was his anxious concern for its welfare that his very soul was bur- dened with care. The difference in this respect between men has often been seen. Some physicians are so constituted that every case of serious illness among their patients harasses Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 395 them, they cannot dismiss it from their minds. They en- ter into the sympathies of their patients and their families; they become nurses as well as doctors. And such are apt to wear themselves out and sink into premature graves. Yet others can perform, and faithfully too, their professional duties and soon banish anxiety fron their hearts. It is so with preachers. I have imagined St. Paul was one of the former class, was always op- pressed by "the care of all the Churches"; while St. Peter was probably of the latter class. It is so now, and has ever been so, among preachers and bishops; and they are neither better nor worse for it, if restrained within reasonable bounds and arising from purely constitutional tendencies. Now, Bishop McKen- dree in this respect belongs to the former class. He could not di- vest himself of anxiety about any interest of the Church when it was in the least imperiled. From 1820 to 1828 he was greatly troubled. He regarded the efficiency of the episcopacy and the itinerant system as in peril in the reform and radical movements of that period. The prosperity and safety of the Church, he firmly believed, were identified with the strict observance of the chartered rights of the constitution. Innovations on this instrument he regarded with alarm. In other things not tending to lower the scriptural and Wesleyan standard of experimental and practical piety of the Church he was liberal; so that while he opposed changes, the utility of which he doubted, and was therefore a conservative in other things he was a progressionist. Yet he stood openly opposed to sudden and great changes, and his motto might have been: "Festina lente." Like Asbury, Lee, Bruce, and a good many of the Method- ist itinerant preachers of their day, Bishop McKendree never married ; nor have we any reason to believe he ever attempted to do so. At that time their salary was so small, their appoint- ments so often changed, and their work so arduous, that, as a general rule, to marry was to locate. Indeed, preachers and people disapproved of it; and to marry under eight or ten years of itinerant service was regarded with general disfavor, almost amounting to proof positive of backsliding, as an itinerant preacher. To be changed every three or six months, to drag a family from the Atlantic seaboard to the Holston or to Cumber- land, was a very serious matter. A preacher might love a lady too much to seek her hand ; so thought many who could receive St. Paul's advice to the preachers of his day. Some of this early class did marry in advanced life, perhaps upon the prin- 396 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ciple which an old itinerant once gave as his apology for so doing, that he could no longer travel and preach, and was fit for nothing else; he had, therefore, got married and located. Now, the writer thinks that the Church and the world are better off on account of this habit of our fathers. Bishop McKendree was probably far more useful as a single man than he could have been otherwise. The condition of the work at that time seemed to require it of him ; and it is very questionable whether the habit of the present day of assuming the care of a family while quite young in the ministry is the better way. The Bishop, while he thought it lawful, did not think it was ex- pedient for him to marry; he never found time to get married. He was a model bishop, combining every qualification for this high and holy office; wise, prudent, vigilant, industrious, unselfish, unblamable, and holy, he presided with dignity and gentleness and preached with power and success. By no act or word did he dishonor his office. He was the first native American bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church and in- ferior in the aggregate of those qualities which the office re- quires to no one before or since his day. No man can ever fill the niche of Asbury, he was, under God, the father of Ameri- can Methodism, he was superior to McKendree only in priority of time, length of life, and services. Both of them did what they could, all they could. The mantle of the older fell on his shoulders, and both unreservedly consecrated their all to God and his Church. Wesley drew from the Bible the plan of the spiritual edifice, Asbury began to build it up in America, and McKendree carried forward the work as a wise master builder. It would be unjust to the memory of Bishop McKendree not to notice the fact that he felt the liveliest interest in all the religious and intellectual enterprises of his time. He was the first President of our Bible and Missionary Societies; and when it was proposed to merge the former in the American Bible Society, he gave it his concurrence and was ever its ardent friend. His devotion to the Missionary Society needs not to be repeated; so also as to Sunday schools. He was, moreover, deeply impressed with the importance and necessity of education. He had seen the unfortunate attempt of Bishops Coke and Asbury to build up Cokesbury into a literary insti- tution of high grade. He had been mortified by a similar failure in Kentucky to found Bethel Academy, and he wisely thought that our resources were then inadequate and the country too new. to justify costly attempts; but for many years before his Life and Times of Bishop McKendree 397 death he was exceedingly desirous to see our people unite in erecting a few first-class colleges. The last letter the writer ever received from him, and not long previous to his death, contained fifty dollars for La Grange College, signed, "No- body." The handwriting detected the giver. No appeal had been made to him; yet, out of his annual pittance, he was prompted by his interest in the cause of education to make the donation and tried to conceal the donor. His special ob- ject was that the money should be applied to place in the college library the standard religious literature of the Church for the religious instruction and benefit of the students. Of course it was done. Was Bishop McKendree a great man? In reply, it must be said the answer depends upon the meaning of the question. We readily admit he was not preeminent as a scholar, an orator, a writer, or a preacher; still he was more than respectable in all these particulars, and yet many, doubtless, excelled him in each of these departments, some in one, and some in another. In all that constitutes genius and intellectual preeminence, we admit at once he had many superiors; yet his mind was richly stored with varied and useful knowledge. He had a fine fancy, without a brilliant imagination; his apprehensions were very quick and correct; his judgment was excellent; his language simple, chaste, and appropriate; his manner grave and grace- ful. He was a sound theologian, a good expositor, always me- thodical and clear, and in his palmy days a deeply impressive and powerful preacher. In his official deportment, as well as in piety toward God and absorbing devotion to the eternal interests of men, he had no superior: so that while he was in every respect highly reputable, yea, eminent in many things, without claiming preeminence in any one endowment, yet take him in the aggregate mind, heart, life, labors, and re- sults he was a great man; and we doubt not the judgment of the last day will so decide. APPENDIX AMONG the various documents which have fallen into the hands of the author, it had been judged best to present in an "Appendix" to his "Life and Times," some of those which could not be conveniently introduced in the chronological order of the work yet serve to illustrate his character and his senti- ments as well as the history of his coadjutors. In pursuance of this object, we first present the admirable "Sermon of Bishop Soule on the Death of Bishop McKendree," delivered at the re- quest of the General Conference in the city of Cincinnati, May 11, 1836, and published by order of that body. We insert it in this place, the more readily because it has frequently been called for and is now nearly or entirely out of print and notwithstand- ing the liberal use made of it in the preceding pages of this work. SERMON ON THE DEATH OP THE REV. WILLIAM MCKENDREE. "Remember them who have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 7, 8.) When in the providence of God great and good men are removed from the world those relations they have sustained to their fellow men to their eternal rewards, it is highly proper that suitable respect should be paid to their memory and that their names and their virtues should be handed down to posterity as examples for the instruction and improvement of suc- ceeding generations. The practice of all civilized nations, from the com- mencement of the organization of society down to the present period, is in accordance with this sentiment. Nor is it easy to calculate the influence which the opinions and the examples of men of generations and of ages long since passed away continue to exert over the habits of thinking and action of the present race, and which they will not cease to exert through the successive periods of future time. The Jews were distinguished for their sacred monuments designed to perpetuate the memory of their pa- triarchs, their kings, and their prophets. But the light of the Christian era affords the purest and most perfect examples of all which, in regard either to sentiment or action, is worthy to be perpetuated in fadeless records to the end of time. One of the peculiar excellences of the New Testament Scrip- tures is the moral portraiture of the most pure, illlustrious, and benevo- lent characters which ever enlightened and adorned our world. And these characters were everywhere exhibited as patterns for our imitation, as ex- amples both of our faith and practice. But when the mind surveys the Appendix 399 simplicity and beauty of truth and the uncompromising virtue and un- sullied integrity of the ministers and followers of Jesus of Nazareth as portrayed in the records of the apostolic age and, having perceived the majesty and grandeur of the admirable picture, passes onward through a succession of following ages, the contrast becomes a matter of melancholy and painful reflection. Scarcely had the apostles of Jesus Christ, who had received their com- mission and their instructions from the lips of their adorable Master, and their immediate successors in the grand work of evangelizing the world, "finished their course" and entered upon their eternal rewards before the system of truth which they had published, and the plan of its promulgation by which they had been guided were subject to innovations in the hands of those who came after them. A single century from the day of Pentecost had not passed away before the gnostic heresy had invaded the infant Church and corrupted the pure fountains of gospel truth. So early did the wisdom of men in the form of a subtle, intricate, and superstitious phi- losophy mingle with the sublime doctrines of the Christian revelation the absurd dogmas of " Oriental science." Doctors soon appear, not to preach to their congregations the pure, unadulterated "word of God," but to "teach for doctrine" the unmeaning jargon of their respective schools. In the progress of these corruptions of primitive Christianity, other evils sprung up and mingled their influence in demolishing that simple and beautiful structure which had been modeled by infinite wisdom and reared up under the immediate superintendence of Jesus and his apostles. This work of earthly wisdom and policy had not continued long before the relations established by the Christian institutes between pastors and their flocks, between ministers of the gospel and those converted to the faith of Christ through their ministry, assumed a character widely differ- ent from that which was formed by the original charter. The superior clergy, giddy with the metaphysical speculations of their favorite philos- ophy and corrupted by the love of the world, soon set up claims to power and rule unauthorized by their holy vocation, seeking rather the authority of the civil rulers to lord it over God's heritage than that moral influence which was founded in the principles and obligations of a kingdom which was not of this world. A dark age ensued in which the light of evangelical truth was well-nigh extinguished, and, if it shone at all, was confined al- most exclusively to the humble and obscure, both of the clergy and laity. In such a state of things, it is not surprising that homage should be paid to men which was due only to God, and that the simplicity of the apostolic direction to the Church at Jerusalem to engrave the virtues and labors of their pastors upon the table of their memory and to regard them in their fidelity as patterns for their imitation should give place to pompous titles, splendid temples, gorgeous pictures, sculptured marble, and idolatrous festivals. To cap this climax of usurpation and impiety, the professed heralds of a Saviour born in a manger and crucified upon a cross claimed the prerogative of deposing civil princes and setting their feet upon the necks of kings; and, not contented with the proud pretension to the right of uni- 400 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree versal dictation in matters belonging to the civil empire, they proclaimed themselves God's vicegerents upon earth and intercessors for men before the throne of heaven. In casting our eye over this succession of gloomy ages, distinguished chiefly by such melancholy corruptions of the purest system of religion and morals which the world ever saw, it affords us peculiar satisfaction to perceive at different periods some rays of heavenly light penetrating the gloom of that spiritual darkness which had covered the face of the earth. Here and there a luminous spot appears upon the dark and dismal abyss. Here and there a daring spirit, a bold defender of the faith of Jesus, rose up by the inspiration of the Almighty and gave lucid proof that the wis- dom of the world was foolishness with God. The morning of the sixteenth century was a dayspring from on high to the Church in the wilderness and an era full of hope and of promise to the benighted nations. Who can doubt that Luther was raised up by the spe- cial agency of God to counteract the corruptions and blasphemies of the Church of Rome? But the work of this great and distinguished Saxon reformer was but in part a restoration of what had been lost in the lapse of those ages of apostasy from the doctrines and morals of Christianity which had pre- ceded. Many of the abominations of the papal hierarchy were brought to light, the blasphemous claims of the sovereign pontiff to grant indul- gences, remove penalties, and remit sins of all sorts were exposed and de- nounced with a clearness of argument and zeal of moral courage worthy of the cause of truth and of the illustrious agents who were engaged in its pro- motion. Learning and philosophy, always favorable to the progress of the gospel when guided by the light of the revelation of God, were directed into pure channels and rendered efficient auxiliaries in the advancement of the Reformation. Universities became the seats of theological discussion, which seldom, if ever, closed without obvious advantage to the cause of the reformers. Princes long subject to the papal domination, wakened up by the uncompromising Saxon, began to think and speak with freedom on matters of faith and practice. In the progress of the Reformation numer- ous persons of distiction and influence were employed by the Divine Prov- idence as instruments in removing the works of darkness and repairing the ruins of the beautiful temple of Christianity. But while this work was in progress, there were more outside than inside workmen, and the master builders were not always agreed with regard to the plan which should be pursued, the materials which should be used, or the workmen who should be employed in completing the noble superstructure. In such a state of things, it should not be considered marvelous that a portion of wood, hay, and stubble should be mixed with the gold, silver, precious stones, and that more regard should be paid to the exterior form, scaffolding, and outworks of the building than to the perfection and beauty of the interior workman- ship. Although this and the succeeding century was a glorious era in the his- tory of the Church, presenting a grand constellation of burning and shining Appendix lights in the cause of truth, yet it is to be regretted that the Church and State were so incorporated as to produce an unhappy effect on the religious state of the clergy and consequently to hinder in some measure the prog- ress of Christian piety. Prelates of the Reformed Church, while they held in just abhorrence the claims and pretensions of the papal see, saw nothing inconsistent with the religion of a crucified Saviour or with their calling as his ministers in being themselves lords temporal as well as spirit- ual. Whatever might have been the external state of the different branches of the Church at the commencement of the eighteenth century, it is very obvious that there was a great deficiency on the part of the ministry. While the prescribed forms of religion were regarded with scrupulous ob- servance, the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel were too seldom pro- claimed and too feebly enforced. The result was a general defect in vital godliness and a corresponding laxity in moral discipline. It was in the midst of such a state of things that the great and blessed revival of religion commenced at Oxford early in this century. The Rev. John Wesley was the chief instrument in the rise and early progress of this revival. The extraordinary acuteness and strength of his mental powers, the variety and depth of his learning, his moral courage, his persevering zeal, and the strict purity of his life, all combined, qualified him in an eminent degree for this great work. And here it should be remembered that it was not the articles of faith or the liturgy of the English Church with which Mr. Wesley contended or which he desired to change or reform, but he was rather the firm defend- er of both. And why should we who acknowledge him, under God, as the founder of that religious body of which we are members place ourselves in opposition to either? But while this great and good man was well satisfied with the doctrine and government of the Establishment, he clearly saw the extensive defect of experimental and practical religion both with the clergy and laity. To remove this defect and restore the principles and blessings of primitive Christianity to the Church were the great objects of his studies and his labors. But the era of which we now speak, embrac- ing the history of Wesley and those who were workers together with him, is distinctly marked by several very important points. Mr. Wesley, notwithstanding the prejudices of his education, became fully convinced that bishops and presbyters were the same order in the primitive Church, and consequently that the doctrine of succession and exclusive right of ordination existing in the bishop as maintained by many of the prelate? of the English hierarchy were not founded in the constitu- tion of the Christian Church or warranted by any practice in the uncorrupt- ed period of her history. In addition to this conviction, the providence of God in an extraordinary manner led Mr. Wesley to perceive that a di- vine call to the work of preaching the gospel and the qualifications for this holy vocation were not confined to those who were regularly educated for the sacred office, but that in the wisdom of Him who "seeth not as man seeth," the "foolish things of the world were frequently chosen to con- 26 402 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree found the wise." Hence his admirable and truly scriptural test of those who think they are moved by the Holy Ghost to preach. The employment of "lay preachers" that is, persons who were either educated for the ministry or in the clerical orders in the Established Church forms a very prominent and important feature of the Wesley an system, which, by the blessing of God, has been productive of the most extensive and happy results in the four quarters of the globe. Another character- istic of this system is the organization and establishment of an eff cient itin- erant ministry in conformity to that command, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," and in accordance with the prac- tice of the apostles and their immediate successors in the work of evangel- izing the earth. As the commencement of this era in the history of the Reformed Churches was distinguished by the revival of the pure doctrines and moral discipline of the gospel, so its extension, and almost unparalleled progress, have been attended by the powerful influences of the Holy Spirit. To turn men from "darknesss to light, and from the power of Satan unto God," and to build them up in that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord," is the grand design of the preaching of the gospel. And to accomplish this design Christ must be preached in all his offices. The whole system of his religion must be proclaimed. Its doctrines, precepts, promises, and threatenings must be clearly set forth and enforced. The whole must be brought home to the hearts and consciences of the hearers. Sinners must be made to feel their sinfulness and guilt and to know that salvation is by "grace through faith" alone. These are, and have been from the beginning, the leading features of the Wesleyan revival. In its rise and progress it has enlisted the influence of a considerable number of men distinguished as much for their extraordi- nary talents and their profound learning as for the depth of their piety, the purity of their lives, and the extent and usefulness of their labors. But by far the greater part of those ministers who have been honored of God as instruments in the advancement of this great and extensive revival of prim- itive Christianity have been men who made no pretensions to talents of a superior order or to the peculiar advantages of learning and science. They have been called, in the wisdom of the divine councils, from almost every profession and occupation in life. Thus has it been shown in this latter day, as well as at the beginning of the gospel dispensation, that the proud pretensions of reason and philosophy, however they may be viewed by men, are of little account with God, and that the success of the "preach- ing of the cross" essentially depends upon the doctrine of that promise: " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Among the instruments thus called and qualified by the great Head of the Church in the progress of this work, William McKendree, that beloved minister of Jesus Christ whose Christian and ministerial character this discourse is designed to exhibit as an example for those who shall come after, occupies an elevated and distinguished station. In my attempt to accomplish this object I shall endeavor, first, to point out the character which the apostle has given of a Christian pastor or min- Appendix ister; and, secondly, show wherein this character has been sustained and exemplified in the Christian life, ministerial labors, and official oversight of the late lamented senior bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 1. The words of our text lead us back in our meditations and researches to the original fountains of gospel truth. They point us to the origin of a system which claims to be of divine appointment and designed to be per- petuated to the end of time. They direct our attention to the first Church or assembly ever organized on the principles of the Christian institutes the Church at Jerusalem. In this city prophets had pointed to the Messiah and proclaimed the laws and the conquests of his kingdom. Here Jesus Christ, the author of our salvation, in his own person, had taught the doc- trines of that kingdom. Here he was persecuted, arrested, crucified. Here he slept in the tomb, and here he rose triumphant from the dominion of death and the grave. At this city he directed his chosen apostles to re- main " until they were endued with power from on high," as an essential qualification for the work he had appointed them to do. Here they re- ceived that power in the promised descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. Here the fountain was opened, and from here the "law went forth" and the word of the Lord flowed out. In this city the apostles of Jesus, who had received their instructions from the lips of their divine Master, planted the first Christian Church. Probably we have in the or- ganization of this Church as perfect a model as the world has ever seen. The relation and reciprocal duties of the pastor and his flock, of the min- ister and "those over whom he was appointed minister," are set forth in the view given of this Church with a simplicity and beauty strikingly characteristic of the purest age of Christianity. It is not pretended that the precise formula observed in the Church at Jerusalem is essential to the existence of every Christian community. In- deed, it appears highly probable that such internal regulations and external forms as were not essential to the doctrines, order, and moral discipline of the "household of faith," as laid down by Christ and his inspired apos- tles, were varied in the primitive Churches as change of place or circum- stances might require. But as the Church is the "body of Christ," and "the temple of the living God," the preservation of an order of ministers appointed by Christ, holding steadfastly the fundamental doctrines of the Christian revelation, the preaching of the pure word of God, and the ad- ministration of the discipline and ordinances of the gospel institution are essential to its very existence. Without these there can be no living Church, no assembly or community pleasing and acceptable to God. All associa- tions professedly Christian in which all or any of these points are totally wanting or materially defective have either never been formed "according to the will of our Lord Jessus Christ," or they have fallen and become apostate. In view of these prerequsites as the essential constituents of a Christian Church we observe (1) That the ministers of the gospel, in the apostolic age, were distin- guished by their special calling to the work of the ministry. No one can have carefully examined the history of the divine Saviour, as furnished in the 404 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree holy evangelists, without having perceived that the preaching of the gospel has been ordained as the means of faith and salvation and as the chief instru- ment by which the Christian cause is to extend and finally cover the whole earth. It is equally plain from the same records that the appointment of the agents by whom this work is to be carried on until finally completed is the exclusive prerogative of Jesus Christ, a prerogative which he has never del- egated, which he now holds in his own hands, and will continue to hold till the end of time. He commenced the exercise of this authority in the selec- tion of his first disciples to attend his person and receive his instructions, pre- paratory to the work which was afterwards assigned them. He continued the exercise of it by sending out these disciples at different times on errands of mercy while he continued upon earth. But the most signal exhibition of that authority was made after his resurrection and immediately before he ascended up into heaven to take possession of the mediatorial govern- ment at the right hand of the Father. This was a period in the history of human salvation pregnant with interests of the deepest concern to man. It was a point in time when the "Prince of life, Immanual, God with us," gave his last and fullest instructions in regard to the means and manner of the promulgation of his kingdom upon earth. His right of legislation and government was asserted: "All power is given unto me, both in heaven and in earth." The commission given to the apostles, who were present on the occasion, and to all the true ministers of the gospel salvation is declared to be by virtue of this right: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations," etc. "And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Who can doubt that both the right of appointment and the annexed promise of per- petual aid from the continual presence of Christ embrace the succession of the Christian ministry through all future time? The principles which the great Head of the Church had established at this memorable period and which were to remain unchanged through all the succeeding ages of the world were strikingly illustrated and confirmed shortly afterwards on the day of Pentecost. To the commission and spe- cial instruction with regard to its execution was now added the gift of the Holy Ghost as the fulfillment of the promise of the Father. By his agency the chosen apostles were "endued with power from on high" and were thus qualified to go forth in their Master's employment with zeal and au- thority which their adversaries were not able to gainsay or resist. It was the zeal of conviction, it was the authority of truth, it was the power of God. As the work advanced, others were called to participate in the blessed employment, but in no instance was anyone admitted to labor in this vineyard without proof of his being specially called and chosen of God. It is worthy of our particular attention that when the apostles and disciples were assembled at Jerusalem after the ascension of their divine Master and before the descent of the Holy Ghost in filling the vacancy in the apostolic college occasioned by the apostasy of Judas, they made no pretensions to any right or authority to determine on the person who should fill that holy office. They were fully persuaded of the exclusive right of him who had chosen them at first and who had so recently assured them that all author- Appendix. 405 rity in heaven and earth was in his hands. And in this persuasion, having selected two from their little company, they prayed, and said: "Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen." The answer was given by lot, and he whom God had chosen "was num- bered with the eleven apostles." This is the last instance of the use of the lot recorded in the Holy Scriptures. A different method by which God's election of men for the work of the ministry might be known was intro- duced on the day of Pentecost and will remain in the Church till the " con- summation of all things." All true ministers of Jesus Christ have been "moved by the Holy Ghost" to preach the everlasting gospel. By his in- fluence they have been enlightened and persuaded of their holy vocation, and by his agency success has attended their labors and support and com- fort administered to their souls in all their tribulations. It is therefore very meet and right that the Church should continually pray that the Lord would pour upon all the ministers of his sanctuary the Holy Ghost for the office and work to which he has called them. The beautiful climax of the apostle in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the tenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans is an inimitable illustra- tion of this doctrine. Salvation is God's free gift both to Jews and Gentiles, and this grace God has richly provided in the gospel of his dear Son. And whosoever will call on the name of the Lord shall receive this salvation. "But how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent?" The message to be published is the gospel of peace, the word of reconciliation, glad tidings of good things, and he who publishes it must be sent by its Author. A great man has the following admirable remark with reference to this message: "None can effectually preach this, unless he have a divine mission. The matter must come from God, and the person who proclaims it must have both authority and unction from on high." Hence it will appear who are truly in that "order of succession" appointed according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever may be the vain pretensions of men, those, and those only who are sent of God, who are moved by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven are in this succession. (2) Being thus called and qualified, the first ministers of the gospel went forth "preaching the word of God." The word of God here means the whole system of the gospel revelation, embracing the doctrines, precepts, and sanctions therein contained, especially what appertained to the char- acter, office, and work of Jesus Christ as our Mediator and Saviour. One of the peculiar features of the primitive preaching of the gospel word was the purity in which the doctrines of Christ were maintained and taught to the people. The Jewish teachers were exceedingly zealous of the tra- ditions of their fathers and, corrupting the oracles of God, "taught for doc- trines the commandments of men." The schools of learning and philos- ophy became the authors and patrons of theories as absurd and conflicting 406 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree in their principles as immoral and destructive in their tendency. But while "darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people," the servants of Jesus were holding out the lamp of life and pointing the nations to the "Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." While the "Jews required a sign, and the Greeks sought after wisdom," while a cor- rupt and superstitious religion in alliance with "science falsely so called" was enslaving the minds of men with the most dangerous errors and lead- ing them from God and from happiness, these unassuming messengers of truth were preaching " Christ crucified, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." They were publishing the narrative of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and proclaiming salva- tion as God's gracious gift through faith in his name. While, after all the speculations of reason and philospohy, the nations were veiled in uncer- tainty and doubt with regard to God, the immortality of the soul, and a future state of existence, these "unlearned" men declared the nature and attributes and counsels of Jehovah and showed that "life and immortality were brought to light in the gospel." But while they preached "the un- searchable riches of Christ," the whole system of doctrine was applied to the experimental and practical purposes of life to renew the hearts and regulate the conduct of men. They had received the records of the truth of God, and out of those records they did not travel. Christ had specially instructed them to teach the nations to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them. In strict conformity to these instructions, their ministry was always practical. They "preached" a faith which was unto justification, a faith which confided in all the promises of God, a faith which worked by love and purified the heart. (3) The ministers of the apostolic age were distinguished as well by the extent of their travels and labors as by the purity and simplicity of their doctrines. Their plan of preaching the word of God was strictly itinerant. In this they had taken the example of their Master as their pattern, his authority as their commission, and his command as their obligation. Nor does it anywhere appear that they had any other view but to continue the operation of the plan till all the nations of the earth should be discipled to Christ and the knowledge of God be as extensive as the influence of the natural sun. It was not the apostles only who were thus employed in the extensive promulgation of the gospel. The disciples who were dispersed from Jerusalem by the persecution which raged at the time of the martyr- dom of Stephen went everywhere preaching the word. Among these were, doubtless, many of the "devout men, dwellers at Jerusalem, out of every nation under heaven," who heard the apostles on the day of Pentecost "speak, in their own tongues in which they were born, the wonderful works of God." These, having been converted to the faith of Christ by the preaching of the apostles, traveled into their native countries, testifying and preaching the things which they had seen and heard. In this event the Divine Providence was obviously employed in preparing the way for the universal spread of the gospel. And it is a very remarkable and inter- esting truth that before the twelve chosen apostles had finished their course Appendix 407 and entered into the joy of their Lord, the word of God had been preached over a great part of the known world. Had the purity and simplicity of the Christian doctrine and discipline been preserved and the same plan of dif- fusing its heavenly truths perpetuated till the present time is it not highly probable that the whole earth would have been subdued to the dominion of Messiah and the songs of salvation to God and the Lamb been heard from every nation and kindred and people and tongue? (4) The first Christian ministers were dead to the world and intent only on promoting the cause of their divine Master and the salvation of the souls of the people. In the administration of the Word, they preached not themselves. To be the servants and messengers of Christ, and as such the servants of all for his sake, were the great objects of their pursuit. They uniformly spoke of themselves with humility and self-distrust and pursued their arduous em- ployment "in weakness, and fear, and much trembling." And, whatever God had committed to them or wrought by them, they proclaimed them- selves to be "earthen vessels," and ascribed the "excellency of the power" of their ministry to God alone. Jseus Christ was the end of their public preaching as well as of their private conversation. In all their words and deeds they aimed to promote his glory and advance and establish his king- dom. The divinity of his nature, his participation in the essential attri- butes of the everlasting Father, his unity and equality in the Godhead, and his eternal Sonship were themes on which they dwelt with peculiar clear- ness, interest, and delight. Animated with an ardent and unconquerable desire for the salvation of the souls of men which had been begotten in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, they set forth, both in their private inter- course and in all their ministerial labors, the deep humiliation to which the Lord Jesus submitted for the redemption and salvation of the world. They continually published his atoning sacrifice, the blood of the cross, as pos- sessing saving efficacy for the removal of guilt and pollution and the great- ness and the tenderness of his compassion for a world of miserable sinners. They declared his veracity in all his great and precious promises by which the confidence and hope of his people were to be encouraged and supported. In all these respects in his nature, in his relation to the Father, in the ' sufficiency of his merits, in his loving kindness and tender compassion, and in the validity of his promises the primitive Christian ministers repre- sented Jesus Christ to be the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, and as such pointed all men to him as an almighty and immutable Saviour. This was with them the all-absorbing subject. The pleasures, the riches, and the honors of the world were not the matters of their conversation or their pursuit, but " Christ was all and in all." (5) The primitive ministers had authority to rule or govern in the Church. "Remember them that have [or had! the rule over you" and "obey them that have the rule over you." It was obviously the end of the dispensation of Christ to form a universal Church, or community, of believers, collected out of all the nations of the earth and to perpetuate this society to the end of time. The fundamental 408 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree principles on which this association should be founded and the moral rules by which it should be governed were clearly laid down in the doctrines and precepts and examples of the adorable Saviour. It is equally clear that an order of officers charged with the organization of this community, with the due administration of the holy ordinances, and with the enforcement of wholesome discipline is of divine appointment. While we consider these points as manifestly set forth in the Christian institutes, we are free to acknowledge that "neither Christ himself nor his holy apostles have commanded anything clearly or expressly concerning the eternal form of the Church and the precise method according to which it should be governed." What I have here noticed as being of divine ap- pointment is, I apprehend, fully embraced in the commission which Christ gave to his apostles, " Go ye and disciple all nations," convert them to the faith of the gospel, and make them my followers. This being accomplished, "baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Formally initiate them as members of the great Christian com- munity and as belonging to the heavenly household. And, being thus formed into a body with the same faith, interest, and affection, "teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Make them to understand the precepts which you have received from me and en- force the obligations to obedience. In these three points, if we include the ordination of their successors in the sacred office, consisted the rule, or government, which the ministers of Christ, by virtue of their office, were authorized to exercise. And the end .of this government was the "perfecting of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ." It was wisely appointed for the prevention or cure of all disorders in the Church and for the building up of believers in their most holy faith and preserving the whole body in "the unity of the Spirit and in the bonds of peace." Although the word which the apostle uses in the text and also in the seventeenth verse to express the authority of Christian pastors and bishops properly signifies a ruler, or one having command, it is not a legitimate inference that this authority was of the same character . with that of civil rulers. It certainly never was the design of Christ or the practice of his apostles to enforce the discipline of the gospel by such pains and penalties as properly belong to the civil magistrate. Indeed, the au- thority and influence of the primitive rulers in the Church, and the same may be said of the true Christian ministers in every age, "was founded, not on force, but in the fidelity with which they discharged the duties of their function and in the esteem and affection of their flocks." How these ecclesiastical rulers were to exercise the authority with which they were invested is very clearly shown in the Epistles of St. Paul to Timothy and .Titus and in the First Epistle of St. Peter. It was to be done by the in- fluence of a godly life, by examples of patience and charity illustrative of the excellency of the Christian system and worthy of all imitation. "But be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Feed the flock of God which is with you, taking the oversight, not as being lords [temporal or spiritual] over God's heritage, Appendix 409 but being ensamples or patterns to the flock. In all things show thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine, un corruptness, gravity, sincerity." En- treaty, reproof, and rebuke, with exhortation, complete the panoply with which the ministers of Christ execute their office as rulers in the Church of God. " Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; the younger men as brethren; the elder women, as mothers; the younger, as sisters, with all purity. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine." Public censure and excommunication from the communion of the Church were the highest punishments which the ecclesiastical rulers were author- ized to inflict, and these only when, in the judgment of the Church, the offenders were guilty of such misdemeanors as merited these punishments. The terrors of the papal excommunication are not to be found in the records of the primitive Church, and it appears very certain that the administration of discipline of the gospel was never designed to inflict any other temporal penalty than such as might result from the separation of the unworthy per- son from the fellowship of the Christian community. If the preceding observations afford a correct view of the office and work of the ministers of the gospel of Christ, it will not be difficult to perceive that there is a corresponding obligation on the part of those among whom they labor in word and doctrine. It is the duty of the flock to esteem their pastors highly in love, for their work's sake; to cherish for them sen- timents of affection and respect; to seek council and consolation from them, in all their tribulations and conflicts; to submit to their godly admonitions, and to imitate their godly examples. And when it pleases God to remove them from their militant charge to his eternal kingdom and glory, those among whom they have exercised their holy function should remember them with affection, gratitude, and esteem. Without any apology for the length of the foregoing observations, I proceed 2. To show wherein the character of a primitive Christian pastor or minister has been sustained and exemplified in the life, ministerial labors, and official oversight of the late senior bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. (1) Bishop McKendree was born in King William County, State of Virginia, on July 6, 1757. His parents, John and Mary KcKendree, were both natives of the same State. His father was a respectable planter, and his son William was brought up in the same occupation and early taught the arts of husbandry and the habits of industry and economy. The Mc- Kendree family had received their religious instructions in the Church of England, which at that time was the prevailing religion of the southern colonies. The history of the Church at that day affords us a melancholy picture of the state of Christian morals. " The clergy were more fond of ease and wealth and worldly pleasure and gratification than of the sacred duties of their holy function. The religious instruction of youth was much neglected and very defective, and attendence on balls, horse races, card tables, and other places of amusements was generally considered not only consistent with a profession of religion and membership in the Church, but also with the character and calling of those to whom was committed the 410 Life and Times oj Bishop McKendree "cure of souls." This was truly a day of spiritual darkness. But notwith- standing this lamentable condition of religion and morals, young McKen- dree was restrained from gross immoralities and preserved a character free from reproach, even among the most religious of the day. At a very early period he was convinced of the depravity of his nature, his conscience be- came tender, and he formed resolutions to live according to the light which he had received. The following is his own description of his state at the period of which we now speak: " I do not recollect to have sworn more than one profane oath in my life; yet, as far back as memory serves, I am con- scious of the prevalence of evil propensities, of a heart disposed to wicked- ness, so that, notwithstanding the restraints by which I was kept within the bounds of a respectable morality, my heart was far from being right with God ; it was deceitful and desperately wicked. Of this deplorable state of things I became exquisitely sensible by reading the Holy Scriptures at school when I was but a small boy. For want of proper instruction, my apprehension of God the Redeemer and the Holy Scriptures was very super- ficial. I literally 'understood as a child,' and with the simplicity of a child I yielded to the dictates of conscience, refrained from what appeared to be wrong, and, as a child, endeavored to imitate the examples of those holy men of God as set forth in the Scriptures." Had these impressions been cherished by pious instructors and by parents who had the power as well as the form of godliness, there can be little doubt that this amiable youth, like young Timothy, would have from a child known the Holy Scriptures in such a manner as to have made him wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus, and thereby prepared the way for his entering the arduous work of the gospel ministry at a much earlier period of his life than he did. But for the want of such helps and in consequence of opposition and discouragements from those who should have taught him the way of righteousness and aided him to walk therein at this tender age, his im- pressions were weakened, conscience became more inclined to slumber, and his religious resolutions were shaken. But still the fear of God did not forsake him. It was about the time of the commencement of the Revolu- tionary struggle, by which the colonies were finally seperated from the British government, that the Methodist preachers, then under the direc- tion of the Rev. John Wesley, first visited that section of Virginia in which the McKendree family resided. William at this time was about nineteen years of age, possessed with an exquisite sensibility, and a heart all bouyant with anticipation. The ministry of the word was attended by the power of the Spirit, and many were convinced that "these men were the servants of the most high God." Those convictions which had in a great measure be- come extinguished by the amusements of the world were now revived and strengthened in the mind of this interesting young man. He says of him- self: "I yielded to conviction and resolved to lead a new life." In conform- ity to this resolution, he proposed to unite with the Methodist society as a seeker of religion and was received on trial. But here again his resolution was shaken, and, halting by the way, he failed to obtain the prize. His un- disguised representation of his case clearly shows the danger of awakened Appendix 411 persons associating with those companions, however civil they may be, who neither love nor fear God, especially before age and experience have fortified the heart. Having noticed his connection with the society, he adds: "But my at- tachment to worldly associates, who were civil and respectful in their de- portment had grown with my growth, and my conviction was not accom- panied with sufficient firmness to dissolve the connection; and their future conduct being accommodated to my reformed manners, I continued to enjoy the friendship both of the society and of the world, but in a very im- perfect degree. They continued to counteract and impair each other, un- til the love of the world prevailed, and my relish for genuine piety departed. I peaceably retired from society, while my conduct continued to secure their friendship." In this situation, with no material change in his reli- gious state except a gradual decline of his concern for the salvation of his soul, he continued for several years. But his abiding conviction of the importance and necessity of religion and his exquisite sensibility to con- sistency of character preserved him from gross immoralities and prevented a rapid progress in the way of sin. In the year 1787, he being about thirty years of age, a powerful and extensive revival if religion commenced in the Brunswick Circuit, in which he lived, under the ministry of that devoted servant of Christ, the Rev. John Easter. In the course of this year Mr. Easter added about twelve hundred members to the Church. This was a year of the deepest interest to McKendree, it was the year of his conver- sion to God, the year in which he experienced that inward and spiritual revelation of the Son of God which was an indispensable qualification for preaching his unsearchable riches. He records this eventful change in the following expressive terms: "My convictions were renewed. They were deep and pungent. The great deep of the heart was broken up. Its deceit and desperately wicked nature were disclosed. And the awful, the eternally ruinous consequences clearly appeared. My repentance was sincere. I was desirous, and became willing, to be saved on any terms. And after a sore and sorrowful travail of three days, which were employed in hearing Mr. Easter and in fasting and prayer while the man of God was showing a large congregation the way of salvation by faith with a clearness which at once astonished and encouraged me, I ventured my all on Christ. In a moment my soul was relieved of a burden too heavy to be borne and joy instantly succeeded sorrow ! For a short space I was fixed in silent adora- tion, giving glory to God for his unspeakable goodness to such an unworthy creature." Although his evidence of acceptance with God was so clear as to remove all doubt from his mind and enable him in humble confidence to cry, "Abba, Father!" it was but a short time before he was perplexed with doubts and fears relative to the reality of the change. In this state of uncertainty he continued for six weeks. But notwithstanding his exercise was deep and sorrowful, he was graciously supported and received many encouraging manifestations. "But, " to use his own words, "instead of receiving in faith, and giving glory to God, I reasoned all into uncertainty and had multiplied perplexity and sorrow for my reward." At the close of 412 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree this severe conflict he received a new and full assurance of his adoption into the heavenly family, in regard to which blessed event he says: "But, thanks be to God, who, by a manifestation of truth, accompanied by its own evidence, removed all my doubts, I was confirmed in the faith of the gospel, and of my personal acceptance, in which I have remained stead- fast to the present day. Many have been my imperfections and failures, and I have had convictions and repentance for them; but nothing of the kind has shaken my confidence in the reality of the change wrought in me by the Spirit of God at my conversion." Soon after this he heard the doc- trine of "Christian perfection set forth in its native simplicity," and such were its peculiar beauties and divine excellences in his estimation, that he immediately resolved, by God's grace, to seek and obtain the blessing. This resolution he carried into practice, and the result, which he gives in the following words, should be matter of encouragement to all who desire this blessed state: "Eventually," he says, "I obtained deliverance from unholy passions and found myself possessed of ability to resist temptation, take up and bear the cross, and to exercise faith and patience, and all the graces of the Spirit in a manner before unknown." Soon after he had ex- perienced the witness of his acceptance with God, he began to feel a deep concern for the salvation of his fellow creatures, especially those who had been his particular friends and associates. With these he conversed in pri- vate on their eternal interest, and exhorted them with tears to flee from the wrath to come and to embrace Christ as their Saviour. His soul was frequently drawn out in secret prayer with ardent desires for their con- version to God. He soon began to exercise in the public prayer meetings. The fruits of these early labors were obvious. Numbers were convicted, converted, or comforted through his instrumentality. It was but a few months from the time of his conversion till his mind became deeply exer- cised in regard to the work of the ministry. And these exercises were great- ly increased by the fact that many of the experienced and pious members of the siociety, as well as the preachers, were deeply impressed with a con- viction that it was his duty to preach the gospel. But this did not satisfy him. He wanted for himself a full proof of Christ speaking in him, and was fearful of preaching before he was sent. The Rev. Mr. Easter, who was his spiritual father and who was of the opinion that God had called him to the work, proposed to him to travel with him round the circuit. He yielded to this proposal with fear and trembling. On the one hand he feared that the course pursued with him by those in whose piety and judgment he had great confidence, and who consequently had much influence with him, might lead him to a premature attempt, which was liable to eventuate in the injury of a cause which he most ardently desired to promote; and on the other, having strong conviction of duty in his own mind, he was trem- blingly alive to the consequences of refusing to obey. His deficiency in lit- erary acquirements, having had only a common English education, his conscious wanting of experience in the knowledge of men and things, and especially his apprehension of his superficial acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, presented to his mind so many formidable difficulties in the Appendix 41 way of a successful prosecution of the work as to produce the most severe conflict. In this fiery trial he left Mr. Easter and returned home, but was unable to attend to business in consequence of the deep struggle and an- guish of his spirit. In this way, to use his own words, "he was tossed to and fro" until the sitting of the Conference, which took place in Petersburg, Va. Here he was recommended by the preacher, received on trial, and ap- pointed by the bishop to Mecklenburg Circuit. This was in less than nine months from the time of his conversion. He was never licensed as a local preacher before he commenced traveling and never located afterwards, so that he never sustained the character of a local preacher, either before or after he was admitted into the Conference. The state of his mind with reference to his call to the ministry at the time he joined the Conference and for more than a year after and the man- ner in which he became fully satisfied of his duty in this respect, I prefer to give in his own words, which are as follows: "I went immediately to the circuit to which I was appointed, relying more on the judgment of expe- rienced ministers, in whom I confided, than on any clear conviction of my call to the work; and when I yielded to their judgment, I firmly resolved not to deceive them, and to retire as soon as I should be convinced that I was not called of God and to conduct myself in such a manner that if I failed my friends might be satisfied it was not for want of effort on my part, but that their judgment was not well founded. This resolution supported me under many doubts and fears, for entering into the work of a traveling preacher neither removed my. doubts nor the difficulties that attended my labors. Sustained by a determination to make a full trial, I resorted to fasting and prayer, and waited for those kind friends who had the charge and government over me to dismiss me from the work. But I waited in vain. In this state of suspense, my reasoning might have terminated in discouraging and ruinous conclusions had I not been comforted and sup- ported by the kind and encouraging manner in which I was received by aged and experienced brethren, by the manifest presence of God in our meetings, which were frequently lively and profitable; and sometimes souls were convicted and converted, which afforded considerable en- couragement, and by the union and communion of my Saviour in private devotion, which he graciously afforded me in the intervals of my very im- perfect attempts to preach his gospel. In this way I became satisfied of my call to the ministry and that I was moving in the line of my duty." In taking a summary view of the dealings of God with his servant, as previously noticed, the following particulars are worthy of our special at- tention: (a) He had a strong conviction in his own mind that it was his duty to preach the gospel and call sinners to repentance. (6) This conviction was strengthened by the knowledge he had that pious and devoted Chris- tians and experienced ministers were of the same opinion, (c) The con- sciousness of his deficiency in those qualifications which are requisite for a minister of Christ filled him with many doubts relative to his call to the work, (d) He feared the consequences and trembled to take the responsi- bility of disobedience, (e) In this state of solicitude and suspense he en- Life and Times of Bishop McKendree tered upon the work, waiting for providential events to decide the doubtful point. (/) But he waited with fasting and prayer, (g) The kindness with which he was received by the friends of the Redeemer greatly encouraged him in his efforts, (h) He saw the fruits of his labors; the presence of God was with him in the congregations and sinners were awakened and convert- ed, (t) He had sweet communion with his Saviour in his private devotions. (/) By these means he was fully persuaded that he was moved by the Holy Ghost to preach. It is not difficult to trace in these points the experience of primitive ministers of the gospel. The calling is by the same divine agency in every age. The promise of the presence of Christ extends to the end of time, and the same fruits are to result from the preaching of the word now as at the beginning. The gospel is now, and will continue to be, the power of God unto salvation. And all true converts to the faith of Christ are still, as they ever have been, seals of the ministry of those through whose instrumentality they have been brought out of darkness into God's marvelous light. We cannot speak minutely of Mr. McKendree during the first years of his ministry. It would swell this discourse beyond its prescribed limits. Suffice it to say that he traveled with great accept- ability and usefulness as a circuit preacher for seven years, in which time he filled some of the most important circuits in Virginia, and one year he was stationed in the city of Norfolk. Some of these were years of great affliction in that part of the work where he chiefly labored. The schism which commenced in the Church in that quarter in 1791, and which was matured the following year, threatened an extensive and ruinous division. At the commencement of these difficulties, his mind was greatly exercised in regard to the course he ought to pursue. And at one time, fearing the measures adopted by the Conference would be injurious to the Church, he declined taking a regular appointment; but he soon became convinced of his error, and a few days after the close of the Conference met the bishop and took a regular station in the city of Norfolk. From this time he de- voted himself more diligently to a critical examination of the system of government recommended by Mr. Wesley and adopted by the General Conference in 1784. This examination resulted in a full conviction that the system was not only well adapted to the ends proposed that is, "to reform the continent, and spread scriptural holiness over these lands" but that it was agreeable to the primitive order and government of the Christian Church. Confirmed in his judgment of the fitness of the govern- ment and of the importance of preserving a general itinerant superin- tendency, guarded by suitable checks and responsibilities, he used the in- fluence of his talents and personal character in the most prudent and judicious manner to counteract the effects and prevent the progress of schismatical measures. And there is good evidence that his labors in this respect were not in vain. With reference to the early years of his min- istry, he says: "The object of my pursuit was the glory of God, the salva- tion of my own soul, and to be useful as a Methodist preacher. For these ends, I sincerely sought to understand the will of God in his gracious plan of redemption, his terms of saving sinners, the duties required of men Appendix 415 both before and after conversion, and conscientiously walk by and enforce them as I was able; and I deeply regretted that my performances fell so far short of what I conceived to be the measure of so good a cause. In the discharge of my duties as a traveling preacher the rules of the Church, and especially of a ' Methodist preacher,' were my directory. I therefore conscientiously endeavored not to break those rules, but to keep them. That the legimate law should govern is a principle from which I have not knowingly departed. By strictly attending to this rule I have had some trouble and affliction, but I have been supported by good conscience." These are sentiments worthy to be written in the heart and preserved in the memory of those who succeed him in the sacred office. They are strik- ingly descriptive of the true character of the excellent man who wrote them. May his sons in the gospel imitate his sincerity, zeal, and fidelity! He was ordained deacon in 1790 and elder in December, 1791. At the close of eight years as a regular circuit preacher, in 1798, he was appointed presiding elder of a district in the Virginia Conference. Here his sphere of useful labor was greatly enlarged. This district extended from the Chesa- peake Bay over the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains and embraced a large tract of country on the western waters. The rides were long, and the charge required of the elder constant preaching and much attention and care in the management of the various and important business of the dis- trict. He records with gratitude to heaven the blessings he received dur- ing the three years he continued in this charge. His ministry was attended by a divine unction. Sinners were awakened and converted to God, be- lievers were comforted and built up in their most holy faith, many were added to the Church, and the field of labor was considerably enlarged. In those days it was in accordance with the spirit and views of Methodist preachers, whether on circuit or districts, to seek the enlargement of the bounds of their work and pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers to cultivate the field. The oversight of the district, in the administration of the discipline, was conducted with great wisdom and pru- dence and to the satisfaction of the preachers and members. The spirit of schism, which had previously prevailed in some parts of the district, greatly subsided, and the love of union, peace, and order was revived. Our venerable departed friend comprehensively records the events of the time he employed on this charge in the following sententious manner: " On this station I was blessed with many friends abundant in kind offices and some of them able counselors. We were blessed with a revival of re- ligion. Many professed to obtain regenerating grace and joined the Church. The members provoked one another to love and good works, and their ad- vancement in the divine life was evident. The abundant labors and care which the charge imposed were too great for my strength; my studies were therefore partially prevented by attention to other branches of duty, and my nervous system was somewhat impaired. But I was abundantly com- pensated in having intimate union and communion with the adorable Saviour, and the increasing prosperity of the Church at once invigorated 416 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree my zeal and increased my joy in the Lord." Thus he closed his extensive and arduous labors on the district. In 1799 he was appointed to a district in the Baltimore Conference con- tiguous to that on which he had traveled the three proceeding years. This district was little less in extent of territory than the former. It extended from the Chesapeake Bay over the Blue Ridge and terminated at the foot of the AUeghany Mountains. This was to him a year of labor and trials; but he says: "They were forgotten in overwhelming communion with God and reviving and encouraging interviews with my followers. Here," he adds, "I found fathers and mothers in Israel by whose example I was edi- fied and comforted." In the spring of 1800 he was returned to the district from which he had been taken the year before, and in the fall of the same year Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat passed through the district and took him with them to the Western Conference, which met at Bethel in October. Here he was ap- pointed to the oversight of the whole Conference, in the character of a district, which embraced the State of Kentucky and that part of Virginia west of the Great Kanawha River, East and West Tennessee, and all the settled territory west of the Ohio River, including what is now the State of Ohio, and an extensive mission in the Illinios. The Natchez Mission was also connected with his charge. He had now to travel about fifteen hundred miles to compass his district; and the whole extent of it, with the exception of East Tennessee and that part of Virginia which it included, was a new and rapidly populating country. This was a field of labor and enterprise well suited to the enlightened views and ardent devotion of this excellent minister of Christ. It was a work worthy of apostles, and one which required the zeal of apostles to accomplish it. He entered into it with a deep sense of his dependence upon divine aid and with that vigorous and persevering action which, by the blessing of God, was attended with abundant success. It must be recollected that a very large portion of the country embraced in his new charge was just settling with emigrants from the old States, who were subject to all the inconveniences and privations common to the first settlers in all new countries. Small companies of these emigrants would locate themselves in neighborhoods many miles from each other, without any other method of intercourse than the pocket compass or trees marked with the ax or the tops of underbrush bent down and half broken. These were the landmarks and highways of our McKendree through a large part of the vast Valley of the Mississippi. It was his wise and benevolent plan, with the handful of preachers in his charge, to advance with the increasing population of the country and to plant the standard of the cross and preach Jesus and the resurrection in the most frontier settle- ments. Pursuing this judicious course, the field of labor continued to en- large in proportion to the rapid advance of emigration. In the prosecution of this plan, he and his fellow laborers (of precious memory) had necessarily to encounter and overcome many formidable difficulties. They were fre- quently ministers of gospel consolation to the people in their camps or cab- ins in the woods or canebrakes before their fields were sufficiently opened to Appendix 417 raise a comfortable support for their families. In getting to them, for want of roads or paths, they were conducted through the trackless woods; and for want of bridges or boats, they swam creeks and rivers. They carried their provisions for man and beast on their horses, cooked their simple meals in the wilderness, slept at night on their blankets (frequently inter- rupted by the company and howling of wolves), and in the morning went on their way rejoicing. The following is the description of these western scenes drawn by our venerable friend, whose experience had qualified him to give a striking picture. He says: "While on the way through these frontier settlements, if we came to a creek or a river without a boat or ca- noe or log we had the privilege of swimming the stream, and when safely landed on the other bank, it was a consolation to reflect on having left that obstruction behind and that the way to the next lay open and plain before us. If night overtook us before we could reach a house, it was our privilege to gather wood where we could find it, make a fire, eat our morsel, and sup- plicate a throne of grace with as free access as in a palace or a church. Be- ing weary, we rested sweetly and securely under divine protection. And when we arrived at our intended place, if the accommodations were of the humblest kind, we had the inexpressible satisfaction of being received with a hearty welcome and accommodated with the best the family could afford; and though very inferior in the estimation of the delicate and those accus- tomed to sumptuous fare, yet all the real wants of nature were supplied. We ate heartily, slept sweetly, and rejoiced with the pious and affectionate people, who received and treated the ministers of the gospel as angels of God; and, above all, when the time arrived for us to deliver our message, the people flocked together and seemed to wait to hear what God the Lord would say. The prayers of the pious ascended the hill of the Lord, divine energy attended the word preached, sinners were convicted of their sins, many were converted to God, and the Chruch enlarged and built up in faith once delivered to the saints." In this vast western work he continued to labor as a presiding elder from the fall of 1800 till the spring of 1808. In view of the whole, he says: "My appointments required much riding, I preached often, and sustained a great charge; and yet I esteem those among the happiest days of my life. Strange as it may seem, there in the midst of privations and many exposures my impaired constitution was restored and my health greatly improved. I enjoyed peace and consolation through faith and was enabled to walk with God." During the eight years of his labor in this Western Valley, the work was greatly enlarged, and a number of regular districts were formed. In the spring of 1808, he was elected by the Western Conference to at- tend the General Conference, in the city of Baltimore. Here he was ap- pointed on the committee to form a constitution for the organization and government of a delegated General Conference. But before the committee had fully matured that important system and prepared it to lay before the body, he was elected by the General Conference to the office of general su- perintendent, or bishop, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was or- dained on May 18, 1808, by the imposition of the hands of Bishop Asbury, 27 418 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree assisted by the following elders viz., Jesse Lee, Freeborn Garrettson, Thomas Ware, and Philip Bruce. I cannot follow Bishop McKendree in his almost unparalleled travels from the time of his election to the episcopal office till death removed him from the militant Church, even with that de- gree of minuteness which would be necessary to give a tolerable view of the extent and usefulness of the exercise of his manisterial functions. How- ever desirable such a narrative might be, in a discourse occasioned by the removal of such a man as Bishop McKendree, it would require a volume to accomplish it. We must therefore satisfy ourselves for the present with a few brief sketches of this very important epoch of his history in hope that an enlarged biography of his long, laborious, and useful life will at no very distant period be given to the Church in which he has exercised the over- sight for so many years. His field of labor was now changed from a dis- trict in the Western Valley to the United States and Territories and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and instead of presiding in quar- terly meetings, chiefly in thinly settled circuits, he was now called to the joint superintendence of the temporal and spiritual interests of the whole Church, embracing the preachers and members of seven Annual Confer- ences. In the prosecution of this arduous work, for many years, he traveled annually from four to six thousand miles, and a great part of the time preached nearly every day. Nor would he yield to the use of a carriage, but performed his extensive journeys on horseback till the infirmities of age and the greatness and variety of his labors had enfeebled his constitu- tion and greatly impaired his health. While he retained his physical strength and action, he was always ready to advance in the face of difficul- ties and dangers. Diligence and perseverance were stamped upon his whole character, and if he failed to meet an appointment (which was very seldom the case), it was apprehended that some extraordinary dispensation of Providence had delayed him. He left the city of Baltimore about June 1, shortly after the close of the General Conference at which he was consti- tuted bishop, and traveled through Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Territories west of the Ohio River, and penetrated the "western wilds" one hundred miles up the Missouri. Here he attended a camp meeting in the true "backwoods" style, with that excellent man of God, the Rev. Jesse Walker. His house at this meeting was the preachers' saddle blankets sewed together and spread over a pole, supported by forks placed in the ground, after the manner of soldiers' tents. One end of this house was made of green brush, the other was left open, and in front of it the fire was made. His food was bread and flesh broiled on sticks by the fire. He re- turned through the Territories to meet Bishop Asbury and the Western Conference, on October 1, at Liberty Hill, in Tennessee. Thus in four months he accomplished a tour of about fifteen hundred miles on horseback a considerable part of it without roads, bridges, or boats, frequently swim- ming creeks and rivers and sleeping many nights in the woods with heaven for his covering and earth for his bed. This first extensive frontier visit of a Methodist bishop was attended with happy results. Many people had conceived of the superintendents, or bishops, of the Methodist Episcopal Appendix. 419 Church as being men clothed with power dangerous to society. They had considered them as ecclesiastical dignitaries, inaccessible to the common classes of people, surrounded with pomp and wealth, and ruling with al- most absolute authority. And there were not wanting Protestant teachers of religion who were forward in producing and cherishing such sentiments in the minds of the people. Bishop McKendree's appearance and manners were well calculated to correct such views and remove the prejudices of those who had formed their opinions under the influence of misrepresenta- tion. Thousands flocked to see and hear the " Methodist bishop. " But how were they disappointed! Instead of costly and fashionable costume, his dress was of the plainest mode and of common materials. Instead of austerity of manners and the signs of ecclesiastical power, they found him affable, familiar, and persuasive, gentle to all men, ready to participate with ease and sweetness of temper in the circumstances of the poor and afflicted, and ever intent upon diffusing happiness in every circle of society in which he moved. In this Western tour he met a number of quarterly and camp meetings and preached in the demonstration of the Spirit and with power to listen- ing thousands, and the blessed fruits of those labors remain to this day. His administration in the first Conference, at which he presided con- jointly with Bishop Asbury, which has been named before, was every way satisfactory to the preachers and people. Here he commenced his regular annual visits to the Conferences, travel- ing sometimes with his venerable colleague, Bishop Asbury, and sometimes alone, as was found most convenient in view of visiting the Churches and preaching to the congregations in the most profitable manner in the inter- vals of the Conferences. His manner of conducting the business of the Conferences was almost universally approved, and his administration of the government was uni- formly sustained by the General Conference. In this laborious, extensive, and difficult oversight, he continued, traveling about six thousand miles a year, till 1816, during which time the work had been greatly enlarged and several new Conferences were organized. From 1812 till 1816, Bishop McKendree's labors were considerably increased in consequence of Bishop Asbury's inability, through age and severe affliction, to sustain the charge as he had before done. In the fall of 1815, these two venerable and labo- rious men met for the last time at the Tennessee Conference. Bishop As- bury preached, although unable to stand on his feet, and ordained with feeble and trembling hands a few preachers. Here they separated, taking different routes, intending to meet at the South Carolina Conference, in Charleston. But Bishop Asbury failed to reach the place, and they met no more. In March, 1816, Bishop Asbury was removed from his labors and sufferings to his eternal rest, and Bishop McKendree was left alone in the general superintendency of the Church. For some time previous to the sitting of the General Conference in May of this year, Bishop McKendree was severely afflicted. He was confined to his bed on his way from the Baltimore to the Philadelphia Conference and was not able to attend the 420 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree latter. He was brought to the dwelling of his old friend, Dr. Wilkins, in the vicinity of Baltimore, where he remained till the sitting of the General Conference. Here it was very evident that his arduous labors, extensive travels, and the infirmities of age had greatly impaired his constitution and enfeebled his physical energies. It was obvious to all that it was indis- pensably necessary to afford him aid in his superintending oversight. For this purpose two aged and experienced brethren were elected and ordained as his joint colleagues in this vast field of labor; but notwithstanding his feeble state of health and the appointment of two additional superintend- ents at this General Conference, he continued to discharge the duties of his office with untiring perseverance, and his travels and labors were rather increased than diminished. In the winter of 1817-18, he attended the South Carolina Conference in Georgia and went on to the Virginia Conference at Norfolk. At the close of this Conference he set out on an extensive Western tour and trav- eled by the way of Lynchburg, through the western parts of Virginia, and East and West Tennessee. After resting a few days at his brother's, in Sumner County, he continued his journey through the southern parts of Kentucky, crossed the Ohio River, and visited the lower parts of the State of Illinois; crossed the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau, and visited the frontier settlements about the old lead mines, and from thence to the Mis- souri River; and, crossing it, attended a camp meeting on the north side. After attending this meeting, he returned through Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, visiting the Churches by the way of St. Louis, Vincennes, Louisville, Shelbyville, and Maysville; and attended the Ohio Conference at Steubenville in the fall of 1818. His affliction was such at this Confer- ence as to excite the deep sympathy of his friends, who advised and even entreated him to relinquish his design of visiting the South Carolina Con- ference the ensuing winter by way of Mississippi and through the exten- sive nations of Indians; but his work was before him and his trust was in God. He commenced the intended journey in circumstances which would have deterred most men from the attempt. He could neither mount nor dismount his horse without help, and, when mounted, one misstep or irregular motion of the horse produced exquisite pain. But feeble as he was, he pursued his course through the States of Ohio and Indiana and attended the Conference on the White River, and from thence to the Tennessee Con- ference in Nashville. Here he took two young men for the work in Missis- sippi, prepared a pack horse to carry their provisions through the Indian Nations, and set out for the Mississippi Conference, which was to meet in the Pearl River. Long rides, irregular living, and great exposure added to the care of the Churches, proved to be too great for his declining strength, and three days before he reached the seat of Conference, he sunk under the fatigue and was very near falling from his horse. The balance of his jour- ney was pursued in great weakness. He commenced the business of the Conference, but was unable to proceed. A brother was called to the chair, and a bed was placed in the room on which the Bishop lay and afforded such council and aid as his feeble state would admit. On the Sabbath the Appendix 421 congregation met on the camp ground. The Bishop was taken in a carriage and laid on a bed near the stand during the sermon. At the close of the preaching, he was taken from the bed, and, being supported by two preach- ers, performed the ordination service in the presence of a large, attentive, and deeply affected congregation. This work being accomplished, he was put into the carriage and conveyed to his lodgings, where he remained, with the kindest treatment and in the hands of a skillful physician, through a long and painful affliction. His recovery from this illness was very slow, so that it was judged unsafe for him to attempt to travel, except on a visit to the mission at New Orleans on a steamboat, till about the mid- dle of April, 1819. At this time his physicians and friends, considering it not safe for him to remain in the low country during the warm season, ad- vised his return to a more northern latitude to spend the summer. Accord- ingly he set out, accompanied by two preachers, although in a very weak and delicate state of health. His feebleness of body prevented him from reaching the public stands on the road, in consequence of which he was un- der the necessity of lying in the woods eight or ten nights in passing through the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations on his way to West Tennessee. Aft- er resting a few weeks at his brother's, in Sumner County, he visited the Harrodsburg Springs, in Kentucky, where he continued a considerable part of the summer, visiting and preaching in the neighborhood as he was able. In August he attended the Ohio Conference in Cincinnati. From this Conference he moved slowly, as his feeble health would permit, through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, and arrived in Georgetown during the session of the Baltimore Conference in that place. Here he was received with a sincere and ardent affection and with lively expressions of gratitude to God for the preservation of his life. On the first day of May, 1820, he opened the session of the General Conference in Baltimore, but was seldom able to preside, or even to attend the sittings of the Conference. During this eventful session, Bishop McKendree was deeply afflicted, both in body and mind. With the interests and prosperity of the Church no man was ever more perfectly identified. Whatever tended to disturb her peace or weaken the bands of confidence and fellowship within her pales was with him a matter of painful sensibility. He was always watchful of those ancient landmarks set up by the wisdom of age and experience and tested by extraordinary proofs of divine approbation in a genuine, extensive, and continued revival of evangelical religion over this continent. He con- templated with admiration the peculiar adaptation of the doctrines, govern- ment, and discipline of the Church of his choice to the proposed ends. He had thoroughly examined the grand itinerant system and was fully per- suaded of its agreement with the primitive order of the Church. He had witnessed its mighty and efficient operations in turning thousands and tens of thousands from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, and he had studied men and things too well not to perceive that a gen- eral itinerant superintendency was essential to the efficiency, and even to the preservation, of this system. Under all these considerations, Bishop Mc- Kendree was deeply affected with any measures which, in his judgment, 422 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree had a tendency to weaken the energies or change the plan of the govern- ment. Such measures he apprehended to be in a train of operation at the General Conference of 1820. With these measures he was afflicted, but his earnest and constant prayer was that God would so direct and overrule the deliberations and acts of that body as to promote the peace and har- mony of the Church and advance the general interests of religion. In con- sideration of Bishop McKendree's extreme debility, and in hope that his health might be restored, the General Conference passed a resolution re- leasing him from the discharge of his official duties and advising him to pursue that course which would best suit his personal comfort and con- venience and be most likely to improve his health, and at the same time requesting him to resume the functions of his office as soon as his strength would permit. He ever afterwards spoke of this act of the Conference with expressions of affection and gratitude. From this period till the sitting of the General Conference in 1824, he passed through the deep waters of affliction. Un- able through bodily infirmity to travel and meet the Conferences and jointly with his colleagues superintend the important business of the Church while efforts were making at different points to produce schism in the body, and his character assailed with a severity which savored but little of the spirit of the gospel, the refined and exquisite sensibility of his nature was wounded, and his deep solicitude for the harmony of the preach- ers and people was frequently expressed in fervent prayers and many tears. In reviewing the scenes of these four years, the Bishop speaks with deep humility and lively gratitude. He says: "The last four years I have been afflicted in body and in mind. In some measure my anxiety and zeal for the Church appeared to have been the effect of a deficiency in faith and trust in God. In these deep exercises I saw more clearly the depravity of my own heart and have cause to regret that I failed so to exercise patience and faith as to grow in grace as heretofore, but the Lord mercifully sus- tained and graciously saved me from sinking in the deep waters. I remem- ber with gratitude being rescued from sinking under the trial by timely encouragement and support from brethren in the ministry and in the mem- bership." At the Conference of 1824, the Bishop's health was considerably improved and the conflicting elements of disunion and schism appeared to be subsiding. The prospect of a better state of things produced a happy effect in his mind. When the Conference closed, he set out on a tour through the Western States, preaching every Sabbath and sometimes on the week days. In this journey he traveled from Baltimore to Wheeling in Virginia to Columbus in Ohio, to the Wyandotte Mission at Upper San- dusky, returning to the OhioConference at Zanesville; from thence by the way of Lancaster, Chillicothe, Maysville, and Frankfort, to Shelbyville, the seat of the Kentucky Conference. After attending the Conference, he continued the journey to Louisville, crossed the Ohio River, and pro- ceeded through the State of Indiana to Vincennes, crossed the Wabash, and traveled through Illinios to Padfields, twenty-five miles from the Mis- sissippi; attended the Missouri Conference in November, and proceeded Appendix 423 through the south part of Illinois; recrossed the Ohio River into Kentucky, and visited Hopkinsville and Russell ville, and passed into Tennessee; preached at Fountain Head, Gallatin, Nashville, and Franklin, and at- tended the Tennessee Conference December 1, at Columbia. During this long and laborious journey, Bishop McKendree was a great part of the time so feeble as to require the assistance of friends to get in and out of his carriage. The roads were exceedingly bad and sometimes almost im- passable. The waters were high, bridges and boats gone, and for the last month the weather estremely cold and unpleasant. Several times the horses and carriage were near swimmimg, and once in crossing a deep and dangerous river on a very cold day, the ferryboat having been sunk in the stream, the water swept over the horses' backs, and the carriage sunk so deep that the water came in so as to wet the Bishop above the knees. His clothes were soon frozen, and in this condition he had to ride three or four miles to reach a house. He remained with his friends in Tennessee through the winter of 1824-25, visiting the Churches and preaching frequently. He spent the ensuing summer in the West, and in the fall crossed the Cumberland Mountains and attended the Holston Conference and traveled extensively through Virginia. In the spring of 1826, he visited the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York Conferences, and returned to the South in the fall; spent the winter in the bounds of the South Carolina and Virginia Conferences, and returned to the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences in the spring of 1827. After the close of the Philadelphia Conference, he returned to Baltimore, and set out on a journey to the West in May. He crossed the Allegeheny Mountains by the way of Cumberland, visiting and preaching in the principal societies. He traveled through the State of Ohio by way of Zanesville, Lancaster, and Columbus, and visited the third time the Wyandotte Mission; returning, he passed through Urbana and visited many of the towns in the south part of the State, and attended the Ken- tucky Conference in Versailles in Ocotber; from thence he went to Ten- nessee and spent the winter with his friends, visiting the neighboring so- cieties and preaching frequently as he was able. In March, 1828, he set out in company with two of the delegates from the Tennessee Conference for Pittsburgh, the seat of the General Conference, and arrived a few days before its commencement. Although he was unable to preside, his pres- ence and council were highly appreciated by the Conference, especially in regard to some very important transactions. At this Conference, al- though trembling on his staff and pressed beneath the weight of more than seventy years and the cares inseparable from his office, his mind was pe- culiarly peaceful and tranquil and his spirit was greatly comforted in pros- pect of the establishment of the harmony and the increasing prospect of the Church. After the close of the Conference, he went down the Ohio River to Mays- ville, and visited Lexington and Frankfort, and attended the Kentucky Conference at Shelbyville. From thence he proceeded to Tennessee, and prepared to go to the South. After visiting and preaching in a number of 424 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree towns and attending six or seven camp and quarterly meetings, he set out for Georgia, through the Cherokee Nation. This was a difficult, laborious, and dangerous route. He passed the Lookout Mountain in the Nation under circumstances of trial and peril. He preached a number of times to the Indians, attended the grand council of the chiefs, and proceeded by way of Athens, Lexington, and Greensboro, to Milledgeville; thence to Sparta and Petersburg, and, crossing the Savannah River at Rembert's, visited several districts in South Carolina, and recrossed the Savannah to Augusta; preached a number of times both to the whites and the colored, and pro- ceeded to Savannah. From this city he passed into South Carolina, visited several plantations, instructed the slaves, and attended the Conference in Charleston. He continued his route through South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, attended the Conference at Lynchburg, and, after spending some time in visiting the Churches in the lower parts of Virginia attended the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences, and returned by the District of Columbia; again crossed the Allegheny Mountains and at- tended the Ohio Conference at Urbana and the Kentucky at Lexington, and spent the winter in Nashville and its vicinity. During the spring and summer of 1830, he was unable to travel very extensively, but visited the Churches and attended popular meetings as his strength would admit. In October he attended the Kentucky Con- ference, and, notwithstanding his age and infirmities, he had it in contem- plation to visit South Carolina and meet all the Atlantic and Northern Conferences as far as the Genesee before the sitting of the General Con- ference in Philadelphia in the spring of 1832. In the judgment of those friends who were best acquainted with his delicate state of health, this proj- ect appeared to be rather the result of unabated zeal in the great and blessed work in which he was engaged than any deliberate calculation with re- gard to his physical powers to accomplish it. His whole soul was absorbed in the enterprise, and, in view of it, he seemed to have lost sight of himself. He was advised, as he would have effective aid, to visit the Holston Con- ference, as an experiment of his ability to accomplish his contemplated tour. To this he yielded with readiness and apparent pleasure. The dis- tance was between three and four hundred miles, over the Cumberland Mountains, and the greater part of the way a very rough road. However, the journey was commenced, but before he arrived at Knoxville it became very obvious that he was sinking, and many fears were entertained for the result. But the journey was continued under such weakness and general prostration as required that he should be lifted into and out of his carriage, and this frequently eight or ten times in the course of the day. But all was patient suffering; not a murmur, not a complaint escaped his lips. And al- though his traveling companion in removing him from his carriage and re- placing him in it could not refrain from shedding tears of affection and sym- pathy over this aged, venerable, and persevering minister of Jesus Christ, those tears would be met with a smile of heavenly resignation and with expressions of gratitude for the attention paid him in his afflictions. He reached the seat of the Conference a day or two after the commencement Appendix 425 of the session, but unable to attend to any business, and only visited the Conference room once and then remained but a few moments to give the preachers a kind of apostolic valedictory. He was confined to his bed the greater part of the time during the session and at its close was able to sit up but little. Under these circumstances, he consulted some of his old and well-tried friends in regard to his future course. He was assured that in their judgment it was impracticable for him to prosecute his contemplated continental tour, and consequently they advised him to return by slow and easy stages as his feeble state would admit and spend the ensuing winter in Nashville and its vicinity without further exposure. His reply was prompt and emphatical: "I approve your judgment and submit." But it was obvious that, although his mind was fully convinced of the fitness of this course, his heart was in the great work which he viewed with so much interest, and which he ardently desired to accomplish before his departure. It was observed that when he relinquished this enterprise the tears flowed freely from his eyes. But to recross the range of the Cumberland Moun- tains, a distance of more than three hundred and fifty miles, through a mountainous country, on rocky and dangerous roads, and the season far advanced, was both a difficult and hazardous undertaking in his delicate and almost helpless condition. But the most formidable difficulties must yield to circumstances so imperious. The journey was commenced the next day after the Conference closed and continued with patient persever- ance till he was safely lodged at his brother's, in Sumner County. This journey was a mingled scene of suffering, patience, and comfort. On the way he traveled through heavy falls of rain and sleet and snow, and al- though every motion of the carriage over rough places, rocks, or roots gave him severe pain, his mind was tranquil and cheerful. As soon as the roads became comfortable in the spring of 1831, he left his winter retreat and traveled slowly through Kentucky and Ohio, attending quarterly and camp meetings and visiting the societies and preaching frequently. In the fall he crossed the Allegheny Mountains and passed the winter in Balti- more and its vicinity. In May, 1832, he attended the General Conference in Philadelphia. He lodged with his old and long-tried friend, Dr. Sargent, where unremitting, cordial, and affectionate attention was shown him by the kind and amiable family. He was very feeble, frequently unable to reach the Conference room, and when he did was seldom able to remain but a short time. On these occasions he went in and out before this body of ministers like an ancient patriarch, silvered over with age and leaning upon his staff, leaving a kind of presentiment in the mind of the preachers that this would be his last visit on such an occasion. His discourse on the death of Bishop George and the ordination of two brethren elected by the General Conference to succeed him in that sacred office will never be for- gotten while those who heard it live. At the close of the Conference he took an affectionate leave of his friends, and especially the preachers, as though he expected to see them no more till he met them in the heavenly city. He returned to Baltimore, and after resting a few weeks and enjoying the society and conversation of many to 426 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree whom he had been long united in the bonds of Christian love and friend- ship, he set out for the West and crossed the Allegheny Mountains, which he had so often crossed in weariness and affliction before, for the last time. He passed through the western part of Pennsylvania, the north of Virginia, the States of Ohio and Kentucky, to Tennessee. In the latter part of this journey it became necessary to fix a bed in his carriage on which he might lie down, being too feeble to support himself on the seat. The following year he spent chiefly in West Tennessee, visiting various parts of the work, attending popular meetings, and preaching in the power and demonstra- tion of the Spirit. In January, 1834, he visited Natchez, New Orleans, and Woodville, passing down the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers by steamboat. He preached on board the boat, and in the several places he visited with an energy and effect truly astonishing. In the spring of 1834 he returned to Nashville, visited and preached in different places through the summer, and in fall attended the Tennessee Conference. He preached for the last time in the new church in Nashville, on Sabbath, November 23, 1834. Here ended the pulpit labors of this venerable minis- ter of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who had traveled and preached for almost half a century. Here that penetrating, yet pleasant voice, which had been heard with delight by listening thousands in almost all the populous cities in these United States and which had sounded forth the glad tidings of salvation in the cabins of the poor on the remote frontiers or to numerous multitudes gathered together in the forests of the Western Territories and which savage tribes had heard proclaiming to them the unsearchable riches of Christ, died away to be heard no more. Here he finished the ministra- tion of the words of eternal life and closed his public testimony for the truth of the revelation of God. In the latter part of December he removed from Nashville to his brother's, which was his last travel. From this time it was obvious that he was gradually sinking to the repose of the tomb. But he had one more conflict before the warfare was accomplished. From the time that Bishop McKendree became unable to perform the entire ef- fective work of a general superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church his mind was frequently deeply exercised with the apprehensions that he might become unprofitable in the vineyard of his Lord. And it would seem as if he sometimes thought nothing was done unless he could compass the whole work, as he had been accustomed to do in the days of his strength and vigor. He had for many years moved with the foremost in activity and perseverance, and the idea of following in the rear and being left behind was painful to him and frequently drew tears from his eyes. And this sentiment often led him to exertions and labors far beyond his strength. This fear that he should outlive his usefulness in the Church of God and become unprofitable to his fellow creatures was the last afflicting exercise of mind through which he passed, and from this he was speedily and hap- pily delivered by the prayer of faith. He sunk patiently and sweetly into all his Heavenly Father's will and waited in lively hope and abiding peace for the hour of its departure. The inward conflict had ceased; his confi- dence in God was unshaken; faith strong and unwavering, stretched Appendix. 427 across the Jordan of death and surveyed the heavenly country. With such sentiments and in such a peaceful and happy frame of mind, the dying McKendree proclaimed in his last hours: "All is well!" In this emphatical sentence he comprehended what St. Paul expressed in view of his departure from the world and exaltation to an eternal inheritance: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." The last connected sen- tences which ever dropped from the lips of this aged and devoted servant of God, who for almost a half century had made Jesus Christ the same yes- terday and to-day and forever the end of his conversation were: "All is well for time or for eternity; I live by faith in the Son of God; for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. "Not a cloud doth arise to darken my skies, Or hide for a moment my Lord from mine eyes." In this calm and triumphant state of mind he continued till he sweetly "slept in Jesus" at 5 P.M., March 5, 1835, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." After the notices which have been taken of our beloved and lamented Bishop in the foregoing sketches of his life, it might seem unnecessary to add anything further; but I cannot feel fully satisfied of having discharged my obligation in this solemn and interesting subject without a brief and more summary view of his character, but to do this in a suitable manner, to say neither too much nor too little, is not an easy task. It will be diffi- cult, nay, it will be be impossible, to satisfy all. Some will think too much, others too little, is said; but without undue regard to either, I will endeavor according to my ability to speak the truth, and nothing but the truth without fear or flattery. That Bishop McKendree had faults, is certain; it is equally true that he was deeply sensible of them. Of him might be said with the strictest propriety, He felt an idle thought, an actual wickedness, And mourned for the minutest fault with exquisite distress. But his faults, or rather his infirmities, were always on virtue's side and scarcely deserve to be named in view of the excellences which adorned and dignified his moral, Christian, and ministerial character. If clearness of conception, richness and variety of sentiment, judicious arrangement and association, strength of argument, zeal as the effect of convictiod of the truth and importance of the subject, simplicity and purity of language, powerful application, and, above all, the unction of the Holy Spirit, constitute a great and good preacher of the gospel of Jeuss Christ, Bishop McKendree has a just title to that character. His personal ap- pearance in the pulpit was always dignified and his action chaste and un- ostentatious. His voice was clear, harmonious, and pleasant, possessing not unfrequently peculiar strength and energy. His preaching was always heard by the attentive and candid with pleas- ure and profit, and frequently with applause by every class of the com- 428 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree munity. His discourses were full of sentiment, and he never employed words only as the representatives of ideas. It was very obvious to the at- tentive hearer that much close thinking had been bestowed on his subjects, but he used no elaborate method of communication, no quaint sentences or phrases beyond the comprehension of his hearers escaped from his lips, but his style was chaste and frequently nervous. Bishop McKendree very justly considered the Divine Oracles to con- tain the subject matter of the Christian ministry, and to be the best directory with respect to the manner of teaching as well as the matter to be taught. Out of these sacred records he was not known to travel in his public min- istration of the word. In them he was deep read and always at home. Few men have ever entertained clearer or more just views of the leading and fundamental doctrines of the Christian revelation, and few men have ever exhibited, illustrated, and applied them with greater effect. He had a talent peculiar to himself for illustrating the doctrines and obligations of religion by the most appropriate figures drawn from nature or art. In these illustrations he seldom failed to produce the most happy effect. He was an accurate and admiring observer of nature, and he drew from her .exhaustless depositories abundant means of setting forth the admirable analogy and perfection of the gospel. Nor was he inattentive to the differ- ent occupations and pursuits of men, or even to the incidents of civilized or savage life, so far as he could use them for the purpose of giving efficiency to religious instructions either to the believer or unbeliever. As a striking example of this happy talent, it may be remarked that the short but com- prehensive sentence by which he expressed his complete victory over the fear of death and his confident assurance of a heavenly inheritance was first taken from a sentinel at a post where danger might be apprehended and consequently where a watch was needful. From this station the sen- tinel was heard to cry at measured periods: "All is well!" I need not say how happily and how appropriately this expression of security and triumph was employed by this veteran soldier of the cross of Jesus who had for so many years remained a faithful sentinel on the walls of Zion. He did not preach the doctrines of the gospel as subjects of abstract science or theoretical speculation, but brought them home to the hearts and con- sciences of the hearers. If he spoke of the natural depravity of the human heart, he made the audience feel that they were depraved; if he reasoned of righteousness and of judgment to come, his hearers trembled while their consciences joined in with the revelation of God. And so clear and power- ful were his appeals on the subject of future accountability and retribu- tion that it would almost seem to the listening assembly that the judgment was set and the books open. The divinity of Christ, the extent and fullness of the divine atonement, the riches and plenitude and freeness of the pre- cious prpvisions of the gospel, the perfect suitableness of the system of salvation in all its requirements and helps and promises to the condition of depraved, sinful, and guilty creatures, the blessed effects of a voluntary submission to the proposed terms, to be saved by grace through faith, and the fearful consequence of rejecting Christ and his salvation were subjects Appendix on which he dwelt with a clearness of conception, strength of argument, and power of conviction of which there are not many examples among his contemporaries in the Christian ministry. Who has ever heard Bishop McKendree preach a sermon in which ex- perimental and practical godliness were not distinctly presented and strongly enforced? I never did, although I have heard him many times. Conviction, conversion, sanctification, or perfect love, producing a sin- cere and joyful obedience to all the commands of God were interwoven with all his public as well as his private ministrations; but, above all, there was an unction from the Holy One, a divine energy, attending his ministry. His preaching was in the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Few preachers since the days of the apostles have had more fruits of their labors. Who can reckon up the number that will appear in the morning of the resurrection, clothed with white robes, and decked with crowns of glory, who were brought to the knowledge of salvation through his instru- mentality! But while we remember Bishop McKendree as an excellent and useful preacher in the gospel, we must not forget him as a wise and judicious ruler in the Church of God. For twelve years he filled the responsible office of a presiding elder, and for nearly twenty-seven years he sustained the office of a general superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During this long period of official services many cases of great importance and of no ordinary difficulty occurred in the course of the administration of the government; but he traveled through these cases with such patience of investigation and rectitude of design, and arrived at a decision with such clearness as seldom failed to give universal satisfaction. And it is a remarkable fact that during the whole period of his official oversight he never was accused before any tribunal having jurisdiction in the case of having departed from the principles of the constitution or the rules of the Church, or of having used the authority which had been committed to him for the administration of the government for any other purpose or to any other end than what was originally designed. It is true, this venerable man was charged by individuals and in inflammatory publications with the "love of power" and with the "abuse of the episcopal prerogative," but never were charges more groundless, never were charges more feebly sus- tained. No man whom I have ever known possessed a more just appre- hension of the nature, extent, and uses of the authority with which he was invested than Bishop McKendree, and no man ever exercised that author- ity with more perfect subjection to constitutional guards and with a more sincere and conscientious design to employ it, not for personal emolument, but for the specific purposes for which it was given. Men in every age of tjie world who have been restless under the legitimate administration of laws and indisposed to be "subject to the powers that be" have been ac- customed to exclaim against the love and the abuse of power; and in cases where they have succeeded in transferring authority from other hands to their own, history will give information of the manner in which they have used it. 430 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Bishop McKendree's course in the administration was governed by an enlightened and extensive view of the whole system. He distinctly appre- hended the relation which the several departments of the government sus- tained to each other and the constitutional powers which belonged to each; and it was his constant aim to preserve those powers in such a balance and subject to such checks and restrictions as would secure the right of all, es- tablish the union and peace of the Church, and preserve the uniform and judicious administration of wholesome discipline. It is certain that this great man possessed a strong and ardent attachment to the system of Methodism. But this attachment was the result of conviction, consequent upon the thorough examination of the principles and designs which the system embraces, and the suitableness of the principles to the accomplish- ment of the ends. He was firmly persuaded that a general itinerant super- intendency, as secured by the constitution of the Church, with sufficient powers to administer the government and responsible to the General Con-i ference for the use of these powers, was of vital importance to the preser- vation of the itinerant system, to a uniform administration of the Disci- pline, and to the internal union and harmony of the body. With such views he uniformly deplored the existence of measures which had a tendency either to deprive the superintendency of those prerogatives which were essential to its very existence or so to restrict its power as to render it in- efficient and consequently to bring it into contempt. Bishop McKendree was never satisfied with a superficial view of any important proposition. He was accustomed to trace principles, either in doctrine or government, in their practical operation and either to sustain or disprove them by pointing out with a clearness peculiar to himself the certain results. In this way he aimed to give a permanency to the princi- ples of the government and to the executive administration. Upon the most careful examination, after an intimate acquaintance for many years, I know of no essential qualification of an ecclesiastical ruler which our dear departed Bishop did not possess in an eminent degree. He was well acquainted with men. He had read human nature in all its diver- sified character. He well understood the principles and ends of Church government. He was calm and deliberate in all his official acts. His mind was too pure and elevated to admit of partiality in the exercise of the functions of his office. While his heart was susceptible of the tenderest friendships and alive to the purest and most exquisite sympathies of which human nature is capable, he was firm and unyielding in his adherence to those principles which he had established for the government of his ad- ministration. In fixing the stations of the preachers at the Annual Con- ferences, it was his uniform practice to obtain all the information in his power from the various sources to which he had access relative to the state of the whole field of labor and the qualifications and circumstances of the preachers who were to cultivate it. This information being obtained, he was always disposed to seek the aid of the views and councils of those whose experience and office qualified them to be useful helpers in this highly re- sponsible work, and, conscious of the imperfection of all human knowledge Appendix 431 and of the insufficiency of human agency and of his liability to err, the whole was submitted in humble prayer for divine direction, for the for- giveness of faults, and for success to attend the well-meant endeavors to advance the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. In the performance of this important branch of his official oversight, Bishop McKendree deep- ly sympathized with the preachers of his charge and their families in their labors, privations, and sufferings. With him it was a sacred princi- ple to yield to individual accommodation in consideration of age, afflic- tions, or family circumstances as far as it could be done consistently with the good of the whole. But if, after the most careful and impar- tial examination, such individual convenience appeared to him to be de- trimental to the general interest, there was neither hesitating nor com- promise with regard to his course. Individual accommodation must al- ways submit to the public good. But he never bound heavy burdens and laid them on men's shoulders which he himself was unwilling to bear. Who has known any man more ready and willing to endure all the labors and sacrifices and sufferings of a Methodist preacher? By such a course, Bish- op McKendree established and retained the affectionate and respectful confidence of the preachers and people over whom he presided and whose interests he had deeply at heart. And in his prudent, mild, and firm ad- ministration of the government, he has left a worthy and illustrious ex- ample for the imitation of those who may succeed him. In his Christian character, our beloved Bishop was eminently a "pattern of good works." He had a deep and abiding sense of his dependence upon the grace of God, through Christ, both for wisdom and ability to perform his duties in such a manner as to be approved of God and profitable to men. Under the influence of this conviction, and fully apprised of his liability to err, he was clothed with humility and prayed without ceasing. He was a man of daily, habitual, and fervent prayer. He "lived by faith," and "walked closely with God." He was a zealous and uniform friend of those institutions, both literary and religious, which were established and patronized by the Church and which had for their objects the improvement of society, the glory of God, and the salvation of souls. These institutions he supported by his person- al visits, by his prudent and encouraging advice, by suitable representa- tions of their characters and claims, and by liberal contributions of money to the full extent of his means. He took a very deep interest particularly in the missionary and Sabbath school societies. He considered those as- sociations as most efficient auxiliaries to the preaching of the gospel, in reforming the continent, and spreading scriptual holiness over these lands. He neglected no opportunity of visiting the Sunday schools and meeting the societies and encouraging all concerned in them to zealous perseverance. He had thoroughly examined the principles of the General Book Concern, and regarded it as one of the most important institutions for the promo- tion of Christian knowledge and piety. He viewed it in the light of a noble and extensive Christian charity, diffusing the blessings of moral and re- ligious truth and at the same time supplying the means to feed the hungry, 432 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree clothe the naked, and relieve the wants of the widow and fatherless. As such, it had his cordial support. His liberality in the use of the limited means he possessed was strikingly expressive of that principle of love to God and his neighbor which influenced all his actions. This liberality was divided, with a strict and conscientious regard to economy and utility, be- tween benevolent institutions, houses of public worship, and needy individ- uals. Of the last, the widows and orphans of those preachers who had la- bored and suffered and died in the itinerant ministry were special objects of his kind attention. Bishop McKendree was grave, yet generally mild and cheerful in his conversation and manners. Who ever heard from the lips of this devoted servant of Christ vain, trifling, or unprofitable conversation? Who ever saw him unemployed, or employed to no valuable purpose? In this re- spect, he has left an example worthy of the imitation of all Christian min- isters. In a word, he exercised all the Christian virtues in an eminent de- gree and for the most valuable purposes. With him patience was the pow- er of suffering, faith was a divine conviction of things not seen, a living and abiding confidence in God, through Christ, effecting a personal interest in all the great and precious promises and producing, as its fruit, a humble and willing and joyful obedience to the commands of God. The hope of the gospel was the anchor of his soul, the love of God was shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, even that love which "suffereth long and is kind, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, and which never faileth." This was the ground of his zeal for God and for the salvation of the souls of men. It was the constraining principle which inspired and governed his actions and gave life and vigor to all his religious duties. As a man, as well as a Christian and Christian minister, our venerable friend had a refined and exalted sense of propriety and consistency of character. He had examined the relations and obligations of man in a state of so- ciety with great carefulness and accuracy, and his views of the relative duties were clear and elevated; and in his intercourse with his fellow men he was strictly governed by these enlightened views. He rendered honor to whom honor was due, was gentle to all men, yet he would reprove offenses as occasions and circumstances required without undue respect of persons. In conversation he was chaste, unassuming, and respectful, always in- teresting and profitable and sometimes peculiarly animated. He was unembarrassed in the presence of those who move in the scien- tific and elevated walks of life; and his condescension, kindness, and affa- bility inspired the humble poor with confidence and esteem. To the serv- ant and his master he was, on all suitable occasions, equally accessible. He was exquisitely sensible of any departure from the principles of purity and propriety, either in conversation or actions. And in every class of Appendix 433 society in which he moved, he aimed, as far as it could be done, to please his neighbor for his good to edification. To sum up all in a few words, in the character of Bishop McKendree, now with God in the heavenly place beyond the breath of human praise or blame, were combined the essential qualifications of a great and good and amiable man; a sensible, pious, and devoted Christian; a prudent and con- scientious ruler in the Church of God, and an able, zealous, and useful min- ister of the gospel of Christ. Finally, brethren, let us remember our dear departed pastor and Bishop who has had the rule over us and who now rests from the labors and suffer- ings of his militant charge. We ask not for him any pompous titles en- graved on perishable marble; we ask not for him the external badges of mourning; we ask not that our pulpits be hung with drapery of sorrow, or that the ministers of the sanctuary of our God should be clothed with the habiliments of woe; we ask for him a purer, a more hallowed, and a more durable monument. O let the picture of his heavenly virtues be deeply engraved on our hearts! let him long live in the memory and affection and esteem of the ministers and people of his pastoral care and official oversight! Though our beloved McKendree be dead, he speaks to us from the mansion of the tomb. He speaks to us in the silent but expressive language of a pure and illustrious example. Hark, my brethren, as if you heard from the sacred repository which now contains all that is mortal of our venerable friend that charming voice so often raised to plead the cause of truth and direct perishing multitudes to the " Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." What language does he hold? What instructions will he impart? Does he not say, "Brethren, be ye followers of me, even as I also have been of Christ; be men of one vocation and one work; be humble, steadfast, and zealous in your holy calling; be faithful to God and to the souls of the peo- ple committed to your charge; be men of prayer and diligence and punc- tuality"? But while we regard him as an example for our imitation, let us remem- ber him in his abundant labors, with gratitude to the Father of all mercies for so great a blessing bestowed upon us. Let us remember him with humble and fervent prayer, that God would raise up and preserve in his Church men of like minds, who shall, like him, count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus their Lord and glory only in the Redeemer's cross. Let us imitate him in that zeal and fidelity with which he exercised the peculiar functions of his holy office. And while we press forward in our Heavenly Master's work, encouraged by the light and comfort and triumph of his illustrious example, let us trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, waiting in earnest expectation and lively hope of the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. God grant, my dear brethren, that like our venerable McKendree, in the hour that closes the scenes of earth and dissolves our relation to our militant charges, we may be able, in view of the past and in prospect of the future to proclaim : ' ' All is well ! ' ' Amen. 28 LETTER FROM BISHOP ASBURY TO THE REV. JOSEPH BENSON THE following communication from Bishop Asbury to the Rev. Joseph Benson, of England, merits special attention. It bears date a short time before his death, was indited by him while confined to his bed, and was written and certified to in the copy before the author by the Rev. Thomas Mason. He and Bishop McKendree had parted in Tennessee to pur- sue different routes to the South Carolina Conference. They met no more. Bishop McKendree, as already related, made the trip in time and presided at the Conference in Charleston; but the feeble senior broke down, after a desperate and ex- hausting struggle, before he could reach the city and was taken dangerously ill when not far from it. At the earliest period of his partial convalescence, for he never fully recovered, and while propped up in his bed, with closed eyes and death- like pallor, he slowly indited this letter. The long and well- fought battle of his extraordinary life was nearly over, but he seemed determined, before he should yield to the rider of the pale horse to do two things: to reach Baltimore in time to attend the General Conference May 1, and to vindicate himself from the suspicions which "Diotrephes" had instilled into the mind of the aged Wesley against him and his colleagues, but which were dissipated by his humility and untiring labors, and at the same time commend his beloved American Methodism to the confidence and affection of their brethern in his father- land. The first he failed to accomplish, having died in Virginia on his way to the General Conference, March 24, 1816, but the latter was effected, leaving not a shade upon his fame in the mind of anyone on either side of the Atlantic. Indeed, this had long since been done. It is said that when the hour of death approaches the exile, his native land and early associates loom up to his imagina- tion, and he yearns for them, so of our self-expatriated Asbury. He had left his country and his brethren to plant Methodism in the wild Western Hemisphere, and nobly had he fulfilled his mission; and though often looking and longing for a little leisure to revisit his native land, yet had he looked and longed in vain. Stern duty demanded unceasing labor; and now, when hope had fled of reunion on earth, his heart and thoughts Appendix 435 turn thither, and he sends this, his last affectionate greeting, through his friend, Mr. Benson, and seeks his influence in be- half of the Church which his own death is soon to leave in orphanage. Tis the language of a dying father commending the younger children of the family to the love and kindness of their elder brethren. Mr. Benson was three years the junior of Mr. Asbury and died five years later. Since they had parted in England, both of them had become eminent, beloved, and venerated by a whole community, the latter as bishop, the former as a preacher, commentator, President of the Confer- ence, and who then, as Editor of the Wesleyan Methodist Maga- zine, was at the head of the Church literature of the British connection. The reader will see, in the beginning of this letter that Mr. Asbury's memory was at fault as to their comparative ages, sad evidence of old age, which generally first shows it- self as to the recollection of dates and names. Repeated allusions occur in this letter to a person under the name of "Diotrephes," who, it is evident, Bishop Asbury suspected to have prejudiced Mr. Wesley against him. The probability is that he meant Thomas Rankin. He was sent by Mr. Wesley to America in 1773 as his general assistant, returned to England in 1777 on account of the Revolutionary War, and never came back. He spent the greater part of his time in London, seems always to have had the confidence of Mr. Wesley, and no doubt at one time expected to occupy the position in America which Mr. Asbury attained. It was, per- haps, natural he should feel disappointed at the result and be tempted to criticize with undue severity the man who, with- out wishing to do so, had superseded him. He may have been honest in his opinions as to the expediency of the course taken by Mr. Asbury and his associates in the premises, and it is to be hoped he was unconcious of the blinding influence of a disappointed expectation. Charity would trust that it was so; but in any event, he subjected his motives to a severe and just imputation in bringing about a temporary alienation of Mr. Wesley from the pure and faithful Bishop. "Diotrephes" loved "the preeminence," and "received not" St. John. It is feared that Mr. Asbury found his "Diotrephes" in Mr. Rankin. There is a sentiment in this letter to which attention is invited and against which we enter our decided protest; it is that no man who attains the age of seventy, however qualified in every other respect, should continue to hold a highly responsible office in the Church of God. We are sorry to see the name of 436 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Mr. Asbury attached to this opinion, as we were to hear it a few years since from the lips of one of his worthy successors; in both cases the authorities for the opinion are of high respect- ability, but by a strange coincidence they were superannuated bishops. Yet it matters not by whom uttered, it is unsustained by historical facts. If its application is made exclusively to Methodist bishops and the itinerant labors of Mr. Asbury's day, we have nothing to say; but if the disqualification as- sumed be not physical, but psychical, we dissent most emphat- ically; and, moreover, if it is intended to embrace only high officials in the Church as an exceptional and proscribed class, neither the propriety nor the justness of the rule is apparent. We admit that a man of seventy, whether a bishop or not, cannot ride on horseback nor in a thirty-dollar chaise as Messrs. Asbury and McKendree did once, and thus traverse from five to eight thousand miles a year as well as can a man of twenty; but surely the Church should not, and does not and never did, impose such tasks upon her chief pastors. A good deal of this work was self-imposed, imposed from anxiety for the welfare of the cause and the most honorable motives, yet in many instances not really necessary; and no wonder that such habits of restlessness and perpetual motion wore down lym- phatic constitutions at seventy years of age. Indeed, Bishop Asbury here confesses that at sixty-three he had become unfit to take the chair, and the writer distinctly recollects that Bishop McKendree told him that Bishop Asbury's last advice to him was to travel on wheels, adding: "If I had done so, I might have added ten years to my life." It is always unsafe to de- duce a universal proposition from a special case. In the Church of God there have always been men in high responsibility after reaching their seventieth year. We freely admit with the decay of the physical, the mental powers must sympathize to some extent and in certain re- spects, but we assert that, as a general rule, the higher faculties do not suffer proportionally to the bodily senses. The fact is, the decadence of the mind at that period of life is ordinarily the result of its inaction or of confining its action to a few subjects. Men cease to explore new realms of thought, they add but little to their mental treasure, and are constantly losing their stock on hand without replenishing; thus the mind becomes torpid and effortless. Their friends call them old, treat them as such, they accept the epithet and its privileges, and settle down into an imbecility which they think inevitable; Appendix 437 while, in fact, the green old age of seventy, to a man of fair health, good constitution, and cultivated mind is the very season for assorting and harvesting the fruits of his active summer's toils. Then the prejudices and passions of the hot blood of youth may be held in abeyance, conscience, reason, and judgment assert their superiority, and mind, immortal as its Sire, assumes its imperial sway. Suppose the great men who have attained a world-wide eminence in the arts and sciences, the jurists, statesmen, and divines, had all been stricken from the roll as imbeciles John, the divine apostle, Wesley, Humboldt, Newton, Marshall, William Pitt, Dr. Franklin, Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Brougham, Madison, Jefferson, Adams, and the like all of them living over seventy and some beyond ninety years! Why, in Europe men are scarcely thought to be compe- tent to occupy the highest positions as savants in literature or the bench of the jurist before that period. Because Mr. Asbury and Bishop McKendree wore and tore out their phys- ical frames by that time, are we to assume that this is the termi- nus of mental life? A man who, under ordinary circumstances, keeps his mind awake and active, and while doing reasonable service takes due care of his earthly tabernacle, may, by God's blessing, be in the prime and vigor of his intellectual energies; and let not the suspicion arise that this is the sinister plea of one near the verge of the black line beyond which lie the gloomy shades of intellectual death. On the contrary, it is an impres- sion drawn from many years' observation and is a deliberate and settled conviction. It is a conclusion which carries com- fort and hope to the hoary head crowned with glqry. My venerable and elder brother in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ and the glorious ministry of the gospel of the grace of God, all hail. We have lived to see better days than our predecessors and ancient contemporaries. I recollect not to have seen your face, to have known you, or to have the least passing interview with you; but when I was a youth between fifteen and sixteen years of age, you were a man, and Presi- dent of Kingswood School, which must be, in my calculation, between fifty and fifty-five years past. Though I was active some years, and frequent- ly called upon to act as a supply for the traveling connection, and traveled the first year nine or ten months (though less or more, I cannot say cor- rectly) in the Staffordshire Circuit, the circuit in which I lived, in the place of William Orpe, the four Conference years that I traveled were in Bedford and Salisbury alternately. From thence I came to America and am now in the forty-fifth year of my mission, which will close the twentieth of next October. I have been broken, breach upon breach, by affliction, so that I am at 438 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree present completely superannuated, having passed, August 21, the first period of the life of man; and it has been for some years past a permanent sentiment with me that in such a case no man high in office, however great in qualifications, should stand in high responsibility in the Church of God, but rather retire and give place to younger and stronger men in body and mind, such as our junior superintendent, to whom I have ceded the presidential chair of every Annual Conference for these seven years past. It was also my pleasure, when present, always to give Dr. Coke the president's chair. Glory to God, our houses are set in order! Our order of things is such that we have about fifty-five presiding elders, that by turns of four years at farthest, yet movable at any time when the episcopacy judge of the importance of the case. These presiding elders serve a probation of seven or fourteen years in large and very consequen- tial districts and have their quarterly meeting Conferences of the official departments of the local ministry, possibly in some large circuit of long standing, that compose from sixty to eighty, or near one hundred members, and examine characters, try cases, admit and give authority to exhorters and local preachers, examine local preachers and local deacons for election and ordination to deacons' and elders' office in the Annual Conference. These presiding elders, in the absence of the bishops, and that rule well, are counted worthy of double honor. In the absence of a bishop appointed by him, if not appointed to be elected by the Conference to preside in and do the business of the Annual Conference. And we have the pleasure to believe that such is their age and improvement that we have not only a half a dozen, but a dozen, if called to preside in an Annual Conference who would do it with ease, dignity, and correctness, assisted by their brethren, the presiding elders. If a bishop, at any distance where a mail can go, has consequential busi- ness to the whole Conference, he has only to communicate to one man; he to write to the other presiding elders; they to communicate to the men who have charge 6f stations and circuits; the work is done. Bishops in Greece or Rome, what have they been in frightful forms? What have they been, men or fiends? Bishops in our age, among the Presbyterians and Independent Churches, the Baptists, and the com- monality of the people are ready to suppose that a bishop is a tyrant, the same as a pope, dreadful, dangerous creatures. Possibly some very wise men, with all their Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, have not found out the pure derivation of that word. It is very near to a perfect German word, in both consonants and vowels, admitting the German prpnuncia- tion and the English pronunciation to differ, bi-schoft," the chief minister. With us a bishop is a plain man, altogether like his brethren, wearing no marks of distinction, advanced in age, and by virtue of his office can sit as president in all the solemn assemblies of the ministers of the gospel; and many times, if he is able, called upon to labor and suffer more than any of his brethren; no negative or positive in forming Church rules; raised to a small degree of constituted and elective authority above all his brethren; and in the executive department, power to say, "Brother, Appendix 439 that must not be, that cannot be;" having full power to put a negative or a positive in his high charge of administration; and, even in the An- nual Conference, to correct the body or any individual that may have transgressed or would transgress and go over the printed rules by which they are to be governed, and bring up every man and everything to the printed rules of order established in the form of Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. It is an established maxim with us that if a man is not well taught and practical in obedience to know how to serve, he will never know how to have command or be fit to take any office in the Church of God, and that stubborn, disobedient men must be mended, though it will take much time and more labor. Several brethren among us have sincerely wished that there could be some mode of communication and union, such as can take place, consider- ing distance and circumstances, and administration, and order, between us and the parent society. We have hoped it would be for the best, then again we have feared we should not find safe hands to put our business into the British Conference to conduct, and that misunderstandings and misrepresentations might bring us into trouble and bring on a greater sep- aration; and I can truly say for one, that the greatest affliction and sorrow of my life was that our dear father, from the time of the Revolution to his death, grew more and more jealous of myself and the whole American con- nection ; that it appeared we had lost his confidence almost entirely. But he rigidly contended for a special and independent right of governing the chief minister or ministers of our order, which, in our judgement, went not only to put him out of office, but to remove him from the continent to elsewhere, that our father saw fit; and that, notwithstanding our constitition and the right of electing every Church officer, and more especially our super- intendent, yet we were told, "Not till after the death of Mr. Wesley" our constitution could have its full operation. For many years before this time we lived in peace and trusted in the confidence and friendship of each other. But after the Revolution, we were called upon to give a printed obligation which here follows, and which could not be dispensed with, it must be: "During the life of the Rev. Mr. Wesley, we acknowlege ourselves his sons in the gospel; ready, in matters belonging to Church government to obey his commands; and we do engage, after his death, to do everything that we judge consistent with the cause of religion in America and the po- litical interests of the States, to preserve and promote our union with the Methodists in Europe. ' ' Our people and preachers were coming out of their childhood, they thought for themselves. If this obligation was necessary, why not introduce it in former years, in better times? Matters have strangely changed; much blood has been shed; the minds of the citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom must be exceedingly changed and soured against each other, and the state of things will never be as it has been between the two countries. Some said that the citizens of both countries are so much alike that we shall have war again in ten, twenty, or thirty years. Foreigners by thousands coming to our country 440 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree and crossing their own; pushing themselves into office, and blowing the coals of strife; magnifying small offenses; raising mountains out of mole- hills; a word and a blow; stricken by wicked and impious officers that don't know their duty; putting to death a most ancient and noble British character; and a grand and noble and generous and affable American character dying swiftly and yet both sides crying out,"If you cannot lead us, you shall not drive us;" and both sides going to driving as hard as they can with fire and sword. Mr. Wesley is to this day, and always has been, respected and loved by hundreds and thousands in America as a great apostolic man; and hundreds of children continually named after him yea, thousands. In America some of our enemies know that of all the good and holy men that our dear John the divine of London, and John the divine of Madeley, at the time of the Revolotion, had written more on worldly affairs than any gospel men in Europe or America. I spare the dead, and yet I think that a degree of justice is due to the memory of such an apostolic man as John Wesley. I perfectly clear him in my own mind, and lay the whole blame of the whole business upon Diotrephes, of the Tower of Lon- don. Little did I think that we had such an enemy that had the continual ear and confidence of Mr. Wesley. This I believe from good testimony, eye- and earwitnesses, who, some years after, when they saw that my mind was so deeply afflicted that I did not get clear of it for some years after Mr. Wesley's death. Dr. Coke and John Harper told me what they had seen and heard and known and felt. Dr. Coke said that as often as Mr. Wesley went to see Diotrephes, hie came back with his mind strangely agitated and dissatisfied with the American connection; that he did not know what to do to put him to rights; and the counsel of Diotrephes, in a full Conference, was in substance this: "If he [Diotrephes] had the power and authority of Mr. Wesley, he would call Frank Asbury home directly." John Harper was the man who was present in the Conference and heard this advice given and told me several years after in America with his own mouth. Yet I spare the dead and must write the truth, that he (Diotre- phes) wrote to the Messrs. Wesley for counsel and advice in our critical situation, advice which we thought truly apostolic and worthy of the minister of the gospel of the Son of God, in substance was to give as little offense as possible either to Jew or Gentile or to the Church of God; to have nothing to do with the affairs of this world if he could help it, and mind the business of our spiritual calling. Diotrephes made this instruction pretty public among the preachers and the people, and then they charged him with violating every part of it. He was positive beyond all description that the Americans should be brought back to the old govern- ment, and that immediately. It appeared to me that his object was to sweep the continent of every preacher that Mr. Wesley had sent to it and of every respectable traveling preacher from Europe who had gradu- ated among us, whether English or Irish. He told us that if we returned to our native country, we should be esteemed as such obedient, loyal subjects that we should obtain ordination in the grand Episcopal Church Appendix 441 of England and come back to America with high respectability after the war was ended. Francis did not believe it; and he possessed a senior right after the removal of Boardman and Pilmoor, and God had given him souls for his hire and souls for his charge among the people, and a number of eminent preachers, both traveling and local, wanted nothing but a man to go in and out before them to give them, if we had not books, order and discipline by the word of mouth. Francis thought as he had possession, it was best to hold it, especially when abundance of respectable members said, "Will you leave us? Will you leave us?" And it was the general language of the American people and preachers that those preach- ers from Europe who were dissatisfied with the measures of the country had better go home. At the death of Mr. Wesley, one of his European disciples asked an- other, "Who will preach his funeral sermon? Who will write his Life?" They corrected themselves by saying: "Mr. Wesley has written his own life better than any other man can write it." And that it had been so! or that if anything had been done, it had been after the model of the Life of the Vicar of Madeley, compiled by Joseph Benson, which has been made an unspeakable blessing to my mind in reading it. It has been inpressed with great weight upon my mind for several years that it was my indis- pensable duty to write to some person in London or elsewhere a true and correct account, because I think that Mr. Wesley has been reproached beyond anything that was thrown upon him before that period by the London writer of his "Life." You will examine, as an early contemporary of the Oxford Methodists and the last branch of that order, you will see in substance that with respect to the American ordination Mr. Wesley is represented as invading and usurping all Church order. And yet the author grants if Mr. Wesley had been elected and chosen by the American preachers and people, it would have been in gospel order and proper. Did that author know, or was he ignorant? Why did he write in the dark? The people of Mr. Wesley's charge in America, many thousands, were under total privation of the ordinances of God, and most of the Episcopa- lians had deserted their stations and Churches from almost every part of the continent. The Presbyterians held no open communion. The Methodists could not become Presbyterians in sentiment, they would not be Baptists, neither Independents. When the preachers first came to the continent, with what affection they were received! Multitudes came forward as constant hearers and members of the society, and imme- diately the tables of the Lord in their former Churches were closed against them. When our brethern would say, "O that you had been ordained to administer the ordinances of God to us!" it was of no account to say the Episcopal bishops would not ordain us. "Mr. Wesley should have ordained you." And thus for fourteen or fifteen years hundreds and thousands of preachers and people crying continually for the universal election of Mr. Wesley to ordain ministers for America because he was, as we believe, an apostolic man, admitting upon trial and into connection the preachers of his charge, governing and stationing every one of them, that he came 442 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree short only in ordination. Now, sir, I submit it to you, as to Dr. Whitehead's "Life" of Mr. Wesley, if there is power and authority in any part of your body, in justice to Mr. Wesley (asking no mercy), when called upon by hundreds and thousands for so long a time to exercise the third branch of apostolic power in ordination, and that hundreds and thousands of preachers and people have blessed and praised God for the wisdom given to Mr. Wesley and the Baltimore General Conference in 1784, to form upon such pure principles a truly apostolic Church, the success which has attended the labors of its ministers. We must say that Dr. White- head's history must be corrected according to this testimony or sup- pressed as containing a deformation of that man of God, Mr. John Wesley, and the whole body of American Methodists. We feel de- termined to stand in apostolic order and gospel ground. "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And with fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them." (Acts xiii. 2, 3.) A distinct name, office, and order, elders in the Church of God. (Acts xiv. 23.) Never since was any man, for so many years, called upon to ordain ministers for America; never since could a people be so overjoyed and conform so universally as with one heart and mind. This was what we wanted and requested from year to year; and we have obtained it at last. Bless God and bless Mr. Wesley! We do not suffer one officer in the Church of God to assume or invade the rights of another; a licensed exhorter to be always attempting to preach; a traveling or local preacher must not baptize without ordination; a deacon, traveling or local, administer the Lord's supper but under the order of an elder. On no account will we suffer the elders to ordain alone, but to come forward when called upon by the bishop (in names and number) to assist in the ordination of elders. We do not suffer our presiding elders to invade any singular right of episcopacy. Here is the simple method which we have followed from the beginning in the management of our temporal affairs. Our stewards are elected in every Conference. They call first on all the preachers belonging to the Conference to know what they have received for quarterage in the stations and districts wherein they have labored the year past. By doing this they come immediately to know what preachers have already received their full demand and what preachers are deficient, according to our rules of discipline. Then they call for all the collections that have been brought in, with $200 per Conference from the book interest and $140 from the Chartered Fund, small matters! and the dividend must be made among twelve Conferencesrin the year instead of nine. We send you our mite subscription to let you see what additional won- ders we can perform by the blessing of God, more especially when we hear such accounts from your side of the water of all the Churches that have been maintaining the local ministry sending out traveling minis- ters to the ends of the earth. We wish them success in the name of the Lord. They are coming right at last! But hail Wesley, hail Oxford Meth- Appendix 443 odists, who, seventy years ago, formed an apostolic society and sent forth their traveling preachers in apostolic order ! Blessed be God that a number of simple men from the Oxford Methodists were directed to establish an apostolic Church and put the government in the hands of traveling preach- ers! And yet there must be men that cannot continue to travel and others that sincerely wish, but have it not in their power, to travel who may be useful and enjoy all their rights and privileges in their local state, and the traveling minister held sacred and made the very best of all their superior privileges. And concerning ordination, that it ought to be held sacred and con- sidered as the helm of good order, we believe. In every age of the Church it has been, and now is, held sacred. We have heard of a few simple people here and there, hardly worthy of being members of the Church, pleading their right to sit down with each other, if it be every day, and receive and administer the Lord's supper one to another; therefore we conclude that Churches and societies ought to examine well what bearing their sayings and doings will lead to, whether they will introduce division and confusion or unity and good order in the house of God, in the body of Christ. Will you, my dear sir, do what you can, at this late hour of life, as our agent to the British Conference? And, if you please, call a confidential and young man to your assistance. Will you examine well any letters and communications from America and judge how far it may be proper to print any of them in the United Kingdom, and where and in what manner any difficulties may be explained and methods of gospel order be brought into operation? We have planted, we have watered, we have taken a most sacred charge of Upper and Lower Canada for about twenty- two years. They form two respectable districts in the Genesee Confer- ence. They lie side by side on the northern banks of the St. Lawrence, and the United States' districts and circuits on the southern. The souls of our people in Canada are exceedingly precious to us. They are a willing people, prompt to pay their preachers. They say: "Tell us what to do, and we'll do it." Exclusive of the most ancient (who came from various parts of Europe), the additional and increasing inhabitants now, of both provinces, are multitudes of refugees who went from the United States at the time of the Revolution. Many others have preferred the Provinces to the United States; and there are at this time large family connections oh both sides of the line and many preachers that have changed and inter- changed. The manner in which Montreal was taken possession of and is now held will not, cannot, be dispensed with by the General Conference, by the Annual Conference, or by the presiding elder of Lower Canada. Thomas Birch, one of His Majesty's subjects, late from Ireland, was sent to Montreal in the very moment of time, just at the commencement of the war, and was permitted to stay a year longer than our constitution grants (the state of the case justifying it), and returned to the United States with an honorable recommendation from the society. Strange, when Samuel Montgomery had been sent, with the greatest expedition, six hun- 444 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree dred miles to supply the place of Thomas Birch, that Samuel (one of His Majesty's subjects, late from Ireland) should be prevented from taking his charge by the British missionary ! And who is to examine Mr. William's conduct? Mr. Bennett, of the province of Novia Scotia? the British Con- ference? or the Directors of the Missionary Society? Henry Ryan, pre- siding elder of Lower Canada, made a visit to Montreal by order of the bishops and Genesee Conference. He has obtained testimonies which will be handed forward to the Agent of our affairs, presented in their order. We, as ministers of Christ, think it a sin of sins to divide the body of Christ. There was special caution given to Thomas Birch, Samuel Montgomery, and Henry Ryan; and we have good reason to believe that, possibly, two-thirds of the society in Montreal would put themselves under the government of the American connection. But we shall bear long, suffer long, and make every explanation, till the charge is given up to us. Whether the thing has been done through ignorance or through the influence of wicked and designing men, we shall give our fathers and brethren time to inform themselves and time to correct their conduct, for we are sure that our episcopacy could never act so out of order as to send a preacher to take possession of a charge so important under the oversight of the parent connection. And yet, in this business, we would touch that venerable body, or any authoritative part of it, with the tender- ness of a feather dipped in oil. Respected brother, may our presiding elders address their letters to you, when cases of a singular nature shall occur? At present, Francis, your friend, with great difficulty, has dictated this letter. One thing more. Upon this continent we are crowded with French people, like polite heathens and barbarians to us. We want French Meth- odist preachers. Despairing of obtaining any from the traveling connection, since we have read your reports, our only hope is that some of our brethren from Jersey and Guernsey will come over and help us. We have employed an accomplished young Frenchman, of an extensive acquaintance with the French Methodists in those islands, to write for us, and see if such a man as we want can be obtained. And can you aid in this matter? It is our wish that such a preacher, that is willing to come to America, be well recommended by our brethren that know him, to our agent, Mr. Benson, on whose recommendation we shall depend. My love and a thousand thanks to Mr. Blanchard for the Minutes; to Mr. Marsden, for the Reports, hoping they will continue their good- ness from year to year. Let them direct to any part of the United States, to myself or the junior bishop or bishops, whose names will be known upon the Minutes of our Conferences. And should our Father and Brother Ben- son have any special call and communication to make, be sure to make it to one of the presiding elders, and the business will be taken up in good order. Instruction will be given by the bishops to the presiding elders, that they may be called to write to the agents of our American affairs, in London or elsewhere, and possibly to be written to from the men of our confidence in Europe. Appendix 445 And now may the God of all grace, with his eternal Son and ever- blessed Spirit, be with us through time and for ever and ever! Amen. FRANCIS ASBURY. I, Thomas Mason, who wrote this letter, salute my fathers and brethren in the Lord. SOUTH CAROLINA, January 15, 1816. P. S. Mr. Wesley could not come himself to America, but he sent one that was well qualified. Dr. Coke and myself were so liberal as to submit ourselves to an election, before Francis was ordained to his office as bish- op and superintendent, at the first General Conference, in Baltimore, December, 1784. Dr. Coke, notwithstanding his visits were transient, was very useful, both as a divine and as a classical man. He was esteemed by hundreds and thousands in America. His writings will be read with attention; his memory will be precious. The Americans knew his worth and knew not only his labors and travels, but some of his sufferings, as he was often compelled by necessity to take up with very mean lodgings, through some of the extreme parts of our country and at very early set- tlements, as Francis (who generally attended him) and many others can witness. Add to this, that every visit he had to cross and recross the Atlantic. It is true, Dr. Coke had his troubles in America, and it is true that Francis Asbury had his troubles. And we heard that Mr. Wesley .had his troubles, and no wonder, when he was told (as possibly made to believe) that no sooner had he granted the Americans what they wished than they declared themselves independent of him! Had we not lived in all good confidence and fellowship for fifteen years? No complaint on our side, no complaint, that we heard of, from Mr. Wesley! Why then should our generous minds be called to enter an obligation which we never had violated and which I believe there was no intention to violate? And I must believe that the Americans were greater friends than Mr. Wesley had through Europe or the world. They had read all his books that had come to hand; they heard of all his excellences, his labors, sufferings, and success; and who with them but Mr. Wesley? Almost every large and steady family among the old disciples must have a Wesley among the children. Francis had been charged (and perhaps very properly) with being a man of gloomy mind and sometimes a prophet of evil tidings concerning ministerial men; but many of his brethren, after proper trial, have confessed, if they were evil, they were true in the end. Mr. Wesley wrote concerning Diotrephes, honest George, and Francis: "You three be as one; act by united counsels." But who was to do that with Diotrephes? Francis had a prior right of government, by special order and letter from Mr. Wesley, a few months after he had been in the country; and if he could not exercise it in the cities, where the first mis- sionaries that came over were located by necessity (having no proper men to change with them), yet Francis in the country endeavored to do the best he could. Matters did not fit well between Diotrephes and him, and poor Francis was charged with having a gloomy mind and being very suspicious, etc. 446 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree It would be presumed because Francis was a little heady, that Diotre- phes wrote to Mr. Wesley to call Francis home immediately. Be it as it might, Mr. Wesley wrote such a letter to Francis; and Francis wrote in answer that he would prepare to return as soon as possible, whatever the sacrifice might be. Then Diotrephes said: "You cannot go; your labors are wanted here." Francis said: "Mr. Wesley has written for me; I must obey his order." Diotrephes said: "I will write to Mr. Wesley, and satisfy him." Shortly after came a letter from Mr. Wesley to Francis, in sub- stance thus: "You have done very well to continue in America and help your brethren when there was such a great call." And now, my father and brother, I know not a man in the British con- nection to write to. They are the children of forty-five or fifty years, you are the man, and you were the father when they were children. I leave these things with you, to make any use or no use of them. I have confidence in you that you will not make a bad use of them. F. A. DR. WINANS'S LETTER TO BISHOP McKENDREE, GIVING PARTICULARS OF SAMUEL PARKER'S DEATH THE author and the subject of the accompanying letter were both ministers greatly beloved and respected. William Winans is an honored and household name im the Southwest and not unknown to fame as a true, wise, and gifted preacher throughout the Methodist domain. He was born in Pennsylvania, November 3, 1788. When about sixteen, his family removed to Ohio. He was admitted in the Western Conference in 1808; in 1809, at the call of the bishop, volunteered with Sela Paine and was transferred to the Mississippi Conference; married happily in 1815, and located on account of impaired health. He was readmitted in 1820, and continued to fill important appointments until 1851, when he took a superannuated relation, in which he continued until his death, August 31, 1857, in his sixty-ninth year. He was a mem- ber of every General Conference held from 1824 to his death, and was inferior as a clear, logical, and powerful debater to no one in any of these assemblies. He was tall, thin, and negli- gent of dress, always leaving his collar unbuttoned, and although never boorish or repulsive in his manners, yet evidently think- ing but little of his appearance. His intellectual faculties were of the first order. No one would sooner detect a sophism or more quickly and effectively explode it. When excited in de- bate, his vehemence of manner was terrible, very great; his mind seemed to be aroused to a white heat, the veins in his bare neck and his forehead swelled as if ready to burst, his language electrified his hearers as his thoughts electrified himself, and so clear, so logical, and resistless were his arguments that his con- clusions were felt to be demonstrations. His antagonist was im- paled and powerless. He rarely spoke except on important sub- jects, and whenever he threw himself fully into a discussion, it re- minded me of the heaviest ordnance hurling enormous missiles. He was a great reader; and while he delighted in profound biblical and scientific subjects, he indulged to considerable ex- tent in belles-lettres studies, and not unfrequently in the lighter works of fancy and fiction. Reading was a necessity with him, and no man in the South indulged in it or enjoyed it more. His study was his sanctum, into which he daily en- 448 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree tered, not to be disturbed or to leave except for his meals and family worship. It was a forbidden place to loungers and stran- gers, his own family being permitted to enter but at his permis- sion. There he read, studied, and wrote for many hours to- gether. Books, manuscripts, maps, and newspapers covered his library shelves, his table, and frequently the floor. He lived and worked there. He was a voluminous writer. As an instance, I have seen pile upon pile of his notes and criticisms upon the whole of Dr. Clarke's Commentary on the Bible. Many of them were de- servedly excoriating. Shall we not have the privilege of reading something from his pen? His published sermons constitute a body of divinity, and, although too elaborate for the taste of the day, are profound and exhaustive discussions of his topics. His residence was in a retired section of the country, some twenty miles from Natchez, where he had few congenial asso- ciates, and hence his seclusion and devotion to literature. And yet no one enjoyed the society of his friends more than he. His manners in social life were so simple, so affectionate, and hearty that even the young were ever ready to hail "Uncle Winans" welcome. His love of his Church was strong and unwavering, and his attachment to Bishops McKendree, Roberts, and Soule, and his associates in the Mississippi and Louisiana Conferences was tender and fervent. In all questions of Church polity, he was the acknowledged leader of the Southwest, and yet he never sought that position or seemed to be aware of his influence. Or- dinarily, he was retired and silent. His private life was simple and pure and his piety uniform and profound. Such was the estimate in which his talents, general intelli- gence, and elevated patriotism was held by the first men in his section of the country that on one occasion of great public interest, he was nominated for a high political position; but as he had not sought the nomination and would not canvass the country, of course it came to naught. Demagogism usually carries the day against patriotism. I cannot forbear to add on this point that it is to be regretted that he suffered himself to be used for any such purpose. The example is not a good one, and it was the only weakness in his history known to the writer. In closing this imperfect sketch of Dr. Winans, it may be safely said he was a great man. We are aware how frequently an improperly this epithet is used. Words are cheap, and to praise and be praised are pleasant. A great preacher and a learned divine, a paragon in mind, a Cicero in oratory, and a Appendix 449 St. Paul in spiritual efficiency are sometimes manufactured by biographers out of mere boys and sciolists, a mere tyro in learn- ing, a surface skimmer in biblical knowledge, pedants and pla- giarists, become suddenly and as if by magic vastly eloquent and great preachers. It is sometimes humiliating to compare the original with the portrait. Such indiscriminate and unmer- ited encomiums are not only disgusting to good taste, but they are morally wrong and work evil to the subject, and, by setting up a low standard for the imitation of young preachers, do im- mense mischief to young ministers. It is sickening to read such works. The truth is, there are very few great men. Boys do not become men in a day, or rude and ignorant men make ripe scholars and splendid orators at once. There is not only no royal road to mathematics, but none to eminence as a preacher, without patient and continuous study and careful and assid- uous practice. If we closely scan our imaginary eagle as he soars aloft in midheaven, we shall find, not the royal bird, but one of a very different feather. Many of our fathers were great in faith, zeal, devotion, and usefulness, but were neither Solo- mons nor Ciceros. We may priase them for their piety, use- fulness, and power, but our praises lose their force when given for qualities not claimed or possessed by them. But William Winans was truly a great man and a good and useful minister. No one who knew him intimately will doubt or deny it; and his memory is still precious to thousands all over these lands. His death was the triumph of a simple, strong, and soul-felt confi- dence in his Master's word and merits, and he therefore died in holy peace. At the date of this letter, Mr. Winans was teaching school, having located on account of infirm health. In 1820, he reen- tered the itinerancy and continued as he was able to labor in it for many years. For several years previous to his death, he was a superannuated preacher. He had known Samuel Parker in Ohio, and if not brought into the ministry by him, had been fostered and guided by his care and counsel. He rejoiced at his transfer to the South, and hoped he would be a great blessing to that destitute region; but alas, how often are our brightest hopes disappointed ! Sadly he pens the following obituary of his beloved friend to the Bishop, who felt equally the loss of this noble son in the gospel. Samuel Parker was a native of New Jersey, born in 1772 j 1 re- iThe Minutes say about 1774. 29 450 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree moved to Uniontown, Pa., where he was converted in his fif- teenth year; thence he went to Newcastle, Ky., and was ad- mitted on trial in the Western Conference in 1804. In 1809, he became a presiding elder upon a district which included the entire States of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. In 1813, he was ap- pointed to the charge of the Miami District, the year following to the Kentucky District. In 1819, he was selected and trans- ferred by the bishops to the Mississippi Conference as the most suitable man to take charge of that Southern work. The dis- trict to which he was appointed embraced all Mississippi and Louisiana; but he was never able to do any effective work on it, and died on Monday, December 20, 1819. Mr. Parker was a remarkably popular and useful minister. His address was winning. He was a master of music, and his power of song was wonderful, insomuch that he was widely and familiarly known as "The Sweet Singer." He was regarded as destined to great usefulness in the South, and as "the right man in the right place;" but alas, his Master had other views and other use for him, and took him to himself, leaving his family and the Church astonished and almost crushed by their sudden and great loss! This letter narrates the incidents of his last hours from the pen of his devoted friend and admirer, Wil- liam Winans, to whom he had been a father in the gospel. But they have met "on the other side of Jordan" long ago. Bishop McKendree. Reverend and Very Dear Sir: Your two letters bearing date, the one August 20, the other October 31, have both been received and should have been sooner acknowledged had I known where to direct a letter for you. I can now only return you my sincere thanks for your kindness in writing, without pretending to answer your letters, as there are two subjects of a very interesting character on which I must address you. One of them is the much-lamented death of our beloved Brother Parker. His health has never been amended since you left the country. About the first of October, I think, he was confined to his house, from which he was never able to be long absent. At the time of the Conference, and for some weeks previously, he was scarcely able to sit up; yet he thought himself in no danger, espe- cially as there were some favorable symptoms about the commencement of Conference. In this flattering opinion he had but one associate i. e., the Bishop. He fondly hoped Brother Parker would be able in a few weeks to resume, or rather commence, active service on the district, and there- fore continued him in that office. I was then fully persuaded he could not recover, as out of many whom I had known afflicted in the same way I had never known one restored to health. After my return home, therefore, I wrote, requesting Brother Parker to furnish me the outlines of his his- Appendix 451 tory; informing him that if it should meet his approbation, and I should survive him, I intended to write for the Magazine a short account of his life. His wife asked him if he intended complying with my request. He replied, he would rather, should his life be written, that I should do it than any other, but added: " I have nothing to say, only that I am a sinner saved by grace." Such was the humility and retiring modesty of this eminent saint. He afterwards, for my satisfaction alone, I presume, indicated a disposition to comply with my request; but it was now too late. The chill- ing hand of death had disabled him by its rapid progress either to write or dictate. On Saturday, the 18th instant, he was helpless; on Sunday, all his powers seemed rapidly sinking, and his wife desired I might be sent for to see him die, or, if too late for that, to preach his funeral sermon. He wished to see me, but manifested some uneasiness at the idea of putting me to the trouble of going so far. Such was always his tenderness toward others. They sent for me on Monday, and on Tuesday night I reached Brother Bryan's in the neighborhood, where I learned he had died on Monday, and that the grave was then shut upon him. On Sunday I preached his funeral sermon to a large, attentive, and weeping audience, on Revelation xiv. 13; and I trust that he, whose life was so extensively employed for the good of souls, will not have died in vain. To say anything to you of his general character would be wholly superfluous. It may not be amiss, however, to state that he wai patient, resigned, and cheerful throughout his long afflic- tion. In the immediate prospect of death, he enjoyed a sweet peace, a calm tranquillity of soul, which enabled him to cast a smile of triumph on the tomb which now opened to swallow him up. Asked by Brother Mc- Lendon, "Is your way clear?" he replied with a smile in the affirmative. Sister Parker bears her loss with Christian fortitude. Their little son is quite sick. Whether his loss to the connection in this country can be sup- plied is not for me to say. We are now without a presiding elder and must be so for some time, and I am sure there is no man among us can fill the place as he could have filled it. In the wisdom of Heaven and the provi- dence of our superintendent we repose for a remedy to this disaster. In regard to Brother Parker, I will only add that I intend attempting some- thing for the Magazine concerning him. The other subject on which I think it necessary to say something is the business of the New Orleans Mission House. The first project failed, I believe, in consequence of the romantic character of Brother Moore and Mr. Ross, and perhaps the duplicity of ; but especially because there was no system, no concert, no definite understanding among the parties. Brother Moore appeared before the Conference and accused all the trustees of a dereliction of a solemn contract. He was answered successfully, I be- lieve; and without attaching blame to anyone, the Conference resolved to set aside all that had been done, to vest the powers of the trustees in the missionary and two others, and to advise these agents, if possible, to take Mr. Ross's property. Brother Thompson, of New Orleans, and myself, were chosen for that purpose. We have obtained till February to see whether we can obtain the necessary funds to meet the first demand. The 452 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree prospect appears very gloomy, and unless largely assisted from a distance,' or by the city itself, I do not hope to be able to secure the property. We are instructed by the Conference if we fail in regard to Mr. Ross's prop- erty, to make some other attempt. Please afford us all the assistance you can. We have had the most sickly season ever known in this country. My own family suffered greatly. Ten of us were very sick, and two died an infant son and the black boy, which you may remember. I was enabled to be entirely resigned. Brother Seaton has been very sick and is not yet wholly recovered; Brothers Lane and Menefee married before Conference and Brother McLendon since. Religion is still in a languid condition among us. We want more preachers and more life and love and zeal among those who are already here. Could I bring my temporal concerns to such a state as to justify the measure, I would offer myself to the traveling con- nection. I did offer myself to the bishop to take Brother Parker's place for the year, but he was unwilling to remove Brother Parker, though he himself desired it. I am afraid it will be thought I am influenced by am- bition to apply for this office, but really there is no other in the traveling connection I could fill without injustice to my family, and I would be glad, if possible, to fill up some place in this critical emergency. Please to con- tinue the favor of your correspondence, and believe me to be your loving though unworthy brother in the gospel, WILLIAM WINANS. WILKERSON COUNTY, Miss., December 29, 1819. LETTER FROM WILLIAM WINANS TO BISHOP Mc- KENDREE WE subjoin another letter, of a later date, from Dr. Winans to the Bishop. The reader will notice the questions of Church law propounded in this letter. If the Bishop replied, doubtless he answered the first in the negative and the second in the af- firmative. The Quarterly Conference, or the District Confer- ence, as then organized possessed original jurisdiction of all cases involving the characters of local preachers and had au- thority to investigate them, whether previously acted upon by committees or not. Committees of the kind alluded to in the letter were designed to protect the Church and the character of the accused in the intervals of the Conferences. They were courts of inquiry, not of trial; and no action of theirs could supersede the authority of the court of original jurisdiction, the quarterly meeting or District Conference. Dr. Winans would not have asked these questions at a later period of his ministry, for he became one of the most profound judges of ecclesiastical law in the Church. Rev. William McKendree. Dear Sir: We were exceedingly sorry that no bishop attended our late Conference; first because we are all comparatively inexperienced in Church government; secondly, because no- one among us has that preeminence in age and standing required of him who would fill the chair pro tern, with dignity and authority; and, thirdly, because we view the bishops as the arterial part of the circulation in our ecclesiastical body from which to be separated is to experience paralysis, if not death. Several questions of great importance to good government occurred, which none of us were com- petent to answer. I think it probable that many such will arise at the next Conference, and I entreat we may have the counsel of our superintendents, * or one of them. Our Conference sat in peace and harmony and love, and I do believe every member was disposed to do the thing he ought. More respect was shown to the delegated authority of the chair than could have been ex- pected, considering how all unworthy I was of that situation. I feel partic- ularly grateful to my brethren for the resignation, and even cheerfulness, with which they took the stations allotted to them. In this delicate and important branch of the duty imposed on me, I did the very best my un- derstanding (assisted by the other presiding elders and Brother Griffin) en- abled me. There was one instance in which I felt it my indispensable duty to depart from what I believed to be the views of Bishop George I mean, 454 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree in the number and description of preachers to be employed on the west side of the Mississippi. It is a fact wholly incontrovertible that the provision for that country has never been adequate to a rational experiment. This, for the most part, has been owing to a want of preachers. Last year, how- ever, more might have been sent without leaving any other place so deso- late as was that country, with only two preachers, one of whom was an invalid and the other a young man of the second year. This year it was still more practicable to supply that side of the river without serious injury to this, and I felt it my duty to proceed accordingly. Nothing but a sense of duty would have been able to inspire me with hardihood enough to act contrary to what I believed to be the plan of one of the bishops. I hope my presumption in this matter will be forgiven. The work has progressed throughout our whole territory, except in the Louisiana District, in a manner very encouraging. The sum of our ac- quisition the last year was about fifty per cent. Our increase in preachers too is, all things considered, rather flattering than otherwise. Seven were admitted on trial and two readmitted. One has died, Nicholas T. Sneed; two have located, Griffin and Booth; and one has been expelled. Our next Conference is to be held at Natchez, if practicable; if not (in the discretion of the presiding elder and preacher in charge there), at Washington. The vicinity of the places, and their relative position, will prevent any serious difficulty or confusion from growing out of this un- certainty. The Conference has made me sole agent of the meetinghouse business at New Orleans. The amount of funds placed under my control, and now on interest, is (with the interest) about $1,200; and this is all that remains of what was collected for the purpose of building a meetinghouse in that city! Nothing at present, I think, can be done. There is a greater de- pression of business and a greater consequent scarcity of money in this country than has ever been known since the conclusion of the last war. Indeed, so cruelly was public confidence abused in the last effort that was made in that place that I would be ashamed to ask assistance from distant friends till we could point to a building going up, and say: "There is your security for the faithful performance of our duty; help us to finish the good work." If you can find leisure and strength, be so good as to furnish an answer to the following queries: 1. Should a local preacher, elder, or deacon be called before a committee on certain charges and acquitted, though notoriously guilty, would the District Conference be obliged by this acquittal to pass the case over with silence? 2. Should the committee, in the case supposed, convict the party of an offense deserving suspension and merely reprove him, or the preacher presiding in the committee neglect or refuse to suspend him, could the Dis- trict Conference legally bring the offender under trial for the same charges which had been before the committee? An answer to these queries will be of more service to me than merely Appendix 455 to satisfy curiosity, inasmuch as I have reason to fear that one or the other of these questions will become of very great practical importance at the next District Conference. I left my family well when I left home, ten days ago. I need much more piety. I hope you will give me a place in your daily supplications. I am sincerely your affectionate though unworthy son in the gospel of the blessed Jesus, WILLIAM WINANS. NATCHEZ, December 31, 1822. BISHOP McKENDREE'S LETTER TO BISHOP ASBURY IT is familiar to all who know the course pursued by Bishop Asbury that for many years he made all the appointments of the preachers without consulting anyone. He knew all the work and all the preachers, and, except it might be in rare cases, did not think it necessary to ask for advice. But Bishop McKendree was unwilling to follow his example, not thinking it impossible to obtain assistance from old and dis- creet members as to the propriety of appointing certain men to their work. The senior feared the result, and this letter was penned to assure him that, while he was willing to accede to the proposition he made previously, that the senior should make a list of appointments, which was to be revised by the junior and his advisers, and returned with these revisions to the senior for approval or rejection, he could not consent to take the whole re- sponsibility. He was not sufficiently acquainted with the preachers or the work to attempt it alone, and firmly but re- spectfully declined doing so. CINCINNATI, October 8, 1811. Brother Asbury: I am fully convinced of the utility and necessity of the council of the presiding elders in stationing the preachers. But you fear individuals will make it difficult, if not impracticable, for you to proceed on this plan. I am willing to assist you in the best way I can, and, as I am in duty bound, so I hold myself in readiness to render the most effectual service to the Church. Consequently, I am still willing to accede to the proposition which you made at the Genesee Conference, if it may be quali- fied. If it is still your wish, I will take the plan of stations, after you have matured it, call the elders to my assistance, and, after deliberate counsel, report in favor or dictate such alterations as may be thought necessary. But I still refuse to take the whole responsibility upon myself, not that I am afraid of proper accountability, but because I conceive the proposition included one highly improper. Yours in the bonds of a yoke fellow, W. McKENDREE. THE REV. ANDREW MONROE'S NOTES OF TRAVEL WITH BISHOP McKENDREE WE have elsewhere noted the fact that the Rev. Andrew Mon- roe had accompanied the Bishop from Tennessee to the General Conference of 1820, and had furnished the writer with an ac- count of the route. We subjoin an extact from it, the remaind- er having been lost, the delay in bringing it forward having arisen from the hope of recovering the missing portion. At the Nashville Conference, held in the autumn of 1819, 1 was appoint- ed to the charge of the Bowling Green Circuit, Kentucky. About the middle of February, I received a note from Bishop McKendree, written from his brother's, Dr. James McKendree, near Fountain Head, Sumner County, Tenn., where he had for some time made his home. He requested me to make ready and repair to his quarters, to accompany him to the city of Washington. The Bishop had been long in bad health and was still very feeble, so much so, that his friends remonstrated against his undertaking the journey. The winter was open and wet, making the roads almost im- passable; besides this, we were going on horseback, which would have been a severe tour for one in the vigor of life and health; but the Bishop's heart was set upon meeting the preachers of the Baltimore Conference, which was to meet in Georgetown, D. C., and neither bad health, advanced age, nor intolerable roads could intimidate that extraordinary man of God. Getting a supply for my place, I made ready, and in a few days met the Bishop, who was buoyant in spirit and full of resolution. He was provided with the necessary fixtures riding horse, pack horse, etc. for the journey. We spent the first Sabbath together at Salem. The venerable Valentine Cook had come there to have what he supposed would be the last interview with the Bishop. Cook preached and the Bishop exhorted. Our stopping place was Brother Cryer's. We left Monday morning, Brother Cook ac- companying us. We traveled about twenty miles through mud and rain and stopped for the night at the house of a friend. I found by this time that my position would subject me to much responsibility and toil, and that my duties were of a very delicate character; but still I considered the society of the Bishop to be more than a remuneration. Tuesday morning we parted reluctantly with our venerable friend, Brother Cook, and pro- ceeded on our journey. Nothing of special note occurred during the week. We averaged about twenty miles per day. At this rate of traveling, the Bishop was often so fatigued as to need help in dismounting; but in the morning he was ready for breakfast by candlelight, and the first to mount his horse. Although he always desired early breakfast, he never failed (whether at a public or private house) to have religious worship. This he made a part of his duty, either for night or at noon for dinner. I remember 458 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree but one instance in the entire journey of leaving a house without prayers, and that was at a large hotel at Orange Courthouse. We arrived Saturday evening at an old acquaintance of the Bishop's, who lived a short distance from Kingston; remained with him overnight; rode into town in the morning, and stopped with Brother Richards, who kept a hotel at the time. I think he was a local preacher. Here we met the Rev. Benjamin Edge, preacher in charge. The Bishop preached a short sermon at eleven o'clock, from 2 Peter i. 10. The dis- course was doctrinal and argumentative. In it he gave predestination no quarters. I tried to preach at night in the hearing of the Bishop, which was a great trial to me. Here I saw his tenacity for rule severely tried. A local preacher had come from a distant part of the circuit, who claimed to have a certificate of election to deacon's orders; but as he had no expecta- tion of meeting the Bishop, his paper was left at home. Brother Edge was present at his election and joined him in requesting the Bishop to ordain him. At first he positively refused, and repelled every argument until Monday morning, when he reluctantly yielded to their importunity, and ordained him, after which we started on our journey. The weather was warm and the mud still deep. In this connection, I will mention an incident which brings out one trait in the Bishop's character. We had been detained far beyond the usual time of starting; he had been worried and his patience much tried. I was perplexed in getting off and forgot his canister of bark. After traveling about half a mile, he inquired if I had put it up, when I answered in the negative. He reined in his horse, took the led horse from me without say- ing a word, but in anything but a pleasant manner. I returned immediate- ly, and, getting the forgotten medicine, soon overtook him. We traveled for several miles without speaking; he finally broke silence by remarking that, from long sickness and fatigue of the journey, he had become im- patient; that he did not know how I bore with him; but if I would forgive him, he would try to do better. That, of course, was an end to the diffi- culty. He considered it noble to confess a fault, and his manner was so childlike and sincere that it was a perfect cordial to the wounded spirit. He complained that day more than usual; stopped with an old friend some time before night; suffered much during the night from asthma, but was ready to renew the journey at an early hour the next day. After breakfast, and the payment of a moderate bill, we went on our weary way twenty miles, through the deep mud to Orange Courthouse, where we stopped at Brother McCormick's. Most kindly did they re- ceive the Bishop and his traveling companion, for in this way he always in- troduced me. We had a pleasant time. A conversation occurred in the course of the evening which may interest some of my readers, as it did me at the time. It shows the state of things in Virginia in 1820. Mr. McCormick was complaining of the want of an adequate supply of preachers. He said: " We have not enough, and then many of the charges are in the hands of young, inexperienced men." He said that other de- Appendix 459 nominations had the advantage of ours. The Bishop listened attentively to his complaint, and then, in a tone and manner of his own, replied: "It is your own fault, I mean the fault of you Methodists." All seemed sur- prised, and Brother McCormick inquired, "How so?" "Well," said he, "the preachers marry, as they have a right to do; then you drive them from the field by withholding a support." I learned from the conversation that there was great opposition to mar- ried preachers, and also that although the Bishop was an old bachelor, he was a friend of the married preachers and their families. We remained at Orange until Tuesday, when we went on as far as Fau- quier, where the Bishop, at the earnest entreaties of his friends, preached to a congregation hastily gotten up, a most admirable discourse, holding his delighted hearers spellbound for about forty minutes. His theme was "God's love and faithfulness to his children." He had recently passed through the crucible and was prepared to speak from experience. He illustrated the providence and promises of God with remarkable clearness and applied them with power. The next morning we continued our journey. The Bishop's health was somewhat improved, and as we approached nearer our destination, he be- came more buoyant. I think it was Thursday, a little after noon, when we reached the Potomac bridge. Such a bridge, across such a sheet of water, was to me a grand and novel sight. But the scene was characterized by two incidents; the first was the terror that seized our horses, they were so frightened as to give us strong grounds for fear on our part; the second was a sudden snowstorm, which met us with great violence midway on the bridge that we were quite enveloped for some moments, so that we could see no land. While in the midst of danger, I could but ask the question, Have we been preserved in this long journey to perish in sight of the des- tined point? But, thanks and praise to Him who "directs the whirlwind and guides the storm," the violence was soon over, and we arrived safe on land. The Bishop knew where the Conference held its sessions in George- town, so we bent our way immediatly to the place, and, alighting from the carriage, he left the horses to my care and without notice presented him- self in their midst. He was received as one from the dead, many not ex- pecting to see him this side of eternity. After many salutations and much rejoicing we were conducted to the residence of Mr. Foxhall, one of the Bishop's old and tried friends, where we had our quarters. He met the Conference that evening and addressed the body in an interesting and af- fectionate manner. The subjects that principally occupied his mind, and of which he conversed freely with the preachers and prominent members of the Church, were the missionary cause generally and the Indian missions in particular. Another was the principles of Church law and policy, the power of the ministry and the rights of the membership as secured by con- stitutional law. He also deprecated what he considered a tendency to con- gregational, or local, Methodism. He was very cheerful, seemed thankful that he had been preserved through the toils and dangers of his long jour- ney, and addressed himself faithfully to the dischargeof his duties, they being 460 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the promotion of the permanent interests of the great missionary enter- prise. The Bishop had come to the city clad in Tennessee jeans, not by any means of the finest quality. This, of course, the city folks could not en- dure; so, in a very short time, he was presented with a full suit of fine black broadcloth. I remember that he seemed slow to make the change, and when in the act of doing it, he remarked to me: "I am afraid of fine things; fine things delude the soul." Many ordinary Christians boast that they are not afraid of finery; yet this great man of God, past his threescore years, was afraid of its influence, because he was acquainted with the de- ceitfulness of sin and the wiles of the devil. These were points that he had studied most thoroughly, as every minister and Christian ought to do. Although we had many difficulties, owing to the Bishop's deep-seated infirmities, the weight of care which continually pressed upon his head and heart, the rain, mud, and mire, and the horses being badly adapted to the service, still we had cause to be thankful for our health and safe arrival. LETTER FROM BISHOP McKENDREE TO BISHOP SOULE THE Address referred to in this letter of the senior bishop to Joshua Soule, then bishop elect, is that already given, and which was written to the Annual Conferences explaining his course at the General Conference as to the suspended resolutions and recommending their adoption, if at all, in a constitutional way i. e., by the vote of the Annual Conferences and of two-thirds of the General Conference. His modesty and unselfishness are exhibited in that part re- lating to the money appropriated as his salary and remitted to him by Bishop Soule. Money was not his god. He gave away whatever he received which his personal necessities did not re- quire. We need not stop to show how truly and highly he prized Bishop Soule. No man had his confidence and esteem in a higher degree, and no one more highly deserved it. Mr. Soule received this letter while in New York: LEXINGTON, KY., September 26, 1821. Dear Friend: I waited in Baltmore fof an answer to one of my letters with anxious care because I wished to hear from you before I communi- cated my intended Address to the Conferences, but was disappointed. The expected letter came safe to hand at our Conference in Lebanon, Ohio. I was much encouraged to find your views of the course so perfectly ac- cordant with my own. The Address has taken its course through the Ohio and Kentucky Con- ferences. The result is the same, which is as follows: After the resolutions passed in General Conference are correctly stated, the Kentucky Confer- ence says: "The above resolutions are, in our judgment, an infringement on the Constitution of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and therefore can- not be carried into effect by our representatives without first obtaining the consent of the Annual Conferences; and whereas these resolutions were first adopted and then suspended by the General Conference of 1820, and our senior bishop advises the Annual Conferences to take such measures as may give the above resolutions the force and sanction of Rules in our Discipline, the other bishops approving the proposed change on our govern- ment; "Resolved, therefore, by the Kentucky Annual Conference held in Lexington September 18, 1 821 , That we recommend the adoption of the above stated resolutions, and that the next ensuing General Conference (so far as it re- spects this Conference) are authorized to adopt them, provided it be done 462 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree by two-thirds of the General Conference, as stated in the sixth article of our constitution." Your statement of affairs at the New York Conference gave both pleas- ure and pain. I am glad things are no worse. The African Conference, as it affects the episcopacy, is mortifying. I have invited information from my colleague on that subject, but received nothing in point. I received $100 inclosed in your last, appropriated by the Committee, and Brother Ruter informed me of $40 in the hands of the Book Agent sub- ject to my order. I did not expect the $100 would have been forwarded without my order, nor did I intend to draw for it until necessity dictated the measure. As it was sent on without an order, I instructed Brother Ruter to let the $40 remain in the hands of the Agents; but such was the poverty of this Conference that I drew the $40 and gave it to the poor and loaned the $100 to a needy brother. The missionary business in the Ohio Conference promises a reward for our labor and expense. We have sent on a missionary family to carry the school into effective operation. In this Conference we have had our troubles. One was expelled, and we indulged a hope that their troubles were over, but in this we were dis- appointed. There are two appeals to the General Conference offered; yet the Lord blesses, and we are prospering. I have paid very little attention to the business of the Conferences, yet beloved self whispers consequence to that little. Such is the effect of labor, bodily or mental, on my feeble frame, con- nected with a variety of circumstances, that I am now meditating the aban- doning of my intention to pursue the Conferences on through the South as far to the North as I should be able, and of taking up winter quarters in the West after the Tennessee Conference. Should be glad to hear from you. About five weeks from this time I shall be in Nashville, Tenn., if the Lord will. I submitted to your stay in the North because you were consenting to the solicitation of the people, which were founded on necessity in behalf of the Church at that time. It is still my opinion that you should come farther to the South. If you can send a letter time enough to meet me in Nashville, let me know your mind on this subject. Yours in love, W. MCKENDREE. P. S. Bishops George and Roberts were at this and the Ohio Confer- ence. They are in good health. I understand the former is to go to the Mississippi Conference, the latter to attend the others, meet at the South Carolina Conference, and go to the North together. W. McK. BISHOP McKENDREE'S LIBERALITY THE letter below evinces the same spirit exhibited in the foregoing and in the whole life of Bishop McKendree. He es- timated money by the good it could be made to accomplish and exercised a strict economy over his personal expenditures, that out of his pittance of a salary he might have somethng left to be used for the cause of God and the relief of the poor. He had long since given himself to this work and had worn himself out in it. He had deliberately chosen to make all his investments in heaven, and delighted to "lend to the Lord " by giving to the poor. He was always giving, and no one knows how much or how often he did so, as he generally attempted not to let his left hand know what his right hand did. The copy is before us from his own pen: To the Editor of the Christian Adwcvte and Journal. Sir: In one of your numbers we have a proposition from an old Method- ist to give $100 to aid our missionary funds, provided you can procure ninety that will do likewise. One of a later date, by way of amendment, offers $100 unconditionally. My annual allowance for support as a travel- ing preacher is $100 and my traveling expenses. The success of our mis- sionary efforts is such a manifestation of divine approbation and of our call to that work as to induce me to offer one year's allowance toward the support of the cause of missions. The name of the subscriber is withheld, but with the money subscribed will be advanced in due time. Yours respectfully, AN OLD TRAVELING PREACHER. KENTUCKY, March 31, 1828. BISHOP ASBURY'S PAPERS BEQUEATHED TO BISHOP McKENDREE AND DANIEL HITT FROM the following letter to Bishop McKendree, it seems that Bishop Asbury left a considerable collection of documents in the hands of Mr. F. Hollingsworth, of Baltimore, which, in his will, he directed should be given over to Bishop McKendree, or Daniel Hitt and Henry Boehm, if the Church should publish his Journal ; and as his Journal has been published, it is probable they were placed in his hands. No mention of the fact, how- ever, appears in any of his papers. BALTIMORE, August 20, 1827. Reverend and Dear Sir: Mrs. Hollingsworth, the widow of the late Francis Hollingsworth, has in her possession a number of letters and documents of the late Bishop Asbury; and several of our preachers and members having expressed a wish to peruse them, she was doubtful of the propriety of granting this privilege to any person without your consent, inasmuch as the will of the Bishop, under date July, 1814, makes a conditional bequest of these letters and documents, which in substance is as follows: "Should the Conference think proper to publish my Journal, in that case I wish my Manuscript Journal and papers relating to the Church given to Bishop McKendree, or Daniel Hitt and Henry Boehm; but should the Conference not publish my Journal I hereby bequeath all my manu- scripts and papers, both public and private, to Francis Hollingsworth, with a particular request that all private papers not relating to the Church may be by him destroyed." I know of no will of late date in relation to these papers; should there be none, the papers, letters, etc., now in the possession of Mrs. Hollingsworth, are subject to your direction (except the private papers, should there be any). Some of our brethren here think it desirable to ascertain if there are some documents remaining not published among the Bishop's papers which might be of service to the Church under her present agitated situa- tion. Their object is to collect all the information that can be obtained to sustain the character of Bishop Asbury, as also the character of our itinerant ministers, which lie bleeding under the pen of the author of " The History and Mystery of Methodist Episcopacy." It is therefore wished that you should express your desire in relation to these documents. Would it not be as well to let the original documents remain where they are, and if it be necessary, appoint a committee of two or three persons in this place to take duplicates of such papers as may appear to be of use? and when you visit this place again, you will then have an opportunity of seeing them all together. Mrs. Hollingsworth, I believe, has determined to let no person see them without your approbation. The brethren who particularly wished to see those papers are the Revs. Brothers Hanson, Waugh, and Yearley. Waiting the expression of your sentiments and wishes on the above, I remain yours with respect and esteem, CHARLES A. WARFIELD. BISHOP McKENDREE TO DR. SARGENT DR. THOMAS SARGENT, of Philadelphia, to whom these letters were written, was a valued and devoted friend of the Bishop. His house was his home when in the city, and he was his physi- cian in sickness and his trusted adviser in Church affairs. The Bishop must have been most heartily welcomed and kindly cared for by the whole family, as is evident from a large package of letters which breathe the most reverential regard on their part and the most cordial and fatherly affection on his side. These letters, written at different dates, in the Bishop's own handwriting, are two out of many of the same kind. We have already sketched the Doctor. SUMNER COUNTY, TBNN., February 4, 1823. Beloved Brother Sargent: Two days ago, yours of November 2 came to hand. It was as a cordial to my heart and mind. My health is restored beyond my most sanguine hope, for which I de- sire to be most devoutly thankful; but the nerves remain in a state of great debility, so that I can bear but little mental exertion, especially that of an affecting nature; hence I am not able to bear the full weight of our charge. This conclusion is the result of repeated experiments; yet I can do something, and am willing to do all I can. Could the lightest part of the business of the Conferences fall to my lot, I could do a great deal more than I do; but this would be too great a sacrifice for my deserts. And it is so natural to expect the elder to go in front, that by submitting to bear the burdens of difficult cases I have brought on afflictions and had to retire or afflict a friend by refusing to undertake what I thought was improper. Hence I had concluded to continue in the West until next fall, and then go on; but as the season advanced, I was not quite so well satisfied and was thinking of preparing for the Virginia Conference. Your letter added en- couragement. I am now preparing, and expect, if the Lord will, to set out next week. Last summer we lost a preacher in Washington. I was called on to supply his place, and, for want of another, had to give up Brother Hill. Since October I have been alone; in this way I was about setting off for Lynchburg, Va., but Providence has provided a pious local preacher who is going on business and is more than willing to go with me. I am deeply interested in Brother Summerfield's welfare. I hope the Lord will preserve and return him to us. I shall be very glad to meet him in Baltimore. In my acquaintance with him nothing appeared that would militate against your good opinion of him. He certainly ranks amongst the most excellent. I should be highly gratified to see the British Conference in session, with 30 466 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Mr. Wesley at their head, and join with you in saying, "I hope it will b the old Doctor" that attends our General Conference. I am glad that your son Thomas has hoisted anchor and is on the way with a favorable wind. It only remains for him to " be faithful until death " to come to anchor, richly laden, in the harbor of eternal repose. During the winter I have visited some of the Churches through the south of the State of Kentucky, West Tennessee, and intended seeing North Alabama, but the season prevented. We have had a great deal of rain, high water, and spells of hard freezing weather, but very little snow. At eight o'clock this morning, the mercury in Pool's thermometer stood at 9 degrees, and at twelve o'clock at about 20 degrees. Just before this spell of cold weather set in, I returned, and am now comfortably lodged with my brother-in-law in a cabin about sixteen or eighteen feet square, with a puncheon floor and covered with slabs, but we have a plenty of bacon and beef and chickens and turkeys, cabbage, Irish and sweet potatoes, and milk and butter. We have a little tea and coffee, with sugar extracted from the trees in the woods; corn and fodder for my horse and a good bed to lie on. All this with peace and harmony and Jesus besides! And to complete the blessing, I have the rheumatism in my head and teeth. Now, it is given to us not only to believe in Jesus, but to suffer for his sake, who works all things together for good to them that love him. I must be very thankful for all those blessings or be guilty of deep ingratitude. Dear Doctor, with all my failings and infirmities, which are many, I am striving to improve the mysterious dispensation of Providence that hangs over me for heaven and eternal happiness. There I hope joyfully to meet you, with your kind companion and lovely children. The Lord bless you and them with temporal and spiritual blessings! My respects to my kind and good friends, especially our beloved Thomas Burch. Yours respectfully, W. MCKENDREE. P. S. I undesignedly omitted assuring you that your good opinion is most cordially reciprocated. I not only esteem, but love you. My affec- tion commenced with my acquaintance and remains undiminished. Dif- ferences in opinion on nonessentials do not produce a change in Christian affection. Sincerity and candor will not only command respect, but in- crease love when difference of opinion is conducted with due deference to each other while Christian feelings justly recoil from a different course. W. McK. The following note was written to Dr. Sargent by the Bishop during the session of the General Conference of 1828: PITTSBURGH, May 23, 1828. Dear Friend and Brother: At the commencement of the Conference, I received your kind letter and considered its contents. Your friendship and correspondence have been, and still are, a subject of encouragement, comfort, and support to me. I rejoice to have a place among your friends and shall endeavor ever to deserve it. The business of this Conference has Appendix 467 been conducted with more than ordinary good feeling, yet not without, some perturbation. I say nothing of business; you will have it from your representatives. My health is pretty good. I have enjoyed peace and tranquillity of mind through the Conference and received more friendly visits than on some former occasions. I intend to visit you as soon as Divine Providence permits. Conference is now sitting, pressing to a close of the business. My love to Sister Sargent and the children. Yours in much love, W. McKENDREE. BISHOP McKENDREE'S ACCOUNT OF THE UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIANS AND METHODISTS IN 1805 THE ORIGIN OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTE- RIANS As Bishop McKendree was the presiding elder on the Cumberland District during the time the events occurred nar- rated by him in the statement below it may be interesting to give it in his own words. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church arose during the great religious revival in Kentucky and Tennessee in 1801-03, al- though it was not organized as a distinct and separate Church until 1810. They rejected the doctrine of eternal and uncondi- tional election and reprobation as taught in the Westminster Confession of Faith. They claim to occupy middle ground be- tween Calvinism and Arminianism and adopted a modified sys- tem of an itinerant ministry. They have been earnest and zeal- ous laborers and have done great good in the South and West. To what extent they have had similar success in the other sec- tions of the country, the writer knows not. His own observa- tions, and his personal intercourse with individual ministers and members of the Church, have impressed him very strong- ly and favorably. In 1800, a revival of religion was making considerable progress, which it seems commenced the year before, of which the Rev. John McGee has published some account. At that time the charge of the Methodist Circuit was committed to a preacher of moderate talents, but without the spirit of enterprise to con- duct the Church of Christ under such circumstances. He was better dis- posed to obey and labor than to counsel and lead. At the same time there were several pious and zealous Presbyterian ministers, who united to enter into and carry on the work. They had frequent appointments of a popu- lar character, so arranged as for several to be at each appointment. The Methodist preacher married and suffered his pecuniary concerns to divert his attention from his ministerial charge. The circuit was neg- lected. But he attended the Presbyterian appointments and labored zealously and successfully. The local preachers followed his example, and the regular circuit preaching was measurably lost in three or four days' meeting for the sacramental meetings and were very popular. The Presbyterian ministers were respectful for learning and were hon- ored members of society for their services as teachers and preachers. They ranked with the respectable part of society. The Methodists were reverenced and honored for their piety and use- Appendix 469 fulness as preachers; so much so, that whatever liberties might be taken on other occasions, when affliction made it necessary to call in praying people, the Methodists were frequently selected and their counsel on spir- itual matters sought. When these preachers united in public worship, their influence on their respective adherents drew people of different persuasions together in great numbers. But the preachers were not of one mind. The Presbyterians were Cal- vinists; the Methodists, Arminians; and they had been publicly at issue on these doctrines. In this contest the Methodists' sentiments had im- perceptibly gained the ascendency over the public mind. If any attended on those occasions in expectation of exhibitions on controverted points, they were disappointed. Many, perhaps the generality of the people, heard them as men of the same views of the sacred doctrines. But this was not all. The preachers were enabled to preach the word with power, and it was attended with the influence of the Holy Spirit. Sinners were convicted and converted; Christians were built up in the most holy faith; and the hearts of the professors were tenderly united in affection and love. They cleaved to each other as children of one family. Class meetings and love feasts were refreshing seasons. They were attend- ed with divine influence and the comforts of the Holy Ghost. The Presbyterians earnestly requested the privilege of participating in those meetings. The Methodists could not grant the request without in- fringing on their discipline; but inclination prevailed, and they suffered loss, as a consequence of violating a wholesome regulation. The Presby- terians resigned nothing, but were great gainers. Class meetings and love feasts are calculated and designed to instruct and lead the seeker of religion to the knowledge of sins forgiven and his acceptance with God through the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. viii. 1, 2, 14-16; John v. 24; 1 John iii. 14); and to conduct the young converts, the babes in Christ, up to Christian perfection, to holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. (Heb. v. 12-14; Prov, iv. 18; Heb. xii. 14.) Such meetings are truly desirable to Christians while they enjoy the comforts of religion and are pressing "toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." But when faith fails, in whole or in part, the spiritual exercises of those meetings become disagreeable in a pro- portional degree. The Presbyterian discipline knows nothing of such meetings, nor does it require its members to pass such strict examinations on the progress of religion. Those among them that desired it enjoyed those meetings among the Methodists by courtesy and withdrew or neglected them, as they pleased. As the revival subsided, the zeal for meetings and spiritual exercise cooled off. This was the case among the members of both Churches. This called for a prudent exercise of discipline; but Methodist discipline had no control over Presbyterians; they neglected class meetings with impunity. The members of the Methodist Church whose zeal was paralyzed were inclined 470 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree to neglect their class meetings after the example of their Presbyterian friends. The preachers now felt the difficulty of exercising discipline to profit; regretted that it was ever departed from; but under existing circumstances thought it prudent not to press their members to duty with rigor, but to apply their crippled discipline to the best purpose and hope for better times. This state of things continued, with some modifications, until the close of the Conference year of 1805. The presiding elder of the Cumberland District intending to locate at the approaching Conference, there was some solicitude felt as to the course his successor would take as to the existing union. To guard against possible events, the Presbyterian minister and the presiding elder appointed a union meeting, so-called, for the purpose of initiating the next presiding elder into the mysteries of the union. A large congregation of people and a number of preachers came together at the appointed time. The new presiding elder and a Presbyterian minister from Kentucky attended the meeting. The conduct of the ministers in Cumberland in unitng with the Meth- odists had become suspicious in the eyes of their brethren elsewhere, and a minister from Kentucky was sent, it seems, to examine into the matter. The presiding elder preached when he was appointed, as other preachers did, but would have nothing to do with the management of the meeting. On Monday, the managers of the meeting called all the official members and preachers of both Churches together to consider the origin and state of the union and the regulations necessary to perpetuate it. After several speeches, in which much had been said on the subject, the new presiding elder was requested to give his views; he complied, and observed that much had been said against proselyting; and that to perpetuate the union, there must be no proselyting. If by proselyting, nothing more was intend- ed than improper measures and personal influence used to induce members to leave their own Church and join the other, he had no objection to it: for in his estimation, such measures were unchristian and contemptible. But proselyting, as he understood the term, comprehended much more it means the conversion of a sinner from the power of sin and Satan to the living God; from darkness to light; from erroneous opinions relative to re- ligious doctrines, to truth. For this purpose it is consistent with Chris- tian civility and religion to use legitimate arguments drawn from the Scriptures, reason, and experience. If this course is pursued with due de- ference to the feelings and sentiments of others, no cause of offense is given, nor should offense be taken. That wise and pious men have different views of the doctrines of revelation is a fact; and it is proper for them, as honest men, to labor to convert their fellow men to receive what they believe to be the truth. They have opposite views of the truth, and one may be as pious and sincere as the other; therefore let them esteem each other as Chris- tians, recommend their own views with Christian respect to the senti- ments of others, and let the people judge for themselves. By the union of which we are speaking, I would understand two separate and distinct Churches, each having a system of doctrine and discipline in Appendix 471 active operation, independent of each other; and, though they differ in point of doctrine and discipline, yet, believing that each is accepted and blessed by the great Head of the Church, they are cordially disposed to live in harmony, peace, and love, and mutually encourage and assist each other as far as they can consistently with their respective rules and regu- lations of Church government. If his ideas of Christian union were correct, he thought the Churches had departed from correct principles, that the fel- lowship then existing among them was not the union but the amalgama- tion of the Churches. The Methodist discipline is not exercised conform- ably to its provisions and genius. If the Presbyterian discipline is cor- rectly attended to, I am not acquainted with it. To depart from an es- tablished and wholesome discipline in order to perpetuate the union of Churches is an adventurous and dangerous experiment. It may preserve the existing friendship, but its tendency is rather to destroy than perpetuate discipline. Therefore, to establish a profitable union, let the ministers preach the doctrines of their respective Churches simply, plainly, and clearly; but let it be done in the spirit of meekness and love and with proper respect to the feelings and sentiments of others, and let them mutually assist each other according to their respective disciplines. The elder's view of the subject seemed to obtain general acceptance. The Methodist discipline began to revive from that time. But a murmur- ing was soon heard among the Presbyterians that things were not right, that the Methodists did not attend to the principles of the union, and their preachers spoke of it, in several congregations, in a way calculated to in- jure the Methodist character. In this state of things, theMethodists had a camp meeting at E. Doug- lass's, on the east of the Cumberland River. The Rev. W. McGee, a Presbyterian minister, was at it, and was appointed to preach on Sabbath at eleven o'clock. In the morning the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was attended to in the meetinghouse. W. McGee absented himself. The elder said nothing to him on the subject until after the sermon; he then took him out and requested his reason for absenting himself from the Lord's table. He said the Methodists had broken the union, and therefore he did not com- mune. He named Miles Harper as the transgressor, and instanced wherein he had broken the union. The elder wished to know if he would be satis- fied with such reparation or acknowledgments as might be dictated, if Harper had done wrong. He said he would. The elder spoke to Harper, who was willing and wished to meet the charges. For this purpose, the preachers and official members of both Churches were requested to con- vene in the meetinghouse on Monday morning. The appointment was well attended. After prayer, the elder informed those present of the design of the meeting and requested Mr. McGee to state the rules of the union and wherein they were violated. He requested the elder to do it. He did so, by repeating the terms as suggested and agreed to in the union meeting, and appealed to Mr. McGee and those members that attended the union meeting. His statements were admitted to be correct. Soon after the investigation commenced, it appeared that for want of 472 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree evidence it could not be concluded. The meeting was therefore adjourned to the time and place of a quarterly meeting which was shortly to be com- menced, in a neighborhood where the witnesses would attend. The accus- er's presence was much desired, but his business prevented him from at- tending. But he appointed his substitute and authorized him to act in his place. As well as I remember, Presbyterian elders sat with Methodists on the trial. The charges and witnessess were deliberately attended to, and Harper was acquitted. The elder drew up a statement of the trial and proposed for the accuser's agent and himself to sign it in behalf of their Churches, and keep it as an official conclusion of the matter. He hesitated; the elder therefore pro- posed, as he was going from thence to a camp meeting at Fountain Head, where he expected to see the accuser and a number of his brethren, to take the papers, officially certified, and submit the whole to the judgment of the preachers and official members of that meeting. This was a gratification to the agent. At the Fountain Head meeting the papers were presented to Harper's accuser, in the presence of one or two other preachers and several elders of that Church, united with the members of the Methodist Conference. The paper was read, considered, and approved. The accuser professed to be satisfied. All seemed to be pleased. The presiding elder was glad that Harper was exonerated and the Meth- odists found innocent and that the accuser himself was satisfied, but he had to acknowledge that he was not satisfied, that he was dissatisfied with the proceedings against Harper and with the manner in which the Methodists had been treated, and therefore he then demanded satisfaction in behalf of the Methodists. He then stated charges against Harper's accuser and directed attention to cases wherein the Methodists had been publicly misrepresented, to the wounding of religious feeling and the injury of character. Harper's accuser attempted to evade an examination, but the presiding elder demanded satisfaction for his injured brethren. The former accuser, now the accused, said they had no power to meet the demand, that their discipline made no provision for such a case. He was informed that the Methodist discipline knew as little about them and the union as theirs did; but they had entered a kind of fellowship called a union, talked of rules and regulations to perpetuate the union, and had charged the Methodists with breaking the union; that the Methodists had met the charge, justified their conduct, and given satisfaction to their accuser, not on any provision of their discipline for such a case, but upon principles of propriety and so- cial obligation; and after all this, they are informed there is no redress for them. The presiding elder was not disposed to admit such apologies. Sat- isfaction for his injured brethren he must have or resort to some other mode of defense. He was not disposed to be severely just, but would take any acknowledgment that was sufficient to secure the injured character of his brethren. A respectable elder of the Presbyterian Church said the demand was Appendix 473 reasonable and ought to be complied with. The accused begged that it should be deferred till after their Presbytery, which was at hand. The presiding elder consented to the suspension of the trial, on condition that they should meet him at a camp meeting of his, in Cage's Bend, immediate- ly after their Presbytery, but that means should be used to redress the injury already inflicted on the Methodists. The Presbyterian ministers did not correct the misrepresentations they had publicly made. He therefore wrote to a preacher an account of the state of things, with direction to read it in those congregations wherein the Presbyterian preacher had made the subject public. The preacher was not to comment on the communication or explain it, but to let the author of the letter and him who first made the subject public settle any differences that might arise. No return was made to the presiding elder at the camp meeting in Cage's Bend. The charges officially brought by him against the Presbyterian preachers of the union were never settled. They remained under censure. The affair was left to suffer or sleep or die. At the interviews relative to the charges against Mr. Harper, the terms and regulations of the union, as stated at the union meeting, were repeated and admitted. Thus many things were brought to light, knowledge increased, Methodist discipline revived, and numbers were greatly increased. What was the proper signification of the term "Cumberland Presby- terian," as it was used in those days, the writer is not sufficiently ac- quainted with the regulations of the Presbyterian Church to say; but he thinks it was applied to a part, perhaps a Presbytery, designated the " Cum- berland Presbytery" of the Presbyterian Church, as it existed at that day. Of this body there were four ministers who were distinguished for piety, zeal, and usefulness: Messrs. McGee (whose Brother John was a very zealous, useful Methodist preacher these brothers labored much together, with great success), McGready, Hodge, and Rankin. These four labored harmoniously and successfully. They engaged the Methodist ministers in their meetings to a considerable extent. They advocated union with the Methodists and preached so much like them and spoke so freely against Calvin's notion of decrees and in favor of salvation for all men that many supposed they had renounced their old system of doctrines. These were prominent, popular characters, and probably many restricted the Cumberland Presbyterians to these four men. Of the Cumberland Presbyterians the Church became suspicious, whether of all the ministers of that body or part of them, or for what or to what extent their conduct was censured, the writer does not know. It was reported that the Cumberland Presbyterians did not attend to the disci- pline of the Church; that in the examination of candidates for the ministry they did not sufficiently attend to the candidate's faith in their dostrines and licensed men who did not possess the literary qualifications required by the discipline. How this may be, the writer does not know. But it is certain that eventually a number of the preachers of the Cumberland de- 474 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree partment left the Presbyterian Church and constituted a separate and dis- tinct community. I understand they have been useful and successful. Of the four ministers already mentioned as leading characters of that part of the Presbyterian Church with which the Methodists of the Cum- berland Circuit formed a union, I learned that the first named joined him- self to the seceders who formed a Church in the Cumberland District for the Presbyterian Church. The second and third, after saying many things, and some of them very hard, against their old Confession of Faith, adjusted matters with the Church and received the Confession of Faith. And the fourth, or last named, joined the Shaking Quakers. Thus the body of ministers with whom the Methodists were in union has become extinct. There is not a vestige of it in their existing form extant. BISHOP McKENDREE'S ESSAYS ON OUR CHURCH GOVERNMENT AMONG the numerous papers of Bishop McKendree some are sermons, theological criticisms, and essays upon doctrinal, metaphysical, and literary subjects; but while most of them are unfinished, he prepared others upon Church government, es- pecially our own, with considerable care and left them neatly and carefully put up. The general views presented in them are in part set forth in his circular addresses and letters, but in many cases they are so concisely and clearly stated in these brief essays that it is thought proper to give a few of them a perma- nent form. We therefore present the following pieces, carefully written by him. The future historiographer of the Church and the student of our ecclesiastical history may hereafter be glad to find the views entertained by the wise and venerable man whose history reaches from the organization of our Church to 1835, and whose life was devoted to the study and administra- tion of our economy; and yet, as laws and their construction, as well as usages and opinions, like everything else of human origin, are liable to be changed and modified by time and taste, so, notwithstanding our high respect for the Bishop and our agreement with him in many of his views, we do not consider ourselves bound to indorse all his opinions and inferences as set forth; in the main, however, we assent to them. DEFENSE OF CONSTITUTIONAL EPISCOPACY. A general superintendency is essentially necessary to perpetuate itin- erancy; therefore no. judicious friend to the traveling plan will transfer the. power of choosing presiding elders and stationing the preachers from the bishops to the Annual Conferences, because in this the power of over- sight principally consists. Take this prerogative from the superintend- ents, and there will remain with them no power by which they can oversee the work or officially manage the administration, and therefore the Con- ference must in justice release them from their responsibilities as bishops. This being done, the office of general superintendent must cease and the Methodist Episcopal Church would be no longer under the government of bishops. But such a change in the government would deprive the General Con- ference of an important, perhaps an essential, part of their authority and put it out of their power to enforce and carry our system of rules into effect. This will appear from the peculiar relation between the bishop and Con- 476 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ference, or the connection between making our rules and enforcing them. The superintendents are chosen by the General Conference, are the re- positories of executive power, and are held responsible as overseers of the whole charge. By calling upon them, the administration in every part of the work may be brought under the inspection and control of the General Conference. But if the power of superintending the work were taken from the bishops, they must be released from the responsibility; and if they should be re- leased, there would be no person or persons accountable to the General Conference for the administration; consequently the connection between making rules and enforcing them would be dissolved. The legislative body would then have no control over the executive, no power to enforce their rules or laws. The several Annual Conferences are under the control of general rules, enforced by responsible superintendents; so that if a preacher should de- part from the discipline or doctrine of the Church, it is the bishop's duty to correct, remove from office, or bring him to trial according to discipline. Should an Annual Conference dissent from the doctrine or discipline of the Church, the Bishop should enter his protest and bring the case before the ensuing General Conference. Should the superintendent join with a Conference in such a departure, the next General Conference will call him to account for it; and by this medium the General Conference takes cog- nizance of the acts of the Annual Conferences; so that while the super- intendents serve as a center of union and harmony among the Annual Con- ferences, they i. e., the Annual Conferences become responsible to and are brought under the inspection and control of the General Conference. Once more: The general superintendents serve as watchmen to guard the Annual Conferences against attacks on their constitutional rights. The delegated Conference is composed of two parts: the representatives of the Annual Conferences and the bishops. These are equally supported by the preachers collectively, who have secured to themselves in this ca- pacity the right of deciding on any alteration of the constitution; therefore that instrument cannot be altered or changed by the General Conference unless they first obtain the consent of the Annual -Conferences. Now if the representatives should make a premature attack on the constitution, it becomes the superintendent's duty, arising out of his relation to the preachers collectively, to arrest the procedure on constitutional principles, and thus, and on that ground, the subject may come before the Annual Conferences, whose right it is to judge in all constitutional cases. Were it not for this check, which brings all disputes respecting constitutional rights to a uniform and safe conclusion, the Church might be involved in difficulties of the most serious nature. The General Conference might pass a rule to which some Conferences might submit and others pronounce unconstitutional, and thereby destroy its force. The end is left to con- jecture. But if the executive power were transferred from the bishops to the Annual Conferences, as it would be if they were authorized to elect pre- Appendix 477 siding elders, etc., and the bishops were consequently released from their responsibility to the General Conference, the Annual Conferences would thereby become independent of each other, of the bishops (except for ordi- nation) , and of the General Conference. Being invested with executive au- thority and amendable to no superior, consequently under no jurisdicton, they might neglect or reject the rules formed by the General Conference with impunity; and for the Conferences in such a situation to dissolve the bonds of fellowship and union by introducing different administrations is among possible events. In the event of such a change in the government, the general superin- tendents might patiently endure the toil of annual visits to ordain preach- ers, hear complaints, feel the distress of the discontented, and preside in the Conferences without power to redress grievances or manage the busi- ness; or they might turn their attention to more comfortable and useful situations; and the General Conference may have the honor of assembling together and forming rules and regulations for the government of the Church and the mortification of seeing those rules neglected or rejected and lament their loss of ppwer to enforce their wholesome regulations and thereby save the Church. ITINERANCY ITS SUCCESS STATISTICS. The itinerant plan of preaching the gospel, which was pursued by the apostles and their immediate successors, is undoubtedly better calculated to supply the poor with the glad tidings of salvation than any other, and, indeed, is the only plan adapted to the universal spread of the gospel. But this apostolic system was soon exchanged for a local plan, which is better adapted to human inclinations and temporal interests. In process of time, when experimental religion was extremely low and almost discarded, it pleased the Lord to call forth that venerable man, John Welsey, and through his instrumentality to revive both religion and the itinerant plan of preaching the gospel. By this means a general revival of experimental religion had been carried far and wide. But it will appear to a careful observer of our Annual Minutes, com- pared with the rise and progress of Methodism in Europe and America, that our founder and fathers did not intend to organize a separate Church. They had no prearranged system of governemnt; so far from it, they were frequently opposed to those measures which were providentially suggested as proper expedients for particular occasions and which terminated in a constitution and system of Church government. These things considered, it would seem nothing short of an overruling Providence could have produced so excellent an imitation of the apostolic plan. Our fathers set out with this profession: "We believe that God's design in raising up the preachers called Methodists in America was to reform the continent and spread scriptural holiness over these lands." Influenced by this persuasion, they went forth proclaiming salvation through the merits of Christ by faith to all people. Increasing numbers crying, " What 478 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree shall we do?" induced them to resort to churchyards, market houses, streets, the woods, for houses could not contain the thousands that flocked together to hear the word of life. Rules and regulations were introduced to meet the necessities of an astonishing increase of members and a rapid extension of the field of ministerial labors. In 1784, the United Societies in America, contrary to the original in- tention of our founder and fathers, were formed into an independent Epis- copal Church; and the rules which, from time, had been introduced for the benefit of the society were incorporated into the system of government. When the socities were formed into a Church, there were 46 circuits, 83 traveling preachers, and 14,988 members. From that time the work of the Lord far exceeded any former years; so much so, that in 1792, there were 18 districts, 137 circuits and stations, 226 preachers, and 65,980 members. But the increase of numbers was attended with additional difficulties. A few years' experience taught the necessity of revising and perfecting the system of rules. For this purpose a General Conference was called, and met according to appointment, November 1, 1792, and was continued by adjournments, once in four years, until May 6, 1-808, which was the last General Conference of this description. At that time there were 35 dis- tricts, 313 circuits and stations, 540 traveling, and about 2,000 local preachers, and 151,995 members. Hitherto the Conferences possessed unlimited powers. The system of government was therefore subject to be changed and modified as the Conference pleased. Sundry alterations and additions were made at those five Conferences; but the principles and con- stituent parts of the system remained unaltered. The plan of government bore the scrutinizing test of experience and criticism, and the system of government was thereby perfected, settled, and confirmed. THE DELEGATED SYSTEM THE CONSTITUTION AND SUPERINTENDENCY. Such was the confidence which the local preachers and members reposed in the wisdom, goodness, and prudence of the traveling ministry that the Church enjoyed a good degree of harmony and peace, as well as prosperity; yet many of her friends looked forward to the possible events of every suc- ceeding General Conference with solicitude for the peace and safety of the Church, for the General Conference at that time possessed unrestricted powers; and those traveling preachers who had stood out a certain pro- bation and met at the appointed time and place, whether many or few, constituted the General Conference; consequently there was no constitu- tional security that the system of government would be perpetuated or the terms of communion preserved. In 1808, there were 540 traveling preachers, and 128 of that number con- stituted .the General Conference. That Conference, being satisfied of the propriety and utility of their system and fully awake to their situation, resolved to confirm and perpetuate their well-tried plan of government. To this end they constituted a delegated General Conference, formed a con- stitution, and so limited and restricted the powers of their representatives as to preserve the system of government inviolate and secure the rights Appendix 479 and privileges of all the members. The Annual Conferences ratified and confirmed the constitution. It was accepted and adopted unanimously by every Annual Conference electing and sending representatives to act under it. The General Conference thus constituted is invested with "full powers to make rules and regulations for the Church, under certain limitations and restrictions," and to enforce those rules by means of the general super- intendents, who are amenable to them for the administration. A general superintendency is therefore indispensably necessary; neither the General Conference nor the itinerant plan could exist long without it. Hence it is provided in the constitution that the General Conference "shall not change or alter any part or rule of our government so as to do away epis- capacy, or destroy the plan of our itinerant general superintendency." Now, as the same power which constituted the delegated Conference thus confirmed and perpetuated the general superintendency, it must be equally as permanent as the General Conference itself; and to guard against such afflictive and destructive alterations as it was in the power of the former Conference to make, the delegated Conferences are not "to revoke, alter, or change our Articles of Religion, or to establish any new standards or rules of doctrine contrary to our present existing and estab- lished standards of doctrine." It was the belief of those doctrines that first united the preachers and people in sentiment and affection; and the cordial belief of them, like silken cords, still bind the whole connection in harmony and love. The fourth article preserves "the General Rules of the united societies," and the fifth perpetuates the mutually agreed to and long-established rules by which disorderly preachers and members are to be dealt with. By these judicious regulations, the General Conference has lost its power to make injurious changes; and the rights of the members being secured, the public mind is happily delivered from fear of ruinous changes: it rests under the protection of those limitations and restrictions; consequently the Church has nothing to fear from the fact that the govern- ment is mainly in the hands of the traveling ministers. The general superintendents are constituted the supreme executive or the deputy of executive power. It is the duty of a bishop, or superintendent, "to preside in the Confer- ences; to ordain bishops, elders, and deacons; to travel through the con- nection at large; to oversee the spiritual and temporal business of the so- cieties." And for the faithful performance of those duties, they are amen- able to the General Conference, who have power to expel them for im- proper conduct, if they see it necessary. But in order to constitute them justly responsible, they should be clothed with sufficient power to dis- charge the duties enjoined on them. Therefore they are invested with the power of ordination and full power to superintend the work at large. The traveling preachers collectively have delegated to them these pow- ers: to fix the appointments of the preachers for the several circuits; in the intervals of the Conferences to change, receive, and suspend preachers; to form districts; to choose, station, and change presiding elders, etc. But 480 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the work extended so rapidly that in a few years it became impossible for the bishop to superintend in person; therefore presiding elders were intro- duced as assistant superintendents; and, as the bishops were the only re- sponsible persons for the administration, they were to choose the presiding elders, who are fully authorized to superintend the work in the absence of the bishops. Therefore the office of a presiding elder is not separate or dis- tinct from that of a general superintendent, but is inseparably connected with a part of it and concluded in it. They are deputized by the bishops, who bear the whole responsibility of the administration as their assistants in the superintendency. Therefore the bishops must appoint the presiding elders, or be relieved of responsibility for the administration. Hence the bishops appear to be primarily the overseers of the preachers as well as of the whole body of the Church. But at the same time that they are ac- knowledged as the head of the body, they are but principle servants, chosen by the preachers and bound to govern according to rules made by them, and by which they themselves have agreed to be governed. They are thus accountable to the very persons over whom they exercise authority, and " may be expelled by them for improper conduct, if they think it necessary." Such a general superintendency may help to carry on the glorious work and increase our joy, but they have no power to oppress. CHECKS ON GENERAL CONFERENCES AND BISHOPS. The representatives and the general superintendents who compose the General Conference do not act as separate and distinct bodies, and yet such is their respective relations to their constituents that they form a check on each other in order to preserve the constitutional rights and priv- ileges of the preachers and people. In the sixth article the mode of altering or amending the constitution is pointed out, and stands thus: "Provided, nevertheless, That upon the joint recommendation of all the Annual Conferences, then a majority of two-thirds of the General Confer- ence succeeding shall suffice to alter any of the above restrictions." By this proviso our constituents have reserved to themselves the right of judging in constitutional cases and effectually prohibited every infringe- ment on their sacred rights. The superintendents have no negative on the General Conference; but, if that body should attempt to exceed the bounds of their delegated power, the superintendents may declare the procedure unconstitutional; and if it should remain a subject of dispute between the Conference and superintendents, it must be referred to the Annual Con- ferences as a constitutional question. In this way the general superintendency is a safe and easy check on the delegated Conference. But the bishops are amendable to that body for their administration. The Conference is therefore a powerful check on them in the exercise of their powers. It is the bishop's prerogative "to form districts," etc. But this is so connected with the power of choosing, stationing, and changing the presiding elders that if they were deprived of the power to choose the presiding elders that of forming districts should be Appendix 481 taken from them. But the bishops' authority to superintend the work at large consists principally in their power to choose the presiding elders, for they act under the bishops' authority and are their assistants in the gen- eral superintendency. But if the presiding elders were chosen by the An- nual Conference, received their executive authority from that body, and were accountable to them, the bishops would have no power to overrule their administration and therefore ought to be released from the obligation. It is the duty of a bishop, in the intervals of the Conferences, to change, receive, and suspend preachers, as necessity may require and as the Dis- cipline directs; but this is so closely connected with the power of appoint- ing the preachers for the several stations, that if the bishops were deprived of the latter, they ought not to retain the former, because such a divided superintendency might destroy itself. A committee might station the preachers at Conference; and immediately after, the bishop might make an entirely different arrangement by changing of the same preachers. But a very considerable part of the bishop's authority to oversee the work is contained in his power to station the preachers; for in the arrangement of the preachers the superintendents at once select the governing preachers, clothe them with executive powers, and supply the Church with officers for the exercise of discipline in every department of the whole work. But if the form of government was altered, as stated above, the bishops would be completely divested of the powers of an overseer, they would have no authority to overrule or manage the business officially, and therefore jus- tice requires they should be freed from the duties and responsibilities of overseers. This being done, the remaining duties of a bishop would stand thus: to preside in our Conferences; to travel through the connection at large; to ordain bishops, elders, and deacons. The following questions may deserve a serious thought: Can a man be found who would think his time and talents well employed in that station? If there is, would it be profitable and safe to employ or set one apart to fill such an office? Would the form of Discipline recognize such a one as the general superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church? Could the constitution recognize such a one as the President of the General Confer- ence? Would he have a legal claim to a seat as a member of the General Conference? THE DELEGATED GENERAL CONFERENCE CANNOT GIVE THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES THE AUTHORITY TO ELECT PRESIDING ELDERS. The delegated General Conference has no authority to empower the Annual Conferences to elect presiding elders and invest them with super- intending authority; neither has it power to constitute presiding elders a committee to station the preachers. The General Conference possesses only a delegated power, which is to be exercised under certain limitations and restrictions; but this power is not transferable, for no representative has a right to transfer his delegated powers to another. Of course, a body composed of such members can have no such right; neither does the constitution authorize the General 31 482 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Conference to transfer its delegated power, or to make such a change in the form of government; therefore it is not within the limits of its delegated powers to effect such a revolution. Even the body from whom the delegated Conference derived its exist- ence and powers never elected presiding elders or stationed the preachers, and there is room to doubt if it ever was the prerogative of the collective body so to do. That the preachers who composed it had a right, as indi- viduals, to make their own appointments and therefore had an undoubted right to authorize whom they pleased to make appointments for them is admitted by all; and that the preachers did formilly authorize the general superintendents to choose the presiding elders and appoint the preachers for the several stations will be denied by none; therefore the former Gen- eral Conference cannot claim the power of appointing presiding elders and stationing the preachers, otherwise than the preachers who composed it had power to divest the general superintendents of that power and confer it on another or exercise it in their collective capacity, if they had been so minded. But this it has never done. That it did not, and intended that it should not be done, will appear from the following circumstance: When the report of the committee which was appointed to draw up a constitution was before the General Conference, a member moved the postponement of that subject for the express purpose of bringing in a mo- tion to authorize the Annual Conferences to elect the presiding elders. It was done; and that body, who had as much right to introduce the proposed alteration as they had to form the constitution, took up the proposition, amply discussed the subject, and rejected it. The friends of the proposed alteration thought the constitution would put it out of the power of the delegated Conference to effect the desired change, and therefore proposed to make the alteration before the constitu- tion was ratified. But the preachers preferred the old plan and therefore rejected the motion. After twenty years' experience, and with the con- stitution fully before them, they refused to invest the Annual Conferences with power to elect presiding elders, and at the moment of constituting the delegated Conference, deliberately confirmed it, and continued it in gen- eral superintendents, with whom it had been intrusted from the beginning. The presiding elders never were elected by the preachers, either in their Annual or General Conference capacity, but were from their commence- ment chosen by the general superintendents, with the consent of the preach- ers collectively; and this rule was ratified and confirmed by the same au- thority that constituted the delegated Conference. Now, as the bishops do not derive this power from the delegated Conference, but from the preachers collectively, the delegated body can have no authority to take it from them. This can be effected by none but that body from whom they received it. That the delegated Conference is authorized to elect and consecrate a bishop, and that a bishop so consecrated is invested with the powers of an overseer is undoubtedly true; and that the bishop is authorized to choose the presiding elders is equally so. Now, a presiding elder so chosen is there- Appendix 483 by clothed with power to oversee the temporal and spiritual business of his district. But it does not follow that the bishop created the office, and therefore he may abolish it; or that he confers the power, and therefore he may withhold it. The case is fairly thus: The office of presiding elder was created, the duties of that office appointed, and power to discharge those duties conferred by the preachers collectively, which the bishops have no authority to abolish. They may choose and change the officer, but cannot abrogate the office or its powers and rights. In like manner the office of a bishop was constituted, the duties of that office appointed, and power to discharge those duties conferred by the preachers collectively, over which the delegated Conference has no con- trol. The General Conference is authorized to elect and consecrate a bishop, and the man so consecrated is invested with the powers of a gen- eral superintendent and is amenable to that body for the administration, consequently he is under their control; but they have no authority to do away the office, or to divest the bishop of power to perform the duties of his office; therefore it is not within the limits of the delegated Conference's power to effect such a change in the system of government. The same conclusions will follow from a fair construction of the con- stitution. Among the limitations and restrictions under which the delegated Con- ference must act, one says: "They shall not change or alter any part or rule of our governemnt so as to do away episcopacy, or destroy the plan of our itinerant general superintendency." To superintend is to oversee, to overlook or take care of others with authority; and superintendency implies superior care, the act of overseeing with authority. The words, "itinerant general superintendency," in the constitution, must mean the same thing which is called the "duties of a bishop," and pointed out in the fourth section of the form of Discipline. For the bishops are "elected by the suffrages of the General Conference to exercise the epis- copal office, and superintend the Methodist Episcopal Church in America." (P. 24.) And a part of the bishop's duty is to preside in the Conference. But the constitution says one of the general superintendents shall preside in the General Conference; therefore the form of Discipline knows no general superintendents except those who are elected and ordained bishops ac- cording to the form of Discipline, and thereby authorized and bound to discharge the duties of that office as pointed out in the fourth section of that book. But the authority of superintendents consists principally in their power to choose presiding elders and station the preachers, because the repsponsibility of the governing preachers directly to the bishops en- ables them to overrule the administration. But if the bishops were de- prived of the power of choosing presiding elders and stationing the preach- ers, or of appointing the governors of districts and circuits, which is the same thing, and those officers were thereby released from their responsi- bility to the gerneral superintendents, they would no longer have power to superintend the Methodist Episcopal Church. Then the government by 484 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree bishops would be at an end and our itinerant general superintendency would be destroyed; therefore the constitution will not admit such a change in the system of government. For as much then as the propositions under consideration imply a change in the constitution, and no such change can take place without the con- sent of the Annual Conferences, in conformity to the provision made for altering any article of the constitution, the Conference may propose the change to the ensuing Annual Conferences for their examination and con- sent, but further they cannot go with safety. LETTERS FROM BISHOP McKENDREE TO JOSHUA SOULE IF the resolutions of 1820, making the presiding elders elec- tive and constituting them a council to station the preachers, had not been suspended, Bishop McKendree would have pro- tested and taken an appeal to the Annual Conferences on the plea of their unconstitutionality, which might have led to seri- ous complications and disagreements between the Conferences themselves and between the preachers and the bishops, as well as between the bishops themselves. Much disaffection, and per- haps a serious secession, might have resulted. But the sus- pension of those resolutions until the next General Conference gave a new turn to the subject and enabled him to refer the question, in a modified form, to the Annual Conferences by pro- posing to grant the wishes of those who voted for the resolu- tions by a corresponding change in the constitution, thus avoid- ing a direct issue upon their constitutionality. The following brief extract from his letter to Bishop Soule fully explains his views and opinions on this matter at that crisis: Dear Brother: Bishop George left Raleigh on Thursday at twelve o'clock. Next morning I set out, and preached in Oxford the next Sabbath, forty miles from Raleigh. But the spring has been very wet and cold, which af- fected my health and prevented our getting on sooner. I wrote to you by Bishop George and requested an answer to be di- rected to Dr. Wilkins, but I do not think the business (on which I am very desirous to have your judgment) was sufficiently laid before you, there- fore I write this before your answer comes to hand. I think you were informed that I intended to bring the Suspended Res- olutions before the Annual Conferences, commencing with the next Ohio Conference. But it is my intention to invite the Annual Conferences to authorize the ensuing General Conferences to adopt the Suspended Res- olutions. That they are unconstitutional, and, if carried into effect in- dependently of the Annual Conferences, will have a ruinous effect on our system of government, I have no doubt. Nor do I consider it an improve- ment of our itinerant system; but, as far as I see, it leaves power enough in the superintendency to carry the rules into effect, if the business can be harmoniously conducted, and without harmony it will be ruined anyway. Therefore the resolutions might be admitted, if constitutionally estab- lished. Presuming on the correctness of this statement, I anticipate several important benefits from the intended course. 1. It will bring fully before us the principle on which the controversy 486 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree turns and prepare all for the decision. At the last General Conference, after contending for so much more, they professed to be satisfied with the Restrictive Resolutions. If this was the result of conviction, they will be pleased to have their wishes constitutionally established; but should they object to it in this form, all may apprehend danger. 2. It may prevent much evil. When men pass a certain line, they stand committed, and frequently must go through, however painful and hazard- ous the consequences. If the resolutions are not for the better, they may be the best that many can bear, and therefore save us from worse things. 3. It will ratify and permanently establish our constitution, and thereby effectually guard against further encroachments on the episcopacy and effectually secure the rights of our preachers and members. The suspension of the resolutions enables me to take this course; other- wise, it must have been an appeal on their constitutionality. The possi- bility of conducting this dangerous contention so as to prevent ruinous consequences and restore peace without making a greater sacrifice, in- clines me to think the affair was providentially directed. Respects to Sister Soule. Yours in love, WILLIAM MCKENDREE. DUMFRIES, VA., April 17, 1821. The following letter is a rejoinder to Joshua Soule's reply to the foregoing, and shows that the reply suggested serious ob- jections and apprehensions as to the fate or consequences of the Address of the Bishops to the Annual Conferences on the Sus- pended Resolutions. They doubtless harmonized as to their views of the character of those resolutions, but we infer from this letter that something in the Bishop's "course" on the ques- tion was met by objections, perhaps upon the ground of policy, or as likely to subject him to unpleasant collision with the ar- dent friends of the resolutions, who denied their unconstitution- ally. But the pure-hearted and far-seeing old Bishop bravely pur- sued his course and saved the Church from a measure which must have resulted disastrously to the effectiveness of her epis- copacy and itinerancy, if it had not been prevented. Dear Brother: Two days ago I came to Baltimore and received your letter. The course to which you oppose such weighty considerations pro- ceeds upon a supposition that a ruinous change will take place if something be not done to prevent it, that probably this is the most favorable oppor- tunity I may ever have. I have no expectation of satisfying the dissatisfied, but if it might save what I esteem such a blessing to mankind, the end will be fully answered. To induce the Conferences to comply with the request, it should be laid before them so as to preclude contention and at the same time show the distinctive tendency of the measures pursued with the propriety and util- Appendix 487 ity of the request. It is presumed the friends of the old system will see and approve. This will change the face of things. All will see that the strong- est opponents of the revolution are disposed to accommodate the dissat- isfied, as far as they can in accordance with our system of government and the rights of its members. That it will meet with disapprobation is not doubted; but opposition to it will meet with considerable difficulties. To oppose receiving what they have been so warmly contending for, when of- fered in a harmonious and constitutional way, would show a design upon the government itself. It is supposed that it will at least bring the sub- ject to issue unasked and set it for trial on the principles of our system and our rights. Several Conferences having tacitly decided the change to be unconstitutional will be a powerful barrier to its passage. But if this cannot prevent its going into effect independently of the Annual Confer- ences, it will certainly pass if no such measures shall be taken. In that case, we shall have the satisfaction of having done what we could. If it should succeed, the public mind, which has rested on the constitutional security of their rights, will more securely and confidently rest on their system. I shall be in this neighborhood about two weeks. Let me hear from you. I should be glad to know the worst of what I may have to encounter, should be extremely glad to consult you on the draft of a communication that now lies by me. My physician advises me not to visit you this spring. I believe his advice is good, and therefore decline the visit. I shall wait patiently for information after your Conference, but should be glad to get your strictures on the first part of this letter immediately, if practicable. As yet it is known by two only, and they are at a distance. I am inclined to consult one or two in this quarter. I expect to send on an important communication from Colonel McKin- ney on the subject of Indian affairs, directed to the New York Conference. It was my intention to send a letter of direction and commit the manage- ment of that business to you. For these purposes you must attend the New York Conference, if possible. Yours most respectfully, WILLIAM MCKENDREB. DR. WILKINR'S, May 12, 1821. This letter shows the great anxiety of the Bishop as to the action of the Annual Conferences upon his favorite measure, referred to in the two preceding letters, and that, so far as it had been tried, the result had vindicated his wisdom, as the sequel did most conclusively. It also exhibits his indomitable spirit in enduring the hardships and perils of attending the Confer- ences when borne down with age and infirmities. Surely his moral heroism and self-sacrificing labors prove him a worthy successor of the confessors and martyrs, who "counted not their lives dear to them." Allusion is made to the transfer of Mr. Soule from the New York to the Baltimore Conference, which occurred shortly afterwards. 488 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree Dear Friend: After considerable delay, in order to give the fullest ac- count of my progress under divine protection, I acknowledge the reception of yours of October 17. Your views of my course, and the information on the state of that subject in the North, both comforted and encouraged me. And indeed such aid w as highly necessary; for I was very much oppressed with cares and fears, and had to stand alone. Upon discovering what I was about, my colleagues dictated and urged a very effeminate course, which, as I told them, would defeat their own purposes. Of this I think Bishop Roberts is now pretty well satisfied. In the Ohio Conference, one came out in direct opposition to the validity of the constitution, but found no supporter. Mr. Ruter said handsome things in its favor. The younger man was run down. In that and the Kentucky Conference the existing plan was warmly contended for, the Suspended Resolutions barely ad- mitted. I did not write to the Missouri Conference, but suffered Bishop Roberts to manage the Address as he pleased. He thinks it would have passed if I had been there. With difficulty he prevailed upon them to lay it over to the next Conference. The Tennessee Conference took up the subject and without opposition pronounced the Suspended Resolutions an infringe- ment ot the constitution (as did the other Conference that acted on the subject), and seemed as ready to confirm a second resolution, to which the Bishop objected, saying they might as well do nothing, and received for answer: "We intend to do nothing more than to prevent the resolution from being carried into effect." One interfered, and the subject was laid over and never concluded until the last day of the Conference. Some of the principal men assured the Conference that they were sincere in what they said on the subject at other times, and that they could now as sin- cerely vote for its passage. They seemed to be of one mind in their move- ments and voted for its adoption on constitutional principles. From what passed, I apprehend the following considerations influenced their minds: 1. If the passage of those resolutions would prevent a division and har- monize the body, it would be bad policy to prevent their being carried into effect. 2. This course will not compel the General Conference to make the change, but authorize it as the constitution directs, if in its judgment the change should be thought necessary. 3. As Bishop Roberts decided that the representatives, when chosen, would be subject to their instructions and at full liberty to act according to their best judgment, they thought it would be the most effectual way to prevent carrying the resolutions into effect by a bare majority, in op- position to the constitution, and put an end to the controversy by estab- lishing and confirming the constitution. A new scene is opening; a little time may show us the way more clearly. I am strangely preserved, and still know not for what, except to make more thorough preparation for my passage to a better world. I never sus- tained my relation to the Church with so little encouragement and com- fort as at present. Appendix 489 The help afforded was not sufficient for me to bear the burden of man- aging a carriage through the western country; I therefore left it in Tennes- see, resolved to come on horseback, if able; if not, to winter in the West. I bore the toils of more than one hundred miles, to the Tennessee Confer- ence, and from this took courage and came on. I have been graciously supported on the journey through the mountains and wonderfully pre- served from the effect of lying in the woods, traveling nearly thirty miles a day through tremendous rains for three days together, and crossing deep and dangerous streams, where the water ran over several of the horses' backs, but where none were injured. All arrived safe. The horses are afflicted, but the men are in health. that I could praise God as I ought to do! At the late Conference, I conversed with the bishop on your transfer, as intimated, and send the inclosed, that you may appear officially if I should not be there. It is presumed you may wish to attend the New York Conference, to which I have no objection; however, in this you are at liberty. If you move at once, bring a recommendation from your charge. I have many things to say when we meet. W. MCKENDREE. CLARK COUNTY, GA., November 28, 1821. LETTERS OF BISHOP McKENDREE AND BISHOP GEORGE FROM the following letters, which passed between Bishops McKendree and George, it appears that Bishop McKendree read his Address to the General Confernce of 1820 to his col- leagues before he presented it to the Conference, and that while Bishop George approved it, he subsequently favored the resolu- tions making the presiding elders elective according to the com- promise plan which was afterwards reconsidered and suspended through the influence of Bishop McKendree and the bishop elect, Joshua Soule. This change in Bishop George's course drew from Bishop McKendree a letter of remonstrance and a reply. It is due to Bishops George and Roberts to say that the writer has reason to believe that neither of them was in favor of the Suspended Resolutions upon the ground of the intrinsic merits of the plan, but simply as a "peace measure," and did not at that time take the ground that it involved a constitutional question, as did the other two named above. We hold that Bishops McKendree and Soule were correct, and it is highly probable that before their death the other two agreed with them, both as to the inexpediency and illegality of the measure. BALTIMORE, May 19, 1820. Dear Bishop: Previous to the commencement of the General Confer- ence, at your request I submitted my Address, which you examined and approved, and proposed that it should be changed from a single to a joint Address, and for yourself and Brother Roberts to sign it with me, and have but one, to which I had no objection. I understood that you professed to be more than ever confirmed in the propriety of the government; but Bishop Roberta's opinion, known to us, prevented him from coming into the measure proposed by yourself; nor did I consider him to blame. To obviate the inconvenience, I proposed, as my Address professed to be deficient, and referred to you to supply that deficiency, that you and Bishop Roberts should prepare a joint Address for that purpose, that the two might present to the Conference a complete view of the work. To this proposal I think Bishop Roberts consented, and thought with myself that it might be done with propriety; but you re- jected it, because, as I understand, you declared in favor of the sentiments contained in my Address, and supposed that joining with Bishop Roberts would expose you to censure. Notwithstanding all this, I heard with surprise some time after that you were pursuing measures which were calculated to produce a conviction that you were friendly to an alteration of our government, inviting a pri- vate meeting of individuals to confer on a proposition calculated to affect Appendix 491 the government, and in other ways using your influence to produce a rad- ical change in our system, which from your profession had an additional claim on your patronage. These things, connected with some others not very dissimilar in appearance, induce me to request an explanation, that I may be delivered from the disagreeable impressions made on my mind by these circumstances. Yours respectfully, W. McKENDREE. BISHOP GEORGE'S REPLY. BALTIMORE, May 19, 1820. Dear Bishop: Having attentively examined your communication, my intention is to answer in the integrity of my heart. And first, you think I avowed an opinion in favor of your Address. To this opinion I do with- out any kind of hesitation agree. If you ask for an explanation of my sub- sequent conduct in agreeing to or in any way aiding the compromise that now forms the rules or resolutions by which the government is to be ad- ministered, my answer is plainly this: In your Address you say that an effective general superintendency is essentially necessary to our itinerant preaching of the gospel. To this I do sincerely agree; but you may dis- tinctly understand me when I say, that if the resolutions or rules passed by this General Conference affect the springs of that superintendency so as to enfeeble its operations, I have not sagacity to comprehend it. On this my mind rests with tranquillity, believing that I have acted up to my judgment and under the influence of my clearest convictions. Had the resolutions given the power to the Annual Conferences to elect at pleasure, or nominate indefinitely, to this mode of obtaining presiding elders, my opinion would have been that such a mode of proceeding would have been an unconstitutional transfer of power. But when the bishop has the right of nomination, and the Annual Conferences the right to sanction that nom- ination, I cannot comprehend any radical change in the government. As to my joining Brother Roberts in an Address purporting that my views were in unison with his (if his are the same they were at the last General Conference, and I know of no change) viz., that Annual Conferences should elect their presiding elders I could not in conscience do any such thing. But again: the making out an Address when I considered the sub- ject entirely and completely before the General Conference, would, in my estimation, have been superfluous. I close my remarks on this part of the subject by saying, what I have done, less or more, has been with a sincere desire to close the controversy and promote peace, harmony, order, and usefulness among us as fellow laborers in the vineyard of the Lord. If I have erred, as soon as I am convinced, I hope my gracious Lord will enable me to make suitable concessions. Permit me to say that I have held your friendship in high estimation; my intention at present is never to do any- thing intentionally to forfeit either your confidence or friendship. I still hope you will tell me of my faults, personally or by letter; and when and where I can amend my doings, I shall most certainly do so. Pray for me. ENOCH GEORGE. DONATIONS THE following letter from Dr. Emory to the Bishop illustrates the high and merited confidence universally reposed in his character as a man of integrity and trustworthiness in every- thing. It, moreover, shows the honorable conduct of the lady, who, although not legally bound to carry out her deceased hus- band's bequest, yet agrees to do so, provided the Bishop will accept and appropriate the money. Dr. Emory was Assistant Agent of the Book Concern at the time. DR. EMORY TO BISHOP MCKENDREE. MURFREESBORO, N. C., January 17, 1828. Reverend and Dear Sir: Dr. William J. Waller, of this station, informs me that a lady of Virginia, near Suffolk, has in her hands one thousand dol- lars, which she wishes to present to the Methodist Episcopal Church through you. This information Dr. Waller received from the Rev. 0. Bernard, who traveled the circuit within which the lady lives and re- ceived the information directy from the lady herself. The circumstances, as I learn them, are, that her husband, now dead, devised a certain tract of land for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which, either by some informality or inattention, was never received by us. For this land the lady (his widow) has realized the above sum, which she wishes to ap- propriate agreeably to what she knows to have been her husband's wish. I understand that it is her desire to pay it to you personally and to place it at your disposal. The particular object of this communication is to in- quire if you think it probable that you will visit Virginia within any short period; and if not, whether you would feel free, under the circumstances, to address a letter to the lady suggesting the propriety of paying it to any other person. Should you think proper to do so, as I calculate to attend the Virginia Conference at Raleigh, N. C., I would endeavor to see the lady on my return and present your letter. It is believed that she would in all probability, be governed by your advice. I sent you by mail from New York a copy of the " Defense of our Fa- thers," etc., which I hope you received. I am on my way to the South Carolina and Virginia Conferences, and collecting, etc., on the route. With the best wishes for your health and happiness, I am very respect- fully and affectionately yours, J. EMORY. MRS. WESSON'S DONATION OF ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. If casting two mites into the treasury of the Lord by a poor Jewish widow was deemed an act worthy of divine commenda- Appendix 493 tion and perpetual remembrance, may we not chronicle the gift of a thousand dollars from a Gentile widow for the same end? As to the pecuniary condition of the donor, we know nothing. All we can say is that this Christian lady determined to be the al- moner of her own bounty while living and selected Bishop Mc- Kendree as the distributer of her money, thus evincing her confidence in his wisdom and integrity. When this money was received, and how applied, we know not. The probability is that this benevolent lady had not the pleasure of knowing that her donation had been faithfully and usefully applied, and that before she died her "mercy was twice blest." What a pity it is that so few imitate her example, and thus escape the law's delay, with all the expenses and occasional wrangles attending testamentary bequests for charitable and religious purposes! April 11, 1828. Reverend and Dear Sir: Sister Elvira Wesson, who resides in the neigh- borhood of Moring's Meetinghouse, in the county of Surry, and State of Virginia, desired me to say to you that she wished to make a donation of one thousand dollars to the Methodist Episcopal Church; and that it might take its destination, she now wishes, in her lifetime, to place the money in the hands of the senior bishop, with whom some forty years past she had an acquaintance. Tt is with pleasure I make this communication, as I feel confident it will be productive of good to that cause which you have so efficiently labored to spread, and which, for nearly forty years, has been my source of comfort. If you can come on, I shall be pleased to see you at my house; and by addressing me by mail to Surry Courthouse, I will make an appointment for you to preach at Moring's. Please to apprise me whether you can come on shortly or not; and if not, whether another bish- op cannot come. Yours in the bonds of the gospel of Christ, JOHN COCKES. FROM BISHOP McKENDREE TO BISHOPS GEORGE ANDJIEDDING. NEW YORK, May 16, 1826. Dear Bishops: I received your joint communication addressed to me, bearing date the 12th inst. Why Bishop Soule, who is as deeply interested and as officially concerned in its contents as either of us, should be un- noticed, may appear somewhat extraordinary; but it is hoped that it was not designed to treat him disrespectfully in his official character. Your letter contains an inquiry concerning several important points re- lative to our official interviews in Philidelphia; and as it is presumed that my reply is desired as a ground of your justification, I am willing to answer according to the best of my recollection. The facts embraced in your communication are substantially correct, but are so associated with other facts and circumstances as to require them to be noticed in this connection. Having been disappointed in not meeting the bishops in Baltimore on March 8 as had been agreed on by a majority of them, I proceeded on, attended by Bishop Soule, to meet you in Phila- delphia. , I arrived on April 12, and the next morning addressed a note to Bishop George, requesting an interview as soon as practicable and proposing to wait on him at such time and place as might suit his convenience. In the afternoon you waited on me and found Bishop Soule at my room. Bishop George appeared to be in a great hurry on account of the press of business. You were readily informed of the arrangement which had been made for the meeting in Baltimore, above alluded to, and that in conse- quence of its failure we had come on to see and consult with you on subjects of high interest to the Church. In consideration of the hurry of Bishop George, three points out of many were proposed viz.: The appointment of a minister to the British Conference, the business of the Canada Con- ference in relation to that appointment, and a change of the effective superintendents in order for each to visit all the Annual Conferences be- fore the ensuing General Conference. Bishop George gave it as his opinion that the resolution of the General Conference in reference to the appointment of a minister to England was only advisory, and left it discretionary with the superintendents, and that the business was not of sufficient importance to justify the expense. I did nominate William Capers as our representative to the British Conference, and you did object to him, alleging that he was a slaveholder. Bishop George did nominate Wilbur Fisk, and Ezekiel Cooper was named with expressions of strong doubt whether he could or would go in case he was appointed, in consequence of which I did not consider Brother Cooper as officially nominated. I think no objection was made to the character of either of these brethren. The conversation then turned on the Canada business, and in about three-quarters of an hour from the time we met, Bishop George observed, in substance, that the pressure of business rendered it necessary for him to retire; that you would consider the subject; and both of you took leave of us. I heard nothing more from you on this subject until the seventeenth, Appendix 495 when a note was handed me by Bishop Hedding from Bishop George in the Conference room, inquiring if you could have an interview with me in my room the next morning at six o'clock. My answer was: "Yes." The note was handed to Bishop Soule, approved, and returned, and we met accord- ingly at six o'clock on the morning of the eighteenth. After noting his want of time on account of the pressing business, Bishop George introduced the subject of the appointment of a delegate by observing that he supposed that Bishop Soule and myself had not changed our minds and that you were of the same opinion as before expressed. Bishop George then gave it as his judgment that it was best to send no representative, and that a letter to the British Conference would answer all the purposes and save expense. Bishop Hedding was of opinion that the resolution of the General Conference required the appointment of a delegate, but thought it better to send none than to send one who was in possession of slaves. To these decisions I believe no reply was made by either Bishop Soule or myself. Here I supposed the appointment of a delegate failed, a negative being fixed on it. After some conversation on the proposed change of the effective superintendents, this interview, which continued about one hour, was closed, upon which Bishop Soule concluded to return to Baltimore. On the twentieth I received your note in answer to mine of the nineteenth, in which, contrary to my expectation, you introduced the subject of a delegate again, and say that you "should be glad to meet me and Bishop Soule as soon as your business would admit, and see if we could fix on some other man in whom we could all be agreed." From this intimation, connected with the manner in which the way to our official interview was to be opened, in conformity to your conven- ience, it was reasonable for me to expect that I should have been informed when "your business would admit" of such a meeting; but the Conference closed on the morning of the twenty-third, and Bishop George left the city without speaking to me, and from neither of you did I receive the slightest information on the subject of the meeting. As to writing to the British Conference to apologize for not sending a delegate, as you suggest, I do not see how this would remedy the evil; nor am I convinced that we are authorized to change the course directed. Our responsiblity is not to the British Conference, but to our General Con- ference. To that body we must account, and they must answer to the British Conference as one of the contracting parties. In conclusion, I still believe that the resolution of the General Confer- ence rendered it obligatory upon the superintendents to send a minister to England. I have labored to discharge this obligation to the best of my ability, but it has been defeated by the negative which has been fixed upon the appointment. Under these considerations, connected with the late period of time, I judge it most prudent for me to decline any further agency in the case, not with a design to prevent the appointment, but for you to manage the business as you may think best. Yours very respectfully, W. McKENDREE. LETTER FROM BISHOP McKENDREE TO BISHOP ROBERTS THE reader will recollect that Bishop McKendree suffered a dangerous attack of vertigo, or, as he called it, apoplexy, while traveling on horseback from Tennessee to the Mississippi Conference in the fall preceding the date of this letter, and that he was unable to leave that section of country until the follow- ing spring. In the meantime, the unfortunate condition of our Church in New Orleans attracted his attention and deeply excited his Christian sympathies. We were without a Church, lot, or edifice, and it became doubtful whether the legislature, composed largely of Roman Catholics and others not disposed to favor Methodism, would grant a legal charter of incorpora- tion for our Church property comformably to our usual deed. The Brother Moore named in this letter we suppose to have been the Rev. Mark Moore, who, it seems, was then in the city as a missionary. He was a man of unusual talents and unimpeach- able reputation; and although he is blamed for consenting to such a change in the deed, which he was trying to get recognized by the legislature, as would secure its acceptance and passage, yet his motives are above suspicion. He erred, it is probable, but his design was good. During many years Methodism labored under great discour- agement in New Orleans, scarcely having a local habitation or a name. Indeed, long subsequent to this date, notwithstanding many of our best and most gifted ministers in that region were stationed there, the cause languished and was scarcely kept alive. This is the first year New Orleans appears upon the Minutes as a station, Mark Moore its missionary. The laborious and faithful ministers who have more recently labored there have placed our Church, by the divine blessing, in higher posi- tion. May we not confidently trust that henceforth it is to wield an increasingly evangelical influence upon the destiny of the city? MIDWAY, WILKINSON COUNTY, Miss., February 8, 1819. Dear Brother: I wrote to you from this neighborhood about three weeks ago, which was my first attempt to write since I was taken ill. In that let- ter I gave a full account of myself, the Conferences, and the manuscript Minutes. It also contained suspicions of approaching difficulties at New Orleans and was directed to the care of Brother Hoffman, Alexandria. Appendix 497 My fears for our cause in New Orleans were but too well founded. I have lately received a letter from S. T. Anderson, of that place, from which the following extracts are made. With respect to the meetinghouse, he says: "When we shall attempt a subscription as yet remains uncertain, and that uncertainty can give way only with the pressure for money, which is too heavy here to render such a measure expedient, "We have handed in our petition to the legislature for an act of in- corporation. The bill to be presented does not please all of us. At a meet- ing at Brother Moore's, I was appointed to make the draft, the principal provisions of which were these: "Vesting all the property of every kind and the ministration thereof in the hands of the trustees and giving them power to choose their own officers out of their own body. "Two absolute negatives by the eldest preacher stationed in the city by authority of the superintendents over such elections and a disqualification for six months after of any person so rejected. "An acknowledgment of the authority of the Conference, or general Church, so long as superintendents are at the head of it. "At our counting room this draft received the approbation of two or three members; but as it went the rounds, it appeared necessary to call a general meeting upon it, which Brother Moore did accordingly. I was not present at it. But then the two clauses recognizing the authority of the Church as now governed and that of the superintendents in stationing the preachers were both stricken out at Brother Moore's instance, with other trifling amendments. The bill thus amended was ordered to be copied and handed to our friends in the legislature, together with our petition. These changes were not agreeable to some of us, but acquiesced in for the sake of peace, notwithstanding Brother Moore is apprehensive we shall not receive the moneys raised for us in the Mississippi Conference." At the same time Brother Winans received the original draft, with the erasures and amendments inclosed in a letter from Brother Moore. From a former conversation with Brother Moore on the subject and the face of the letter, Brother Winans thought this course was taken contrary to Brother Moore's judgment or desire. You may guess at the surprise con- sequent upon comparing Brother Anderson's letter with Brother Moore's. The draft presented to the legislature, which is in my possession, pre- cludes every doubt from my mind of their intention to establish them- selves upon congregational principles, independent of our form of govern- ment; and for this purpose, it would seem, they pushed forward subscrip- tions without our body to secure all they could from abroad before their intention was known. Brother Moore has communicated nothing to me on this subject. I have written to Brother Anderson and informed him that I will not as- sist them either directly or indirectly to build a house on that plan; that if they should carry their design into effect independent of us, I would neither receive it as a Methodist meetinghouse nor appoint preachers to it; that the object to which we invited the people's liberality was a Meth- 32 498 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree odist meetinghouse in New Orleans, and that moneys thus obtained could not with propriety be applied to such a house as they intend to build. I hope you are of the same mind and will pursue the same course. This in substance Brother Winans communicated to Brother Moore three weeks ago by my direction. Since we received the above-mentioned letters, he has addressed him in opposition to their plan in a very appropri- ate and conclusive manner. Brother John Richardson has done the same. Brother Moore wrote about the time of Conference, which letter I sent on to you. He has written one letter to me since, but said nothing of his design to serve the connection or 6f the state of New Orleans except the prospect of his doing much good there. Hence this Conference could do but little on that subject it stands as a station in the district without a preacher. S. Parker and J. Lane (who have not come to their charges yet) are appointed to receive and appropriate the moneys collected for building in New Orleans. I would go to the place immediately and arrest their proceedings were I able, but do not believe I could hold up under the bur- den; therefore have to submit all to divine interference and your manage- ment. It remains for you to determine whether Brother Moore is to ontinue in that station or another to be sent to take the charge. I should certainly commit it to another if I could, but have no man at my disposal. You know how our kind friends in Baltimore and elsewhere have been imposed on to build such houses in other places. I hope you will not suf- fer it in this case. My late affliction has affected me so seriously that I recover strength but slowly and apprehend my return to effective service is not to be ex- pected shortly, if it should ever come to pass; but this does not afflict me at all. I think I am perfectly resigned to my lot and am willing to see the work in which I have been so long engaged pass to my colleagues. May the Lord be with you, prepare you for usefulness, direct you through difficulties, and support you under sufferings! I am now at Brother Winans's. They are well; so are the people in general through the neighborhood. He desires me to present his respects to you. The preachers and people are happily united in this quarter, but our gratitude and religion do not seem to be in proportion to our abundant prosperity. Yours affectionately, W. McKENDREB. METHODIST TRACT SOCIETY IN 1819, Joshua Soule and Thomas Mason were the Book Agents of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in New York, and the latter was the Corresponding Secretary of the Methodist Tract Society, recently organized. This note is the official notification of the Bishop's election as President of the Society. He was President also of the Missionary, the Bible, and Sunday School Societies. He was the well-known, ardent friend of every Christian and benevolent enterprise. NEW YORK, August 2, 1819. Reverend and Dear Sir: At the last annual meeting of the New York Methodist Tract Society it was the pleasure of that Society to elect you for their President (a brother having previously made you a member by the payment of the sum required by the constitution) and at a subsequent meeting of the board of managers, it was made my duty to address you and make you acquainted with the same. We do not suppose, reverend sir, by electing you to the presidency of our Society that we have added anything to that distinguished honor which you already possess in the Church of God, but we desire your patronage in favor of our infant institution and request your influence to promote the establishment of auxiliary societies in the different sec- tions of our Church which you may pass through in your travels. I am also instructed by the board to desire you to communicate any instruction which you may deem proper for us and to forward any tract which you may be pleased yourself to write or to select for publication; as also to suggest proper subjects for tracts. In company with this letter I send you a few copies of our second an- nual report, by which you will be enabled to learn something of what we have been doing in this business. That God may abundantly bless you and spare you yet many years for the benefit of his Church is the fervent prayer of your affectionate son in the gospel, THOMAS MASON, Cor. Sec. N. Y. M. T. S. REV. BISHOP MCKENDBEE. LETTER FROM ROBERT PAINE TO BISHOP McKENDREE IN looking over the papers of the Bishop, the author found, to his surprise, the letter below, written by him in 1823 and care- fully labeled and preserved, and but for the fact that it serves to illustrate the character of his venerable and beloved friend, it would not now be made public. During several interviews with the Bishop, he had evinced great solicitude to obtain missionaries for the Indian tribes, especially for the Cherokees, the Chickasaws, and Choctaws. At last he asked me if I felt willing to place myself in his hands for that work. I replied that I would try to do any ministerial work to which he might assign me, but in view of the state of my health, which had not fully recovered from a long and dangerous at- tack during that Conference year, he hesitated after mature reflection and proposed that I should accompany him on his tour to the East and possibly be transferred to some of the Atlantic Conferences. To this I made no objection, and we were to think of it and determine when he should be about to start. My health failing to improve, physicians and friends urgently dissuaded me from the labor and exposure incident to the tour; and having just published a large and expensive pamphlet in vindication of our doctrines and in reply to a very insidious attack by an eminent Hopkinsian minister, I found it necessary to see to it that the expense of its publication should be paid in advance and consequently before I could be reimbursed by its sale. These facts were given to the Bishop as due to him and my- self before he should decide and then the result was with him. I did not add what I might have said truly, that my charge objected to my removal, and he finally yielded to their remon- strance and the above facts. The next year I had the pleasure of accompanying him to Baltimore, as already narrated, where the General Conference of 1824 was held. FRANKLIN, January 27, 1823. Dear Bishop: Instead of going directly to my father's, as I intended to do when I parted from you, I have been detained here until now, partly by the badness of the roads and weather, partly with a desire to preach to my charge, but mainly by indisposition caused by taking a severe cold; but if possible, I shall start on in a few days. Appendix 501 Since I saw and conversed with you, I have reflected maturely upon accompanying you immediately to the East; and from the delicate state of my health, my feebleness, and susceptibility of taking cold, together with the situation of my pecuniary affairs, of which I was not fully ap- prised when we conversed, I have concluded that it would be imprudent in me to leave this country immediately, at least without apprising you of these facts. I find, from the cold I have taken and from the fatigue and weakness which followed my attempt to preach on yesterday, that I am in a more delicate state of health than I was aware of and not by any means so stout as I supposed. I also learn from a conversation with Brother Hill, my pamphlet agent and steward, that my pecuniary matters demand immediate attention. In a letter to Brother Douglass, I have proposed that I will yet go with you on condition that he will take my business into his hands and meet the demands against me; but I am aware of the propriety and force of his objections and am convinced that my own attention and exertions are necessary. However, if you think that you will be better accommodated thereby, I shall feel it a privilege and a pleasure to accompany you. But if you can get along as well without me, Brother Wynns will certainly go with you as far as Knoxville, and even to Lynchburg if you desire it, and by spring I will try to arrange my matters so as to be able to attend to my Red brethren, if Brothers Douglass and Dever adopt the contemplated plan. I shall glory in such an enter- prise and exert myself to the utmost of my little capacity toward the ac- complishment of so laudable an end; but if Brother John Hersey can be procured, I should say he is the very man for it. Be so good as to write to me at Murfreesboro, so that I may get the letter by February 1. Brothers Wynns and Douglass will be there, and we will make our arrangements according to the information contained in your letter. May the great Head of the Church bless and preserve you unto eternal life! I am your son in the gospel, ROBERT PAINE. LETTERS FROM T. L. DOUGLASS TO BISHOP McKENDREE THE following letter from his intimate friend, his Logan Douglass, whom he named to preach his funeral sermon in his last hour, will show the condition and views of the Tennessee Conference. We omit the list of Appointments, as it can be found in the published Minutes, excepting the Cherokee Mis- sion. From the number of men appointed to this work, it will be seen that the earnest and long-desired effort to Christianize the Indians was at last entered upon in earnest by the Tennes- see Conference. The long-cherished wish of the good Bishop was now being fulfilled. MENDENHALL, December 7, 1827. Very Dear Brother: It has been several months since I received a line from you, and as I could not tell where a letter would find you, I have not written to you. The evening before I set off to Conference, I heard you had been in the neighborhood of Gallatin, and I was willing to indulge a hope that we should have your company, until I met with Bishop Soule, who informed me you would not be with us. He at the same time informed me you intended spending the winter among us. Several of our friends have asked me if you will not be at my house, and I take the privilege of telling them I expect you will. I should be glad if you could drop me a few lines and say you will come, and the time when we may look for you. Our quarterly meeting is to be in Franklin, January 5 and 6. We should be glad to see you then and as much longer as you are willing to stay. Our Conference was held in great peace, love, and harmony of senti- ment. I think it was the happiest Conference I ever saw in the Western country as to union and fellowship among the preachers. There were but few converts, but I think many good impressions were made among the people and much good done in the establishment of Methodist doc- trines. We admitted 12 preachers on trial, ordained 12 deacons and 7 elders, 7 located, 1 superannuated (Richard Neely), and 76 appointed to the several stations. The appointments to the Indian work are as follows: CHEROKEE MISSION. William McMahon, Superintendent of Indian Missions. Will's Valley, Greenberry Garrett. Oostahnahla, Turtle Fields. Echota, James J. Trott. Oocthkellogee, Greenville T. Henderson. Creek Path, John B. McFerrin. Chatooga, Allen F. Scruggs. Salakowa, Dickson C. McLeod. The following brethren were elected delegates to the next General Conference: William McMahon, Thomas L. Douglass, Robert Paine, Appendix 503 Joshua Boucher, John M. Holland, Finch P. Scruggs, John Page, James Gwin, and James McFerrin. Our next Conference is to be in Murfrees- boro, December 4, 1828. There has been a little shaking among some of our preachers about the old Suspended Resolutions, but with one excep- tion, perhaps, we are all nearly straight. We were determined to elect no man a delegate who was not an Old Hundred. We have seen and read the address of members in Baltimore and Dr. Bond's appeal. I have been waiting and expecting that God would raise up some person to present things to public view in their proper light. Our Conference has taken a firm stand. Our delegation are sound, and the most of them old men, the fathers of the Church. The Holston Conference is also bringing in the old men (Thomas Wilkerson). I think if the radicals boast of talent on their side, which I never thought was very graceful, they cannot lay claim to all the age and experience. If you have A. McCaine's production, Emory's reply to him, or any other work on our government, please to bring them with you when you come to see us. I have been much afflicted since I saw you, but am in health at present, striving to serve my Heavenly Master and get to heaven. Remember me in prayer. Frances wishes me to remember her to you and joins me in wishing you a comfortable ride, and we shall both give you a cordial welcome under our roof. As ever, very sincerely yours in Christ, THOMAS L. DOUGLASS. This letter marks an interesting epoch in our Church history in the Southwest. The fertile regions west of the Tennessee River, extending to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and in- cluding North Alabama and Mississippi, were about to be set- tled. An immense tide of immigrants were pouring into West Tennessee, and Mr. Douglass had been appointed to the charge of that work in connection with his proper district, the Nashville District. He made an exploring tour, and now urges the Bishop to send a presiding elder there. The suggestion was acted on, and our preachers soon occupied the whole region. The Meth- odists became the most numerous denomination in that whole country and so continue to this day. Mention is made in this letter of a young preacher who had recently died in Lebanon, Tenn., in the full career of popular and useful ministerial labors. The name of Sterling Coleman Brown still carries a charm in the memory of the old Methodists in Tennessee. No young preacher among them had ever risen so rapidly to notoriety. He was the son of Lewis and Cassandra Brown, born in Brunswick County, Va., emigrated with his parents to Giles County, Tenn., where he received a good English education and some knowledge of the Latin and Greek classics. His parents were comparatively wealthy, and he had 504 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree just begun the cultivation of his farm when, at twenty-three years of age, he became converted under the ministry of Miles Harper. At once he began to exhort, hold prayer and class meetings, and soon evinced a wonderful power to arouse and attract the multitude. In person he was tall, lithe, and finely formed, with sandy hair, large, bright blue eyes, a most expres- sive countenance, and a voice of peculiar pathos. His emotions were deep, his gestures emphatic, and he transfused his feelings into the hearts of his hearers. Crowds followed him, and con- verts by hundreds were the fruits of his labors. His career was as brief as it was brilliant. He fell in his third year. We had been schoolmates in boyhood; our families were intimately connected by marriage, his only sister being my step-mother and his brother William being my brother-in-law; and, although he was several years my elder, yet we were much in each other's company and our friendship was ardent. We were awakened to a sense of the necessity of religion about the same time, 1817, confided our impressions to no one but to each other, and after a free and full confession of our feelings amid the solitude and silence of the forest where our Heavenly Father alone witnessed the scene, we deliberately shook hands to ratify our solemn pledge to each other and to our God, to begin at once to seek for pardon, and devote our lives to his service. On the next day, October 9, we both professed conversion within five minutes of each other, I being by that much the elder Christian. He kept his pledge. We were licensed to preach and joined the Tennessee Conference at the same time. It was my mounful pleasure to wait upon him in his last illness and wit- ness the test of the dying hour in vindication of the genuine- ness of his piety. His parents were Methodists, and his mother was a lady of extraordinary intellect and piety. He was the elder brother of the Rev. H. H. Brown and the cousin of Gov. A. V. Brown, of Tennessee. By excessive labor and night ex- posure he brought on a violent attack of illness, which, under the debility thus superinduced, soon ended his course of al- most unparalleled usefulness and popularity. His last words to me were: "If I had a thousand lives, I would spend them all as an itinerant Methodist preacher. Farewell; I shall soon be past the portals of light." NASHVILLE DISTRICT, September 10, 1821. Dear Brother: I wrote a few lines by Brother Maddin, who expects to at- tend the Kentucky Conference, informing you of his acceptable standing and usefulness the past year. I also wrote to you by Brother Corwine, Appendix 505 in which I mentioned the subjects of the District Conference and the situation of the Forked Deer country. I hope you will excuse me for troubling you again. The solicitude I feel for the prosperity of Zion is the only apology I have to offer. I have never communicated any intel- ligence to you or proposed any regulation for adoption which I did not conscientiously believe to be for the benefit of the work of God, and with these feelings, I again wish to remind you of Forked Deer country. That section of our work calls for peculiar attention, the constant attention of a presiding elder. If there is a circuit formed on Sandy, as I expect there is, Beech River and Forked Deer Circuits will make three already formed. These ought at least to have one preacher on each of them, and two more ought to be sent as missionaries to form new circuits. The country is rapidly settling; numbers of our members are moving there from this district and from Carolina, and the Presbyterians who settled there apply to our preachers for preaching; and as they do not settle so as to form neighborhoods among themselves, we shall gather most of them who wish to enjoy religious privileges. If Dover and Dickson Circuits can be attached to this Conference, then add Swan and Buffalo, and you will have seven circuits, which may be called Lower Tennessee District, or any other name you please to give it. Should there be any difficulty about any of the preachers from Kentucky Conference coming with Dover and Dickson, we shall be able in this Con- ference, I hope, to supply them. I hope to carry at least a dozen young preachers to Conference for admission into the traveling connection, some of our last year's converts. Our beloved Sterling C. Brown has finished his work in this world he fell a martyr to excessive labor. He died in Lebanon, at the house of Dr. Frazer, August 10, with his confidence strong in God. Our camp meetings are going on, we have had about three hundred converts, and are looking for much greater times at the four remaining meetings. I have had some sickness, the effect of fatigue. My leg remains very weak, particularly in the knee, which was considerably injured. I can walk tolerably well on level ground; when the ground is rough or broken, I get along with great difficulty, and riding much is very painful. My visit to Forked Deer was more than I ought to have attempted. I have not been able to visit either Caney Fork or Buffalo. I have had to serve them by proxy. Sometimes I think a little rest might be useful to me. Of this, however, I shall be able to judge better about the time of our Con- ference. Praying that the Lord may abundantly bless and prosper his work under your care, I remain, as ever, yours in the Lord, THOMAS L. DOUGLASS. LETTER FROM THE REV. IRA ELLIS TO BISHOP McKENDREE IRA ELLIS was among Jour early and useful preachers in Virginia. In 1783 he was admitted on trial. In 1791 he had charge of a district, traveled many years, late in life located, and removed with his family to Kentucky some time after the date of this letter, and his remains repose there. The following autographic letter was written in good style and was neatly executed. It exhibits in its matter, its tone, and temper a sensible mind, a loving and cheerful heart, and a strong attachment to his Church. The picture is morally beautiful, an aged and revered old preacher, surrounded by a pious and loving family, still at work for God, cheerfully and hopefully trusting his all to him ! FRANKLIN CIRCUIT, PITTSYLVANIA COURTHOUSE, February 2, 1827. Dear Brother: For some time I have had thoughts of writing to you, but questioned whether the time you would spend in reading it would not be worth more than the letter; be that as it may, I have determined to say something and should be glad it was in my power to inform you of anything pleasing and profitable. Through mercy I am generally able to keep up, but frequently subject to complaints and infirmities to which most men are subject, especially in the decline of life. My memory fails me a good deal, especially about things of recent date, and all the powers of the mind are enfeebled. My strength also fails me, I can bear but little exercise without fatigue. I can scarcely sing at all; my voice is weak and my teeth nearly all gone. My sphere of action is quite contracted, and I am very fond of home. My sight is still good, so that I can read the smallest print on a fair day without glasses. From these and such like things I try to learn a profitable lesson and receive warning that my decaying tabernacle will shortly fall. O may I be found ready! In the midst of all, my dull heart is too back- ward and I am too slow to believe and realize the precious promises. I still feel like trying to get safe out of the world and would not exchange my hope and prospects for a world! My wife keeps up, but is very feeble; her health, with her flesh and strength, appear to decline. My children and their families are well as far as I know, and I have pleasure in them. I still try to preach some, but prospects hereabout are unpromising. I have been begging (by subscription) money to build a Methodist meetinghouse a few hundred yards from the courthouse, but have at times been ready to give it up, but have at length determined to build. The Appendix 507 house is let at $274, the hall, floor, doors, and window shutters. This is a little more than the subscription. The house is to be twenty-four by thirty feet, framed, floors and weatherboarding dressed. Myself and son have undertaken it and are bound to make good any deficiency. It is intended: 1. As a house for public worship. 2. A schoolhouse. 3. To get a Sunday school established there if we can. We hope the house will be fit for summer. I think if we had a Nolly, or some one like-minded, the ensuing year, who would make exertions for Sunday schools, we might probably get one on foot. I am sorry to learn that there are a number among both traveling and local preachers who wish to subvert parts of our Discipline and introduce dangerous and, I fear, destructive innovations in our Church. They ought at least to show us a better plan before we give up the present. If they cannot do this, would it not be best to advise all preachers and people who are dissatisfied with us to go and do better, to let us alone and only give us notice that they do not want us on our long-tried plan, and the traveling preachers will quietly withdraw and go and serve those who want them. This was the mode pursued in 1793-94 between James River and Roanoke and answered a very good purpose. They talk of "mutual rights," and if they would add, "mutual labors," it would do; but for local preachers to govern the traveling preachers would be big with much evil. Who among them will go to Asia, to Africa, to the ends of the earth, and desire and seek nothing but God and Souls, and unweariedly do and suffer among the heathens and among the Indians, what many are now doing? This the traveling preachers are welcome to. I should be loath to be one that threw obstacles in their way; rather I would wish to be among those who would act as auxiliaries and hold up rather than weaken their hands. I do not think, upon mature deliberation, that we have a great deal to fear. Their views, their motives, and their interests will clash, and I have a better opinion of the judgment and piety of our mem- bers than to think they will barter the traveling for a settled ministry, especially when they will have to give boot. Let us trust God with his own cause, and he will take care of his people. If any traveling or local preacher is dissatisfied, there are the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Episcopalians, etc., ready to receive them; let them go in peace; or if they can raise a Church of their own, be it so, only let them not rend the Church that has been their nursing mother from their infancy and to which, under God, they are indebted for all they are or have as ministers. Perhaps I have said enough, maybe too much. I would hope the best. I hope God will preside in the Conference, that harmony may prevail, and the stations be of divine appointment. I see many good accounts in the Advocate. I want to see and feel a revival here before I die. When you are at leisure, let me hear from you. Pray for your old friend and fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, IRA ELLIS. BISHOP McKENDREE'S REPLY TO BISHOP GEORGE'S STRICTURES UPON HIS VIEWS OF THE SUSPENDED RESOLUTIONS THIS letter was in answer to the criticisms of Bishop George upon Bishop McKendree's objections to the Suspended Reso- lutions as unconstitutional. We have already had occasion to advert several times to a difference of opinion between these equally good and true men upon this subject, a difference no doubt honestly entertained by both, and which involved neither mutual affection nor confidence in each other's piety and integrity. We insert it that our preachers and people may fully comprehend the question. It was the question of the day, and although that day seems to have passed away and that question received its quietus, yet the same old issues may return to disturb the Church again. Dear Bishop: Yours of January 30 was duly received, and its contents particularly attended to. Your remarks on responsibility, the improve- ment of our system of government, and the constitution will be the subject of my observations. I'consider the responsibility of a general superintendent in our Church (presiding elder or any other preacher in charge, as an officer), and his being responsible for the acts and deeds of all the preachers under his care, as ideas so clearly distinct as almost to exclude the necessity of showing the difference; and I assure you, when I speak of the former, I do not embrace the latter. I cannot think that when you thoroughly examine my letter you will find these ideas are so connected. If they are, I ac- knowledge it is an error and was never by me designed to be conveyed. The case respecting Bishop Roberts, which you introduced, shall il- lustrate my view of this subject. If our rules were properly administered, you would have no ground to say: "If sins were legitimately imputed to Bishop Roberts, then all the blunders of four years may be imputed to him and myself." In the trial of that case, the bishop, or some member of the Annual Conference, should have charged Brother P. with neglect of his duty as pointed out in the seventh answer to the second question, fifth section, on the duty of presiding elders. Then if, upon examination, he was found guilty and condemned, he must have given satisfaction or been punished. But suppose the Conference had acquitted him, in defiance of rule and discipline; then let the superintendent, by virtue of his con- trolling authority, remove him from office as presiding elder and put some one in his place who would enforce the rules of the General Conference. But if the bishop should, by encouragement or by connivance, suffer the authority of the General Conference to be disregarded and the discipline Appendix 509 of the Church to become a perfect nullity in this way, let him be tried by the General Conference and suitably punished, not for "G. P.'s sins," nor "for the acts and deeds of others," but for the neglect of his duty. In this way, my brother, I think that the "bishops, the preachers, and people would keep out of difficulties, and such mischievous presiding elders would be otherwise employed." That the presiding elders, as well as other preachers in charge, are amenable to the Annual Conferences sufficiently appears from the fact of the examination of their characters before that body. I recollect no expression in the Suspended Resolutions, which you seem to think will answer this important purpose, that is more clearly expressive of their accountability to the Annual Conference than the present form of our discipline makes them. But if, instead of this, your system of an "identified responsibility at- tached to every officer and an identified tribunal at which all those officers are to answer for their administration" were established, there the busi- ness would end, unless the condemned officer, whether presiding elder or other officer, should be allowed an appeal to the General Conference, as in other cases of episcopal decision. If such appeal could not be made, of course the General Conference would lose their legal control of the adminis- tration. But this plan, as I understand it, would involve a pretty general revolution in our system. I have no objection to the improvement of our system of government; only let it be done consistently with its fundamental principles, and then I submit. Nor do I consider it difficult to obtain improvements according to our system. On this sentiment, if the Lord permit, I may give as ample proof as the most vociferous among us have done; and I pray for grace to do it in a way more becoming the religion we profess and the relation we bear to each other than that which you and I have seen exhibited, to the grief of our souls. In order, my dear brother, to compare ideas, if happily we might har- monize in our great work, I laid my views of our constitution and system of government before you and waited in expectation of such corrections as might tend to compose existing difficulties. But while you tell me of the ruinous effects of "rigorous constructions, ambiguous premises, confusion in conclusions," etc., you neither point out error in my construction nor present me with one more favorable to our situation. Thus I have hither- to been left. Then by some I have been set up as mark to be shot at, as loving unbounded power, dividing the Church, etc., and all this for not seeing what none will show me or for not submitting to their opinions without due consideration; yet the javelins and arrows of death, whether from seen or unseen agents, go on this side and that side, or may return from whence they came, for anything they have to do with me. The Lord is Judge, and the righteous Judge will give righteous judgment. However, if you did not assist me in the expected constructions, you have favored me with an illustration which I presume you intended should answer all the purposes. In reference to my remarks on the Suspended 510 Life and Times of Bishop^McKendree Resolutions, which I think bear a close connection with the foregoing view of the system of government, you say: "I am really astonished at the idea of yourself and others in saying the principle is ceded and the consti- tution may be ruined. This to me is mystery all over. It appears to me there would be just as much propriety in saying that because a man had obtained liberty to take a twig or a graft from his neighbor's tree, he then, by virtue of that liberty or grant, had a right to cut down the tree and take the stock, roots, branches, and all away. Ambiguity in our principles leads to ambiguity in our conclusions; and if there is not mysterious ambiguity in saying a tree is ruined because it is pruned and one or two superfluous limbs taken away, I am uncommonly bewildered," etc. I am prepared to submit my opinion, as it relates to the utility of the change to the voice of the General Confernce. Only show me that the delegated General Conference were as fully authorized to make the changes as the man in your figure was to take a graft from his neighbor's tree and my objections immediately cease. But, my brother, of whom was this liberty obtained? Of the preachers collectively? or of the superintendents? or of the majority of their own body? It is presumed that liberty to make this change was neither "obtained" nor asked of their constituents; and I do not consider the superintendents invested with authority to grant such "liberty." The liberty therefore must be granted by the delegated Conference. But this I must consider an assumption of power.* You say: "The power ceded in the resolution as an abstract principle is, comparatively speaking, almost a nonentity." By considering the power abstractly, which you admit is ceded in the resolution, you seem to exclude every idea but that of its lessening the power of the superin- tendents. But it is evident that the very same act equally respects that power and the form of discipline by which that power is conferred and supported, that it necessarily affects one of the restrictions on the powers of the delegated Conference; and this is what I emphatically call the principle. Therefore, it cannot be fairly reduced to your abstract prin- ciple of reasoning. In this way you reduce a subject of the utmost im- portance, in my estimation, to "almost a nonentity." Were I to dis- unite ideas so inseparably connected, and were you to say, "Mysterious ambiguity! mystery all over!" I really think I should stand corrected. To me it still appears evident that the six restrictions on the powers of the delegated General Conference are equally binding on every class of restricted topics; that if the delegated General Conference have a legitimate right to alter one, they may, in the exercise of that right, alter any or all of them, and so ruin the constitution in tolo. Were you, my brother, deliberately to reflect on the subject, as it re- spects the power of the General Conference and how that power might affect our system of government, you might hesitate in saying, "I am really astonished at the idea of yourself and others in saying the IThia sentiment was confirmed by a considerable number who, from a disposition of ac- commodation, voted for the change, not so minutely examining its bearings, but who, upon more minute reflection, saw their error and voted for its suspension. Appendix 511 principle is ceded and the constitution may be ruined; this to me is mystery all over," and be able in some good degree to see "why it is that, understanding each other so long, we should now sail abruptly to opposite points," and possibly admit that this tree ought not to be pruned until they have obtained liberty to do so. I hope you will receive my assurance that if you should think any expression too hard, or of improper bearings, it is by no means designed; and that I intend no harm to the Church or to any individual, much less to you, on these subjects. Yours affectionately, etc., W. McKENDREB. RALEIGH, February 27, 1821. BISHOP McKENDREE'S PAPERS COMMITTED TO JOSHUA SOULE, DR. WILKINS, AND T. L. DOUG- LASS IT appears from the following letter, written, as we suppose, to the Rev. Thomas L. Douglass, that Bishop McKendree made provisional arrangement for such a use of his papers as may promote the cause of righteousness and truth by leaving them to J. Soule, Dr. Wilkins, and T. L. Douglass, to be published at their discretion. DR. WILKINS'S, May 5, 1823. Dear Brother: At my advanced age, accompanied with many infirmities, it becomes me to do all things with a more direct reference to the close of my pilgrimage than at a period when youth and strength afforded a prospect of a longer stay. I am now ready to leave Baltimore to visit the Western frontiers, especially the Indian Mission. It may please the Lord to preserve me to visit the Atlantic States again or to finish my course on the other side of the mountain. My business is to be ready. In traveling through the United States in that department of the work which has fallen to me, papers of various characters have accumulated upon my hands. I have found it impracticable to carry them with me and have therefore deposited them in a trunk, which I leave with my old friend, Dr. Wilkins. Considering it a possible case that events may tran- spire in my absence in which access to those papers may be expedient, I think it improper for me to make them absolutely inaccessible. I there- fore authorize you, jointly with my friends Dr. Wilkins and Joshua Soule, to examine those papers at your discretion and to refer to them, if in your judgment it becomes necessary for the correction of error or for the good of the Church; and in such a case, to make any use of them which you may think necessary. It is my desire that they may never be used, either be- fore or after my death, for any other purpose than that of promoting the cause of truth and righteousness; and when and how this may be done, you will be most competent to judge. Yours in love, W. MCKENDREE. LETTERS FROM JOSHUA SOULE TO BISHOP McKENDREE SUCH had been the state of Mr. Soule's health for some time that we have seen Bishop McKendree's anxiety for his transfer from New York to a more southern latitude. Asthma and rheumatism threatened his usefulness, if not his life. He came to Baltimore as a transfer in April, 1822, and at once entered earnestly upon his laborious duties, which were rather too onerous for his strength . Gradually, however, he recovered his health and became a blessing to the city of Baltimore and to the Conference. He was at the time this letter was written a bishop elect, having been elected in 1820, but had declined ordi- nation in view of his opposition to the Suspended Resolutions. The "controversy "alluded to in this letter was about these reso- lutions. The Church in Baltimore and the Conference seemed to be resting on a volcano, which threatened the unity and safety of Methodism. Happily, Mr. Soule went there, and his influence was exerted with highly conservative effect. His old friend, Stephen George Roszel, had charge of the district. BALTIMORE, August 28, 1822. Dear Bishop: I have hitherto neglected to write to you, not knowing where to meet you; but assured that you would be at the Ohio Conference, I write to meet you there. Nothing very important has transpired in this city since you left here. It is believed that the state of the society is somewhat improved, and many of the most substantial members are greatly encouraged in expectation of better days. But there is much to be done before the state of things can be considered really prosperous, and it requires time as well as labor to accomplish it. Your letter, written to the bishops while in New York, is in my posses- sion. I found it, after you left the city, with other papers which you put into my hands for safe-keeping, I shall preserve it, with all others, subject to your order. I have heard very little relative to the subject of the controversy since I came hither. I have met many of the preachers in town and at two camp meetings; have been received with great cordiality and apparent respect. Prudence seems to require that at present I should say but lit- tle. My sentiments are known, and I apprehend no man expects me to change them. I shall strive amid all circumstances to maintain that course of prudence, firmness, and dignity on which I hope to look back with a conciousness of rectitude and satisfaction from every future period of my life. Having fixed principles, the intervention of casual circum- 33 514 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree stances cannot divert me from my course. Retraction must be the result of conviction, and that conviction must be that my principles are wrong. Your friends here are generally in usual health. Old Father Wilkins has been very ill and was not expected to survive, but he has so far re- covered as to be able to visit his children and the house of God. In his sickness he appeared like an ancient patriarch, waiting with perfect resig- nation and triumph to see the salvation of God. Dear Sister Wilkins is still a patient but great sufferer, under her old affliction. The rest of the family are well. Dr. Baker has been very ill, life despaired of, but is now convalescent. My health is a good deal as it has been for some years. I have been preaching three times a day on the Sabbath ever since you left us; this has for the two last Sabbaths affected my breast considerably. Many of my friends have remonstrated against this course, but I know not under present circumstances how to avoid it. If I preach but twice a day, I cannot satisfy the white congregations without neglecting the colored people more than I feel myself at liberty to do. I have entirely dispensed with ordinary visiting, attending particularly to the sick, the poor, and such as require official duties. What will be the result of my coming to Baltimore I cannot tell, but my fervent prayer to the Father of mercies is that it may not be in vain. O my dear Bishop, I fear the glory has in a considerable degree departed from us! Men's minds have been so much engaged in forming schemes of revolution that the weightier matters have been too much neglected. In many instances plans have been made by our ministers for a future livelihood which have necessarily embraced studies foreign from the work of the Christian ministry. These studies have, in a greater or less degree, abated that holy and fervent zeal without which it is to be feared our preaching will be as "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." May the Lord revive us by the abundant outpouring of his Holy Spirit! Yours most sincerely, JOSHUA SOULE. SECESSION OF THE BETHELITES, OR AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The following letter, although a long one, is interesting, and replete in some parts with historic interest. It shows how the dissatisfaction which had for some time existed between the colored people in the North and the white preacher finally culminated in the secession of the former from the Methodist Episcopal Church and is of special interest to Southern Meth- odists at this time, when we, under very different circumstances and in a very different manner from the case here referred to, are about to organize a separate colored Church. Whether the colored people in the South possess sufficient organizing and administrative ability to found and perpetuate a proper system of Church government, including doctrines and disci- Appendix 515 pline, without the cooperation of the white race, and to prevent subdivisions and disaffections among themselves, is a problem which, in the judgment of many, remains to be solved. But the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has undertaken the task, and every friend to humanity must desire it may prove suc- cessful. Confidence in the ultimate success of this attempt will be greatly strengthened, if, in forming themselves into a separate organization they shall be so impressed with a conviction of their need of advice and assistance as to induce them to continue so to seek the patronage and counsels of their white friends as to avail themselves of the aid they might thus find. In the meantime, education and the proper exercise of their rights as freedmen will gradually prepare them to take upon themselves full authority and manage their affairs at their discretion. It is the decided opinion of the author that their unity, safety, and prosperity would be greatly promoted by atemporary continuance of the supervision of their white friends ; and so believing, and feeling a deep interest in their welfare, he can but look forward with high concern to their initial proceedings. Dear Bishop: The continual pressure of business since my return from the Conference at Troy, connected with my feeble state of health, has prevented my writing till now. I have much to say to you, but scarcely know where to begin. You were informed of the course pursued by the Philadelphia Conference in reference to a Memorial of the Africans in New York, Philadelphia, and other places, praying for the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church. These Africans had broken off from the Church and formed themselves into an independent body and a distinct and different title, having, at the same time, adopted and pub- lished a form of ecclesiastical government in which they secure to them- selves, independently of the General Conference and the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the exclusive right to all legislative and executive power. But notwithstanding this extraordinary position of the colored people, the Philadelphia Conference passed sundry resolutions recommending it to the bishops to recognize their Conference (about to be held in the city of New York) by presiding officially either in person or by proxy and to ordain such as might be chosen by them to the office of deacon or elder. I confess I was not a little surprised when I read the communication containing the resolutions of the Philadelphia Conference, but that surprise was increased when I understood from unquestionable authority that Bishop George had called the Africans in this city together and read to them the resolutions of the Philadelphia Conference and at the same time encouraged them to expect patronage till this was done, before the sitting of the New York Conference; although a provision in the communication from the Philadelphia Conference had made the con- 516 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree currence of the New York Conference necessary in order to carry the resolutions into effect. When the Memorial was presented to the New York Conference, it was committed, and in a report which was accepted by the Conference it was conceded that the African Conference could not be constitutionally organized by any number of Annual Conferences; and although provision is made in special cases for the organization of a Conference in the interval of the General Conference, it was believed that the Africans could not be embraced in that provision. It was therefore thought to be inexpedient for one of our bishops to preside in the Con- ference or to ordain any deacon or elder elected by them. At the same time it was resolved that if the African brethren would agree to be subject in common with the white members to the order and discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in such case, under the present existing circumstances, it would be advisable for such preachers of color as were regularly constituted to be appointed to take charge of them until the next General Conference. When the course of the New York Conference was communicated to them, their disappointment was very great, and they expressed much sur- prise that the bishop and Philadelphia Conference should not know what was constitutional, and that they should recommend to them a course which could not be covered by the proper authority of the government. Under these considerations, they passed a resolution to abide by the instruction of the Philadelphia Conference. I verily believe they would unanimously have given up their discipline and returned to their former standing had it not been for the resolutions of the Philadelphia Conference. They appear to tremble at every step they take, and fear lest they should pur- sue some course which would place them in such a situation as to forfeit the patronage of the white societies. Our Conference, all things considered, was much more favorable than I had feared. The Doctor's 1 character passed without any arrest or un- friendly remarks; and although they considered him in common with other claimants and made their appropriations accordingly, yet the Doctor received $50 from the moneys appropriated to missionary purposes, with which, however small it was, he appeared to be satisfied and pleased. Immediately after our return from Conference, I communicated to him your instructions relative to the $50 loaned him last year. He seemed to be almost overcome with a sense of gratitude and obligation. He requested and obtained a supernumerary relation. With respect to Mr. Stillwell and his party, I think they have seen already the zenith of their prosperity and glory in this city; and if no unforeseen occurrence proves auxiliary to their success, I apprehend they will appear to great disadvantage before the close of the year. All my movements toward them tend to this let them alone. If they are left to navigate their own ship, steer by their own compass, and determine their latitude by their own quadrant, I have no doubt of the issue. The case of poor Crawford was so far admitted to a rehearing at the Conference 'Dr. Phoebus. Appendix 517 as to have a committee appointed to hear and examine any evidence which might have transpired subsequent to the trial at the previous Conference; the evidence was heard, reported to the Conference, and all the documents read. The opinion of the Conference was in agreement with the report of the committee, that the evidence furnished did not go in any wise to exonerate the accused. As the admittance of this case before the Conference may be considered as an extraordinary circumstance, I think it proper that you should understand the ground on which I favored such a course. I considered that Crawford had it in his power to involve us in very serious difficulties if such a hearing of his evidence was denied. Crawford was able to prove, by the most unques- tionable testimony, that the President of the Conference where his trial was had, subsequently to that trial, said that all the evidence on the trial was ex parte evidence; that it was a premature trial, and a hurried case. I had heard the President make these remarks, and I knew that Crawford designed to make all the use of them that he could in case the Conference should refuse to hear him. It is easily perceived that it would be highly improper to introduce these considerations before the Conference. I therefore, in the first instance, stated them to the bishop, in the most jpen and simple manner, with a view of the advantages which might be taken and the uses which might be made of such observations from him. The bishop felt the force of the remarks. Desiring to be out of sight as much as possible, and still to prevent mischief and reproach, I gave my view of the subject to two or three whom I knew to be the decided friends of the bishop and whose simple word without argument would probably decide the case, and thus it was. Having, as far as my feeble state of health and the unceasing pressure of business would admit, taken into consideration the subject of your letter relative to a course with the Suspended Resolutions of the General Conference, I am inclined to favor your view of the subject. Bringing the subject before the Conferences in the way you proposed will neces- sarily develop the principle involved in the controversy and bring it before the whole body of the ministry for investigation. This, I think, is a desirable object, for as yet the merits of the question have been but very partially understood; and the more I become acquainted with the views of the preachers in this part of the work, the more fully am I per- suaded that the change contemplated by the resolutions will not be as popular as many of its friends suppose. Indeed, it appears to me that I perceive an inclination on the part of some of its most decided advocates to let it fall asleep. This, however, has only determined my mind more fully as to the fitness of the course you propose to take. I find Bishop George very considerably alarmed (and I do not regret it) in his ap- prehensions of what may be the result. He has spoken and written to those who have appeared the most zealous supporters of the change, and the burden seems to be entreaty not to pursue measures which may ter- minate in the separation of the body. I conversed with the bishop at the last Baltimore Conference plainly, but respectfully. I assured him 518 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree that whatever his views of the subject might be, it was not to be supposed that men who had sentimentally embraced our system of things, and who had conscientiously and sincerely supported that system for many years, would tamely give it up; and that it was not very grateful to the feelings of such men to have their opinions and their arguments treated with per- fect indifference and contempt, yea, merely puffed at. In bringing the subject before the Annual Conferences, the real sen- timents of those who have supported the resolution will probably be developed, and we shall more fully understand each other. As far as the Conferences act upon it in reference to the constitution, their acts will be an acknowledgment of the authority and obligation to rest, both with the preachers and people. This is a very desirable object; for while doubts exist with respect to the constitution itself (I mean relative to its validity), all must be in an unsettled state. If the course should result in an acknowledgment of the unconstitu- tionally of the resolutions on the part of the Annual Conferences, two important objects will be accomplished: first, the validity of the constitu- tion will be established; and, secondly, a barrier will be raised against future encroachments on the episcopal prerogatives, and consequently a point will be fixed where the minds of our preachers and people may rest in confidence and quietude. Nothing is more painful than uncertain- ty and doubt with reference to subjects of the deepest interest to us. I therefore conceive it to be of the utmost importance that we determine our landmarks, and that they never be removed except under the existence of extraordinary and imperious circumstances. Should a gracious Providence preserve you to visit the Conferences again, my ardent desire is that you may see a more happy state of things. I was authorized by a late meeting of the board of managers of the Missionary Society to report to the bishops that there was $3,000 in the treasury, for which they were at liberty to draw on the treasurer. One hun- dred dollars has been since paid to the order of Bishop George, leaving the sum of $2,900 subject at present to episcopal orders. In consequence of my feeble state of health through the last winter, I was unable to be out evenings, and consequently could not attend the sales of books. I spoke to Brother Hyer concerning the apples for your friends in the Mississippi, and he and others assured me that it would be extremely difficult, not to say impossible, to get them to the persons in a sound state; and even if it could be done, the expense would be very considerable, so that it was thought very improper to attempt to forward them. I have therefore laid out no money for you. I received $20 as your dividend from the New York Conference, which I here inclose. I also inclose $100 from the Book Concern, awarded by the committee for your extra expense. The committee would be very glad to receive any informa- tion from you relative to your situation, and I think there is a disposi- tion to meet the case of your affliction. The documents on Indian affairs were committed, and after a very Appendix 519 elaborate investigation, the committee reported in favor of presenting a Memorial to the Congress in conformity to the form of a petition which you forwarded. A draft of the Memorial was drawn up and laid before the Conference, but as the session was far advanced before this business was reported, it was thought proper to refer the draft of the Memorial to a special committee, with discretionary powers to alter or amend, as may be thought proper. Each presiding elder is to be furnished with a copy for the purpose of obtaining subscribers. It is not, however, contemplated to take a promiscuous multitude of signatures, but rather a selection of names which may command respect. It is to be lamented that there is a policy in existence which, if successful, will defeat the object of missions among the Indians in a very great degree. The toleration of a common and indiscriminate trade among them will bind them to a savage life, corrupt their morals, and produce private and national quarrels. By these means, the measures adopted for their instruction and improvement will be frustrated, all attempts to introduce and establish the arts of civilization and the habits of social life will be in vain, the hopes of the missionary will be blasted, and his life jeopardized. If our national government will so far interfere as to prohibit this ruin- ous traffic and extend protection to those who may be disposed to exert themselves to bring the Indian to be civil and religious beings, a field will be opened into which the Christian minister should rejoice to enter. To talk of missions abroad while so many wandering tribes of untaught men people the vast forests of our own continent is nugatory. Vast multi- tudes of these savage beings are within the geographical limits of the United States and are on terms of amity and friendship with the govern- ment; but still they are strangers to God, they are destitute of the Scrip- tures, they know not the joyful sound of the gospel, they sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, they worship they know not what. Whenever I reflect on the situation of these original proprietors of America soil, I am surprised that they have been neglected so long. We are deeply in debt to them, and it is high time we were exerting ourselves to discharge the debt. May the great Head of the Church smile on our feeble efforts and succeed the labor of our hands! Yours most sincerely, JOSHUA SouLE. NEW YORK, July 5, 1821. BALTIMORE, September 29, 1823. Dear Bishop: The particular object of this letter is to communicate to you the afflictive dispensation of Providence with which we have been visited in the loss of our presiding elder. Brother Fechtig departed this life last Thursday, at three o'clock in the evening, in Georgetown, D. C., thus leaving the district destitute of a proper officer in the administration. The Church must feel the loss. He is called away in the morning of life, of usefulness, and of promise. But the ways of God, though mysterious, are wise and just. A number of the preachers on the district have been much afflicted with sickness. McCann, Hamilton, Hinkle, and Steir have all been confined with fever, and some of them hung in doubtful suspense between time and 520 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree eternity, but as far as I know are at present convalescent. It will, I think, be necessary for you to supply the vacancy occasioned by the death of Brother Fechtig. You are probably better acquainted with the situation of the district than I am, as it relates to men and things. I shall not even pretend to nominate. We have been mercifully preserved in the city from severe affliction among the preachers, although Brother Davis has been but feeble, and in consequence of the dangerous illness of his father and family, and other causes, he has been considerably absent from the station. Brother Kennerly is now in Virginia. You have probably heard of the death of our old friend Wilkins, and Father Hagerty. They have both fallen asleep in a good old age, ripened, it is believed, for the glorious harvest. Brother Emory was in town yesterday, .and intends removing his family here next week; his health is considerably improved, but his family are very much afflicted. Dr. Watters, President of the College on the Eastern Shore, has established a seminary in the city and will remove here with his family in October. We have just received letters from J. Summerfield. The British Con- ference had closed its session in much peace and harmony. A melancholy occurrence is related. A coach in which were seven preachers on their way to Conference was upset, two of the preachers were killed, and all but one much injured. Richard Reese comes over to America in the spring as the delegate of the British Conference, accompanied by a junior preacher. Brother Summerfield's health is considerably improved, but it is doubt- ful if he returns to the United States before spring. I perceive by the Minutes that the New York Conference has three missionaries, two of whom are on Long Island. It is frequently inquired, "How are these missionaries supported? out of the mission fund?" I cannot answer these questions; but if it is so that these Conference mis- sionaries are to be supplied from the general missionary treasury, I think it requires no extraordinary foresight to perceive that the operations of the society will be paralyzed and its grand object ultimately defeated. It is not to be expected that the auxiliary societies will pour their treasures into the general fund, to be drawn out and appropriated to local and insulated missions. It looks like taking the bread of life from the destitute and thinly scattered frontier settlements and from the poor, untutored Indians. If we must have Conference missionaries in this way, would it not be more noble to have them in those Conferences where there is an immense colored population and to make the special object of their mission the instruction and salvation of these poor, uncultivated creatures? I greatly desire to hear from you and to know of your health. Yours with much affection and esteem, J. SOULE. LETTER FROM DR. SAMUEL BAKER TO BISHOP McKENDREE THE following letter is characteristic of its author. It is full of domestic tenderness and of Christian sympathy. The writer can attest from experience as to these traits in his charac- ter, for after his long and wearisome tour with Bishop McKen- dree to the General Conference in Baltimore in 1824 he reached the city in poor health and received the kindest medical at- tention from him; and, again in 1832, he enjoyed the hospi- talities of his refined and pious family. We long since heard regretfully he had passed away, leaving the memory of his professional talents and his virtues as a Christian, a rich legacy to the surviving members of his family. Dr. Baker loved and revered Bishop McKendree, and the Bishop held him as a physician and Christian in the highest estimation. They both loved Mr. Summerfield with a tender and strong affection, and the respect and love of such men are worth much. But doubtless they have long since met again, and the intercourse of such spirits in the realms of purity and peace must constitute no inconsiderable source of enjoyment in that blissful world. How sublime is the Christian's hope! BALTIMORE, September 24, 1825. My Dear Friend: I avail myself of the good offices of our mutual friend, Bishop Soule, to inform you that through the gracious dealings of a kind Providence we are still preserved and our health is rather improved. Mrs. Baker has been traveling to the North this season and has received much benefit. Mrs. Dickins is still able to move about, although she is feeble and is much harassed with her cough. Miss Eloise and our children are as well as usual. Since you left this, we have met with a severe loss in the death of our dear Summerfield; but he is gone from a state of suffering to one of re- joicing. His memory is precious in our little circle. He was dear as a brother; and when we revert to his deportment as a Christian, his character as a minister of the gospel, and the suavity which marked his intercourse with the world, we may truly say that it was a privilege, rarely experienced to enjoy such society. His like I never expect to see again. His sun rose beautifully, shone brilliantly, is now beneath the horizon, but will be seen again with a glory far transcending the utmost conception of our imagination. Bishop Soule will be able to communicate good tidings in relation to the state of our people. Heaven has visited us graciously. Many have 522 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree been seriously impressed, a goodly number have been converted, and professors of religion seem to be contending for the higher degrees of faith. O that we might be "clothed with humility"! This, this is the saving virtue. We should be much pleased to have your society. If infirmities should press upon you, while a kind Providence places it in our power, we shall be happy in offering you a resting place, and no exertion shall be wanting to render your situation agreeable. If your time is not entirely occupied with your more important con- cerns, we should be pleased to hear from you. All the family desire to be kindly remembered to you. Yours affectionately, SAMUEL BAKER. P. S. We have lately heard of the death of Mr. Summerfield's father. S. B. LETTER FROM WILLIAM McMAHON TO BISHOP McKENDREE REV. WILLIAM McMAHON, the writer of the following letter, was a native of Virginia, born in Dumfries, 1785 or 1786; ad- mitted on trial in the Western Conference in 1812, the same time at which Francis Landrum, Jonathan Stamper, Robert W. Finley, Thomas D. Porter, George Ekin, and John McMahon, his brother, were admitted; and traveled Silver Creek Circuit, under James Ward as presiding elder, having traveled Mari- etta Circuit the previous year, under the employment of the pre- siding elder. In 1813, he was under John Sale, presiding elder, upon Hinkstone Circuit. In 1814, he was ordained a deacon, and appointed to Lexington, Ky., and, at the request of Bishop McKendree, traveled with him for some time. In 1815, he was on Shelby Circuit; in 1816, on Fleming Circuit, with Samuel Parker as his presiding elder. In 1817, he was appointed to the Nashville Circuit, where he married Mrs. Perkins; in the fall they visited her father, the Hon. Seth Lewis, of Louisiana, trav- eling in company with Bishop McKendree; he returned in 1818 and was appointed to Fountain Head, with William Strib- ling. He was presiding elder of Nashville District in 1819. His history since that time is too well known to require detail. As presiding elder, superintendent of Indian Missions among the Creek and Cherokee Indians, and agent for Lagrange College, he labored with great industry and success. As a preacher, he has had few equals. He has borne the burden and heat of the day most heroically, and, amidst great privations and sufferings, has persevered to extreme old age, and yet lingers among us, re- spected for his integrity, talents, and usefulness. Few men have passed through so many trials and sufferings or more de- served the respect and sympathies of the Church. At the time of the writing of his letter, he had the oversight of the Indian Missions in the Tennessee Conference, and, find- ing that no appropriation had been made to pay for an inter- preter and knowing that without one the missionaries appointed to travel through the Indian Nation could accomplish but little good, he earnestly solicits advice and aid from Bishop McKen- dree for this purpose. Surely the good old Bishop was the soul and center of our missionary work. Dear Bishop: Shortly after I left you, I commenced a conversation with Brother Sullivan on the most effectual method of serving the Cherokee Indians and of subserving the design of the mission in that Nation during 524 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree the present year, which led us to notice an obstacle to our usefulness which I presume had escaped your attention while we were together, which is this: our greatest wish and work in reference to the Cherokees is and will be to preach the gospel among them as effectually and extensively as pos- sible; but this cannot be done to purpose without an interpreter, and much depends upon the character of the man who may be thus chosen as the medium of delivering the word of life to the Indians. They must have con- fidence in him, or he can do no good. A man who is suitable and proper for this important business cannot be procured unless we can give him some compensation for his services, or could we, indeed, reasonably re- quest it of him, and especially when he knows that all the missionaries de- signated for this great work are allowed an equivalent for their services. This, I think, wou'd be hurtful to the interests of the cause in the Nation. Now, sir, if you can authorize me to employ a man whom we shall approve for this work, I will use my best exertions, and, as early as possible, try to secure John Brown, if he has not yet left the Nation for the Arkansas, which I fear is the case. If he has not, I am sure I can get him, and of all others he is the man for this work. He is a good man, but, like most other good men, he is poor, and could not, perhaps, enter into our employment for a less sum than we give the others; or would it, in my judgment, be ad- visable for us to make any distinction in this way between ourselves and the Indians. But I hope, sir, you will not misunderstand me. I do not wish to dictate to you; I desire only to apprise you of the serious difficulty which lies in the way of preaching the gospel to these people beyond the neighborhood of the schools. If you find yourself authorized to cover the additional expenses of an interpreter and think proper for me to engage one, please to write immediately, by mail, directing to Huntsville. If you do not incline to take up the subject officially, please to advise me as a friend what I had better do; for I do assure you that, situated as I am, I I know not what to do in this case. Of one thing, however, I am very cer- tain t. e., itinerant preaching in the Nation will be a fruitless attempt without some one to go with the preacher and interpret for him, and it will not do to trust to chance. There is one more item which I will take the liberty to mention. Would it be proper for me, should I find in the course of the year that one of the missionaries is likely to do harm and that the Indians have lost confidnece in him to remove him and send some other preacher in his place, as I would change preachers on my district? I should like to have your advice on this subject, as I have some fears that this course may become necessary. I hope it will not; but should it be the case, I should be placed in a very painful situation if I were compelled to witness an evil which might do much injury and have no power to remedy it. I hope you are well and happy. May the God whom you serve, and whose you are, go with you till you lay down your life and labors together and find your reward in heaven! Yours very respectfully, WILLIAM McMAHON. PILGRIM'S RRST, NEAB HUNTSVILLE, December, 1824. LETTERS FROM REV. DR. CAPERS TO BISHOP McKENDREE CHEROKEE INDIAN MISSION AT the South Carolina Conference, held in Columbia, Jan- uary 11, 1821, Dr. Capers was appointed missionary in South Carolina Conference and to the Indians. Having entered in good faith upon this new and difficult work, he found many discouragements in organizing the mission. He had to erect houses, raise money, plan the work, and select the missionaries. It was a new thing, no such mission having been as yet fully carried into effect among us in the South. It was a step in the right direction, but a step in advance of the spirit of the time. Our Missionary Society had been but recently organized. No missionaries had been appointed to labor for the Indian tribes. The traveling preachers did not generally receive the small salaries allowed them in the Discipline; and if our people half starved their preachers at home, how much more likely were they to decline to give to the Indians. The mis- sionary spirit was asleep in the majority of our members. Dr. Capers was an admirable selection as an agent to travel through the State and get funds to begin the enterprise; he was well known, gifted, popular, and active. He was adapted to arouse the torpid and to give respectability and impetus to the cause. But being the first enterprise of the kind in the Church, and having had but little practical acquaintance with temporal af- fairs when he began to project plans for building houses and for agricultural operations to meet the expectations of the Indians and contributors, he soon bound he had a very difficult task. Funds came in slowly in spite of his sermons and lectures. He was afraid to begin to build lest he might not be able to finish according to his plams. Suitable men were wanting to take charge and teach. The friends of the cause were expecting great results from small means, and the Indians, always dis- trustful of the promises of white men, were likely to become im- patient and still more suspicious. At the date of this letter nothing had been done except the collection of a trifling sum of money, while a feeling of desponding anxiety was beginning to come over the minds of the Indians and their friends and an indefinite foreboding of future troubles to be encountered in the unknown path before them made the good old Bishop who 526 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree had projected the mission and his gifted and pure-minded agent a little restless and apprehensive. Hence letter after letter was dispatched to the Bishop. His judgment and energy were re- lied on, and before the end came, both were taxed to their ut- most. The reader is aware that two missions were at last es- tablished, one of them was abandoned after several years of comparatively unsuccessful effort, the other, and principal one, lived on struggling with difficulties until the emigration of the tribe to the far West and doubtless accomplished much good for the poor natives of the forest. But the results did not equal the efforts or hopes of the workmen. It has taken a long time to impress our people with the fact that to establish a first-class college upon a permanent basis, a foreign, or an Indian mission for extensive usefulness is no light work, but requires much money and suitable men. These, with prudence, economy, and perseverance, may do a great work; but failing in any of these elements, the efforts will be abortive and the result disastrous. SAVANNAH, March 8, 1821. Reverend and Dear Father: Your favor of the fifth instant came duly to hand. I see a good reason why the Bishop should be cautious of an indis- creet haste in the establishment of missions among the Indians; and that although a mission of the simplest form might not cost more than the Con- ference missionary may collect (not to speak of other modes of obtaining moneys), yet such an establishment as would embrace agricultural arts in the very outset, and which would have to employ mechanics, agricul- turists, schoolmasters, and preachers, each separated to his appropriate department, would require more to support it than we can obtain by any means. In what I suggested in my letter to yourself and Bishop George nothing was contemplated beyond the simplest form of a mission, in which the mis- sionary should himself be preacher, teacher, and whatever else he can be, only performing that under such regulations as may be given for the gov- ernment of the mission. There should be two or more missionaries at each station, mutual in their labors and distinguished from each other only as the preacher in charge from his junior colleagues. Such a mission, I pre- sume, we can now support. If Brother Hill might not answer for the charge of a mission, could he not for a junior missionary? Pardon me that I name him to you again; you name no other person. Am I only to go among the Indians to inquire whether they will receive missionaries? This is known already. Am I to make engagements with them, to be fulfilled at some distant time to come? They are impatient of delay; and when that time shall have arrived, they will tell us: "Others have been more prompt and are preferred." Besides, what warrant have Appendix 527 I that my engagements will at any future time be fulfilled? It would seem from the objection now made against our acting, that a mission, in no form of a mission, ought to be entered upon until we are able to support the most costly mission, perhaps we should wait until we can give to a mission ten thousand dollars per annum. If so, farewell to our missions forever. But, my dear father, suppose we act with the means we have? If we cannot make a splendid establishment in which the arts of civilized life shall all be embraced and everything be done that can better the temporal as well as the spiritual condition of the Indians, suppose we do what we are able? Let us preach to them and teach their children to read the Bible and to pray. Let us teach twenty, if we cannot teach a hundred, children. If we do our best, God will help us to do still better. I am glad to say that from some conversations with Col. Richard A. Blount and Colonel Law I am induced to hope we may, if we will, intro- duce the gospel among the Creeks. Although their Council did not long since decline to receive missionaries and the sense of the whole tribe may not now be accordant with our object, yet I understand that many of them wish for schools, and that among them the Indian general, Mclntosh, has very decidedly declared for schools. Shall I visit them? Shall I improve any advantages that may be given me to institute a mission among them? How shall I do it? You will readily perceive that even in the simplest form of a mission, much preparation must precede it. Land must be opened, houses built, provisions procured, etc. Now, if Brother Hersey may hold our moneys and oversee the execution of the work among the Choctaws, who shall do it with the Creeks or the Chickasaws or the Cherokees? I can choose a spot for the mission, can say how much ground should be opened, and what houses built in a given time, what provisions ought to be pro- cured, etc., and can limit the amount to be expended in each of these par- ticulars, and can, at the expiration of the time, see that all shall have been done and settled for; but in the interim I must be differently occupied and at a distance from the scene of operations. Now, if you would direct me to some person who might act in this behalf, remain on the spot and over- see the work preparatory to a mission, all might be easy; and without this, I cannot see that my visiting the Indians will be any better than a waste of time. The person thus employed would be in a situation favorable to im- provement in many things that are of importance to a missionary and al- though upon the institution of the mission he should be but the junior mis- sionary, still he has gained an advantage that shall be secured to the mis- sion. I repeat it, I would act with caution, I would not expend the amount of my collections, but I would do something, even although I might not be able to do everything. I notice with much feeling, reverend and dear father, what you say of your health. I would not burden you, but yet I was made a missionary by you; and when you did so, you gave me to understand that you would ex- pect me to do the work of a missionary. If your health is not worse than it was, I must look to you. I have no hope that I will be able to do the work of a missionary unless you are able to do that of a bishop. I have had 528 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree a letter from Bishop George. I say again, I must look up to you. In the address of my letter I acted from courtesy, I now write to you alone. I have traveled more than twelve hundred miles, collected one thousand dollars, and preached forty-eight sermons. You directed me, and I have pledged myself to the people. The moneys collected from them for the ex- clusive purpose of Indian Missions can be applied to no other use. As a candid man, I must see to it that the Indians have the benefit of the charities intended for them, however worthy another object may be. Am I to collect moneys that may never be appropriated at all, or appropriated to an ob- ject not contemplated by the people? Rather than this, I would myself go and carry the bounty of the people to the Indians in Ohio, or even in Canada. In this I seek no honor, no distinction, I only mean to be honest to you, to the Conference, to the people, to the Indians, and to God. I mean not to make myself anything. I would not knowingly interfere with the work of the bishops, even if I could. I would not act without your order; but pray order me, and let not the expectation of the many who contribute to this good work (and who, from the best feelings, will be anxious to know what disposition shall have been made of their bounty) be disappointed. Your dutiful and most affectionate son in the gospel, W. CAPERS. DR. CAPERS IN TROUBLE. SAVANNAH, April 19, 1821. Reverend and Dear Sir: I have now gone over all that part of the Confer- ence which lies south of a line drawn from Beaufort, by Black Swamp, Waynesboro, Louisville, Sandersville, to Scott's Ferry, on the Oconee. I am now about to remove my family into Sumter District, South Carolina. The extreme depression of the price of cotton and consequent embarrass- ments of both town and country people operate against the collections. The whole amount collected up to this date is $1,278.87}^. . ............*.. My last to you (at Baltimore) was written under an impression that my letter to the bishops (at Raleigh) had not given satisfaction, and that all it proposed relative to the engagements that might be entered into for the Institution of a mission or missions among the Indians was objected to, and this, lest we should overdo our means or act incautiously in some of our engagements. With regard to the means necessary for the support of a mission, I have tfiven freely my views in my last. To me it would appear that a proper caution would respect the extent of any establishment that might be un- dertaken, no less than the undertaking one at all. It was certainly a great misfortune to me (and I fear to the cause) that ( entered upon this work without knowing what might be expected of me. t everywhere told the people that as soon as I could obtain means to make a beginning, I would visit the Indians and that the amount of my collec- tions would determine the extent of our establishment among them. I was even so sanguine as to say I expected to go out in April, immediately upon having gone over that section of my work, which I have now accomplished, and I hoped that my having gone and undertaken among the Indians would Appendix 529 much increase my collections afterwards. At present I owe it to charity if I am not regarded more ready to promise than to perform. I would go, if it were only to save my credit; but could this justify the loss of two or three months from the collections? Surely if I go it should be to accomplish something more than barely the seeing and conversing with the Indians and something better than the postponement for a year of the work I might engage to do. But how can I ever visit them to purpose unless there be some one to remain on the spot and carry into effect our stipula- tions? Not indeed to open a school immediately, but first to have the house built and the grounds cleared when the school shall be established. This must require time as well as the personal, constant oversight of some proper person. If there be an objection to my acting in the pro tern, employment of such person, as proposed in my letter to the bishops, I can only say that the necessity of the case appeared to me to require it; but I regarded it as admis- sible only in an extreme case and with the approbation of the bishops, and even then not to be extended to the traveling preachers. The bishops alone can obviate the necessity for such a procedure. Will they do it? I named Brother Hill; he was objected to; but who may be employed rather than he? I can prefer no one, indeed, I know no one; and the bishops neither appoint nor direct to one. In the meantime my instructions are given for the present year. I have done what I could to met the duties assigned me, and in this I have pledged myself to the people. They expect not merely that I will go to the Indians, but that I will use all proper means to f aciliate the establish- ment of a mission or missions among them. After having obtained their money, how shall I tell the people that the work is postponed until after the next Conference? Had I not better go myself and remain among the Indians, if it were only to hide my mortification? Or in what would the cause be benefited were I to go unable to do anything, and upon my return report long rides and talks held to no purpose? My instructions directed me, I pledged myself to the people, and have I shrunk from so sacred an obligation? So it may seem, perhaps it must seem so, but I am not conscious that it is so: and I may add I never could have consented to be placed in such a point of light. I have received a communication from the Secretary of War and a letter from Mr. McKinney. The former consists of two printed circulars stating the conditions and extent of the government's equal patronage and aid. The letter of Mr. McKinney would be a valuable introduction to the In- dians or others. I doubt we could not shortly derive aid from government, even if we begin a mission. They look directly to the things that are tem- poral. With the sincerest and most dutiful regards, your son in the gospel, W. CAPERS. DR. CAPERS RELIEVED. COLUMBIA, S. C., July 2,1821. Reverend and Dear Brother: Your kind and encouraging letter of May 16 reached my brother's just after I had left there upon an excursion to George- 34 530 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree town and Charleston. Upon my return (quite lately), I had the great pleasure to receive it and a communication from Colonel McKinney and two letters of introduction from the Secretary of War, one to the agent for the Creek Nation and the other to agents and superintendents of Indian affairs. I cannot tell you how exquisitely I felt upon reading your letter. I could have thanked you a thousand times for the tenderness with which you regard me, and consider those letters of March and April, which I had feared might betray too much my disappointment and were written, per- haps, too strongly. But how shall I thank you for having appointed a missionary committee and for instructing me to choose a man or two and dispose of them among the Indians? This was to define the words of my original instructions (to use all proper means) in the very fullest, best sense I could have desired. The money first; and then the men. And surely, for a mission, and to faciliate the establishment of one, both are proper means, and both should be used, but only at the instance of a bishop. At the date of my last letter I had gone over that part of my work which lay conveniently to Savannah and was about to leave that place with my family for Sumter District. My son's illness detained us a week, and then we were much delayed upon the road by rain and high waters. Over one creek I swam in my carriage while my family and baggage were carried upon men's shoulders on logs sunk a foot under water. At others, I was 6bliged to drive over floating, loose bridges or lay bridges that were broken up or have the carriage pulled by hands where the horses could not go with it, and these plunged through separately, or even to use a canoe where we should have had a dry causeway. We were ten days upon the road, and at last arrived safely and all well. We now had excessive rains for several weeks; and, as I greatly desired to take my daughter Anna to her grand- mother, I waited ten days more in hope of weather that might allow of my doing so. At last, and not before I had become very weary of my con- finement, I set out without her for Georgetown and Charleston. By these delays my collections were interrupted from April 20 to as late a period in May. Since that time my collections have amounted to about $950, mak- ing the whole amount $2,200, a sum less than I had hoped to obtain, but not very inconsiderable when the exceeding scarcity of money and the gen- eral embarrassments of the people are taken into account; besides that, I dun no man. I always remember that I may not obtain one dollar to-day in such a way as might hinder two dollars to-morrow. I must get money for the mission from men who are to be made the friends of the mission. To make friends is the best way to get money. After I had relinquished my purpose of visiting the Indians in the spring, I only stated to the congregations that the bishops had advised me to em- ploy a longer time within the limits of the Conference that I might be fully prepared before I should introduce a mission among the Indians, and that probably I would not visit them before autumn. In Charleston, the advice of 1 the brethren, Myers and W. M. Kennedy, approved this arrangement; and they recommended that if no explicit direction should be had from you Appendix 531 in the meantime, I should in the fall of the year act upon the plan I had be- fore proposed and which you have now approved, construing your letter rather into an advisory caution than a refusal of what I had asked. Perhaps I cannot now do better than to visit the Creeks sometime late in August or early in September. If they treat with me, I may immediate- ly return and make arrangements for a mission among them and, locating a missionary there, proceed to the Choctaws; or, if the Creeks refuse to re- ceive us, I will go on to the Choctaws. I cannot say that it is as easy a matter as I expected to find persons willing and capable to serve the Indians. Brother Christian G. Hill stands very decidedly preferable to any whom, as yet, I may have found; and, as for some time past nothing has been said to him on the subject, thinking that either the preacher whom Bishop George so highly approved or some other person or persons would be directed into the work, this may be the principal cause of delay in future. I have not had any communication from Bishop George since that which I mentioned to you. I do not know what preacher he preferred or even to what tribe the Indian he met with belongs. With the most respectful and affectionate regard, your son in the gospel. WILLIAM CAPERS. LETTER FROM COLONEL McKINNEY TO DR. CAPERS THE letter from Colonel McKinney, to which Dr. Capers refers with so much satisfaction in his last letter, is given below and justifies some notice. Mr. Monroe, in entering upon his second presidential term in March, 1821, retained Mr. John C. Calhoun as Secretary of War, and Col. Thomas L. McKinney was placed in charge of the "Indian Trade Office" by Mr. Calhoun. It was fortunate for Bishop McKendree's plan of attempting to Christianize the Indian tribes that at this juncture these gentlemen occupied positions in the civil government so closely connected with his benevolent purposes. We have already seen how promptly and efficiently Mr. Calhoun had interposed in behalf of missionary operations among the Indians, and we perceive now how faith- fully his subordinate officer carried out the views of the Presi- dent and his Secretary of War. Indeed, this letter not only evinces the fidelity of the officeholder but the sympathies of a noble Christian heart toward the unfortunate Indians. We have understood the writer was a Christain,' and the letter justifies the report. Has the day passed, never to return, when the high offices of our great country shall be held and admin- istered, not for private and personal benefit, but for the public weal? Mr. McKinney was intimately acquainted with Bishop Mc- Kendree and entertained for him the greatest respect. Was it not fortunate for the Church, and especially for the cause of missions, that one held deservedly in such estimation for wis- dom, energy, and purity of character was the recognized leader of the cause of missions? Rev. William Capers. Dear Sir: I have received your letter of the twenty-fourth ultimo, con- taining an extract from Bishop McKendree's instructions to you, directing you to "travel extensively within the limits of South Carolina Conference in order to do the work of a missionary; to make collections for missionary purposes, and especially for the support of such establishments among the Indians as may be formed under the superintendence of the Methodist Conference; to visit the Indians (Cherokees in particular) in order to as- certain the most eligible situation for a mission, or missions, among them; to facilitate by all proper means the establishment of such mission or mis- sions." Such an undertaking cannot be otherwise than gratifying to every man Appendix. 533 who has thought upon the condition of our Indians and the obligations which bind us to improve it. To see it countenanced by the Reverend Bishop, whose liberal and Christian virtues I so highly appreciate and who has not given his sanction to the measures in which you are about to en- gage without the deepest and most thorough investigation of the subject, augurs favorably for the result of the undertaking. I proffer you my most earnest wishes for your success. I doubt not the entire practicability of a thorough change in the aboriginal character by the agency of missions. Facts are now common going to demonstrate their readiness to exchange their habits; but especially to the rising generation does this matter belong. And who would not contribute a mite toward that happy change which embraces in the limits of a single generation a new race of men, a change from savageism to civilization, from paganism to Christianity? Who would not contribute a mite toward renewing the face of the desert and introducing in the place of barbarism and deeds of blood the anthems of praise, kindness, and social and Christian blessings? This is the work which missionaries go to accomplish. The way is open. The Indians, feeling their necessity, are calling for help, and their arms are in many places wide open to receive the benevolent agencies which are going in from so many points for their relief. Among the Cherokees a most valuable establishment is up and in oper- ation. It is called Eliot and is in charge of the Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the Rev. Dr. S. Worcester. Its immediate and personal head is the Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, a man peculiarly well fitted for the charge. In going amongst the Cherokees, it would be advisable to harmonize with the previous ex- isting establishments for many reasons: first, the work is the same; second, the parties to be benefited are the same; third, the motives of those who enter upon it are the same; and, fourth, the Indians, respecting and even loving the Eliot establishment, would be more likely to recognize you as a laborer having the good will of their Eliot friends. I do not mean that you do more than cultivate a good understanding with Mr. Kingsbury. Tell him from me, I know and approve of your mis- sion and believe it is in harmony with his own benevolent plans. Tell him, for my sake and the Indians, to take you by the hand as a brother. There is room enough for us all. All you will have to regard will be harmony in your operations, and surely there is no necessity for discord. I know you would be the last to promote anything but peace and good will. If there is anything in which you think I can be useful to you, pray command me. I may not live to hear that the face of the desert is changed, but, like Abraham, I see the day and rejoice in it. Very respectfully and truly yours, THOMAS L. McKiNNEY. INDIAN TRADE OFFICE, GEORGETOWN, February 8, 1821. LETTER FROM DR. JOHN EMORY TO BISHOP McKENDREE His REPLY TO BISHOP WHITE IN its early days Methodism, both in England and America, was destined to struggle against opposition from every quarter. Although her Articles of Faith were but a concise, clear, and honest epitome of the teachings of the Bible, as were also her Rules and general Church polity, yet Calvinists of every hue and order attacked her doctrines with a unanimity and fierceness which threatened her ruin. Fortunately, Mr. Wesley's life was long spared and his pen most effectually defended the truth. God also raised up Mr. Fletcher, of Madeley, who, although a St. John in love and purity, had yet such logical acumen of mind, such loyalty to truth, and such classic beauty of style that he wielded against the errors of his opponents an Ithuriel's spear from which they shrank back discomfited. In the United States the contest was prolonged, but fierce attacks gradually be- came less frequent and less violent, until discretion has taught our doctrinal opposers to exercise more prudence. In preparing the Sunday service for the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, Mr. Wesley abridged the Liturgy and Thirty- nine Articles of the Church of England, to which, with the Hom- ilies, he was accustoned to refer in defense of his views on doc- trinal and experimental religion as in harmony with the word of God. And yet, as in England so here, those who claim to be par excellence Episcopalians have not ceased to attack us upon the subject of the work of the Spirit. In 1817, the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country published a sermon, or essay, upon "the assurance of the pardon of sin by the direct witness of the Holy Spirit," in which he held up our views as erroneous and as peculiar to our Church. Dr. Emory became our champion and defended our cause most truimphant- ly. This letter alludes to this controversy, as well as to his reply to another attack from a different quarter. It is cause for grat- itude to God that whenever we have needed a champjon, Heav- en has furnished the right man at the right time. The reference to transfers, in this letter, relates, we suppose, to those who had become disaffected in the city and applied for letters transferring their membership, but really were thus with- drawing from the Church. Appendix 535 PHILADELPHIA, August 21, 1817. Reverend and Dear Sir: I have not yet visited Maryland and conse- quently have not had an interview with Dr. Jennings. I received a letter from him sometime since inviting me to see him in Baltimore, which I pur- pose to do soon, most probably next week, on my way to the Eastern Shore by that route. I have finished my piece in answer to the Address of the Charitable So- ciety of Connecticut and have it ready for publication should it be deemed proper by Dr. Jennings and those friends to whose impartial judgment it may be thought best to submit it. It has been considerably enlarged, and I have availed myself of some valuable extracts from Mr. Wesley and Dr. Rush, particularly the latter, who is fully in our favor on education in general, and especially that of the ministry, and being a disinterested character of such eminience his authority is the more important. I have been lately engaged in answering a piece on another subject of great moment to us and to the world. It was written by Bishop White, of this city, who signs himself " W. W.," and is in opposition to the assurance of the pardon of sin by the direct witness of the Spirit. He undertakes particularly to expose the Methodists for inconsistency on the subject, as he reproaches them (glorious reproach!) with being the principal and al- most the only advocates of the doctrine. Although a bishop of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church, he has committed some egregious blunders, and the goodness of my cause has enabled me, I trust, satisfactorily to refute him and to vindicate the Methodists, and particularly Mr. Wesley, from his unjust charges and reflections. My answer contains fifty-two pages of letter paper, in the sheet, not very closely written. As we have no committee of Conference to authorize publications by preachers, it seems hard either to be lashed by our opponents without de- fense, having tied our own hands, or defend ourselves and the Church and be lashed by the Conference for violation of rule. What is to be done in such a case? Our editors have sent us a prospectus of a magazine. They propose to commence the publication of it in January next. Were they ready to pub- lish now, I would send them immediately the answer to " W. W., " especial- ly as his piece appeared in a New York Register. But I think it ought to be published sooner. It might be reprinted in the magazine, if approved of. On Monday last, I received a letter of the ninth instant from Bishop George, then at Claremont, N. H. He gives a very favorable account of revivals of religion in Canada and the Northern department generally, says that he had seen the instructions of the British missionaries, and thinks the Conference in England entirely clear, and only needing correct infor- mation of the proceedings of their missionaries, so contrary to their in- structions, which he proposes to give them by letter. He expects to be in New York on October 5, and requested me to inform him of the tenor of your letter to England, which I shall do as well as I can recollect. We are here in peace. I have given but four transfers since Brother J. R. went away, and one only of them was applied for professedly on the 536 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree ground of his going away. A friend of his, who saw him at a camp meeting in Delaware, informed me that he believed J. R. would have no objections to being stationed at St. George's next year, and thought it not very im- probable, if you should not be here. Some think, if he can get an oppor- tunity he will join the Protestant Episcopal Cnurch, and this he has in- timated himself. Should we have a publication soon, on either of the above subjects in pamphlet form, a few copies may reach you by mail. Requesting your prayers, with an effectionate rememberance of Bishop Roberts, as ever, yours, J. EMORY. LETTER FROM DR. NATHAN BANGS TO BISHOP McKENDREE DR. BANGS has a national reputation as the earliest historian of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the defender of her doc- trines and polity. It is unnecessary to sketch his life. That he was faithful in all his house, sincere, magnanimous, and a most devoted servant of God and his Church, none will question; even those who differed from him in Church polity never doubt- ed his purity of motive. He would have scorned to gain his ends by guile; and he extorted from his ingenuous opponents their respect and esteem. He was a voluminous writer and a great worker, having filled many responsible positions honorably to himself and usefully to the cause of Methodism. Honor to the noble and true man who devoted a long and useful life to the glory of God and the good of the Church! And honor to his equally pure and magnanimous brother, the Rev. Heman Bangs, who I believe still lives to bless the Church and adorn the minis- try by his beautiful example of gentleness and love! Would to God the Church, North and South, were full of such men! At the time this letter was written, Dr. Bangs was stationed in the city of New York, his helpers being Eben Smith, J. Rob- ertson, James M. Smith, and Peter P. Sandford; and this was his report of the condition of his charge made, according to the custom of that time, to the bishop. NEW YORK, July 4, 1810. Dear Sir: Through the mercy of God, I am now in a tolerable state of bodily health, though I have been recently afflicted, as have most of the stationed preachers in this place. I have been here about four weeks, and we have had the happiness to see the Redeemer's cause advancing. Several have been converted, and the people of God appear in general persevering after holiness; but I also find some disagreeable business to attend to in consequence of the back- sliding of some. There has been a great ingathering in this place for a few years past, and I am apprehensive that there are some bad ones to be cast away. I find, however, that much caution is necessary lest in plucking up the tares we pull up the wheat also. These things, with many others that might be mentioned, make my situation extremely delicate; but, blessed be God, that we (the preachers) are all of one heart and of one mind in the work so far! There has been much bustle and noise in the city to-day, but many of our people assembled at the hours of eleven o'clock in the morning and 538 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree three in the evening for prayer, instead of mingling with the giddy throng to sport and laugh. I blame myself more than any of the rest for being in any measure attracted by the show. I hope God is blessing you with an increase of health and vigor of mind. I doubt not but you enjoy the solace of a good conscience, though, perhaps, groaning under the burden of the charge which unavoidably devolves upon you. May God give you every needful aid to enable you to go forward in the glorious work in which you are engaged! As to myself, I think I feel as much engaged as ever I did in the work of God, though I feel that I am an unprofitable servant and often have to lament my littleness of faith and love; but God bears with my weakness and helps my infirmities, so that I am still enabled to say, God is mine, and I am his. Please to give my love to Bishop Asbury. I am yours, with love and esteem, N. BANGS. SACRAMENTAL SERMON IN NASHVILLE BY BISHOP McKENDREE THE Western Methodist (edited by Lewis Garrett and John N. Maffitt) for December 13, 1833, contains an editorial notice of the Bishop, prefixed to the discourse reported as preached by him before the administration of the Lord's Supper, December 1, 1833, as follows: The first Sabbath in December, although a damp and cloudy day, was signalized by circumstances of high interest to the Methodist society in Nashville. On entering the splendid church, the first object to arrest the attention was the array of sacramental emblems in the alter, leading the mind back to scenes mournfully dear to every Christian heart. Above, in the pulpit, the form of the venerable senior bishop of the American Method- ist communion, McKendree, was seen in strong relief before the lofty cur- tains that fell between the desk and the recess. His countenance was pale but serene; his locks were sonewhat thinned by age, yet Time has but sparingly poured his silver over them; his dark, penetrating eyes have not been blanched by the frost of years; and his figure is still erect and al- most as unbending as that of a youth of twenty. The recollections associated with the form of one who has been in the ministry half a lifetime of Methodism in the world, and who has devotedly filled the office of a bishop since the year 1808 were refreshing to the heart of every Methodist. Bishop McKendree will be seventy-seven years of age if his life shall be spared to the sixth day of next July. Even under this weight of years and having passed through hardships in the early pe- riods of his ministry of which the velvet-checked clergy of the present gen- eration can have no conception, still the reverend Bishop sustains an easy, graceful carriage and that dignity of manners so congenial to Virginia, the State of his nativity and education. One cannot see him and hear his voice in public without thinking of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and a long list of other illustrious names that have im- mortalized the Old Dominion. Bishop McKendree retains the acute and distinguishing faculties of his logical mind in full and unimpaired perfection. His memory may have failed in a degree in regard to local and uninteresting things, yet in morals, in ethics, even in impassioned eloquence and a lively perception of the sub- lime arid beautiful, his intellectual faculties are in the green of their youth. It can truly be said of the venerable Bishop, as Webster said to La- fayette, "Thrice fortunate man!" He remembers the time when the sainted Asbury announced in an emphatic voice: "The increase of mem- bers in the Methodist Church in America is this year thirteen thousand." He has lived to the time when the journals of Methodism announce an annual increase of seventy-one thousand. The dangers of the howling wil- 540 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree derness are overpassed and the Church has emerged from its shadows, and his eyes for half a century have been upon her paths and his feet have been with her pioneers. The last days of such a man become inestimably pre- cious. They are like the mystic leaves of the Roman sibyl, they increase in value as their number is diminished. The following sermon was preached by the Bishop in a clear and dis- tinct voice, accompanied by a weight of manner and character which can- not appear in print. The sketch which we give embraces the sentiments and to a good extent the expressions which were delivered on the occasion, although the hearers of the discourse may remember some beautiful touch- es that they may not find in it as we have printed it. After the delivery of the sermon, the reverend Bishop consecrated the elements of the Lord's Supper, and, assisted by the reverend presiding elder of the Cumberland District, A. L. P. Green, and the Rev. F. E. Pitts, of the Nashville Station, administered the ordinance, first to the ministry and then to the membership. Four times the spacious altar was encircled by kneeling communicants, who "Ate the white memorial bread, And drank the sacramental cup." The following is the Bishop's sermon: "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." (1 Cor. i. 22-24.) "The text manifestly exhibits a diversity of sentiment, but from the beginning it was not so. When Jehovah informed Adam that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, all his posterity were then in his loins and equally interested in the blessings contained in the promise. But that promise referred to the mediatorial government of Christ and comprehended the salvation of the human family by virtue of the divine atonement. Therefore all the sons of Adam were included in the pro- vision made for fallen man. "From Adam to Abraham more light was given by the spirit of prophecy and the design of the promise was better understood; but the promise on which the gracious plan of redemption rested remained the same and the evidence for its support, though much enlarged, remained the same also. The contemplated blessings were equally accessible to all, and all had an equal claim to them. Hitherto there was no distinction, no preference of one above another, except what proceeds from faith and obedience on one hand and unbelief and transgression on the other. But as men multiplied, sin abounded and the world ripened for destruction. At length Infinite Wisdom selected Abraham and his posterity from the rest of mankind and entered into covenant with them! According to this covenant, Jehovah graciously pledged himself to superintend the affairs of Abraham and his seed, to direct their course, to protect them against adverse power, and to supply their temporal and spiritual wants on condition that they and their Appendix 541 succeeding generations should faithfully obey him as their rightful sov- ereign and walk before him in a perfect way. "By this means Infinite Wisdom preserved the knowledge and worship of the true God in Abraham's family which was eventually lost among the rest of men, ultimately to usher the true Messiah into the world surrounded with such incontestable evidence as bids defiance to opposition and criti- cism. "But this covenant was with Abraham and his seed, to the exclusion of the rest of Adam's race, yes, and the rest of Abraham's father's children. But this exclusion does not affect the blessings contained in the promise made to Adam; these they continue to enjoy as they did in common with Abraham prior to the covenant. "It only restricted the privileges peculiarly set forth in the covenant to the contracting parties, who in the first instance were Abraham and his seed. But the door was open to the Gentiles. It only remained for the Gentiles to believe and obey God as Abraham did prior to the establish- ment of the covenant and submit to its conditions in order to be adopted into Abraham's family and enjoy all the blessings of his natural and spirit- ual children. But this dispensation of grace was not understood according to the design of its Divine Author. Nor did the parties treat each other with due respect. Hence the difference. "The Jews highly esteemed their distinguishing privileges. They con- sidered themselves the children of God, the elect of God, the well-beloved and highly favored of the Lord, to the exclusion of all others; and as they rose in their own estimation, they depreciated the rest of men; they were esteemed as rejected reprobates and hated of God, until there was no dealing between the Jews and the Samaritans, yea, it was considered un- lawful for a Jew to go into the house of one of another nation. And so fearful were they of being misled that when the prophets, even Christ him- self, taught different from their notions or traditions, they demanded a sign or signs, miracles, to prove their mission to be of God. "They expected the promised Messiah to come in pomp and great glory, to exercise regal authority, and reinstate them in the power, authority, and honors they enjoyed under King David. But his appearance and conduct were entirely different. They demanded the signs of such a Messiah as they expected and were disappointed, and therefore they rejected and cru- cified him. "In opposition to the Jews, the Greeks gloried in wisdom. The wis- dom so highly prized by them was the result of philosophic research. They possessed every advantage that human nature could have, independently of a divine revelation, and they had cultivated their minds to the utmost, and still remained ignorant of the true God; for the world by wisdom, philosophy, cannot find out God. The Greeks could not, consistently with their philosophy, believe that proclaiming supreme happiness through a man that was crucified in Judea as a malefactor could ever comport with reason and common sense. They therefore rejected the plan of sal- vation as proposed in the gospel; by them it was esteemed foolishness. 542 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree "In this state of things St. Paul appeared and shone as a star of the first magnitude. Regardless of the conflicting views of the Jews and the Greeks, he said: 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.' And therefore he constantly preached Christ crucified as the only way to obtain pardon and peace and get to heaven. "He affirmed that all had sinned, contracted guilt, and were left with- out ability to return to God and extricate themselves from the painful effects of a guilty conscience. For this important purpose, by virtue of Christ crucified, fallen man is transferred from the Adamic law, which nei- ther admitted pardon nor supplied ability, to the government of Christ, where all necessary blessings are supplied. Here pardon is granted to penitent sinners. Here grace is offered to repent, to believe, and moral ability, given to obey the Redeemer's laws and be happy in time and in eter- nity. "He proves that by sin man had lost the knowledge of the true God and missed the way of happiness; that though by wisdom or philosophy he might become extensively acquainted with the things of this world, yet by wisdom the men of this world could not find out God or the way to enjoy him here or hereafter. To supply this deficiency, he preached Christ cru- cified, as the Creator of all things, who inhabits eternity, and graciously condescends to reveal himself to man so far as is necessary for his present and eternal happiness and to point out the way to obtain and enjoy those blessings. "St. Paul shows that fallen man is not only guilty and ignorant, but that he is utterly unable to protect himself and manage his own affairs. But this deficiency is supplied by the crucified Redeemer, who graciously undertakes the management of our affairs and as a King is amply provided with wisdom to direct all our affairs, power to protect in all cases, and funds to supply all our wants. "St. Paul constantly affirmed that the gospel through Christ crucified was the power of God to the salvation of the souls of both Jews and Greeks. His preaching was not in the wisdom of men, but in simplicity and power. Such was the energy that attended his eloquence, that he astonished and confounded the wise men on Mars' Hill (Acts xvii. 22-34), and, though a prisoner in chains, made his judge tremble on his seat. (Acts xxiv. 25; xxvi. 28.) He almost persuaded Agrippa to be a Christian, and through his instrumentality the gospel of the cross of Christ found its way into Caesar's household, his court, his army, and through the provinces of Rome; and, blessed be God, the work is still progressing and will continue to pro- gress while the doctrines of the cross are preached in their primitive spirit and power. " Christ and his apostles did not apply the commands of God so as for one to supersede or lessen the influence of another; they were all enforced by the same authority. 'Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work,' were enjoined by the same authority; therefore St. Paul said, Appendix. 543 ' He that'will not work shall not eat,' shall not live on the funds collected for the poor. Nor were those funds appropriated to tempt talented men with large salaries to lecture on any one grace and collect moneys for particular purposes. But the preachers were equally enjoined in the discharge of their ministerial duties to exhort all Christians, by giving diligence, to add to their faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, assuring them, 'if these things be in you and abound,' that they should be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. "We have attempted to give a specimen of the apostle's method of preaching Christ crucified, which, to the called, the genuine Christian, whether Jew or Greek, was found to be the power of God and the wisdom of God. By believing the gospel, they experienced pardon and the regen- erating grace of God, were delivered from the guilt of past sins and from the practive and love of sin. They were filled with joy and peace and enabled to pass unhurt through the difficulties over which the Jews stum- bled and fell, to suffer all things and to go on their way rejoicing. "By viewing the system which the Greeks thought to be foolishness in the light of revelation, it far surpassed the reach of human sagacity. That system was not a subject of rational investigation, but of pure reve- lation, in which the wisdom of God is astonishingly displayed in forming a plan by which fallen man may be saved and God remain just when he justifies the ungodly. In Abraham and his posterity the knowledge of the true God and his worship was preserved which was lost eventually among the rest of mankind, and a way was prepared for the introduction of the true Messiah surrounded with such incontestable evidence as bids de- fiance to opposition and criticism. Having experienced the power and efficacy of the gospel, it only remains for him to continue steadfast in the faith, uniformly to obey the command, and diligently seek and exercise the graces, to abide under the protection of the Almighty and perfect holiness in the fear of God. "Therefore let us examine ourselves and if we have departed in any de- gree from the doctrine taught by the apostles or from their zeal, spirit, and manner of enforcing them or from genuine simplicity of manner or dress let us return to the good old way with full purpose of heart that the Lord may continue to bless and prosper us until the great work to which we are called is accomplished," CHRISTMAS SERMON IN NASHVILLE, DECEMBER 25, 1833, BY BISHOP McKENDREE THE following discourse was delivered by Bishop McKendree in Nashville, December 25, 1833. It was not so much a regular sermon as a Christmas talk of an aged preacher to his old friends and their children. He was near his end and too feeble to bear the fatigue of much effort of body or mind. It is certainly not a fair specimen of the pulpit efforts of his palmy days, but was taken down by a hearer and published in the Western Methodist. Who has not realized a sad disappointment in reading a dis- course after having heard it from the lips of the speaker? How tame and commonplace it reads! We do not hear the accents of his mellifluous voice; we see not his graceful and impressive gestures; his eyes burning and bright with the inspiration of his theme; and his face expressing the thoughts of his mind and the emotions of his heart are all wanting. The mysterious chord of sympathy and the electric mental and emotional action and reaction which exist between the speaker and his audience are absent. The contrast is often observed even under circum- stances most favorable, insomuch that printed sermons are seldom read with much interest, but generally fall stillborn from the press. Those only which develop great vital truths and reveal the plan of salvation in clear, simple, and striking language be- come permanently popular and useful among the masses. We have to supplement the Bishop's Christmas effort with his venerable form, his lofty forehead, a few gray hairs resting upon it, the remander falling back, and scarcely concealing the surface of his head, his wan and intellectual face, varying in expression with every new thought and feeling, now calm and quiet like a lake without wind or wave, then as if gently moved by a passing zephyr, anon thrown into a thousand ripples, re- flecting the gleams of mental joy, and presently aroused to its highest efforts by subline conceptions which stir his soul to its inmost depths. His text was a fit theme for the man and the occasion. The veteran of near fifty years' devotion to the task of developing the story of the cross, now, at the close of his life and labors, comes to join the wise men of the East and the simple shepherds of the vale to behold and worship the wonderful Babe of Beth- lehem and unite with the angelic host in adoration and praise; Appendix 545 and while in imagination we listen to the soft and silvery accents which proclaim, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!" forgetting time and space, we seem to hear the heavenly choir, in the refrain of a human voice, responding in the celestial anthem. It was an occasion of great interest to his audience. It oc- curred in a large and elegant church recently dedicated and bearing his name, and was addressed to a multitude whose par- ents and grandparents he had long known and served and whose children now heard him as expecting to hear and see him no more. "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall DP to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host prais- ing God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke ii. 8-14.) In this communication we have the most sublime, important, and inter- esting information ever made to fallen man. As it has respect to the per- fection of God and heavenly things, it is subline. And as it implies terms of peace, reconciliation with rebellious subjects, it is therefore of the utmost importance; and seeing that it embraces every individual of every nation, it is, of all subjects, the most interesting. But men have no senses by which they can obtain correct ideas of God and heavenly things; nor can the human mind obtain ideas of any objects of which it is perfectly ignorant; therefore this is not a subject of rational investigation, but of pure revelation; and we may confidently rely on such information as the Lord may please to give for our faith, instruction, and comfort. Evidence in support of the communication will appear by the persons through whom it is made and the manner of instructing them. When a messenger is sent by any nation to transact business with another, he is supposed to possess natural and acquired abilities for the business assigned him. But among men there were none found qualified for this business, therefore one was chosen from heaven to divulge the mysterious subject which prophets could not understand. Therefore a messenger was sent from heaven to announce the birth of the Saviour. When this all-important fact was eatablished among men, they were competent witnesses of that which they had seen and heard and felt. The angel had to address some of the lower order of men, yet he made his appearance in the glory and power of his heavenly character. To the poor shepherds this was a terrific appearance, and they were sore afraid. By this means the mind was sufficiently aroused to attend to their visitor; but the excitement was too great for them to attend deliberately to what they were to hear; therefore the angel said unto them: "Fear not, for be- 35 546 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree hold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Evil is the object of fear; good tidings imply a desirable object. Thus the angel prepared the shepherds to receive his message, and then said: "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." As soon as the angel had delivered his message, a multitude of the heavenly host added their testimony to that of the angelic msesenger by giving glory to God in the highest for his wisdom and goodness in saving fallen man and added their acknowledgments to the praises of the Redeemer for what God had done for them. Truth never shuns, but frequently invites, investigation. The shep- herds, being instructed, hastened to Bethlehem for the purpose of examin- ing into this matter. After they did so and found the statements to be in perfect accordance with facts in every particular, they therefore, without delay, proclaimed the advent of the promised Messiah to the deeply inter- ested sons of fallen Adam. And the testimony of the shepherds is added to that of the heavenly host to support our faith and establish this glorious truth. When atonement was made for sin and the Saviour had entered fully into the government of his purchased possession, he chose twelve men as heralds to proclaim his reign and publish the laws by which his subjects were to be governed. These, as well as the shepherds, were selected from among the common laboring class of men; they were fishermen by occu- pation, but by a miraculous supply of the spirit of wisdom they were raised to the office of apostles, the most dignified station that man ever filled. By them the doctrines of truth were published and confirmed by the power of God working miracles through their instrumentality, confirming thereby their statements. In selecting the unlearned from among shepherds and fishermen to fill high and responsible stations, the wisdom of God is manifested and faith in the system of the Christian religion greatly increased. Had the learned, the rich, and powerful of the earth been chosen, the people would have gone after them, and religion would have rested on the wisdom of men (as it does in many cases) instead of the power of God and there would have been some shade of plausibility to the charge of its being priestcraft. But this treasure was put into earthen vessels, illiterate men; the case is there- fore different; and to be followers of such men as God had chosen, men who direct us to look to and trust for salvation in a man who was crucified as a malefactor, was deemed unreasonable, unpopular, and disgraceful; and seeing that it exposed thtm to suffering and death, therefore there was nothing to influence men under such circumstances to become followers of sucn teachers but a clear conviction that they were taught of and sup- ported by the Almighty God. Had the glad tidings been restricted to the shepherds, it would have Appendix 547 been a matter of great joy to them; but as the sensibility of a grateful heart is abundantly enlarged bv a supply which he may enjoy in common with his needy fellow creatuies, so when all people, every individual of every nation, were included, the grateful heart must overflow with un- utterable joy. The subject matter of the glad tidings. of great joy is declared in tnese words, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord, Christ the anointed, the Lord, the Jehovah of the Jews. But our attention is more particularly directed to the Saviour. We have already seen that the advent of our Saviour was good tidings of great joy to all people. Then all people were interested in the Saviour, otherwise it would not be glad tidings to all; but this all-im- portant truth does not depend on inferential reasonings; it is sufficiently supported by direct testimony. We are told in the Scripture that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- lieveth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son intothe world to condemn the \vorld, but that the world through him might bt saved." (John iii. 16, 17.) St. John says: "He is the pro- pitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (IJohnii. 2.) "And thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from thdr sins." (Matt. i. 21.) Again: "We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe." (1 Tim. iv. 10.) From these incontestable authorities it appears that all the sons of Adam are individually interested in and benefited by the divine atonement for sins; that Jesus is the Saviour of all, and that he wills the present and eternal happiness of all, we cannot doubt; but that man is an accountable agent, may accept or reject the gracious terms of peace and salvation, is equally true. Faith working by love is the condition on which God bestows the saving graces of the Holy Spirit; but sinful man is so taken up with the things of this world that his eternal interest is put off for a more conven- ient season. In this state of things St. Paul says: "We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe." The apostle divides the human family into two classes believers and unbelievers. Jesus is the Saviour of all men. He has sufficient means and is willing to save all from their sins and make them happy; but as the latter are ac- countable agents, he only saves as far as they will permit. Hear the lan- guage of Christ to an afflicted woman: "But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thea whole." (Matt. ix. 22.) Again says Christ: " If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John xv. 7.) And again, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life;" and yet he is their Saviour. In the first instance, fallen man was rescued fron the penalty of the law and restored to a state of ac- countability for voluntary actions, and grace is afforded to repent and turn to God; and frequent remonstrances of the Holy Spirit are given to cor- rect and urge fallen man to his duty. In the second place, sinners are saved 548 Life and Times of Bishop McKendree by Jesus Christ from the punishment due to their daily transgressions of the law of God. They are warned of their danger; they are graciously re- strained by the Holy Ghost from committing sins into which they would otherwise plunge; they art exhorted to put away the evil of their doings and embrace the proffered terms of pardon and reconciliation; they are assured that, on condition of faith, Jesus is not only ready and willing to forgive what is past, but to save them from the nature and consequences of sin. But they reject proffered mercy and by voluntarily persisting in their rebellions against God their Saviour, they compel him either to ab- dicate his kingdom or enforce his laws; the latter follows of necessity; there- fore their ruin is altogether of themselves, contrary to the design of the gospel and the will of their rightful Lord and Saviour; for he does not save men in their sins, but from their sins. Therefore none are saved but those who forsake their sins and believe in him. He that cometh to God must be- lieve that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. This is the state of sincere seekers of religion. The Lord acknowledges such as disciples, saves them from the practice of sin, and enables them to apprehend the design of the gospel and ardently desire to know Christ as their Saviour. This desire moves men to seek the knowledge of Christ in the use of the means; they are conscious of their unhappy situation and are making feeble efforts to come to the Lord, weary and heavy laden, hoping for and looking to Christ for the much-needed and graciously prom- ised blessing; their prayer is heard, their sins are pardoned, and by the operations of the Holy Ghost the soul is regenerated and born again. The Spirit not only performs the work, but gives the subject knowledge of what is done, and the knowledge of sins forgiven frees the conscience of what is past and fixes it as a sentinel to examine and decide on the pro- priety or impropriety of what we think of doing. By these means we are guarded from doing wrong and excited to do that which is right; but conscience acts in conformity with the judgment; therefore, in order to preserve a proper conscience, the judgment must be correctly informed; then in communicating and receiving instruction, great attention should be paid to the revealed will of God. Conformably to the designs of the gospel, Jesus graciously saves the penitent sinner from the practice of sin; but the believer, the regenerate soul, is saved not only from the practice, but also from the guilt and love of sin. In the language of St. Paul: "He is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor. v. 17.) His spiritual senses are waked up; he now views things in the light of revelation. Sin and folly, which he formerly loved, now are objects of aversion and hateful unto him. But his aversion to God and revelation is now changed into love and admiration. Though regenerated and born again, he is not free from the remains of the carnal mind, for when he is tempted by the world, the lusts of the flesh, or the pride of life, he perceives something within which would join with the temptation and involve him in sin; but that indwelling grace by which he perceives the snare prompts him to resist the temptation and pray for de- liverance, and he is thereby preserved from contracting guilt and over- Appendix 549 comes the temptation; but he is left to mourn on account of the remaining propensity to evil and sin. "Tis worse than death my God to love, And not my God alone." He rejoices in the victory obtained over the temptation, but the appre- hension of falling some day or other, as by the hand of Saul, causes much solicitude. He feels temptation to sin and finds there is something within which would unite with the temptation; hence he concludes that this some- thing within, which would unite with the temptation, is of itself sinful. To such, the doctrine of perfect love which casteth out all fear is of the deepest interest. He therefore makes known all his wants, this in particular, unto Jesus, and prays in faith for deliverance from this troublesome inmate. He now perceives the difference between the passions and the quality of the passions. The passions of the soul remain unchanged in their nature, but the superadded propensities to sin are destroyed and the passions are in- flamed with love to God, who hath done so great things for him; and now be- ing made free from sin in a sense far exceeding his former experience, he has his fruit unto holiness in a more refined and extended degree than before. As the soul, when converted and born again, undergoes no change in its physical nature, but in its dispositions relative to sin or holiness the pas- sions when purified by the power of grace undergo no change as passions of the soul, as such they are the gifts of God and are given for wise pur- poses; but the passions are cleansed from sinful propensities and prepared to enjoy God more perfectly. For this purpose St. Paul says: "Warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." (Col. i. 28.) And speaking of the Church, St. Paul says: "Christ gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish." By setting the doctrine of sanctification too high or too low, its influence may be prevented. It is neither more nor less than perfect love, loving God with all the heart, and our neighbor as ourselves. If an American eagle was tried by the French or Spanish standard, it would be found to be deficient; but when tried by the American standard, though it is not virgin gold, yet it is found to be perfect by the standard of American coin; so if Christian perfection is tried by the perfection of Deity or of angelic perfection, it must be found wanting; but when in- finite wisdom examines fallen man by the gospel, he finds many perfect Christians. To such we would say, As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. By grace ye are saved through faith. This will apply to the sanctified as well as the justified; therefore, in order to obtain this blessing, the subject must believe the doctrine, honestly abstain from all appearance of evil, which is the condition upon which the blessing is bestowed (1 Thess. v. 22, 23), and humbly and confidently look to Jesus in the use of the means until you obtain the desired blessing. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. ?3 University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. FEB 2 8 T99f Series 9482