vv J o/i \ V/ o OF THE NEW JERSEY CONFERENCE. THE LIFE, LABORS AND SERMONS OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D., OF THE I b BY C? A. MALMSBURY. // WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY REV. CHARLES H. WHITECAR, D.D. PHILADELPHIA : METHODIST EPISCOPAL BOOK ROOMS, 1018 ARCH STREET. COPYRIGHT, 1887. BY C. A. MALMSBTJRY. TO THE PREACHERS OF THE PHILADELPHIA, NEW JERSEY, NEWARK AND WILMINGTON CONFERENCES, f)t0 foolume IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. PREFACE. To RESCUE the names and memories of great and good men, from that oblivion which the surges of this world's activities, and the sweeping marches of time, seem, as if by destiny, determined to cover forever in the shadows of an eternal night, is the work of men in each generation of a passing century. And thus it becomes our duty to hand down from one generation to another an account of their lives, and a record of their acts and usefulness, and to keep in a chain of successive and unbroken links, the biographies of eminent Christian men of the past, and the present. The subject of our biography was one of the most extraordinary men of his age, or that the church has ever produced. His life, character, and attainments, which we trust, cannot fail to make a profound impression upon the young and old in this day and generation, marked our hero as a champion of the cross, and as a bold and power- ful defender of " the faith once delivered to the saints." We hope his lofty ambition, and noble, self-sacrificing life of toil, will not only serve the cause of truth and righteousness, in elevating its standard in the minds of men, but that his example may stimulate others in their toils and efforts for a noble and useful life-service in the cause of Christ, and lead them justly to appreciate the sacrifices he made, and diligently strive to imitate his excellencies and self-denying example of godliness, and religious zeal. We have been anxiously waiting for years, for some one to write this biography, and give us an account of this great and good man ; and at last, becoming "weary of waiting," and in this period of partial cessation of our ministerial life, as a temporary relief from the pressure of its more arduous duties, and as a recuperative of exhausted nervous force and energy, and amid a pressure of correspondence for several of our religious journals, and other literary matter, we have ventured to take pen in hand and do what we could from the material left by Mr. Pitman to write his biography. Biography is one of the greatest needs of the Church. " Biography is v VI PREFACE. the history of man." " If impartial, it shows us ourselves. The biogra- phy of Christian men, not only illustrates, or sets forth, the character- istics of human nature, but also exhibits the grace of God, and shows the energy with which it works in transforming fallen man into the im- age of God." The history of faithful ministers of Christ unfolds also the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom among men, and thus in the biog- raphy of one man is included many. The Church wants biography. Our people need it. It is essential to spiritual life. Our people have need to know how our fathers have lived and how they died. There is a great dearth in our modern litera- ture respecting biography. Old Methodist literature abounded with it, and the devout and earnest perusal of it and its application to heart and life of professed Christians has wafted on the wings of faith many a soul to glory. It will do the same under God now that it has done in the past. How far our attempt to write this biographical sketch may be success- ful we must leave our readers to determine. To extensive literary at- tainments or to elaborate and finished production we make no claim. Apologies we have none to make, but for the aim or purpose we have disclosed in this work, we think we are entitled to the favorable consid- eration of the reading public. The material has been gathered and added to the chapters by the author at odd times, and as occasion offered, " in season and out of season," and under the pressure of various min- isterial engagements, which none can understand but those who follow a nomadic or itinerant life. As to our statements, we have both good and reliable authority for them ; they have been gathered from those who were contemporary and conversant with the hero of our history, and were, in many instances, connected with him in the great evangelism of his time, and we now send forth this volume with an earnest prayer that it may do good, and inspire greater love to Christ in the souls of its readers, and be the means of leading men and women to Christ; and especially do we pray that it may awaken and move by impulses and convictions, im- pressions and activities, the Christian ministry of this age and genera- tion to a still greater earnestness and devout effort in securing a gracious ingathering of souls, and to do this let them imitate our grand, glorious gospel hero, and preach the doctrines of religion. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. MR. PITMAN'S PARENTAGE, BIRTH-PLACE AND EARLY LIFE. PAGE Loss of Father Incident Conversion Occupation as a School Teacher Letter from his cousin, Kev. Joseph Bennett Commences to Exercise his Gifts in Public- Revival Meeting at Three Tuns (now called Hedding) A Junior Preacher on Trenton Circuit Joins the Philadelphia Conference First Circuit Colleague . . 1-15 CHAPTER II. MR. PITMAN'S SUBSEQUENT FIELDS OF LABOR. Bergen Circuit New Brunswick Station Sent to Supply Rev. J. Moore's Place Or- dination and Ordination Parchments Letter containing an account of work of God in New Brunswick Mr. Pitman an active and successful Book Agent "Bridgetown" Station, Southern New Jersey Great Revival Converts - Letter containing an account of the work of God in " Bridgetown," N. J. Mr. Pitman, Senior Preacher on the City Circuit, Philadelphia, 1825 Rev. William Barnes and Rev. Joseph Holdich, Colleagues What it embraced Rev. Geo. G. Cookman's arrival in Philadelphia Joins St. George's Church Incident Mr. Pitman con- tinues but one year on the Circuit Appointed Presiding Elder of West Jersey District, Philadelphia Conference, 1826 1&-34 CHAPTER III. MR. PITMAN AS PRESIDING ELDER OF THE WEST JERSEY DISTRICT. What it embraced at that time Mode of Travel Quarterly Meetings Book Sales " Old Burlington " Circuit Plan of Appointments Burlington Camden Officiary of the District Trenton Station Officiary -Freehold Circuit " Screaming Hill" Ezekiel Cooper Incident Officiary of Freehold Circuit New Mills Circuit- Incident Officiary of New Mills Circuit Mr. Pitman felt at home at New Mills, and was warmly welcomed by that people Sketch of Methodism in Burlington, New Mills and Trenton 35-17 vii Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. PAGE WEST JEESEY DISTRICT CONTINUED. Old Gloucester Circuit Officiary- Benjamin B. Doughty (Sketch of) Pleasant Mills Mother Richards Quarterly Meetings at Pleasant Mills, Cumberland and Cape May Circuits Pitman's powerful Sermons against Formalism Thrilling Incident A wealthy man converted, builds a Church, donates it to the M. E. Church Incident related by Dr. Bartine " Sheep Sermon " Officiary of both Circuits Changes that hare taken place 48-60 CHAPTER V. WEST JERSEY DISTRICT CONTINUED. "Bridgetown" Station Officiary Salem Station Officiary Salem Circuit Officiary Quarterly Meetings Preaching Salary of the Presiding Elder Moving and Traveling Expenses Books for the Societies, Character of Preachers who pur- chased Books and who labored with Mr. Pitman on his District State and con- dition of Methodist interest when Mr. Pitman entered upon the District as Pre- siding Elder and at the present time Appointments then and now 61-79 CHAPTER VI. MR. PITMAN APPOINTED PRESIDING ELDER OF THE EAST JERSEY DISTRICT. What it embraced Appointments New Brunswick Station Officiary Freehold Circuit Additions made to the Officiary Trenton Circuit Officiary Crosswicks Circuit Officiary Essex Circuit Officiary Morristown Officiary Bloomfield Officiary- Bell ville Officiary Newark Officiary " Elizabeths >wn "Officiary Bah way- Officiary Staten Island Circuit Officiary New Providence Officiary Somerset Mission Bergen Neck Mission Supplied by Local Preachers Mr. Pitman elec- ted a Delegate to the General Conference, 1832 Active work Exhorters on Mr. Pitman's District Useful adjuncts Character and Office almost obsolete now Preachers Appointments Camp-meeting near Newton, Sussex Co., N. J. Mr. Pitman preached Intense interest awakened Camp-meeting near New Bruns- wick Wonderful results Methodism in the Ascendency Charles Pitman, under God, the grand instrument 80-95 CHAPTER VII. MR. PITMAN STATIONED IN PHILADELPHIA, AT UNION CHURCH. Building of the Church Great popularity Keyser's Church Crowded Congregations at Keyser's Dedication of Union Congregation crowd Union as they did Key- eer's Personnel of Mr. Pitman Manner of address Effect produced in reading CONTENTS. IX PAGE hymna Preaching Unremitted attention to his Pastoral work Success Closing of his term of Ministerial Service at Union Church Old Union, a grand moral battle-field Should forever be monumental to Methodism Appointed Agent, with Rev. E. S. Janes, for Dickinson College Success Camp-meeting Incident in Dela- wareMr. Pitman preached A portentous thunder-storm cloud, held back dur- ing the service Wonderful out-pouring of the Spirit of God Five hundred con- verted on that afternoon and evening 96-107 CHAPTEE VJII. ME. PITMAN RELINQUISHES THE AGENCY OF DICKINSON COLLEGE AND RETURNS TO THE PASTORATE. Stationed at St. George's, Philadelphia Repair and remodeling of the Church William P. Corbit Means that led to his conversion Great revival of religion at St. George's Hundreds converted Mrs. Craft's conversion Eminent revival preachers assist Rev. John Street, Revs. C. A. Lippincott, Walters, McCaskey, Tasker and others Second year at St. George's Conference years, 1836 and 1837 Notable years in the History of Methodism in Philadelphia and New Jersey Closing of the term of service Mr. Pitman appointed to Eighth St. Church, a new organization in consequence of the great ingathering at St. George's Its history Success Remains but one year Transferred the next year to the New Jersey Conference 108-123 CHAPTER IX. MR. PITMAN A MEMBER OF THE NEW JERSEY CONFERENCE. Stationed at Green Street M. E. Church, Trenton His labors Crowded Congrega- tions Incident, by which a Church was subsequently organized Rev. Wm. P. Corblt Mr. Pitman earnest and indefatigable in his work Success in revival effort Numerous calls for Dedication Services and the laying of Corner-stones for Churches Close of Ministerial term Appointed Presiding Elder of Trenton District Continues in office nearly two months Transferred to the New York Conference Elected to fill a vacancy made by the resignation of Dr. Bangs in the Missionary Secretaryship of the M. E. Church Duties Travels Addresses Sermons Editorship of the "Missionary Advocate" Honored with the Title of D.D. Sketches of Missionary work 124-132 CHAPTER X. FURTHER ACCOUNT OF DR. PITMAN'S MISSIONARY LABOR. Letter concerning a missionary effort in Rahway, N. J. Travels Addresses Collec- tions Trip to Connecticut Appeal to the Conferences and Churches to aid in extinguishing the debt of the Missionary Society Travels up the Hudson Visits X CONTENTS. PAGE Peekskill, Shrub-oaks, Camden (N. J.), Philadelphia and St. Paul's Missionary Addresses Goes Westward with Bishop Waugh Addresses the Western Confer- ences in the interest of the Missionary Society Returns after an extensive Tour Addresses A Missionary letter to the Liberia Conference Resume of the Of- ficial work of the Secretary Missionary Hymn composed by Dr. Pitman . . . 133-150 CHAPTER XL DR. PITMAN AS A CHURCH DEDICATOE. SOME ACCOUNT OF THESE DEDICATIONS. West Bloomfield, Trenton (N. J.), Milford (Del.), Connecticut, Cold Spring (L. I.), Broadway (N. J.), Bordentown (N. J.), Porchtown (N. J.), and others Sermons- Great success that followed Much of this kind of work performed during the last twelve or fifteen years of his active life An account of the great West Port Camp-meeting 151-167 CHAPTER XII. DR. PITMAN AS A PREACHER. Diffident at first Manner Solemn Incident at New York Conference Incident at a Camp-meeting Pitman's tears more powerful than his exhortation Sermon on Spiritual Pathology Dr. Pitman preached the doctrines of Religion " Billy Hib- bard" incident at Conference Dr. Pitman preached the doctrine of Christian Perfection or Entire Sanctification Extracts from Sermons Dr. Pitman "set for the defence of the Gospel " Great moral achievement Culmination of history . . 168-185 CHAPTER XIII. DR. PITMAN, AS A POET, POSSESSED A FINE POETICAL TALENT. Wrote considerable Poetry between the years 1840 and 1848 Specimens : A Mission- ary Hymn, Israel in Bondage, The Preservation of Moses, The Education of Moses, The Choice of Moses Character of Dr. Pitman's Poetry ..." 186-199 CHAPTER XIV. DR. PITMAN AS A PULPIT ORATOR. Oratory, and in what does it consist? Oratory defined Eloquence defined Sermons Reading Hymns Scriptural Lessons Manner of reading Baptismal, Sacramental and Burial Services from the Ritual Dedications Missionary Addresses Extracts Dr. Pitman's description of Dr. Newton 200-212 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XV. DR. PITMAN AND HIS CONTEMPORAEIE8. PAGE Rev. Edward Page Rev. George Bangbart Rev. John Potts Rev. Ezekiel Cooper Rev. Solomon Sharp Rev. Manning Force Rev. Richard W. Petherbridge Rev. Edmund S. Janes, D.D. Rev. Joseph Holdich, D.D. Rev. George G. Cook- man Rev. Joseph G. Chattle Rev. Daniel Parrish Rev. Waters Burroughs Rev. Thomas McCarroll Rev. Isaac Winner, D.D. Rev. Sedgwick Rusling Rev. Thomas G. Steward Rev. Caleb A. Lippincott Rev. Joseph Lybrand Rev. Thomas Sovereign Rev. Jefferson Lewis, D.D. Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, D.D 213-239 CHAPTER XVI. EXPIRATION OF THE TERM 0-F DR. PITMAN'S MISSIONARY SECRETARYSHIP. HEALTH GIVING WAY NECESSITATES HIS RETIREMENT. Removes from New York to his former home in Trenton, N. J. Letter to the Con- ference asking for a superannuated relation How the last four years of his life were passed Paralysis Sickness Death Funeral Sermon by Bishop Janes In- terment in Mercer Cemetery Final Resting-place An account of the Funeral Services, as published in the "Daily True American," Trenton, N. J. Sermon by Rev W. P. Corbit on the Death of Dr. Pitman A Tribute to Dr. Pitman's Memory, by Rev. E. C. Jones, entitled " The Unbroken Rest "The surviving members of the Pitman family 240-258 CHAPTER XVII. REMINISCENCES OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Rev. D. W. Bartine, D.D. Rev. J. L. Gilder, D.D. Memoir, New Jersey Conference Minutes, 1854 Rev. James Ayars Rev. John Kennaday, D.D. Rev. G. D. Car- row, D.D. Rev. R. W. Allen, D.D. Rev. William Roberts, D.D. Rev. Charles H. Wbitecar, D.D. Rev. Hebron Vincent 259-288 CHAPTER XVIII. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. Dedication Sermons: Psalm 48: 12-14, 2d Chron. 6: 40, 41, Iga. 60: 7, Act* 14: 7 Ministerial Commission : Col. 1 : 28, 29, Psalm 126 : 6, Isa. 61 : 2 Missionary Ser- mons : Matt. 13 : 38, Acts 16 : 9 Evangelical Christianity : Isa. 44 : 3-5, Rom. 4:16, Bom. 12: 1, Eph. 2: 8, 9, Rom. 6: 1 Formal Professions: 2 Tim. 3: 6 Sanctifl- cation : John 17 : 19 Spiritual Pathology : 1 Cor. 11 : 30 289-352 INTRODUCTION. MEMORY, tradition and history are component factors in giving to posterity the knowledge of pre-events and distinguished personalities related thereto ; unitedly revealing the great past to the present, and showing its potent influence in laying the firm foundations upon which is reared the grand superstructure of civil and religious progress. The greatest of these factors is history. Memory is lost in the waning and ending life, while tradition fails in its protracted attenuation and uncertainties, leaving to exact and impartial history the em- bodiment and conservation of events, incidents and persons, otherwise destined to oblivion, and thus lost to the coming generations. Religious history, like sacred poetry, is an educator of the moral forces, and thereby constitutes a potent adjunct of the pulpit, and the religious press, as a reformatory and evangelical power, while contributing to the instruction and entertainment of intelligent inquiry. Each age is to perpetuate itself, so that posterity may have the benefit of its experiences, accomplishments and instructions in discharging its obligation to the State, to society and to the church, and thus to be the better qualified to build wisely and safely upon the old foundations. As what was purest was nearest the Apostolic Age in Christianity, as what was intensely patriotic and American was in the men and measures of our Continental fathers, so, also, we are to look to our Methodistic original, as the truest exhibit of xiii XIV INTRODUCTION. what it was ; as providence instituted and outlined it as the evangel- ism for the churches, and the masses in the oncoming years. It is not enough that we have a varied, full and entertaining denom- inational history, covering the century of our church organization in this country, but we need to have the special exhibit of distinguished persons, with their intense and heroic accomplishments in our several localities, as a denomination, so that the inspiration of their virtues, and their work may be a living force to their successors for all time. Our church has had a host of holy, apostolic men, who have deserved a / historic monument now too late to build, and well nigh failed, in the erection of this, in the delay of years to the life, virtues and work of Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D., and, but for the affectionate and appreciative de- votion of its author, might so have done. After years of diligent preparation in collating original notes, memo- randa and manuscripts, of which he came in possession, together with a far-reaching correspondence and local inquiry, with an aggregation of reliable traditional facts, and a careful and extended consultation of written and published details, thus providing him with incidents, ac- complishments and data, the author of this history of the life, times and compeers of Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D., has produced a volume which supplies a desideratum in modern ministerial biography. This illustrious personality, with the associates of his times, both clerical and lay, well deserve the distinction here given to them in their Christian devotion and Methodistic life service, contributing, as they did, to our progressive greatness, as a branch of the general Church. Society is in diversity. Some are in the vales, some are on the levels, some stand out as the beautiful hills, while others loom up in the strength and grandeur of the mountains. This last class has its representatives in founding empires and republics. In learning and discovery, in the State and in the Church, such was INTRODUCTION. XV the subject of this historic portraiture. As the foundation of true great- ness is in the nature, such was his ; and as the superstructure raised thereon is by personal devotion and culture, so of his ; and as greatness has its own inspiration, which, if obeyed, and its mission, which, if followed, she gives to it a distinction worthy of herself in individual illustration, exalting, as in the case of Dr. Pitman, to eminence and honor. Of the class of the great, the good and the useful, aa will appear in the reading of this carefully-prepared and interesting volume, was the universally beloved Charles Pitman, D.D., seen, as he will be, in his colossal grandeur, as he inspired confidence in gospel work by his native power and spiritual force. His leadership was heroic and assuring, and braced the less favored in endowments for conflict and victory. He moved upon the masses and agitated them, as is the ocean by strong winds ; as his uplift of unctious influence was like the roll of the resistless waves, bearing down opposers and moving seekers and saints heavenward. To properly appreciate the man, his history must be read, as his personal ministry is now beyond recall. As an interesting feature of this biography, the able and enthusiastic author has brought to view a large number of ministers and laymen who were his contemporaries, holding pastoral and official positions within the time of his work in the West and East Jersey, and in Philadelphia, as also of ministers with whom he held conference relations. His poetic effusions, sketches and sermons will be found to be a compensating feature of the history. The time, research and ability devoted to this production not only reflects honor upon the author, but more has redeemed from oblivion an illustrious son of Methodism, and given to our church and the Chris- tian public a work reliable, useful and entertaining, and abounding with XVI INTRODUCTION. incident and Methodistic history, which will open facts connected with our church to unborn generations. This volume will commend itself in its outline of ministerial, and lay agency during the primitive and heroic years of our Methodism. A few of the number still remain who participated in the polemic conflicts public and social, and were active in bearing onward the standard of Christian conquest, under Dr. Pitman's leadership. These we are quite sure will hail this accomplishment with great satisfac- tion, as will many more in whose minds the traditions of the past years have left their inquisitive impressions. To overlook the field of many battles, and of glorious triumphs in Gospel work, on the foreground of the century now passing, will surely be a delight and joy to all the descendants, of their illustrious predecessors ; now, of the cities, villages, plains, valleys, and mountain slopes, where " Charles Pitman," his compeers and lay helpers called the wandering sheep back to the fold of "the Chief Shepherd;" and the formalist, to the rich inheritance of a joyous spiritual life. But few biographies of the men of the formative years of Methodism in New Jersey have been written, and this one will take an honored place beside that of the ardent "Abbott," the placid "Ware" and the enthusiastic "Stewart," whose memorials are set fast as the mountains, and are cherished, and transmitted by careful hands. I am pleased to add, that the publication of this volume has the approbation, and has had the concurrent aid of one of the oldest descendants of this distin- guished subject. CHAS. H. WHITECAR. CAMDEN, N. J. THE LIFE, LABORS AND- SERMONS OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. CHAPTER I. MR. PITMAN'S PARENTAGE, BIRTH-PLACE AND EARLY LIFE. /CHARLES PITMAN, son of Daniel and Hannah Pitman, v was born near Cookstown, Burlington County, New Jersey, on the 9th day of January, 1796. Of the parents of Mr. Pit- man, we have but little or no history, except that they were godly and pious persons, and were members of the Methodist Society in the place where they lived, and that the father was a class-leader for some time in that Society, and the mother a gifted, devoted and earnest Christian woman, and not infre- quently did she pray and speak in the meetings of their church, to great edification and profit. Daniel Pitman died when Charles was only six years of age, and he was left to the care of a pious and affectionate mother, who endeavored to train him up for God, and useful- ness in the church, and whose influence had much to do with moulding the future of that heart and life, which was to be productive of such great good to the church in after years. The event of his father's death, and of his orphanage is 1 LIFE OF EEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. described in some verses written by himself upon a birth-day anniversary, in which he says : " At six years old an orphan boy ; Left to a mother's only care, Her constant sweet and loved employ, To train his infant heart to prayer. " 'Twas mine a mother's heart to share, A mother's heart, affection's home; 'Twas mine to hear the ardent prayer, And witness the unutter*d groan. "'God bless my boy!' she meekly cried, And wiped the anxious tear away ; 'Shepherd Divine,' his footsteps guide, In paths of peace to endless day." He would sometimes speak of his father, Daniel Pitman, who for some time previous to his death, was confined to his bed from the effects of a fall. Little Charles used to take the bread and butter to him when he was hungry, and Mr. Pitman would cut a slice of bread and spread it with butter for his boy, as it was a great delight for the father to see him eat so vigor- ously and with so much relish. The death of the father left Charles with a delicate mother to struggle against the world, and so soon as able, he had to bear his part in obtaining the means of support. For a time, while in boyhood life, he worked on the farm of Daniel Smith, an old Quaker gentleman, whose only fault with the lad seems to have been that he loved his books, and occupied too much of his time in reading, In after years, when Charles Pitman became a great and powerful preacher, this old Quaker gentleman used to wonder greatly how Mr. Pitman could preach so powerfully and with such wonderful effect, and on an occasion when he expressed his surprise in this man- ner, one of Mr. Smith's sons replied thus : " Why, father, you know Pitman was always reading the Bible, and he learned to preach from it, and his knowledge of it helps him to preach it to others." AMUSING INCIDENT. 3 The attachment of young Pitman to his mother was very great, and led to an amusing incident. When a small boy a gentleman called on his mother, desiring to pay his addresses and secure the widow's hand in marriage. Charles suspected him, and to thwart his purpose, gave him on this occasion a sample of an obstreperous, unruly boy, crying, holding fast to his mother's dress, and making himself as disagreeable as pos- sible, so much so, that the coveted opportunity for the two elderly people to exchange considerations and judgments in so weighty a matter, was wholly lost on this occasion. The gentleman visited the widow several times afterwards, but thinking probably that it was " courtship under difficulties," and the care of so intractable a child, would detract greatly from matrimonial felicity, ceased his addresses, and gave rest to the young boy's mind. Of the period of young Pitman's life from childhood to the time when he entered upon his ministerial career we have but little knowledge, and consequently cannot give a minute and connected history. Suffice it to say, his mother, as has been often heard from many sources, was a deeply pious and devoted woman, and took great interest in the cause of religion, and the success of the church. From this fact we may infer that she trained her son up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and that he was converted to God in early life was a fact which he himself often referred to during his ministerial life and career. When in his sixteenth year, he told a valued and life-long friend of his he was graciously and gloriously converted, and from his earliest recollections " he had the fear of God before his eyes," so that from these facts, we may reason- ably suppose that almost the entire period of his natural life was given to the service of God, and like young Timothy, he was a child of faith and hope, and knew the Scriptures in their experi- mental power upon the human heart Thus were lessons of truth and righteousness early instilled into the mind of young Pitman. LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. After the lad had been by his loved mother's teachings im- pressed with an abhorrence of gilded vice, he was tempted one day very strongly, by the enemy of all good, and merely for the sake of the gratification of his sight, to go to the theatre ; and an opportunity presented itself through his visiting Philadel- phia where he met some acquaintances who proposed that they that night should go to the theatre. He yielded to their per- suasions and went with them, but on his entering the place, con- science began to do its work ; a trembling seized upon him, and he clasped one of the pillars of the building in great agitation of mind; after becoming more composed, he left the place of temptation, and never afterwards attempted to go to a theatre for curiosity or amusement. Years afterwards, when in manhood's lofty prime, Mr. Pit- man expressed his recollections of the teaching of his beloved mother in stanza, thus : " Can I forget those flowing tears, The index of a mother's heart ; Which threw across my following years Restraints of pleasing, painful smart ? " Can I forget those ardent prayars, Which plead for me at mercy's throne, That sav'd from sin's bewitching snares, My heart to Jesus might be won ? " Nay ! though a thousand pleasing scenes Are buried in oblivion's shade, Or lost in faint and shadowy dreams, Are doomed with earthly things to fade. " Yet still that widowed form I see, Her cherished boy close at her side ; For him she bowed the suppliant knee, For him poured forth affection's tide. " That venerated form I see In recollection's visions bright, And she who once was all to me, Is still an object of delight." EARLY CONVERSION. 5 When in his sixteenth year, as aforesaid, Mr. Pitman, at a meeting held in the old Methodist Episcopal Church at Wrights- town, N. J., a few miles from the place where he was born, sought the pardon of his sins, and obtained a sense of their for- giveness from God. His conversion was marked by consider- able physical excitement. He fell to the floor, where, after re- maining for some time in earnest prayer and pleading with God for His mercy, he rose, " freely justified by His grace." His heart warmed with zeal for the conversion of his young companions, and he felt within him an impression that whomsoever he should touch would yield to the offers of mercy, and enlist in the army of the Captain of Salvation. Impressed thus, he started down the aisle of the church towards the door, where many of his young friends and acquaintances were sitting. Some rose from their seats and fled, while others, reached by his hand, yielded to the call and gave themselves to the Lord. We are not to view this instance of extraordinary influence and power accord- ing to our Methodistic doctrine, as the result of an irresistible decree, but, without doubt, there may have been some peculiar influence, or call of the Spirit, which led them to join in with the earnest solicitations of their friend and companion. The prayers and tears of a loved mother were successful at a throne of grace, and God graciously regarded her supplications in the conversion of her son. Mr. Pitman continues a remem- brance of his conversion in the following poetic effusion : " 'She sow'd in tears,' 'She reaps in joy/ Those tears all fell in mercy's sight ; They plead protection for her boy ; God said again, 'Let there be light.' The clouds dispersed, the shadows fled, A light upon my pathway shone, And since that hour, my God hath led Me by a way I had not known. 6 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " In sunny childhood, wayward youth, Ere passed life's rosy spring, 'Made free ' by heaven's unerring truth, His pardoning mercy I could sing." Soon after his conversion Mr. Pitman was called to labor publicly in the church of Christ. It was soon found that he possessed considerable gift in prayer, and would relate his Chris- tian experience with an earnestness and zeal, and with such pathos and power that it seemed to move all present. The class-leaders found in him a valuable assistant in their work. As well in a more public manner did he exemplify his gifts in exhortation ; and so much so that the church began to test his capabilities by various methods and means of public exercises, until (as it soon did), it became satisfied that Mr. Pitman was called to preach the gospel. At about the age of seventeen, young Mr. Pitman engaged in teaching a country school, some two and a half miles from his mother's residence, he having obtained, between the periods of his labor, and at such other intervals as he could husband his time for such opportunities, the information necessary for teach- ing the branches which were then required for a common school education. He had a considerable distance to walk from his school to his home, but was not always left to travel the road alone. A favorite cat (all great geniuses have particular pets), would meet him, and, perched upon his shoulders, would ride with delight to her master's home. This cat was specially attached to Mr. Pitman, and he would welcome " puss " as his companion, hour by hour, and she would seek his company in preference to any one else ; and, it is said, she was remarkable for her instinct and seeming intelligence. Mr. Pitman, while teaching school near Cookstown, often used to walk over to New Mills (now Pemberton) on a Sabbath morn- ing, and preach and hold meetings in that place ; and it has been said that the people were very much interested in his preaching. CALL TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 7 and were the first to discover that he possessed the talents and gifts of what proved, in after years, to be a great blessing to the Church, and designated him as an able minister of Jesus Christ. About this time young Mr. Pitman was deeply impressed in reference to what was to be his calling and future life-work. The lessons of a pious mother were not given in vain ; the seed sown was to produce abundant fruit ; that orphan boy the sub- ject of many a prayer and who had such limited opportunities was to blow the gospel trumpet in the years to come with an earnestness and success almost unparalleled in the church's his- tory. That devoted mother was yet to hear from those lips that she had taught in his infancy to lisp the name of Jesus, the royal proclamation sounding forth, to which thousands were to give heed, and accept Christ as their Saviour and salvation. In the fall of 1814, Rev. Joseph Bennett of the Philadelphia Con- ference had addressed a letter to his cousin Charles, admonishing him to hold fast his integrity, and expressing a hope that he would eventually see him laboring in the vineyard of the Lord. From this letter we extract the following, which is its closing paragraph. It was dated, Asbury Cir., Oct. 24, 1814. " O, my cousin, seek pure and undefiled religion. I have not been without my hopes of seeing you in the Lord's vineyard, tilling Imman- ueFs ground. But knowing, as I do by experience, the many snares of the devil, the lusts of the flesh and the allurements of the world, I some- times fear my hopes will be baffled. O, my dear Charles, cast away every Babylonish garment. Like Joseph, tear away from every smiling mistress, and, like Samuel, say 'Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth; ' wait on the Lord's command and the openings of Providence ; ' Watch and pray ; ' take up your daily cross, read, meditate. Write to me, and pray for me. Keep out of company as much as possible, and I shall have hopes of yet seeing a relation of mine in the vineyard of the Lord. ' May the God of all grace bless you with all spiritual blessings I ' " I am, dear cousin, " Yours in love, "JOSEPH BENNETT." This letter, written by Rev. Mr. Bennett, was what settled 8 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the conviction in Charles Pitman's mind of his call and duty to preach the gospel, and under God inaugurated that great career of usefulness which brought so much blessed fruit to our Methodism, and sent him as a flaming herald from one end of the State to the other, preaching Christ and him crucified. Rev. Mr. Bennett was called suddenly, in 1822, to depart this life, in Warren County, N. J. Several years after writing this letter, he withdrew from the Conference and engaged in mercan- tile business. While on his return home from a journey to Philadelphia, where he had gone to purchase goods for his store, he was riding down a steep, rocky hill near Oxford Furnace his horse became frightened and unmanageable, and he was thrown out of his carriage and severely injured. He was taken to a residence near by and soon died. Mr. Bennett is spoken of, even in this day (1887), as a very earnest and acceptable minister of the gospel, and was successful in winning souls. A man whose daily life and conversation preached Christ as well as his lips. He dedicated the old M. E. Church at Leesburg, Port Elizabeth Circuit, New Jersey Conference, over seventy years ago, and was noted for his wonderful power in revivals. It is a sad thought that such a man should ever have been com- pelled to sever his ministerial relation with the Conference ; his name ought to have been continued on the roll, whether in active service or not. And while the apostle cautions the church to lay hands suddenly on no man, it would be well for it to heed how it takes its hands off of some men. His grandson, Rev. J. P. Connelly, of New Jersey Confer- ence, now represents him in preaching the word of life. Mr. Pitman, being now thrust out into a new field, and feel- ing greatly the demands of the position, had some misgivings in the matter of entering the work of the ministry, and though born with an intellect that inclined him to the pursuit of knowl- edge, he felt ihat there were difficulties in the way to his attain- ment to the exalted position of a minister in the church of Christ. LICENSED TO PREACH. 9 His advantages had been limited ; books were few, and the opportunities for study were not only rare, but even they had their embarrassments. The day-time was required for the pur- suit of his occupation, while the evenings afforded but meagre opportunity, by a light created with pine-knots which he gathered from the woods, and shavings which he procured from a neigh- boring wheelwright's shop, to read an occasional volume that might, incidentally or otherwise, come within his reach, but he persevered, and, after teaching school for a while in the country, near the place where he was born, he obtained another school in New Mills (now called Pemberton), and taught in what was for a time the old parsonage house, on New Mills Circuit, and which is still standing, and occupied as a storehouse, being the adjoin- ing building to the one in which the author of this biography was born, and between whose parents and Mr. Pitman there was a life-long intimacy and friendship. Subsequently Mr. Pitman was licensed to exhort at the Quar- terly Conference for New Mills Circuit, in September, 1816, and as a local preacher in March, 1817. Mr. Pitman felt that he was called to go and preach the gos- pel in connection with the Methodist itinerancy, but the cross seemed too heavy, the sacrifices and deprivations which a minis- ter was required to make, the toil and hardship which in those days, he was required to undergo, had great influence upon his mind, and tended to unsettle his convictions as to whether the Lord had really designed him for the regular work of the ministry, and besides this he had married a wife, Miss Mary Newbold, of Wrightstown, N. J., and thinking his condition in a married relation would be a bar to his admission into the conference, as at that time the church was very particular not to burden the people too soon with preachers who had fami- lies, or were married which would necessitate the circuits and charges to procure parsonages and increase the expenses. One short year of wedded life passed away, and the young teacher 10 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. and preacher was a widower, with a young son to watch over, provide for and train for future life. This event was a sad blow to his affections, and for several years afterward he lived as a widower cherishing greatly the memory of his young and beautiful wife, who had been so soon and suddenly taken from him. In a poetical effusion of his in later years, he thus commemo- rates the memory of the departed : " And can it be ? It seems a dream Has Mary left this mortal scene ? So soon resigned her youthful breath To claim a kindredship with death. " Her active spirit would not stay, Too circumscrib'd its house of clay; Like chrysalis, in hull confined, The body 's but the cell of mind. " The cell was broke ; that beauteous thing Shook off its coils and spread its wing ; With angel bands then soared away To sing God's praise in endless day. " But though she 's thron'd in realms of light, We can but mourn her early flight; And could affection's tears prevail, She still had dwelt in sorrow's vale. " Yet though our erring, selfish love, Could scarce consent to her remove ; Departed Shade ! we murmur not, But kiss the rod, though hard our lot." The loss of his wife was regarded by Mr. Pitman, (as he said himself), a dispensation of Providence, chastening him for his neglect of ministerial duty, and refusal to obey at once the call of God to preach the gospel, and we find him soon after- wards under this impression yielding to the call of the Spirit. BEGINS HIS LIFE WORK. 11 In the winter of 1816, the Rev. E. Page, then a local preacher, and the Rev. Mr. Pitman held a Christmas meeting at "Three Tuns/' now called Hedding, on the Columbus Circuit, New Jersey Conference. This meeting was visited in an especial manner with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and there was much physical, as well as spiritual excitement manifest on the oc- casion. A young girl about twelve years of age, attending these services, was so wrought upon after her conversion, that she ran from place to place, declaring what God had done for her soul. This produced a great effect among the unawakened and ungodly, and so powerful were her words, and so clear her ex- perience, that scores were deeply convicted and yielded to her invitations to come and seek the Lord, and a glorious ingather- ing of souls followed. Soon afterwards she joined the Church, and became one of its most earnest and active members, and in her Christian life, so exemplified the truth and power of re- ligion, among her friends and acquaintances, that no one either saint or sinner ever doubted the genuineness of her conversion, or the reality of the religion which she so openly and publicly professed. She lived for many years " a burning and shining light " in the Church of God, and at last died a triumphant death, and went home to heaven. Already we see the presence of God, accompanying the labors of these local brethren, who both afterwards became honored itinerant ministers of the church, spreading the glad tidings of the gospel of the grace of God. In the year eighteen hundred and seventeen, in the twenty- first year of his age, Mr. Pitman entered upon his life's voca- tion, and began regularly preaching the gospel. A certain writer describes his first efforts as being of a calm and quiet manner, without ostentation, or even an indication of those great powers which characterized his preaching in after years. " He felt his need of divine help, and the responsibility of the great work in which he had now engaged, and was peculiarly solemn 12 LIFE OF EEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. in the discharge of it," which solemnity, it is said, characterized his ministrations all through his after life. He felt that he had received his commission from the Lord Jesus, and the death of his young and beautiful wife a few months before had made a deep and most serious impression upon his mind, that he ought to have been more decided and taken these steps at an earlier period. " Some time during the year 1817, the health of Rev. Daniel Moore so far failed as to require him to give up his work on Trenton Circuit, and Charles Pitman was appointed to supply his place. It is worthy of remark, that his first sermon as an itinerant, was preached in the old church, corner of Green and Academy Streets, in that city, the scene of so many of his sub- sequent efforts, and within thirty yards of the place where, after thirty-seven years of almost unparalleled toils and triumphs, he yielded up his soul to God." * In the spring of 1818 Mr. Pitman was recommended from the Trenton Circuit, and was received on trial in the Philadel- phia Conference, held at St. George's, Bishops George and Rob- erts presiding, with a class consisting of the names of James Long, Samuel Grace and William Wright, and was returned with George Banghart as colleague to Trenton Circuit, New Jer- sey. It embraced at that time the following appointments : Penniugton, River Church, Lambertville, Princeton, Allen- town, Crosswicks, Recklesstown, Bordentown and Hightstown. The statistics indicate a year of good success, and his labors on Trenton Circuit at that time were spoken of in subsequent years by his colleague, Rev. Mr. Banghart, " as being very ac- ceptable to the people, and his influence remarkably effective in impressing the unconverted with the importance of seeking Christ in the pardon of their sins." It has been said of him that, when going round his first cir- cuit for the last time previous to the Conference, he preached at a certain place, and he thought it the poorest effort he had made * Rev. E. H. Stokes' " Memorial Volume." ENCOURAGEMENT. 13 in all his previous life. He had no light on the subject ; he was mortified and chagrined at his failure, and felt as if he never could try again ; that the cause of God was suffering, having so feeble an advocate; he could hardly hold up his head, or look any one in the face. He wondered what his official men would think ; it was near the session of the Conference, and much de- pended upon the success of his work, and the impressions he had made upon tKis circuit as to what should be given him, and where he would be appointed the coming year. A failure in a year's work, or even in a single sermon near the session of an Annual Conference, sometimes works disastrously to an itinerant minister of the gospel. For five years he thought of that effort with excessive mortification ; and five years after it had taken place, a gentleman and lady of great respectability and extensive personal influence came to him at a camp-meeting held in the lower part of New Jersey, and with tears rolling down their cheeks, informed him that under a sermon preached by him at such a place, and at such a time, they were awakened and con- verted to God, and that it was the sermon which proved the means of their salvation, and that they should bless God for it in time, and no doubt far on in the ages of eternity, and that they had now come to express their gratitude to him for that discourse. Mr. Pitman looked upon them both, and, listening to their statement with great astonishment, recalled the fact, that that was the sermon that he had considered an entire failure, and of which he was so long and heartily ashamed ; but this unex- pected news was like cool water to a thirsty soul. It was like good news from afar ; it was as refreshing to him as the dews of heaven. He thanked God and took courage. He firmly re- solved, ever after that period, to do his duty and leave the re- sult with God. He remembered the words of the Psalmist, which were very sweet to him, and from which he used to preach with such unction and power : " He that goeth forth 14 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." In 1819 Mr. Pitman was sent to Bergen Circuit, with Rev. John Potts as his colleague ; the circuit was large, requiring long rides to the appointments, and among a class of people not very favorable to Methodism ; but he labored faithfully and earnestly, and the good seed sown by the gospel sower was pro- ductive of fruit. There was an increase of eig*hty-two members, and the churches were well attended by many people. To give the reader some idea of an old time country circuit, over which itinerant ministers at that period traveled, and of their labors, we append the following, taken from a memoran- dum book of Mr. Pitman's, and which shows the preaching places, and the texts from which he preached at each place, and the number of members in each -class connected with the charge. We give the name of the appointment on the circuit, and the number of members of the society at the appointment. Bergen Circuit contained in 1819 the following preaching places : Bell- ville, thirty-two members ; Spring Garden, twenty-five ; Bloom- field, thirty ; Caldwell, twenty ; Paramus, two classes, sixty white and seven colored members ; Sherwood's, ten members ; Widow Guiness's, thirty-two ; Drummond's, sixteen ; Johnson's, seven ; Babcock's, twenty-five ; Theill's, thirty-eight ; Haver- straw, fifty-nine white and four colored ; Nyack, twenty-seven white and four colored ; Pond, twenty-six ; Taylor's, eleven ; Williams', five; Fort Lee, twenty-seven white and four col- ored ; Bull's Ferry, one (it required some faith to preach at an appointment with but one member) ; Ringwood, twenty-two white and five colored ; Paterson, three classes, fifty-six mem- bers ; making twenty-two preaching places, with four hundred and eighty-two white and eighteen colored members. Think of an ordinary preaching appointment or circuit, ex- tending from Hudson City Heights, up the Hudson River, to North Haverstraw, the distance of some forty or fifty miles ; EXTENT OF THE CIRCUIT. 15 thence extending inland some thirty-five or forty miles to Ring- wood ; thence along the Green and Stony Brook Mountain range down a southeasterly course to Boonton, and thence down the Orange Valley to Bloomfield, within four miles of the city of Newark, embracing all that vast extent of country lying within this boundary. Think what these appointments have now become under the fostering care of faithful pastors since that time ; not only have they become flourishing charges them- selves, but this country, late a howling wilderness, now blooms with all the beauty of a modern Eden, and blossoms with the exquisites of " Sharon's dewy rose." Think of that circuit now (1887), sixty-eight years ago. What was then the territory of a single circuit, now embraces nearly one entire Conference District, and parts of three others. Two of the present societies included within what was formerly the bounds of this circuit, now contain more members than did the whole circuit at the time when Mr. Pitman was the preacher in charge, and quite a number of any two of the present charges put together would also more than outnumber the membership of the former circuit, and where Mr. Pitman and his colleague cultivated the field, as one charge or circuit, now more than thirty preachers are actively employed in the same labor, and where the amount of four hundred and fifty dollars was paid to each preacher as salary, traveling expenses, and house-rent in- cluded, is now paid for the support of the preachers who culti- vate that field, not including house-rent or traveling expenses^ twenty-eight thousand three hundred and ninety dollars. What courage ! What a spirit of true heroism did it require in those men who cultivated that immense field where now thir- ty or more ministers find active employment. Well may we exclaim, as we contemplate these facts, "What hath God wrought ! " and with adoring and devout gratitude thank Him for the illustrious Fathers of Methodism, and their truly great and noble work for God and humanity. CHAPTER II. MR. PITMAN'S SUBSEQUENT FIELDS OF LABOR. IN 1820 Mr. Pitman was returned to Bergen Circuit, with his old friend and fellow-laborer, Rev. George Banghart, as colleague. They seemed, somehow, to be specially adapted to each other in ministerial work, and worked so well together that wherever Pitman and Banghart labored, the place or Circuit was sure to be visited with a gracious revival and a general upbuild- ing of the Church ; and Banghart, to the latest hour of his earthly life, esteemed Charles Pitman as one of the greatest and most spiritual preachers he ever knew. That year, notwith- standing the good, and, considering the circumstances, we may say great, work of the former year, fifty more were added to the Church. "Among those converted was Charles Dougherty, who up to this time had been a Roman Catholic. Through much opposition he became a Methodist. Soon after his con- version he was elected to fill the office of trustee. Not being acquainted with the duties of such an office, he inquired of some of his brethren what he was to do ; and among other things, was told he must assist in taking the collection on the Sabbath. Willing to serve the Church in any way, he commenced his du- ties at once. Accordingly, on the following Sabbath, he took the purse, which, in those days, was suspended at the end of a staff some five or six feet long, and passed it among the audience to receive their contributions. A large number, however, gave him, as he passed, only a very respectful bow. This, in his simpli- city, he supposed meant, they were willing to contribute, but not having the means at hand to do so then, wished him to do it for them, and charge it to their account. Anxious to do the best he 16 ORDAINED A DEACON. 17 could, and as far as possible accommodate all, he went to the house of God on the following Sabbath with his pockets filled with change. As he passed along from seat to seat, the people began to bow again, and every time they bowed, he dropped a penny in the purse to their account. They looked amazed. What does the new trustee mean ? The third Sabbath, however, all were prepared, and instead of bows, they gave their money. Brother Dougherty had cured them." * "About the middle of this Conference year (1820), Rev. Jacob Moore, who had been laboring at New Brunswick, failed in health, and it became necessary to supply his place. Charles Pitman was selected for this important work. On the eighth day of October, 1820, he left his friends on Bergen Circuit, by whom he was greatly beloved, and entered upon the duties of his new and responsible charge in the city. He found but twenty mem- bers of the Church there, and the very name of Methodist was a term so full of reproach that few were willing to bear the scorn associated with it, and the cause had been languishing for years. The arrival of Mr. Pitman gave a new impulse to the drooping energies of our Zion, and crowds soon gathered to hear the elo- quent words which fell in such harmonious accents from his lips. The fame of the preacher spread far and wide, so that at the ex- piration of his term of service the Church had not only increased from twenty to one hundred members, but the public sentiment in favor of Methodism had advanced an hundred-fold. The memory of his labors is still cherished in New Brunswick, and a prosperous Church, in an enterprising part of the city, called by his name, stands a living and lasting monument of his fame." f In the spring of 1820, at the Philadelphia Conference, which met at Smyrna, Delaware, Bishop George presiding, Mr. Pitman was ordained Deacon. It would be amusing to many a minister * Eev. E. H. Stokes, D. D., "Conference Memorial." t Ibid. 2 18 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. now to see what was the form and size of a preacher's credentials at that period, and compare them with the parchments which he now receives at his graduation in Conference studies and ordina- tion. We cannot exhibit these parchments to our readers, but we give a description of them, and of what they contain : Parchment for Deacon's orders is 5Jx3 inches in size, printed on coarse, heavy parchment, and has stitched in the right-hand corner a piece of thick white paper, on which is a good supply of red sealing-wax, which is stamped (one would judge who was familiar with them) with one of those old-fashioned pocket-seals which were worn by our fathers on their watch-chains, when watches were carried under the lower edge of the vest, with the fob-pocket in the pants, and the credentials read as follows : " KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that I, ENOCH GEORGE, one of the BISHOPS or THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN AMERICA, under the protection of ALMIGHTY GOD, and with a single eye to His glory, by the imposition of my hands and prayer, have this day set apart CHARLES PITMAN for the office of a DEACON in the said METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH; a man whom I judge to be well qualified for that work ; and I do hereby recommend him to all whom it may concern as a proper person to administer the ordinances of BAPTISM, MARRIAGE, and the BURIAL or 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 sixteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty. " Done at Smyrna, } Delaware. j "ENOCH GEORGE." That of the ordination of ELDER is a little smaller in size, being 5 x 3J inches, with the words, " being assisted by the ELDERS present," and the word " ELDER " substituted in place of the word DEACON, and words ("as a proper person to administer the sacraments and ordinances") added. " IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this sixteenth day of April, in the year of our LORD one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one. " Done at Milford, in the } State of Delaware. " ENOCH GEORGE." MISSION FIELDS. 19 It will be perceived, according to these dates, that Mr. Pit- man was ordained a deacon at the Conference held in Smyrna, Delaware, April 16, 1820, and an elder at the succeeding Con- ference, held in Milford, Delaware, April 15, 1821, within one year, lacking one day, from the time of his receiving deacon's orders, when the usual term of probation, or period elapsing between the conferring of these different orders, is two years. This is to be accounted for, in that his appointment was subse- quently made a mission, and which he had served six months previous to the session of the Conference, and as he was to be returned to New Brunswick Mission the second year, he was or- dained under the provision of the Discipline for ordination of missionaries and preachers to mission fields and stations. This will explain why he was ordained a deacon one year and an elder the next year, without passing the prescribed time of two years elapsing from one election to the other. Mr. Pitman labored on the New Brunswick Mission two years and six months in succession. In 1822 Mr. Pitman was returned to New Brunswick, and spent the remaining part of the term of pastoral service in that place. The work of God was prosperous, and his preaching at- tracted quite large congregations. During the first year forty- four, and during the second year thirty-four, were added *to the church on probation, and a number received by letter from other churches. Let it be borne in mind that this was about the time when Methodism began to be introduced fairly into New Bruns- wick ; the field had already been occupied by other denomina- tions, which had, had precedence for years, and had become strong and influential among the people, and it was for years that there seemed to be no place for our church or chance for its success. To Rev. Charles Pitman belongs the honor of laying the foundation, and to him was due, more than to any other man, the influence and wonderful success that Methodism has achieved in that city. 20 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. It is said that singing was one of the elements of Mr. Pit- man's power, and while stationed at New Brunswick he inaugu- rated it, as a special part of the services, to sing, sometimes be- fore and sometimes after preaching, or both. This was a new departure from the custom and forms of worship in the other churches in that city, and so wonderfully novel was it for the preacher to stand in the pulpit or altar, and sing for the edifica- tion of the congregation, that he, having a superbly musical voice, and well disciplined to the arts of sacred music, drew an admiring and enthusiastic crowd of people to his church, and by some it was said to be hard to tell whether the singing or the sermon produced the greater effect upon the people. Our fathers were gifted in singing, and not infrequently was it the case that they selected the hymns and led off in the singing during a revival effort. Of Mr. Pitman's singing we shall have occasion to speak again farther on in this volume. The following letter, which is from Mr. Pitman's own hand, gives us a statement as to how the work was progressing in New Brunswick at the time of his appointment to that city. It is dated New Brunswick, February 11, 1823, and addressed to the editors of the Methodist Magazine, with this prefatory note : " DEAR BRETHREN : " If you think that the following communication will be of any ser- vice to the friends of Zion generally, or to those in particular who are employed in the cultivation of Immanuel's ground, you are at liberty to give it an insertion in your excellent Miscellany. " In the year 1820, about the middle of the Conference year, I was called and appointed by my presiding elder to fill a vacancy in' New Brunswick, occasioned by the indisposition of our beloved brother, Jacob Moore. I must acknowledge that it was with much reluctance I complied with this appointment. But for this reluctance I had two reasons, viz. : I was on a circuit where God was pouring out His Spirit, and amongst a people who were lively in religion, -and to whom I was very closely united in religious affection. The other reason was, I was well acquainted with the almost insurmountable difficulties connected with this station. However, in obedience to those that had the rule LABORS IN NEW BRUNSWICK. 21 over me, I left the circuit, and if ever I ' went forth weeping,' I assure you I did so in this case. When I arrived in New Brunswick I found a small society of about seventeen members, who seemed to be rather weak in faith and much depressed in their spirits. And if the reader knew as well as the writer the discouragements under which they had labored for years together, he could not wonder, but adore that God who had preserved them in the midst of their enemies. My greatest discourage- ment, however, was the smallness of the congregation. Such were the prejudices of the people against Methodism that it was with great diffi- culty they could be persuaded to hear a man of that denomination. " Under such circumstances we had constant recourse, by prayer and supplication, to Him with whom is the residue of the Spirit, and who has the hearts of all men in his power. Hence, while the members of my little charge were almost involuntarily saying ' By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small ?' my own heart, in unison with theirs, would fre- quently groan out, ' O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years.' For a few weeks my regular congregation did not exceed thirty, includ- ing the members of society. But it was not long before we began to hope that a cloud of mercy was rising to water our thirsty Zion. We were encouraged to believe this from the rapid increase of our congrega- tion. One circumstance which, under God, contributed to this was the destitution of all the other churches (with one exception) of regular pastors. The circumstance of my being sent here just at this time I have looked upon as providential. Be this as it may, multitudes flocked to hear, so that in three months' time our church was crowded to over- flowing. Some heard in order to cavil, others to learn our real senti- ments, and a few to be instructed in the science of salvation. During the first six months, however, little more was done than what was pre- paratory to what has since followed. The prejudices of many were re- moved, some hearts were softened, a few were converted and about five were added to the society. " At the Conference of 1821 I received an appointment to New Bruns- wick as a missionary, as it was supposed that the station could not yet support itself. Accordingly, I returned to my charge, and re-commenced my labors among them. During that year there was nothing very special, but the good work progressed gradually. At the close of this year, although we had no remarkable revival, we found, in taking our numbers and comparing them with the last year, that our society was exactly trebled in one year. At the Philadelphia Conference for 1822 I was re-appointed to this city, and returned once more to my beloved charge, under the influence of both hope and fear. I feared that, owing 22 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. to my weakness of body and deficiency in talents, I should not be so useful as heretofore ; but I hoped that God would make up all deficien- cies by the all-powerful influences of the Holy Ghost. This hope, in a good degree, hag been realized. Our God has been with us and plead our cause, and ' no weapon formed against us has been able to prevail.' Thus we continued gradually to increase in numbers and in grace until the month of July, when the 'good-will of Him who dwelt in the bush' was abundantly manifested to us. We had remarkable attention and seriousness, both under the preaching of the Word and in our prayer- meetings. It was at one of our meetings for social prayer that this good work broke out. Some were converted on the spot and numbers of others were awakened to a sense of their lost and ruined condition. " This blessed work, amidst the most powerful and general opposition, continued to progress until it added between twenty and thirty to our communion. I have always regretted that there was so little disposition in the other denominations to encourage this work. Had it been other- wise, I believe hundreds would have become the subjects of saving grace. At one of our select meetings we had about one hundred pres- ent, who apparently were serious. But effective measures were soon re- sorted to by the relations and friends of many of them to prohibit these persons from attending our meetings at all. How they will answer for such conduct I cannot tell. And what was worse than all the rest, some professors of religion became open persecutors, and thus attempted to destroy what, by their profession, they were bound to promote. But we will leave them in the hands of God, who will deal with every man ac- cording to his work. Since that time there has not been a day appointed for the admission of probationers but what there have been found some to avail themselves of the privilege. We have now about one hundred communicants, and, with very few exceptions, we have reason to believe that they are " earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints." Our society, as far as I know, is at present in a state of peace and harmony which is very essential to its future prosperity. The work among us, so far as I have been able to judge, has in general been Scriptural and deep, indicating permanency, and which may account in some degree for the constancy and fidelity of its subjects. For during the course of two years and a half, we have not been under the painful necessity of expelling more than one or two members from society. But notwithstanding all the Lord has done for us in this place, Methodism is still in its infancy, and there are many 'Herods' here (both in and out of the Churches) who 'seek the young child's life.' However, I humbly trust the Lord will preserve it, and that it will soon be sum- WELCOME AT BRIDGETON. 23 ciently matured to hear and answer the questions, even of the ' Doctors of the Temple,' so as to astonish and confound them. May the Great Head of the Church ' be a wall of fire ' around and about this little branch of Zion, ' and the glory in the midst of her.' And to this petition, we trust, the heart of every pious reader of this sketch will respond Amen. C. PITMAN." Mr. Pitman went from New Brunswick, at the close of his ministerial term, to Bridgeton, N. J., and spent the Conference years of 1823 and 1824 in that appointment. It had but lately been set off from the adjoining Circuit, and Mr. Pitman was the first preacher sent to it after it was made a station. The place was considered, at that time, one of the best appointments on the district, and though a stranger in that community, he received a very cordial welcome to Bridgeton. He commenced his labors there on June 8, 1823, with a sermon from 2d Thess. third chapter, first verse : " Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word o'f the Lord may have free course and be glorified." The sermon created some considerable surprise, and it was soon noised abroad that a man of marked ability "a big preacher," as he was termed had been sent to them, and in the evening the house was crowded, when he preached from Psa. 126: 6; "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." The ser- mon has been spoken of as one of extraordinary power and effect, and opened the way for his constantly-increasing popularity dur- ing the whole of his ministerial term in that place, and secured to his future ministrations a large congregation of attentive listeners. Rev. James Ayars, late Presiding Elder of Newark District, Newark Conference, says : " The first time I ever heard him speak was on the following occasion : Passing through the street in Bridgeton, N. J., one evening in warm weather, I heard, at a distance, a voice which sounded so sweetly that I was instinct- ively drawn in the direction of it. As I advanced, I saw the door of the house ajar, and soon learned that a minister was 24 LIFE OF EEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. leading class in a private room. I listened, and such was the mellowness of his voice and the unction with which he spoke that I was perfectly charmed, and impressions were made upon my heart never to be effaced. From that hour I became inter- ested in the man. As the class-meeting was held weekly, on a subsequent evening, although an impenitent youth, I formed one of the number present. After Mr. Pitman had spoken to the other persons in the room, he addressed some kind inquiries to me. Finding I had not experienced converting grace, he led me in a short series of questions and answers, to promise that I would pray to God for a new heart. He then laid his hands upon my head, and, in a most solemn and melting prayer, called upon God and angels to witness my pledge, and entreated the Lord to accept me as his own dear child. Such was the com- mencement of my own religious career, and surely I have cause to remember with reverence aud gratitude him, who, under God, led me to such a course of life."* Some little time after my conversion, said Rev. Mr. Ayars, I went to Mr. Pitman and said to him : " I do not feel as happy as I did when I was first converted." " Well," said Mr. Pit- man, " let me see, you began with thanksgiving to God in all things, and resolved you never would withdraw from that course and manner of life, and now are you not thankful that God still keeps you and leads you to seek more light ? Let us sing," said Mr. Pitman, and he broke out with the stanza : " Light in thy light, O may I see, Thy grace and mercy prove." " And from that hour, that moment," said Mr. Ayars, " I have always lived in that 1-ight, and felt a thankful spirit, and my life has flowed on in an endless song of thanksgiving ever since." This was more than fifty years ago, and it illustrates the power and genuine- ness of the blessed gospel of Christ to infuse heavenly light into * N. J. Conference Memorial. MEAGRE ALLOWANCE. 25 a thankful heart, and of God's goodness in sending forth Mr. Ayars as a commissioned messenger from his throne, to preach that gospel and proclaim that light of life to his fellow-men. The salary paid by the charge was $300 per year. There was no parsonage-house at that time, and the preacher boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Holmes Parvin, the former a local preacher. The price of board was two dollars per week, and subsequently, when Mrs. Pitman came, it was one dollar and fifty cents additional for her board, and when they were absent from their home they were not charged for board, showing the liberality of their host- ess to the servants of the Lord Jesus, as well as the up- rightness of Mr. Parvin in declining pay for that which the payer had not received. It seems almost incredible, now, to think of a minister of the gospel living on so small a salary, especially so when it is re- membered that in those days a minister of the gospel was re- quired to be a man of one business, and to give himself wholly to the work of the ministry, and to make full proof of his call to the sacred office by his fidelity and faithfulness in the discharge of all its duties and weighty obligations. No minister of those times would have been permitted (tolerated) to have engaged in secular pursuits, life insurance, brokerage, agricultural specu- lations, sea-side resorts, when chiefly speculative, gold or silver mining interests, stocks or any other similar business. The minister, in those times, who would have ventured in any- thing of this kind would soon have been declared to be too secu- lar for his calling, or so entangled with the affairs of this world as to be no longer useful in the sacred office. It would have been a great blessing to the church, as well as a distinguished honor to the ministry had this ministerial exclusiveness to their calling been strictly adhered to, and stringently re- quired of the ministry of subsequent times, and our church would have been saved from the odium and reproach which a too-eager spirit for the gain of earthly treasure has manifested, 26 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. it having become too common even in the eyes of worldly and unsaved men. Mr. Pitman was an active, energetic and successful book agent, but selling religious books, and keeping the societies well supplied with them was deemed a legitimate business for an old- time Methodist minister, and the circulation of religious litera- ture was considered as a part of his work. In this way he con- tributed to the edification and education of his hearers, as well as to their spiritual interests. Mr. Wesley said to his preachers : " Carry books with you through every round ; exert yourselves in this ; be not ashamed, be not weary, leave no stone unturned." But while Mr. Pitman was active in the dissemination of re- ligious literature, it is also to be remembered that he was equally active in preaching the gospel, teaching Bible-class, leading class and visiting his people. From an old record of his work we learn that he preached over three hundred and twenty-five ser- mons while stationed at Bridgeton, beside similar work which he did in various other places. Of Mr. Pitman as a preacher we shall speak elsewhere; of the character of Mr. Pitman's preaching, his sketches indicate thorough work in the exposition of gospel truth ; " a workman that needeth not to be ashamed ; " plain, practical, sharp and incisive, he rightly divided the word of truth, giving to both saint and sinner their portion in due' season ; and it would seem, from the order in which he has re- corded his texts, that it was his universal custom to preach specially to the church in the morning, and to direct his dis- course to the unconverted in the evening, and he did not wait for a winter month to invite and urge sinners to come to Christ and be saved. The hours of meeting on Sabbath were 10 A.M. and 6 P.M., and sometimes he would preach at 3 P.M. Mr. Pitman preached the doctrines of religion. Both the texts and sketches indicate that he had studied thoroughly the doc- trines of the Bible, and was an able expositor of the fundamental principles of Christianity. Our fathers did much of this kind of DEATH OF HIS MOTHER. 27 preaching, and they selected such subjects as the " Fall of Man," " Repentance," " Faith," " Regeneration," " Justification," " Adoption," " Witness of the Spirit," and " Sanctification " as the principal themes of their pulpit ministrations. They preached much on the "Incarnation," "Life," "Death," " Resurrection," and "Ascension of Christ," "The Resurrection of the Human Body from the Grave," " The Dissolution of Nature," " General Judgment," and the " Second Coming of Christ." These themes embrace the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, and they made the Atonement of Christ the great central idea of Divine Rev- elation. While Mr. Pitman was stationed in Bridgeton in the first year of his ministry in that place, the aged and devoted mother who taught him in early childhood the way of the Lord, was called to the church triumphant in heaven. She who had so often prayed for him, and for whom he had cherished such grateful recollections, was now no more of earth. Her last illness was short, and her death was quite sudden, which oc- curred in the first week of September, 1823, when she passed peacefully and quietly to her heavenly rest. The event of her death was a sad dispensation of providence to Mr. Pitman, for he ardently loved his mother. On the twenty-first of October, the same year, Mr. Pitman was married to Miss Lucy Ann Gillespie, of Philadelphia, Pa., who up to the close of his life shared in the labors and triumphs of his ministry, and who survived him several years, but long since has joined him in that world where no sundered ties are ever known, or sorrows bow the spirit in deep bereave- ment and anguish. Mr. Pitman was a laborious and indefatigable minister of the gospel, and like the great Apostle to the Gentiles, he was in labors more abundant. He preached the word, and was "instant in season, and out of season." In this charge, as aforesaid, he preached over three hundred and twenty-five sermons during 28 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the two years of his ministry, besides the exhortations, and other religious and parochial duties, which he performed. His labors were owned of God, and abundantly blessed, and over a hundred were converted, so that at the end of his first year's labor at Bridgeton the society numbered ninety-five full mem- bers, with the addition of twenty-eight received by certificate, and one hundred and thirteen probationers, making a sum total of two hundred and thirty-six. The second year's labor bore a comparatively favorable result to the former year, and with very few exceptions, were any ex- pelled or dropped from the church records, so that the church more than doubled its membership under his ministry. And after deducting for removals, deaths and other losses there was still left an active membership of two hundred and eleven per- sons at the close of his second year's labor, or ministerial term. Among the converts who were received into the church during Mr. Pitman's labors in Bridgeton, were James Ayars and James White, who both subsequently became honored and use- ful ministers of the New Jersey Conference. And among the purchases made at a subsequent time by the trustees of " Bridge- town" Station, from Mr. Pitman, was a large Russia covered Bible for the pulpit of their church ; the price paid for it was six dollars, and it was made June 27, 1826. After he had become the Presiding Elder of the West Jersey District, from that Bible Charles Pitman expounded the word of life, and the common people heard it gladly, and through its teachings, hun- dreds were brought to God, and saved with an everlasting sal- vation. Where is the old Russia covered Bible that lay on the pulpit of that church sixty-four years ago ? No statement can be more interesting to our readers concerning the state of Methodism in " Bridgetown," at the time when Mr. Pitman labored there, than that which was given by him- self. In a letter, printed in the Methodist Magazine, vol. viii., 1825, METHODISM IN BRIDGETOX. 29 and dated "Bridgetown," March 29, 1825, and which has this caption, "Account of the work of God in Bridgetown, N. J," is the following : " To me the Magazine is generally both pleasing and profitable ; but I am particularly delighted with its frequent and heart-cheering accounts of revivals of religion. These are always to my drooping spirits as good news from a far country ; and so far as I am acquainted, they form, to the generality of its patrons the most entertaining and interesting part of this work. Believing that this may be the case with the most of its readers, I have thought the following narrative concerning the state and progress of religion in this station may not, perhaps, be entirely unin- teresting. Should your views accord with mine in this respect, you are at liberty to give it an insertion. " It is now nearly two years since I commenced my labors in this place. At that time the state of religion might have been considered rather unprosperous than otherwise; this was owing partly to the disorderly walk and unfaithfulness of some of the members of society and partly, perhaps to the want of a more regular and constant supply of the Word. To remedy this latter defect, the society had requested to be set off as a station, and obtained their request. As to the propriety of this measure it is not for me to determine ; but that it originated from purity of motive, I think ought not to be doubted. For while they sent one petition to the Conference desiring a station, they (as all our charges ought to do) sent many to heaven for a suitable man to fill it. " Though at that time in some of our members, the want of a deep spirituality and burning zeal for the glory of God was much to be lamented ; yet blessed be God, there were a faithful few among us, who were ' earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints.' These were always ready to unite in any measure calculated to promote the interest of the Redeemer's kingdom. Indeed, there are always the 'Aarons ' and ' Hurs,' who bear up the sinking hands of God's ministers in the time of their sorest trials and severest spiritual conflicts. To the pious zeal, sympathy, deportment and fervent prayers of these, who had ceased not to cry day and night, 'that the salvation of God might go forth as a lamp that burneth,' is doubtless to be attributed, under God, the more than anticipated success of the gospel in this place during the last two conference years. Our counsels, our prayers, and all our ener- gies were for the advancement of truth in the salvation of souls. In the morning we sowed our seed, and in the evening we withheld not our 30 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. hand, while the constant cry of our hearts was, ' Oh, Lord, 1 beseech Thee, send now prosperity.' " It is a matter of grateful acknowledgement to us, that our concen- trated efforts and labors have not been in vain in the Lord. It was not long before there appeared to be a general quickening throughout the society. Prayer-meetings and class-meetings, though hitherto much neglected, were now not only well-attended, but lively and profitable. It seemed to be the general impression among us, that ' the time to favor Zion had come.' The success of the word preached was seen in the almost breathless attention, flowing tears and expressive countenances of our numerous congregation. All this, however, was only the prelude of that gracious work which the Lord has since wrought. We had scarcely be- come organized as a station before we found our grace advancing, and our spiritual borders enlarging. Old professors shook off their spiritual apathy, careless sinners became alarmed, while anxious penitents re- joiced in God's forgiving love. " To express much in a few words I think it may safely be said, that during this gracious visitation, the influences of the Holy Spirit have been abundantly realized in all their diversity of operation. The whole number received on probation since the commencement of this revival amounts to nearly one hundred, most of whom have been admitted into full membership. As is usual in such cases, we have found it necessary to drop a few, but the number is small. The larger part of them con- tinue to distinguish themselves, as ornaments to their profession by Christian fidelity and perseverance. " This gracious work has not so much resembled a sudden and violent tempest, as the soft and fertilizing shower ; not so much an inundating torrent which soon subsides, as the steady and long-continued rain. It is true, at different times during its progress 1 , the overwhelming power of God has been manifested in our assemblies to such an extent that few were able to conceal their emotions, while all were awed into the deepest reverence. In general, however, the work appears to have been carried on by a steady and gradual process ; but, in our opinion, not the less effectually on that account. It is the sole prerogative of God to regen- erate souls; and this he always .does in his own way. A few have had a very sudden transition from a state of spiritual alienation to that of reconciliation and peace, while many others have arrived at it by less perceptible degrees. " In the promotion of this blessed work, the gospel of God our Saviour has been the principal instrument; but it is readily acknowledged that the various means of grace generally adopted by our church have been METHODISM IN BRIDGETON 31 powerful auxiliaries. The doctrines which have been uniformly incul- cated and enforced, are those which have been handed down to us from the venerable founder of Methodism. The principal of these are the entire corruption, by nature, of the human heart ; the atonement made by Jesus Christ, as embracing the whole human family the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit's influences to capacitate every man to obey the gospel call ; with the necessity of deep repentance, unfeigned faith, and experi- mental and practical holiness. " In addition to those instituted means in general use in our societies* we have had a regular general class-meeting on the first Sabbath of every month. On these occasions, and at our love-feasts, only, we have re- ceived probationers and admitted members. These seasons have been peculiarly owned and blessed of God ; both in connecting the bonds of union betwixt the different classes, and in deepening the work of grace in the hearts of true believers. The formalities used in taking persons under our fostering care, have never failed to produce beneficial results. By this course, an importance and solemnity are attached to the admis- sion of members, which I think have been too much disregarded ; and be- sides this, the responsibility connected with the reception of members is divided, as it ought to be between the preacher and his charge. "The subjects of this reformation have been of different ages, from sixty years down to thirteen ; of different characters, including both the pharisaic moralist and the openly profane ; and of different circumstances, making the man of property poor that he might become rich, and the man of poverty rich that he might cheerfully submit to his lot. During the progress of this gracious work, many anxious parents have seen their prodigal sons and daughters coming home to God. Husbands and wives have had their matrimonial attachments strengthened and purified by the effectual operation of spiritual influence. And in some few instances, our eyes have overflowed with tears of joy on seeing pious sons and daughters rejoicing over their much-loved parents, who had been brought in at the eleventh hour. ' Hallelujah ! the Lord reigneth ; let all the people praise him ! ' Surely, the recollection of these precious seasons will be sweet, even in heaven. "This work has been mostly, if not entirely, confined to our society. There are two other churches in this place a Presbyterian and Baptist but their increase, of late, has been quite inconsiderable. They have not reaped much harvest from their own labors, and what is remarkable in these days, they have not shared largely in ours. It is said that an addition is shortly expected to one of these denominations, but this is all the evidence we have of any revival among them. Strong efforts have 32 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. lately been made by them to proselyte ; and, as a number have been awakened among us who have not joined our society, and who are un- willing to deny themselves, and suffer reproach for Christ's sake, I think it probable some of them may seek a resting-place where sin is made a necessary evil, and Christian perfection ridiculed. " I make these remarks from a full conviction that some of the greatest enemies to the doctrine of Christian holiness are professors of religion. Now that policy, which lowers the standard of Christianity to suit the evil desires of the human heart, which can accommodate itself to every discrepancy of religious opinion, for the sake of proselytism and patron- age, cannot be of God. Deceptive in its nature, and dangerous in its tendency, it deserves to be reprobated by all the wise and good. May the happy influences of an impartial and holy gospel continue to spread, and to be realized until the high praises of our ' Immanuel ' shall be sung from the rivers to the ends of the earth ! Amen. C. PITMAN." In the year 1825 Mr. Pitman was stationed at St. George's, in the city of Philadelphia, Pa. The Charge, or Circuit, then con- sisted of four churches : " St. George's," " Ebenezer," " Salem," and " Nazareth," and Rev. William Barnes and Rev. Joseph Holdich were his colleagues. Mr. Pitman was preacher-in- charge, and Mr. Holdich lived with him, and to the residence of Mr. Pitman came Rev. George G. Cookman to board when he first arrived from England in this country, he having had some previous acquaintance with Rev. Mr. Holdich. The trio were formidable foes to sin, and a strong and heroic champion force for Methodism, and when Cookman joined them and began to preach, things moved iii Philadelphia as never before that time. Mr. Cookman joined St. George's Church, under Mr. Pitman, as a local preacher, and at once began preaching with great ac- ceptance and popularity. Of him we shall, hereafter, have occa- sion to speak. The following incident will explain how Mr. Cookman came to find his way to St. George's Church. It is said that when he came over from England, and first landed in Philadelphia, he walked along the streets to find a Methodist Episcopal Church, ST. GEORGE'S, PHILADELPHIA. 33 and when, nearing Fourth and Arch Streets, he saw three elderly women, with plain bonnets and very plain dresses, walking up Fourth Street, he concluded that they must be Methodists, and he followed them, which attracted the attention of these women, and occasioned not a little discomfort and surprise to them, that a stranger should be following them. He was not mistaken ; they were going to St. George's, and this circumstance led him there, where he found Rev. Mr. Holdich, who was one of the preachers, and with whom he had been acquainted in England, and Mr. Cookman found hospitable entertainment with Mr. Holdich at the home of Mr. Pitman. When Mr. Cook- man related this incident, as he did soon after to the congregation at St. George's, these elderly women felt quite rejoiced to think that they had been instrumental in leading Mr. Cookman to St. George's, who immediately became a member and local preacher in that church, and, subsequently, its pastor. On one occasion Mr. Pitman was preaching at St. George's Church. " He took for his text Psa.126 : 6th verse. Towards the close of the sermon the preacher melted into extreme tenderness, burst into tears, and, turning round, he kneltdown in the pulpit and wept profusely. The whole congregation sympathized with him, and a general commotion prevailed. Mr. Cookman, who was present, caught the contagion, and, jumping up into the pulpit, waved his hand above his head and shouted at the top of his voice, ' Harvest home ! harvest home ! ' Those who were acquainted at all with St. George's Church, that bee-hive of Methodism in Philadelphia, may imagine the furor that fol- lowed. It beggared all description, and we leave the scene to the imagination of the reader." * This year was one of laborious work for Mr. Pitman and his colleagues; the revival flame spread through all the churches, and peveral hundred were converted ; and so greatly did the membership increase, that, shortly after, the city circuit was di- * Eev. Joseph Holdich, D.D., Christian Advocate. 34 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. vided into stations. Mr. Pitman's popularity so increased, and his fame became so wide-spread, as to indicate other and more enlarged fields of labor than a city circuit or charge, in consequence of which, he remained in the city only one year, and at the succeeding Annual Conference, in 1826, when just a little past thirty years of age, and only eight years in the minis- try, he was appointed Presiding Elder, by Bishop McKendree, of the West Jersey District, Philadelphia Conference. Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, D.D., of the New Jersey Confer- ence, who was converted at the historic Blackwoodtown camp- meeting in 1825, joined St. George's Church at this time, under Mr. Pitman's administration and pastorate, subsequently was licensed to exhort under Mr. Cookman, when preacher-in- charge at St. George's, was licensed to preach in 1835, when Henry White was preacher-in-charge and John Potts Presiding Elder, and was sent out to preach from St. George's towards the close of that year, with Rev. Sedgewick Rusling as colleague, on Warren Circuit, N. J., of which district Manning Force was Presiding Elder. There was a class of young preachers formed at St. George's, under Mr. Cookman, which consisted of Rev. John McClintock, Rev. John L. Gilder and Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, who, in after years, became eminent itinerant ministers in connection with the regular Conference work, and each of them have been distinguished by grand ministerial and literary pre-eminence. CHAPTER III. MR. PITMAN AS PRESIDING ELDER OF THE WEST JERSEY DISTRICT. THE West Jersey District embraced, at the time of Mr. Pit- man's appointment to it as Presiding Elder (April, 1826), all of Southern New Jersey up to the northerly line of Mercer County, excepting Trenton Circuit, north of Trenton and a part of Middlesex County, and included the following stations and circuits, with the names of the preachers stationed thereat : Burlington G. Woolley, Robert Gerry. Trenton and Bloomsburg William Thatcher. Freehold John Findley, James McLaurin. New Mitts Waters Burroughs, Daniel Fidler, Joseph Osbone, Sup. Gloucester John Woolston, Eliphalet Reed. Cumberland William Williams, William Lummis. " Bridgetown " John Potts. Salem CircuitSolomon Sharp, Thomas Davis. Salem Station John Ledmun, Thomas Ware, Sup. Juliastown James Campbell, Sup. Mount Holly Jacob Egbert, Sup. Egg Harbor Nathan Swain. At this time in the history of New Jersey there were no pub- lic conveyances of travel in the lower part of the State, except the old-fashioned stage-coaches, which generally took a full day to come from the interior or sea-coast to Philadelphia, and would make the return trip the next day, or the day after. The stage-coach afforded but little, if any, facilities for a Pre- siding Elder in those times to reach his appointments, and the only feasible plan for him was to travel, like the other itinerants, with his own private conveyance. This he did ; often leaving 35 36 LIFE OF REV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.D. his home in Burlington, and being gone from three to four weeks at a time, traveling from appointment to appointment, laboring at camp-meetings in the summer time and revival meetings through the winter, besides attending to his quarterly meetings, and quarterly conferences. Mr. Pitman did not relinquish book-selling, or " keeping the societies and preachers well supplied with books " after he be- came Presiding Elder. From his record we gather these facts, that there was due him, at the close of the first year's labor in the district from the preachers and people for books, $224.14. And other years indicate the same desire and effort on his part to disseminate religious knowledge among both preachers and people. Book-stores were but few at that time, and the facilities and opportunities for procuring books, as well as the limited supply, rendered it difficult for the preachers and people to procure them ; and so the Presiding Elder's carriage became an itinerant " Book Concern." These sales amounted in some instances to over $300 per quarter, and from twelve to six- teen hundred books were sold yearly, beside a large number of Conference Minutes, Church Catechisms and Hymn Books. Reader ! Think of those times, when high anticipations filled the hearts of our pious fathers and mothers of the coming of the Presiding Elder; the quarterly meeting the great spiritual feast of the circuit, and that circuit covering the territory of a mod- ern Annual Conference District, while the conference itself em- braced more territory than is now included in three or four con- ferences. On Mr. Pitman's arrival at his quarterly appointment, and after his preparatory meetings on Saturday, he would be busy for an hour and more in disposing to a hundred preachers and friends a supply of religious literature for their reading dur- ing the coming quarter. Eager were they to purchase these books, and even more so to read and gather religious informa- tion. OLD BURLINGTON CIRCUIT. 37 While books, and book purchasers from an itinerant " Meth- odist Book Concern/' may form a matter of interest to all who have seen or heard of Rev. Charles Pitman, it may be a matter of interest to our readers to know some of the names of those who were the Officiary of the societies, which con- stituted the Methodism of New Jersey at this early period, and which form the connecting link of the organization of the church in America, from the times of Wesley, Coke and Asbury, to the present period. On the plan of the West Jersey District stands first the name of the " Old Burlington Circuit," rich with historic interest, and sacred and venerable to the memory of Methodism, as being the centre and main-spring of the religious movement that, at that time, sont the pulsations of a divine life all through Southern New Jersey. The plan and appointments of " Old Burlington Circuit " is no meagre matter of interest to our New Jersey Methodism at this date, and these were : Burlington, Sabbath morning ; Coopers- town (now Beverly), afternoon, and Burlington in the evening ; Wednesday evening, Black Horse (now Columbus) ; Mount Holly, Sabbath morning, afternoon, Lumberton and Mount Holly in the evening ; Wednesday evening, Medford ; Thurs- day afternoon, Indian Mills ; evening, New Freedom ; Saturday, Blackwoodtown ; Sabbath morning, Chew's Landing ; after- noon, Greenland ; evening, Camden ; Tuesday evening, " Bro. Home's " (a private house southeast of Merchantville) ; Wed- nesday evening, Raccoon Creek (now Bridgeport) ; Sunday morning, Asbury ; afternoon, Moorestowu, evening, Hartford ; and with one or two others along the river. The preachers were required to lead the classes at each appointment after preaching, and spend an evening, whenever practicable, in hold- ing a general prayer-meeting at each place during the week time. Burlington was set off as a station in 1830, and so also was 38 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Mount Holly, and .then Camden became the head of the Circuit. Camden was made a station in the fall or winter of 1833, and Rev. William Granville was appointed preacher in charge, who resigned in January following, and Rev. Edward D. Roe, of the Ohio Conference, succeeded him. The first M. E. Church in Camden, was built on a lot of ground at the north- west corner of Fourth and Federal streets. In November, 1809, the frame was cut from the pines which grew near Squankum, Monmouth County, and carted to Camden. The selection was made from that place, because choice and large trees grew there, and the frame was heavy, and the church was built staunch and firm. James Deur and John Petherbridge were the building committee, and it was finished in 1810, and dedicated by Rev. Joseph Totton, Presiding Elder, and the last dollar of its in- debtedness was paid in 1811 to Jonathan Goodin, in full, for his services in building it. The old church was sold in 1833 for $775, and a new church was erected on Third street, above Bridge Avenue, in 1834; and when ready for public worship, Mr. Pitman, preached the first sermon from Isa. 60: latter clause 7th ver., and Rev. Mr. Granville, preacher in charge, dedicated the church. The quarterly meetings on Burlington Circuit have been spoken of specially " as times of great joy and spiritual profit to the society, and indeed to the congregation generally, when such a preacher as Rev. Mr. Pitman was Presiding Elder," and the powerful sermons he preached on these occasions crowded the churches, and such was the success that attended the labors of God's servants, that in a few years after another church was built in South Camden, called "Union Church," located on Fifth street, near Kaighn's Avenue, which also was dedicated by Mr. Pitman, on which occasion he preached from Psa. 126: 6. The names of the officiary of Burlington Circuit, as it was then called, before being made into a separate station (and we insert them here to preserve them from that oblivious wave whose TRENTON STATION AND ITS OFFICIARY. 39 omnipotent roll is so fast burying beneath its surge the religious history of our fathers), were : Thomas Luxton and Andrew S. Chew, Local Preachers ; John D. Beck, Clayton Monroe, Isaiah Toy, James Duer, John W. Sterling, Andrew Jenkins, Benja- min Y. Thackerry, William Cheesman, Biley Barret, Joseph Lypsett, Hugh McCurdy, John P. Curtis, Joseph W. Atkinson, Henry F. Cattell and George Home were the Exhorters, and several of these were also Class Leaders ; and Omar Jackson, Samuel Stockton, Reuben Gaunt, James Styles, Joseph Estlack, Brittain Ayars, Ezra Vandergrief, John Thackaberry, Chris- topher Sickler, James Rogers, Benjamin North, and Noah Lip- pincott, were the Class Leaders ; William N. Shinn, John W. Sterling, Isaiah Toy, Edward Dougherty and James Rogers were the Stewards. The first quarterly meeting over which Mr. Pitman presided, as Presiding Elder of West Jersey Dis- trict, was held at Burlington, May 13th and 14th, 1826. The next, in the order of the plan, comes Trenton Station, and the first-named is Jacob Hevener, a local elder, who afterwards entered the itinerant traveling connection, and labored with marked revival success in Sussex and Warren Counties, of the State of New Jersey. He was a son of thunder, and preached the terrors of the law with marvellous effect. Hundreds, and even thousands, it has been said, were converted under his min- istry. As the infirmities of life pressed upon him, he retired from active work, and went down quietly and almost unob- served to his grave. Following this name are those of John E. Bellijeaw, Joseph A. Yard, Samuel B. Scattergood, Joseph Ash- ton, Charles Sutterly, Joshua Galbraith, William R. Howel, Thomas Fleming, Hiram R. Harrold, John Williams, Bernard B. Doty and James Kilpatrick, who constituted the Leaders, and several of them were also Exhorters, on the district ; and Daniel Fenton, Richard Bond and John E. Bellijeaw were the Stewards. The next on the plan is Freehold Circuit, and from the best 40 LIFE OF REV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.D. information we can gather of its dimensions, it must have em- braced all of Monmouth County, N. J., and portions of Burling- ton and Ocean Counties. The societies were considerably scat- tered, and many of them feeble in numbers, but they were good, strong, earnest men, full of faith and the Holy Ghost. This Circuit contained an appointment which has both special and great historic interest, and had for nearly a half-century been known for the devotional energy of its members ; and though modern and refined etiquette would obliterate the caricature given in olden time to this place of worship, yet the cognomen of the fathers has been handed down to their children, even to the third and fourth generations ; and nearly every Methodist in Mon- mouth County knows, or has heard of "Screaming Hill." Mighty men of God have wielded the sword of divine truth in that old church, which was removed only a few years ago to give place to a new one, and the slain of the Lord have been counted by hundreds. The ministers in those days " preached the word," and they preached the doctrines of the gospel, and the people were awakened under their powerful presentations of divine truth, and were soundly converted to God. They cried aloud and spared not, and sinners were convicted of their sins, and multitudes were heard to exclaim, "What must I do to be saved?" Some of the greatest revivals ever known in New Jersey have taken place at this appointment. The following incident well illustrates the character of the preaching, and the spirit with which our fathers worshipped in this mountain of holiness, which was so beautiful for situation, and was the joy of all the people surrounding it. When Eze- kiel Cooper was Presiding Elder of what was at that time (1825) known as West Jersey District, one of his first Quarterly Meet- ings was held in this church, and as the popularity and fame of this great apostle of Methodism had preceded him, on the day of the Quarterly Meeting a large concourse of people from vil- lages and roadside, remote and near, assembled at " Screaming EZEKIEL COOPER AND BIB QUARTERLY MEETING. 41 Hill" to enjoy this quarterly feast, and to many of them it was a yearly feast, as the plan of the quarterly appointments dis- tributed these occasions in other parts of the circuit. Mr. Cooper on this occasion preached from Acts iii. 19 : " Repent ye, there- fore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." The gospel trumpet in the hands of Ezekiel Cooper never gave an uncertain sound, and the Lord's host knew what was their duty in preparing themselves for the battle long before the discourse (which often extended beyond an hour) was ended. The indications of a Quarterly Meeting revival would be mani- fest at the close of the sermon, a prayer-meeting would be held, and several would be converted. The services often continued throughout the day and evening with glorious results, and some- times a revival followed. The next time Mr. Cooper came on his quarterly visit to this place he selected the same theme, and chose the same text, and preached the same doctrine, viz., " Re- pentance," with somewhat similar results. Old Father Emley, long an honored class-leader and official member of that church, thinking that Brother Cooper might have forgotten himself, and the people grown tired of the repetition of the same theme, ac- costed Mr. Cooper, saying : " Brother Cooper, have you not got something else to give us, when you come round again to our appointment, beside repentance? this is twice in succession you have preached from that text in this place, and I think we ought to have something new." Brother Cooper was a man for any emergency that an Infinite Providence had put under his control, and so nerving himself for an intelligent reply, said to Father Emley : " Brother, have all the people here repented and got converted ?" To which Brother Emley replied : " No, sir." "Then," said Brother Cooper, "we will preach repentance." However, the next time he came to that place he selected a dif- ferent text. It was frequently the case with the fathers in Mr. Cooper's time that a half-dozen texts of Scripture served as the 42 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. foundation of some thirty or more sermons, for the entire round of the quarterly visitation, and not unfrequently the sermon was very different in matter and presentation. They varied their plans and methods, but clung to the doctrine and preached the Word. The names of the officiary of Freehold Circuit were : John Fountain, local elder ; William Anderson, local deacon ; and John Martin, Francis Martin, Joseph Cobart, Henry Brinley, Jeremiah Newman, William Rogers, Josiah Holmes, John Lane, Ellison Covert, John Goodenough, James H. Joline, Francis Murphy, James White and Jonathan Yeoman were exhorters, while several of the latter-named were also leaders, and David Hall, Josiah Parker, Joseph Newman, John Allen, Abraham Herbert, Michael Mapps, William Parker, James Miller, Samuel Bobbins, Vincent Messier, Robert Gravatt, Lewis Miller and Samuel Throckmorton were leaders ; and Francis Murphy, Joseph Parker, David Hill, William Throckmorton and Joseph Murphy were the stewards. The next is New Mills Circuit. This was also a large cir- cuit, and embraced nearly all of the eastern portion of Burling- ton County, stretching along the sea-board from Barnegat Bay to Atlantic City, or what was then known as Absecon. While traveling in the lower part of Burlington County, Mr. Pitman preached at one of his quarterly appointments from Rev. iii. 16 : " So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." There was a backslider in the congregation, who began to grow uneasy and to realize his terrible state as an apostate from the fold and family of God. It seems that the text had a particular application to his condi- tion, and he could not get away from it ; it made a deep impres- sion upon his mind. He went home from the meeting under the terrible accusings of a guilty conscience, and so great was his agony, and so terrible were the lashings of his conscience, that he thought he was going to die. He sent for Mr. Pitman NEW MILLS CIRCUIT AND ITS OFFICIARY. 43 to come and see him. Mr. Pitman arose from his bed at his lodgings and went to see the man. He found him in the state we have described. The man told him he had been mad at him, and that he had hated him, and his preaching, and all he had done in his past life, but now he felt that he was a great sinner, and if he did not get religion that night, he would be in hell before morning. Mr. Pitman well understood the nature of this case, and he pointed him to Christ, and before morning came, he was converted. A gracious revival grew out of this circum- stance. He did not die, but was raised up from that bed of alarm and distress, and became a very useful member of the church, and was remarkable for giving much money for the support of the pastor and for the benevolent objects of the church, and was a man noted for his piety and zeal for the cause of Christ from that time to the day of his death. The names of the official men of this circuit were : William W. Foulks, local elder ; Hezekiah Crammer, John Bodine, Simon Lucas, Stacy Bodine, Abraham Woolston, local dea- cons ; and John Core, William Keeler, local preachers ; and Anthony Atwood, Benajah Brown, Ebenezer Applegate, William W. Creed, Samuel Warner, Fuller Horner, Aaron Bennett, Samuel Dobbins, Paul Potter, James Letts, Isaac Jenkins, Job Clayton, Major Mathew, John Tilton, Jacob Heisler, John Mulliner, Joseph J. Sleeper, Joseph Platt, Jesse Bennett, Samuel Weaver, Joseph Randolph, Joel Haywood, John C. Crammer and Joel Ilase were exhorters, and several of the afore-men- tioned held the office of class-leader in connection with the office of exhorter; and George Peterson, John F. Budd, William Whitecar, Thomas Chamberlain, Nicholas Sooy, Ellis Adams, Stacy Pettit, Benjamin Willis, Andrew Fort, William Bryan, William Malsbury, Samuel Bareford, Clayton Githens, Joseph Pohlemus, Samuel Golforth were the leaders ; and William W. Foulks, Stacy Bodine, Joseph J. Sleeper, Anthony Atwood, Isaac Jenkins, Jacob Egbert and Jacob Heisler were the stewards. 44 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Mr. Pitman always enjoyed his visits to this circuit, and preached with wonderful power in the old church at New Mills. Here he had joined the church in his young manhood, and here he was licensed, first as an exhorter, and then as a local preacher, and from this church he went forth to the work of an itinerant minister. Now he came to greet them as their Presiding Elder. They were his old acquaintances and most valued friends. And the church had no cause to regret conferring these offices and honors upon Charles Pitman, for he truly gave abundant evidence of his call to the sacred office, and his qualifications for the work of the ministry. He was always welcomed by a large congregation, and most cordially greeted by the people, and the occasion was one of great spiritual delight and profit. It may not be uninteresting to our readers to give a short sketch here of early Methodism in New Jersey, especially in New Mills. When Captain Webb, one of Mr. Wesley's preachers, landed in New York, his post of duty was assigned him in Philadelphia, or along the Delaware on the Jersey side. To reach Philadelphia, he had to pass through New Jersey, and coming to Trenton he halted for the night and preached in that place, and there learning of a flourishing society at New Mills some twenty miles south of Trenton, he concluded to pass that way to reach Burlington. He did so, and preached in the evening, and spent the next day with the society at New Mills, and the next day went to Burlington and preached there, and also in other places of the province, while en route from Burlington to Philadelphia. Burlington was first settled in 1677, five years before Phila- delphia, and the settlers penetrated the easterly section of New Jersey, during the one hundred years or nearly that elapsed from the first settlement of Burlington, to the first visit of Captain Webb, which was as early as 1768 or 1769. Hence Captain Webb gave Methodism its ecclesiastical form under God in New Jer- sey, and being stationed on duty in the town of Burlington as METHODISM IN BURLINGTON AND NEW MILLS. 45 early as 1770, he preached in the market-house, and in the court- house, and Joseph Toy, a resident of Burlington, was con- verted. "From this period he considered himself bound to devote his all to the service and glory of God, and on the 14th day of December, 1770, Captain Webb formed a small class to which he appointed Mr. Toy leader. In 1771 Mr. Toy moved to Trenton, where he found a man who had been a Methodist in Ireland. With this man, and two or three more, he united, and agreeing among themselves they met in class, and were occasion- ally supplied with preaching, by a preacher from Philadelphia, until the Revolutionary War, when, the English preachers re- turning home, the people were deprived of the word of life. Notwithstanding the smallness of their number, with extraordi- nary exertion, they erected a small frame-house for the worship of God, where Mr. Toy held weekly meetings." Obituary of Joseph Toy, Methodist Magazine, 1826, p. 438. Burlington was the first place in New Jersey where Mr. Asbury preached. He preached there within two weeks after lauding in America, which was on the 7th day of November, 1771, and while on his way to New York from Philadelphia, passing through Burlington, he stopped and preached in the court-house where Captain Webb had on several occasions preached before this time. A good revival work is said to have followed. They built a church, and opened it in 1789. The deed is made to Bishop Coke and Francis Asbury for a house of worship to Almighty God. Hence the first preaching in Burlington (Asbury's Journal, vol. ii., page 55), was in the year 1769. The Methodist Society, in New Mills, was originated about the same time as in Burlington. It was the strongest and most prosperous society during the first age of Methodism in the State, numbering more members than any other place; and being twenty in advance of Burlington, its membership was two hun- dred. When Dr. Coke first visited the town in the early part of 1785, he remarked "that the place had been favored with the 46 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. faithful ministry of Methodists for sixteen years. From 1785, sixteen years carries us back to 1769, which must be fixed upon as the true date of Methodist preaching in New Jersey, in both Burlington and New Mills. The town of New Mills, was laid out originally by a Mr. Budd, and Messrs. John and William Budd were pillars in the Methodist Society in this town. One of them was a local preacher. In 1807, Mr. Asbury says: "I found old grand- father Budd, worshipping, leaning upon the top of his staff, halting yet wrestling like Jacob." Many of the Budds have been in church fellowship with the Methodists, and a fair pro- portion of them were superior preachers. Mr. Daniel Heisler joined the Methodists, in New Mills, in 1773 ; he was a class-leader, and subsequently he removed to Maurice River, where he lived and served the church in that capacity for twenty-five years. Later he moved to Christiana, Del., where he died in the 74th year of his age, and was buried at Newark, New Castle Co., Del. Catharine, daughter of Ezekiel Johnson, was the first white child born in New Mills (there were some colored children born there before her). She married one of the first Methodist preachers in the place. His name was William Danley, a local preacher, who seems to have been a member of the same society. They moved to Port Elizabeth, N. J. Losing her husband, she married as her second husband, Mr. Ketcham, and after his death, she married a Mr. Long. After living a Methodist sixty years, she departed this life in the 83d year of her age. In April, 1773, the foundation of the first Methodist Chapel was laid in New Jersey, but Mr. Asbury does not tell where it was. Some think it was Bethel, between Carpenter's Landing and Woodbury. Mr. Asbury says, in his journal vol. i, page 48, it was in size, 30x35 feet. The New Mills Church, or Chapel, which he describes in vol. i., page 136, as being 28x36, corresponds with the old church, which is now extant as a HISTORY OF METHODISM IN NEW MILLS. 47 dwelling in Pemberton, (formerly New Mills), and in a good state of preservation, though nearly a hundred and thirteen years old. Mr. Asbury says, " At New Mills I found Bro. W. very busy about his chapel, which is 28x36, with a gallery fifteen feet deep, and though unfinished, I preached in it from Matt. vii. chap., 7th verse, with fervor, but not with freedom, and re- turned to W. B., (most likely William Budd's), Lord's day May 5th, 1776. I preached in New Mills again, and it was a heart-affecting season." " Mr. Asbury did not visit this region for five years, when in 1781, the fame of Benjamin Abbott, who had made a famous preaching tour in Pennsylvania, led him into New Jersey, to see and hear this wonderful preacher." Journal, vol. i., page 325. The New Mills house was the second chapel, or church, founded in the State of New Jersey by the Methodists. It was enclosed and partly finished in December, 1773, but there were meetings and preaching by Methodist preachers in New Mills as early as 1769, and some history puts it, in 1768. The Rev. Samuel Budd, formerly of the Philadelphia Con- ference, who located in 1814, has spoken to the author of his grandfather's preaching in New Mills before As- bury's first visit to the place, and of a class and society which was organized some five or six years before any attempt was made to build a church, and that he held meetings in the kitchen of the old larm-house on the road leading to the Friends' Mount meeting-house from Pemberton. This Rev. Samuel Budd, died June 27, 1853, and was buried in the Pem- berton M. E. Church grave-yard, and is remembered by many of the residents to this day. CHAPTEE IV. WEST JERSEY DISTRICT CONTINUED. THE next circuit was generally known in those days as " Old Gloucester Circuit," which extended from Wood- bury to Cumberland, and adjoined Burlington on the north, and both the counties of Salem and Cumberland on the south. It embraced a host of earnest Christian men and women who considered Methodism the grandest organization the world had ever known since Pentecost, and that Mr. Pitman was its great apostle. There are men and women now living, of whom the author of this work has had pastoral charge, that have described to him Mr. Pitman's quarterly visits, the love- feasts and the great quarterly-meeting sermons as events, of which the like was never known before in the history of the church. The names of the religious champions of Gloucester Circuit, at the time when Mr. Pitman was Presiding Elder, were Moses Crane, Nathaniel Chew, Jephtha Abbott, John Price, Jacob Fis- ler, Parker Cordery, James Chester, Richard Leeds, John Brown, John Turner, who were local deacons, and Thomas Cheeseman, Solomon Small wood, Nathaniel Chew, jr., Nicholas Vansant, Abel English, Samuel Sharp, Elisha Chew, John Sickler, John Ashcraft, who were local preachers, and Nehe- miah Blackman, Benjamin Fisler, Daniel Felton, John Spencer, James Price, Hugh D. Smith, Thomas Chew, George Gardiner, Samuel Fisler, George West, Josiah Heritage, Levi Adams, Absalom Steelman, "William Dilks, Jacob Fisler, were exhorters, and several of the afore-mentioned were also class-leaders, hold- ing the two offices conjointly, and William Porch, Thomas Garwood, John Graver, Robert Miskelly, James Adair, George 48 GLOUCESTER CIRCUIT AND ITS OFFICIARY. 49 Peterson, Andrew Dilks, Isaac Dilks, Joseph Fisler, Aquilla Downs, John Adams, Absalom Cordery, William Ireland, Thomas Abbott, Joseph Albertson, Abraham Park, William Chew, Benjamin B. Doughty, Hosea F. Joslin, Abner Gaskill, William Miskelly, Thomas Baver, and John Pease were leaders. The stewards were Nathaniel Chew, jr., Josiah Heritage, George West, Nehemiah Blackman, Thomas Garwood, John Early and William Porch. As the name of Benjamin B. Doughty appears in the above list, it may not be uninteresting to our readers, both as a matter of history and as a record of the valuable services of a good man, who was great in goodness, and who, being greatly good, was a happy Christian, that we record this tribute to his mem- ory and his life-long service to the church, and insert it here, as a testimonial to the last link that bound the past with the present (he being the last surviving member of the officiary that composed the Quarterly Conference of old Gloucester Circuit, under Mf. Pitman's administration as Presiding Elder, from 1826 to 1830.) Benjamin B. Doughty was born March 12th, 1806, and died at Pleasant Mills, N. J., April 7th, 1886. In his nineteenth year he gave his heart to God under the labors of Rev. Charles Pitman, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and from that period to the close of his earthly career, his'pilgrimage and pathway was like that which is described by the Patriarch Job> as a "shining light which shineth more and more unto the per- fect day." Being possessed of a frail constitution, and often a prey to disease, he was the subject of much affliction, but always was cheerful in the happy assurance of his hope of immortality and eternal life. In all his afflictions and trials his faith failed not, but maintained a firm and constant hold upon God. His Christian life comprised a period of over sixty years, in which time he filled consecutively the offices of class-leader, Sunday- school superintendent, steward and trustee of the Church for more than fifty-five years. 4 50 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. He was of a meek and gentle spirit, calm and modest in the discharge of his duty, and always could be relied upon, whenever duty or conviction required firmness and principle. His whole Christian life was one of earnest effort, to build up and maintain the church with which he was connected, it being one of the oldest land-marks of Methodism in New Jersey, where the now-sainted Asbury, Abbott and Pitman used to preach the gospel "in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power." He had a profound reverence for the place, and always enjoyed its services, which to him had presented both scenes of great historic interest and wonderful spiritual power. For fidelity to the church, for consistency in Christian life, and for faithfulness in the discharge of his religious duties, none have surpassed, and few have equalled, Benjamin B. Doughty. r J?he author of this volume, under a promise made to him more than twenty-three years ago, and subsequently renewed at a family gathering (Christmas day, 1885), preached his funeral sermon on. Sabbath, April llth, 1886, from a passage of Scripture selected by him- self, recorded in 2 Tim. iv., 6-8, to a large and appreciative congregation of relatives and friends, after which his mortal remains were committed to their last resting-place in the church- yard at Pleasant Mills, where sleep in blessed hope hundreds who, through his instrumentality, had been led to Christ, to await with them the resurrection of the just. It was estimated that nearly seven hundred persons attended his funeral, and fol- lowed his remains to their final resting-place. He was a good man, and full of faith and the Holy Ghost, a bright example of Christian purity, a sincere and benevolent Christian brother, with a heart all aglow with the love of God, and a home with a door always open to welcome the itinerant minister of the gospel to his hospitality. He died in great peace, and with a glorious hope of being soon at the right hand of God. Pleasant Mills church, is one of the oldest land-marks of Methodism in New Jersey. It is located on the dividing line PLEASANT MILLS, BATSTO, AND THE RICHARDS. 51 (the Mullica River) between Burlington and Atlantic Counties, and is about forty miles south-east of Mount Holly and about sixty miles south-east of Trenton, N. J., in the Pines. It is near Batsto, where formerly were the great iron and glass works of the Richards, which has important Revolutionary fame. At Batsto, when manufacturing interests were in a prosperous con- dition, large numbers of people were employed, which necessitated the building of a church. The ground (four acres) was donated by Mrs. Richards for church and burial purposes, and a church was erected thereon for the Methodist preachers to occupy, and preach the gospel and hold their meetings therein, and when not occupied by them, other evangelical ministers might preach there. "Mother Richards," as she was usually called, was a whole- souled Methodist, and esteemed Mr. Pitman as one of her best friends and a true servant of Christ. In her palatial mansion, with its romantic andcharming surroundings, Mr. Pitman always found a cordial welcome and the most generous and extensive hospitality, and he frequently availed himself of it, it being a convenient resting-place on the line of his travel from Burling- ton to Cape May. Sometimes he would spend several days with his friends at this place, and preach to the people in the evening. Mr. Richards, though not of the Methodist persua- sion, was greatly interested in Mr. Pitman, and it is said he esteemed and revered Charles Pitman, as he did no other man. Whenever quarterly meeting came for Pleasant Mills, it was held at this church, and the people from Mount Holly, Medford, Pemberton, Vincentown, Wrightstowu and other contiguous places on the west and northwest, and Green Bank, Lower Bank, Bass River and Tuckerton, on the east, and Port Republic, Ab- secon, Weymouth and May's Landing, on the southeast, would congregate on Saturday evening, and when all the places for ac- commodation were filled, would camp out in the grove near the church to be in readiness for the Sabbath services. Mr. Pitman usually preached, on his quarterly meeting occa- 52 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. sions, on Saturday morning, at 10 o'clock, and held the quarterly Conference immediately after the service, and in the evening some one of the preachers from another part of the circuit would preach, then all would retire for their necessary rest and prepar- ation for the great quarterly meeting services of the morrow, which opened with the usual love-feast at 9 A.M. and at 10J A.M. Mr. Pitman would again preach, and sometimes so great would be the crowd and so large the gathering, that Mr. Richards would send over his large, six-mule team open wagon, cover the bottom with planks, and then place it between the two front doors of the church, improvise a pulpit, the women and children being seated in the church, with the doors and windows open, and the men standing outside around the open wagon, and Mr. Pitman standing upon the wagon would address from two to three thousand people, and for an hour or more, would offer life and salvation to them in strains and tones of utterance, that seemed as musical as a seraph's voice, and as sweet as the har- monies of the spirit-land. The impression of these occasions lived with the people who participated in them till the close of their life, and not infrequently was it the case that several, and sometimes a score, would be converted at these quarterly meeting occasions. The next circuit on the plan, and following in rotation with Gloucester, is Cumberland Circuit, remembered formerly by many of the oldest preachers and church members as "Old Cum- berland Circuit ; " this was united with the Cape May Circuit, and later it was called Cumberland and Cape May Circuits, and embraced all the country lying below Gloucester Circuit, from " Great Egg Harbor bay," on the north, to the county-line, between Cumberland and Salem Counties, on the south, and including the sea-board. Here was a section of country which Mr. Pitman not only visited on the Sabbath of his quarterly meeting appointment, but traveled over it during the week, encouraging the preachers, supplying them with books CUMBERLAND AND CAPE MAY CIRCUITS. 53 and giving general attention to the work, and assisting iu reviv- als and camp-meetings, and other general interests among the churches, so that quarterly meeting became a synonym with a revival of religion with the people. By this means the people of the district became acquainted with him and crowded the places of his preaching services and camp-meetings. A brother described a circumstance which occurred in Mr. Pitman's ministry thus (and to show the effectiveness of this in- cident, and its wonderful result, we give the narrative and inci- dent in his own language, he was one of Mr. Pitman's preach- ers, and was what might be called an old-time preacher of Methodism) which Dr. Chalmers characterized as being " Chris- tianity in earnest" : "Rev. Charles Pitman/' says h&, " traveled as presiding elder over a large circuit in the southern part of New Jersey, which was formerly known as 'Old Cape May Circuit,' which at that time embraced the whole county." He characterizes him as being faithful to his calling and acting in view of his high responsibility, and further states " that he was a plain preacher, and that he was remarkable for his fidelity and faithfulness in preaching God's word that he never daubed with untempered mortar. He preached at one of his quarterly appointments on this circuit, where there was a wealthy man who was a member of the church, but he was a formalist. For- malism in those days was considered one of the greatest enemies and obstacles to vital godliness or spiritual zeal that Methodism had to contend with. In fact Methodism has always had to contend against formalism, it being the only system of religious faith that required an experimental evidence of religion in the soul, and an earnest, active piety in the devotions, and life of her membership:- The early Methodist preachers were formid- able foes to formalism, lukewarmness, or a mere semblance of religion. They believed in experimental piety, and hence they had to encounter great opposition in their labors, not merely because their animated and energetic mode of worship was, to 54 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. some extent an innovation upon established customs or usages, but because, in many instances, they acted as an aggressive power upon the territories of other denominations, and drew the multitude and masses to their congregations and fellowship, and thus became a potent factor in spreading a revival flame all over the land, inducing sinners to come to Christ, and believers to embrace earnestly the precepts and teachings of revealed truth, and manifest it in their lives and conduct. " This man had a name to live, but was dead. He was as a whited sepulchre, and his spirit was exerting a chilling and de- structive influence upon all around him, and the church in that place felt the paralyzing influence of that man's life and teach- ing. The "circuit preachers were perplexed, and were in deep trouble to kow what to do under the circumstances. The con- dition of things was made known to Mr. Pitman, and at his ap- pointment that evening he preached a very pointed and search- ing sermon from Rev. 3d chapter, 16th verse. It shook the sandy foundation of this worldling, and he was very much chagrined, and took a determined stand against Mr. Pitman, denouncing him severely for his personalities and uncharitable conduct, as he termed them. He declared that ' he was not fit to preach, and that he would not listen to such nonsense/ and endeavored to sow dissensions and provoke prejudice, in the society against Mr. Pitman. He was left alone to reflect on his course. Some weeks after this, Mr. Pitman came back to this place, and with his usual characteristic fidelity and keen penetration of the situ- ation of things, preached from Matt. 16th chapter, 6th verse: ' Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, etc.' He preached against hypocrisy, and showed why Christians should be- ware of such leaven. The man was present, and he became still more angry and bitter in his denunciations of Mr. Pitman. The brethren became alarmed, and went to Mr. Pitman and ex- postulated with him, they told him that such plain preach- ing had offended Mr. A., and that they would like to retain his PITMAN'S POWERFUL SERMONS IN CAPE MAY. 55 friendship, money and influence to their church, and said to Mr. Pitman that they wished he would adopt a little different style of preaching. Mr. Pitman replied that he was called of God to preach the gospel ; that he would like to accommodate their wishes so far as he could without the sacrifice of truth and prin- ciple, but he must preach the gospel as God commanded him to do it, and not as men desired it. He watched for souls as one who must give an account, and he dare not, ' Soften his word, or smooth his tongue, To gain earth's gilded toys,' or flee the Cross endured by the Saviour of sinful men. The next time he came round that way, he preached from 2d Tim, 3d chap., 5th ver. : ' Having the form of godliness/ &c. It was a sermon of great power. Those who had a mere form of godliness, who had nearly the whole body of Christianity with- out its soul, the form without its power, the letter without the spirit, those who were destitute of the power, and those who de- nied and undervalued it, or ridiculed it, were described with great accuracy ; their portraits were painted by a master hand, and then he held them up to the gaze of the audience. And finally he noticed the Apostle's direction concerning them : 'From such turn away.' 'Get rid of them,' said he, 'in some way, and as soon as possible, the sooner the better, better for them, better for the Church, better for the world ; turn away from them. First, if they remain in the Church, it can do them no good, " for they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Second, they will do injury if they remain ; like a limb where mortification has taken place, it must be removed, or it will injure the other parts of the limb, and finally affect the whole body." This sermon destroyed that formalist's sandy foundation. It took off his fig-leaf covering. He saw the deformity of his moral features; he had considered himself rich and increased 56 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. in this world's goods, and needed nothing. He did not consider that he was poor and miserable, and blind and naked. When he saw himself in this condition, he was horror-struck at his own picture ; the barbed arrow of divine truth had pierced his heart, and was rankling there. He went home for a sleepless night, and his pillow was wet with his tears. In the morning he sent for Mr. Pitman. He wished him to come and pray for him, and he confessed to his real character, that he had a name to live, while in heart he was dead ; that he was a professor, and not a possessor ; that his name had been on the Church record, but not written in the Lamb's Book of Life in Heaven ; that he had been a mere formalist, a self-righteous Pharisee. His language was: " Oft did I with the assembly join, And near their altar drew ; The form of godliness was mine, The power I never knew." He now lamented his course, and wept and sighed and prayed ; his sighs came from the inner temple of grief. He was sorry for having grieved his God ; the tears he shed were the bitter tears of repentance, and his prayers for mercy came from his inmost soul, and were heard by Him whose ear is ever open to the cry of the penitent, and who hath declared, " But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word" (Isa. Ixvi. 2). His sins were put upon the head of the scapegoat, and borne into the wilder- ness. The cloud that gathered over him thick and dark was removed by the hand of mercy, and he looked up and saw " a reconciled God and a smiling Saviour/' and " He beheld, without a cloud between, The Godhead reconciled." God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into his heart, crying, A CHURCH BUILT AND DONATED TO M. E. CHURCH. 57 " Abba, Father," and this was to him a joy unspeakable and full of glory. To Mr. Pitman's honesty and fidelity, to his being bold in his denunciations of sin, formality and hypocrisy, to his being a valiant defender of the faith, this man owed his salva- tion through Christ. This dislike and hatred to Mr. Pitman was instantly changed into honor and respect and love. He honored him for his fidelity ; he respected him as a man and for his superior talents as a minister ; he loved him as the honored instrument in the hands of God of rescuing him from ruin's brink ; he loved him as his spiritual father. The brother was afterwards very useful. He was a pillar in the church. Possessing wealth, he poured it into the treasury of the Lord. Often would he place in Mr. Pitman's hands, a hun- dred dollars for the poor, or for the benevolent causes of the church, and to Mr. Pitman was accorded the privilege to dis- tribute, as he saw fit and proper, the money. He became an almoner of God's bounties ; he considered himself a steward, and he seemed to write upon every dollar of his possessions, " Holiness unto the Lord." He built a house of worship in the place where he lived, pay- ing for it from the foundation to the top-stone, and when it was finished he gave the minister the key, and deeded it to " the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States of America." He found, instead of impoverishing himself, the truth illus- trated, " There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth." He accumulated greater wealth and became possessed of larger es- tates. Some one inquired of him how it was, as he was shovel- ing out all the time, he appeared to be accumulating more and more. This was a mystery they could not understand ; they wished he would solve it. He explained it in this way : "There are two shovels the Lord keeps one and I keep the other. I keep shoveling out all the time, and the Lord keeps shoveling in. The Lord's shovel is so much larger than mine that He can 58 LIFE OF REV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.D. shovel faster and a great deal more ; so, with his big shovel, He shovels in faster than I can shovel out, and so I am kept full, with abundance." Rev. D. W. Bartine relates the following incident concerning Mr. Pitman's preaching : " Dr. Pitman preached in Cape May County, N. J., while Presiding Elder of the West Jersey Dis- trict, Philadelphia Conference, in the neighborhood of Goshen. His text was, ' Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not' (Prov. viii. 33) ; the theme, ' The counsels of wisdom.' He preached with power, and the unction of the Holy One came down upon the people; a great number were awakened, and some fell like dead men, speechless and for a time unconscious ; others broke out in greatest agony of soul, crying, ' God be merciful to me, a sinner.' The revival power swept like a tor- nado, and young and old, rich and poor, while and colored sought the forgiveness of their sins. The scene beggared all descrip- tion, and it was truly said, ' It was never seen on this fashion before.' Mr. Pitman was then in his glory; noble in the devel- opment of his manhood, his whole nature seemed to be imbued with spiritual power, which inspired him with supernatural en- ergy on such occasions, and his words were like the words of an oracle and his voice like the voice of an angel. That event has an existence even to this day ; a few live who remember it, but the greater part have joined, with the immortal Pitman, the church triumphant in heaven. Methodism had no standing in all that country ; it was new ; it was its introduction ; it gave it character and influence throughout the whole county ; it gave it a momentum that has not ceased to this day. Goshen and Dias Creek, Green Tree and Court- House Churches and their congre- gations of earnest worshippers attest the mighty power of God on that glorious day of divine visitation. The subject of build- ing churches at Goshen and Cape May Court-House was then projected, and a subscription was started ; one after another signed liberally. At last they came to a brother who had been REV. DR. BARTINE'S INCIDENT. 59 powerfully awakened and converted to God ; he was happy, and when asked to subscribe said, ( Yes ; the Lord has blest my soul and I thank Him for it. I have no money, but I havfe a flock of fine sheep, and you may have the whole flock.' The sheep were accepted, and were put into the market, and the sum real- ized from the sale, was one of the largest contributions, if not the largest, that was made towards building the new]church. The peo - pie used to designate the occasion as ' Mr. Pitman's sermon, with which he preached a flock of sheep out of a man, towards build- ing a new church,' and they called it the ' Sheep Sermon.' " The names of the officiary of both of these circuits have great historic interest and significance, and reveal to us the men who were the founders of Methodism in Southern New Jersey, as well as perpetuate the grand victories which under God have been obtained on this fruitful field by a host of illustrious suc- cessors. Heading this heroic list are the names of Benjamin Fisler, Michael Swing, John Townsend, who were local elders, and John Clarke, John Wishart, William Mangan, Amos C. Moses, Israel Townsend, Jesse Cooms, Joseph Champion, James B. Parvin, Samuel Cosaboon, George McKaiges, who were local preachers, and David Hildreth, Thomas Henderson, Uriah Ackley, Enoch Springer, Josiah Shaw, Samuel Peacock, Parson Townsend, Hiram R. Harrold, who were exhorters, and several of the afore-mentioned were also leaders, and Jacob Hagley, John Mclntosh, Joseph Butcher, George Spence, Robert Wilson, James Cosaboon, Ethan Lore, Jeremiah Bingham, John Mis- kelly, Stephen Garrison, Elias Corson, George Legg, Matthias Steelman, Jonathan Burden, John Godfrey, Stacy Wilson, Con- stantine Blackman, William Heisler, Jonathan Coney, Samuel Silvers, Joseph Sutton, Matthias Richmond, Eli Budd, David Hornbrook, Gilbert Compton, John Ackley, Joseph Mestrict and Samuel Launing were the Leaders. The Stewards were Eli Budd, Matthias Richman, Michael Swing, Jacob Learning, Jo- seph Butcher, Josiah Champion and Ichabod Compton. 60 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. What changes have taken place on Old Gloucester Circuit since that time ! The Circuit itself has been narrowed down to two or three appointments. Porchtown, the head of the Circuit, still remains. The church, which was once the glory and pride of that people, though still standing, bears evident marks of time and the years that have intervened. But where are the " Porches," and the "Cranes," who were so prominent in that day? AlHiave passed away. But few of their descendants remain, and what was once a crowded centre for the people to gather to on Sabbath morning has now but a small congregation, and the church has come to be considered but an ordinary style of a country church, whose architecture would form no model for a church or house of worship in this day. If we inquire what has become of those who composed "Old Gloucester Circuit" at that time, the same response is to be given to our inquiries. They, too, have passed away. The sole and last survivor closed his eyes on things earthly in April, 1886, in blessed hope of eternal life. And where are the Richards and that queenly Christian lady, "Mother Richards," as she was familiarly called, and who always delighted to welcome Mr. Pitman and other preachers to the hospitalities of her palatial mansion at Batsto. They sleep with the large company of people who tenanted the place sixty years ago, in the church-yard which Mrs. Richards donated to the church. The church still stands, to which at her death, she left a perpetual legacy, the interest of which is to be applied to the support of the Methodist preacher stationed at Pleasant Mills. Cumberland Circuit has barely an existence now, an insignificant remnant of what it was formerly. And the lower part of Cape May has never relapsed into formalism since Mr. Pitman's wonderful sermon, which, under the power of God, gave it, its death-blow at that time. Some half-dozen or more active, earnest churches now cluster near the place of his conflict, and their influence is to this day a mighty incentive to Christian activity and devout, earnest, Christian work all through that section of country. CHAPTER V. WEST JERSEY DISTRICT CONTINUED. THE most of Mr. Pitman's work as Presiding Elder, as we have seen, extended over large circuits, and the quarterly visitations were generally made at those points on these circuits where the churches could in some desirable degree accommodate the great quarterly gatherings, and be convenient for the peo- ple of the different localities to attend. A station in those days was a place of rare occurrence ; the gospel seed was then being planted, the field was large and of difficult tillage, and the la- borers were few and comparatively far from each other. Tren- ton was considered the head of the district, and was also the seat of government in New Jersey, and Methodism being in- troduced in that city in the year 1771 or '72 had already ob- tained good foot hold, and was quite prosperous with a good congregation, but there was another growing centre of interest and wealth located in the extreme southern part of New Jersey, called "Bridgetown," situated at the head of navigation on the Cohansey River, the county-seat of Cumberland County. It was also a great manufacturing place in iron, and was sup- plied with smelted ore from "Old Cumberland Furnace," which originally was gathered from the bogs and low-lands of New Jersey swamps in Cumberland County. After being smelted at Cumberland furnace, it was brought to " Bridgetown " and manufactured into nails, and agricultural implements, and arti- cles of husbandry, and has continued a manufacturing place to this day, and been the means of developing the town into one of the most pleasant and enterprising cities of the State, as 61 62 LJFE OF RET. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. well as the county into one of the most flourishing and highly cultivated farming sections in the country. Mr. Pitman was stationed in "Bridgetown" in the years of 1823 and 1824. It was while stationed here he married his second wife, and she came to the place as the companion and help-meet of the preacher in charge October 25, 1823. Here a most gracious revival of religion had progressed under his ministry for two years, in which the society had more than dou- bled its numbers in membership, and one hundred and twenty- six souls were converted, and out of this large number, one hun- dred and nineteen were after their six months probation received into full membership. If some of our preachers, who in these times discuss so logic- ally and write so voluminously on the question of " What be- comes of our probationers," would know the secret of Mr. Pit- man's extraordinary success in graduating so many from the penitent seat, up to the honors of full membership in the Church of God, so thoroughly, and without much loss in numbers, we would answer the inquiry by saying, that the Fathers in the ministry preached the doctrine of religion, i. e. } the doctrines of the gospel, and men were awakened under their preaching, who felt the need of salvation, and earnestly desired " to flee from the wrath to come." They also believed in a deep and thorough conviction, a genuine and godly sorrow for sin, and a sound con- version to God. Nothing less than this was deemed acceptable, and was satisfactory to the church as an evidence of a true change of heart, and of its reality and fruits, their Christian life was to demonstrate in after years. Their spiritual training was chiefly in the evangelism, which Mr. Pitman represented in his religious teachings and preaching among them, and which in their after Christian life they so fully illustrated by their fidelity and faithfulness, as well as earnest worship to God. Mr. Pitman was called to it by the exigencies of the times, and the means were an end for its accomplishment, BEIDGETON STATION. 63 and this experience corresponded with the genuine character of Holy Ghost preaching which the people at that time craved so earnestly, and felt in their hearts such a longing for, and which they could only find, in a home, in the connection, and among the earnest and enthusiastic followers of the teachings of Wesley. That we have widely departed, in what is apologiziugly termed, our aggressive movement, or advancement from this old time standard of Methodistic teaching and experience is evident from the teachings of the Fathers, as set forth in Bishop Emory's " History of the Discipline," and other church historians who have embodied the spirit of their times, with the zeal and suc- cess, which under God characterized the work of his servants, in being so pre-eminently fruitful in gathering souls into the Mas- ter's kingdom, on earth, and in building up a lively and ener- getic church, for the honor of his name, and from the effect which their preaching produced upon the people, and the contrast which the present period indicates in the quaint themes, and pulpit quackery, that fill the columns of religious notices, which appear in our secular papers of each week, and which is so clearly demonstrated in the disrelish that so many people ex- press in attending our churches and places of religious worship. Brethren ! there is no use of suppressing matters. The only way, oftentimes, to correct an evil is by exposing it. The church is being shorn of its strength, as well as of its members, by a fail- ure in presenting the gospel themes, and preaching the doctrines of religion, and heeding the apostles' teaching (even to the sacrificing of popularity and fame, or desire for greatness and distinction). " For we preach, not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." It was when " Bridgetown " was first set off as a station that he was sent to it as the preacher in charge, and now after a year's ab- sence in which he had been stationed in Philadelphia, he comes back to " Bridgetown " as the Presiding Elder of the district. The interest that would naturally gather around an event of 64 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. this kind must be apparent to every minister of the gospel who has traveled a circuit, or filled a station, and it is not be wondered at, that half the people of the county, would crowd the place on the quarterly meeting occasion to hear their old pastor, and now the Presiding Elder of the district. In those days such was the dignity of the office, and such the wisdom and talent that were required to fill the position, that the Bishop who made these ap- pointments was very careful in the selections he made of men for these positions, and no man or minister was put into them without having at least the three great requisites of ministerial quality " gifts, grace and usefulness," and that he was a man of deep piety, sound wisdom and pre-eminent discretion, and beside these, it was requisite that he be an able minister of the New Testament, and fully equipped to " preach the word " in demonstration of the Spirit and power ; in fact, he must be a man chosen from the best and most gifted men in the Conference a man who loved the work for the work's sake, and not one who has an eye to the emoluments and honors of the office more than the good of the church, whose interests he was to serve. Mr. Pitman was selected as this man, and though he had been but eight years a traveling preacher, and but five years since his ordination to the office of an elder in the church of God, Bishops McKendree and Hedding selected Charles Pitman from among the host of great men, and good men, that composed the old and time-honored Philadelphia Conference at that time, as the proper man to be appointed Presiding Elder of the West Jersey District, and the subsequent labor and vigilance of Mr. Pitman demon- strated the fact that the Bishop did not make a mistake, nor was his wisdom at fault in making such a selection, and designating him to such an office. The names of the officiary of the " Bridgetown " Quarterly Conference, at that time, were Holmes Parvin and Jonathan Brooks, local deacons ; James Ayars, John Code were exhorters, and Samuel Bowen, Thomas Dunlap, John R. Gary, John BRLDGETON AND SALEM STATIONS. 65 Salkeld and Robert Pool were leaders, and Jonathan Brooks, Thomas Dunlap, Nathan Tomlinson, John Salkeld and William H. Robinson, were the stewards. Salem Station is the last station on the list, and from the plan of the district at that time, we find that it contained only three stations Trenton, "Bridgetown" and Salem. The original Salem Circuit now contains fifteen circuits and stations. " Salem- town," is one of the most venerable land-marks of Methodism. The original old South Street (now Walnut Street Church) still stands, and has an interesting and well-attended congrega- tion, and there hundreds of souls have been converted. Some twenty-five or thirty years ago she branched out, and another church was built, which, though eclipsing the old church in beauty and dimensions (having a grand history thus far) has in no way diminished the glory of the former, or surpassed it in active revival work. But what is a matter of great historic in- terest to this church, is its burial-ground ; where a greater part of the older citizens of Salem City, now sleep their last sleep, among whom rests all that was mortal of the remains of those pioneer fathers of early Methodism, Rev. Benjamin Abbott and Rev. Thomas Ware. The names of the official members were as follows : William Mulford, James Newell and Moses Crane who were local dea- cons ; John Gardiner and Thomas Baker were exhorters ; Maskill Mulford, Charles Ramsey and William L. Mulford were leaders. The Stewards were James Newell, William L. Mulford, William Mulford, Isaac L. Coffee and James W. Mulford. The next in order of the quarterly appointments comes Salem Circuit, which at that time embraced the greater part of Salem County. Among its preaching-places were Allowaystown, Sharptown, Pennsville, Pennsgrove, Sculltown (now called Au- burn), Pedricktown, Pittsgrove, Swedesboro', Murphys (now called Friendship), and Woodstown. The men who rode over this country at that time have ever-enduring laurels added to their 5 66 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. names, and they stand enrolled upon the records of Methodistic fame for their great and good work. Among them were R. Gerry, Williams, Moore, Stewart, Ford, Bartine, Sr., M. Day, Walker, Rusling, Christopher, Osborne, Stout, Gearheart and others, who labored assiduously and indefatigably, and won dis- tinguished trophies for the Master's name. The officiary were John Boqua, and Joseph Jaquett, who were local deacons ; Thomas Fox, Samuel Goslin and Thomas Totten were local preachers; Bartholomew Styles, Daniel Shough, Isaac Shute, William Lay ton, Thomas Davidson, John Holton, Samuel Atkinson, Peter Bilderback and Edward Smith were exhorters ; Malachi Horner, John Avis, William Morris, Zacch- eus Ray, John Summerill, Moses Sampson, Samuel Gilmore, John Dailey, John Ayars, John Styles, John Frazier, Nicholas Hyles, Samuel Fogg, Richard Sparks, Thomas Mills, Samuel Langley, Jacob Loudenslager, Benjamin Wood and Palscar Smith were leaders. The stewards were Thomas Murphy, Samuel Keene, David Richmond, Zaccheus Ray, Jeremiah Stull, Peter Bilderback and William Morris. The number of sermons generally preached by Mr. Pitman during the year ranged from two hundred and ten to two hun- dred and twenty. Quarterly meeting, as afore-mentioned always commenced on Saturday morning. The love feast was the open- ing service on Sabbath morning, presided over by Mr. Pitman, and commenced at 9 A. M. in the summer and 9.30 A. M. in the winter ; and lasting from one and a quarter, to one and three- quarters of an hour. They were seasons of great spiritual power, and religious fervor. Animated singing, earnest narration of re- ligious experience, shouts of praise, and loud breaking hallelujahs were rolled up to heaven in waves of gratitude and thanksgiving that made both the church and the welkin ring. These occa- sions have often been spoken of by our fathers, as scenes in which were disclosed the wonderful power of God. The few who still survive, refer to them as the palmy days of Methodism. SALEM CIRCUIT, QUARTERLY MEETINGS, SINGING. 67 The morning sermon which followed the love feast, was preached by Mr. Pitman, and the people well knew that the trumpet would give no uncertain sound on those occasions. Mr. Pitman stirred and moved by the love feast exercises, would enter the pnlpit with a seraphic glow upon his countenance, announce some familiar hymn, which a choir of a thousand to twelve hun- dred voices would all join in, and with a harmony that would well compare with the singing of any congregation of modern times, and a melody that far transcended the most artistically trained voices of many of our popular quartettes. It was sacred song, prompted by the emotional fervor and holy influence of souls, filled to overflowing with the love of God. The prayer offered by Mr. Pitman is said to have been a most profound, reverential and solemn address to the Deity, and the breathless silence that prevailed seemed to hush all hearts in silent awe, while the preacher held audience with God, for divine aid upon the services. Near its close, as the petition contemplated the rewards of Christian life on earth, culminating in immortal joys in heaven, and the assembling of the people, " where con- gregations ne'er break up, and Sabbaths have no end," the pent- up fires of holy love and spiritual zeal, would flame out in the most hearty ejaculations, and exclamations, of " Amen ! " "Glory to God!" "Hallelujah!" "Praise the Lord!" The prayer being ended, the Scripture lessons were read, which were brief, and a second hymn was sung ; and not infrequently that was : " All hail the power of Jesus' name," etc., or, " O that my load of sin were gone," etc., or, " Come thou fount of every blessing," etc. These, with several others, were favorite hymns with Mr. Pitman. Then came the sermon. We will not attempt to analyze the qualities, or char- acteristics of Mr. Pitman's preaching, or to account for the secret of his power. We may refer to his preaching in another chap- ter farther on. But those quarterly meeting sermons, as they have been commonly denominated, have lived in the hearts and 68 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. memories of those who heard them as long as they lived, and many of our fathers have told us of their wonderful power, and we tell it to the generations following. But few now remain, who had the privilege to hear the great New Jersey apostle for God and Methodism. It was Charles Pitman, under God, more than any other man, who laid the foundations, for the success- ful up-building of Methodism in New Jersey. It may not be an uninteresting matter to the reader for us to glance at the receipts and remuneration, which Mr. Pitman re- ceived, for his services as Presiding Elder. From a careful com- pilation of the amounts, received from the several Circuits and Stations, we find that the salary paid him was from three hundred, to three hundred and fifty dollars, less in many instances than the salary of a young man in his first work in the Conference. In connection with this, an allowance was made of some sixty or seventy-five dollars for house-rent and fuel, as also an allowance for traveling expenses, which included, in connection with the expenses in going to, and from Conference, the keeping of a horse, shoeing, repair of harness, repair of carriage, and all the incidentals in connection with his work on the district. Some- times, when opportunity of public transportation offered, the horse and carriage were left at Camden, and Mr. Pitman would take the steamboat from Philadelphia to Burlington ; but the luxury of a public line of travel, was to be enjoyed only when quarterly meeting was held at some place or circuit, which was located on, or touched the border of the Delaware river. There is no reference to railroad travel in his record. Mr. Pitman not only kept the societies over which he was placed as pastor, and the district of which he was Presiding Elder "well supplied with books," but it is remarkable to note the number he sold. These sales amounted to nearly three hundred dollars quarterly, and in some instances from twelve to thirteen hundred dollars' worth of Books and Conference Minutes were sold yearly. These Books embraced "Hymn Books," "Disci- CHARACTER OF BOOKS SOLD BY MR. PITMAN. 69 plines," "Religious Biographies," "Magazines," "Baxter's Saints' Rest," " Kempis' Christian Pattern," "Memoirs," " Daily Devotional Exercises," " Works on Baptism," " Christian Per- fection," "Doctrinal Tracts," "Bibles," "Bible Dictionaries," "Concordances," "Questions on Biblical Exegesis," "Life of Hester Ann Rogers," " Lady Huntington," " Nelson's Journal," " Doddridge's Rise and Progress," " Call to the Unconverted," "Address to Seekers," "Alleine's Alarm," "Sermons," "Cate- chisms," " Works on the Exposition of the Sacred Scriptures," "Works of Wesley," "Clarke," "Fisk," "Bennett," "Fletcher," and other eminent ministers of Christ, in connection with some others specially designed for the preachers, as "Hannam's Pulpit Assistant," " Young's Night Thoughts," " Watson's Institutes," " Irving's Orations," " Pilgrim's Progress," " Buck's Theological Dictionary," " Christian Manual," "Abbott's Journal," " Clarke's Commentary," " Paley's Evidences " and " Works," " Josephus," " Martindale's Dictionary," " Chalmers' Works," " Drelincourt on Death," " Rollin's History," " Conference Sketches," " Drew's Sermons," " Potts' Sermons," " Home's Introduction," " Battle's Works," " Life of Fletcher," " Irving's Missionary," " Crabb's Synonyms," " Life of Watson," " Bramwell," and others. The Catechism, Conference Minutes and Hymn Books, had a very large and extensive sale, and numbered over two thousand yearly. The writing and making of books were limited, and in those times, were confined to a few, not like the present, when it is said, "Of the making of books there is no end." Think of a minister of the gospel, or a Presiding Elder starting out on his. circuit, or district, with his carriage-box, packed with the afore- mentioned kind of books, offering them for sale to the people ! How many would he sell in a week ? We forbear a reply, and remark, what a sad commentary on the interest that ought to be felt in devotional reading ! Religious experience and practical godliness are suffering, for the want of religious biography, and other similar books. 70 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. It was the consistent and devout lives, the happy and trium- phant deaths, of the early Christians that gave such wonderful influence and rapid spread to the gospel in Apostolic, and subse- quent times. It was the same divine influence that characterized the times and spirit, of early Methodism all over this country, and gave success to the work of the Church in the times of our fathers, and spread far and wide the influence and zeal of that piety and faith, that won so many to the kingdom of Christ. Pause a moment, reader, and ask yourself, where are those valu- able books now ? They gave inspiration to the thought that fired the intellects of Methodism sixty years ago, and that fire is burn- ing in the hearts of their descendants to this day, thank God ! and laid the foundations of the Church of our choice in this section of country, which nothing but a like industry and literature will continue. It was an outside college for the people, and furnished those facilities for mental and spiritual improvement, which, if it had b3en otherwise, they would have failed to have secured, and the Church would have been deprived of its efficiency and effect- iveness in the cause of Christ. Thus Mr. Pitman supplemented his popular ministry, by the circulation of our Church literature, to which our people generally had no access except, by such a measure or means. It would be a long list to give the names of all the different persons, in the various charges and circuits of the District, who purchased books of Mr. Pitman, but among them are found the fathers and mothers of Methodism in New Jersey. Joseph Yard, of Trenton, N. J., heads the list. Budd Sterling, of Burlington, Philip Souder, of Gloucester, and Philip Bilderback, of Salem, follow in immediate succession. Then comes Samuel Carhart, with a long list of the Carharts, Comptons, Bowers, Swings, Fetters, Sextons, McDowells, Bennetts, Barnets, Irelands, Yan- sants, Stangers, Newells, Fislers, Steelmans, Rogers, Mulfords, Browns, McCabes, Richards, Doughtys, Bakers, Townsends, Chapmans, McGees, Taskers, Creeds, Reeds, Turners, Throck- PURCHASERS OF BOOKS, LAYMEN AND PREACHEES. 71 mortons, Lippincotts, Fosters, Davises, Tiltons, Cowperthwaites, Bodines, Wilsons, Becketts, Longacres, Budds, Jones, Smiths, Crowleys, and a host of others. Most of the books that were sold by Mr. Pitman, were the publications of the M. E. Book Concern, New York ; Bibles and Hymn Books being mostly in demand. A regular account of these sales was kept by Mr. Pitman, with both preachers, and people, on each circuit ; and when there were those who had purchased, and were too poor to pay, he frankly forgave the debt, and this amounted in one year to two hundred and fourteen dollars. While it is not convenient for us to give the names of all the persons who purchased books from Mr. Pitman in his jour- neys through New Jersey, it may be a matter of interest to know the names of some of the preachers that were associated with him on the West Jersey District, and who frequently pat- ronized that itinerating "Methodist Book Concern" in those times, when any other was hardly known, and among them were : Revs. W. W. Foulks, William Mulford, William Lum- rais, John Potts, Robert Gerry, Joseph Carey, James Ayars, John McClintock, Waters Burroughs, Daniel Fidler, Anthony Atwood, William Barnes, Edward Page, Samuel Doughty, Riley Barret, Nathan Swain, William A. Wilmer, Solomon Sharp, Joseph Osborn, John Finley, Nicholas Vansant, Sedgewick Rusling, John Walker, George Wolley, John Woolston, James McLaurin, Manning Force, Thomas Sovereign, Eliphalet Reed, John Turner, James B. Parvin, James Newell, R. W. Pether- bridge, P. A. Ogden, William Foster, Wm. McLenahan, Thomas T. Tasker, John Rainey, William Budd and Andrew Fort ; and though blind from the fourth year of her age, the name of Mary Collins, of precious Christian memory, is found several times on the list, as a purchaser of religious books; and Colored John is noted for his purchasing a Camp Meeting Hymn Book. Mary Collins and Colored John have read, and sung themselves, long years ago, as most of their friends now living know, into 72 JLIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the glory-land. What hallowed associations cluster around these names I What sacred memories do they recall ! How few are living now that lived in those times ! Here and there one, like some central oak in a forest levelled by a tempest's furious blast, still stands to tell of the mighty monarchs, that once formed the phalanx of God's militant hosts, led on by the trumpet-tones of the soul-stirring voice of the wonderful Pitman. Atwood, then a young man in his vigor, now bends under the weight of over four-score years, and shouts with faltering voice, " I'm ready for the Master's call !" Sovereign, then just beginning his itinerat- ing career, now stands crowned with the frosts of almost a cen- tury, waiting his welcome to the spirit-laud. Tasker, vigorous and rosy then as the morning light of June, now plumed like a patriarch and preserved like a seer, waits the inevitable call with holy joy that shall introduce him into the New Jerusalem above. The other thirty-eight have gone up, wrapped in the panoply of immortality, and enrolled among the victorious conquerors of the King of saints ; they have put on their diadem of eternal conquest, and their crown of unfading glory, and are lifting their glad hosannas of never-ceasing praise to the "King eternal, im- mortal, invisible, the only wise God, who hath immortality dwel- ling in light, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." A historian of subsequent times, noted for his correctness in detail, and graphic, and interesting description of events, and things, writes thus of the West Jersey District at the time when Mr. Pitman entered upon it as Presiding Elder : "The condition of the church in all that region was low. Methodism, indeed, in many parts of the district, had scarcely a name. Calvinistic churches were scattered here and there throughout the territory, and, even where there was no regular church organization, the people held largely to Calvinistic sen- timents. Here, then, was a vast and magnificent field for the exercise of his popular talents, and the dissemination of the doc- trines of Methodism doctrines which were embalmed in his CONDITION OF DISTRICT. 73 soul by a blessed experience, and cherished by his intellect, as giving the only true exposition of the word of God. " Never did a man go forth better qualified by natural en- dowments and gracious influences, for the work to which he had been called. During the eight years of his previous ministry, his mind had been enlarged by careful discipline and study his elocution was at times, and especially on great occasions, over- mastering and resistless, his piety sincere and deep, all of which, when added to his official position, gave him an influence almost unbounded. He went to his district, not only like a son of thunder, striking terror to the souls of ecclesiastical opponents, but like the silver-mouthed Apollos, soothing the sorrows of the penitent and gladdening the hearts of Christians, until tears of holy joy fell in showers like summer rain. " During the camp-meeting season, when it was known that he was to preach, the whole country for many miles would be on the move. Not infrequeutly he would have five, six or even seven thousand persons, to hear him on such occasions. His audiences, were often chained to the spot for two hours and a half at a time, forgetful of everything, but the great theme of the redemption of a lost world upon which he dwelt. Towards the latter part of his sermon, unconsciously and instinctively, the people would rise, one after another, until the whole congrega- tion were on their feet, and when he finished, it was difficult to distinguish between the rejoicing of Christians, and the weeping of awakened sinners. It would seem as if heaven had been drawn down to earth, or earth had been lifted up to heaven. At one of these great gatherings in the pines of lower Jersey, he preached three times with such remarkable power, that three hundred and sixty professed conversion. " He held a meeting at Cape May Court House before there was any society formed in that neighborhood, and so powerfully were the people wrought upon that he dismissed them three times before they would leave the place. 74 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. "His quarterly meetings were seasons of so much interest that persons often traveled all night in order to be present, and his congregations were composed of all classes of the commu- nity. The rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, met together, and were alike moved to penitence and prayer. " The present prosperous condition of the churches in West Jersey is, in a large measure, attributable to him, and through all that region he was peerless in his power, and his name to this day is a synonym for all that is grand and glorious, in our Methodistic Zion."* Where twelve circuits and stations covered the territory embraced in his district, are now three districts and the larger part of a fourth, constituting nearly the entire bounds of an Annual Conference, and embracing nearly two hundred circuits and stations, with a membership of thirty- eight thousand, six hundred and eighty-two, and nearly five thousand probationers. It may be of interest for our readers to know of some of the principal appointments, on the West Jersey District, at the time when Mr. Pitman was closing his labors as presiding elder. They were as follows: Burlington, Trenton, Crosswicks, Free- hold, Manahawkin, Tuckerton, Good Luck, Tom's River, Long Branch, Attleborough, Bethany, Red Bank, Camden, Wood- bury, Chew's Landing, Paulsboro', Haddonfield, Bethel, Union, Black wood town, Lumberton, Medford, Mount Holly, Pember- ton, Juliastown, Wrightstown, New Egypt, Emley's Hill, At- sion, Wrangleboro', Cape May, C. H. Dennis's, Port Elizabeth, Bargaintown, Egg Harbor, Tuckahoe, Estills, Pleasant Mills, Green Bank, Weymouth, Tabernacle, Port Republic, May's Landing, Absecon, Cumberland and Gloucester, Bridgeton, Fairfield, Fork Mills, Pittsgrove, Broad Neck, Mauricetown, Dividing Creek, Millville, Salem, Salem Circuit, Sharptown, Allowaystown, Peun's Neck, Swing's Corner and Pilesgrove. These appointments embraced the principal work of the dis- * Rev. E. H. Stokes, D.D., Conference Memorial, pages 248-250. QUARTERLY AND REVIVAL MEETINGS. 75 trict, and the usual number of quarterly visitations were about twenty, at which, as circumstances would permit, he gener- ally preached twice, and the number of sermons preached in the district during the year were from one hundred and fifty to two hundred. This indicates that the regular preaching appoint- ments on an average were not less than two each week, and sometimes he would fill in one or two, in the intermediate time of his quarterly meetings, for wherever he stopped for the night in his journeyings from one quarterly appointment to another, he would, if practicable, have the people called together for a service in the evening, and it was in this way, that his influence became so powerful, and was so wonderfully felt among the peo- ple of his district ; and many of the smaller appointments re- ceived the benefit of his ministrations, where it would have been impossible, for the accommodation and entertainment, of the masses to attend the quarterly meetings; and thus hundreds, and even thousands, heard him more frequently, than if they were dependent for the opportunity at his stated quarterly visi- tations. Revival meetings were quickened, and made occasions of wonderful interest by his presence and ministrations. He was fully alive to all the interests of his work, and prosecuted it with an energy and determination, that made it truly great and effective, in building up the cause of Christ among the people. As has been seen, the selling of books, formed a very im- portant part of the business and duty of a Presiding Elder, in Mr. Pitman's time, the question may arise in the mind of the reader as to what necessitated this onerous duty of a Presiding Elder, or was it done by him, as a means of securing pecuniary advantage, and to add to his meagre support ? Coincident and concurrent with the time of the origin, and formation of the M. E. Church, in this country, our fathers saw the necessity of a pure and healthy religious literature, as being a valuable and efficient auxiliary in promoting spiritual life, and doctrine, among our people, as well as their edification and up-building, in 76 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. knowledge, and a right, and intelligent understanding of the principles, and systems of doctrine, and church government, would be productive of greater good and give a more perma- nent character to the work and cause of Christianity among the people. Hence the question in regard to the printing and circulating of books, and the profits arising therefrom, became a matter of discussion and action with the church as early as the year 1787. The subject was then introduced into the discipline in the fol- lowing paragraph : " As it has been frequently recommended by the preachers and people that such books" (alluding to Mr. Wesley's books and others), " are wanted to be printed in this country, we therefore propose," (1.) "That the advice of the conference shall be desired concerning any valuable impression, and their consent be ob- tained before any step be taken for the printing thereof." (2.) " That the profits of the books, after all necessary ex- penses are defrayed, shall be applied, according to the discretion of the conference towards the college (Cokesbury College, which was our first educational institution in America), the preachers' fund, the deficiencies of the preachers, the distant missions, or the debts of our churches. These disciplinary provisions were modified somewhat by the conferences from 1787 to 1800. In 1787 the Book Concern was projected, and started on a borrowed capital of $600, and Rev. John Dickens was subsequently ap- pointed book agent, with Henry Willis, Thomas Haskins and the preacher who was to be stationed in Philadelphia from time to time, were the book committee." "In 1800 the whole system was remodeled, and Rev. Ezekiel Cooper was appointed the superintendent of the 'Book Con- cern,' and to whom was given the authority to regulate the pub- lications, and all other parts of the business, according to the state of the finances from time to time, making it obligatory upon him to inform the Annual Conferences if any of the DUTY OF PRESIDING ELDER IX RELATION TO BOOKS. 77 preachers or private members of the society neglect to make due payment," etc. The next clause under this head made it the duty of every Presiding Elder where no book-steward was appointed to see that his district be fully (or well) supplied with books, and it was made obligatory upon him i.e., his duty to order such books as were wanted, and to give direction to whose care they were to be sent, and he was to take the oversight of all the books sent into his district, and to account for the same. He also was to have books distributed among the several circuits of his dis- trict, and was to keep an account with each preacher who re- ceived or sold books, and to receive the money and forward it to the superintendent or book steward. It was also the duty of every preacher who had charge of a circuit " to see that his circuit was duly supplied with books," and to take charge of all the books which were sent to him from time to time, and he was to account to the Presiding Elder for the same, and when books were sent to distant places the Presid- ing Elder or preacher was allowed to put a small additional price on such books as would best bear it, in order to pay the expense of freight or transportation. Thus the book business became an important part of the work, of both a Presiding Elder, and a traveling preacher, and though some changes have been made in the methods of carrying out the work, the church has never re- linquished the obligation of our preachers from acting as book- agents for our publications, " or of keeping the societies well supplied with books." Another section in the same chapter from which we gather the afore-mentioned information says of the printing of books, and the application of the profits arising therefrom, " It is of equal importance in the consideration of this question. The promulgation of religious knowledge by means of the press is next in importance to the preaching of the gospel. To supply the people, therefore, with the most pious and useful books, in 78 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. order that they may fill up their leisure hours in the most prof- itable way, is an object worthy of the deepest attention of their pastors. On this account we are determined to move in the most cautious manner in respect to our publications. The books of infidelity and profaneness, with which our country at present abounds, demand our strongest exertions to counteract their per- nicious influence, and every step shall be taken which is consist- ent with our finances to furnish our friends, from time to time with the most useful treatises on every branch of religious knowledge, and the consideration of all the profits shall be pledged to our chartered fund, for the benefit of the distressed preachers, both traveling and superannuated, will, we trust, prove a considerable additional inducement to our brethren to purchase our books." It will be readily seen from these extracts from Bishop Em- ory's " History of the Discipline" what judicious care, what deep and heartfelt interest our fathers had in disseminating re- ligious knowledge, and circulating a literature, that would be both food to the soul and intelligence to the brain. The wise discrimination, was highly commendable, and exhibits the sound wisdom and good judgment of the men of those times, as well as shows how thoroughly the church was alive to the educa- tional advantages and evangelism of those times, and thus min- isters and church officers became an important medium through which, and by which this great work was to be accomplished. CHAPTER VI. MR. PITMAN APPOINTED PRESIDING ELDER OF THE EAST JERSEY DISTRICT. IN the spring of 1830, at the session of the Philadelphia Conference, which that year met in the city of Philadel- phia, Mr. Pitman, having filled the regular time of appoint- ment for a Presiding Elder on a district (viz. four years), was changed from the West Jersey District and appointed by Bishop Hedding, Presiding Elder of what was then known as the East Jersey District, and which included all that part of the State lying above the north line of the West Jersey District, and extending beyond the northerly lines of the State separating New Jersey from New York, to what is now known as the northerly line of the Newark Conference, extending westerly to Hamburg and Green Mountains, down Rockaway Valley to Morristown, and thence southerly, including Somerset and por- tions of Hunterdon Counties, down to the line of the West Jersey District, and extending eastward, including Staten Island. The section of country west of this district embraced what was then called Asbury District, Warren and Sussex Counties, with some portions of Pennsylvania. It seems from a small memorandum book kept by Mr. Pit- man of his wprk and appointments, that Trenton Station, Tren- ton Circuit and Freehold Circuit were taken from the West Jersey District, that year, and added to the East Jersey District, as they appear in this minute book kept by him of his quarterly meeting appointments on both districts. " This was another vast territory in this State," says an afore- mentioned author " in which Methodism, though in some locali- 79 80 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. ties was comparatively strong, had in many places only a feeble and sickly existence, being overshadowed by its old, well-organ- ized, wealthy and influential rival the various Calvinistic Churches." " Here in this field, too, ' like causes produced like results/ with those which had been realized in the West Jersey District. Mr. Pitman's quarterly visitations and camp-meeting occasions were still seasons of great interest and spiritual power. At all these meetings there were marked displays of the divine pres- ence. And the eloquence and tears of Mr. Pitman, like a swelling flood, swept down all opposition, and left him an in- tellectual and spiritual giant, sole master of the field." * His very name was potent for good, and such was the confidence which the people had in him, and such was his geniality of dis T position, amiableness of nature, and purity of Christian charac- ter, that the very name Pitman became a synonym for goodness, and having such unbounded influence, carefully, yet earnestly, courageously, yet calmly, zealously, yet considerately, did he wield it for the good of souls and the up-building of the church of God, and without a murmur of complaint at the hardships he was called to undergo, he was faithful in his work, diligent in his Master's service, and made it a point of conscience, as well as of duty, to be at every appointment, and discharge his duty there in the fear of God. And God owned his labor, and crowned it with glorious success, for he saw its fruits in every place he visited, and his preaching seemed to add a wonderful impetus to the spiritual interests of the people, and gave the church a wide-spread influence, in every community where he labored. The following were the appointments on the district : New Brunswick Station, Freehold Circuit, Trenton Station, Trenton Circuit, Essex Circuit, Morristown Station, Bloomfield Circuit, Bellville Station, Newark Station, Elizabethtown Station, Rah- *Kev. E. H. Stokes, D.D., Conference Memorial, page 250. PRESIDING ELDER OF THE EAST JERSEY DISTRICT. 81 way Station, Staten Island Circuit, New Providence Station, Somerset Mission and Bergen Neck Mission. These appoint- ments numbering seven circuits and nine stations, embraced the larger part of the State of New Jersey and the territory, of what is now known to be included within six Conference Dis- tricts. And without the faculties which the present day affords for travelling, Mr. Pitman made these long journeys over hill and down dale, across broad waters, amid inclement and unpro- pitious atmospheres, defying summers heat and winter's cold, to attend to his work as Presiding Elder, and meeting regularly his engagements on these seven circuits and in these nine stations, laboring to build up the kingdom of God, and giving a vigilant superintendence to the general work, on a salary hardly equal- ing what is now paid in a third or fourth rate appointment, on some portions of that same district. The first appointment which heads the list of the East Jersey District is New Brunswick Station, and the first quarterly meeting which Mr. Pitman held after his appointment as pre- siding elder of East Jersey District was at New Brunswick, May 1st and 2d, 1830. As we have given an account of this place, and its interest to Methodism, when Mr. Pitman was stationed there as preacher in charge, we need not detain our readers with further detail. The names of the officiary of New Brunswick Station at that time (1830) were R. Anderson, local preacher; and William Owens, Samuel Pitman, William B. Potts, exhorters; and Jacob Edmunds, Aaron Slack, Robert Miller, William B. Potts, leaders ; and Robert Miller, John H. Speer, William Packer, Jacob Edmunds, Aaron Slack were the stewards. The next in order in the list of appointments is Freehold Cir- cuit. As this circuit was formerly attached to the West Jersey District, and was made a part of the East Jersey District at the Conference held in Philadelphia, April 14, 1830, and as an account, also, has been given of it in our 6 82 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. description of the appointments of the West Jersey Dis- trict, we may omit any further allusion to it, excepting to note a change in the officiary. Francis Murphy, Samuel Throckinorton, William Baker and Samuel Hill are advan- ced to the rank of local preachers, and Hendrick Vandine, James Miller, Richard Parker and Ezekiel Craven were added to the former list of exhorters, and Joseph Parker, Benjamin Brown, Joseph Goodenough, Benjamin King, William Murphy, Abraham Herbert, James Martin, David Hall, Joseph Bowne and Richard Longstreet were added to the list of leaders, the stewards remaining as formerly. The next appointment in the list of Quarterly Visitations is Trenton Station. This being taken from the West Jersey Dis- trict and added to the East Jersey District, as was Freehold Circuit, and reference having already been made to it, we need only note the changes made in the officiary by additional mem- bers. Joseph A. Yard, Charles Sutterly, Elias Wampole and John V. Sterling were now the exhorters, and James Skirm, George Chetle, Daniel Fenton and Samuel Phillips re-inforced the corps of leaders ; the stewards' names are the same as for- merly. The next appointment on the quarterly plan is Trenton Cir- cuit. This embraced Pennington, River church, Lambertville, Princeton, Allentown, Clarksborough, Crosswicks, Bordentown and Three Tuns (now Hedding), including that section of country lying north-cast and south-east of Trenton, and forming one of the most extensive circuits of the district, and John Fidler, David James and Robert Hutchinson were local elders, and Ezekiel Robbins, William Foster and Solomon Wyatt were local deacons; James Dougherty, Samuel Chambers, Ralph Stout, Thomas Lovel, Daniel Bowman, Israel Pearce, Amos Merscilles and Thomas Addis, were local preachers, and James Bunn, John Knowles, James S. Wykoff, James McCabe, John Dickson, David Bowman, Thomas Sill, Joseph B. Kirkpatrick, TRENTON AND ESSEX CIRCUIT. 83 William McCabe, Allen Thompson, William Potts and Charles H. Brittain, were exhorters : Charles Johnson, Asher Hankinson, Tunis Service, Samuel Atkinson, Charles Beatty, Charles Brit- tain, William Potts, William McCabe, David Bowman, John Knowles, Israel Pearce, William Vanschoick, John Huffman, Nathaniel McGoinegal, John Dickson, Joseph Vankirk and William Mathews were leaders, and John H. Rulon, James McCabe, Joseph Bunn, William Foster, Ezekiel Bobbins, Staten Jefferies and Joakin Hill were the stewards. As Trenton Circuit, in course of time, had grown and become very large, soon after Mr. Pitman's appointment to the district, all that section of country east of Trenton, embracing Allen- town, Hightstown, Crosswicks, Clarksburg, Recklesstown, New Egypt and other places up to the line of Freehold Circuit, was set off, and it was called Crosswicks Circuit. Its officiary were : David James and Robert Hutchinson, local elders, and Ezekiel Robbins, William Foster and Solomon Wyatt, local deacons; Samuel Chambers, Thomas Lovel, David Bowman and Israel Pearce, local preachers, and James McCabe, John Dickson, William McCabe, Allen Thompson and Charles H. Brittain were exhorters, and Charles Johnson, Abner Hankinson, Wil- liam McCabe, James McCabe, William Vanschoick, John Huff- man and John Dickson were the leaders, and John H. Rulon, James McCabe, William Foster, Staten Jeffrey, Charles John- son and Enoch Knowles were stewards. Essex Circuit comes next on the list, and embraced the follow- ing appointments : Springfield, Middleville, Camptown, Whip- pany, Parsippany, Verona, Hopewell, Chatham, Dennville, Peapack, Mendham, Madison, Rockaway Valley, Germantown, Mount Horeb, Bound Brook, P. Dickinson (private house), Union Village, Wood bridge and Perth Amboy. The first Methodist Society was formed in Madison in 1828, by Rev. D. Bartine, Sr., with Thomas Sovereign, colleague, who travelled Essex Circuit that year, and Thomas Sovereign preached the 84 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. first sermon that was preached in that place by a Methodist preacher. The officiary at that time were John Hancock, Joshua Birch, local elders, and Henry Clark, Elam Genung were local deacons, and Henry S. Cook, Henry R. Hedges, John Edwards, Enoch Reed, Lorain Rood and Mulford Day were local preachers, and Samuel R. Wilson, Jacob Demouth, Ralph Smith, William Shauger, Ebenezer Pruden, Elihu B. Mott, John Warner, David Coddington, Philemon Dickerson, John Sherman, Jacob Nichols, Aristides J. Heustis were exhorters, and Thomas Eddy, Peter Moore, Mathias Swain, Henry Miller, Jacob Winget, Jacob King, John Sherman, Ingham Kinsey, Benjamin Weed, John Bryant, John W. Hancock, David Sandford, Moses Brookfield* Daniel B. Tunis, Luther Novice, Mulford Day, Richardson Grey, Elam Drake were leaders, and Isaac Beach, Ralph Smith, Elam Genung, John P. Cooke, Osborn Scudder were the stewards. The next on the list of quarterly appointments is Morristown. This was an old land-mark of Methodism, and became a regular station in 1829, Rev. N. Porter being the first preacher ap- pointed to the place, after it was separated from Essex Circuit, who remained one year, and in 1830 Rev. John Potts was ap- pointed as the preacher for that Conference year. The officiary were Oliver Badgeley and Isaac Bird, local preachers, and Moses Hatfield, Hiram G. McCoswick, Benjamin A. Sherwood, Zetus Searles, James Cook and James H. James were the ex- horters, and James Cook, Moses Hatfield, Hiram G. McCor- mick, Samuel T. Dickinson, James H. James, Charles Crowell, James Brown, Mark Disosway, William Hilton were the leaders, and James Cook, William Knight, James H. James, Moses Hatfield, James Brown, Job Brookfield and Ebenezer Condit were the stewards. The next on the list of appointments is Bloomfield Circuit ; it embraced all that section of country north of Newark, lying be- tween the Passaic River and Orange Mountain, including EXTRACT FROM CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE SUPPLEMENT 85 Orange and several appointments along, and beyond the moun- tain, and extended up to Paterson and thence down the Passaic River to Bellville. Mr. Henry Wilde, of Newark, N. J., speaking of this circuit in the Christian Advocate Supplement, January 6th, 1887, says : " When Edmund S. Janes left his school in Bloomfield to join the Conference, his twin brother, Edwin L. Janes, took his place, and soon followed in the steps of his brother. I well remember his examination when he applied for license to preach. Rev. Charles Pitman had been appointed presiding elder on the district. The Quarterly Conference was held in the church in Fairfield. The elder remarked before the ex- amination, 'The doors to the entrance into the ministry had been opened too wide, and he intended to be more particular in granting license to preach.' This had a rather depressing influence on the young man. He was a little embarrassed. I could see the tears start in his eyes, and he said : ' Will you allow me, sir, to refer to some notes I have with me? ' The elder replied: ' O yes, I am glad you have them.' The examination was very satisfactory and the license granted. " Brother Winner had labored hard on the circuit, giving special atten- tion to Orange. He seemed determined that Methodism should have a lodgment there. He made arrangements to build a church, and selected persons from Newark and Bloomfield to be trustees, with two in Orange. At the ensuing Conference, Bellville was set off as a station, and Bloom- field was associated with Orange and a few other appointments east of the Orange Mountain. The appointments west of the mountain were annexed to another circuit. Methodism continued to prosper for some time, and the little stone church had become too small. The majority of the members were living in the two villages of Bloomfield and West Bloomfield, and on the avenue connecting the two, or, more properly speaking, leading from one to the other. When the little stone church was built there were but few Methodists in Bloomfield, and they were scattered over the township. The location was supposed to be most con- venient for all, but through changes of business and addition of new members it became necessary to build a larger church and change the location. A plot of ground was given, fronting on the avenue, a little east of the upper village and near the factories, where the main strength of the society lay. The church was dedicated in the fall of 1836, and seemed a grand success. Rev. Charles Pitman, then in his prime, preached in the morning, Rev. John Kennaday in the afternoon and 86 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Rev. Levi Scott, the late senior Bishop in the evening. For many years Methodism had but a feeble existence in this vicinity, and her doctrines were but lightly esteemed. The old Calvinistic faith and horrible de- crees seem to have laid fast hold upon the people. Previous to the building of the small stone church there had been preaching at the house of Naomi Cakefair, an appointment on the Haverstraw and Bergen Circuits. Most of the preachers who began to make some impression have passed away. One yet lingers in Philadelphia, the Rev. Anthony Atwood. He is still of precious memory here. He was on the circuit some years previous to the date first given, and stirred the hearts of the people ; afterward stationed in Morristown, and had a wonderful revival. It was then deemed necessary to strike heavy blows at old-fashioned Calvinism. Pitman was especially earnest, and could hardly deliver a sermon without referring to it. He was in his element on camp-meeting occasions. I recollect one of his outbursts of eloquence at a camp-meet- ing more than fifty years ago. After setting forth what he considered the absurdities of the doctrine and its evil tendencies, he exclaimed, ' It has got the consumption,' and, turning to Dr. Reese, who was on the platform, he said: 'There is no cure for consumption, is there, doctor?' He answered ' No, when well seated.' Then the preacher said : ' The doctrine must die, and I would like to stand upon its grave and preach its funeral sermon.' When I think of Methodism in Bloomfield fifty- eight years ago and now, the change seems marvelous. There has been an increase of stationed preachers, but it appears a decrease in the num- ber of local preachers. I can scarcely find one of my old associates. There has been a great change in the views and feelings of the members of other churches, and I sometimes think Methodism has done as much outside as within her organized societies." The names of Edwin L. Janes and John Buckley appear on the list as local preachers, and John N. Crane, William D. Beach, Robert R. Barnum were the exhorters, and Josiah Cramer, Gur- line Doremus, James McCracken, Parker Teeds, Alfred Moor- house, Demas Harrison, Henry Pierce, Sr., Anthony Miller, Richard Kelsall, Peter Moore, Robert R. Barnum, John Rad- cliff, Henry Wilde, William Bunnel, Lucas Baldwin, Nathaniel Cort and James Buckley were leaders, and Henry Pierce, Jr., Demas Harrison, Josiah Crane, Henry Wilde, Gurline Dore- mus, Nathan Harned, Archibald Lyon were the stewards. BELLVILLE, NEWARK AND ELIZABETH STATIONS. 87 The next appointment is Bellville Station, which was set off from Bloomfield Circuit in 1831, and made a separate charge by itself. The officiary were John Dow, local elder, and Wil- liam M. SanforcJ, William Lee, John Lee, Calvin Lathrop, George Tucker, Robert Wakelin, were local preachers, and Jeremiah T. Brower, Anthony Brown, were exhorters, and John Lee, Jeremiah T. Brower, Anthony Brown, Abraham Coddington, Stephen Sargent and Pompey Prall (colored) were leaders, and the last named was also an exhorter, and Jeremiah T. Brower, Ralph Pomeroy, Robert Pine, Calvin Lathrop, John Lee, were the stewards. The next appointment on the Quarterly Meeting list is Newark Station. This was Halsey Street Church, and where the first session of the New Jersey Conference was held after being set off from the Philadelphia Conference in 1836 as a separate Conference, Bishop Waugh presiding, April 26, 1837. During Mr. Pitman's time of Presiding Eldership the follow- ing are the names of the officiary of Newark Station : William Verdenburg and Johnson Gould were local elders, and Abraham C. Smith, Henry T. Hopkins, Robert Anderson, were local preachers, and Edward W. Mitchel, John S. Swaim, John Van- name, Jacob Aber, James H. Scribner, were exhorters, and Harvey Scribner, Gilbert Dudley, E. W. Mitchel, Reuben Ed-' monds, William Murphy, Henry Dunster, Abraham C. Smith, John S. Swaim, John Stephens, William S. Scribner, Johnson Smith, Joseph Law, Henry Hopkins, John Vanname, William N. Searles, Abraham Clarke, Henry Holden, Jacob Aber, Elias Francis, Robert Anderson, William N. Fitzgerald, Daniel D. Forkner, George D. Sutton, F. A. Francisco, John N. Gould, were the leaders, and William Murphy, Noble Barry, George Cross, Calvin Tompkins, John W. Inness, John Ailing, were the stewards. The next appointment following Newark Station is " Eliza- bethtown " Station (now called Elizabeth). Methodism was in- 88 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. troduced into this place about the year 1786, when Thomas Morrell, father of the late Rev. Francis A. Morrell, of the New Jersey Conference, and major of the Fourth New Jersey Brig- ade, of marked Revolutionary fame, retired from the active duties of military service, and began to preach as a local preacher in Elizabeth, then known as " Elizabethtown " Circuit, and subsequently entered the ranks of the regular itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During Mr. Pitman's administration the officiary were Francis A. Morrell and Isaac Bird, local preachers, and John Vanname and Jacob Aber, exhorters, and Jonathan Chandeler and Robert Wood- ruff, leaders ; stewards not given. The next appointment on the quarterly plan is Rahway Sta- tion. The officiary were James Bailey and Jeremiah O. Tuni- son, who were local preachers, and Charles Stearns, exhorter, and William H. Smith, Charles Stearns, Wesley Robertson, Jeremiah O. Tunison were leaders, and John Wilson, Milan Ross, James Jaques, William H. Smith, Wesley Robertson, James Bailey, Michael Harned, were the stewards. The next on the plan is Staten Island Circuit, which at that time embraced all of Staten Island. The principal appointment was Bethel, and Rev. William Lummis was preacher in charge. The first preacher stationed on Staten Island was Rev. Thomas Drummond, in the year 1810. Though Bishop Asbury preached there, in a private house, in 1773, and several times afterwards, when journeying from Philadelphia to New York, it does not seem that any regular appointment was made before 1810. It has been a matter of much inquiry, as well as of some curi- osity, how it came to pass that Staten Island is included within the bounds of, and under the control of, New York State, while its territory is so much nearer, and is only separated by a small kill or sound from New Jersey, and that, while it is included in New York State, it should have been attached to the Old New Jersey Conference, and included within its boundary, and is 8TATEN ISLAND TEEEITOBY. 89 now a part of the Newark Conference, in consequence of a divi- sion of the New Jersey Conference in 1854. " In 1664, Charles II. granted to his brother, Duke of York, all that territory lying between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. He at once sent expeditions out and settled Elizabeth- town and Newark, with Middletown and Shrewsbury, in Mon- mouth County. In the mean time he sold his claim west of the Hudson, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The boundary was not specified with reference to Stateii Island, and the proprietorship became a doubtful question, although the island had previously been held by the Dutch and Swedes as well as the English colonists. Its geographical position, it was agreed, allied it to the nearest mainland, while, on the other hand, it was maintained that the waters of the Hudson flowed west of it. The Duke of York finally setted it, by declaring that all the islands of the Hudson that could be encompassed within a day's sail belonged to him. Captain Billop, a favorite of the Duke, accomplished the feat in the ship "Bentley," and, was rewarded for the service with the gift of the southern part of the island now known as Bentley's Manor. Thus the island, so unimportant then, was wrested from New Jersey, and has become of so much consequence as to attract the attention not only of legislators but of congressmen in the struggle for right of way to it." It is the home of some of the wealthiest men of this country, whose palatial residences skirt the whole island, to- gether with its inland towns, assuming proportions of young cities, give it a picturesque and beautiful appearance. It is also the final resting-place of the remains of some of New York's princely dead. The officiary, at the time Mr. Pitman was presiding elder, were, William Cole, local elder ; Charles Price, local deacon ; and James Wood, John Wood, and Sylvanus Decker were ex- horters ; and Daniel Simmons leader ; and Daniel Crockeron, 90 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D.' John Hillyer, Daniel Simmons, James Wood, Abraham Anten, were the stewards. Staten Island contains now (1887) the following appoint- ments : Asbury, Bethel, Grace, Kingsley, Mt. Zion, St. John's, St. Mark's, St. Paul's, Summerfield, Trinity, and Woodrow, and numbers seventeen hundred and eighty members, and two hundred and twenty-six probationers. Methodism has a firm hold upon the hearts of the people, and is still increasing year after year, in numbers, wealth, and church enterprises and ac- commodations. The next appointment is New Providence Station. It is one of the oldest appointments in northern New Jersey. Mr. Pit- man, during his term of presiding eldership on the East Jersey District, made his home and place of residence at New Provi- dence, and from this place, would be gone often from three to four weeks, attending his quarterly meetings, and the duties of his district. The officiary were Stephen Day, local deacon ; Benjamin Day, local preacher ; and Jonathan Totten and Peter D. Day were exhorters ; and Stephen Day, Jr., Jonathan Totten and Squire Manning were leaders; and David S. Clark, John Crane, David Wood, Amos Wilcox and Erastus Crossfield were the stewards. Somerset Mission, which comes next, seems to have had no distinct organization, and was supplied by local preachers from the adjacent circuits and charges. As also was Bergen Neck Mission, yet Mr. Pitman made regular quarterly visitations to both of these appointments. At the Philadelphia Conference which met at Wilmington, Del., April 11, 1832, Mr. Pitman was elected a representative of that body to the General Conference which met in the city of Philadelphia, on the first day of May of that year, and continued its session till the twenty-eighth of that month. In this Confer- ence some important changes took place in the temporal econo- CHURCH OFFICERS AND EXHORTERS. 91 my of the church, and some changes in discipline, which Mr. Pitman took an important part in advocating and establishing. He believed in the aggressive spirit of Methodism, but was a man " to make haste slowly," in adopting changes from the sharp and incisive methods of Wesley, in dealing with delin- quent church members, and other forms of church government, and consequently changes and alterations were adopted by him, only after great consideration, and often after quite elaborate de- bate. Our fathers laid their hands carefully on established usages, lest in adopting the new, they would part with the better, the older forms of government. Something worthy of note in this list of church officers and helpers, is the large corps of exhorters, which were employed in these circuits and in these stations. No field of labor seems have been without them, and their large number would seem to indi- cate the value and efficiency of that office, as helpers in the great moral field of Christian activity, and usefulness. The office, we are sorry to say, has almost become obsolete, and the name and character of this earnest and energetic soul-saver, is almost ex- tinct in the annals of Quarterly Conference registers, and there are in this day hundreds of circuits and stations, which, in an- swer to the question, " Who are the exhorters?" the ominous re- ply would be, " We have none ! " and in some official boards the character of the office is entirely unknown. They were a power in the early days of Methodism, and Mr. Pitman found them valuable co-adjutors and helpers in his widely extended and laborious work, in such districts as he traveled, and they were available as supplying the poorer places with religious ser- vices, and were eminently instrumental in opening up new places and in cultivating new fields and leading thousands of souls to Christ, and in forming those nuclei and centres which in after years, have developed into some of our best country ap- pointments. Methodism cannot well afford to lay down her im- plements of warfare, or relinquish any part of her effective agen- 92 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. cies and vitalizing organizations. Her army must be preserved intact, and her soldiers kept equipped in the field ; and every church should have its exhorters and local preachers, as well as stewards and leaders, and the disciplinary requirement should be faithfully observed, " That regular and systematic employ- ment should be assigned to them, either by the Presiding Elder or preacher in charge, and not send the office in the street or in the country begging for work." What an intense interest clusters around the names of each of these districts ! In many, if not in the most, of these places, these godly men, these grand old heroes of Methodism in New Jersey, were the founders, of hundreds of the societies that now are the large and self-sustaining churches, in the bounds of these two Conferences, and who have left a Methodistic posterity that have been distinguished and honored by their connection with such a royal ancestry, and now live to enjoy that royal bounty, which flowed from a benevolence and pious desire, to perpetuate the church of Christ, as a rich legacy of love to their children. They desired that when they had passed from the stage of human action, that these monuments of their love to God and man, would live on, and bless future generations, and to-day tens of thou- sands of Christian worshippers, are enjoying the benefits of the sacrifices and toils, that the fathers and mothers of Methodism, made in this country fifty and sixty years ago, and whose names are well deserving a place in connection with this history, and are revered as precious legacies to the church. They justify a pause, and a record here. It is these precious thoughts, that move us to gratitude and praise to God, that we have been hon- ored with such a noble and distinguished ancestry. The men of those times were our fathers, the women of those times were our mothers, and nobly did they do their part in laying the founda- tions of that church whose distinguished privileges and blessings we now enjoy. Their names are worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance, and this volume is monumental, as well as bio- APPOINTMENTS BY MR. PITMAN. 93 graphical, to their memories ; it is to register and record the valiant and noble service of these honored saints of the church of God. While we have given the names of the preachers and the offi- cial members of these charges and circuits, it may not be unin- teresting to our readers to know the preaching-places, at least some of the more prominent places, which will also indicate the early history of Methodism in many places in this State. A year's labor in official visitation which was required to be done quarterly, of Mr. Pitman's appointments on East Jersey Dis- trict, was as follows : New Brunswick, Bethany, Trenton, Allen- town, Whippany, Morristown, Farfield, Parsippany, Bellville, Newark, Elizabethtown, Rahway, Stateu Island, Long Branch, Bordentown, New Germantown, Centreville, Haverstraw, Union Village, Flemington, New Providence, Orange, Hope well, Den- ville, Bloomfield, Plainfield, Mount Horeb, Northfield, French- town, Quakertown, Freehold, Keyport, Matteawan, Long Branch and Harmony. The salary received for this labor was $451, one dollar in excess of the allowance, and traveling expenses which were $75.11, and fuel, $40, making a total for a year's receipts to be $560.11. " This year a camp-meeting was held near Newton, Sussex County. Mr. Pitman was a stranger in that mountainous re- gion, but his popularity had preceded him, and the expectations were great. The congregation gathered was immense. Law- yers, physicians, judges, men of wealth and influence from all parts of the country, came to hear the gospel of the Son of God. The preacher seemed to have special qualifications for the work before him, and torrents of baptized eloquence fell from his lips with such overmastering power that strong men were bowed to the earth like the tempest-swept forest, and multitudes yielded to be saved. " Many persons of wealth in the community, supposing money could secure all they might desire, made large offers if he would 94 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. remain and preach for them again. But he had his work, and no offers which man might make could induce him to turn aside from his God-appointed path." "During the summer of 1831 a camp-meeting was held near New Brunswick. Charles Pitman preached on the first day of August. At the close of his discourse the people were so over- whelmed that a deathly silence prevailed all over the ground. Tears copious and glistening gushed up from every heart. The heaven-inspired minister himself, removed almost beyond the power of utterance, motioned to one who sat near him to pray. The congregation knelt, and for five minutes not a voice was heard. Eventually, a prayer-meeting was commenced, and ' then came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind.' Be- lievers were sanctified, and sinners were brought to the foot of the cross. Two preachers, Brothers Petherbridge and Bull, fell prostrate to the ground, and lay in a state of apparent uncon- sciousness for several hours. An old man who had not heard a sermon for many years, led hither by curiosity, fell beneath the power of conviction, yielded to be saved on the terms of the gospel, was blessed, and returned home rejoicing in hope of future glory. And ' so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.' " " The appointment of Mr. Pitman to these two districts, which at that time occupied almost the entire State of New Jersey, seemed providential. Our young and growing, but in many places weak and feeble Church seemed just then to require the presence of a great master-spirit, who could arrest the attention of the masses, and then move and mould, and direct them for the glory of God. Mr. Pitman was that master-spirit, and for seven consecutive years, as Presiding Elder on these two dis- tricts, he moved and moulded the entire State of New Jersey, Methodistically as no man ever did, and probably as no man ever, will again." " During these years thousands were added to the Church, and SUCCESS ATTENDING MR. PITMAN'S EFFORTS. 95 public sentiment concerning Methodism every where was changed. Calvinism received checks from which it will not in long years hence, recover, and the doctrines of free grace, and an unlimited atonement, were disseminated from Cape May to the hills of Up- per Sussex, and from the Delaware river to the sea. The fires of his eloquence consumed the rubbish of doctrinal error ; his evangelical arguments ploughed the deep field of the human heart ; the gospel of free grace was living seed cast into the soft soil of the soul, and his prayers and tears, the sunshine and the shower, fostering the seed thus sown ; as if it is yet true, ' They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.' How bright and glorious must be the eternal future of Charles Pitman." * And what an exceeding and eternal weight of glory must he realize in heaven. * Rev. E. H. Stokes, D. D., Conference Memorial, pages 251, 252. CHAPTER VII. MR. PITMAN STATIONED IN PHILADELPHIA, AT UNION CHURCH. IN the spring of 1833, at the Session of the Philadelphia Con- ference held at Newark, N. J., Bishops McKendree and Emory presiding, Mr. Pitman was induced to leave the " East Jersey District," after having served it three years as Presiding Elder, and accede to a request which was made for his services at a new enterprise then in course of erection in the city of Phila- delphia, and consequently was appointed to Union Church, formerly known as the " Old Academy/' on Fourth street, below Arch. The large brick edifice which now stands about midway be- tween Market and Arch streets, and nearly a hundred feet in from the street line, was then being erected, and its officiary were anxious to secure one of the most influential and popular preach- ers of the Church for its pastor, so that when finished it would exert a commanding influence in the city, and be patronized by one of the best and largest congregations. While the church was being built, the congregation worshipped in what was known at that time as " Keyser's Church," on Crown, below Callowhill street. This was a moderate-sized church, which had been kindly tendered for the use of the congregation of Union, for Sabbath afternoon and evening services. In the selection of Mr. Pitman as their pastor, the congrega- tion of Union Church, soon found out that they had "the right man in the right place." Scores and hundreds of people, recol- lecting his reputation for ministerial efficiency and pulpit oratory when stationed at St. George's, on the city circuit, in 1825, and 96 STATIONED IN PHILADELPHIA AT UNION CHURCH. 97 of his subsequent efforts, when in the city, at special times, be- tween that period and the present time, and which had awakened no inconsiderable expectation, in the minds of the thronging multitude, now sought the opportunity of becoming members of his congregation and church, so that on his arrival at his new appointment, and even at his introductory service, the " Keyser . Church" could but illy accommodate the throng of people, and it has been said that often, for an hour or two before the church doors were opened for the service, the streets would be filled with people waiting for admission. The new church on Fourth street was pushed forward with the greatest activity and zeal, and on the 13th day of May the basement story having been carried to its proper height, an ap- propriate sermon was preached by Rev. Joseph Rusling, and the corner-stone was laid. The church was completed and dedicated in the month of December following, on Sabbath, 8th inst, 1833, the text for the occasion being the latter clause of the seventh verse of the 60th chapter of Isaiah, which was said to have been a sermon of wonderful unction and great power (a sketch of which will be found at the close of this volume). The after- noon sermon was preached by Rev. Henry White, and the evening sermon by Rev. E. S. Janes. The collections, amounted to nearly eleven hundred dollars, which was considered worthy of general attention, and spoken of as commendable liberality, with previously large cash subscriptions. After the society had re- moved from " Keyser's," into their new building, it was sup- posed that their large audience-room, with its capacious galleries, chancel, aisles and vestibule, would accommodate all who might desire to wait on the ministrations of Mr. Pitman, and worship with the people of Union Church. Here the sittings were more than half as many more as the "Keyser Church," or the "Old Academy," contained, and it was considered at that time, to be the largest church in the city, and capable of accommodating the largest congregation. But from the day of dedication, and on 7 98 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. through the successive periods of its services under Mr. Pitman^ it was found that not only all its sittings were needed, but all its available space, in every part of its vast auditorium and galleries, to accommodate the masses of worshippers; and the crowds so increased, that the pressure became as great, as it had been at the smaller church on Crown street. Mr. Pitman's fame as a distinguished preacher, was so great, and his influence so wide-spread, and the desire to sit under his ministry and hear the word of life proclaimed by him so general that people from all parts of the city, and even some, from be- yond the city limits, came pouring into the church, so that the new sanctuary presented a scene not unlike the former one, and might have had the prophecy, which Rev. Dr. Holdich applied to the old church which was removed from that site (in the build- ing of the new one), applied to the new one in reference to Mr. Pitman : " The place is too strait for me ; give place to me that I may dwell." Isa. 49th chapter, part of the 2d verse. It was a grand sight to stand in the pulpit and look over this spacious auditorium, when its congregation had assembled, and to behold these thousands of happy faces of both sexes joining heartily in the delightful exercises of religious worship. It was both a thrilling and inspiring scene, and one that was well cal- culated to arouse the highest state of religious fervor and enthu- siasm, in the soul of the preacher, as well as to call forth the loftiest powers of mind and heart, of soul and voice, in fervid and rapturous address, and such an occasion seemed to be well adapted to the mental characteristics and intense emotional na- ture of Mr. Pitman, and when he ascended the pulpit, every eye was fixed on him, and every ear was opened to catch the first word he uttered. Mr. Pitman was a man of fine and commanding appearance, approaching almost to colossal proportions in physical dimen- sions. He stood fully six feet high, with a well-set and well- rounded body, supporting shoulders of fine mould, and with STATIONED IN PHILADELPHIA AT UNION CHURCH. 99 strong arms, small hands, and a broad, full-developed chest. He had a fine, large head, covered profusely with a luxuriant growth of soft, dark and slightly curling hair, a round, well- formed forehead, indicating decision of character and purpose, and dark, slightly sunken eyes, but possessing the power of deep penetration. His complexion was dark, and indicated a rough exterior, on near approach ; but, at a little distance, he would have been pronounced a man of fine physique and hand- some in appearance. He was courtly in his manner and ad- dress. His step was elastic; he moved easily, and when aroused in the earnestness of his theme in preaching the gospel, his whole body seemed subservient to the mighty impulses that moved the Spirit within him. But, with all these physical advantages, he possessed what to a public speaker, an orator for God, is a chief and powerful instrument for important service a good, deep, .strong voice, which had great compass and power, and was as flexible as the waving grain under the influence of a strong zephyr, and as melodious as the notes of an .ZEolian harp, and being perfectly under his command, he could use it at will either to imitate the loud, husky thunders that will at the last day roll their dismal voices over the perverted grandeur of a sin-ruined and sin-cursed world, or flowing along in its smooth and beautiful cadences, like the gentle rill over the miniature waterfall, whose every sound was like the melody of an angel or the sweet notes of a cherub, that voice which proclaimed the curse of Heaven against sin, offered in tones as sweet as angels use, forgiveness and salvation to the sinner. His countenance was the true index of his soul. When opening the service, he always read his hymns, offered his prayer, read his lessons and announced his text in a grave and dignified manner, so much so that he became proverbially distinguished by the cognomen, "The Solemn Pitman;" but when fully absorbed in the deliv- ery of his subject (especially if he was led out on the field of triumph, where the victorious armies of the Lord of Hosts, were 100 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. waving their ensigns and unfurling their banners, to the breezes of victory, or when he was marching the sacramental hosts of God's elect, around the walls of our spiritual Zion, and in clarion tones shouting to them "to tell the towers thereof," "to mark well her bulwarks " and " to consider her palaces "), then his face would light up with a seraphic glow, and his voice would become transcendently and impressively sweet, so that, uncon- scious of the influence himself, and unconscious of the effect he was producing, and oblivious of all personal power, he would have his auditors on their feet, some crowding nearer to the pulpit where he was preaching, while others were leaning over the seats, as if to catch every word that fell from his lips, as though the salvation of their souls depended on their effort, and so completely was he absorbed in the subject, that every power of his nature, and every faculty of mind, seemed to be in full realization of what there was at the time flooding his soul. With him there was no straining effort to grasp what was be- yond his reach, "or pierce into that deep profound that lies in half-unrivaled obscurity between earth and heaven ;" but his thoughts came at command, and at the proper time, and in their appropriate place, and with all of that warm, gushing sympathy and unction, with which his nature was so thoroughly suscepti- ble, and which so often found a hearty response in the souls of his auditors. It was under the influence of such preaching that Mr. Pitman crowded Union church ; it was in " demonstration of the Spirit, and of power," and such preaching will crowd any church where there are people to crowd it. . Mr. Pitman knew how to read hymns, and it was said of him that if he did not preach, it was well worth one's time, to go to the church to hear him read the hymns. Some of his favorites were, "O for a thousand tongues to sing," "From all that dwell below the skies," "Eternal Power, whose high abode," " O, thou God of my Salvation," " JERUSALEM, my happy home," etc., "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun," etc. Into these STATIONED IN PHILADELPHIA AT UNION CHURCH. 101 hymns and others of similar sentiment, he would pour the deepest sympathies of his nature, and the profoundest emotional feelings of his soul, until his voice seemed attuned with a divine pathos, and his words fell like drops of molten silver, into the souls of his captivated and entranced hearers. In connection with his pastoral and preaching services, he witnessed much fruit here, as in other places, many of whom were young men, who afterwards became ministers of the gospel, and though a greater part of them are " fallen asleep," some remain as the monuments of God's grace, and the seals of his effective and efficient ministry. It has been thought that more young men were converted and became ministers, under Mr. Pitman's min- istry, than any other preacher of the gospel in the Philadelphia Conference. Certainly this was true in New Jersey. But there were scores and hundreds of others who were brought to Christ, and who, though they did not become ministers, have exempli- fied a remarkable Christian life, in serving the cause of God and the church, in the capacity of its officiary, and in nobly support- ing the institutions of Christianity, and to-day they are found within what was once the sphere of his labors, as the most active and energetic members of the church, and are " living epistles, known and read of all men.'* Mr. Pitman was a man that was fully absorbed in his work, and gave it his unremitted and undivided attention. In stations, as well as on districts, he attended to all the minutiae of the pas- torate, and did not neglect even the smallest, or seemingly most trivial interest, that would aid in promoting the cause of Christ among the people. From an old record we learn that he preached, while stationed at Union Church, nearly two hundred sermons, and was not absent from his charge but one Sabbath during the two years (the limit of ministerial vacations during those times, and in many subsequent years thereafter). Occa- sionally his pulpit was filled for a service by such men as Mo- Combs, Lee, Ruter, Castle, Durbiu and others of precious mem- 102 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. ory. It is a sad thought to thousands of Methodists in Philadel- phia and elsewhere, now to pass Union Church, to stop, even for a moment, and think that that spacious edifice was built for the preaching of the gospel, and with some special reference to accommodate the masses, who were wont to crowd to the ministry of " the solemn," but sublimely eloquent Pitman ; that there was the grand arena, the scene of some of his most sublime and masterly efforts, and also of some of the most wonderful dis- plays of the power of God, and the place, where once crowded a multitude of people, until the spacious church could hold no more, and where for so many years, the voice of praise rolled up to heaven, in thanksgivings of gratitude and love, and where so many "golden-mouthed" and "silver-tongued" orators for God, rang out, in trumpet-tones, the glad message of salva- tion to the ruined sons of Adam's race, that now the gates should be closed, the doors shut, the pulpit destitute of its herald, the pews empt} r , and the vast audience room vacant, desolate and silent, and the significant notice " for sale," hung upon the fence, proclaiming the mutability of all transitory things. Would to God that its gates might be unfastened, its doors thrown open, and the thronging masses of sin-ruined humanity turned therein to receive the word of life ; even if only to be the rooms of the city missionary organization, or a merciful shelter to the abject, forlorn and degraded outcast, who there might find a retreat and a refuge from heartless villainy and degradation. Mr. Pitman's term of ministerial service, according to rules of the M. E. Church, now (in 1835) expired, and at the Conference which was held at St. George's, Philadelphia, he was appointed, with Rev. E. S. Janes, (afterwards Bishop), agent for Dickinson College, located in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pa., which was founded by the Presbyterian denomination, and was incorporated by the State in 1783. The property was transferred to a board of trustees in 1834, who held it for the use of the M. E. APPOINTED AGENT FOR DICKINSON COLLEGE. 103 Church. The Baltimore and Philadelphia Conference, taking it under their patronage, the afore-named ministers, were appointed agents, to collect funds for its endowment, and Rev. J. P. Dur- bin, then editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, was elected to its presidency. The severe struggle of our educational institutions, in those times, for funds to keep them in exist- ence, often demanded the best talent, most energetic zeal, and the most popular ministers. Methodism in this country, at that time, was a unit, and our relations with the South were both friendly and brotherly, and we were working the great field harmoniously, and with marked success. Rev. Mr. Janes was to take the southern part of the country and Mr. Pitman the northern, and it was thought by the church, that such a concentration of apostolic power in any one enterprise, would lift it speedily beyond peril, or embarrassment. They did well, and accomplished much for the college and its estimable purposes, securing about forty-five thousand dollars in donations and subscriptions, but it is a question whether the church did not, in this case, as in many others, pay too dear a price for this achievement. No man of Mr. Pitman's mental characteristics and refined physical qualities, of his emotional nature and high conceptions of the grand work in saving souls, could step down, from the ministerial position, and pulpit of Union Church and congregation, into a financial scheme for the relief of an op- pressed educational institution, without feeling, in some degree, the loss of that power and influence which sustains the ministry in its exclusive devotion to its own and peculiar work, the one position being so incompatible with the situation of the other, and he must have felt, not only its incongeniality, but the ex- treme awkwardness of the situation. The venerable Bishop Andrew, of the M. E. Church, South, in a sermon preached before the Louisville Conference, at Greensburg, Ky., Sept. 21, 1850, on the occasion of the death of Bishop H. B. Bascom, D.D. LL.D., says: "It was an unfor- 104 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. tunate event in his life (as we think) that the church called him away from the active labors of the pulpit, to serve in her literary institutions. Not that he lacked any requisite qualification for the chair of instruction ; but, it has seemed to us, both a pity and a wrong, thus to have fettered and caged this soaring eagle. Me- thinks he should have been left free, to sweep through the world, a blazing meteor, and make full proof of his ministry, in a field better adapted to his unequal powers. The pulpit, doubtless, should have been his only battle-ground. For the pulpit, he was specially designed, and super-eminently qualified by the Great Head of the Church, and he should have remained there. If those twenty years of comparative seclusion in college halls, had been given to the active duties and labors of the ministry, we cannot refrain from the thought, that a far richer harvest would have been reaped, to the glory of God, good to man and en- during fame to the preacher himself." And so it was, with the appointment of Mr. Pitman, to the agency of Dickinson College, or in taking Mr. Pitman, out of his legitimate sphere and emi- nently popular, and almost unequaled and successful ministry. Whatever may have been Mr. Pitman's personal preferences, he yielded to the call of the church, and entered upon the work, as being directed by the supreme controller of all events, and now with the plans and purposes of life greatly changed, if not wholly revolutionized, and taken out of the regular work of the ministry, in which his whole being had been so long, and so thoroughly engaged, and where his mind was being drilled by systematic study and consecutive pulpit effort; he was thrown into the whirl and twists of financial schemes, in the cause of education, and yet with all of this, and the dampness and de- pression that such circumstances were calculated, to throw upon his religious fervor, the fires of his ministerial zeal, and his love for the flame of revival power, were not extinguished or abated, as the following incident will show. While travelling as the agent for Dickinson College, he went to a camp-meeting down AGENT FOR DICKINSON COLLEGE. 105 in the State of Delaware. He reached the place a little after noon, and when he got to where he could speak with the Presid- ing Elder, who had charge of the meeting, he said to him. " Brother, I have a message from God, to deliver to this people, and I cannot get away from it, and if you will let me preach this afternoon, as my duties call me away from this place to-morrow, I will deliver it in the name of God." The Presid- ing Elder replied, saying, that another brother had been engaged to preach this afternoon, but if you can arrange it with him, to come in at another time on the plan of appointments, I shall be very happy to have you preach. Said Brother Pitman, if I go and see him, will you be satisfied with our arrangement. The Presiding Elder assented, and Brother Pitman went to the brother who was to preach, stated his feelings and impressions, and the minister impressed, that it was from the Lord, readily granted to Brother Pitman his place for that afternoon service. As the preachers were gathering on the stand, and the people assembling in the congregation for that afternoon's service, it was observed that the clouds in the heavens had been rolling to- gether in the west, and by the time the introductory services were to be commenced, there were ominous and threatening indications of a severe thunder-storm approaching the encampment. Mr. Pitman arose to announce his first hymn. The sky was so soon over-spread with the blackness of the approaching tempest, that he could hardly see to read the hymn. The people had heard of Dr. Pitman's arrival, and of his intention to preach, and were out en masse, but were much agitated by the threatening aspects of the clouds. When they knelt to pray, the fierce lightnings flashed across the sky, and the loud booming thunders were rolling up their husky voices into mid-heaven. Undaunted amid this threatening scene, and unterrified with all the frowning aspects, and angry premonitions that surrounded him, Mr. Pitman knelt before the God of the Universe, whom he knew could command the storrn, and hold 106 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the raging winds in check with his omnipotent fist, and prayed in familiar intercourse, and with holy boldness : " O ! Lord God Almighty, thou who hast sent me to preach to this people, hold back these threatening clouds for one hour, while we go on'with this service in thy name, and let us not be disturbed by the im- pending storm, but let thy presence descend upon both preacher and people, and let great good be accomplished this day by the preaching of thy word in the salvation of souls." This petition was thrice repeated, and each time with greater earnestness and fervor. It seemed, as one said there and then, " that is a bold request," "a strong venture on God." Some skeptical persons, questioned his faith, as to whether the petition would be granted ; failure seemed largely to preponderate against it ; but there were those in that congregation, who after he had offered that prayer and announced his text, took out their watches and marked the time. The preacher thoroughly self-possessed and unmoved, by all the threatening aspects that overshadowed him, preached with great power; never did the divine Lord more signally help him, and own the effort of his servant. The hour passed ; some said the sermon exceeded it by ten minutes ; others that it closed almost to the minute, and at its close, it was difficult to account which had produced the greater effect, the answer to the prayer, so signally made known to both saint and sinner, or the zeal and heavenly pathos of the preacher. God was in both, and now said Mr. Pitman as he closed his sermon, go to your tents and fall down before God and thank him for this glorious privi- lege which we have enjoyed together; the congregation repaired to their tents, and the ministers followed. Mr. Pitman was among the last to leave the stand, and as he retired to a tent near by, the lightenings began to flash, and the pent up thunders rolled in fearful omens over the encampment ; the rain descended almost in a deluge ; men stood aghast, women trembled and thought the day of doom was upon them. Sinners fell to the earth under the power of the convicting Spirit, and the presence A STORM CLOUD STAYED AT A CAMP-MEETING. 107 of the Lord rested upon the multitudes, that had gathered in the tents, and during that afternoon, and from a careful computa- tion, it was estimated that over five hundred souls were converted. And so great was the spiritual influence that pervaded the place, that the meetings ran on far into the hours of night, so as to pre- clude any other service. We may pause a moment as we close this thrilling and most wonderful incident, and ask, Where is the modern college agent, or church financier, in any department of her work, that measures up to such a degree of spiritual power, and has such faith in God, as to hold a storm-cloud in check, by the power of prayer, for an hour or more, and then in a place of shelter, see the salvation of over five hundred souls, as the result of one sermon, under such circumstances, accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost ? And does not this indicate, that nearness of living to God ; a greater consecration to his ser- vice, is the want of the ministry of these times to see similar re- sults accomplished. " Where," we may exclaim, " is the Lord God of Elijah? " but rather let us see the need of saying, " Where are the Elijahs that can call the Lord God down from heaven that answers by fire?" O for such a ministry ! and O for such a people ! Then will the word of the Lord, have free course and be glorified in the salvation of souls in a similar manner. Mr. Pitman was noted, both in preaching and praying, for using the expression, "the unction of the Holy One." He would urge with the most impressive and soul-stirring pathos this attainment as spoken of by the apostle, and in prayer most beseechingly and earnestly cry to God for it, and it seemed that when he preached he had a special baptism of divine power and a special inspiration to aid in the work of proclaiming God's truth to dying men, as though atalismanic influence possessed both his soul and body. There is a supernatural aid and power that comes to a minister of the gospel when the " divine anointing" descends upon him, and God qualifies him, by his Spirit, for his especial work. Let this baptism be earnestly sought for by every minis- ter of Christ. CHAPTER VIII. MB. PITMAN RELINQUISHES THE AGENCY OF DICKINSON COLLEGE AND RETURNS TO THE PASTORATE. MR. PITMAN closed his work with Dickinson College at the expiration of one year, and returned to the regular pas- torate, and in the spring of 1836, was stationed at St. George's, Philadelphia, which in the previous year was separated from the other churches, which were on the plan of the city circuit, and made into a separate charge or station. He now felt that he had got back again into his much-loved life's employ, for which he felt himself so exclusively qualified, viz. : preach- ing Christ, inducing sinners to be reconciled to God, and attend- ing to the duties of the pastorate. Ten years had elapsed since he had left St. George's as one of the preachers on the city cir- cuit, and now he returns to it with the enlarged experience and advantage of seven years in the Presiding Eldership, two in a city pastorate, and one in the general and extensive work of a college agent ; added to this was a cosmopolitan and wide-spread reputation and popularity for pulpit power and ministerial efficiency, which enlarged the even now out-spreading fields of his usefulness. St. George's Church edifice had been erected long before the present century had dawned upon the history of our world. Originally it was built in 1763, by some members of a German Reformed congregation, and purchased by the Society of Metho- dists in 1770. It had long been considered the " bee-hive of Methodism " in Philadelphia, and is to this day styled " the mother of all the churches," the nucleus and origin of all the other societies, having a near or remote connection with this 108 APPOINTED TO ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 109 church, and to it in its earliest, as well as its subsequent history, the people flocked, and many felt that it was a special honor to hold their membership in connection with this church, while some of the more enthusiastic, emotional, and zealous members thought it the vestibule of heaven itself. Mr. Pitman was not a stranger to the people of St. George's, nor to their characteristics, as earnest and zealous Christians, and the extent of its membership, then spreading on all sides, and even far beyond the city limits. The old church had been constructecl after the idea of William Penn, and his immediate descendants, in those " times and seasons of severe plainness," or days and years of conscientious and restricted liberality, that would indicate any display of taste, or even convenience and comfort, as mere extravagance. It was built after the heart-convictions of the people concerning the true spirit of gospel plainness, and not daring to assume the dignified and pretentious claim of being a church, it was called a " meeting-house," and it required the association of some years before the term or name church was applied to it ; but as years rolled on, and time changed, came that inevitable desire for a change, or remodeling of the edifice. The old structure was an extensive building, erected to accommodate the masses, under all exigencies, and was quite antiquated in its appearance. It was set some two feet or more, above the level of the street, upon stone piers as its supports, and required the ascent of several steps to enter it. The front doors were in the centre of the building, and opened directly into the church, and the interior being utterly destitute of any paint, had for the accommodation of its worshippers the old fashion slat-backed benches, while the pulpit was a small semicircle box, similar in shape to a swallow's nest, and perched several feet high on the east wall, with wind- ing, or circular steps ascending to it, and with supports of a cir- cular railing. It was evident, from the size of it, that it was intended that no two, much less three preachers should occupy 110 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. that pulpit at the same time ; the galleries were broad and ample to accommodate the overflow, and afford a place of seating for the colored members ; all of the exterior and interior of the church, bore a corresponding view to the eye, and gave the im- pression that the "old meeting-house" had served well it day and generation, and if not needing removal altogether, it did call for remodeling and repairing, and that Zion " should put on her beautiful garments," and be adorned with suitable dis- play of improvement, so as to take her place among the sister churches, which were then springing up all around her, as the hopeful daughters of her own spiritual industry. The work was commenced, and much of Mr. Pitman's first year's time and labor were occupied with the improvement and remodeling of the old edifice, for, in those times, it must be borne in mind, that the preacher in charge, was not only chairman of the building committees, but collector of all the funds neces- sary to meet the expenses for improvement, and general superin- tendent of the building, re-building and repairing of the Lord's houses or churches, and to their untiring energy, tact and perse- verance, as well as labor, Methodist societies and Methodism owes many of its most beautiful, and most comfortable churches, it has in this day. When the writer of this biography en- tered the Conference as a travelling minister, he was told by his senior ministers that " a big revival of religion " and " the building of a church " would be considered of more importance to his advancement in the ministry, than the highest educational attainments or pulpit popularity, could possibly, secure for him ; and many and noble have been the struggles of the men of those, and subsequent times, to accomplish a work which, under depress- ing circumstances, it seemed to be next to an impossibility to effect and not infrequently has it subjected them to uncharitable, and even perverse criticism and severe censure ; and how soon such hard toil and work is forgotten, or ceases to be chronicled, and remembered in the events of the past and present ! Churches RE-MODELING OP ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH. Ill and parsonages have been built, by the sacrifice, hardship, toil and labor of others; then, in the changes incident to an itinerent life, others enter these places to enjoy the benefit of their prede- cessor's toil, and soon all the past is forgotten, the labor unre- quited and often unacknowledged, and " Joseph is not known to his brethren. tj Mr. Pitman gave his unremitted attention to the enterprise of remodeling St. George's church, and even spent hours, if not days together, at the church among the workmen, while engaged in reconstructing the old edifice. It was on one of these occa- sions, while passing around among the workmen, dropping a word here and there of kindness and gospel truth, suggesting a plan of improvement, or giving a more intelligent idea of the struc- ture of the building he desired, that he came upon William P. Corbit, then a worldly-minded young man who had been em- ployed as a laborer on the repairs, and of whom Mr. Corbit says : " It was during this year that I became intimately acquainted with Charles Pitman. I have sat and talked with him frequently, when a poor sinner, and it seems to me, I could have worshipped him, had it not been idolatry to do so, he was such a fine specimen of a man in every respect. I shall never forget one remark, he made to me while they were repairing the church. Said he, ' Friend Corbit, when we get our church finished; you must get religion, and join with us.' "It thrilled," says Bro. Corbit, " through and through my soul, and I never have forgotten it." It was as a nail driven in a sure place and fastened " by the Master of Assemblies," and not only did Bro. Corbit get converted, but also Bro. Corbit's brother, Israel S. Corbit, with hundreds ' of others, as we shall hereafter have occasion to relate. In the fall, near the commencement of winter, and after the church had been finished, it soon became evident that the "signs of the times" at St. George's, indicated or foreshadowed, a revival of religion. People from all parts of the city were seen, both 112 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. on Sabbath and week-days, wending their way to the services of that church, and the meetings became characterized, by a devo- tional fervor and interest, which was no unmistakable sign of what was sure to follow. The church cried mightily to God in prayer, the preacher proclaimed the word of truth, the Holy Spirit attended the effort, and there was a stir in the camp of Israel, " a shaking among the dry bones." Under this state of spiritual influence and expectation, Mr. Pitman came into the church one Sabbath evening, near the first of the new year, and after the introductory exercises, announced as his text, " He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed, shall doubt- less come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" Psa. 126, 6. This was a favorite text with Mr. Pitman, he had preached from it scores of times, and at a number of camp-meetings, it was his " Damascus blade," and was wielded with a skill and dexterity, that argued, that no unskillful war- rior held in his hand the sword of divine truth on that occasion. As he progressed in the delivery of his message, the congrega- tion became wrapt in amazement at his wonderful, and truly transcendent utterances, and were swayed like the wind sways the waving grain in a spring shower, but strange to say that suddenly, and amid this wonderful influence of divine power, that seemed to be attending the word and its effects, on the mul- titude who were listening to him, as though his voice was the voice of an oracle, a change came over the scene, like an angry storm-cloud that suddenly mantles the heavens with blackness, and so dark was his mind, and so embarrassed were his utter- ances ; that he could proceed no further, and, turning around in the pulpit, he fell upon his knees and prayed God to send him deliverance. It came in an instant, and ere he rose from the attitude of prayer, the wave had swept over the whole congrega- tion, and such a scene as was that evening witnessed, in that tfme-honored church, beggars all description. Scores pressed their way to the altar crying for mercy, and saints stood still to REVIVAL OF RELIGION AT ST. GEORGE^. 113 " behold the salvation of God." That evening the revival started and swept on with unabating interest and increasing power, for weeks and months. The meetings were held day and night, afternoon and evening, and, frequently, five and six prayer-meetings would be going on in different parts of the church at the same time. Three prayer-meetings were appointed, and held in the gallery, and three below-stairs, and so great was the interest of the meeting, and so wide-spread became its influence that it extended to all parts of the city, so that Fourth Street, from Race beyond Vine, and New and Branch Streets were lined with the carriages of the people who came to attend it. The church all the year, and through the next year, was a "Bethesda;" the pool was all the time troubled, and the impo- tent, the lame and the sick came and stepped in, and were made whole. One instance of thrilling and wonderful power, out of many that might be mentioned, we here record, as it serves to illus- trate the character of others somewhat similar. There was a woman of southern birth by the name of Crafts, who had moved with her husband from Virginia, to reside in Philadelphia, and had her home on Marshall Street near Noble. She was a lady of great personal attraction, and possessing wealth, was devoted to fashion and fashionable society, and being naturally fond of theatrical entertainments, made the theatre and ball-room, a place of favorite resort. During this revival service, while on the way to an evening entertainment, of her choice, she was driven, by her coachman down Fourth Street, past St. George's Church, and as she was passing the church, her attention was arrested by the singing, and she inquired of her driver, as to what it meant. He informed her that it was a Methodist Church, and that they were having revival meetings there. She ordered him to stop the carriage, and concluded that she would go to meeting that night instead of going to the theatre. She entered the church, in the full regalia of her fashionable theatre costume, jewelry, diamonds, 8 114 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. and flowers, and as she passed in, the church being quite full, an usher provided her, with a seat in front of what used to be styled, by the sinners of those times, " the Amen Corner." The singing was going on in an animated style, and the meeting proved to be a good, old-fashioned Methodist revival service, in which Mrs. Crafts took much interest, if not to say delight. The next evening she came again, and occupied the same seat. A few minutes afterwards Mr. Pitman came in, and, ascending the pulpit, engaged in silent prayer ; after prayer he arose, and, stepping forward to the pulpit, fell upon his knees, and lifting his hands toward heaven, exclaimed with great emotion and tenderness of utterance : " Oh, my soul ! Oh my soul ! " As he uttered these words Mrs. Crafts fell to the floor on her face, as if smitten by a powerful hand, and when raised up by kind friends to her seat again, she exclaimed in a plaintive wail : " Oh my soul ! Oh, my soul ! " Arrested by the power of God, she bowed at the altar of mercy, sought the forgiveness of her sins and obtained salvation. She went to her home that night a con- verted woman, with a new heart, and with all the purposes of a new life firmly fixed in her soul, for it is said that a great revo- lution and change, took place in her dress, appearance, habit and purpose of life, and that when she appeared at the church the next evening, adornment, tinsel and flowers, were all gone, and she was habited in modest attire, so much so, that she would have passed for one of the plainest Methodist women of that day. She was also instrumental in the conversion of her mother, and a lady friend of hers, the wife of a prominent merchant in the city. It is said, she cast off her jewelry, while kneeling at the altar, and refused to receive it back again, and that it was sold by her permission, and the receipts given to the support of the poor. Mrs. Crafts not only became a humble and devout Christian, but was among the foremost in the benevolencies of the church, and gave liberally of her means and personal service, to advance the cause -of Christ, and being moved in the line of good works, and in MRS. CRAFTS' CONVERSION AUXILIARIES. 115 missionary labor, she visited the poor, the afflicted and suffering, ministering to their wants and relieving their necessities. It seems that her conversion produced a wonderful influence in favor of Methodism, and opened the way for a class of persons, in the city who had formerly regarded the Methodist Episcopal Church, but little more than a place for the commonality, or uneducated class of society, but now the church was blessed with the acces- sion of men and women, whose spiritual and financial influence, and ability, have been most potent in extending her borders in every section of the city. History has lost sight of Mrs. Crafts, and perhaps that oblivious wave which overwhelms all pre- sent things, has covered her mortal remains beneath the friendly sod, and her spirit has" joined the spirit of the man of God who was instrumental in her conversion in another world. The last tidings received from her, was, that she remained true to God, and was living a devoted, active, Christian life. Death has long since removed from earth both her mother, Mrs. Seal, and the friend, Mrs. Twells. They left this world, giving a blessed testimony of their hope of eternal life. The revival flame swept onward with such matchless and unabated power, that within the period of three months, it was estimated that from twelve to thirteen hundred conversions took place, out of which seven hundred and fifty joined St. George's, and fifty-three of the number converted, entered the ministry, among whom, as we have before said, were the Revds. and Brothers Corbit. Rev. John Street, long and familiarly known in Philadel- phia, and who for many years occupied the appointment of city missionary, and labored so zealously and indefatigably, for the salvation of souls, and their edification in grace, with his most excellent Christian wife, was connected with St. George's Church about this time, and was an efficient worker, in the great revival of this period, and Mr. Pitman put him in charge of the pulpit for several weeks, while he gave himself wholly to the work of 116 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the revival, and to the visitation of the penitents and sick per- sons, and the special duties of the church. In directing Mr. Street to provide preachers for the evening services, Mr. Pitman told him to secure such men as Revds. Caleb A. Lippincott, Watters, McCaskey and Tasker to fill it. Of the former, who was then stationed at Germantown, it may be said, that he was a champion and a hero for God, a master soul-winner, who, above all things else, knew the art of bringing sinners to Christ. On his first circuit where he trav- eled in New Jersey, eight hundred souls had been converted, and gathered into the Church, and on his second circuit nearly, if not more than a hundred miles from the former one, sixteen hundred probationers were reported to the Conference as the fruit of his labor, conjointly with his colleague, Rev. Sedgewick Rus- ling, and all through his ministry, whether on circuit or in stations, he was blessed in his labors by extensive revivals of religion. He was a master of the human heart, and seemed to have special power to win men to Christ. At times he would exhibit a deep pathos, that would stir a whole assembly ; then a sly sarcasm or bitter irony would escape his lips, that seemed to rebuke sin, more than the utterances of a thousand Sinaitic thunders ; then would come such an outgush of boundless be- nevolence, pathos and sympathy, as would move all hearts towards him at will. It was then, that the divine Christ stood before him, and he pointed to Him, as a personal, visible Saviour, waiting to pardon the sinner, and to receive him to himself. This magnificent sun, this Jupiter orb of gospel power and glory, went up to heaven, in the midst of a revival blaze, a few years ago in northern New Jersey, where he was laboring as an effective minister of the Newark Conference, crowned with a success in his life-work, unparalleled and unequalled, in the ministry of his times. This was the man that Mr. Pitman, sent Rev. John Street, to secure, to aid in this great revival, and it has been said, that his appeals and exhortations, gave WONDERFUL ACHIEVEMENTS SECOND YEARNS LABOR. 117 great momentum and wide-spread, if not almost unlimited in- fluence to that meeting. Mr. Pitman well knew the value of such an auxiliary, as he had been acquainted with him in Bur- lington County, New Jersey, where they were both born, and both were converted within a few miles of each other, and it has been said by a contemporary, that Mr. Lippincott was con- verted under the ministry of Mr. Pitman, at New Mills, now called Pemberton, New Jersey. Pause a moment, kind reader, over the achievements of this wonderful work of God, under the labors of his faithful servant. What a glorious record for the judgment of the great day ! Almost, if not quite, one hundred souls were converted each week of the meeting. Who would not have desired to have witnessed that revival ? What minister of Christ, would not have coveted the distinguished honor of such a work for the Master's name ? If any man, or minister of the gospel, was ever entitled to the appellation of " good and faithful servant," that man was Charles Pitman, and now, through the great aton- ing mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is reaping the reward of his labor in the fruitions of everlasting happiness. The revival flame extended through the winter months of 1836 and 1837. Conference came and closed, and Mr. Pitman was re-appointed to St. George's ; but so extensive and over- lapping was the work of the former year with the latter year, that it was hardly perceptible to the Church that a conference year had passed, and another had begun ; in fact, the whole year indicated a state of universal prosperity, and the Church was in a constant flame of revival power. Many thrilling scenes transpire on occasions like these, which, to note all, would seem like a superhuman task. The revival is a history itself, which would, if described in all its minutiae and detail of incident and interest, fill a volume. Suffice it, then, to say, in the language of another : " The house seemed to be charged with divine electricity, and the moment a sinner entered it, he re- 118 LIFE OF BEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. ceived a shock which sent him trembling to the foot of the cross for pardoning mercy and salvation." Mr. Pitman also performed an unusual amount of other labor besides preaching the gospel conducting the long and extensive revival services, visiting his parishioners now numbering from one thousand to twelve hundred members and attending to the financial matters, connected with tbe remodeling and repair- ing of the church. He baptized, from the month of March, 1836, to the 25th March, 1838, three hundred and twenty- three adults and children, and solemnized during his pastoral term two hundred and seventeen marriages, beside attending to all his other official duties and numerous outside calls of special service. The years 1836 and 1837 were not only notable in the his- tory of Mr. Pitman's ministry as the years of the remodeling of St. George's Church edifice, under his supervision, and of the great and wonderful revival interest that followed, but also in the history of the Philadelphia Conference, as an important epoch, in the history of Methodism in New Jersey, rendered so by the formation of the New Jersey Conference, at the General Conference, holding its session that year in Cincinnati, of which Mr. Pitman was a delegate, and received a highly complimentary vote for the Bishopric. It was thought at the time when the preachers of the New Jersey Conference, asked to be separated from the Philadelphia Conference, and to be recognized as a distinct Conference, to be a bold movement on their part, and much adverse criticism was indulged in by the opponents of the movement. It was said, " New Jersey has thus set up for herself." " They will always be a poor, little half-starved Conference ;" but we who live in this day see the contrary of this prophecy. The New Jersey Con- ference has not only most nobly sustained herself, as a Confer- ence, but has produced some of the ablest and most successful ministers, of the Church, whose talents, genius, and popularity ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF THE N. J. CONFERENCE. 119 have done no discredit to the old Philadelphia Conference, from whence it came, and has long since redeemed herself, from all the odium then cast upon it, and now stands forth receiving the honorable praise, due to her meritorious exertions, in every de- partment which confers distinction ; and her two Conferences now embrace more appointments, more preachers, and more members than the old Philadelphia Conference does, at this time (1887), and proportionally is in advance with all her benev- olencies, and not a " little half-starved Conference," by any means. " From 1829 the three districts, West Jersey, East Jersey and Asbury, remained intact, and were the nuclei of the New Jersey Conference and designated its boundaries. The territory which was embraced in these three districts, became the original New Jersey Conference, the boundaries, extending somewhat be- yond the state lines into New York and Pennsylvania. The Conference was formed with ninety-five members, and held its first session in the Halsey Street M. E. Church, Newark, N. J., in the Spring of 1837."* Of the ninety-five members who origi- nally composed the New Jersey Conference at its formation, only the following still survive (May, 1887) : Rev. Thomas Sovereign, Rev. Jeiferson Lewis, D.D., Rev. Abraham K. Street, Rev. Samuel Jaquett, and Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, D.D. Of the Newark Conference : Rev. John S. Porter, D.D., Rev. P. D. Day, Rev. B. Day, Rev. James M. Tuttle, Rev. Crook S. Van Cleve, and. Rev. Anthony Atwood, now the oldest member living of the Philadelphia Conference. Near the close of the Conference year (1838) a noble band of Christian heroes, principally from St. George's, among whom were Revs. John Street, Thomas Butcher, John B. Rob- inson, Benjamin Whitecar, James D. Park, William G. Glee- ton, Charles W. Zane, Samuel Sappington, Davis N. Sinn, Thomas Orrell, William G. Mullin, William A. Cannon, Sam- uel W. Cade, John Grace, Timothy J. Dyre, Lemuel Osier, * Rev. A. Gilmore, Centennial Sermon, 1866. 120 LIFE OF EEV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.l>. Hiram Miller, James W. Dyre, William G. Sandy, George W. Ash, John A. Clarke, William B. Jackson, Mr. Brazee, and others, went out to form a new Society, and procure a house of worship. The necessity of this immigration grew out of the overcrowded state of St. George's, in consequence of the great revival of religion there, during the two years preceding, under Mr. Pitman's labors. They purchased the church located on Eighth Street, above Noble, which was originally built by a society of Dutch Reformed people, but, failing of success, it was sold to the Presbyterians, and, failing in their hands, it was closed, till the time of remodeling and repairing St. George's, at which time the Society hired it, and used it, during the repairs of their church, and later it was considered a providential opening, for the overflow at St. George's ; and, as a large number of the converts, and many of the old members, lived in the vicinity of this church, it was decided to purchase it, and thitherward went some seventy-five members, which soon increased to one hundred and twenty-seven ; and they went to the Conference that spring (1838) and made application for Mr. Pitman, for they could not, as they said, " bear the thought of being separated from him," and they believed, that the success of the new enterprise de- pended so much upon him " that no other preacher, but Brother Pitman could fill that place, just at that time," and so im- pressed was the Bishop who presided at the Conference, that he assured them, that Brother Pitman would be sent to them as their preacher for the next year. So, in the spring of 1838, at the Conference held in Philadelphia, Mr. Pit- man was appointed to Eighth Street M. E. Church, while Rev. Joseph Lybrand, the John Fletcher of American Method- ism, whose most saintly life and character made such a deep im- pression for spiritual good on so many hearts, that it led them to Christ, was his successor to feed the lambs and take care of the flock at St. George's; and no man within the bounds of the Methodist connection, in this country was better qualified for ORGANIZATION OF THE EIGHTH STREET M. E. CHURCH. 121 that work, than Rev. Joseph Lybrand, a devout and holy man of God, of whom the mother of the author of this work used to say, that on several occasions when she heard him preach, it seemed as if rays of glory encircled his head, and lighted up his countenance, with a heavenly splendor, while he was preach- ing Christ to the people. The new field of labor was a trying one to Mr. Pitman. The society had to be reconstructed and reorganized, and put in work- ing order, and on a good, solid basis ; and to leave a well-organ- ized and well-compacted church, as was St. George's at that time, and other stations to which he had been previously appointed, and to leave a large number of young converts and personal friends, was a trial, and an ordeal, that was calculated to try the preacher's feelings, if not his faith ; but however sorely he may have been tried, he rose above all seeming embarrassment, and with his wonted zeal and energy, poured out the precious gospel of the Son of God, to the people, and his church was soon filled, not only with his warm and enthusiastic admirers, but with a host of the followers of the Lord from other sections of the city. Mr. Pitman, was eminently successful in this new organization, and in the following fall, a flame of revival broke out, and two hundred and forty-eight souls were converted and joined the church, making an aggregate number, within a little over two years, of nine hundred and ninety-eight souls, who were added to the church, and considering the numbers that found their way to other churches, it is believed that nearly, if not fully, fifteen hundred souls were converted under his ministry within a little over two years. The success that attended his labors in the last- named charge established it upon a firm foundation, and the new organization, known as the Eighth Street M. E. Church of Phila- delphia, had a long and successful career, returning an hundred- fold for the labor and expense of the enterprise, and having served the purposes of our church in its day and generation, by the will of God, it has passed into that oblivious sleep that is 122 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. fast burying its memories in the grave of human forgetful- ness. During the Conference year of 1838 and '39 there arose a question among some of Mr. Pitman's ministerial brethren about the legality of the appointment, made by the Bishop, of Mr. Pitman to the Eighth Street charge, which he was then serving, and of their being almost wholly the same people, that he had served the previous two years, and also, his third appointment consecutively to a station in the city. As the law then existed, it seemed to require his removal from the city at the end of his second ministerial term, and the question was, Could a charge or church divide, and a part of it organize another church or society, and still retain the former pastor as its preacher? The matter was submitted to Bishop "VVaugh, the presiding Bishop of the ensuing Conference, whose opinion, when it became known, placed legal barriers in the way of Mr. Pitman's return to the Eighth Street Church, the coming year, and though petitions were largely circulated among the very best citizens of that lo- cality, and numerously signed, in hope of changing the niind of the Bishop it was of no avail, and the Bishop, as he thought, seeing a constitutional difficulty in the way, said " he could not return him to the Eighth Street charge, no matter who or how many asked to have it done." It must not be supposed, however, that this was an exercise of arbitrary power on the part of the Bishop, but, as he be- lieved, a just adherence to the law, which, as he said, "must be observed in Brother Pitman's case, as well as in reference to the humblest minister in the church." When, therefore, the Phila- delphia Conference met in 1839, Mr. Pitman was transferred to the New Jersey Conference, and subsequently stationed in 'Green Street M. E. Church, Trenton, which had just been completed under the labors and administration of Rev. A. Atwood. This closed Mr. Pitman's relations with the Phila- delphia Conference, and he never returned to the State, or city, RETURN TO NEW JERSEY. 123 to reside, or labor again, in an official connection with the Confer- ence. No sooner had it been made known that Mr. Pitman in- tended to return to the New Jersey Conference, than several of the most prominent churches within the bounds of the Conference expressed a desire to have him sent to them as their pastor. New Brunswick, Bridgeton, Burlington, Camdeii, Salem, Pem- berton, Mount Holly and Trenton were anxious to secure his ministrations; but as the needs of Trenton just at that time seemed to present a greater demand for the popular ministry and efficient services of some prominent man, especially so as they had taken a decidedly advanced step in church building, it was deemed, by the bishop and his advisory council, best to ap- point Mr. Pitman to the Green St. Church, Trenton, and most happily and successfully did the appointment prove a blessing to both preacher and people. Mr. Pitman was the recipient of a large number of letters both from his friends in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and else- where. He seemed to enjoy correspondence with the preachers, and not unfrequently these letters would partake of descriptions of God's work among the churches, or discussions on theological subjects. The latter had the tendency to disseminate doctrinal belief, and furnish matter for argument, which the exigency of the times demanded, and whatever may have been the kind or character of the letters which he wrote on such occasions, it is worthy of mention that he invariably used the most respectful terms in addressing a brother, commencing the letter with "Dear Brother," and closing it with the endearing superscrip- tion, " Yours affectionately." It was thus that the recipient was made to feel that he had received a communication from a friend and Christian, which added much to the influence and effect of the communication upon the mind and heart of the recipient, and is a consideration which always will secure re- spectful reading and deference. CHAPTEE IX. MR. PITMAN A MEMBER OF THE NEW JERSEY CONFERENCE. AT the close of the Philadelphia Conference in 1839, Mr. Pitman, as we have before stated, was transferred to the New Jersey Conference, and when that body met, which was subsequent to the session of the Philadelphia Conference, Mr. Pitman was stationed in the new, commodious and beautiful church in Green Street, Trenton, which had just been completed under the pastoral administration and labor of Rev. A. Atwood, and at that time was considered quite an ornament to the city, as well as a marked indication of the growth and develop- ment of Methodism, and a great credit to the liberality of the people. Multitudes flocked to hear Mr. Pitman preach ; the new church, which was supposed to be ample to accommodate all the people the most popular preacher might draw to hear the gospel, was crowded to excess, and a great ingathering of souls was the result in the following fall and winter. While Mr. Pitman was stationed in Trenton, and during the time of the revival, which so signally marked his labors in Green Street Church, a young lady by the name of Hunt, a daughter of a wealthy and influential farmer living in Law- renceville, attended his church, and was converted, as was sub- sequently her sister. Soon after her conversion, she made arrangements, and, with her father's consent, invited Mr. Pit- man to come out to their village and preach, and that her fam- ily would gladly tender to him their large and commodious rooms in their farm-house for that purpose. Mr. Pitman ac- cepted the invitation, and soon Mr. Hunt's house was crowded with quite a congregation of people; a class was formed, and 124 STATIONED AT GREEN STREET, TRENTON. 125 regular preaching at this house was kept up for over two years, when it was decided to build a church, and after the enterprise was completed, it was severed from the Green Street charge, but subsequently, with other work, was made into a sep- arate charge. A few years ago, owing to the sparse number of Methodists in the neighborhood the influence of a large sister denomination the church was taken down and removed from its old site (where now the burial-ground remains), and brought down near Lawrence Mills, at a village called Bakersville, which is now connected with the Hamilton Square appoint- ment, and stands in the angle of the road leading from Trenton to Princeton, and the road from Lawrence Mills to Lawrence- ville. The names of the young women who first projected this enterprise were Mary and Eliza Hunt. It answered its day and generation, and accomplished its mission in its former place of occupancy. Rev. William P. Corbit, in whose conversion Mr. Pitman had been instrumental a few years before, was a student under Mr. Pitman, while he was stationed in Trenton, for the minis- try, and was engaged with him in these revival services, and here rendered his first public efforts in his ministerial career, upon which God did, in his after-life, so eminently put the seal of His divine approval, and now, after a ministry of nearly fifty years, in which service he has performed some of the most wonderful efforts in preaching Christ and winning souls to the Master's name, he stands as a prince and peer among his minis- terial brethren, crowned with the honors of the seventies in human life, with his eye not dimmed with age, nor his natural force seemingly abated, and for native talent, a rich and profuse endowment of descriptive imagery, a sublime and magnificent conception of the grand and beautiful as gorgeous as the au- tumnal forest, as exuberant as the stars of heaven in the glow of their resplendent brightness, as profuse in delineation as a comet flashing his scintillations of light across the midnight sky, 126 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. and with a voice as expansive in compass as the echo of thun- der rolling through mid-heaven, heavy in sonorousness like the crush of an avalanche, and deep in its pathos as the dirge of a funeral bell, mellow in its sympathetic tones as the cadences of a mountain water-fall, and impressive as a gentle zephyr sweep- ing through a woodland glen this scion of nature's handiwork, in his bold and intrepid spirit, has done the work of a cham- pion and chieftain, on this moral battle-field of New Jersey, that will perpetuate his name through generations yet to come, and will crowd the gates of heaven with a multitude of redeemed souls that have blessed earth, and will brighten heaven by their presence and rejoicings " While life, and thought, and being lasts or immortality endures." How many were converted under Mr. Pitman's labors in the great revival at Green Street Church, Trenton, we have not the means for ascertaining at the present; but it is believed that there were scores, if not hundreds, and after a careful estimate that has been made of his labors from data left by him, and compiled at the close of his work in Green Street Church, the number is given as about six thousand seven hundred and fifty souls, up to this period of his ministry, besides the many who found their way to other societies and denominations, which can never be known until that great gathering day, when the myriads of God's elect shall be summoned before His " great white throne " to receive their crowns of everlasting life, and to reign in His kingdom forever and ever. "For a number of years Mr. Pitman's peculiar adaptation and eminent ability for special services, such as the laying of corner-stones and the dedication of churches, had been manifest to the Methodist public, and his calls for. labor on such occa- sions were numerous. The period of his sojourn in Trenton was not an exception to this kind of service. About this period a large number of those plain, old-fashioned, God-honored churches, erected and occupied with so much religious faith APPLICATIONS TO PERFORM DEDICATORY SERVICES. 127 and fervor by our fathers, had served their day and genera- tion, and were passing away, while a new era in architec- ture had come. Buildings more commodious, more costly and better adapted to the growing interests of our Zion were rising on every hand. At that time but few of those within a circle of several hundred miles were opened where he did not take some part in the dedicatory services. Rev. Wm. P. Cor- bit, who spent a year in study, with Mr. Pitman while in Trenton, states that he thinks, that his calls for such labors while there averaged three per month, and during some of the later periods of his ministry, he often attended three in a single week. There were few churches erected in New Jersey between the years 1825 and 1850 whose walls did not first echo with the gospel from the lips of Charles Pitman." * It would not only complete a chapter, but would fill a vol- ume, to notice all the dedication services performed by Mr. Pitman during the thirty years of his ministry, and for which, during the latter ten or twelve years, he was sought so fre- quently to perform this kind of special service. In another chapter we shall speak of Mr. Pitman as a church dedicator, and shall give some further account of these dedications, and of the special interest attending them. In the year 1841, near the close of the term of Mr. Pitman's ministerial service in Trenton, a vacancy, it was under- stood, would occur in the secretaryship of the Missionary So- ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by resignation of Rev. Dr. Bangs, which was to take effect at the ensuing ses- sion of the New York Conference. It soon became cur- rent among the ministers that Mr. Pitman would be the proper man to fill that place, and he received letters from sev- eral prominent officials concerning his views about accepting the office. Says a distinguished contemporary : " While Mr. Pitman was not insensible of the honor such a position would * Rev. E. H. Stokes, D.D., Conference Memorial, p. 259. 128 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. confer, he knew its responsibilities were great, and feeling that his mission was more directly to preach the gospel for the im- mediate conversion of sinners, and the general upbuilding of the church of God, he declined entertaining the proposition ; and when the New Jersey Conference of 1841, adjourned, he was appointed by Bishop Hedding Presiding Elder of the Tren- ton District. He immediately entered upon the duties assigned him, when, in June following, on the assembling of the New York Conference with which at that time was vested the power of filling vacancies, in the General Conference offices, in the interval of its sessions, and that the person so elected should be a member of the Conference, so vested with this power Mr. Pitman was transferred to the New York Conference, that he might be a candidate to election for this high office ; and, notwithstanding his expressed reluctance, he was elected corresponding secretary of the Missionary Society of the M. E. Church, for the unexpired term of Dr. Bangs, and subse- quently was elected to the same office by the General Conferences of 1844 and 1848,* and when elected by the General Conference of 1844, he was re-transferred to the New Jersey Conference. " It was a position of great importance, involving interests wide-spread and extensive as the Redeemer's kingdom on earth, and yet, whatever his own views and preferences in these mat- ters were, now that he was called by the voice of the Church, the obligations were felt too strongly to allow him to refuse. He, therefore, accepted the position and moved his family to New York, and commenced his arduous and onerous duties. " His thoughts and labors now, to a large extent, were drift- ing in a channel new and strange the general oversight and direction, under the advice of the board of managers, of all the missions in connection with our Church, together with the pro- motion of the financial interests connected therewith, devolved, to a great extent, on him. In the prosecution of his work he * Ibid. Memorial Volume. CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. 129 traveled far and wide, and a new impulse was given to this divine cause, which, under the administration of wise and judi- cious successors, has continued to increase to the present day. " But, though his inind was largely engrossed in these mat- ters, he found time for the more direct work of a gospel min- ister. The next year after his appointment to the secretaryship of the Missionary Society he dedicated twelve churches, in widely different localities, preached every Sabbath, unless pre- vented by illness, and oftentimes through the week, sometimes in Boston in the east, and at Petersburg at the south every- where calling sinners to repentance and building up the Church, in its most holy faith. These opportunities were made feasible, in the intervals of his official business, the large proportion of his time being taken up with missionary sermons, addresses, collections, reports, correspondence, plannings and such interests as the work demanded. " But we cannot, however, examine into the details of his missionary work during the nine years of his secretaryship. That which he did in one year, he did the next, with this difference ; that, like the waves when the pebble has been dropped into the smooth water, circling wider and wider till they reach the shore, so he enlarged and increased the circle of his toils, until, reaching the shore of human weakness, he could toil no more." " If, then, we take the year 1843 the third of his new posi- tion as one of the early or inner circles, of his missionary labors, when he traveled six thousand miles, delivered forty-one sermons, thirty missionary addresses, dedicated six churches, and collected ten thousand dollars, and that, too, at a time when missionary funds were contributed with a hand very much less liberal than now ; then enlarge these labors, each year in proportion as the missionary cause enlarged, and took a stronger hold upon the judgment and sympathies of the Church; also remembering that his calls to corner-stone laying, dedica- 9 130 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. tions, camp-meetings and protracted efforts of which we shall speak hereafter were augmenting rather than diminishing, we shall have some idea of his work during the six years suc- ceeding 1843." " But the labors just enumerated, are such only as appear upon the surface, and could readily be seen by the Church. They do not include the drudgery of the office, the wide-spread correspondence, the editorial supervision of the Missionary Ad- vocate, the preparation of reports, the devising of large and liberal schemes of benevolence, and the urging of these upon the attention of Annual Conferences, in which to give a prac- tical application and development, of all the schemes in the churches throughout our wide-spread territory ; the entertain- ment of missionaries, assisting them in their outfit for their voyages and travels, supervising their embarkation and depar- ture these, and a thousand other things, which even good men could neither understand, nor appreciate, added to his labors in the pulpit and on the platform, made up a weight of toil and care, too great to be long endured." * In the year 1844 the University of North Carolina honored Mr. Pitman with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and a communication which came to him while in his work at the Mission Rooms in New York, was as follows : " To REV. CHARLES PITMAN, " METHODIST MISSION BOOMS, NEW YORK. " REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR : " It gives me pleasure to communicate to you officially that the Aca- demic Senate of the University of North Carolina, conferred upon you the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, on the 6th inst., in Gerad Hall, at the annual commencement of the institution. " Allow me to embrace this occasion, to tender an expression of the high regard, for you sincerely cherished by " Yours, affectionately and obediently, " CHARLES F. DEEMS. " University of North Carolina, June 10th, 1844." *Ibid, New Jersey Conference Memorial, pp. 261-263. DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF DIVINITY CONFERRED. 131 " In regard to the honor thus bestowed, it may be added, that although he never manifested any fondness for such things, yet, as it came unsought, he received it in silence, as an expression of kind regard, and wore it without resistance to the end of his earthly pilgrimage ; but, if a deep, practical, and to some ex- tent, critical knowledge of the word of God ; if power to preach that word, so that sinners in great multitudes were converted and the Church built up ; if a thorough knowledge of theology and church usages, in his own and other communions, and a burning love for Christ and His cause, constitute claims for such distinction, Charles Pitman possessed them all, and was, in the highest and truest sense, a ' Doctor of Divinity/ entitled to all the honors which such a degree could confer upon him." Dr. Pitman was not only eminently evangelical, but he was actively aggressive in his official oversight of the great mis- sionary work of the Church, and of new and promising fields. Of this class was Texas. This vast area had but recently been separated from Mexico by a revolution, induced by the attempt of that government, which was Roman Catholic, to impose upon the emigrants from the United States, and other citizens to whom its settlement had been opened, the obligation of baptism and marriage as celebrated by the Catholic priests of its estab- lished church, together with other grievances of a local character. The annexation of the " Young Republic " to the United States subsequently followed, and Texas became an object of Christian and Protestant solicitude to the church and authorities of our Methodism. The field was "white to the harvest" and in- viting to the reapers. Years before Dr. Pitman entered upon his secretaryship of the parent missionary society, bold, adven- turous men of our own communion opened up aggressive work in the newly-acquired Territory, and so far succeeded up to this period as to have there an organized Conference, with four districts Rutersville, Galveston, St. Augustine and Lake Loda; and, as reported in 1845, when Bishop Janes presided, 5085 132 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. white members and 1005 colored, and 65 local preachers in all 6155 were in church fellowship with us. This was the attitude of our Methodism, as supported by one or more newly-founded literary institutions, when* Dr. Pitman led the missionary column. From reports that indicate the further availability of the field and its needs, received from the Presiding Elders of districts within the bounds of the new Ter- ritory, and the Conference there organized, he was impressed with its importance, and foresaw its luxuriant future, if the Church was faithful to its high trust. As a wise and progressive leader, Dr. Pitman called for men and increased means, feeling assured that the growth of the success, would bring its compensations in a rich harvest in after years. His foresight and assurances have their affirmation in these years of results. The enlargement he sought, and that the church has supplied, together with auxiliary aids, has not only established our Methodism in large numbers in Texas, but has fixed a strong Protestant influence on the border of Catholic Mexico, which has exerted, and still is exerting, a transitional influence upon its political polity and religious condition, and that, instead of Catholic Mexico conducting aggressive move- ments upon our citizens and territory in the South and South- west, we have Protestantized Texas by a united effort in the several Christian churches, and are now planting our forces on her own territory and within her capital. Well did Dr. Pitman sustain, in his breadth of view, the policy of his predecessor, Dr. Bangs, and thus contribute his part to the grand triumph, that adorns Texas with the light of the glory of the Lord, and indicates for the old benighted em- pire of Mexico, beside an advance to a "republic" and higher civilization, a transition into a tolerant Christian and an open Bible land. It is to such leaders as Dr. Bangs, Dr. Pitman, Dr. Durbin, Dr. Eddy and Dr. Reed, and their associates, that we owe our success as a branch of the Christian Protestant propag- andisin, now so gloriously advancing to a world-wide conquest. CHAPTER X. FURTHER ACCOUNT OF DR. PITMAN'S MISSIONARY LABOR. AS Mr. Pitman had now become Dr. Pitman, by the action of "the Academic Senate of the University of North Carolina," we shall hereafter speak of him with that distin- guished title. Dr. Pitman, as we have before observed, was not only an energetic and effective pastor, and active, efficient and untiring Presiding Elder, but he carried the same zeal and earnestness into the missionary work in all of its departments, and ceased not his vigilant efforts from the commencement to the close of his period of office, and that, when in an office that might have invited ease and exemption from exposure, and from the inclement elements, he attended missionary meetings far and near, and was remarkably active in securing collections for the society. We adduce an account of a few of the many meetings of this kind that might be named, as being of special interest to our readers. A meeting of this kind was held in Rahway, New Jersey, on the evening of January 9, 1842, in which Revs. Dr. Pitman, Brown, Sargent, and the pastor, Rev. Felch, participated. The account of it, which we subjoin, is from an article in the Christian Advocate and Journal, and was written by Dr. Pitman himself, and, therefore, the more interesting and valuable to our readers. "NEW YORK, January 24, 1842. " EDITORS : "Believing that missionary intelligence is always acceptable to you, as well as to your numerous readers, I will do myself the pleasure, and the friends of missions the justice, of presenting you with a short ac- count of a missionary meeting held in Rahway, N. J.. on the evening of the 9th inst. No previous arrangement having been made for the meet- 133 134 LIFE OP KEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. ing, our visit was entirely unexpected. On our arrival at the place, on Saturday evening, we learned that an extra effort was in progress, which had been going on in successful operation for several weeks, and that the Rev. Thomas B. Sargent, D.D., of the Baltimore Conference, was there for the purpose of assisting the pastor in this good work. Fully aware of the great and well-earned popularity of this beloved brother, and especially in Rahway, and of the strong desire in that community to hear him as frequently as possible during his short stay among them, we were on the point of taking the cars and returning to New York- But, as the cars did not pass through that place until late in the evening, we concluded to walk to the church and avail ourselves of the privi- lege of hearing a sermon from Brother Sargent. This we did, to our very great pleasure and profit. On learning the object of our visit, Brothers Sargent, Felch, and several of the official members of the church all united in an urgent request that we should stay and hold the mis- sionary meeting on the ensuing Sabbath evening. To this request we most cheerfully yielded. " On Sabbath morning we had the high privilege of listening to a most eloquent and powerful sermon by Brother Sargent, on the fall and restoration of Peter. In the afternoon the pulpit was occupied by myself. In the evening the church was densely crowded, even to over- flowing. The meeting was opened with the usual exercises, by the cor- responding secretary of the Missionary Society. Brother George S. Brown, who had accompanied me from New York, delivered a powerful address, in which, in his usual simplicity and energy of style, the claims of poor, ill-fated Africa were affectingly and successfully advocated. Brother [Sargent succeeded him with a most thrilling and effective appeal in favor of missionary enterprise, and a few remarks were added by myself, at the close of which the collection was called for, and after a liberal collection, it was proposed to raise the sum of thirty dollars, to educate, for one year, a native African boy, to bear the name of Isaac N. Felch. This was promptly responded to. Another proposition was immediately started to confer the same honor on our worthy brother, Rev. Thomas B. Sargent. This was also sustained with great prompti- tude and spirit. Other benefactions were made, and the sum realized was about one hundred dollars, which was a very good collection for that place. I acknowledge myself greatly indebted to the two brethren above named for their very efficient co-operation in all the exercises, and I am happy in being able to say, that in every place I have visited in my official character the same spirit has been generally manifested. Let us thank God and take courage. The tide of missionary feeling is ACTIVE MISSIONARY LABOR. 135 rising; the intelligence from various quarters is most cheering; the friends of missions are awake and greatly increasing both in numbers and zealous effort, and I verily believe the period is not very far distant when our present debt will be liquidated and our treasury abundantly replenished. May a new and more powerful impetus be given to this holy cause throughout our widely-extended connection, and in every department of the Christian Church-" Another account we have of Di> Pitman's travels is a trip to Connecticut on January 25, 1842, in which two dedications were combined with the interests of a mass missionary meeting. " After dedicating the churches at Long Ridge on Wednesday and the one at Ridgefield on Thursday, we remained," says Dr. Pitman, " with Brother Gilbert, who on Saturday morning took us in his own carriage over to Brother J. R. Hill's, who resides about two miles distant from the Reading Church. With this kind and excellent brother we dined and spent a few hours most agreeably and profitably. Here Brother Smith, the preacher in charge of Reading Circuit, met us, and conveyed us to his own house, where we again found ourselves comfortably situated and perfectly at home. I preached in the morning, and at the close of the sermon urged upon the congregation the claims of the missionary cause. Many people were deeply af- fected, and evidently felt that they were debtors to the perish- ing heathen. The following persons were constituted life- members of the parent society at New York: Rhoda Ann Hill, W. T. Hill, Harriet N. Hill, Lydia Sandford and Sarah P. Sanford. Twenty dollars were contributed to redeem a pledge given at an anniversary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by Rev. D. Smith, to consti- tute Tellstrom, the first Swedish missionary, a life-member of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Brothers Hawley Sandford, Walter Sandford and Morris Hill all responded to the ' local preachers' proposition ' by a contrib- ution 'of $10 each. The whole amount of the collection was 136 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. $223.16. In the afternoon we rode to Danbury, a distance of about eight miles, to attend a missionary meeting in the even- ing. Here Dr. Peck preached a most appropriate sermon, and though the congregation is principally made up of young peo- ple and far less wealthy than that of Reading, and besides their having just raised about $50 for the missionary cause through the agency of Mrs. Wilkins, on a recent visit among them, the collection and pledges amounted to $113, which, added to the sum previously collected, would make the aggre- gate of $163. Among several others, Dr. Peck and myself had the honor of being made life-members of the Female Mis- sionary Society of this church. "On Monday morning we rose at four o'clock, and started for New York at five, reaching the Housatonic Railroad after a ride of seven miles through the cold and over a rough road. We took the cars for Bridgeport, where we arrived at eight o'clock, and immediately left on the steamer ' Croton ' for New York, where we arrived about four P.M., much pleased with our trip to Connecticut, and not less so on finding ourselves again in the bosom of our beloved families." In the summer of 1842 the corresponding secretary, Dr. Pit- man, and G. Lane, treasurer of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, were appointed a committee to formulate an appeal to the churches in behalf of the missionary treasury. It was drawn by the masterly pen of Dr. Pitman, and as it contains a statement of the condition of the Mission- ary Society at that time, it may not be uninteresting to our readers, and we insert a part of it : " To THE PREACHERS AND MEMBERS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH : "Dearly Beloved: The following preamble and resolutions were adopted by the Board of Managers of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church on July 20th, 1842 : "WHEREAS, for the purpose of extinguishing the debt against the PLAN TO BELIEVE THE EMBARRASSED TREASURY. 137 treasury of the Missionary Society, several Annual Conferences have almost unanimously recommended the Board of Managers to apportion the amount of said debt among all the Conferences according to their respective numbers, leaving each Conference to pursue its own method in raising this apportionment, so as not to interfere with the usual mis- sionary collection, therefore, " Resolved, That such apportionment be made forthwith. "Resolved, That the corresponding secretary and treasurer be in- structed to accompany this apportionment with an address to our peo- ple on the importance of cancelling this debt immediately and the ease with which it may be adopted by adopting the course here recom- mended. " Resolved. That the editors of all the papers, belonging to the M. E. Church, or patronized by our people, be respectfully requested to give these resolutions and accompanying address a place in their columns for several weeks successively. " In strict accordance with the preamble and first of the above resolu- tions, the following annex is the apportionment of the existing debt among the several Annual Conferences, viz. : "New York, $2153; Troy, $1389; Providence, $584; New Hampshire, $1028; New England, $661; Pittsburgh, $2055; Maine, $1236; Black Eiver, $918; Erie, $1055 ; Oneida, $1271 ; Michigan, $659; Eock River, $522; Genesee, $1550; North Ohio, $1431; Illinois, $1544; Ohio, $3132; Missouri, $913 ; Tennessee, $1609; Kentucky, $2148; Indiana, $2926 ; Memphis, $984 ; Arkansas, $422 ; Holston, $1692 ; Mississippi, $771; North Carolina, $1161; Texas, $152; Alabama, $1610 ; Virginia, $1411 ; Georgia, $2423 ; Baltimore, $3312 ; South Carolina, $3214 ; Phila- delphia, $2639 ; New Jersey, $1425. " The above proportionment is based upon the assumption that the whole debt is $50,000, and which is believed to be the real debt of the Society. During several months past this debt, with some little varia- tion, has rested as an incubus upon the Society, and we beg leave to assure the members of our Zion that it still sits heavily upon us, and cannot fail, if permitted to exist, greatly to retard our missionary opera- tions. It is this debt, viewed in connection with the scarcity of money and the fluctuating state of the currency, which has led the Board to commence a course of retrenchment by recommending the recall of some of our missionaries. If in doing this we have made retrograde movement, and in the adoption of this restrictive policy there is sin, that sin cannot lie at the door of the Board. Painful as it was, they felt themselves obliged, in moral honesty, to limit their appropriations 138 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. to the probable amount of their available means. They still hope, however, that Providence will yet open the way for the re-occupancy of, at least, one of our missionary posts in poor, deserted South America. " The importance of the immediate extinguishment of this debt may be more fully seen in the fact that the interest we are paying on it would of itself support five additional ministers in Africa. And when it is considered that this is perhaps the most promising field embraced in our foreign missions, and that scarcely a vessel visits our shores from that country which does not convey to us the most melting appeals for additional help, and this not only from the missionaries themselves, but also from the converted and half-awakened natives in the interior, who does not realize in all this an overwhelming motive to immediate action on this subject? Let this debt be swept off, by an extra effort, and, without any increase of its annual expenditures, the Board will be able at once to provide for an additional supply of laborers in the mis- sionary field. Then shall the motto of missionary Methodism be what it ought to be, ' Extension without restriction.' " And surely it will not be pleaded that the project of removing this debt is impracticable. Let there be only a united and simultaneous movement throughout our widely-extended Zion, and it is perfectly easy of accomplishment; a little less than six cents from each one of our 90,000 members and the work is done. And who that is worthy to bear the name of Wesleyan Methodist, and in whose heart glows a spark of the fire of primitive Christianity, would refuse to contribute this small amount to relieve the Missionary Society from its present embarrass- ments? And who that cares for the souls of the perishing heathen and the general interests of the missionary cause will hesitate to come forward in this emergency to our help ? We verily believe that it is unsafe, in the present state of affairs, to allow the burden of so heavy a responsibility to rest upon the society. The general gloom which has settled upon the business prospects of the country, and the extreme scarcity of money, warn us to relieve ourselves of this incumbrance as speedily as possible. And although, for want of time, it has been found impracticable to bring this subject formally before all the annual con- ferences, yet we sincerely hope that, in view of the manifest importance and practicability of the measure, it will meet with a hearty and uni- versal co-operation. " We would respectfully suggest that in carrying out this object no time should be lost ; the project is feasible, the sooner it is done the better. It can be done ; it ought to be done. Let the whole Church say it must, and very soon it will be done. Ministers of Jesus help ! MISSIONARY LABOR. 139 Upon your individual agency greatly depends the success of this effort. Bring it before your people ; urge it upon their sympathies and con- sciences, and be assured they will give you a most cheering response. Disciples of Jesus and lovers of Methodism, help ! We entreat you, as the followers of Him ' who went about doing good,' come to our help in this emergency. By your high and holy designation as the salt of the earth and the ' light of the world ' ; by the fact that ' God has made of one blood all the nations of the earth ; ' by your love for perishing souls ; by your obligations to Heaven for personal blessings ; by your earnest desire for the promotion of the divine glory; by all that is sacred on earth, fearful in hell, and inviting in heaven, we call upon you to ' come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.' " Most earnestly do we hope that before the next anniversary of the Society it will be our privilege to announce the joyful intelligence that our missionary debt is wiped away, and that the supplies for carrying on our missionary work are amply sufficient. "New York, July 26th, 1842. C. PITMAN, Cor. Sec. G. LANE, Treasurer." Such were the burning words and eloquent utterances of the men who bore on their hearts the great interests of the mis- sionary cause, nearly fifty years ago. They were earnest men, they were tried men, they were true men, and thus they toiled, and thus they labored, and thus they prayed, and thus God gave them success ; the money came in, the coffers of the mis- sionary treasury were replenished, the debt was paid, and the society has more than doubled the number of her missions, and where there was one missionary then preaching Christ to the heathen, there are now five others in the same field, assisted by scores of teachers and native helpers in the good work of evan- gelizing the heathen world. Following in the good work, we have another account of Dr. Pitman. At the request of Rev. J. M. Pease and Rev. William F. Collins, he visited Peekskill and Shruboaks Sta- tion, New York Conference, for the purpose of assisting them in their missionary meetings, of which he says : " In the morning 140 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. (Sabbath) I preached at Shruboaks to a very respectable, at- tentive and solemn audience, who appeared to receive the truth in the love of it. The collection and pledges taken at the close of the sermon amounted to one hundred and fifteen dollars. Just after the pledges were called for, brother Collins, the preacher in charge, whose beloved wife had been lingering for several months on the borders of the grave, rose and with strong emotion remarked : " When I left home this morning, I mentioned to Mrs. Collins that I was going to the missionary meeting, and asked her if she had anything she wished me to communicate to the meeting. She replied with deep interest that she desired me to give five dollars in her name for the promotion of that blessed cause and to say to the secretary and the congregation that this was her dying donation. 'And now,' said Brother Collins, as he held up the five-dollar bill, 'shall I let this last donation of my dying companion go into the missionary treasury alone? I cannot consent to this; I must beg the privilege of placing another by its side, that I may share, for the last time, with her who is dearer to me than all earthly objects beside, the luxury of doing good.' This incident produced a most powerful sensation throughout the whole assembly, and I doubt not contributed much towards the noble result. "Brother Stainsbury, whose home had been to me a most comfortable place during my stay in the neighborhood took me to Peekskill in the afternoon, where I preached to a fine congregation, in the evening. Here, where I had some good reason to expect one hundred dollars for the missionary cause, our collection and pledges, all told, amounted to about thirty dollars, and ten of these were pledged by Brother Pease himself. I could but pity myself, the congregation and the missionary cause; but, most of all, I pitied Brother Pease, who was evidently much disappointed and greatly mortified with the result.* The preachers in both of these charges are noble-souled men and deeply imbued with the missionary spirit. Heaven bless them !" " On the 31st of December, 1843, Dr. Pitman visited Camden, N. J., and preached to an excessively crowded congregation of attentive * Peekskill has long since redeemed herself from this lapse in missionary contributions, and, for a number of years, has been in the front in her mission* ary collections. THE AUTHOR. MISSIONARY LABOR. 141 hearers. The sermon throughout had a bearing on the missionary enterprise, and especially on the obligations of the Church to send the gospel to the perishing heathen. At the close of the sermon the usual methods were adopted to raise funds for missionary purposes. . Brother Isaac Winner, the preacher in charge, entered deeply into the spirit of the meeting, and to his hearty co-operation is doubtless to be attributed, in a good degree, the noble and satisfactory result. The collection and pledges on the occasion amounted to $164. Our Camden friends, I believe, are always ready for a missionary meeting. I came upon them entirely unexpected; yet when I proposed an effort for the cause of missions, all hands were up for it. They have had a number of similar meetings, but never a failure (glorious record! Biographer). The last was, like its predecessors, full of interest and greatly successful. I am happy to have it in my power to state that the ' cent-a-week ' system finds considerable favor in this charge. Something more will be forth- coming from this source. " Most devoutly and fervently do I pray that this interesting people may share largely in the reflex benefits of Christian benevolence. And if any argument is to be drawn from personal experience and general observation, I cannot doubt that a rich and copious shower of divine mercy awaits them." On the evening of January 1st, 1844, Dr. Pitman attended the anniversary of the Juvenile Missionary Society of St. Paul's Church in Philadelphia, and says: "This is the third year in succession that I have been permitted to share with this society in the holy festivities of their anniversary occasion. And I cannot but express the high gratification with which I have witnessed year after year the zeal and perseverance of this so- ciety in the blessed cause of missions. And I, most confidently hope that the good Spirit, which has hitherto animated them, may not be allowed to wane, but that they may still go on in this good ' work of faith and labor of love/ growing stronger and stronger as the years roll onward. " According to previous arrangement, I preached on the oc- casion, and endeavored to present the claims of the perishing heathen upon the Church and the obligations imposed upon her, by her redeeming Lord. A deep solemnity pervaded the con- 142 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. gregation, and in many instances, a deeply felt and cherished sympathy for the millions of our benighted race was indicated by sighs and tears. Brother Onins, the preacher in charge, took a deep interest in the missionary enterprise, and very effi- ciently seconded all my efforts on this occasion. The aggregate amount of the collection, pledges and 'tis-but boxes' was $106. Four life-members of the parent society were made at this meeting. Another missionary society connected with this church was to hold their anniversary, and report their proceed- ings soon, which will increase this amount to about as much more. May many choice blessings rest upon this efficient, juvenile association." "In the closing part of the year 1847, after an extended and protracted tour westward, accompanied by Mrs. Pitman and Bishop "Waugh, Dr. Pitman, in the most fraternal spirit, ad- dressed a missionary letter to the ministers of the Liberia Annual Conference, which was so highly esteemed by that body that by resolution copies were ordered published at their missionary printing office for the use of the members and other friends." * We subjoin the first and the closing paragraph : "DEAR BRETHREN: For some time past I have felt a strong and increasing desire to address you on the subject of the great work in which you are engaged, and, if possible, to encourage your hearts and strengthen your hands for the more successful prosecution of the duties which devolve upon you as missionaries of the cross. But as yet neither time nor circumstances have allowed me an opportunity of gratifying this desire. Nor am I now able to communicate with you individually. I have therefore determined to address you collectively and in your conference capacity." The address contemplates and sets forth the magnitude and importance of the work, the qualifications with which a mis- sionary should be endowed, the difficulties and dangers con- * New Jersey Conference Memorial Volume. MISSIONARY LABOR. 143 nected with missionary enterprise, and closes in the following words : " In conclusion permit me to remark that although the magnitude of your work, the difficulties and dangers which surround you in connec- tion with the weakness and infirmities which attach to human nature in its best state, are sufficient to cause the stoutest hearts to quail, yet the prospect before you is not without its encouragements. The cause itself is the Lord's. You are but agents employed in this great work ; yet we trust you are agents selected by God Himself. And who can tell wiiat He will accomplish by instruments of His own choosing? Your hopes of success are based upon the word of everlasting truth. Prophecy and promise unite to sustain the long-cherished hopes of the Church in regard to the salvation of the heathen. ' Ask of me,' says God, 'and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.' For these the Re- deemer suffered and died ; and ' He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied.' Individually you may, indeed, be nothing; but you are connected with an agency which is Divine, and which cannot fail to give efficiency to your efforts. What is the pebble in the brook, or the sling, or what the slender arm of the youthful shepherd? Yet that pebble in the sling, and that sling in the hand of David, and his arm connected with the name of the God of the armies of Israel, and the vaunting Goliath lies prostrate at his feet. " How simple and even foolish in the ear of worldly wisdom is the story of the Cross ! How feeble and inefficient the instrumentality of man I And yet this simple weapon, drawn from the brook of truth, though directed by the most insignificant instrument, becomes mighty through God, and by it the giant forms of pagan idolatry and supersti- tion which for centuries have reared their brazen fronts and proudly defied the God of heaven, shall, in the midst of their vauntings, be tumbled into ruins. "With these animating prospects before you, dear brethren, let nothing deter you from the faithful prosecution of your holy work. Ever remember that you are not at liberty to entangle yourselves with secular concerns, and that you are expected to consecrate yourselves and your families entirely to the missionary work, though it may be at the sacrifice of care, of the refinements and socialities of polished so- ciety, of health, and even of life itself. Go forward, then, in the name of the Lord, and push the conquests of Messiah's kingdom farther and 144 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. still farther, until the vast interior of Africa shall become vocal with' the songs of Christian triumph. And remember for your consolation that the church under whose direction and patronage you labor is iden- tified with you in all that legitimately belongs to your mission. She will hold herself responsible for your necessary supplies. She will sympathize with you in all your trials ; she will weep with you in all your sorrows, and she will rejoice with you in all your successes. And should any of you, in the providence of God, be destined to find a pre- mature grave in the land of your voluntary exile, she will most devoutly pray that, like others of your noble predecessors and coadjutors, you may fall at your post, sword in hand, with your clustering honors thick upon you, and that, with Cox, and Wright, and Benton, and Stocker, and Williams, and others who have been associated with you in this interesting field, you may wear a faithful missionary's crown and ' shine as stars in the kingdom of heaven forever and ever.' 'And now, dearly beloved, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all of them which are sanctified.' " Yours in missionary bonds, C. PITMAN." These are but few of the selections, from the many which we might make as being expressive of the interest and untiring energy which Dr. Pitman put forth for the benefit and ag- gressive movements of our missionary work, during the pe- riod of his secretaryship. Ever ready to answer all the calls made upon him, we find him at one time in Rahway, New Jer- sey; at another, journeying by stage-coach and private convey- ance over the hills of Connecticut, and at another touching the localities along the Hudson with his magic power; then, as with a bound, down in the extremities of lower New Jersey, lifting up his voice to a people that he declared " were always ready for a missionary meeting;" then crossing the Delaware over into Philadelphia, and visiting his old charges and friends, and celebrating his advent by a rousing missionary meeting on a New Year's night. Returning to New York, we find him there planning a great undertaking for extinguishing the im- mense debt upon the missionary treasury at that time, and MISSIONARY LABOR. 145 then, in turn, visiting the Conferences all over the Union, and making an appeal that is endued with a pathos, which seems enough to move the heavens to pity, and the earth to sympathy, and the church to tears, and then executing one of the most extended tours, then known westward with a Bishop, and with a purpose to relieve the embarrassments of the missionary so- ciety, preaching and addressing every Annual Conference, and missionary anniversary within the line of his travel, day after day, evening after evening, and so filled with zeal and burning with the flame of missionary love to those he could not reach with his potent and eloquent voice, that he sits down and writes a fraternal letter to the Liberia Annual Conference, which, for beauty of diction, for certain weighty directness in character, and for soul-yearning desire for the spread and enlargement, and continued success of the cause of Christ in heathen lands, has seldom been equalled, and never surpassed. " Instant in season and out of season," he ceased not his toil, until exhausted and worn-out nature, under the pressure, gave way, and he was compelled to resign his arduous labors and office to men of younger hearts and stronger hands, if not of more vigorous purpose. What would Dr. Bangs, Dr. Pitman, Dr. G. Lane or Dr. Durbin say, if they could be on earth now in person and among the churches, and behold the wide-sweeping grasp and exten- sive executive influence and power, of Dr. J. M. Reed at the head of our missionary society, assisted by the genial, far- seeing, sagacious and earnest Dr. Fitzgerald, and hear the sonorous and trumpet-tongued voice of Chaplain McCabe sounding out, from the St. Lawrence River on the northeast to the peninsula of California at the southwest, from the sea- surged board of the Atlantic, to the calm and peaceful waters of the Pacific main: "A million for missions! a million for mis- sions for 1887 by collections only! Eighteen hundred and eighty-seven must roll into the treasury of the Missionary So- 10 146 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church "A million for 'mis- sions/' a million of dollars to promote the great work of salvation to earth's remotest bounds ? Would it not thrill Pit- man's heart with glad hallelujahs, and light up his solemn face with rays of jubilistic glory? Would not Durbin open his large gray eyes a little wider, and lift the notes of his stentorian voice a little higher, in episodes of eloquent thanksgivings for the Church's triumphant history, and bounding with gratitude for this rapid stride of missionary zeal which characterizes the pre- sent period, would not both unite in one grand shout of exul- tant victory, to the onward march of the kingdom of Christ among the nations of the earth, and the ushering in of this lat- ter day of millennial glory ? And that epoch in this world's history will dawn upon us, " when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." And as a most distinguished divine has said : " The true millennial glory of the latter day shall con- sist in the genial, unrestricted influence of the gospel upon man, in his personal history, his social and civic relations." In representing in this resume the official work of the secre- tary, we may not pass the attention he gave to the missionary work on the Pacific coast, then in its incipiency. This move- ment arose from a remarkable call of a delegation of the Flat- . head Indians and the response made thereto by our missionary board in sending forward the Rev. Jason Lee, as superintend- ent, supported by a number of assistants, and with needed sup- plies for establishing a mission station in that remote and very inaccessible field. The heroic Lee toiled with most self-sacrificing assiduity, and as will be seen at the judgment of the great day, with consider- able success. But the difficulties were great : the mission had of necessity to be the scheme of colonization, employing plows, mills, farmers, as well as teachers and preachers; the base of supplies was some two thousand miles away ; practically society MISSIONARY LABOR. 147 was just changing from aboriginal Indians to white settlers; immigration was just now pioneering across the plains of the great American Desert, so called ; the church at home was be- coming impatient for results; great expenses had been involved, and some reports unfriendly to the administration had been sent home, and created some misgivings and apprehensions. It was concluded by the missionary board best to send out Rev. George Gary, a man of large experience, to adjust the business affairs of the mission, adapting them to the changed conditions of society. This work had been wisely done, and as Mr. Gary's advanced age did not allow him to remain and cultivate the field, he was to return, and some younger man, well known to the church at home, of sufficient executive ability to manage all the affairs of the mission, was sought for. Thus the selection of a successor for the new and important field devolved upon Dr. Pitman as secretary of the parent society. At that period the Rocky Mountains and Oregon were but little known in the East, and California had excited but little, if any attention. As Dr. Pitman was on his circuit of official visitation, he called upon the Rev. William Roberts, then pastor of Liberty Street Church in New Brunswick, N. J. ; as Mr. Roberts was greatly interested in the missionary enterprise of the church, being an able and eloquent advocate in its fur- therance, both in the pulpit and on the platform, he inquired of the secretary : " Who is to be the superintendent of the Oregon mission ?" the impromptu answer of Dr. Pitman was, " You !" and, strange as it may seem, it so transpired. It possibly was a forethought of Dr. Pitman, and its dis- closure was then and there invoked by the artless, yet interested question asked of him. How like a concurrent inspiration was this, in the providential support and furtherance of the great missionary work to be conducted on the Western Slope of our great continent. The results of this work begun under the self-sacrificing Lee and Gary, and afterwards developed and 148 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. widely forwarded by the heroic .Roberts, shows the providence of its opening, the wisdom of its deviser, and eminent devotion of its superintendents and their laborious aids. When Mr. Roberts was appointed to this missionary work in Oregon, he was in the zenith of his popularity both in Confer- ence, and in the vicinities of Philadelphia and New York, with a wife of refined and popular bearing, held in affectionate re- gard by many circles of friends, and two bright little boys, whose life's direction was to be changed. The passage to their new and distant field involved a voyage of some seven months in a sailing vessel, with its confinement and exposure around Cape Horn to the Columbia River. As his voluntary exile shows an exalted self-abnegation and Christian heroism and devotion, so also his selection by the Secretary expresses a providential lead- ing and apostolic direction, in his subsequent appointment to the high and responsible position as a representative, in all respects equal to its demands. This, his wise and successful oversight fully confirms, both as to the establishment of our Missionary, and since of our Conference work in Oregon and California. Simultaneously with the institution of Conferences, growing out of the Missionary work, the superintendency was sus- pended, and its incumbent took a deserved place in the new organization, and has devoted his ability, influence and experi- ence, to the present, in aiding further to put our Methodism in the front rank of Protestant evangelism in the vast, growing and important population of the Pacific border. Thus Dr. Pitman and Dr. Roberts are eminently associated in one of the grandest as well as greatest enterprises of evangelism and Chris- tian civilization known in this Western hemisphere. It is fitting that we close this interesting chapter on missions during the time of his secretaryship of the Society with a hymn composed by Dr. Pitman, as it partakes of true missionary zeal and indicates the spirit and interest he felt in the work, and shows that in the midst of his arduous labors as missionary sec- MISSIONARY HYMN. 149 retaiy, he did not neglect to employ his poetical talent on sub- jects of missionary interest and missions, and liow well his marked efficiency enabled him to accomplish this work may be judged by the following selection. It was written December 19th, 1846, and was co-incident with Dr. Roberts' appoint- ment : MISSIONARY HYMN. " Behold them on the trembling bark, All group'd within their ocean home, With purpose fix'd their course they mark, They go in distant lands to roam. " They go commission'd from above, As Christ's ambassadors they go, To publish His redeeming love Where all is wilderness and woe. " They go for Him whose love proclaims An amnesty for all our race, To plant along Williamett's plains The seeds of truth and heavenly grace. " A mourning group of friends are there, They cease the touching scene to view, To breathe for them the ardent prayer, Then take their last and long adieu. " There, too, an aged father stands, With stifled grief and lingering gaze. ' I yield,' he cries, ' 'Tis God commands,' And thus he most devoutly prays : " ' My son ! my son 1 my only son ! O God to Thee I consecrate ; Sustain him till his work is done, Then crown him in his blissful state.' " Unmoved, the vessel onward glides, Borne forward by the fav'ring breeze, For months to stem old ocean's tides, And dash amid tempestuous seas. 150 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " Farewell, ye heralds of the cross I You go for us and in our name ; You've counted all things here but loss, That you may Jesus' love proclaim. " In heathen lands, where darkness reigns, And souls, for lack of knowledge, die ; Where Satan's captives, held in chains, Despairingly for freedom cry. " Where wasting tribes of red men wail, Unwept, unpitied and unsought, Who yet no sound of mercy hail, Although by blood divinely bought. " Where mountain trappers, fierce and wild, And crowds of Western pioneers, With hands and hearts by sin defil'd, Accumulate their guilt of years. " Go forth to these, ye sons of light, Salute their ears with mercy free, Go dissipate their moral night, And bid them to their Saviour flee. " Soon shall ' the wilderness rejoice, The solitary place be glad ;' For those who hear the Saviour's voice, And in His righteousness are clad. " Pacific shores, Columbia's dales, Shall blend in one their anthem song, The mountain cliffs and fertile vales In echoes sweet their strains prolong. " The winds shall bear the joyful lays In raptur'd peals the earth around, n And millions the sweet chorus raise, ' The dead's alive, the lost is found.' " C. PITMAN. CHAPTER XI. DR. PITMAN AS A CHURCH DEDICATOR. SOME ACCOUNT OP THESE DEDICATIONS. WHILE acting as Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary Society of the M. E. Church, Dr. Pitman did not relin- quish his interest in our home work. The building of new churches, their dedication to the worship of Almighty God, and the new and increasing interest that attended such events, and the success that generally followed, were always matters of great moment to his noble, philanthropic and Christian heart, and in such services he engaged with great delight. Nor did he lose his love for camp-meetings, when immersed in the arduous labors and duties of his office. Frequently would he leave his office in New York, and make a sort of an official tour to several camp-meetings, to meet with the preach- ers and people in the various sections of our Methodism, and endeavor to infuse spiritual zeal into the hearts of the people who were called together at these great annual gatherings. He delighted to attend the assembly of the Lord's saints in the grove, and it seemed to be a pre-arranged fact, in the minds of those who had charge of camp-meetings, if not definitely put down on the programme, that if Dr. Pitman made his appear- ance on the camp-grounds, during the encampment, he was soon to be bulletined for an appointment to preach. To mention all the church dedications, or camp-meetings, he officiated at, would more than fill a volume. We can only men- tion a few as being indicative of the multitudinous class and in- terest of others. 151 152 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. The Third Street M. E. Church, of Camden, N. J., which stood on Third Street, above Bridge Avenue, was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, December 14, 1834. Rev. Charles Pitman preached the dedicatory sermon from Isa. 60th chapter, latter clause of the 7th verse, and Rev. Mr. Granville performed the dedicatory services. The church is spoken of " as a handsome brick edifice, size, 52x72, having galleries on three sides, two aisles, an altar and pulpit of commodious size. The church is one of the best, if not the best within the bounds of the West Jersey District, and is tastefully finished, orna- mented and beautifully painted throughout, and indicates the thrift and growth of Methodism in that place. The dedication sermon was all that could be desired. Brother Pitman was in his best preaching mood, and gave us a grand sermon, which, for unctious power, impressiveness in delivery, and overwhelming influence for good, we have seldom seen, or ever before heard. The financial effort far exceeded the expectation of the official brethren, and the day was one long to be remembered as a high day in Zion, by the members of our church and the citi- zens of Camden, for liberality in giving, and the spiritual char- acter of these exercises." Rev. Walters Burrows, of West Bloom field, N. J., says in the Christian Advocate and Journal, November, 1837 : " On Thursday, the 10th inst., our new and beautiful house of worship in this village was dedicated to the worship of the Lord our God. Preaching in the morning by brother Pitman, of Philadelphia, in the afternoon by brother Kennaday, of New -York, and in the evening by Brother Scott, of Newark. The word of God, through the ministry of these brethren, was as the cooling water-brook to the thirsty soul. While the crowded audience listened with the deepest interest, and gave evidence of their satisfaction by contributions and pledges to the amount of $712.13, and there had been previously subscribed, princi- pally by the same individuals, about $2000. To God be all the praise. " W. BUKEOWS. " West Bloomfield, N. J., Nov. 12, 1837." CHUKCH DEDICATIONS 153 Dedication at Trenton, N. J. Rev. A. Atwood writes in the Christian Advocate, September, 1838 : " The building recently erected in Trenton, N. J., for the use of the M. E. Church, was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, on Sab- bath, the 9th inst. The morning and evening services were conducted by Rev. Mr. Holdich, of Middletown, Conn., and those in the afternoon by Rev. Mr. Pitman, of Philadelphia. The interest was well kept up throughout the day, nor will the whole scene soon be forgotten. The congregations were very large and attentive, thus evincing the deep in- terest taken in our enterprise. The building is seventy-two feet long by fifty -two feet wide, of brick, with a basement under the whole, and all finished in a neat and appropriate style, well befitting its holy purposes. The collections amounted to nearly $1400. In behalf of a grateful Society I return most hearty gratitude to the ministers, and all others in attendance for having so liberally aided in defraying the heavy ex- penses of this elegant house of worship. " A. ATWOOD Pastor. " Trenton, September 12, 1838." Dedication at Milford, Del. " The new M. E. Church in the village of Milford, Del., was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God on the 12th ult. The services were conducted in the morning and afternoon by Rev. brother Pitman, and in the evening by Rev. M. A. Kurtz. The church is a beautiful brick building, 40x50 feet, with an end gallery. It has a fine basement-story, divided into three apartments, namely, a Sabbath-school room, 21x37 feet ; a very handsome class-room, 16x24 feet, and a committee or busi- ness-room, 13x16 feet. The whole cost of the house is about $5000. The debt on the church was $800. Of this sum there was collected five hundred dollars, and the balance the trustees expected to realize by the disposal of their lots in their cemetery, which will leave them with a commodious and substantial new church, free of debt. Most sincerely do I rejoice in the zeal and perseverance of our Milford brethren, and especially in the success which has crowned their efforts, and I cannot but hope their noble example will be followed by other towns and vil- lages in this interesting region of country. Perhaps a more friendly and hospitable people are not to be found than dwell on this peninsula. In traveling through this country several years ago, almost the only thing I was disposed to complain of was the dilapidated state of the churches. It gives me great pleasure to learn that for some time past 154 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the spirit of enterprise in this respect has been rising. And I shall be greatly mistaken if, in connection with this spirit, there is not witnessed an increased and increasing state of spiritual prosperity in the church. The occasion of the dedication of the new church at Milford was a sea- son which our friends in that place will long remember with pleasurable emotions. Acknowledging the kindness of the friends, I most cordially unite in the petition, ' Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord ; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.' " C. PITMAN. " New York, July 1, 1842." It was in the old church in Milford, Del., where the Phila- delphia Conference was held, in April, 1821, that Mr. Pitman was ordained to the office of an elder in the M. E. Church, by Bishop George. Dedications in Connecticut : " On the 25th ult.," says Mr. Pitman, "I started in company with my esteemed friend and brother, Dr. Peck, on a little excursion to Connec- ticut. We had been invited to officiate at the dedication of two new churches, the one at Long Ridge and the other at Ridgefield, and both in Fairfield County. We left New York in the Steamer Croton, at 7 o'clock, A. M., and arrived at Norwalk a little before eleven, where we found a private carriage in waiting for us. Our place of entertainment had been assigned with brother J. M. Gilbert, in whose family we found a most comfortable home. On Wednesday morning we rode over to Long Ridge, a distance of six miles, to attend the dedication of the new church at that place. Dr. Peck preached in the morning, and I in the afternoon. The results of the day were highly gratifying to the peo- ple, and the church was freed from debt. On Thursday the new church at Ridgefield was dedicated. I preached in the morning and Dr. Peck in the evening. Of these interesting occasions, my feelings would prompt me to say much, but as they will be noticed by another, I pass them over with the single remark, that both of these churches are models of neatness and plainness, and with respect to size, well accommodated to the neighborhoods, in which they are respectively located. The collec- tions for the balance of indebtedness, for the latter, were sufficient to cancel all obligations against it. " C. PITMAN. " New York, February 8, 1842." CHURCH DEDICATIONS. 155 Dedication at Cold Spring, L. I. : "The M. E. Church at Cold Spring, L. L, was dedicated to the service of Almighty God on the 23d of October last. The services were per- formed by the Eev. Charles Pitman and Rev. G. Peck, D.D. Brother Pitman preached in hia usual powerful manner, from Col. i. 28, in which he gave a clear and full delineation of the nature and excellencies of the Redeemer in his provision of mercy toman, and of the ultimate design of the grace of God to save the human soul. Dr. Peck followed in the afternoon with a very able sermon from Matt. xvi. 18. Something over three hundred dollars were realized in the collection and pledges, placing us beyond serious embarrassment. Respectfully Yours, " ORLANDO STAB. "Huntington, L. I., November 15, 1842." Dedication at Broadway, Asbury Circuit, N. J. Conference : " Our new church at Broadway, Asbury Circuit, Warren County, New Jersey Conference, was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God on the 19th inst., by the Rev. Charles Pitman, Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary Society of the M. E. Church. " Our beloved brother selected for his text Ps. Ixxxvii. 6 ; and truly we had then and there one of the most palpable evidences of the fulfil- ment of the promise, 'And lo, I am with you always.' The preacher received, as the fittest qualification of his ' great work,' the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which enabled him most lucidly to explain and most forcibly to apply the whole of his subject. Never more sensibly were we impressed with the truth, ' Through Christ strengthening me I can do all things.' God on this occasion sanctioned his holy worship by bless- ing the preacher and making him a blessing to the people. At the close of the sermon, by the request of our brother, the congregation rose and presented to the Lord our new temple, and while they and we were solemnly engaged in this service, the Almighty Being most graciously and mercifully signified to our waiting and anxious hearts that he had received our offering. " In the evening we were again favored, and refreshed with another discourse from our dear brother, selecting for his second text Col. i. 27- 29. The labors of that day did not fall as water on the ground, but as bread upon the waters ; and, when the Lord writeth up the people, we verily believe that some will date their conviction of divine truth from the 19th of January, 1844, at Broadway new church. Not only was our 156 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. brother most happy in the illustration of truth, but in expanding the benevolent feelings and liberality of the people. Our liabilities on the morning of the 19th were six hundred dollars. Brother Pitman so pre- vailed with the congregation that, when we left the church in the even- ing, the debt was less than three hundred dollars. This was doing very well for this section of our work. On the morning of the 20th, after our dedication service, at the home of brother Fritts, we all knelt before a throne of grace, and brother* Pitman prayed. The heavens were opened, the mercy-seat was accessible, and before we arose we felt that we were wholly the Lord's. " A. OWEN, } "RICHARD VANHORNE, j " Harmony, N. J., January 25, 1844." Dedication at Lawrenceville, N. J. : "MESSRS. EDITORS: Our church edifice, which was erected during the last summer (33 by 43 feet), at an expense of about $1100, was ded- icated to the worship of Almighty God on the 28th of December. The dedicatory services were ably performed by Rev. Charles Pitman, of New York, the corresponding secretary of the Missionary Society, and the Rev. D. P. Kidder, of Trenton. At the close of the morning ser- mon Brother Pitman called upon the congregation to give an expression of their offering by rising, which was done with a unanimity of feeling and interest highly worthy of the occasion. A debt of nearly $500 re- maining on the house was then announced. After taking a very liberal collection, a proposition was made to raise the first hundred by five twenty-dollar subscriptions, which was promptly met. Although the day was stormy and the roads bad, we raised $350. Much praise is due our neighboring friends for their very liberal contributions on the occa- sion. " J. W. PUTMAN, Preacher in Charge. "Lawrenceville, Feb. 6th, 1844." Dedication at Bordentown, N. J. : "The new and beautiful Methodist Episcopal Church at Bordentown, New Jersey, was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God by Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D., of New York, in the fall of 1844. Bishop Janes preached a most eloquent and stirring sermon in the morning, which seemed to set all hearts on fire, and the liberality of the people was commensurate (as it always is) with the power and influence of the divine Spirit which on these occasions they experienced in their hearts. DEDICATION AT PORCHTOWN, N. J. 157 The time for the afternoon service arrived, and the church was crowded to excess. Rev. Dr. Pitman had arrived from New York a little after noon, and promptly at the time of service arose in the pulpit and gave out a hymn, and, after the singing, joined in a fervent prayer to Almighty God; after the singing of the second hymn, the doctor an- nounced and preached from Psalm xlviii. 12-14. This was one of the doctor's favorite themes for dedicatory services of new churches (an outline of which is appended at the end of this volume), and a descrip- tion of his manner in preaching on these occasions, and especially from this text, will be mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Said one who was present and wrapt in amazement at the utterances of the speaker: 'Here truth revealed its sceptre truth which spoke in utterances of matchless interest and power eloquence which animated and inspired all hearts with holy love and with a strong and devout attachment to our holy Zion. My attention was so vivid and so intense that from the strength of admiration I thought that I could become a Pitman too, and be filled with the justness of his images, and breathe the spirit of the great model and prince of the preachers of his time; but when I entered into myself, alas! I felt I was only an humble instrument to preach Christ, and I exclaimed: Oh, if I could only be Pitman's shadow, I would still deserve to be admired, for the shadow of a great man has some reality.' The reason for building a new church at this time was because the society had lost their old church, which was located on Main Street, on account of some defect in the title. Dr. Pitman said, on the occasion of the dedication, he was glad that they had lost the old church, for now they had a new one much more commodious and better adapted to the needs of the society, and greatly to the advantage of Methodism, and the accommodations of the public in general. The day closed up with good and highly satisfactory financial results, and all felt that the cause of Methodism had been very much strengthened by that day's effort." Dedication at Porchtown, Gloucester Circuit, New Jersey Conference: The church at Porchtown was dedicated in the fall of 1848 by Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D. The occasion was one of unusual interest, and the event produced a lasting im- pression upon the minds of all present. Mrs. Bowers, an aged member of that church (still living), narrated the scenes and the great interest felt at the time of the building of their new 158 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. church and its dedication, to the author of this biography in 1878, while he was preacher in charge of that circuit. In those times it was considered a great undertaking to build a church with both end and side galleries, in fact, with any gallery at all. People who had been accustomed to worshipping in pri- vate houses, school-houses and what was termed " meeting- houses," which, in those times, generally meant a building twenty by thirty feet, with twelve or fourteen-foot posts, which indicated the distance from floor to ceiling, roughly plastered and with lime-washed walls, wooden benches some with backs and some without back-rests a plain board pulpit, perhaps painted, with a chair or bench within, a cheap pine stand and two wooden chairs for the inside of the altar, a plain rail for an altar, a ten-plate wood stove in the centre of the aisle, and one passage way, and that extending from the door to the pulpit, through the centre part of the house, and also as indicating a dividing line in the congregation, the men sitting on one side (generally the right), and the women on the other (the left), and a preacher in the pulpit pouring out gospel truth like a young Niagara would pour down water gives the reader some- what of an idea of a "country meeting-house" and its congre- gation engaged in worship. Ziou had served its day and generation at Porchtown, and the Porches and Cranes and other noble families of Methodism resolved to build a church a church with galleries in it, and two aisles and a vestibule, a solid middle block, a regular platform and altar, and a beauti- fully finished pulpit, that was to have a recess in it, with steps of access from each side, and lighted with side lamps and chan- delier, which in that day was several steps in advance of sur- rounding appointments. This church was, after much effort, finished, and Rev. Charles Pitman was to preach the dedica- tory sermon. The day was unusually fine, and great crowds of people gathered to the place. Mr. Pitman arrived the day be- fore, surveyed the situation and prepared himself for the work DEDICATION AT PORCHTOWN, N. J. 159 of the morrow. Hundreds, if not thousands, of his friends greeted him, and they well knew what was to come from that man of God that day. The hour of service arrived, and both the preacher and people were in their places, and those who could not get into the church for it could not accommodate the mass of people gathered at the side door, the windows and around the church. Appropriate hymns were sung, and the introductory prayer was offered, and soon the preacher arose and announced as his text, Ps. xlviii. 12-14. A sketch at the close of this volume will indicate the line of thought ; but the peroration was grand beyond the power of pen to describe. It wants the inspiration of the hour, the spirit that imbued the heart of the man of God, the magnificent voice, the eloquent tongue and the noble physique, all aglow with spiritual fervor, his face shining with heavenly lustre, and his countenance beaming with the glory of God, to properly portray that occa- sion. It was eloquence on fire; it was oratory in a blaze; ft was rhetoric baptized with pentecostal flame ; it was God filling the soul, and the glory of God shining forth in the face of His heaven-deputed messenger to proclaim the glories of the gospel of the Son of God. He made a series of climaxes : as he called upon all true believers to "walk about Zion," and then, as though he was marshalling a great army, he swung them round and round our spiritual Zion, till line on line, tier on tier, widened out in circles succeeding circles, and no human eye could discover the outer circle ; he then set the mighty cohort in motion, and round and round they swung, gazing on the great temple and towers of Mount Zion. Jews and Gentiles were there; bond and free, Scythian and barbarian, Greek and Ro- man all classes, all nations, all kindreds and all tongues were there. "Tell the towers thereof." "Her stately towers," un- moved by the winds of centuries and undisturbed by the roll and decay of ages, piercing the heavens with their pinnacles and reflecting their illuminating grandeur upon earth and sky I 160 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " Mark ye well her bulwarks," her impenetrable and immova- ble foundations ! The thunders of a thousand ages, or the earth- quakes of centuries move them not! Ye men of God! ye women of God ! they defy the threatening tempests of hell and thwart the idle rage of the arch-fiend of perdition ! " Consider her palaces," Zion, built on a Rock, beautiful and majestic in all her proportions! She is the glory of all nations and the admiration of all worlds ! Proclaim it to all people ! Tell it to your friends, your neighbors, your children, that they may tell it to the generations following ! " For this God is our God forever, and He will be our guide, even unto death." Thank God, though the lashing waves of infidelity have beat against our Zion for nearly six thousand years, yet has she survived them all, and boldly and bravely she stands, to display the power and wisdom of her Maker and God. But we forbear, conscious that our description falls far below the glory of that scene, which was so graphically, and so vividly, and with such fervor and enthusiasm portrayed by Mr. Pitman that morning. It was a sermon that was never to be forgotten by scores and hundreds down to the latest hour of their conscious being; and the dear old saint who, with broken intonations, narrated it to the writer, often broke out in exclamations of joy, with which these thoughts fired her soul. Mr. Pitman was a powerful preacher, and on many occasions delivered transcendently glorious messages of divine truth; but on this occasion he seemed to take wing and soar into the invisible realm, where, having his eyes opened upon celestial scenery and gazing on Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, he was, as it were, inspired with a foretaste of the future glory of the heavenly world, and his wonderfully sub- lime descriptive powers were wrought up to their highest ten- sion and utmost stretch of human power. Dr. Pitman dedicated the Wharton Street M. E. Church, Philadelphia, the Cross Street M. E. Church, Paterson, N. J., GEE AT NUMBER OF CHURCH DEDICATIONS. 161 the Broad Street M. E. Church, Burlington, N. J., the Union M. E. Church, Camden, the M. E. Church at Jacobstown, N. J., the M. E. Church at Vineyard Haven, Mass., the Eighth Street M. E. Church, Philadelphia, Pa., the M. E. Church at Sing Sing, N. Y., the M. E. Church at Marshall's Cove, L. I., N. Y., the M. E. Church at Pennington, N. J., the M. E. Church at Bellville, N. J., the church at Cape May C. H., N. J., and churches in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Delaware, Maryland, and hundreds of towns, villages* boroughs and cities shared his valuable and highly efficient labors. To mention all the church dedications and reopening services he attended and officiated at, and the circumstances connected therewith, as has already been said, would more than fill a vol- ume, and quoting from one who had, personally, the opportu- nity of knowing for a period of time, at least, to which re- ference has already been made, "that the call for dedication services averaged three per month, and in later periods of his ministry, sometimes three in a single week." And if you go among what are now considered our older churches in Pennsyl- vania, New Jersey and Delaware, and ask the question of the people of these localities, when was this church built and who dedicated it, the elderly class will say " in Pitman's time, and Brother Pitman dedicated it." It has been our privilege to know personally such persons, and thus become cognizant of these facts of history. But in connection with the out-door labor of his office, he not only associated the work of dedicating churches, but he also availed himself of the privilege of attending numerous camp- meetings, and there, while his preaching exhibited his devout and earnest love for the cause of Christ and the salvation of souls, his presence indicated the importance and influence of the great work of the missionary cause of the M. E. Church, so that, by the former, he preached Christ to the unsaved and wanderer from 11 162 LIFE OF BEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the fold of God, by the other he kept the cause of missions and the benevolences it required before the people. He gives an account of the great " West Port Camp-Meet- ing," held at West Port Point, in the State of Massachusetts, commencing on the 13th of August, 1845. The following is the account portrayed by his own master hand, which, while for its richness in historical lore and for clearness in conception of truth and lucidness in description of interest, it accords to Dr. Pitman the well-deserved honor of being a man of fine imagination, magnificent descriptive powers, and lofty sentiment and eloquent utterance, it also designates him as a man whose capacious mind furnished the richest material for nobleness of heart, gifted intellect, a powerful pen and eloquent tongue, and a soul filled with the Holy Spirit. Dr. Pitman says : " Under the impression that my services were not needed at the camp- meetings which were being held in the vicinity of New York, and remembering that some two years since I had been made a ' Life-member of the New England Camp-Meetings,' by a contribution of fifty dollars to the missionary cause, I determined on a visit to Westport. Accord- ingly, I left New York on Wednesday morning at eight o'clock, by the Long Island Railroad, taking my route through Newport, where I put up for the night, with my old friend, Mr. Remington, with whom I had a comfortable home at the Providence Conference of 1844. On Thurs- day morning about half-past four o'clock, through the kindness of my host, I was on my way to Westport, which was a little rising twenty miles distant. We arrived on the ground about half-past ten o'clock. My intimate and esteemed brother Harlow from Edgartown was deliv- ering his message to the people when we entered the encampment. It was my privilege to hear only a part of his sermon ; but it was said to have been excellent, and from what I heard I should not hesitate to concur in that judgment. My lodgings were assigned me in the Edgar- town tent. Of course, I considered myself happy in having such an allotment. In any other tent I should have been almost an entire stranger ; in this, I was at home, and among my tried and cherished Mends. " The meeting from its commencement, as I learned, had been inter- AN ACCOUNT OF WESTPORT CAMP MEETING, MASS. 163 esting, and promising indications of good had already appeared. It continued to progress with increasing interest until the close. There were from twenty to thirty preachers on the ground, all of whom seemed to be much in the spirit of their work. It would be a pleasing task to me to notice particularly the sermons to which I had the pleasure of listening, and to present a brief outline of the subjects discussed. But this course would extend this article to an undesirable length. Suffice it to say, the preaching was of the right stamp plain, pointed and evangelical. There appeared to be no disposition in the officiating brethren to deal in metaphysical subtilties, or to clothe the truths they delivered with meretricious ornaments. And happily for the preachers, there seemed to be among their auditors no tastes of this kind to gratify. All appeared to ' desire the sincere milk of the word,' and the whole company of preachers united to meet this desire, in all simplicity and godly sincerity. I trust I shall not be considered invidious when I say, that though the sermons on this occasion were all good, there were two in which I was particularly interested. These were preached by fathers Bonney and Webb, two aged veterans in Immanuel's army, who still live, not merely as wounded soldiers, to look out of their tents and ask, ' How goes the battle ?' but as the intrepid and unconquered captains of the Lord's hosts, to stand forth in the thickest of the fight, and to do glorious execution among the ranks of Messiah's foes. These discourses were ' not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.' They were indeed model sermons, which, in all their essential qualities, our junior brethren would do well to imitate. Clear and discriminating in doctrinal truth, chaste, simple and dignified in style, animated and energetic in spirit, they could not fail to be effi- cient. It was evident to all that love was the constraining principle by which these aged and devoted servants of God were impelled onward in their Master's work. Catching, to some extent, the inspiration of the men and of their theme, I almost involuntarily repeated the following from our own Christian bard : " Without this sacred fire, this vital chrism, The sermon may be fine-wrought mechanism, Correct and clear, and orthodox and right, But 'tis the clearness of a wintry night ; There is no fire to warm the frozen soul, The sun is not in the zenith, but the pole. I am not warmed, however well you preach, A grain of love is worth a ton of speech." 164 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " During the delivery of these sermons almost every eye was fixed, and every heart deeply interested. To me they were spiritual feasts. I sat and wept, and while looking through my tears at their time-honored brows, I could not but rejoice that God had spared these venerable men the almost solitary remnants of a preceding generation so long to go in and out before the hosts of our Israel. May their setting sun be cloudless, and their falling mantles rest upon the young men who are to occupy their places when they shall sleep in Jesus ! " This is the second camp-meeting I have attended in New England ; and I cannot withhold the expression of my high gratification with the order and solemnity which prevailed in both instances. At the one of which I now speak nothing transpired to interrupt the solemnity of the religious exercises from the commencement to the close. Even on the Sabbath the congregation, though large, was orderly, attentive and gave visible and marked indications that the word preached was not without effect. " An incident occurred at the close of the sermon on Sabbath after- noon, which was truly affecting. A very interesting young lady, richly clad in the drapery of fashion's most admired votaries, was standing a little distance from the preachers' stand, when it was announced that, on account of the denseness of the crowd and for other reasons, the prayer-meeting usually held after the sermon would be dispensed with on that occasion. She was weeping profusely, and on, hearing this, remarked, in substance, so as to be heard by one of the sisters standing near by, as follows : ' What shall I do ? My agony of spirit is more than I can bear. I had hoped to have the privilege of going to the altar, and receiving the benefit of the prayers of God's people. But, alas ! I must leave the ground in an hour or two, without their prayers, and without relief, and without the privilege of returning.' As she uttered these words she seemed to be almost overwhelmed with a parox- ysm of feeling. Who can tell how many others left the ground in simi- lar circumstances ? May the Holy Spirit continue with them to deepen and render his work effectual ! " But the effects of this meeting were not so signal in the multiplication of new converts as in the restoration of backslidden and formal members, and the quickening and strengthening of believers. Nor is this work less important than the other ; for it must be admitted that apostates and formal professors are no less exposed to ruin than those who are without the pale of the Church. Indeed, in some respects, their circum- stances are even more perilous. They wound the Saviour in the house of his friends, and thereby aggravate their guilt and render themselves WESTPORT CAMP MEETING. 165 liable to a fiercer anguish and a deeper damnation. Perhaps there were never more persons in the M. E. Church, who, by their own admission, are destitute of vital piety than at the present time. If this be true, it may, in part, account for the fact of the great spiritual dearth which for many months has prevailed almost throughout the length and breadth of our Zion. If we would see her again clothed with beauty and strength, and, as formerly, marching on to further conquests and triumphs, we must unceasingly and importunately plead for such an outpouring of the Spirit as shall result in a deep, penetrating, purifying and universal re- vival in the Church. Her piety must become more elevated and uni- form. She must never cease to feel, and to act upon the principle that the secret of her strength, as well as the glory of her character, is in her holiness. It is matter of rejoicing that very many of those who had been ' at ease in Zion,' were at this meeting made alive from the dead, and baptized into the Spirit of their Master. " On Monday, the last and great day of the feast, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. This was a grand and imposing scene one at which angels might have gazed while they pondered 1 Dying love's mysterious cause.' The arrangement of the seats was such as to reach nearly across the up- per part of the ground ; so that several scores might kneel at once and receive the memorials of the Redeemer's passion. The circle formed by the congregation around the place of communion the solemnity de- picted in every countenance the harmony and spirituality of the sing- ing the utterance of the appropriate petitions in the prayer of conse- cration all, all conspired to enkindle in the heart the most devout and spiritual emotions. The affecting emblems of the broken body and shed blood of our redeeming Lord were first received by the ministers pres- ent, the most of whom still remained on the ground. And while these men of God were kneeling side by side and musing upon the tragic scenes of Calvary, the holy fire burned, their hearts melted and ran to- gether, and methought I almost heard the whisper from every one, ' Henceforth it shall be my sweetest privilege and highest honor to preach Christ and Him crucified.' " The preachers having risen, the long seat was successively occupied by the members present, until all who desired had participated in this sol- emn feast. O ! how delightful it was to see so many of the friends of Christ mingling their sympathies and tears, while they covenanted to- gether, ' for God to live and die ! ' May we all meet around His sacred board in heaven, where we shall not need any emblematic representa- 166 LIFE OF REV. CHAKLES PITMAN, D.D. tions of our Saviour's dying love, but where, without a dimming veil be- tween, 'we shall see him as he is,' and gazing on his exalted and glorified humanity, attune our golden harps to redemption's song for ever and ever I " And now as a climax to the whole, and in connection with these de- lightful exercises, came off our missionary meeting. I had received a note from Brother Upham, the Presiding Elder, during the afternoon sermon, in which he kindly proposed to give me the privilege of taking a missionary collection at the close of the evening exercises. I greatly preferred that this effort should be made immediately at the close of the sacramental services, and so informed him. To this he most cheerfully assented. Accordingly, the moment these exercises were closed, and before the people had retired, I sprung upon the seat at which we had just been kneeling, and delivered a short address on the subject of mis- sions. Every eye was fixed, and every heart seemed to beat in unison with the speaker's theme. It was no time to reason with flesh and blood nor to conjure up excuses to foster the spirit of covetousness. The spirit of true piety predominated and reigned ; and this spirit is always favorable to the cause of missions. In the course of my remarks I dis- tinctly stated that after the repeated efforts which had been made by the Presiding Elder to raise a sufficient amount to meet the expenses of the encampment which to me appeared unreasonably heavy I could not find it in my heart to press another collection upon them in the usual way. I therefore proposed, that, as my hat had become so much dilapi- dated, that I should soon be obliged to dismiss it from regular service, I would lay it upon the table before them, hoping that in the close of its very useful career, it might have the honor of receiving a good contribu- tion for the cause of missions and that entirely upon the voluntary principle. I took care to insist, at the same time, that no person who did not consider it a privilege, and even a part of his religion, to aid in the conversion of the world, should cast a cent into the collection. While I was yet speaking there was a great move among the people, and a constant jingling of money as it passed into the hat. The people hung around the consecrated spot, as if chained by magic, while they, in quick succession rushed to the place of deposit and cast in their missionary offerings. It was a fact which was much spoken of afterward, that the very moment the people began to give the money, floods of divine influ- ence were poured upon them ; all hearts were melted, and ' heart seized heart,' until shouts of praise involuntarily burst from preachers and people, and, mingling in sweet confusion, rose up to heaven as a sweet- smelling sacrifice before God. The whole congregation seemed to be WESTPORT CAMP MEETING. 167 rapt in a flame of heavenly love. The spirit which prevailed at that moment is doubtless the spirit which, when it becomes general, will be the precursor of the world's restoration to God. For a time the strong voice of the speaker was completely drowned by this outbreak of good feeling. Unable to proceed, I paused, and leaned against a sapling which stood near me, and mingled my tears and praises with those of the delighted audience. Meanwhile, men, women and children seemed to vie with each other who should first reach the place of attraction the old hat. Several articles of jewelry were given by ladies who very ra- tionally concluded that they could do better without such ornaments than the heathen could without the gospel. Among these was a beauti- ful gold pencil, with which the outline of this account was written. For what are considered good reasons, the name of the donor is not given. "I must not omit to mention that while the money was yet coming in, a proposition was made by Brother Upham, to raise $20 to constitute Sis- ter Beedle, the mother of Brother S. Beedle, now stationed in New Bed- ford, a life-member of the parent missionary society at New York. This mother in Israel, who had been in this country only about seven weeks, is an English lady, and was converted to God through the instrumental- ity of that man of God, Rev. William Bramwell. The proposition was promptly met, and when Sister Beedle was made acquainted with this mark of respect, she came forward and gave us a most affectionate mis- sionary speech, in which she expressed her warmest thanks to the kind friends by whom this honor had been conferred. " On the whole, I must be permitted to say, though I have witnessed many deeply interesting missionary meetings, this, regarding its spirit and religious interest, exceeded them all. And I am far from being alone in this opinion. All, with one voice, who witnessed it, appeared to unite in the opinion that its like had not been seen. " On Tuesday morning, about seven o'clock, the congregation was called together for the last time. The Presiding Elder gave a short but most suitable and searching address, and, after a warm and appropriate prayer, the weeping assembly were dismissed, and in a few minutes were separ- ated, never all to meet again till summoned to the judgment seat by the clangor of the archangel's trump." New York, Sept. 1, 1845. C. PITMAN. CHAPTEE XII. DR. PITMAN AS A PREACHER, "I venerate the man whose heart is warm, Whose doctrine and whose life, Co-incident, exhibits lucid proof That he is honest in the sacred cause. To such I render more than mere respect, Whose actions say that they respect themselves." COWPEE. IN his early history, Dr. Pitman was very diffident and re- served in his manner and mode of address, and there was a seeming hesitation and shrinking when he attempted to preach ; even before he commenced the effort, his mind seemed greatly burdened with the responsibilities of his work. In fact, it was some time before he yielded to the call of God and believed, or openly acknowledged his call to preach the gospel; and, in his case, the Church was the first to discover the fact that he was moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him the office of the ministry. His cousin, the Rev. Joseph Bennett, (to whom allusion has been made before) preaching on Asbury Circuit, in New Jersey, some hundred or more miles away from where he was, in a different part of the work, wrote to Mr. Pit- man his impressions and hopes in reference to his becoming a minister of Christ. This took place some two years after Mr. Pitman's conversion, and the letter expressed Mr. Bennett's convictions and expectations " to see Charles in the Lord's vine- yard cultivating Immanuel's land." And it seems to have been a question which was for several years agitating his thoughts. The fact of his being married presented a formidable barrier in his mind to entering the Conference, and the Spartan-like 168 AS A PREACHER. 169 severity of the fathers, seemed to require a period of probation in celibacy of every preacher in the Conference work, before entering into matrimonial engagements. But the early death of his young wife at that time, seemed to be a providential removing of that embarrassment, and after it, he then felt more than ever it was his duty to obey the call of God, and go forth as an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ ; and so, about Christmas of the year 1816, Mr. Pitman began to assist the preachers on their circuits and in their revival efforts, in Bur- lington County, New Jersey, near the place of his nativity, and it is said, " the common people heard him gladly." Mr. Pitman now felt that he was truly called of God to go forth and preach the gospel. It is an important thing for a man who is about to take upon himself the work of the min- istry to know that he is called of God to this work ; hence, the question is often asked by those who are about to enter the work, " Am I called of God to the ministry ? and what are the evidences by which I may judge, or know, that I am called or chosen to this sacred calling?" We answer : The evidences of a divine call to the ministry are, a deep persuasion, or an abid- ing conviction, of the call ; a sensible impression that it is from God ; a burden of soul to comply with the divine requirement ; a willingness to enter the work ; and a firmness of purpose to leave all things else and follow the dictates and directions of the Divine Spirit, with the other necessary qualifications of gifts, grace and usefulness, and a clear understanding of the way of salvation, with ability to make it known to others. Mr. Pitman felt that he was called of God to preach the gos- pel, and conscientiously and fearlessly, as well as earnestly and boldly, did he give full proof, to the correctness of his impres- sions and feelings, and no one, in after years, ever questioned his call to the ministry. Mr. Pitman was an earnest preacher ; his earnestness was one of the elements of his power. He felt and acted like a man 170 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. who was convinced that he had a great work to do, and but a short time to do it. Wherever he went, or in whatever society he was thrown by circumstances, he always had a word for his divine Ma'ster's name, and in preaching, he never was known to deliver what might be characterized as a " tame, or moderate sermon ; " and while his enthusiasm and zeal was great, and manifested itself in every sermon, exhortation or address which he delivered, yet the steel was tempered for the emergency, and he always impressed his hearers with the importance of the truth he was presenting. He was most emphatically an earnest man, a sincere, God-fearing preacher of righteousness, and always made his pulpit ministrations subservient to the greatest amount of spiritual good to the people, and this gave him great power and influence over the masses, and as with one of his temperament he always felt the inspiration of great occasions, which drew from him those most wonderful and transcendently glorious pulpit efforts. Mr. Pitman's manner was always solemn, sedate and recol- lected, so much so, that by some he was thought to be of a " gloomy, dyspeptic nature," and suffering at times from severe nervous prostration ; but while he was calm, grave and dignified in his manner, he enjoyed the society of the preachers and his friends very much, and at times could indulge in innocent pleasantries without destroying the equipoise of his religious convictions, or vitiating the great responsibilities of his work as a minister of Christ. He knew the difference between flippancy and cheerfulness, folly and common sense, social intercourse and sinful levity, and in no instance did he suffer himself to be drawn into a snare, or to be taken captive by the devil. An incident occurred while he was Missionary Secretary in New York which will serve our purpose to illustrate this characteristic of his na- ture, and show that his emotional nature was susceptible of hila- rious movement, even under sacred influences. In 1842, when the New York Conference held its session in AS A PREACHER. 171 New York city, one Sabbath morning, Dr. (afterwards Bishop) "William Capers, of South Carolina, preached in the 7th Street M. E. Church, of which Rev. J. B. Wakeley, D. D., was pas- tor. His text was Ecclesiastes 11 : 1, 2. At the close of the sermon, the eccentric and notable Rev. Edward T. Taylor, from Boston, having come in the church during the services, was observed by the pastor, and was asked to come forward and conclude the services with prayer. He did so, and began in this way : " O Lord, command thy blessing to rest upon the one who has preached to us this morning. We have often read his name in the minutes, but we never saw his face, or heard his voice before. We bless thee that he has not only come from a warm climate, but that he hath a warm heart. O Lord, the preacher has skinned us to-day, but thou knowest we deserve it. O save us from skulking ! Keep us from dodging ! Help us to bear it like men ! O Lord God, forgive our meanness, and if you will only forgive us the past, we will go into the water, not only leg deep, but up to our chin, only, Lord, don't let it overflow us, don't let it drown us," &c. " There were over a hundred preachers present. There was a mighty, overwhelming influence attended that prayer. Tears flowed freely from eyes all over the house, and handkerchiefs were greatly in demand. Rev. Dr. Wakeley was kneeling in the pulpit between Dr. Ca- pers and Dr. Pitman. The former trembled and wept. The latter wept and laughed smiles and tears were strangely blended. Such a scene we had never witnessed before, and never expect to see again." " There was a man who attended that church frequently, who was not a cold-water man. The next day," says Dr. Wakeley, " we saw him, he was intoxicated and full of criticism." Said he to Dr. Wakeley, " What right had you, or Dr. Pitman, yesterday, to laugh in the pulpit, any more than we had to laugh out of it ?" " Ah ! yesterday !" exclaimed he, " the solemn Pitman was the laughing Pitman." 172 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. And yet deep solemnity always characterized Mr. Pitman's preaching and all his public efforts. He felt a great burden of soul for the upbuilding of the Redeemer's kingdom among men and the salvation of poor, perishing sinners, especially the latter. He aimed to get souls converted ; and more especially was this the case at camp-meetings and in revival efforts, in which he so frequently engaged. References have often been made to these great occasions, when his sympathies were stirred to their very depths, and he could only find relief in tears. " At one of these meetings in the woods, when a solemn and impressive discourse had been delivered without producing much visible effect, during its presentation Mr. Pitman had been, in his imagination, plac- ing all that vast congregation before the judgment-seat of Christ, where they were to receive their final award. He thought the matter over and over, until it seemed to be a reality ; with these views and feelings he arose to exhort, but the awful danger to which the people were exposed, so overwhelmed his burdened heart that utterance was choked, and he could not speak a single word He stood for two or three minutes motionless, and then, covered with confusion at his seemingly awkward position, waved his hand towards the altar and burst into a flood of tears. The people who sat unmoved, though solemnly impressed under the sermon, quite unprepared for this outburst of sympathy on their behalf, yielded to the truth, and came ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, two hundred, three hundred, crowding around the rude altar in the forest, all seeking the forgiveness of their sins and renewal of heart in righteousness. Glorious power had at- tended Mr. Pitman's words a thousand times, but in this in- stance, an equal, if not greater power, attended Mr. Pitman's tears."* Mr. Pitman was known from childhood to have a Jeremiah's heart, as well as a St. John's nature, and these refined sensibili- ties, engendered by a mother's example and devotion, were cul- * Rev. E. H. Stokes, D.D., Conference Memorial, page 262. DE. PITMAN PEEACHED THE DOCTEINES OF EELIGION. 173 tured by him, and in after years developed in that noble and deeply sympathetic nature that characterized, largely, his minis- terial life and work, and was one of a combination of elements and qualities that made up the secrets of his great power and efficient agency in leading souls to Christ. Some of Dr. Pitman's sermons were of an elaborate character, as his sermon on " Spiritual Pathology/' or " The Symptoms, Causes and Cure of Diseases Incident to the Human Soul." This discourse was first preached in the M. E. Church in Bridge- ton, N. J., on the 18th of January, 1824, and subsequently in other places, and exhibits Dr. Pitman's clear and analyti- cal mind, and his superior powers to trace analogical and meta- physical distinctions to their utmost extent, as well as to show his strong and equally-balanced logical acumen in pushing an argument to its most emphatic and irresistible conclusion. The sermon is a masterly production, and has been pronounced as an epitome of gospel truth an embodiment of real divinity and is one of the finest argumentative productions that the age pro- duced, covering some forty-eight pages of closely-written manu- script, and abounding with sublime and eloquent utterances, which, for splendor of diction and beauty of rhetoric, will vie with the most eloquent and finished scholars of this day. A full outline of the sermon is appended at the close of this vol- ume. Dr. Pitman preached the doctrines of religion. Our fathers in the ministry were noted for the earnestness, and the tenacity, with which they contended for the faith " once delivered to the saints." The five points of Calvinism, namely : 1st. of "Pre- destination ; 2d. " of the Death of Christ ; " 3d. " of Man's Cor- ruption ;" 4th. "of Grace and Free-will ;" 5th. "on the Final Perseverance of Saints," were often handled by these sons of thunder these Christian philosophers and exact logicians with no unsparing hand, and the doctrines of an unlimited and un- proscribed atonement, of the merits of Christ's death, as being 174 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. available to all sinners upon the conditions of the gospel, of the depravity and utter ruin of man by the fall, and of the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and man's acceptance of proffered mercy and the final " preservation " of all the saints who would continue faithful, and live godly, Christian lives, and who were " looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," were presented in all their fulness and saving efficacy. Dr. Pitman was a champion in the exposition and defense of these great Arminian principles of Christian Theology versus Calvinism, and his contemporary, " Billy " Hibbard, was another of those heroic defenders who wielded a two-edged sword against the heresies of those times, and the preaching that rejected Christ as the universal Saviour of mankind upon the condition of the gospel salvation, and which rejection met not only with the em- phatic disapproval of these sturdy sons, but was combated by them with a zealousness of argument and irresistible presenta- tion of truth, which convinced multitudes of their errors and mistakes, in their beliefs and acceptance of the tenets of Cal- vinism. During the latter part of Mr. Hibbard's ministry he published a pamphlet, or rather a book, in which he elaborated the tenets and dogmas of the Calvinistic theory in no mild terms ; the con- sequence was, two ministers of a denomination, holding rigidly and firmly these doctrines, wrote a letter to the Bishop presiding at the ensuing Annual Conference of which Mr. Hibbard was a member, in which they expressed their chagrin and grievances, and made a serious charge of falsehood and misrepresentation against William Hibbard. When the name of " Hibbard " was called in open Conference, the Bishop asked the usual question : " Is there anything against him ? " and the Presiding Elder an- swered, " Nothing against him." The Bishop then said he had received a letter, signed by two ministers of another denomina- tion, containing a complaint against Brother Hibbard, and asked CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY VERSUS CALVINISM. 175 what was the wish of the Conference in regard to it. Mr. Hib- bard sprang to his feet, and, without knowing its contents, re- quested that it be read in open Conference; the request, by the action of the Conference, was granted, and the secretary read the letter, which stated " that one William Hibbard, a Methodist preacher belonging to your body, had written and published a book, in which he had said very harsh and strong things against the doctrines and teachings of John Calvin, and that these say- ings were derogatory to the doctrines and belief of their church- es." At the conclusion of the reading of the letter and the com- plaint, the Bishop asked : "Brother Hibbard, what have you to say ? " To which he replied, in his short, laconic and sharp style : " Bishop, did I understand the charges and complaints which that letter contains to be made against one William Hib- bard, of the Conference ? " " Yes, sir," responded the Bishop. "Then," said Brother Hibbard, "there is a mistake in the man ; my name is ' Billy ' Hibbard, and my father was no fool when he gave me the name of ^Billy.' He understood what he was about, and meant just what he said, that my name is ' Billy,' and not William Hibbard, and the letter don't refer to me as ' Billy ' Hibbard." The effect may be imagined, as soon as equilibrium was restored ; a half-dozen voices shouted : " I move the char- acter of Brother Hibbard pass ; " and it was passed by a sea of uplifted arms and hands that confronted the Bishop, and ex- pressed the unfaltering and implicit faith the Conference had in Brother Hibbard's soundness of doctrine and unblemished Christian character. One of the great causes of the marked success of these men, was that they preached the doctrines of religion more exclusively in their day than they are now preached, i. e. they kept close to the line of practical pulpit exegesis, and found ample scope for their varied gifts and ability within the range of the doctrines of evan- gelical religion, and did not encumber or mystify their preaching with the novelties and metaphysical subtleties of the schoolmen. 176 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. What we most Deed in these times is evangelical preaching preaching the truths and doctrines of religion. Our fathers made these great fundamental principles of Christianity the basis and foundation of their ministrations. They preached the necessity of a conviction of sin in order to a genuine repentance, and that godly sorrow was a prerequisite to true repentance, and that repentance was necessary to faith. Repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, is the great funda- mental doctrine of revealed religion. They believed in a sound conversion in a repentance that led a man to forsake his sins and utterly and forever to depart from all iniquity genuine, deep, pungent, a thorough, radical transformation, wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost. They preached justification by faith in Christ. This was a favorite theme and doctrine with Wesley, with Jabez Bunting, with Dr. Adam Clarke, and has been with all loyal Methodist preachers, from their time to the present. Every Methodist preacher ought to study well and thor- oughly Rev. Jabez Bunting's sermon on " Justification by Faith," it is a body of divinity in itself, and our fathers preached the doctrines of Adoption, or Christian Heirship, the Witness of the Spirit, a doctrine which in a peculiar sense specially belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is incorporated in her articles of faith, as being essential to salvation, and necessary to a true Christian experience. We give a sketch of Dr. Pitman's sermon on justification by faith, and another on a kindred sub- ject at the close of this volume, to which our reader is kindly re- ferred. Dr. Pitman also professed and preached the doctrine'of " Christian Perfection," " Holiness of Heart," or " Entire Sanctification," and, we may say, with as much force, energy, clearness of concep- tion, and salutary and beneficial influence of its experience on the heart and life of a true believer as it has been, at any subsequent time, since the days of the fathers. The preachers of those times be- lieved in " Holiness of Heart " as being both the privilege and DR. PITMAN AN ADVOCATE OF CHRISTIAN HOLINESS. 177 duty of the Church, and they endeavored to instil this doctrine into the minds of the people. It was one of Dr. Pitman's favorite themes, upon which he would kindle into a glow of ecstatic delight and rapture, and shout, as seldom he did in preaching from any other subject, the praises of God. We cannot better illustrate this part of his ministerial work than by inserting some extracts from one or two of his sermon- sketches. In a sermon on 1st John i. 9, he defines in the second proposition, " The nature of sanctification to be a cleansing from all sin. Justification, he says, changes our relation to God, but sanctification changes our nature and roots out all our deprav- ity. That such a state is attainable in this life is evident, 1. From the import of the name Jesus, for, it is said by the in- spired evangelist, ' He shall save his people from their sins.' 2. From the object of Christ's mission into our world, viz. : 'To destroy the works of the Devil.' 3. From the professed design of the gospel ministry, viz. : * To present believers perfect in Christ Jesus.' 4. From the impossibility of entering the king- dom of heaven without it : ' Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' " In his sermon on " Spiritual Pathology " he uses this strong and corroborative language: " In order to guard against relapses, and secure to ourselves a state of permanent health and vigor, it is essential that the seeds of spiritual dis- ease and death should be extracted, or that our hearts be cleansed from all sin. If we would have the ground cleared of a noxious tree, it is not enough that we lop off its branches, we must pluck up its roots. With- out this the reasons for the first operation will frequently recur. And we think we are divinely warranted in saying that here lies one of the most general causes of spiritual languor and debility, the frequent in- stances of apostacy and the superficial state of religious experience, for which the different Churches among us are so deplorably remarkable. I will not say it is impossible that even he whose disease has been radical may not become the subject of disease and death again; but I dare aftirm that the probability would be much stronger where the restora- tion was only partial. " I am not ignorant that the possibility of an entire eradication of the 12 178 LIFE OF REV. CHABLES PITMAN, D.D. most bitter roots of sinful depravity has been and still is disputed, and especially that this cannot take place before the hour of death ; but the limit of this discourse and my present disinclination to debate forbid my entering deeply into a controversy which has already been carried to extremes on both sides. Suffice it, therefore, to say that one ' Thus saith the Lord ' is a stronger demonstration of the truth of a proposition than a hundred passages of Scripture taken out of their proper connec- tion or wrested from their true meaning, or than all the inferences drawn from distorted passages or such as are of doubtful import, with which heated controversialists have been accustomed to defend their fa- vorite tenets. We are not dependent upon wrested passages, nor such as are of dubious meaning, nor yet upon inferences drawn from assumed premises, to prove the necessity and possibility of being made spiritually whole. These points are established by Divine authority in most un- equivocal language. God wills it: 'I will; be thou clean;' 'It is the will of God, even your sanctification' (1 Thess. iv. 3). He commands it: 'Be ye holy, for I the Lord your God am holy' (Lev. xi. 40; xx. 7); 'Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect' (Matt. v. 48). He has conditionally promised it: 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (1 John i. 9); 'Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you' (Ezek. xxxvi. 25). He has given us many bright examples of it. Job i. 1: 'Job was a perfect and upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil;' Gen. vi. 9: 'Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God;' 1 Cor. ii. 6: 'Howbeitwe speak wisdom among them that are perfect;' Luke i. 6: 'And,' says the apostle, speaking of Zacharias and his wife, 'they were both righteous before God, walking in all the command- ments of the Lord blameless.' Thus we are led to one of two conclu- sions, either that God wills, commands, promises and exemplifies that which is neither necessary nor possible to be enjoyed or practiced, or that an entire deliverance from the seeds and effects of spiritual disease and death is both essential and attainable. The latter sentiment is per- fectly rational and scriptural ; the former, absurd and shocking." , Dr. Pitman preached on the Advent, Life, Character, Suffer- ings, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, upon the Mediatorship, Messiahship, Advocacy and Intercession of the Son of God. He preached on the Condemnation of Sinners, THEMES OF EVANGELICAL PREACHING. 179 the Future Punishment of the Finally Impenitent and Incor- rigibly Wicked, and declared, upon the authority of God's word, the coming day of judgment and the final and irretriev- able doom, of all ungodly men. In the scope and compass of his pulpit ministrations, he included all the great, grand and solemn truths of the word of God, and from the range and multiplicity of the topics selected by him and discoursed upon in the various appointments he filled, it is but a fair inference that we make, when we say that no man in his time had a greater, or possessed a more comprehensive and more capacious mind, and had taken a wider range, and embraced a more ex- panded knowledge of divine truth, and presented to the con- gregations to which he ministered a greater variety of exposition of Christian doctrine than fell, during his ministry, from the lips of Rev. Dr. Charles Pitman. Dr. Pitman was set for the defence of the gospel. He boldly combated the heresies and erroneous doctrines which were rife in the time of his ministry, and none of these were more so, than the tenets promulgated by the Calvinistic College of Theology ; and Calvin's Institutes were quoted freely by these Calvinistic preachers, as a counteracting doctrine to the principles of evan- gelical repentance and true faith in Christ. Dr. Pitman was forced into the arena of debate and controversy, and well was he fortified with the doctrines of evangelical faith, to meet the dogmas of Calvinism, and on Scriptural reasoning, to overthrow them. Questions and paragraphs from Calvin were sent him to an- swer, of which the following form a part : " How comes it to pass that so many nations, together with their infant children, are by the fall of Adam involved in eternal death, without remedy, unless it is because God would have it so? A horrible decree, I confess," says the author; "nevertheless nobody can deny that God foreknew what would be man's end before He created him, and that He foreknew it because He had ordered it by His decree." Calvin's Institutes, Book 3d, chapter 23d, sec. 7. 180 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. And again : " The reprobates are devoted to wickedness, be- cause through the just and unsearchable judgment of God they were raised up to illustrate His glory by their damnation." Book 3d, chap. 24, sec. 14. "By God's just and irreprehensible though incomprehensible judgment, the way of life is blocked up for those whom He has devoted to damnation." Book 3d, chapter 23d, sec. 1. "Therefore those whom God passes by He reprobates for no other reason but this. He will exclude them from the inheritance which He predestinates for His sons." Ibid. These and similar other kindred questions were flaunted from the pulpit, and quoted in defence of the doctrine of Calvin, and under the influence of a well-settled and well-compacted form of religious asceticism and dogmatical faith, founded in the establish- ment of Puritan worship in New England from its earliest set- tlement, and promulgated by Jonathan Edwards and others, swept not only over all New England, but found considerable foot-hold in the hearts of the people of the Middle States, and New Jersey received a large share of the influence ; and long before Method- ism had been introduced in the State, Calvinism was not only rife among the people, but had a firm hold upon the religious element of its citizens. The controversy with Calvinism had been going on for years, and in consequence of the overpowering influence of its well- compacted organizations, and the wealth and influence of its ad- herents, Methodism had been crowded to the remote parts of the sparsely populated country, or if it did achieve a triumph to get within a large town or city, it generally was crowded into some " by-street " or out-of-the-way place, and was exceedingly cir- cumscribed in its operations. The struggle had been long, and the odds were formidable, but faith and prayer were made night and day for the success of Christ's cause ; and at this critical juncture of our religious history God in His providence raised up Charles Pitman and his co-laborers as the men of the times who THE DOCTRINES THEY PROMULGATED. 181 under God were to revolutionize the religious sentiment of the people, and open the way for the spread of a more practicable and earnest Christianity, a religion which consisted more in the ex- perience of its followers, than in the cold forms of an unmeaning and doubtful theology, and the hand of God was laid upon Charles Pitman as a captain and leader of the Lord's hosts in this transition. That our fathers made this much a matter of their preaching is accounted for by the fact that first they had to convince men of their errors, or, in other words, root out all the seeds of unbe- lief, before they could sow and expect the fruit of an earnest and evangelical piety ; and this they did in that wonderfully polemic age of Methodism, which was soon turned into a glorious transi- tional period. They preached the doctrines of free grace and full salvation, they exposed heresy, they denounced dogmas, they combated every doctrine or precept that arrayed itself against the plain declarations of the gospel, and proclaimed salvation to all men upon the conditions of repentance and faith, and ear- nestly opposed the Calvinistic doctrine of decrees, and the eternal reprobation of the sinner. They held that all who came to Christ confessing their sins in sincerity and truth, and proved faithful, were elected, through the atoning mercy of God, to eternal life, and that none would be lost but the impenitent and incorrigibly wicked ; that salvation was not by election, but by faith ; that heaven and eternal life were not by absolute decree, but as a reward of filial obedience to the precepts and commands of God, and that hell never was the portion and doom of a soul by eternal decree or reprobation, but as a consequence of the sinner's own persistency and obstinacy in his rebellion against God. It was, in this wide field that God opened for the display of those magnificent and lofty powers of intellect, those rich and tender tones of voice the music of which was a charm and enchantment to thousands that great soul which filled the body 182 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. of Mr. Pitman and his coadjutors, the instruments through which was conveyed to vast congregations, gathered all over the country the life and power of an evangelical faith proclaimed by an earnest, Spirit-baptized, ministry. It won its way, it accom- plished its work, and the seals which God put upon that min- istry and that work, were His divine attestation to the truth of the doctrine, and His gracious approval of their work. These fathers were raised up by God for this special work, in that great polemic age of doctrinal discussion in that age when a theology founded upon erroneous conclusions, and which had inclined the ministry of those times more to the Sinaitic view of the law, than to the Calvary side of the Gospel, as a message of mercy to sinners and both had strenuous and ardent advo- cates the controversy and public examination of these ques- tions in matters of public exegesis may be considered as the settlement of this doctrine, and as vital to the success of the Church's organization among the people, and of a better under- standing of the more gracious plan of God in extending mercy to sinful men. And how wonderful has been the change in the minds of devout, thinking men concerning the theological beliefs of those times, and the present. Germany boasting at one time of the great doctrines promulgated by Luther and her other great reformers, has to a very great extent abandoned this faith for something which they accept as being more compatible with their views of Christian belief. Protestant England has been divided in her religious sentiments over the teachings of Wick- liffe and other of her great reformers, and still groans under the oppressive burdens of a Church, connected with the State. Geneva, having once prided herself of having been (if not the birth-place, for that honor belongs to France) the home of Calvin and the cloister from which emanated his doctrines and creed, and the clans which received them, now, not in any of its peculiar but in all of its broadest doctrines, repudiates his sentiments, and in most of her pulpits her pastors preach THE INFLUENCE OF THIS KIND OF PEEACHING. 183 doctrines which his soul abhorred, and which her people now love so well. Scotland is divided over her doctrines and the Catechism, while in her conflicts with popery and infidelity, An- tinomianism and Socinianism, her enemies, with their false faith, have been swept from their shores with hardly a ledge for a foot-hold ; and even Whitefield's teachings would not be ac- ceptable to many congregations in this day and generation, and thousands would turn away from his ministrations, or refuse to accept his doctrines, while the great doctrine of evangelical faith, and of God's gracious plan of saving mercy to sinful men, in the freeness and fulness of promise to every lost son and daugh- ter of Adam's race is sweeping on, and over the world in all its heaven-born influence and power. It was this great principle of evangelical faith that Dr. Pitman made the burden of his ministry, and preached so energetically, earnestly and elo- quently, that it stirred Philadelphia and all New Jersey and other contiguous states and cities, where thousands were con- verted to God, and the influence of whose ministrations is a potent factor in the religious element of their faith and experi- ence, throughout the bounds and borders of our Methodism in this portion of God's moral heritage. Well may this period be termed the transitional period of Methodism. Here a great moral reformation took place ; here were laid the foundations of that mighty superstructure which is now both our Church's true glory and her power. The spirituality of her people based upon her firm and immovable doctrines of faith and experience, is the religious influence that is to break the iron grasp of sin and Satan from the human heart, and infuse the principles of light, love and peace into the souls of men. These great truths and mighty principles, are at this hour pulsating the heart of humanity and permeating every quarter of our globe, and leading the mind of man to God. This is the great moral and spiritual eflfect, which, under the influence of the Holy Ghost is to regenerate the world, which under the baptismal 184 LIFE OF REV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.D. shower of the blood shed on Calvary is to purify a corrupt and apostate race. Such a spirit stirred and moved the heart of Pit- man. Such a spirit made effective the preaching of those men whose greatest and true glory was to lead sinners to Christ, and see them gloriously saved. " He preached the gospel and he preached the law, He sometimes drove, but always loved to draw, He bore his great commission on his look, And sweetly tempered awe and softened all he spoke." DRYDEN. Dr. Pitman, as a dedicator of new churches, was the greatest man of his time. Of these occasions, we have spoken at length in another chapter of this work, and of his eminent suc- cess in this department of Christian labor. Hence, we merely make an allusion to it, to keep unbroken the thread of our his- tory. He seemed to possess more of a trumpet-heart spirit than any other minister of our connection at that time, and not unfre- quently would he march out on those grand field conflicts with the enemies of Christianity confronting him, and after a grand round of skirmishing, and then a closing in of his forces, he would storm the temples of Paganism, assault the ramparts of infidelity and scale the battlements of skepticism, scattering wreck and ruin, discomfiture and defeat, carnage and death all along his triumphant pathway ; and then coming from the eagerly-contested battle-field, with his ensigns of victory, and leading his triumphant host, he would lift his glad hosannas to Christ, as King and Conqueror, that another church was reared and consecrated to the worship of God, that another fortification would open fire upon the citadels of Satan's kingdom, and an- other grand recruiting-station was established on earth to enlist myriads,as soldiers of the cross. In all these exercises, and on all these occasions the people anticipated a great feast, and so over- whelming was the influence that Dr. Pitman seldom, if ever, closed his labors at a church dedication without accomplishing AS A PEEACHER. 185 the desired results, and his preaching and presence giving a momentum to the interests of our church. Dr. Pitman seemed adapted to every exigency of his time in the church's need and requirements. He was the embodiment of nature's forces, and their illustration was made known in his activities, sensibilities and clear, ringing utterances. Truth came from his lips with more than ordinary power, and sus- tained by his heart convictions, it was made to tell mightily upon human consciences. It struck terror and alarm into the soul of a skeptic and unbeliever, and made them shudder and quail before the power of its convicting energy. He could sway the masses with his arguments and emotions, as the grain-fields gracefully yield to the resistless wind, or for- ests are bent and broken by the tornado. He shed light with the effulgence and profusion of a sun, and at the same time tempered its rays into the soft and mellowing influence of moon- beams, and would cast a halo of divine love into the human heart and bid it enjoy a peace which said, " Be still." He was a constituency of excellencies, as an instrument in full and finished parts. Its keys and stops and pipes, touched and filled by divine influence, making surprising and ecstatic music in major and minor chords, awing to reverence, or inspir- ing to shouts of praise, more real and more grand than the harp of .rfEolus. Such are some of the figures of speech which a cultured and classic mind has applied to him whose excellencies we have been endeavoring to set forth, and yet the strongest and most sprightly figures fail to exhibit the graceful combination of virtues that were blended in the heart and adorned the character and name of Charles Pitman, and to know them and the source from which they were derived would be to know the secret of that power he had with God, and that special unction which accom- panied his pulpit ministrations with such marked and visible effect. CHAPTEE XIII. DB. PITMAN AS A POET POSSESSED A FINE POETICAL TALENT. FROM the year 1840 to 1848, Dr. Pitman seemed to have a special enduement of the poetical spirit. Consecrated prose is religion in sentiment ; consecrated poetry is religion in song. And though this talent was often noticed in the rhyth- mical utterances of Dr. Pitman in preaching the Gospel, and in the various addresses he made, no specialty was made of it, save a few contributions to albums and special friends, whose memory he was wont to honor, until the years 1839 and 1840, when he commenced writing poetry on religious and patriotic and other moral and historical themes, and he has left a manu- script book which contains several very beautiful birthday and other numerous and impressive poetical effusions, some of which we select, and hope they will both enrich the mind of the reader and make a valuable contribution to enhance the value of this volume, and better illustrate the special gift which he so pre-eminently possessed ; we place them in connection with some others that have been already interspersed through this volume. Poetry, like music, hath its charms, and tends to soften the human heart, quicken the sensibilities, humanize the affections and call forth compassion and tenderness. It is a rare gift, a special endowment, and judging from these specimens which Dr. Pitman has left us, and their systematic connection into Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic and Dactylic feet, or poetic measure, indi- cates his superior and masterly power to marshal into beautiful harmony and correct taste, some of the most exquisite and im- 186 POETICAL ADDRESS TO THE DEPARTING MISSIONARY. 187 pressive thoughts of his highly-cultured and richly-stored intel- lect, and if read with proper emphasis and with regard to their elocutionary construction, cannot fail to impress the reader with their beauty and significance. THE FAREWELL TO THE DEPARTING MISSIONARY TO HIS DISTANT FIELD OF LABOR. " To brethren dear and pleasant, a sad and long adieu ; The past will still be present whene'er we think of you ; With hearts surcharg'd with sorrow, we silent gaze and weep, To think before the morrow you'll plough the mighty deep. " But though we fondly linger, around your floating home, We may not, would not hinder, though far from us you roam ; Along the distance fearful we look with anxious eye, And though our eyes are tearful, suppress the rising sigh. " Go forth, ye flaming heralds, salvation loud proclaim, Fear not the ocean's perils, trust in His mighty name, Who calms the mighty ocean when threatening billows roll, And 'mid the wild commotion can calm the troubled soul. " Go wake the guilty sleepers, ye chosen sons of light ; Go forth, ye Gospel reapers, the harvest-field is white ; Exposed to winds and weather the waving harvest stands, O haste away and gather, the field your toil demands. " From o'er the Rocky Mountains, the plaintive cry is peal'd, Come ope to us the fountain which living waters yield ; O leave us not to perish without a pastor's care, Without a hope to cherish, the pris'ners of despair ! " Where rolls the wide Pacific ; in forests dense and wide, Mid savage yells terrific, where mercy never smil'd, There sound the great salvation, its bloody banner wave, There make the proclamation, that Jesus came to save. " The savage foe shall cower before your two-edg'd blade, And slain by mercy's power, his hopes in dust be laid ; Now shorn of all his glory, in dust he hides his face, The burden of his story, ' a sinner saved by grace.' 188 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " Along Willamette's valley, and proud Columbia's streams, Where sons of freedom rally, and star of science beams, There pour the light of heaven, the light of Bethlehem's Star, Diffuse the gospel leaven through all the land afar. " Arm'd with Divine Credentials, your high commission scan, Declare the great essentials, of the redeeming plan ; And Oregon shall flourish, beneath the Saviour's smile, The seeds you sow He'll nourish, reward the tiller's toil. " In all your fruitful valleys and sterile mountain plains, A num'rous host of allies shall shout Jehovah reigns, And bright angelic legions, shall catch the joyful lays; And in their blissful regions, peal forth Messiah's praise. " New York, December 21, 1846." " C. PITMAN. ISRAEL IN EGYPTIAN BONDAGE." " Israel was gathered home, And Joseph too had died, That generation gone, Another was supplied. And still they multiplied and grew, A num'rous host, and mighty, too. " Another king arose ; Joseph to him unknown, Strong fears did he disclose, And tremble for his throne : For should his enemies assail, By Hebrew force they might prevail. " To check the rising power, Of this suspected race, He made their spirits cower 'Neath bondage and disgrace. Their lives embitter 5 d, soul subdu'd, They groan'd beneath their servitude. ISRAEL IN BONDAGE. 189 " Afflicted and distress'd, Each stroke their strength defied, The more they were oppressed, The more they multiplied : Their rapid growth all Egypt griev'd, And much they wished to be reliev'd. " Then came the king's command, Each infant male to slay, But, Oh ! a mighty hand ! The murd'rous stroke did stay : The Hebrew midwives fear'd the Lord, And He sustain'd them by His word. " And Israel, too, He blessed, And made them fruitful still ; Though cruelly oppress'd, Their houses He did fill With children ; Abram's promis'd seed, Destined from bondage to be freed. " Little did Pharaoh think In his mad policy, Of Him who cannot wink At heartless cruelty. Each infant male must now be found, And then by royal edict drowned. "Yes, every infant male, Must die a cruel death, Nor mother's tears prevail, To spare that infant breath: For He of Hebrew mother born, Must from that mother's heart be torn. " I hear the voice of woe, 'Tis Hebrew mothers' wail ; That strong, convulsive throe Beveals the sad'ning tale : Maternal hearts by anguish torn, Sigh for their babes to Nilus borne. 190 LIFE OP REV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.D. " O thou mysterious Power, Where is thy mighty hand, Which, when the clouds did lower, Sav'd Israel from all harm ? Oh 1 why, by Joseph's anxious care, Did'st thou this people hither bear? " Their sires were strangely led, When famine sorely rag'd, To Egypt to be fed, And have their woes assuag'd. Are they not still thy chosen flock ? Art thou not still their boasted Rock ? " And must they perish now By Pharaoh's cruel power? God of the Patriarchs ! Thou Canst save in this dread hour. Their sun obscur'd, and dark their sky, Surely deliverance is nigh. " O God of Abram ! deign To show a smiling face, And by thy power sustain This hapless, suffering race. For who can harm, if heav'n protect? And Jacob is thine own elect. "C. PITMAN. " Trenton, N. J., March 8th, 1841." THE PRESERVATION OF MOSES. " A little ark doth float Quite near the river's brink, A little basket-boat. Will it not fill and sink? It seems a vessel far too frail In safety on the floods to sail. PRESERVATION OF MOSES. 191 " Ingeniously plann'd And carefully secured, By infancy it's mann'd, By Providence insured. A precious treasure lies concealed, Its worth in time to be reveal' d. " A mother's love prepared This floating cradle-bed ; With trembling hope she dar*d That beauteous infant head To sink upon the angry Nile, Exposed to Egypt's crocodile. " But see yon lovely child I In fix'd and steady gaze, With features soft and mild, She stands and weeps and prays. She stands to watch that trembling bark : Her brother's in that floating ark. " Just at this crisis stood The daughter of the king, And looking on the flood, She saw that floating thing. One of her maids, at her command, Brought the strange object safe to land. " On opening it she saw A lovely infant lie ; Its charms did sweetly draw Her heart of sympathy. He wakes ! for he had sweetly slept ; The Princess smil'd, 'the infant wept! ' " In bending form she stands To view that angel face, To clasp his little hands, And all his features trace : The babe did weep, for no supply From nature's fountains now were nigh. 192 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " Did ever innocence Or infant beauty plead With such sweet eloquence As doth this child of need? And if a stranger 1 s heart doth melt, How deep the pangs that mother felt " When, trembling, she essay'd To build this cradle boat, And place her sleeping babe Within this ark to float, What terror tore her riven heart! How deep the wound! severe the smart!" Thus spake the princess mild, And rais'd her bending form But could not leave the child Forsaken and forlorn. " I'll seek," she said, " a faithful nurse, And save him from my father's curse." She took the helpless babe, And clasp'd him to her breast; "And from this hour," she said, "This Hebrew child is blest; I've snatch'd him from the swelling tide, And for his wants I will provide." A girl of sprightly mien Quite unobserv'd had stood, And this affecting scene With deepest interest view'd ; 'Twas Miriam I time's honored name ! Sister to men of quenchless fame ! The princess she address'd In accents soft and mild : " I'll seek at thy request A nurse for this sweet child." "Go quickly, then," the princess cried, " And let his cravings be supplied." PRESERVATION OF MOSES. 193 A Hebrew mother came; Her soul was in her eyes. "Tis he," she said, "the same," And seiz'd the beauteous prize ; With joy too great to be express'd, She clasp'd him to her throbbing breast. " Take thou this lovely one," The generous princess said, " And bear him to thy home ; Thy care shall be repaid. Take him as my adopted son ; Nurse him as though he were thy own." Lest transports should betray A soul o'erfraught with joy. The mother hastes away With her recovered boy : With grateful heart in humble lays She utters forth Jehovah's praise. " Thou great mysterious One I Ancient of endless days ! Thou sittest on thy throne ; Unsearchable thy ways : Inscrutable, yet just and wise ; The soul that trusts, all hell defies." "Too wise" and strong "to err," "Too good to be unkind," He'll helping grace confer On those his rod's refin'd : Infernal policy he sways ; His Name " the wrath of man shall praise." Trenton, March 12th, 1841. C. PlTMAN. 13 194 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. "THE EDUCATION OF MOSES." "The princess, by unerring Wisdom led, Most nobly braved her father's stern decree ; She snatched in pity from his wat'ry bed That periled infant. Filled with sympathy, As kind as tender, a liberality Of soul well suited to her means, she sought For him a nurse. She said to Miriam, flee ! And soon the girl a hapless mother brought ; That mother clasped the child, with joy o'er-fraught. " Ah, yes I none but a mother knows such joy , It sought for utt'rance, but was quick suppressed, The babe she clasp'd was her own darling boy ! Was ever mother so divinely blest ? O'erwhelmed with grief, with boding fears distressed, Her soul had quailed beneath affliction's rod ; And as her infant clung to her fond breast, She felt that though a thorny path she'd trod, In all her future ills she'd firmly trust in God. " But still for him dread apprehensions rise Within that mother's breast. Should he embrace The baneful faith of Egypt ! and despise Jehovah's laws! reject His Sovereign grace ! This son of Amram, born of Hebrew race ; Should he the brutish gods of Egypt own, Refuse his noble lineage to trace, Amid the dazzling splendors of a throne, 'Twould writhe her anguished heart with grief she ne'er had known. " And now 'twas hers to watch with tender care The early buddings of that infant mind ; To train his heart to holy, fervent prayer ; How grateful is the task to her assigned ; She seeks temptation's avenues to find, And guard them by Jehovah's powerful word Truth's purest precepts on his heart to bind, That when to courtly honors he's transferred His Hebrew faith to idol gods may be preferred. EDUCATION OF MOSES. 195 ." By holy counsels, admonitions, tears, A sacred rampart round her boy she throws, Intended to preserve his following years From splendid vice ; and though temptations new And strong might him beset, his soul pursue, Yet warm his bosom with devotion's flame, Armed with the shield of faith and courage true, He could but conquer through Jehovah's name, And Israel's mighty hosts the conquest would proclaim. " Time rolled away ; and grew that lovely boy, Sheltered and guarded by parental care, His genius bright they marked with heartfelt joy, His infant heart they early trained to prayer; But time, with rapid wing as fleet as air, Proclaimed the dreaded hour ; too soon it came The hour that anxious mother must repair, She and her cherished boy, to yield her claim ; The princess called him son, and Moses was his name. " And now, by royal patronage sustained, His mind, expanding, grasps at Egypt's lore Her wondrous arts and science once obtained, How rich will be his intellectual store I Science Divine he had been taught before ; This moral culjture to his mind gave tone] And strength, the field of science to explore ; And all the mental wealth to Egypt known, 'Twas his to seize, appropriate and call his own. u Trained as the future heir of Pharaoh's throne, With giant mind possess'd, and well matur'd, Hope's sweetest, highest visions round him shone, And told of joys his merit had insur'd ; But brightest prospects soonest are obscur'd, As sweetest flowers soonest fade away ; The pleasures by which youth is most allur'd, Though fondly cherished yet they will not stay, They raise our buoyant hopes, then wither and decay. 196 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " Little, indeed, that noble princess thought That she the unconscious instrument would be In cherishing the helpless babe she sought, Regardless of her father's stern decree, Of Israel's deliverance. She could not foresee That he would shake the throne of Egypt's base That on the further shore of the Bed Sea He'd stand and witness Egypt's deep disgrace, And join in Miriam's song of Israel's victory. " Yet so it was ! how short is human ken ; How deep the ways of God ! and yet how just ! The princess sought to honor him with men ! His Hebrew mother taught him God to trust ! One nursed the pride at which the other thrust, But wisdom's voice, in lowly whispers sweet, Taught him to trust in God himself distrust And thus for noble daring rendered meet To cast his worldly honors at his sovereign feet." C. PITMAN. Trenton, March 5, 1841. " THE CHOICE OF MOSES." " And now the strangely rescued boy had grown To manhood's full maturity. That fostering care Which blessed his youth prepared him for a throne ; In Egypt's wisdom skilled, how bright and fair His future prospects I And oft did he declare Attachments strong to her, the princess kind, Whose generous bounty placed and kept him where, In anxious search for wisdom, he might find That intellectual bliss which beautifies the mind. " His early history is left untold, Except what fabulous traditions tell, And these are only speculations bold False records they ! from which we cannot spell CHOICE OF MOSES. 197 Those great events which caused him to excel, And gave his mind direction. For the great Unsearchable saw, doubtless, 'twould be well To hide his 'mighty deeds,' nor would he state Those noble acts which gave his character its weight. " But one thing on the sacred record stands, Which to his everlasting honor's penned I mean his noble choice a choice which brands The sons of earth with folly. Had he a friend To whom he owed his all ? Did she intend To lavish on him Egypt's wealth and fame And courtly pleasures ? How could he offend That foster mother, when his very name Must tell her kindness, and her tender love proclaim. " Such were his obligations deep and strong, The royal favors he could ne'er repay ; And such the snares which to a court belong That faith alone could draw his heart away From such enticements. By this he stay'd, His soul on God. And 'twas by this alone He triumphed, though earthly visions gaily play'd Around him, visions of heaven brighter shone, And threw their shade o'er joys he now refused to own. " Thus faith preserved him ; he believed in God, And fixed his eye on things of sense concealed; He chose the path his Hebrew fathers trod, And look'd for joys to faith alone reveal'd. The Lord Jehovah was his sun and shield ; What then to him were rank, distinction, fame, Or e'en the sceptre earthly monarchs wield ? For he a higher, nobler rank could claim An heir I a son of God I that Spirit-written name. " Why should he claim the pedigree of kings, With noble ancestry to be allied ? Faith taught him all such vain and earth-born things, Lur'd but to dissipate and foster pride, 198 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. That all true greatness must be viewed aside From high descent, that goodness from its base, Where living virtues in the heart abide, A higher, nobler lineage we trace Ah I yes; a birth Divine! what could supply its place? " He saw his brethren grievously oppress' d, Groaning beneath a cruel tyrant's rod, Burdened with toil, and in their woes distress' d, They quail'd beneath the guilty tyrant's rod ; Oppression's dreary road they long had trod, 'Twixt trembling hope and torturing despair, And oft their anguish'd hearts they rais'd to God, With heaving sighs and agonizing prayer, Yet still were doom'd to groan, their cruel burdens bear. " Emotions tender struggled in his breast, And strong, fraternal feelings moved his heart ; If possible to mitigate their smart, And soothe their woes could he but impart Some succor. But, ah ! while he upon Their burdens look'd, I see him frown and start With indignation ! A cruel act was done ! A trembling slave was struck by Egypt's base-born son. " Amazed he look'd upon this deed of wrong, And all his soul was in that eye of flame ; The victim was an Hebrew, and though long A slave, accustom'd to submission tame, Was still a brother, and that very name Arous'd his feelings, and his passions wrought Almost to frenzy. Then, with deadly aim, He rush'd upon his victim, and as quick as thought He slew him rash deed I but to be aveng'd he sought." " Trenton, N. J., March 20th, 1841." C. PITMAN. These selections are a few of the specimens of Dr. Pitman's rich poetic productions. What could be more appropriate than the happy combination that blends the thoughts in beautiful and appropriate verse, " The Farewell to the Departing Missionary CHAEACTER OF MR. PITMAN'S POETRY. 199 as he goes to his Distant Field of Labor." It abounds with well-chosen expressions of his great brotherly heart, and of the deep emotion he felt as he accompanied the ambassador for Christ down to the ship, by which he was to be carried far away from his native land into exile and among a wild, uncultivated, untutored and heathenish race, and it breathes a spirit of true devotion, as well as lofty and high-born heroism, for the cause of his Divine Master, and none can read the production without being stirred by its noble sentiments, its deep pathos and genu- ine Christian sympathy and fraternal spirit. " Israel in Egyptian Bondage," " The Preservation of Moses," " The Education of Moses" and " The Choice of Moses " abound in valuable historic and religious truth, and illustrate the won- derful providence that surrounded the infant Moses under the cruel edict of Pharaoh, the purposes of God in his preservation and the full proof which Moses gave in his after life, that the hand of God was over it all. No hero of the Old Testament history stands out so conspicuous as Moses, the son of Amram, and to none has been given the high position, which he occupied as the law-giver and leader of Israel out from the bondage of the Egyptians. Had Dr. Pitman lived in a later age, and ac- complished but a meagre part of his renown, he would have been elevated to the highest seat in church authority and titled with distinguished name and office. CHAPTER XIV. DR. PITMAN AS A PULPIT ORATOR. ORATORY has been defined by Aristotle as " the power of saying on every subject, whatever can be found to persuade." By Theodorus, as " the power of discerning, and expressing with elegance, whatever is creditable on any namable subject," and Cicero describes an orator as " one who can use words, agree- able to hear, and thoughts adapted to prove." Oratory has been divided by one of the celebrated schoolmen into " inven- tion," " arrangement," " expression," " memory," and " delivery or action," and the same author defines oratory as " the power of persuading, and the science of speaking well," and another cele- brated author defines it " as the power of persuading by speak- ing." Eloquence is defined " as the art of speaking in such a manner as to attain the end for which we speak." And Fenelon says, " he thinks the whole art of oratory may be reduced to proving, painting and raising the passions," and " the whole art of elo- quence may consist in enforcing the clearest proofs of any truth, with such powerful motives as may affect the hearers and em- ploy their passions to just and worthy ends ; to raise their indignation at ingratitude, their horror against cruelty, their compassion for the miserable, their love of virtue, and to direct every other passion to its proper object." And Webster, our standard lexicographer, defines eloquence as " the expression or utterance of a strong emotion, in a manner adapted to excite corresponding emotions in others. It ordinarily implies elevated and forcible thought, well-chosen language, an easy and effective utterance, and an impassioned manner,'' and he defines oratory 200 ORATORY AND ELOQUENCE DEFINED. 201 as " the art of an orator, the art of public speaking in an elo- quent or effective manner, the exercise of rhetorical skill in oral discourse." Hence, " Oratory as an art, is such an exercise of rhetorical skill in oral discourse as is imposing and expressive." A classification and systematic arrangement of the rules of oratorical art, constitute the science of oratory, and oratory may therefore be considered "as the art and science of producing strong impressions by means of oral speech," " while eloquence as a science, is the theory, or the process of so expressing thought as to persuade." " Eloquence is, therefore, the art and science of persuasion. Eloquence, strictly speaking, generates volition. Oratory generates conviction," " and sacred or pulpit eloquence is the art and science of persuading men," by means of a sermon, or exhortation, or address, to become Christians in heart and work. " Sacred or pulpit oratory is, therefore, the art and science of employing sacred or pulpit eloquence orally, skillfully and impressively." To be an orator for God, to declare God's truths correctly, impressively and eloquently, is the duty of every man who takes upon him the office of a teacher of God's holy Word to men. Apollos was eloquent and mighty in word and utterance, "a wordy man," in preaching the gospel of Christ. The apos- tles were eloquent men, if not in the strict sense, in which the schoolmen would interpret this subject, it is enough to say of them that they knew how to persuade men to become reconciled to God. To Dr. Charles Pitman may be accorded the honor of being an Apollos in Scriptural exegesis. An orator for God in proclaiming His truth, and an eloquent minister of Christ, for his whole-souled earnestness and lofty conception of the pure and good, the exalted and beneficial tendency of true Christian life ; for on his face truth seemed to come up in forms of un- wonted beauty and majesty, while his own deep emotion met a full response from the hearts of his hearers, and sent a wave of holy rapture over his audiences. 202 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " Legate of the skies, his theme Divine ! his office sacred, His credentials clear. By him The violated law spoke forth its Thunders, and by him in strains as Soft as those which angels use, The Gospel whispered peace." COWPER. Let the reader call to mind the wonderful effect alluded to in another part of this book, produced upon the people in Cape May County, N. J., when he preached against " Formalism " in the church, and the need of an experimental knowledge of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in the soul in order that a man might be saved, that so stirred that people and moved them to a more earnest consecration of heart to God and His service ; it was when the Holy Spirit baptized his heart, and his tongue became a "tongue of fire" to utter burning words of warning and expostulation to those who had a name to live and were dead in trespasses and sins. Witness the wonderful power that attended his ministry in the several Circuits and Stations he occupied in various parts of New Jersey and Philadelphia, and of the uncounted multitude that were brought to Christ under that ministry. What but a sacred awe-inspiring eloquence which attended his ministrations could have produced such an effect ; " knowing, therefore, the terrors of the Lord he persuaded men " to turn from the error of their ways, and accept the proffered mercy of God in the salvation of their souls. And why was it that his preaching ap- pointments were so often crowded by the masses that it was dif- ficult, at times, to find even standing room in the churches where he ministered the word of life ? The only response that can be given to these interrogatives is, that Charles Pitman's soul was in his calling and work, and being exclusively set apart to the great and important work of the Christian ministry, he did not entangle himself with the affairs of this life, but with EFFECT PRODUCED UPON THE CONGREGATION. 203 the divine anointing and unction of the Holy One, he preached Christ to the people with an earnestness, and power, and effect, and saw results that few men have had the honor of witnessing in their ministry. Witness again the effect produced at a camp-meeting in the State o Delaware, while he was the travelling agent of Dickin- son College, and of a similar circumstance subsequently, when attending a camp-meeting near Bellville, N. J., where in both instances he was engaged to preach ; but when the hour of ser- vice came, the heavens grew black and muffled up the sun, the clouds heavy with their portents of an overwhelming flood, the distant thunder becoming more perceptible by its loud, long, booming roll through the heavens, indicating the near approach of the coming tempest, and the sharp, vivid and terrifying light- nings scattering their forky flames across mid-heaven like living rivulets of fire, a convulsed, agitated, alarmed, terrified and tem- pest-stricken congregation, alternating between hope and fear, and hardly knowing what to do, whether to seek shelter before the storm was upon them, or await its near approach as the signal for their retreat, and the will and order of Providence ; or that the storm and rain would be of greater benefit to the people than the gospel-message to be preached by His servant. But where is the Orator for God, " The Legate of the Skies " ? The ser- vant of the Lord Jesus, under these solemn and portentous scenes, animated and quickened by an implicit and exalted faith in God, he prays ; he commits the matter into the hands of the Omnipotent Creator of all things, to him who holds the winds in the hollow of his hands, to him who covereth the heavens with clouds, to him who prepares the rain for the earth, to Him who scatters the fierce lightning by his Almighty hand, to him who bids the loud-booming thunder to roll through the vaulted heavens, until voice answers to voice, echo to echo, and the very orchestra of the skies seems about to be chanting the great judg- ment dirge of the day of doom, and the final conflagration of a 204 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. sin-ruined and sin-cursed world. Where, we repeat the ques- tion, is our Orator for God ? See him standing in the sacred place. He has lately come from a throne of mercy come from a place where he has been holding audience with God. He lifts up his voice and bids the congregation wait, and then declares in the presence of God the vast audience before him of skeptics and infidels, of unbelievers and Christians with all these seem- ing probabilities and portentous omens of a terrific tempest hovering over their heads that there would be no rain for the present, and to remain in their seats, for he was the Lord's am- bassador ; he had a message from God to them, and the storm would not descend until he had delivered that message, and then for over an hour, in each instance, he preached with an inspira- tion and eloquence that only could be inspired by God himself, and under a baptism that descended from the throne ; and the clouds withheld their floods, and the lightnings were restrained, and the thunders were pent-up, and the word of the Lord had free course and was glorified. And closing the services, he shouted : u To your tents, O Israel ! to your tents, O Israel ! for the Lord's message having been delivered, and our prayers having been answered, the rain will now descend from the clouds ! " And the people, obeying the voice of the preacher, fled to their tents for further worship, "and the rain descended and the floods came," and a spiritual baptism of converting power came with them ; and as an estimate of the Divine Spirit's ap- proval, at one of these wonderful instances of God's great power, over five hundred souls were converted. Witness again the wonderful interest that was created in the announcement of the dedication of a new church, and of the presence of Dr. Charles Pitman, who would preach on the occa- sion. On that day, and at that place, wherever it might be, long before the hour of the morning service, multitudes of people would be seen thronging the highways from all quarters leading to the church, so that before the time of service had arrived, the nsfSTANCE AND EFFECT OF TRUE ORATORY. 205 church generally was crowded to its utmost capacity, and often throngs of people would gather about the doors and windows to get a glimpse of the "great preacher/' and to hear the message of salvation from his lips ; and no congregation that ever as- sembled on those occasions were disappointed. That silver-toned trumpet gave no uncertain sound, and the people knew what to expect when this prince of the Lord's host led the army into battle. Witness the scene of the dedication of a church in the lower part of New Jersey, at Porchtown, as detailed by a saintly Christian woman who was present and heard the sermon, and was an eye-witness to the scenes that attended the peroration of that grand and heaven-inspired sermon on that occasion. It was too grand for pen to write, or pencil to trace, or imagination to depict. An angel's eloquence could not portray the scene, much less, describe its power, or picture the heavenly prospective that flashed the sunlight of ecstatic triumph upon that scene ; when this mouth-piece of God, this grand generalissimo of the "King of kings and Lord of lords," marched the victorious hosts of God's elect about our spiritual Zion, shouting to them to "go round about her," and "tell the towers thereof," and "mark well her bulwarks," and "consider her palaces," that they might tell it to the generations following, even to their children's children. For this God is our God for ever and ever, and he will be our guide even unto death." Ps. xlviii. 12-14. On many occasions of a similar character did Dr. Pitman use this text, but in no one instance without marvelous effect. In fact, instances did occur where he was asked by the people to preach from it as the text of the dedicatory sermon of their new church, and it so grew in his capacious and wonderfully expansive mind that in later years, instead of embracing the three verses in the announcement of the text, he would select one of the three and discourse upon that for an hour or more, and yet no one seemed to weary or become impatient; in truth, 206 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. it may be said of him, as an ambassador of Christ : " The com- mon people heard him gladly," no matter how long he might preach. As to those who moved in the higher circles of life, Dr. Pitman was often a favorite preacher with them, so that whether he was preaching in the county towns of New Jer- sey or in the cities of Philadelphia and New York, he drew largely on the cultured classes of society for a goodly part of his congregation ; and the church regards as due to his faith- ful and popular administration of divine teachings, that suc- cess which was so beneficial in bringing to her aid, in a time of great need, some of the most influential and wealthy classes of people, whose benevolence, consecrated wealth and financial aid, have proven to be a powerful auxiliary in placing Method- ism in the ascendancy, and putting her upon a corresponding foundation with other churches. It is the testimony of one of his contemporaries that his ministry marked and designated the transitional period of Methodism in New Jersey and Phila- delphia, and no one man contributed more to the elevation and upbuilding of the Church of God during his time than Rev. Dr. Charles Pitman. Another writer speaks of it " as being a time when a large number of those plain, old-fashioned churches erected and occupied with so much religious faith and fervor by our fathers had served their generation and were passing away, while a new period of church architecture had come, and buildings more commodious, costly and better adapted to the growing interests of our Zion were needed and were rising on every hand." A desire was experienced as to how the expenses were to be met, which were no inconsiderable tax upon the liberality and purses of people with limited means. The combination of superior elements, and the great spiritual and natural endowments, which Dr. Pitman possessed, character- ized him as a man for the time, as well as a man of the times, and by his superior powers, both as a preacher of the gospel, and his remarkable social characteristics, he was the minister BENEFICIAL ADVANTAGES OF TRUE ORATORY. 207 and the man that met the exigencies of the period, and most nobly did he fill his vocation and mission, both in and out of the church. But, before closing this chapter, we ask the reader's forbear- ance while we speak of Dr. Pitman's manner of reading hymns. It is not every minister who knows how to read hymns, or even to read the Word of God before a public congregation with the best effect, and in not a few instances this very necessary attain- ment and advantage has been neglected, sadly neglected, even by some scholarly and titled men, and not infrequently is it the case that a good discourse, or one that has cost its author a great deal of research and mental pains and labor to prepare it, has had half or two-thirds of its effect nullified by the manner in which the introductory services were conducted, and in the flip- pant or sluggish way, in which the hymns, and the scriptural lessons were read, preceding the delivery of the sermon. If some ministers and public teachers would only consider the value of first impressions, they would exercise greater care and correctness in their introductory services. A poet can read poetry ; a man who can weave in beautiful rhythm the finest sentiments of prose, and make his thoughts tone to the melodies of speech, and the art of harmonious accent, knows, or will soon learn, how to give accent and utterance to hymns, in the read- ing of them, and of the sacred Scriptures, and it should be as much cultivated by ministers and those who have charge of the opening of our religious services, as is considered to be due to the preparation of any other part of these exercises. Dr. Pitman knew the value of hymns ; he knew their power over the human heart ; he knew their influence to penetrate even the deepest researches and feelings of the human soul, and he did not neglect " this gift of God within him." Many refer- ences have been made to his reading hymns and the Scriptural lessons and the announcement of his subject and text, in which he always enlisted the attention and often moved the sympathies 208 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. of the whole audience to himself, the secret of many a great man's power. If preachers want their sermons to be effective and to produce the best results, two things should be observed, and on their part should, if possible, be secured ; first, that while their thoughts and soul should flow down to the congregation, in the utterances which they make, the prayers and spiritual sympathies of the congregation, or audience should flow from their hearts, up to the preachers, so as to make them feel conscious that they were doing them good in every word they utter, and it is in this way that they can secure their attention, and do their audiences the greatest amount of good. This can be done ; it is no diffi- cult task. Brethren, if you understand your position, it should be done in your introductory services, and when you come to announce your text you should be conscious that this power is surrounding you, and if you are, you will not only preach well, but you will preach good, and, above all, you will do good. We might multiply instances of Dr. Pitman's reading hymns and moving whole audiences, as well as refer to hymns which, under the mold and intonations of his plastic voice, were made surprisingly beautiful, impressively eloquent and exquisitely tender, so that words and harmony, blended with tone and utter- ance, caused the whole nature of an auditor to be moved under it, but the following will serve our purpose : An eloquent writer and minister of our church thus describes a scene of this character, and the effect it made upon him : " It was," says he, " on Sabbath afternoon during Dr. Pitman's pop- ular career at Union Church, Philadelphia, about the 1st of March, 1834, when I first saw him. The venerable Dr. Gough, a local minister in connection with the church, had preached } and the services were about being closed, when I, a youth, from motives of curiosity, ascending the northern stairway, stood upon the upper step in full view of his majestic form. Mr. Pitman was then in his thirty-eighth year, and in the very zen- ith of his manhood and ministerial glory, and was reading the ORATORY CHARACTERISTIC WITH DR. PITMAN. 209 hymn commencing, 'Othat my load of sin were gone/ The first words that reached my ear were, " ' The cross all stained with hallowed blood, The labor of His dying love.' "All the deep sympathies of his nature were poured into these two lines. The voice seemed almost divine, and the blessed sentiments fell into the soul softly and smoothly as drops of liquid silver. They are never to be forgotten. This was the commencement of my own religious history, and now, at the expiration of thirty, or more years, that majestic form and mellow voice are fresh and beautiful in memory, as things of yesterday." * We may further add that, what was characteristic with Dr. Pitman in reading hymns, Scriptural lessons, and his text, was also significantly impressive in reading the baptismal, the sacra- mental and the burial service. In all of these highly impressive forms of our ritual service, he was noticed with marked attention and listened to with profound interest. It was in reading these forms of service, repeating these solemn, supplicatory prayers, that was discovered all of that naturalness of manner, that dis- tinctive pathos of utterance, and that lofty conception and ven- eration which he felt in standing as mediator and intercessor between God and the candidate for holy baptism, the humble recipient of the memorials of Christ's death, or the last and solemn rites of the burial of the dead, and in these exercises he made all present feel both the impressiveness and solemnity of these occasions and also of the services, which suggests lessons of great importance to every minister of Jesus Christ. An extract or two from his productions will show the reader the beauty and force of his rhetorical accomplishments, and his exquisitely fine taste in framing and forming his sentences, many of which would rank with the most splendid diction of our *Rev. E. H. Stokes, D.D., New Jersey Conference Memorial, p. 254. 14 210 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. greatest scholars, and be considered as some of the brightest adornments of our English idiom. In describing the state of an apostate from the fold and family of God, Dr. Pitman says of him : " In days that are past he could stay his soul upon God, while divine peace flowed in like a river ; but now his mind is full of perturbation, and his heart of trouble. The Sun of righteousness no more rises to gild his spiritual horizon, but has set behind a cloud, and left his soul in all the gloom of night. No warming beams of heavenly grace thaw the frigidity of his affections, or melt the icicles which hang about his frozen heart. Hence his mind being dark and dreary, his affections cold and frozen, if he has not sunk into a state of social apathy, he is unnecessarily the subject of tormenting anxi- eties and discontent. His hours and his minutes are cheerless, and pass heavily away. In such a situation as this the bitter lamentation of Job is well adapted to the case : f O that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me, when his candle shone upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle.' >: In speaking of Christ's conquests, he says : " I know not what was wanting to complete the trophies of his triumph. Nature did him homage in the prodigies of earth and sky. Judaism recognized him in the rending of the veil. The Gentiles con- fessed him by the voice of the centurion. Sinful humanity yielded to him in the conversion of the expiring malefactor. The separate soul was ransomed by him from the power of the second death, when he bore the spirit of that penitent male- factor to Paradise, and the grave was vanquished by him, when arising from his own tomb, he raised, together with his dead body, those of the saints sleeping in the sepulchre. Think of his ascension. The powers of hell were chained to his chariot-wheels, an open spectacle of his triumph. Attendant angels worshipped him and bore him to his throne. The QUOTATIONS FROM HIS SERMONS. 211 church on earth adored him as he was parted from them. The spirits of just men made perfect waited to prostrate themselves before the ascending conqueror, and these many sleepers of the tomb, invested with their redeemed and glorified bodies, followed him in the ascending track of his glory, and graced his tri- umphal entry within the uplifted gates of the celestial city." In analyzing certain characteristics of distinguished men, he says : " There is a class of divines who soar to the third heaven in search of materials with which to deck their effusions ; who rob the stars of their lustre, the sky of its azure, the sunset of its bewitching and gorgeous beauty, invoke the aid of all the graces, and thus erect a splendid pile of frost-work, which cer- tainly affects the mind with a transitory emotion of rapture, and yet fails to produce any permanent impression ; we listen, we admire, and a sort of dreamy delight steals o'er the senses, and ' laps us in Elysium' the mind is overpowered with the enchanting brilliancy of the production, and we turn away ' dazzled and drunk with beauty/ to revert to it as a * * * fairy vision Of some bright creatures in the ideal world, That in the colors of the rainbow live, Or play in the passing cloud.' " It has been said of Dr. Bascom that ( he baptized his hearers with flowers/ and of Lord Bacon, ' that every idea submitted to the crucible of his inductive philosophy emerged therefrom, transformed into admitted truths.' These great men belong to different classes. The latter was famed for his argumentative powers, the former is noted for his imagery. Of him who is placed in the Baconian category, it is to be remarked that argu- ment is decidedly his forte. Every position assumed by him becomes at once a kind of nucleus, around which he gathers the most undeniable and invincible facts, thus rearing up a rampart which may defy all sophistry and transcendentalism. But to 212 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. these two classes may we not add a third, the purely evangel- ical minister, whose only theme is Christ and Him crucified. In the pulpit discourses of this man, all meretricious ornament and tinsel are discarded, and he uses just enough of imagery to enchant the mind, and of argument to convince the judgment, while he directs his hearers to the more important truths of the gospel. Now a burst of pure spiritual eloquence falls like a stream of burning lava upon the heart, and then a splendid thought as the glow of a meteoric phenomenon, will startle his audience with its surprising brilliancy, and while the effulgence of its beams linger around, the speaker points out by its parting rays the beauty and strength of the structure he is erecting." While describing Dr. Pitman as an orator for God, a preacher, a reader and a writer of a sublime, glowing and transcendently eloquent style, we may here insert a description which he wrote in middle life of a great and wonderfully impressive orator who visited this country, about the year 1841, as a delegate from the English "Wesleyan Church to the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, and who stirred the hearts of both preachers and laymen in all our Conference gatherings and congregations where he preached, or addressed them. Speaking of Eev. Dr. Newton, after having heard him preach several times, he says : " Dr. Newton combines, in a larger de- gree than any other man I know, the essential elements of a pulpit orator. He possesses noble qualities in person, voice and gesture ; he is at once animated and serious ; gentle, yet faithful, dignified but not ostentatious and imposing, yet per- fectly simple. But above all, the great charm which crowns the whole is, that he seems eminently baptized with the spirit of his calling. All his powers are laid at the Master's feet, and you realize that you are listening to a messenger of the Most High, who has come to talk to you on the highest concerns that can occupy human thought or feeling. Without this there is no true pulpit oratory." CHAPTER XV. DR. PITMAN AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. WE propose in this chapter to speak in brief of some of the men who were Mr. Pitman's contemporaries, and who were more or less intimately associated with him in labor, from the time he entered upon his ministerial career, to the time of his appointment as Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary Society of the M. E. Church. The first of these was Rev. Edward Page, who, at the time when Mr. Pitman commenced to exercise his gifts, was a local preacher, laboring on Columbus Circuit. He was converted in 1807, and shortly afterwards joined the M. E. Church ; the next year after his conversion, he was licensed to exhort, and four years later was licensed to preach, and, in April, 1817, he joined the Philadelphia Conference, as an itinerant minister, and for thirty-five years continued in the active work of the minis- try, and for sixteen years was supernumerary or superannuated in his relation to the Church. He possessed the gift of song, and was specially known as a " sweet singer in Israel," and having power to stir the hearts of the people in prayer, and by words of earnest exhortation, he was specially adapted to revival work. He was faithful in expounding the Word of God, kind and sympathetic in his attentions to the sick and dying. He had a joyful, Christian experience, and in his soul beamed the bright influence of holy hope. He was considered by all who knew him, in later life, " a happy old man," and at last entered peacefully and calmly into his heavenly rest. Rev. George Banghart joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1812. He was Mr. Pitman's first colleague, and labored with 213 214 LIFE OP KEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. him in 1818, on Trenton Circuit, in New Jersey. He was con- verted in early manhood, and entered upon Christian life with all the impetuosity and enthusiasm of his warm and earnest na- ture, and soon became a " Boanerges," in exhorting sinners to repentance, and subsequently developed into, what the people in his day denominated, " a grand, old-fashioned Methodist," and possessing considerable executive ability and tact, he made a good officer, an efficient presiding elder, and was regarded as a wise and safe counselor in the church. He was very popular, respected and highly esteemed all through the upper counties of New Jersey, and closed his work on earth in advanced old age, for a home beyond the skies. Rev. John Potts joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1813. He was Mr. Pitman's second colleague, and was stationed with him in 1819, on Bergen Circuit, New Jersey. He served a number of appointments in the Philadelphia Conference, and subsequently was made Presiding Elder. He is described as a strong, clear, practical preacher, an able defender of Methodist doctrine and church polity, a good and faithful Presiding Elder, wise in counsel, affable in manner, exact in habits, and conscien- tious in practice. He had great influence in the Conference, of which he was among its leaders, and took a very active part in all its affairs. He died in great peace, in Philadelphia, in 1837, and was buried in the Ebenezer M. E. Church burial- ground, where the church now stands. Rev. Ezekiel Cooper joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1785. He belonged to the pioneer band of early Methodist preachers. " He was a remarkable man in every respect, far above the ordinary height of men, angular in form and features," and elastic in his step and motions ; he indicated a man of au- tomatic action. He was a scholar of no mean or meager attain- ments. As a preacher he was strong in logic, clear in exposi- tion, sound in doctrine, and a man of great force in the pulpit. His sermon on the death of Bishop Asbury, in St. George's HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 215 Church, Philadel phia, is more than testimonial ; it is monumental to his character and greatness as an able expositor of the deep things of God, and of that mysterious Providence that overrules all things for the Christian's good. He was Presiding Elder on the West Jersey District, in 1825, and was honored and re- vered as an apostolic father. As a writer he stood in the front ranks of the men of his day. In Conference he was an ac- knowledged leader, and exercised great influence among the preachers. He was sharp in his criticism. Having heard a choir of singers murder a piece of music, he wrote the follow- ing, which does not speak complimentary of their performance : " A piece of music made with taste and art, With calculations true, to 'cord in every part, And sung exact by rule, with voices soft and clear, It fills my soul with life Oh ! heaven I think is near, But cruel discord rends and ' rives my nerves asunder.' Like squalls of storming wind, with hail and dismal thunder. Some screech like owls, or croak like crows of ravens flying, Some bawl like monkies whipt, with all their hideous crying; Or squeak, or scream like pigs in all the pain of dying. No time is kept ; some go too fast, and some too slow, And as to tone, some are too high, and some too low. Thus time, and tune, and tone, are terribly abused, And in a frightful medley horribly confused. Of all the clash and din of harsh and dreadful sounds, With which the universe in discord so abounds, This hateful jargon by such singers is the worst, And penetrates me with the most acute disgust." " He made one great mistake in life," says a contemporary writer ; " he lived and died a bachelor, and as a consequence, in his last days, felt the need of the tender care of a family and the comforts of a home." He closed his life in blest anticipa- tion of a better one in a brighter world, and was buried in the yard in front of St. George's church, Philadelphia', where a suitable tablet marks his resting-place. 216. LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Rev. Solomon Sharp joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1792. He was an old-time Methodist preacher, and was a unique originality ; grace, but little changed his constitutional characteristics, or modified the purposes of his strong will, in- domitable courage, and super-abundant combativeness. " He was fully six feet high, with massive head, broad shoulders, large hands and feet, and white hair at least a foot long, hang- ing below his shoulders." He memorized large portions of the Word of God, and was remarkable in his application of Scripture. " In his palmy days, he was said to be ' the best every-day preacher of his time.' Some thought him endowed with the gift of prophecy, as he had such wonderful foresight in foretelling future events, as to make it seem to border on the miraculous. " He was mighty in prayer, and the answers he received to his petitions almost exceeded human belief." He preached with great earnestness and often with wonderful power. He was a strong " defender of the faith once delivered to the saints." He passed triumphantly into the spirit-land, uttering thanksgivings to God for his goodness and mercy. Rev. Manning Force joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1811. In person he was tall over six feet in height perfectly straight and erect in form, and his personnel often attracted the at- tention of the people as he moved among them. He was wholly exempt from every quality that would offend even the most fastidious and critical taste. His character was well rounded ; he combined dignity with ease, firmness with gentleness, earnest- ness with tenderness. Unselfish in his nature, he seemed free from envy and jealousy ; careful of the reputation of his breth- ren in the ministry, he never excited suspicion respecting them, by deprecatory remarks, or ambiguous insinuations. Whether in public or private, he impressed you with a conviction of the deepest sincerity and conscientiousness, and that he aspired to goodness rather than greatness. None knew him but to love him. As a preacher he was plain and practical, original in his HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 217 methods ; he was always instructive and pleasing ; his sermons were always short and seldom exceeded a half-hour, except on some extraordinary occasion. As a Presiding Elder, his quarterly visitations were always welcomed by both preachers and people, and in Quarterly Conference business he was thorough, active and minute, always abounding in words of commendation to the officiary, when they had done well to their pastor, and urging, in the most gentle and affable manner, where there seemed to be a failure, or lack in the financial interests of the Society. He rode his districts on horseback, with saddle-bags, books on one side and wearing-apparel on the other, and often would spend the entire quarter on the district, preaching and visiting the people from place to place. He was held in high esteem by all the preachers, loved as a father by the younger ones, ven- erated and honored by the people, welcomed with the pleasing delights of children, and the subject of great deference and respect by the unconverted. He was a patriarch and seer in the home of affliction and baptized every household he entered, with his religious purity, life and personal goodness, and died in holy triumph and blessed hope in Christ, his Redeemer and complete Saviour. Rev. Richard W. Petherbridge joined the Philadelphia Con- ference in 1815. He was of short, stout build, small bone, well- cushioned with flesh. His head was large and heavily covered with bushy hair; his eyes were small and his mouth broad, with heavy lips. He was a man of stern appearance, and ap- parently unapproachable ; the peculiar intonations o his voice indicated to a stranger no small degree of abruptness, not to say ill-temper, but in this he was greatly misunderstood by those who did not know him ; his manner was constitutional with him and belonged more to his habit than to his feeling. To elicit his approbation in anything, you would soon discover that he used the same tones of voice either to praise or blame, and when once accustomed to it, you soon forgot the manner in the 218 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. honest, sincere, earnest God-fearing man. He had a clear, strong and comprehensive mind, always an honest advocate for the right; and when thoroughly aroused in the pulpit, he would preach with such vehemence that even the children used to think him scolding the members of the church, most furiously. We loved him in our childhood, revered and respected him in our manhood, and cherish his memory now that he sleeps with our father, his life-long friend and companion, in the same church- yard, awaiting the resurrection at the last day. Edmund S. Janes (afterwards Bishop) joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1832. In 1835 he, with Mr. Pitman, was ap- pointed agent for Dickinson College, ostensibly to travel over the whole connection and solicit funds to relieve the college from its financial embarrassments. They both were men of mark and of great pulpit force, and were selected with a view to this ar- duous position. Bishop Janes was a short, heavy, thick-set man, of fine personarappearance, pleasant countenance, and with remarkably exquisite features, and a voice almost as soft as femi- nine cadences. In manner he was dignified, courteous, kind and fatherly. He loved the preachers ; he loved the Church even more, and thought no preacher too good for any of our churches, nor no church in the connection too good for any of our preachers, who had the Holy Ghost in their hearts, and had been called of God to the Christian ministry. He was a man of prayer. He prayed for all the preachers in our connection ; then he prayed for all the Presiding Elders, calling them often by name before a throne of grace ; then he prayed for the mission- ary cause and the missionaries ; then for the whole Church and all the agencies it was employing to promote the kingdom of Christ in the world. The author, on one occasion, slept with him ; and coming into the room some time after the Bishop had entered to retire, found him just rising from his knees, where he had been in prayer for an hour and more ; and in the morning he arose early, long before sun-rise, and spent more than an hour on HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 219 his knees before God. He was a Holy Ghost preacher. He preached in demonstration of the Spirit and power. No man ever threw his soul into his sermons with more energy than Ed- mund S. Janes. He was a model Bishop. No man has ever filled the Episcopal chair with more credit and satisfaction, with more dignity and honor, than he did. He was one of the apos- tles of American Methodism. He was indefatigable in his ef- forts, and unwearied in his labors. " Work ! work ! " was his watch- word. He had both a father's ear and a father's heart for the afflicted and oppressed, and knew just what to say when one approached him for counsel. His death-bed was a scene of tri- umph, and in his survey of life's work and its rewards his testi- mony was : " I am not disappointed." Rev. William Barnes joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1817. He was an Irishman by birth, but for some reason re- fused to be called one. He was Mr. Pitman's colleague at St. George's, when several of the city churches were on the plan of a circuit. " He was a man of great vigor, and maintained his vitality and activity up to the last, though he died over eighty years of age. In private life and in the social circle he was a perfect specimen of an Irish gentleman; but in the pulpit he was like a stormy tempest, especially when under great excitement. He had a hearty hatred of the Pope, Romanism and the Devil, and generally classed them together and treated them as one and the same." Many of his sermons were productions of sublime grandeur, logical force and high-wrought eloquence. His descrip- tions of Hell and the Devil were so terrible that even women screamed with fear and affright, and ran out of the house where he was preaching. " His great forte in preach- ing was on the ' Divine character and government,' and he excelled all other men in our connection on these subjects. His eloquence blazed with light and burned with fire, while his audience moved like a field of grain before the sweep of a 220 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. gale." * His death was sudden, but iu the strongest assurance of immortality. Rev. Joseph Holdich, D. D., joined the Philadelphia Confer- ence in 1822. He was another of Mr. Pitman's colleagues, and was stationed on the City Circuit in Philadelphia in 1825, as one of the assistants. He is a man of quiet demeanor, inoffensive in manner and action, a Christian gentleman of the highest type and order, an able preacher and expositor of God's word, a chaste and beautiful, as well as an expressive and lucid writer, and has produced for literature some of its most valuable productions. In 1834 he was transferred to the New York Conference, of which he is now a member, and subsequently was elected Secretary of the "American Bible Society," which position he has most satisfactorily filled for over a quarter of a century. His life has been fruitful of good works, and his la- bors crowned with the greatest good to the Church of his choice. He still lives (April, 1887) in the home of his beloved family, and is cared for by all the tenderness and kindness, an affectionate family can bestow on high parental worthiness and distinguished Christian character. Rev. George G. Cookman joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1826. He joined St. George's M. E. Church, Philadelphia,' while Mr. Pitman was preacher in charge of the Old Philadel- phia Circuit, in 1825, he having lately landed in America. "He was a man of movement, combined with a spirit of energy. His powers of perception and comparison greatly exceeded his powers of imagination. His mind was more affiliated with the stirring, stern, heroic action, and with the forcible, sublime and grand in Nature, than with the soft, tender and beautiful. He was firm and unchangeable in his affections. "With a heart bursting with emotion, he thus gave utterance on a public occasion to the strength and durability of his affection toward the amiable and sainted Dr. Samuel Baker, of Baltimore: 'May my poor heart * Fifty Years' Review of Philadephia Conference. P. Combe. P. 13. HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 221 pay this last tribute of fond affection to the memory of him who was the first friend I made in this city, and under whose hospi- table roof was the first home I found, and in whose society I have spent many a precious hour, the ornament of his profes- sion, a burning and shining light, a pillar in God's house. He wiped away the orphan's falling tear, and comforted the widow's broken heart.' "As a minister of Christ, he was accessible in his intercourse with all classes of people, ardent in Christian temperament, sin- cere, graphic, and powerful in his pulpit eloquence. In his per- son he was slender, about the medium height of men, without any remarkable or strikingly expressive features. His forehead was not expansive, nor his head large ; yet his eye was pene- trating, and his mouth delicately chiselled, showed the outlines of acuteness and decision. His nervous force and active mind perpetually stirred him to action, 'and he threw his whole soul into the subject of his addresses. He excelled as a preacher, but it was on the platform that he was pre-eminent/ " He was an Englishman by birth and education, and, after some years of service in this country, started on a visit to his native land. The last text he preached from here in his adopted home was Rev. xx. 11-13. He embarked in the Steamship Pres- ident from New York, and neither he, nor the ship was ever heard from again." It is supposed that she struck an ice- berg on full run, and went down with nothing left to tell the tale. Cookman sleeps, with the ocean waters as his winding sheet, the noble steamship his sepulchre, and the ocean bed his cemetery. Rev. Joseph Chattle joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1829. He was a sweet-spirited man, and had religion both in heart and face, which, like the face of Moses, beamed with the glory of God. He was one of the devout men of his time, live, active, full of enthusiasm, push and holy courage. He was a man of one business, and felt that soul-saving was his exclusive 222 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. calling. He generally preached short sermons, and was a con- venient man for a special work. He knew how to break up new ground and plant the church where it might take a good, firm hold, having both tact and endurance. He labored hard to secure a permanent foundation for all his subsequent work, and a number of flourishing churches in New Jersey are the monuments of his toil and labor. On one occasion, when he went to a new place, no one invited him home with them after he had preached, and consequently he had no place of enter- tainment. After dismissing the congregation, he remained in the church and began to sing; this drew to him the attention of a strange gentleman, who tendered to him splendid entertain- ment, with ample accommodations, and a welcome that was always proffered thereafter. He filled up life's work well in noble activities for good, and at last received the commendation of the good and faithful servant: "Well done!" Rev. Daniel Parrish joined the Philadelphia Conference in /1821. He was a meek-spirited child, and was noted for his pious turn of mind in early life, and subsequently was converted before reaching manhood years. A ministerial brother says of him: "Nature dealt liberally with him. His mind was well- balanced, his address fluent, his style elevated and generally correct, and his sensibilities formed in the finest mould. His sympathies yearned for the common weal of mankind. He was never more in his element than when mingling with, and minis- tering to the sick, distressed or humble poor. His heart was in every good work. He was a man of conscientiousness. The calls of duty he obeyed, as he understood them, and left the result with the Lord." Another ministerial contemporary says of him: "He was impressive in appearance, manner and spirit. He had a ready utterance. His voice was full, and round, and highly unctious. He once said to the Rev. Dr. Whitecar: "I am at home in your pulpit," and at another time said : " I wish you had been HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 223 here to-day to pray for me, as I think more of Methodist preachers' prayers than I do of their criticisms." In 1841 he was stationed in Paterson, the second year of his ministerial term, but at the end of a month or more was transferred to the Trenton District, made vacant by Dr. Pitman's elevation to the missionary secretaryship; and though at the time it was thought that there was no man among the preachers that could fill Dr. Pitman's place, yet in parts of the district he was scarcely less popular. His fervent piety, the unction that attended bis min- istry, his earnest solicitude for the church's welfare and his agreeable social qualities commended him to general favor, and rendered his quarterly visits occasions of no ordinary interest. His death was sudden. He passed from labor to reward, in the calm and peaceful assurance of a firm trust in Christ. Rev. Waters Burroughs joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1816. He was a plain, earnest, devout man, of tender com- munication, friendly in manner and of genial influence. His heart and his face were always bright, light and cheerful. Con- scientious in all that he did, he was careful in his expressions and gentle in all his words. He loved his work as a Christian minister, and to him it was a luxury to do good. He was fond of singing, and as he rode through the Jersey pines, would sing: " Wave your tall heads, ye lofty pines, To Him who bade you grow." He was anxious to know if his kind words were remembered by those to whom he had spoken good things, and on one occa- sion said with much interest and emphasis, to his old friend and ministerial brother, Rev. Dr. C. H. Whitecar: "Have you thought of what I told you some years ago?" "Yes," replied his friend, "I have spoken of it frequently, and of you at my quarterly meetings." He showed great sensibility in that he was not forgotten. He was an honor to the Church and an ornament to Methodism. He preached by his life as well as 224 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. by his voice, and was exemplary in conduct and fervent in de- % votion, always at his post, and did things at the proper time, as well as in their proper place. He died as he lived, with the smiles of Heaven beaming upon his countenance and the glory of God filling his soul. Rev. Thomas McCarroll joined the Philadelphia Conference in the spring of 1829. He was a man of modest presence, amiable and retiring, thoughtful and earnest. He possessed a sweet spirit, was gentle, loving and exceedingly kind. None were wont to look over the faults of others and forgive more than he. He was above anything like unmerited censure, or unjust re- proach. No man ever cherished a greater regard and higher esteem for his ministerial brethren than he, and this extended from the highest in office or position, down to the lowest. He was of an exceedingly sensitive nature and of deep sympathies, and this led to great aversion to injustice. His heart was often deeply pained and afflicted, with an almost inconsolable grief at some of the heated discussions in our Annual Conference over the reception of men who had been adjudged by large and influ- ential Quarterly Conferences, as proper persons to enter the itin- erant ministry, and the assailed often had a kind " friend at court," who would pour oil on the troubled waters, and by a few well-chosen and well-expressed sentiments, would hush the storm into a " Peace, be still," which often evoked a motion that admitted many a young man whose fate at a critical moment hung in the balance. He had refined oratorical ornamentation in his manner of address. He was always clear, forcible and interesting. He had a mind well stored with Biblical knowl- edge, and read the Scriptures fluently in their original languages. In manners he was kind, courteous, a Christian gentleman of the superlative order, and possessed, with his ministerial stand- ing, that true dignity which belongs to the office, and by which he gained the respect and confidence of all with whom he asso- ciated, and without which the moral power of the minister is HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 226 greatly prescribed, and he, shorn of an element of strength. He was eminently successful in the pastorate, and often hundreds were the fruit of a single revival period. The people were charmed with his earnestness, and seemed to believe every word he uttered. Sincerity of utterance stamped all his pulpit min- istrations, and was a distinguishing characteristic of his whole life. As a Presiding Elder, he was of the highest type, and considered a model for that office. He did his work faithfully and well, died a credit to the Church and an honor to Method- ism. Rev. Isaac Winner, D.D., joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1822. He was a man of sterling principles, true as steel and firm as an adamant. No mountain was ever more deeply set, or had a firmer hold in solid earth, to bid defiance to the blasts of northern winds, or the tempests of a century, than was Isaac Winner's loyalty and rigid firmness to the doctrines and polity of Methodism. He believed what he said, and said what he believed, and asked no man a reason for his own opinion. He acted from his own convictions, after thoughtful and careful deliberation, and when fortified, a whole Annual Conference would be held to his opinions. He was masterly in argu- ment, mighty in debate and strong in his conclusions. There was no waste of words. Every stroke he made he put the nail in a sure place, and clinched it firmly with an additional under- blow. And yet, with all these stern characteristics of a deter- mined and resolute mind, he was courteous and kind, tender and loving and highly respectful. He was gentlemanly in his inter- course with brethren and respectful to men of the world. He loved the Church, but hated, with religious hatred, innovation upon established usages, and well-tried and well-settled princi- ples. He believed in the doctrines of Methodism, and he acted according to his belief and convictions in their defence. Sin- cerity and earnestness stamped every act of his life and seemed to be interwoven into the very texture of his being. As a pub- 15 226 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. lie speaker, he was highly impressive. His voice was deep, and when craned up, highly sepulchral ; his nervous force was considerable and unusually strong, his manner solemn, and his whole aspect and bearing that of a man in earnest, and ready to die for his faith. His preaching was clear and forcible* abound- ing with apt illustrations and with strong logical conclusions, which made him both attractive and popular. He was a cham- pion and leader in the Israel of God, who knew no surrender, but who inscribed on his banner of warfare against the hosts of sin, victory or death. To his memory the Church writes the immortal epitaph, "Over whom the second death hath no power." Rev. Sedgewick Rusling joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1827. He was one of the preachers on the West Jersey Dis- trict during Mr. Pitman's term of Presiding Eldership. They were very intimate, and both labored hand in hand at camp- meetings and revival occasions. He was rather tall in stature, and of medium build, well-proportioned in body, a fine forehead, and head covered with beautiful silver-sprinkled hair. His countenance was sunny and bright, and his voice as sweet and musical in its intonations, as a zephyr. He possessed fine social qualities, and won to himself a host of firm and fast friends. Of a truth it may be said, " none knew him but to love him." He had great moral bearing, godly simplicity and expanded benevolence. The poor always found him a valuable friend, and the rich appreciated his goodness ; even the wicked and profane accorded to him real religion in heart. He had a well-trained musical voice, and was a sweet, as well as an effective, singer, and from no man's lips did our Methodist melodies come forth with a richer strain, than from the lips of this earnest man of God, and so great was its effect that whole audiences would be lifted into rapture by him. He was powerful in exhortation, and when in a revival service, or at a camp-meeting, where his soul would seem to take fire, he would rouse the energies and HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 227 stir the hearts of thousands and induce scores of souls to come to Christ. His exhortations at those times were considered of more direct advantage to the interests and objects of the meeting than many of the sermons. His preaching was practical, always good ; it abounded with incident, and was rich in illustration. He had the happy faculty of getting the attention of the audi- ence and keeping it to the close of his sermon. This, with the natural gush and emotion of feeling that was perceptible in every step he took, from the commencement to the close of his discourse, and his yearning desire for the salvation of souls, enabled him to lead multitudes heavenward. His ministry was an exceedingly fruitful one, and thousands of souls were won to Christ, and the Church greatly benefited, enlarged and abund- antly blessed. He died at Rahway, N. J., in the triumphs of a glorious immortality, giving the most emphatic assurances of his faith, and that he was saved through the atonement of Christ. Rev. Thomas G. Stewart joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1830. He was a remarkable man, and in some sense a sin- gular one. Earnest, tender, moving and highly emotional, his whole nature was absorbed in his work, and he moved upon the hearts of the people as heated sunbeams on ice and snow, and they melted before him. Revival labors were the chief or dis- tinguishing characteristic of his work, and it is said that he received into the Church about five thousand souls, and the per- sonal piety of Christians was greatly advanced by his godly life and admonitions. In all his appointments, he made great and marked spiritual improvement among the membership. Singing was one of the strongest agencies of his success. The old preachers sang in the public and social services, and this encouraged congregational singing and enthused the people and the services, and thereby drew the attention of the masses. It is neceasary to the success of Methodism that this custom con- tinue amongst us. Charles Pitman used to sing, " Hear the 228 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. royal proclamation " and " I am bound for the kingdom." Joseph Rnsling sang with peculiar tenderness and emotion, " Young people all attention give," which often produced equal if not greater, effect, than a sermon, and Thomas G. Steward would sing, with almost seraphic sweetness, " Come, let us join our hearts and hands," etc. This was a favorite hymn with him, and also with his devoted wife, and at the close of a service he would get the people to join hands and to sing it under his leadership, and often the singing would be attended with great and unctious power. His deathbed scene was one of triumphant joy. He died exclaiming, " All is well ! I shall have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ." Rev. Caleb A. Lippincott, to whom brief allusion has been made in a preceding chapter, joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1830, and was of the same class as Edmund S. Janes (after- wards Bishop), William A. Wilmer, Jefferson Lewis, Joseph Ash- brook, Josiah F. Canfield and John L. Lenhart. In person he was, in the fullest sense, a finely-developed man. His form was tall and erect, much above the average height of men. His frame was muscular and of strong, stout, sturdy bone, well-compacted and well-proportioned, with a remarkably full development of muscle and ligamentary strength, and the whole well-cushioned with healthy flesh. His hair was of sandy hue, his complexion light and pinky. His eye was of a light grayish color, round, keen and full of fire. His face was full and round ; his mouth broad, thin-lipped, and the whole contour of his countenance expressed firmness and decision of purpose and character, and when animated with pleasant impressions, flashed smiles of peculiar loveliness, but when the destiny of a soul on the verge of ruin was the theme, no countenance of man ever depicted greater earnestness or intensity of interest for its salvation than his did. In manner he was bold and earnest, impetuous and impassioned ; in speech fluent and rapid ; in figure and compar- HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 229 ison sublime. His voice was strong, and clear, and soft as the sound of a silver bell, which he could ring like the notes of a clarion, and without exhaustion or weariness ; and when keyed up to its high pitch could be heard, some said, for miles. He held vast congregations, stirred ministers from their seats, wrapped whole audiences into a consternation of feeling, bap- tized saints with tears (which expressed the emotions that stirred within them), and caused the ungodly to quail and tremble before a scene, which he held before them, of the doom of a lost soul. In his sermons he was plain and practical, following out the natural .ideas suggested by the text in a sort of didactic or descriptive manner, until he came to a point where his capacious mind seemed to propose a sweep, and then, with a comparison, an incident, a picture, or some circumstances of religious exper- ience which would be suggested to his sanctified imagination, he would, with the brilliancy of a comet's flash and sweep, portray in the most sublime, touching, tender manner, the event or cir- cumstance, occupying often from fifteen minutes to a half-hour, and would hold his audience, in deep silence, with bated breath and suppressed emotion, until he reached the climax, and this, with a few additional remarks, very frequently closed his sermon. But in exhortation, he was more than even the great men of the times, and a camp-meeting occasion was his favorite field for a death-grapple, and in this struggle, victory or death flashed from his shield and flamed from his brow, and many a lance did our noble knight break, and many a strong shield did he shiver, and bring his contestant to the foot of the cross, in his contests with the powers of darkness. Few men have had such a record of success as he had in the time and limits of his ministry. Within two successive years over two thousand souls were converted. This was the man whom Mr. Pitman directed Rev. John Street, (who had temporary charge of St. George's pulpit during the great revival there in 1836-37), to secure when he said, mentioning his name as the first one, "get Caleb A. Lip- pincott," (then stationed at Germantown), " to come and help us." 230 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Rev. Joseph Lybrand joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1811, when only eighteen years of age, and gave thirty-three years of his active life to the ministry, belonging both in the Philadelphia and New Jersey conferences. He was Mr. Pit- man's successor at St. George's after the great revival, 1837-38, and, it was said, no man in the Philadelphia Conference was better qualified, or more adapted to the exigencies of that work, at that time, than Mr. Lybrand. He was warmly welcomed to the church, and at once entered into the spirit-stirring scenes which had characterized it for the past two years. In social character, Mr. Lybrand was peculiarly favored. Well-regulated cheerfulness, combined with becoming sobriety, breathed in his spirit. In conversation he was alike attentive and respectful to others, and intelligent and earnest in his own communications. He was of fine commanding appearance in the pulpit as else- where. He was a preacher of unusually brilliant attainments, of great spirituality and power, and would often become so ab- sorbed and wrapped up in his theme as to be oblivious to all that was around him. Rev. Dr. Kennaday pays this high tribute of respect and admiration to his abilities and qualifications as a minister : " Of the many sermons I have heard him preach, I do not remember one that was deficient in logical structure, impassioned appeal or chaste and beautiful illustration. In variety, richness and appropriateness of language I do not think that I ever heard him excelled. His voice possessed great compass, and was round^ full, and susceptible of the most tender modulations. His themes were highly evangelical, and were equally interesting to the most erudite and the most uncultivated hearer. His popularity was far from being the result of any course of effort to secure popu- larity. He never lost that simplicity which always forms one of the loveliest attributes of the Christian life. He regarded the revealed truth of God's word, as the great instrument of man's HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 231 salvation, and felt that the pulpit was trifled with, and be- trayed, when it was made the arena of political strife, or the medium of anything else of a mere secular nature. His minis- try was abundantly fruitful in leading souls to Christ, and estab- lishing believers in the faith of the Gospel. His death was sudden ; he passed in a moment from earth and was welcomed by the angels to the throne of God. ' His memory is fragrant on earth, but his record is in heaven.' ' Rev. Thomas Sovereign joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1827, and his first appointment was junior preacher in Bur- lington Circuit, while Mr. Pitman was Presiding Elder of West Jersey District. In person he is tall and heavy, and moves with care and measured step. He has quite a growth of white, silvery hair, which was formerly of a darker hue ; his beard hangs gracefully upon his chest, being more than a foot long, giving him the contour of "Abraham of old," and quite a patriarchal appearance ; his eye is quick and keen, and his ear is so well trained, that he will at once detect a mispronounced word, or a violation of our English construction of language ; his forehead indicates superior intelligence, and his visage pre- sents all the qualities of a finished literary gentleman. In his earlier life he took an active part in the Temperance movement, and was one of its most noble and heroic champions. Traveling from place to place, he would preach in the churches Sabbath morning and evening, and address the masses in the afternoon from some convenient place in the public street on the evils of intemperance. He was an able lecturer, and was listened to with great reverence and respect. He compiled a Temperance spelling- book and introduced it into our common-schools as early as 1 838 or 1840. He spent the evenings of the week in lecturing all through the remote parts of New Jersey, and performed these journeys, mostly on foot, and during that period no man took a more active interest or labored more indefatigably in the cause of the temperance reform than did Thomas Sovereign. 232 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. He served the Conference very acceptably and efficiently as Presiding Elder for several years, and was known as an able and wise administrator, a judicious counselor and a faithful officer in the discharge of all his duties. As a preacher he ranked among the first class for his loyalty and adherence to both Methodist doctrine and polity, and in manner of address, for correctness of expression, for systematic arrangement of his sermons, none surpassed him, and though barren in the adorn- ment of rhetorical finish and of sprightly figurative expression, yet, nevertheless, they were logical and strongly argumentative in their character, and were appreciated for their distinctness of perception and soundness of reasoning. Mr. Sovereign served on both of Mr. Pitman's districts in New Jersey, and to him and his colleague is due much of the honor in the extension of Meth- odism in New Jersey. Many of the places and towns which now have active and flourishing churches had their first Methodist sermon preached by Thomas Sovereign. - His name has been identified with New Jersey Methodism longer than any other man now living, and he is the oldest living minister in the Con- ference now crowding well on to eighty-seven years. He served the interests of the Sanitary Commission during the late war, and traveled over the state, visiting the Sabbath-schools and enlisting the donation of a penny from every Sunday-school scholar, the aggregate of which amounted to thousands of dollars, which were paid into the Treasury of the Commission, and aided our sick and disabled soldiers. He was also for a period of time agent for Dickinson College, and did much valuable and successful work for that Institution, and was a member of the famous General Conference of 1844 at the time of the division of the M. E. Church. Honored, respected and revered, his name will be remembered for generations by the households whom he has baptized with his presence and blessing. He still lives (June, 1887,) but feels the weight of years pressing heavily upon him. He will hail the summons when it comes for him to pass " the HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 233 bourne from which no traveler returns," and having filled life's duties well, with noble activities for God and the Church, he will reap a glorious harvest of reward in his Heavenly Father's kingdom forever. Rev. Jefferson Lewis, D. D., now living, joined the Philadel- phia Conference in 1830. In person he is tall and slender, not of a robust nature, but has a quick, elastic step, and is sure- footed. His hair, once dark, now shows the frosts of over eighty winters, and is of a silken white, hanging gracefully over his brow and extending backward. His face is spare, always cleanly shaven, and mostly beaming with a profusion of smiles. His eye deep and penetrating, and of a slight brownish color. He has thin lips, denoting firmness ; a good voice for either public address or general conversation. In dress he is neat and tidy, and suits his taste in garments becoming his age and position in life. In manners he is a perfect gentleman, and exceedingly po- lite and respectful to all classes, and is noted for his high regard and deference paid to women ; retiring in disposition and unu- sually gentle in all his intercourse with society, chaste in all his words, and pure in all his- forms of speech, he has a warm hand, a kind spirit, and a generous and benevolent heart towards all. He has no enemies : for if he was conscious that he had wronged any one, he would on first opportunity make an appropriate con- cession and apology for it ; and if any one had ever done him an injury, he would as freely forgive the offender as he would seek forgiveness for his own faults ; and he conscientiously acts upon the petition in our Lord's prayer, " Forgive us our tres- passes as we forgive those who trespass against us." He is an embodiment of true Christian manliness,and an illustrious type of a godly, straight-forward, unwavering Christian. In all his habits he is methodical; in his plans, deliberate and conscien- tious ; and in his judgment, well-matured and decided. As a preacher, he is clear, plain, pointed and practical ; seldom, if ever, embellishes his sermons with either the flowers of rhetoric, or the 234 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. exuberance of poetical delineation, or the gilded fancies of ima- ginary illumination, but says things which the people can under- stand without a Lexicon, and always uses good, stout, sturdy, old Saxon terms and words. He instructs more than he dazzles ; enlightens rather than confounds ; always has a solid foundation, and builds up out of good, solid material a superstructure that can stand storm and tempest. In executive ability he takes rank with the princes in the Church, and is a walking encyclopedia of Methodistic theology and Church polity. Wonderfully retentive in memory, he has the whole history of both Church and nation at command, and can give you day and date of all important transactions and events of both. He is strong in debate, clear and logical in his conclusions, bold, incisive and thorough in ar- gument ; possessing a remarkably keen sense of what is right, he has an equal aversion to what is wrong, and hates with a religious hatred all oppression, dishonesty, or anything that is base and despicable. He has all the elements of a noble character, a well- disciplined life, and is a model of Christian philanthropy and wide-spread charity, to whom Charles Pitman turned as a wise counsellor, a true friend, and a warm-hearted Christian brother. Dr. Lewis served with great efficiency two full terms in the office of Presiding Elder in his Conference, and was honored as a representative in three General Conferences ; was one of the founders, and for a number of years a Trustee of Pennington Seminary, and also .of Dickinson College, and was honored by that institution with the title of " Doctor of Divinity," and has been one of the foremost men in his Conference in the cause of Christian education and the aggressive interests of the Church, both in New Jersey and elsewhere ; and now, in the decline and serenity of life, is honored, beloved and respected by thousands of people all over our country. Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, D.D., now living, joined the Phil- adelphia Conference in 1835. In person he is slightly under HIS CONTEMPORAKIES. 235 medium height, of small bone, and of slender build, but com- pact in all his parts, he possesses an encephalic temperament, and is remarkably kind and genial in his nature, having an ex- cellent nervous organization, and is well threaded through his system with a good supply of tendons and ligaments. He sur- prises strangers with his wonderful powers of endurance and capabilities of labor, and can preach three superior and elabor- ate sermons on Sabbath, and attend to all the incidental services and duties of a quarterly meeting occasion without varying in either his degree of zeal, mental force, or intellectual energy. So much so, that his last service of a day of labor has often been said to equal in interest, elucidation and practical effect, the first. His head, is of a beautiful and symmetrical shape, thickly covered with a growth of exuberant black and slightly greyish hair, which is wavy and lustrous, and hanging in neat folds over the back part of the head. There is in his forehead a noticeable degree of intellectuality, and his facial organs show some considerable prominence ; his eyes are dark and at times, when animated, fly wide open, with a glare of amazement and wonderful expression. His lips are thin and are moved with re- markable flexibility when engaged in public address, and his mouth seems to be specially adapted to the utterance of beautiful sentences. His voice has an indescribable sweetness, distinguished for its melody, and remarkably noticeable for its fluency. Its cadences roll to every part of the place where he may be speak- ing, and at the farthest part of it you can hear as distinctly as those near at hand. It is soft and deep in its character, and is artificially modulated to suit the varying changes or phases of his theme or discourse. His manner is exceedingly pleasant and attractive, and he seldom fails to engage the attention of his hearers at the very commencement of the services. His diction is of a superior order, and the purity of his style, indicates his fine taste as a literary gentleman, as well as his endowment of spiritual qualities. He has a fine, well-disciplined imagination, 236 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. a highly-cultured poetic fancy, and throws into his discourses a rich and brilliant imagery. Everything along the walks of lit- erature he touches he makes bright and beautiful, and can use a poetic quotation, sketch a picture, or illustrate an idea, with both marked and telling effect, and all his illustrations and pictures of fancy, or of real life, are painted with a freedom of outline, and embellished with a richness of coloring, which is peculiar to him, and is the talent that is given to but few. He can draw scenes of descriptive imagery from land, ocean, continent, or globe, moun- tain, lake or river, meadow, hill or plain, heaven, earth or hell, but his happiest experiences are found in what illustrates Chris- tian life and character, and the grand remedial agency which God has employed to save the world. Dr. Whitecar is a natural- born orator, and oratory comes as natural to him as music to a musician, or poetry to a poet. His gestures are chaste, reverent, and always impressive, and there is no appearance of labored or studied art in his manner ; all is free and easy, as the sweep of an JEolian harp, or the descent of a beautiful waterfall over a well- worn and smooth rocky surface, and yet it is not monotonous, for it has just a sufficient number of ascents and descents, to give it a splendid variety, and a commingling of all the happy combinations of good speech. In manner, Dr. Whitecar is courteous and kind ; possessing an affable and genial nature, he has a kind heart and a warm hand, and is possessed of enlarged sympathies and unbounded benevolence ; he would rather err on the side of mercy a thousand times, than unjustly inflict punish- ment on the innocent in a single instance. In ministerial bear- ing and character he has always been regarded as a model of sobriety, gentleness and goodness, while his superior Christian character has always designated him, as a man of pure thought, chaste words, and sanctified purposes ; having a clean heart, he has clean lips, and a pure tongue. In his social qualities, he is a gentleman of the highest type and finish, polite even to the ex- treme, and forgets not to thank a person for the most insig- HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 237 nificant favor. Among all sexes and classes he is regarded with great deference, and high esteem ; loving and beloved he is re- ceived as a brother, messenger, visitor or friend, into the fami- lies and homes of Christian people with delight and honor. As a preacher, he is able, scholarly and profound, elaborating his discourses to an extent that seems to exhaust all that could be said upon the subject, and is neither prolix nor wearisome. His manner and mode of address is beautiful, and his presentation of gospel truth, is in an ornamented and highly embellished style. " He is a stone polished after the similitude of a palace." Sometimes abounding in tropes and figures, that dazzle with their beauty and captivate with their charms, and then sailing out into the realm of strong argument, he, like a skillful gen- eral on a battle-field; will marshal his forces and close in upon his antagonist, with as much surprise to the defeated as certainty of victory to the conqueror, and yet in all this he is as compact in wisdom and clear in his concentration of thought, as the most erudite philosopher of the past ages, or the profouudest lin- guist of the present order of schoolmen. To sum up all in a single paragraph. For correctness and beauty of style, for scien- tific accuracy in delineation and argument, for adherence to the rules of rhetorical address, for elegance in diction and classical taste, for strict regard to the rules and the principles of Scrip- tural exegesis, Dr. Charles H. Whitecar is a prince and peer. He was contemporary with Dr. Pitman, labored with him at camp-meetings and in revivals, preached in the same pulpit, succeeded him in ministerial appointment, was associated with him in conference work, and was his life-long friend and brother through all his ministerial cares, and Mr. Pitman ac- corded to him the honor of being the " St. John the divine, of the New Jersey Conference." Dr. Whitecar served very efficiently on three districts in his Conference as Presiding Elder, was a member of the memor- able General Conference in 1864, and was for several years a 238 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. member of the Missionary Board of the M. E. Church ; also of the Church Extension Society, and for a number of years a trustee of Dickinson College, and was honored by that institution with the title of " Doctor of Divinity," in 1876. Was also one of the founders and trustees of Pennington Seminary, and now, after a long life of valuable service to the church, he lives honored as one of the Fathers. Is well preserved in physical organism and with no perceptible mark of decay either in mind or body, but retains his vigor and preaches with unabated interest and energy, and is welcomed to all the pulpits within the bounds of our Methodism. Time and space prohibit us from adding farther to this glo- rious list of trained warriors for Immanuel's cause, the noble band and heroic contemporaries of their grand martial leader, Rev. Charles Pitman ; but we must be permitted to add a few names to the honored list, which possessed similar and like characteristics with those we have already described, and were more or less, near or remotely connected with the grand work of laying the foundations of Methodism in this, and her sister State, Pennsylvania, and among whom, to be remembered are Rev'ds Thomas Ware, James Campbell, Thomas Neal, Joseph Rusling, John K. Shaw, John S. Porter; James H. Dandy, Edward H. Stout, Joseph Osborne, Samuel Dougherty, James Moore, Daniel Fidler, James Long, Bartholomew Weed, " Doc- tor Billy Williams," Jacob Gruber, T. J. Thompson, Anthony Atwood (now living), Charles T. Ford, Thomas B. Sargent, l)avid Bartine, Sr., James Smith, Sr., Thomas Christopher, Henry G. King, John F. Crouch, Abraham Gearheart, Law- rence Lawrenson, Curtis Talley, Matthew Sorin, George Lane, Solomon Higgins, Henry White, John L. Lenhart, Robert Gerry, William Roberts (now living), Lawrence McCombs, Peter Vannest, William McCombs, David Daily, Levi Storkes, William A. Wiggins, William Cooper, William Thatcher, Jo- seph J. Sleeper, John Findley, James McLaurin, John Wools- HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 239 ton, Eliphalet Reed, William Lumis, Thomas Davis, John Ledmun, Jacob Egbert, Nathan Swain, Joseph Ashbrook, Jo- siah F. Canfield, John L. Lenhart, Abraham K. Street (now living), Francis A. Morrell, Wesley Kenney, R. E. Morrison, George A. Raybold, J. N. Crane, J. S. Swaim, Mathias Ger- man, J. W. McDougall. And with these in the ministry, what an uncounted multitude of laymen who have gone up from the wave-washed shores of Cape May, where borders the vast, deep, blue sea, to the lofty granite heights of the Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania; from the magnificent sweep of the Chesapeake, to the sand-bound beach of the Atlantic, ascribing salvation to God and the Lamb for- ever, that through the aid of the gospel ministrations of these ministers of Christ, many of whom are now numbered with the saints of God, they too have found that blessed land of rest, that home of immortal light and love, " Where congregations ne'er break up, And Sabbaths have no end," and have added to the multiplied lists of the redeemed millions who have been saved through the atoning mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have joined with the heavenly throng in as- cribing universal praise to Christ, saying : " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." CHAPTER XVI. EXPIRATION OP THE TERM OF DR. PITMAN'S MISSIONARY SECRETARYSHIP. HEALTH GIVING WAY NECESSITATES HIS RETIREMENT. WE have traced Dr. Pitman's active and eventful life from the scenes and circumstances of his infancy, on through childhood up to manhood, and well on to three-score years. We have seen him renouncing the prospects of business life, and under a solemn conviction of duty, and after a long and painful deliberation, yielding to the call of God and the Church, and entering upon the vocation of ministerial life without flattering prospects, or much promise of the ordinary comforts of life. Bereft of a father in childhood, of his young and beautiful wife, the flower and choice of his early manhood, he goes forth to sow the seed of gospel life to perishing thousands. We see him active in his work as a minister, and both circuit and sta- tion, under his vigilant and faithful hand, growing in numbers and increasing in strength ; how he rapidly steps from one po- sition to another, and in a short time he is occupying one of the most responsible positions within the gift, or appointment of the Church. Having been abundant in labors for a series of years in this special work, he is returned to the regular pastorate and placed in the most responsible appointments of great cities, and after a protracted period of this kind of arduous labor, which yielded such a glorious harvest of souls, he is selected for the high and important office of Corresponding Missionary Secre- tary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For nearly ten years he labored zealously and indefatigably in the special duties and interests of this vast work, giving every part, even the minutiae, 240 EXPIRATION OF HIS MISSIONARY SECRETARYSHIP. 241 his personal supervision, attention and aid, beside doing a great deal of outside general work, such as the dedication of churches, attending camp-meetings, preaching and making addresses on special occasions, and visiting the outposts and frontier part of our work, for its special encouragement and success. And now, as these years have passed, and their consequent toil and fatigue have become more extended and oppressive, that the labors of his office had begun to tell powerfully and greatly upon his physical strength to that degree that his constitutional powers indicated that they were giving way, and which soon gave evi- dent tokens of that prostration of physical energy which so soon after necessitated his retirement from all active labor and his resignation of the Secretaryship of the Missionary Society, immediately he began to make preparation and arrangements for a permanent home, where he might enjoy the quiet of his remain- ing life ; and accordingly he addressed the following affecting letter to his old friend and brother, C. C. Yard, Esq., at Tren- ton, dated, New York, March, 1850, in which he says : " My health is so feeble and my nervous system so nmch prostrated that the labor and difficulties connected with moving seem to me almost insurmountable. " My infirmities, if not my age, make the weight of a grasshopper to be a burden. I have arrived at that crisis in a Methodist preacher's history which calls for a large share of sustaining grace. I had intended to rent my house and get a smaller one for a moderate sum, but I cannot hear of one any where to suit me, and I am therefore driven to the necessity of occupying my own. It is true it is not a better house than I need for my comfort, but I do not know how I am to live without rent. My whole income, without the house, will be less than one hundred dollars per an- num, and you know the amount we receive from Conference is very small and very precarious. But stern necessity compels, and J must submit and endeavor to trust in God. It is impossible for me to describe my feelings for some weeks past, but I think I do not murmur." Having been re-transferred in June of 1844 to the New Jersey Annual Conference, previous to his removal from New York, he 16 242 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. addressed the following letter asking of that body a superannuated relation : "NEW YORK, April 15th, 1850. "DEAR FATHERS AND BRETHREN: " It is now thirty-two years since I commenced my labors as an itin- erant Methodist preacher. During that time most of my compeers have either died or retired from the effective ranks. Of the whole number of those who composed the Philadelphia Conference when I was received I find only seven in the two Conferences who have continued to sustain an effective relation without interruption. When I entered the connection my constitution was slender and my health feeble, so much so that during the first nine years of my ministry I could scarcely ever say I was well. Yet in all that time I seldom missed an appointment. While traveling circuits, I went on preaching from seven to nine times a week, and meet- ing a class at the close of each sermon. "After the age of about thirty, I was appointed to the 'West Jersey District,' and continued in the office of Presiding Elder seven years. While in that responsible position my labors were arduous and my duties onerous. On my first district I averaged about eleven camp-meetings a year, and slept about fifty-five nights in the woods every season ; yet in the midst of all my labors and exposures, health was very much recruited and my constitution became much firmer, so that I was able to endure a vast amount of labor without perceptible injury. It is well known that my impulses were naturally strong, but perhaps it is not so generally known that during my whole ministry I have suffered by a constitutional diffidence that sometimes has nearly overpowered me. Often, when ex- pected to preach on some great occasion, have I sought a place of pri- vate retirement, and there, in the agony of my soul, struggled with God in prayer until my whole body was covered with perspiration. "The multifarious duties and responsibilities of my present office have been still more severe upon my nervous system, and I find myself at the age of fifty-four years exceedingly prostrated, so much so that I deem it my imperative duty to ask the Conference to grant me a superannuated relation. In coming to this conclusion, I have passed through mental conflicts and severe nervous agitations, such as I will not attempt to de- scribe. I have arrived at that crisis in a Methodist preacher's history which I have often heard of with painful emotion as dwelt upon by others, but which I have never fully realized until the present. " To be laid aside as almost entirely useless, and perhaps forgotten by those who in the days of my youth and vigor were my warm and kind- LETTER TO THE NEW JEESEY CONFERENCE. 243 hearted friends, cannot fail to produce the most powerful reflections. But why do I thus speak ? Brother Porter said to me the other day, 4 We brethren of the New Jersey Conference are not going to desert you now,' and I must believe they will not. It is true I have a small home of my own, but beside this I have an income of only about one hundred dollars annually. In my present state of nervous depression, the prospect for anything like a comfortable support looks exceedingly dark. But what time, I am afraid, I know it becomes me 'to trust in God,' and to believe that I shall have the sympathies and prayers of the brethren with whom I have labored, and to whom I have long been ardently attached. " Allow me to say, dear brethren, before I close, that it would afford me great pleasure to meet with you in Conference once more, but I fear I shall be obliged to forego that privilege. I shall probably be engaged in packing-up and moving my effects to Trenton at the time of your ses- sion. Besides I do not know whether I would be able to sustain my feelings with any degree of manliness under excitements of an interview with so many of my much loved brethren. "My health is somewhat better than it was some weeks ago, but whether I shall ever be able to do effective service again is only known to the wise Disposer of all things. In my present circumstances I can only trust in him and try to hope for a favorable issue. Wishing you a pleasant and profitable session, I remain, "As ever, yours affectionately, "C. "PITMAN." 44 N. B. It is possible I may be able to do some work during the Con- ference year, but my physicians all agree that it is important to my health that I should be exempted from all responsibilities to labor. I have therefore thought it advisable to ask you for a superannuated rela- tion, as in that relation I can do all I am able without being under obli- gations to any particular place. C P " "We have already alluded to the character of Dr. Pitman as a poet. He has written nearly a half-hundred of beautiful poetic effusions, and though some are of a mournful character, others are highly instructive in their doctrinal and historical character. During the years of his secretaryship in the missionary society, it was his custom on the 9th day of January each year (his birthday), to write a birthday effusion, or retrospect, as he called 244 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. them. He wrote but one after his retirement from the active work, which he entitled, " Birthday Reflections," and which was written on that day in 1851, the next year after his removal to Trenton. The following is an extract from it: " Two-score and fifteen years have gone Since life with me commenced its dawn, How like a race that's swiftly run, Life's tale is told soon as begun. *' I've labored long and labored hard, Nor have I toiled without reward, Thousands of souls in mercy given Shall own my ministry in heaven. " In retrospecting by-gone years, How short our fleeting time appears ! How evanescent all below, How dark these grounds where sorrows grow i " Friendship is often but a name, Prompted by selfish love of fame ; It fawns and flatters for a day, And then it cools and dies away. " So I have found my summer friends, Friends only while it served their ends, And when I could no longer serve, Their love was changed to cold reserve. " But yet there are a worthy few Who still remain both kind and true, Whose tender sympathies I share, Who for my comfort kindly care. * May these unwavering friends be blest With present peace and future rest, And I with them sweet notes employ Where all is health, and life, and joy." SEVERITY OF LABOR CAUSES PHYSICAL, PROSTRATION. 245 If there seems to be a vein of sadness running through these lines, if there appears to the reader's mind a somewhat dark and gloomy aspect of the friendships of human life, let it be borne in mind that at this period of his life, Dr. Pitman was suffering from extreme nervous prostration, and at times his mind became exceedingly dark and gloomy ; already the physical frame bore marks of the power of that terrible disease which was soon to lay the strong man low, and cause the powerful man to be helpless, like a child, and wreck the gigantic frame to a tottering fall. So God in his wisdom often takes down this earthly structure ; brick after brick is removed, until the last foundation-stone is reached, and the building is demolished and gone. The commencement is often made at the top, where gathering gloom obscures the bright and sunny phases of life, but how grand is the realizing sense of that faith which teaches us that as our earthly eye grows dim to the fading glories of time, our spiritual vision opens the wider upon the unfading glories, and unchanging realities, of the eternal world. It is a question that was often discussed among Dr. Pitman's friends whether his appointment to the secretaryship of the Missionary Society was, in every sense, the most judicious ; many entertained the opinion that the drudgery and travel, local and extended labor, the procurement and adjustment of such vast financial schemes as were involved, specially at that time under the circumstances of its depleted and almost bank- rupt treasury, was uot the kind of work to which his high- wrought, sensitive nature was best adapted, and though his selection from among so many ministers of distinguished ability was no mean compliment to his pre-eminent ability, yet it was regarded as stepping down from the lofty pinnacle of influence and power which his abilities had secured for him to occupy in the estimation of thousands. There is no doubt that the labors, cares and duties of the office, for the success of the missionary work, which was then in its formative and transitional state, in- 246 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. volving many untried expedients and arduous plannings for re- lief and future success, was what laid the foundation of that disease which so impaired his nervous system and prostrated his whole physical nature, as to necessitate his retirement from active duty and service in the church. It was also known that during the years of his labors in the office as Missionary Secre- tary, he had severe attacks of debilitating and prostrating sick- ness, sometimes when at home, at others when abroad and engaged in prosecuting the duties of his office ; from these attacks, by careful and kind attention, he soon recovered, but for several months previous to his resignation, there was an evident decline, and the powers of life seemed to be giving way under the pres- sure. The intelligence of his failing health had spread all over the country, and produced a feeling of profound regret far and near among both the ministry and laity, and many were the devout and earnest prayers that ascended to the throne of heavenly grace for his recovery and restoration to the work of the ministry. It was thought that rest and a total cessation from active duty would have a tendency to repair and recuperate his exhausted energies ; but after his retirement from the office and settlement ill Trenton, N. J., it became evident that there was a perpetual decline and increased debility, from day to day, and suffering growing more extreme marked its course on his physical being. In 1852, the New Jersey Conference met in Trenton, the place of the residence of Dr. Pitman. A graphic pen makes the following note, which appeared in one of our journals, "New Jersey Conference: " "This body is now in session in the Green Street M. E. Church, city of Trenton, Bishop Janes in the chair. The session has thus far been undisturbed by any un- pleasant occurrences, and business has proceeded with great dis- patch. The public services which have taken place up to the time of this writing, and have been most interesting to the people at large, are the dedication of a new church in South Trenton by DE8CKIPTIO5 OF HB APPEARANCE 15 OLMUPKRKSCIL 247 Bishop Janes, and the Sabbath-school Street Church. These are spoken of * profitable occasions." Our old and valued friend, Dr. Pitman, who resides in Tren- ton, appeared in the Conference on Friday. His first appearance was affecting indeed. He is much broken by paralysis, and walks with difficulty. The once strong frame is now nearly re- duced to helplessness, and the voice which once sounded with the shrillness and power of a tnimpet, is fteble and filtering. "Lo! the strong men bow themselves,'' and " the goodlineae ^ of man passeth away, ".as the flower of the field.* 9 Several eloquent and impressive pens have endeavored to de- scribe that solemn and soul-moving scene that startled the whole Conference and congregation on the morning that Dr. Pitman entered it for the first time during its session, and far the first time, after an absence of several years, daring his long and protracted service as Missionary Secretary ; bat no delineation that has been drawn of the occasion gives as a fuller or more graphic description, presents it with greater vividness and ac- curacy and with more impressiveness and iffl iTing, reality than that drawn by our own Conference historian and poet, Rev. E. H. Stokes, D JX, which we here subjoin : u In the year 1852, the New Jersey Conference held its nnal session in the City of Trenton. Although the church but three or four minutes walk from Dr. Pitman's home, and dearly as be loved to mingle in these gatherings of his brethren, his health was such as to allow him but a single visit. That visit will never be forgotten by those who were present. It was about ten o'clock in the morning, several days after the Confer- ence had convened, Bishop Janes was in the chair, and the business was progressing with quietness and despatch. Sud- denly a wail of unutterable sorrow burst upon the assembly. Startled by the unexpected sound, and ignorant of its source, every eye was instantly turned in the direction from whence it 248 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. came. What a scene was then presented ! There was the form of the once majestic Pitman bowed and broken ; his noble, and in times past often divinely-illuminated face, bathed in a flood of tears; the lower jaw relaxed and so fallen as to give him a most unnatural appearance ; and as he passed up the northern aisle, supported by a friend on either side, the sight of his min- isterial brethren in health brethren with whom he had so often met under more favorable circumstances, and with whom he had so long and so pleasantly labored, still strong in battle for the Lord, while he with all his early and earnest sympathies for poor humanity, was but a wreck unable to do anything, so over- whelmed him, that a wail, expressive of the deepest anguish burst from his almost breaking heart. On reaching the plat- form, Bishop Janes descended and kindly assisted him to a chair beside him, where he sat till the close of the session bathed in tears. The scene was so deeply affecting, that for some time no business was transacted, and when it was resumed, it was in tones subdued by sympathy and sadness."* Dr. Pitman continued to grow more feeble in body as the weeks and months passed by, and with this increasing feeble- ness of his physical powers there also came that waning and decay of the mental. Gradually, yet very perceptibly, did they fade together, until the tender and more susceptible of the two, the reason, gave way, and the last craved blessing of a dying slave of pain had seemingly flit forever. Lingering on, however, in a half or semi-comatose state of life for several months, with hardly a child's discernment, and without mental perception enough to scarcely discern who his wife was, or what was his being, he continued to barely exist up to Saturday, the 14th day of January, 1854, "when he was not, for God took him/' revivified his immortal nature and bade him forever to burn and blaze in the meridian splendors of immortality, in the un- fading beauty and unchanging happiness of celestial perfection * N. J. Conference Memorial, pp. 268-69. DEATH OF DR. CHARLES PITMAN. 249 and of a glorified and undying nature, aged fifty-eight years and five days. The tidings soon flew over the entire realm of Methodism, and the country, and the solemn and affecting news reached thousands of ears, that Dr. Charles Pitman was dead. Emo- tion such as seldom had stirred the heart of our church seemed to move it now. Strong men bowed their heads, and wept as they said in subdued tones : " Dr. Pitman is dead, and we shall see his face no more " " We shall never again hear the sweet voice that was so melodiously set to the chanting notes of re- deeming mercy and saving grace;" "Never will the melting strains of his matchless eloquence fall upon our ears or stir our hearts;" "O God, how mysterious are thy ways, and thy prov- idences are past finding out I" The funeral services of Dr. Pitman were conducted in the Green Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Trenton, N. J., on the following Tuesday, January 17th, at 2 P.M., and were attended by a large concourse of ministers and friends. A sol- emn and impressive discourse was delivered by Bishop Janes from Acts vi. 8, in connection with the 59th and 60th verses of the 7th chapter, and the 2nd verse of the 8th chapter, which, after the bishop had, by way of introduction, descanted upon the character of Stephen, embraced the following points, and which were amplified and set forth by the eloquent and nervous tongue of the bishop, who seemed to be more than usually bap- tized with the spirit of his theme. He said : "I. Let us view the character of our departed brother, 1st. As a Man; 2nd. As a Friend; 3rd. As a Christian. "II. Let us view him as a minister of Christ. As a minister, who ever excelled him? who ever equalled him? . . . Did he not understand the science of salvation, and was he not entitled, if any one ever was, to the title of 'Doctor of Divinity?' 'He dipped,' says Brother Corbit, 'his intellect into the clear and burning lava of eternal truth.' When he opened a text, it was like opening a cabinet of jewels to your view, and he would show you a rich treasure in the Scriptures. His manner 250 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. was plain and bold. He rebuked the sinner and warned him to flee from the wrath to come. " His voice and action were as perfect as they well could have been. His noble brow, his tearful eye, his dignified bearing, were all eloquent. There was a divine influence that proceeded from him, a power that moved all hearts the moment he arose and began to speak, that went over the assembly like a wave moving in gentle and undulating motion over the placid waters of a beautiful lake on a summer's morning. "III. As a Presiding Elder. Like Paul, 'In labors more abun- dant,' &c. " IV. As Missionary Secretary. So indefatigable, so laborious, so faith- ful to all his duties, that not even the smallest were neglected or over- looked. " V. As a Preacher at Camp-Meetings, at the Dedication of Churches, at Conference Ordinations, in all positions pre-eminent, a prince and a peer. He was a son of thunder, and his appeals to the sinner were most terrific : ' Flee from the wrath to come,' ' Buy the truth and sell it not,' ' If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it,' 'And the times of this ignorance God winked at,' &c., ' For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast,' &c. ' Beginning at Jerusalem,' &c. He preached a sermon from these words, before one of our Conferences, of great beauty and power, which I shall never forget. It seemed as if God had commis- sioned him to go to that Conference and re-commission every minister in it, and send him forth to his work under a renewed baptism of the Holy Ghost. He preached at New Bedford an ordination sermon from these words, 'He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,' Isa. Ixi. 1. A sermon that melted all eyes and hearts, and which Bishop Hedding told me 'he never heard any thing that transcended it.' " Dr. Pitman lost his voice at the close of his life. His last days were clouded with the influence of severe bodily malady. ' Paralysis affected his speech and destroyed his bodily vigor and beauty. His last visit to our Conference held in this church was one of the most affecting scenes I ever witnessed. I shall never forget it.' " * The occasion was one of the most mournful as well as most imposing that was ever witnessed by the preachers of the Con- ference, or the citizens of the city of Trenton. The remains were borne from the church by several ministers, special friends * Bishop Janes. NOTICE OF FUNERAL SERVICE AT TRENTON. 251 of the deceased, headed by Bishop Janes and others, and fol- lowed by his bereaved widow and family, and a large concourse of friends, to the Mercer Cemetery, in East Trenton, and there, with the impressive burial service of the ritual of the Methodist Episcopal Church, were committed to their last resting-place to await the trumpet's blast of the angel of the resurrection, when the glorified form of the immortal Pitman shall come forth "clothed with a body like unto the Son of God," to join the my- riads of the skies, to ascribe salvation to God and the Lamb forever. The Daily True American, of Trenton, contained the follow- ing notice the next day : "FUNERAL SEEVICE AT TRENTON, N. J. " January 18th, 1854. "The funeral of Rev. Charles Pitman, D. D., took place yesterday after- noon. Between thirty and forty ministers attended the services and in- terment. The remains were taken to the Green Street M. E. Church. The exercises were opened with the reading of the 90th Psalm by Rev. John Hall, of the First Presbyterian Church of this city. The 1086th hymn 'Servant of God, well done! Thy glorious warfare's past,' was announced by Rev. George Lane, D. D., which was sung by a very efficient choir. The Rev. R. W. Petherbridge offered the opening prayer. "Bishop Janes preached from Acts vi. 8; vii. 59, 60; and viii. 2. After some remarks applying to the deceased, he gave a succinct history of his life and ministry. He was born January 9th, 1796, and was con- verted in his sixteenth year, licensed to preach in his twentieth year, and began his connection with the traveling ministry in the following year. His first sermon as a traveling preacher was delivered in the old church in this city. He had been actively connected with the ministry without intermission from 1817 to 1850, when, after repeated shocks of paraly- sis, his speech was affected and his general health shattered; and in April, 1850, he was compelled to resign his ministerial position, and re- moved to this city, and has lived among us ever since. He had been 252 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. gradually failing for the last two years, and although long expected, his decease was sudden. " The sermon was a most eloquent effort, full of power and pathos, and highly eulogistical of the character and labors of the deceased. The proceedings of the Mission Board of the M. E. Church relative to the death of the deceased, with accompanying resolutions, were read by the Bishop. "The 1082d hymn was sung by the choir, and the services of the church closed with prayer by Dr. Floy, of New York. The remains were interred in Mercer Cemetery." Subsequently to the imposing ceremonies and funeral of Rev. Charles Pitman, D. D., in Trenton, N. J., the Rev. William P. Corbit (of whom Mr. Pitman had been instrumental in his con- version some eighteen years previous, and under whom Mr. Cor- bit had received his preparatory theological instruction previous to entering the ministry), preached a funeral discourse in St. George's Church, Philadelphia, from 2 Sam. iii. 38: "Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?" The occasion drew a large concourse of people to- gether, and the large church was packed by the crowd which thr interest had created. The speaker had fully prepared himself for the demands of the hour, and the sermon was one of his happiest efforts, abounding in highly eulogistic utterances. Dr. Pitman's life-service and ministerial work for the Church, his pre-eminent ability and adaptation to the several exalted positions to which he had been appointed and elected to fill, his work as a repre- sentative in the General Conference of 1832 and '36, being elected thereto by the Philadelphia Conference; and subsequently in 1840 by the New Jersey Conference, furnished a wide field for the descriptive powers of the speaker. The peroration to the sermon was exceedingly fine, enumerating the wonderful results of so fruitful a ministry, which had brought in such a har- vest of souls to the Church, and specially had been the means of strengthening the ranks of the ministry with such an able corps of efficient leaders of the host of God. The speaker felt that it POEM BY KEY. EDWARD C. JONES. 253 was beyond the ken of mortal man to portray to the audi- ence the "eternal weight of glory" which now rested upon this crowned veteran, in the kingdom of our Father, where, throned, sceptred and forever diademed in the glories of the heavenly Je- rusalem, Charles Pitman would forever live to blaze with undi- minished glory and seraphic splendor, as long as dateless cycles shall dot the inexpressible periods of eternity, singing the old but eternally new song, Hallelujah ! " for the Lord God Om- nipotent reigneth." "THE UNBROKEN BEST." Stanzas to the memory of Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D., by Rev. Ed- ward C. Jones. It may be stated in this connection that the author, when a boy, frequently attended the ministrations of the lamented de- ceased, when stationed in Philadelphia, and was attached to him as an awakening preacher of righteousness. Though a member and minister of another branch of the " Israel of God," he desired thus to express his feeling at the sad event of the departure of a great and good man from the church militant. " The calm, deep rest to all of mortal toil, The quiet of the sepulchre, is thine ! But mem'ry garners up thy voice and smile, And friendship stops its votive wreath to twine ; And on the record of thy useful days We pause, with beating heart, to meditate and gaze. " Who that hath sat beneath that silvery voice, So like the chimings from a purer sphere, Can e'er forget the compass of its power ? How rose and fell its thrillings on the ear, Melting to tears the soul which earth had steel'd, As erst the flinty rock its lucent tide could yield ! " And when, between ' the living and the dead,' Thou, Aaron-like, didst take the priestly stand, That pleasing voice, which rose for erring man, That face so heaven-lit, that uplifted hand, All true exponents were of that kind heart, Which shared with human grief ita own allotted part. 254 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " In slow decay thou passedst to thy rest, But faith had pinions mighty in their sweep I And hope and trust were thine while sinking thus, So wreck'd iu body, to thy dreamless sleep ; The crown bedight with gems reveal'd its light, And pain forgot its power, and death disowned its night. " In that blest realm, where all the host of God, Though differing here in name, shall meet at last, The travel- dust of time, the strife with sin, The fierce temptation all forgot and past; How sweet the hope ! how rapturous the trust ! That there shall meet, as one, the glorified the just." FINAL RESTING-PLACE. Mercer Cemetery, where rests all that was mortal of the remains of Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D., is located in the easterly part of the city of Trenton, N. J. When the cemetery was first originated and laid out as a burial-place for Trenton's hon- ored dead, it was considered to be well out in the country, so that many years, if not a century, might elapse before the increase and spread of the city would touch the borders of this sacred place ; but the rapid increase of the population of the ever-growing city, which is largely devoted to manufacturing interests, has for some years been clustering homes, palatial res- idences and places of business around this miniature city of the dead. The cemetery now fronts on Clinton Avenue, and covers an area of about two and a-half acres, and is surrounded by a sub- stantial iron fence. Its main entrance is at the centre, on the avenue. As you enter the iron gate and pass down the broad path, westerly, to Section 6th, turning, south, down the path, designating Section 6th, and about one hundred feet, you come very near the centre of the cemetery. Here, on the right, is a burial-plot which is enclosed with a neat and substantial iron fence, and which contains the mortal part of the great, the good FINAL RESTING PLACE. 255 and heroic Charles Pitman. Kind Christian friends, generous neighbors and esteemed citizens selected this place, and laid to rest one of Trenton's princely dead. A beautiful monument, some six feet high, resting upon a large base of Trenton brown- stone, and with a dye some two feet square, on which is cut the name, record of official position, date of birth and death of Charles Pitman, with the epitaph, " Rest in peace." The mon- ument is crowned with an urn with significant designs, repre- senting eternal light, which indicates that his life-work was to promulgate the light of life to men. Beside him lie the remains of his beloved wife and his chil- dren who died in infancy, sleeping their last sleep. As we stood beside his tomb, we thought of the years that were past, and of the time when he was in active life, and of the untold multi- tudes that hung with breathless silence upon his enrapturing and inimitable eloquence. How many thousands who listened to his voice on earth, as it rang out the royal proclamation of divine mercy to the unsaved and wanderer from the fold of God, hear it now no more. Death has sealed in speechless silence those lips that once were so flexible, and that voice, so well- attuned, to tell the story of redeeming love. But the simple change in the circumstances of his being has not had the power to destroy, or dismember the faculties of his spiritual nature, and still Charles Pitman is singing in a higher and more exalted strain the hymns of praise he used to sing so earnestly, and with such thrilling effect on earth ; a change of circumstances, or mode of life, has had no power with him to change the order and exercise of spiritual affinities and effects. The knowledge he had on earth, and the deep experiences that once so powerfully thrilled his soul, are now expanding into more enlarged views of the divine goodness, and exultingly filling his immortal nature with a greater degree of happiness than ever before he experienced. He is now in actual realization of what was once anticipated in hope, and promise, and by faith, and knows now 256 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. what is the fruition of heavenly joy around the throne of God. It is eminently fitting that bowers of beauty and flowers of exquisite loveliness, should adorn the place where sleeps the pious dead. It is fitting that the cedar should wave its ever- green branches, and throw the shade of its foliage over his grave. It is fitting that in this quiet retreat he should rest in undisturbed repose, that after a life of so much toil and devo- tion to his great Master's name, he should rest from the turmoil, din and strife of life. But though our communion with him is broken in this life, his being, has a conscious existence in another life, with all the powers and faculties of nature unimpaired by the crush and prostrate stroke of death, or the dissolution of his mortal frame. He sleeps, but he does not sleep alone. Around lie our Batchelder, Bartine, Hance, Brown and others of aifec- tionate remembrance, and though the place is silent, and not a voice is heard, or a note whispered by one of its tenants, angels hover over the scene and cheer the place with their glad ho- sannas of exultant praise, in the assurance that the dead in Christ shall have a resurrection to eternal life. It is here we leave the hero of our history, that is, the mortal part that gave physical form and being to Charles Pitman f but who can pierce the blue veil that hides the spirit-world from mortal view, and survey the mansions of endless delight in the city of the living God, and give a description of that happiness which he now enjoys in the realms of everlasting blessedness ? We forbear ! conscious that " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him," and we here, with the thousands that loved and revered him, lay our tribute of respect to his memory, and in token of his good deeds, kind offices and wonderful endowment of spiritual life and power, say from our heart, in the language of Charles Wesley : SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE PITMAN FAMILY. 257 " SERVANT of God, well done ! Thy glorious warfare's past ; The battle's fought, the race is won, And thou art crowned at last ; ******** " With saints enthroned on high, Thou dost thy Lord proclaim, And still to God salvation cry, Salvation to the Lamb ! " THE SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE PITMAN FAMILY. The son of Mr. Pitman referred to in this volume, by his first marriage, and whose name was Charles Wesley Pit- man, grew up to manhood life, and after enjoying the special benefits which the best of our graded schools could afford, and taking the highest honors that they could confer, was sent* to Dickinson College, where he continued the full course of study, and graduated 'with the honors of that institution. Subse- quently he taught school for a time, and then removed to Potts- ville, Pa., where he engaged in business life. In the years 1849 to 1851 he was a Representative in the national Congress from the district where he lived, having been chosen by the people and elected thereto by a large suffrage. After his term of con- gressional duties were closed, he engaged in the lumber business for a number of years, during which time he was elected Sheriff of Schuylkill County, in the fall of 1870, and died while in office, June 8th, 1871. He had six children, four sons and two daughters. Of the children only two sons and one daughter survive, who reside in Philadelphia, Pa. Of Mr. Pitman's children by his second marriage, whose names were Thomas and Frank, Thomas deceased in early man- hood life, and before marriage. Frank grew to manhood, married and had two children by his marriage. His constitu- tion was frail and feeble. He entered the ministry of the local ranks and served one or two charges in the New Jersey Con- 17 258 LIFE OP REV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.D. ference under the appointment of the Presiding Elder j but failing health forbade the pursuit, and he was compelled to relinquish his much-loved employ and desire to preach Christ, and in a little time thereafter died, being about thirty-three years of age. His two children still survive him and are living in Trenton, New Jersey. The name of Pitman will live in grateful and affectionate remembrance in the history of an active and ever-growing Church, for years and generations yet to come. It will not only be perpetuated by this volume, which is monumental to his memory, but already several churches, within the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have taken his name, and a popular camp-meeting ground in Southern New Jersey, has been called after his name, " Pitman Grove," which each year of its history has been growing in interest and popularity, and bids fair to finally develop into a large sized country town or city. CHAPTER XVII. REMINISCENCES OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. REV. D. W. BARTINE, D.D. THE late Rev. D. W. Bartine, D.D., gives the following as be- ing his personal recollections of Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D. : " The late and lamented Dr. Pitman was among the men of my earliest recollections. I was but a child when I first became familiar with his face, as a frequent visitor at my father's house. When he first com- menced his ministry he was exceedingly diffident and reserved, and bore an air of solemn aspect and recollected frame of mind. From the very first of his public efforts he promised great usefulness to the church of his fellowship and choice, and to the cause of Christ. Though too young myself to judge, yet such were the opinions expressed of him in my childhood's hearing, by the intelligent and matured men of those times, that I cannot remember even to have looked upon him, or to have thought of him, other than a great, as well as a good, man an able minister of Christ. " The name of Charles Pitman deserves a high place among those of his compeers, as well as among the bright and blessed names engraven upon the memories and affections of the church. Born, as he was, in humble life, and beyond the pale of affluence, he was necessarily deprived in his youth of the opportunity of mental culture, afforded in those times, al- most exclusively to the children of the affluent, and comparatively rich, yet he struggled on through all his difficulties and adverse circumstances, until he gained the high position which he so eminently occupied in the church; a position only attainable, even by genius itself, and by labori- ous effort, sanctified and directed by the grace of God in the human heart. " Though not a learned man in the sense of the schools, he was well versed in all that was necessary to constitute the superior and efficient minister of Christ. Judging from the universal and continued interest his ministry excited, the unction which attended it, and the fruits which 259 260 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. ^ followed it, he well deserved to, and did stand shoulder to shoulder with, the ' very chiefest ' of the preachers of his day. " In all the departments of ministerial duty to which he was called, he was superior, and in some respects he greatly excelled. Perhaps in no position to which he was ever assigned, was he as great and successful, as when he was in the office of Presiding Elder. Here he was not only at home, but especially so. It was a common opinion and saying among the people of New Jersey that he was made to be a Presiding Elder, and that for more than four consecutive years should he be appointed to a district. "At Camp and Quarterly Meetings he was remarkably happy and successful in his ministrations. On these occasions great multitudes thronged to hear him, very many of whom were no friends to Method- ism, nor of Methodist preachers, thousands of whom are yet living in New Jersey, who will never forget, in time, nor eternity, the sermons which he delivered on these occasions, for under them they were awakened to a sense of their guilt and sin, and by them induced to come to Christ for salvation. " Some of the effects of his Camp Meeting sermons were wont to re- mind us of ' the day of Pentecost,' for though it could not be said that ' three thousand were added to the church in one day,' yet it should be said that hundreds were awakened under a single sermon, and went to their homes to seek and find that Jesus, whom the minister had preached to them, and to greatly swell the ranks, not only of Methodism, but of our sister churches. " In the summer of 1831, I think it was, whilst he was Presiding Elder of what was then called the ' East Jersey District,' he presided over a camp-meeting, held within a few miles of the city of New Bruns- wick, on Friday of which he preached one of those sermons for which he was remarkable on such occasions. It was clear in its doctrinal exposi- tion, cogent in its argument and powerfully awakening in its results. A large number were converted to God before the meetings closed, which was on the following morning, but hundreds left the encampment with the vows of God deep in their hearts, saying as they went, " What shall we do f " the result of which was a very great addition to the communicant mem- bers of other denominations of Christians, for Methodism, having then little, or no foot-hold in that section of the State, had it not in its power to gather in itsown fruits. I have no doubt but that the great day of eternity will reveal the fact, that at least three thousand souls received deep and awakening impressions at that camp-meeting. "I have frequently listened with deep interest to a narrative of there- REMINISCENCES. 261 suits of one of his efforts in another section of New Jersey. It was on the sea-coast, where our church was quite feeble, and where our Calvinistic friends were largely in the ascendency. It was at the extreme south of what was then known in the Philadelphia Conference as the ' West Jersey District,' of which he was Presiding Elder ; a camp-meeting was appointed with much ' fear and trembling,' and great anxiety as to re- sults. In due time it commenced, under favorable, though not very promising auspices. " The ministers of Christ had preached well and acceptably to the people, and a goodly number were awakened and converted to God, and matters looked, as we say of ordinary religious promise, ' encouraging.' I think he was a stranger to many of the people of this particular part of the State, excepting that ' the new Elder's fame had preceded him. It was expected that he would preach, as Presiding Elders always did in those times, ' on the big day of the camp-meeting,' and a large cou- course of people had assembled to hear him. "He introduced his sermon without saying anything remarkable, but soon after he had fairly opened his subject the attention of his large audience became profound and affecting, and soon tears began to course each other, from eyes unused to weeping. When he had proceeded about two-thirds the way through his discourse, the power of God fell upon the people as that community had never witnessed it before. Many in that great assembly, in a moment, fell like men slain in battle. The pecu- liarity of the occasion was, that it moved, as though a tornado had struck the congregation, making an opening through it, some ten or twelve feet in width. ' The slain of the Lord were many,' the formalist and the profane, the young and the old, alike were prostrated by the mighty hand of God. The victory was complete. Many were con- verted before the close of the meeting, and a number whilst the tents were being taken down and removed, and so great was the influence of the Spirit of the Lord upon the people that a subscription was started for a new church, which was in due time erected, and remains a preach- ing-place to this day. It was at this camp-meeting, and for this church, that a man who had lately been converted, when solicited for a subscrip- tion towards the new church, said he had no money to give, but he had a flock of sheep which he would give, and they might be sold and the pro- ceeds be applied to the building of the church. "It was at this camp>meeting that a man shouted to the glory of the preacher. A young convert, but an elderly man, was so full of joy and gratitude that he could not remain silent. Not satisfied, seemingly, with giving glory to God, he shouted, ' glory be to the preacher, too.' Being re- 262 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. minded that the preachers were only instruments, and that the glory be- longed to God only, he, for a while shouted, 'glory to God ! ' but his full soul could not stop with this ; and he cried out at the top of his voice, 'Glory be to God, and to Bro. Pitman too.' "Dr. Pitman was a man of fine and commanding presence. He would be considered just ' the timber for a bishop.' His head, though not mas- sive, after the Webster or the Olin order, was finely formed, and indi- cated no mean order of intellect. His eyes were dark -grey, and were very expressive. His voice was of unusual sweetness, and of great com- pass and power, and so superior was his gift in this particular, that I have often heard it called ' his strength.' But beyond all question he was specially so gifted, that when it was set to the story of the cross, it was the sweetest kind of earthly music. When he became fully fired with his theme, then it was that his hearers were generally and deeply moved, and sometimes amazingly overwhelmed. " If his sermons were not what might be called great intellectual treats, after the lecture or essay order, they were, what was far more in place in the sacred desk, gospel treats of the highest order, refreshing and ani- mating as the waters of life, flowing out of the throne of God. He was a man of strong sympathies and susceptible of deep emotions, (all great men are so,) and whilst he handled error and sin with a masterly and un- eparing hand, he watered his entreaties to sinners with his tears, and won multitudes to Christ and Heaven. He wrote but little. I know not that he ever published a sermon. ' A few brief sketches of mission- ary meetings and their successes, and of camp-meetings he visited while missionary secretary, and two or three letters while in the pastorate, of his work, are all the printed matter we have from his pen. He contrib- uted some very fine poetical effusions to a number of friends, having albums, and requesting an offering from friendship's hand ; they are ex- quisite in their character, and of a most delicate taste and composition, and exhibit the sweet and refined, the chaste and pure character of his noble mind.' * I knew him, loved him ; lovely and pleasant are my memories of him at this hour." Dated Lancaster, Pa., January 30, 1856. REV. J. L. GILDER, D.D. The late Rev. J. L. Gilder, D.D., of the New York Con- ference, who was long and intimately acquainted with Dr. Pit- man, says of him : * The Author. REMINISCENCES. 263 " Few persons have been so largely endowed by nature with those ex- terior qualities which contribute to form an effective public speaker. In stature he was above the medium height. His physique was well developed. His features were finely moulded, and were expressive of intelligence, benevolence and firmness; a luxuriant growth of black, glossy, curly hair crowning the whole, and rendering him, whether in the pulpit, the social circle, or on the street, a subject of observation. "In quality of voice he had no superior. It was cast in nature's finest mould. Its volume was great ; his most subdued tones compassing the largest audiences, in camp or church. Had his utterances been wholly unintelligible, his voice would have captivated and charmed the ear, and have produced a weird pensiveuess like the distant murmur of the rest- less ocean. The most marked feature of his voice was its pathos ; hence the simple reading of the introductory hymn in public service brought the feelings of the hearers into immediate sympathy with the speaker. In manner he was entirely free from cant andaffectation ; in gesticula- tion he was dignified and graceful. His emotional nature was highly susceptible, was readily stirred, and would find expression in the moist- ened eye and pathetic voice. " His command of language was remarkably felicitous, and his ideas were always conveyed with precision and clearness, which rendered them intelligible to the most uncultivated mind. Being of a practical, rather than a rhetorical cast of mind, he never surprised you by bold or sudden flights of oratory, or rich and glowing imagery ; much less did he resort to clap-trap or quaintness of expression for effect, and thereby weaken the force of truth ; nor did he indulge in humor or attempted sallies of wit, and so excite mirthful ness at the expense of profit. " Forty and fifty years ago the preaching of the Methodist ministry was mostly doctrinal and controversial. The dogmas of Calvinism were openly inculcated from the pulpits of the leading denominations, and were generally received as the standard of orthodoxy. The Methodists, as a sect, were everywhere spoken against, and the preachers were de- nounced as ignorant innovators. The Friends, then a numerous and in- fluential body, were being convulsed and rent by the teachings of the venerable Elias Hicks, who assailed, with ingenuity and enthusiasm, the doctrines of the supreme divinity of Christ. His social position, his tall and patriarchal appearance and manners, commanded universal at- tention and respect, and the heresy he taught swept through portions of New York, Pennsylvania, and the Southern Sections of New Jersey, agitating the religious mind of the entire country. It was at this period 264 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. that Mr. Pitman, then a comparatively young man, appeared as Presid- ing Elder of the ' West Jersey District,' which extended from the Rari- tan River, on the north, to Cape May, on the south. " His fame as a preacher preceded him everywhere ; whether at quar- terly meetings, or camp-meetings, the people resorted in crowds to hear him. The popular errors referred to, he combated with Scripture and reason. With great pathos and unction he vindicated the supreme di- vinity of Christ, and proclaimed the freeness, fullness and universality of the atonement. Probably no one person contributed more largely than he to disabuse the popular mind of theological errors that counter- vailed the success of the gospel. He infused his. own spirit into the preachers ; he awakened new enthusiasm among the members, and revi- vals followed on a grander scale than was ever before witnessed in that region. He became the idol of the people, and to this day the name of Charles Pitman is a household word throughout New Jersey. " In the early years of Mr. Pitman's ministry he was stationed in the city of New Brunswick, N. J. The society being small and pecuniarily weak were accustomed to solicit contributions from friends outside, for the support of the gospel. Among those who contributed was Mr. Bishop, father of the Hon. James Bishop, a prominent merchant, who, with his family, was an attendant at the Reformed Dutch Church. On Sunday evening he said to Mrs. Bishop, ' Wife, let us go to the Methodist Church and get our dollar's worth.' They went, and were so delighted with the minister and the sermon that they soon repeated their visit, the result of which was their becoming identified with the interests of Meth- odism, and it proving a valuable acquisition. "In the City of Philadelphia, where Mr. Pitman spent several years of his pastorate, the same popularity and success attended him. Crowds were attracted to his ministry, and many were added to the church. " The years of 1837 and 1838, he being then pastor of St. George's Church in that city, were remarkable for his success. It was estimated that during a period of eight weeks alone, there were between seven and eight hundred conversions. A number, who became preachers, were re- ported as being the fruit of that revival, and it necessitated the erection, or rather purchasing, and refitting of another house of worship in that section of the city. " When at the zenith of his popularity he was called to the position of Missionary Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as successor to Rev. Dr. Bangs, who had been elected to the presidency of the Wes- leyan University. In the new sphere Dr. Pitman acquitted himself with great acceptability. It was, however, reluctantly conceded by hia REMINISCENCES. 265 friends that it was not the position for which he was the most eminently qualified ; and though his selection from among so many ministers of eminence was highly complimentary to his ability, it was regarded by many as a coming down from the high position to which, by his unusual natural endowments, and a long career of success, he was peculiarly adapted, and in which he always had excelled. There is little doubt that the cares and anxieties of the office for the missionary work was then in its formative state, and he was of an exquisitely sensitive nature superinduced the disease which impaired his nervous system, and ne- cessitated his retirement from active service in the church. Intelligence of the prostration of his health was received with the deepest regret by an extended circle, both of the ministry and laity, and many were the devout prayers that ascended to God, from pulpit and closet, and hearth- stone, that he might, if possible, be restored to health and to the work of the Christian Ministry, and when at last the tidings went forth that Charles Pitman was dead, strong men bowed their heads and wept to think that they should look upon his face no more, and would not listen again to the melting strains of a voice that had so often thrilled them with intense delight. " A Methodist from principle and choice, Mr. Pitman was devotedly attached to the doctrines and economy of the church. And feeling that under God, he was indebted to Methodism for his conversion and position, he repelled with promptness and indignity all attempts to seduce him from his loyalty, and to induce him to enter the ministry of other churches, notwithstanding they presented the attractions of comparative ease and opulence. There have been ministers of more varied learning, of more profound thought, of more logical acumen, of more brilliancy of imagination, but for pulpit power, Charles Pitman stood without a rival. The venerable Bishop Hedding, pronounced him the greatest pulpit orator whom he ever heard." MEMORIAL OF NEW JERSEY CONFERENCE MINUTES. The New Jersey Conference Minutes, of April, 1854, pays this expressive and well-written obituary record as a tribute to Dr. Pitman's memory : "REV. CHARLES PITMAN. The loss of this Conference, and the Church in his death, was of no ordinary character. For the long period of thirty-six years had our departed brother been connected as a Minister of the Gospel -with our evangelical labors in the territory occupied by this, 266 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. and adjoining conferences. He was a native of New Jersey, having been born near Cookstown, in January, 1796. He was happily converted to God in early life, and developing early dispositions and qualifications for usefulness, he was licensed to exhort at the Quarterly Meeting for New Mills Circuit (now Pemberton), in September, 1816, and as a local preacher in March, 1817." Then follows a list of the appointments which Mr. Pitman filled, and of his subsequent appointment as corre- sponding secretary of the missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. " On the decline of his health, in 1850, Dr. Pitman resigned his im- portant and responsible oifice, and retired to his private residence in Trenton. His health continued to fail and his sufferings to increase, from that period until the day of his death, January 14, 1854. He died in the triumphs of Christian faith, having reached the age of 58 years and 5 days. " In reviewing the life and labors of our deceased and lamented brother, we find occasion for the expression of our devout gratitude to God for having raised up at an early and critical period of the history of our church, a minister of such eminent talents, and of such zealous and efficient labors. Not having been greatly favored with early scho- lastic advantages, from the time of his devotion to the work of the min- istry, Brother Pitman distinguished himself by a laborious and perse- vering application to books and study. The love of books may be said to have been with him ' a ruling passion,' and notwithstanding the in- convenience of frequent removals in the itineracy, he accumulated, and continued to keep near him a most extensive library. " But it was not from books alone that he drew his power ; he was a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost. He made diligent use of all the means within his reach to qualify himself for his great work, and then claimed, and evidently received, the promised aid of his Divine Master. Few, if any, better and more powerful preachers of the Gospel have ever stood upon the walls of our Zion, than was Charles Pitman. Commanding in personal appearance, possessing a clear, full, musical voice, pervaded with strong and lively sympathies, and penetrated to his very soul with an overwhelming sense of the importance of the message he brought from God to man, he went forth as an humble, but zealous ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. Multitudes hung upon his lips with delight, and were moved by his powerful appeals. Having thoroughly studied the doctrinal and disciplinary system of our church, he became its able exponent and its successful defender. " It is safe to say, that the present general and prosperous extension REMINISCENCES. 267 of Methodism throughout the State of New Jersey, is owing in no small degree, to the timely and efficient labors of our departed Brother Pit- man. Many who preceded him to the land of rest, and many who still linger in the company of the faithful on earth, will, we have no doubt, appear in the great and final day as the seals of his ministry. " In addition to his qualifications for the general duties of the minis- terial office, Brother Pitman may be described as a model Presiding El- der. Seven years of his mature public life were devoted to the laborious and responsible duties of that important office in our ministry, and most usefully were they spent. " In the office of Missionary Secretary, Dr. Pitman became extensively and familiarly known to the church at large, and his eloquent appeals in behalf of the heathen, together with his earnest pleadings for the ex- tension of the Gospel throughout the world, have no faint echo in the rising spirit of benevolence which continues to develop itself in our church, more and more, with each succeeding year of our history. " But with all his talents as a man, his faith and zeal as a Christian, and his power as a minister, called of God, and anointed from on high, our esteemed and lamented brother has passed away from earth. While we thank God for his usefulness and his good example, let us imitate his ministerial diligence, and his Christian virtues, and may the mantle of his faith and success descend upon many of his sons in the Gospel." REV. JAMES AYARS. Rev. James Avars, who was converted under the labors of Mr. Pitman, in the year 1824, in Bridgeton, N. J., and who was for many years a member of the New Jersey Conference, and afterwards of the Newark Conference, says : " When I first became acquainted with Kev. Charles Pitman, as early as the year 1824, he was then a young man about twenty- eight years of age. In person he was of stout frame, about six feet in height but rather of a delicate constitution. In after life, his health improved, and he became quite fleshy. His general appearance was very commanding. He had a fine large head, moderately high fore- head, sunken eyes, rather short upper lip, dark complexion and dark hair with a naturally serious countenance. I have frequently been struck with the strong resemblance between his likeness and that of the cele- brated Robert Hall, of England. " When I first became acquainted with him I thought, and, after an 268 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. observation of thirty-six years, I still think, that he was, taking him al- together, one of the greatest preachers of his time. Wherever he preached the people nocked in multitudes to hear him, and often the churches could not contain his congregations. His usefulness was in proportion to his ability. Doubtless thousands have been awakened un- der his ministry and brought to Christ. Mr. Pitman entered the minis- try when very young, and having had but limited advantages for intel- lectual culture, but such was his application to study and personal im- provement in every form, and so superior his native abilities, that he soon became a man of mark, and in due time a theologian of extensive reading. His love of books became a passion, and during a large por- tion of his life he spent a great part of his limited receipts in the pur- chase of volumes that he prized, So far as he could command time he was a diligent student, and thus his library proved to him of incalcula- ble value. " Dr. Pitman ranked very high as a sound and able theologian. The circumstances of his earlier ministerial life involved him in not a little public controversy, requiring him not only to investigate doctrinal truth profoundly, but to learn and to practice the best modes of its inculcation, upon the public mind ; consequently as a public speaker, he had but few equals. " This oratory was not of the scholastic or fictitious type. Like Pat- rick Henry's, it was the oratory of nature. His voice was mellow and full, its intonations were pleasant, and the modulation entirely under his control. The expression of his countenance, when preaching, was glowing and sympathetic, evincing the deep interest he felt in the spir- itual welfare of his congregation." " His manner in the pulpit was dignified, yet humble ; indicating on the one hand his view of the high position he occupied, and on the other how sensibly he felt his weakness and insufficiency for the holy duties which he was called to perform, and his entire dependence upon God for ministerial success. " He equally despised witticism and bombast, and used plain words to express sound and sober sense. He respected his hearers, and they re- spected and reverenced him. He recognized the true relation between judgment and feeling, and when, by solid argument, he had convinced the understanding, he knew no law of philosophy which forbade his ap- pealing to the emotions, and enlisting them in the fear and service of God. ' The Unction of the Holy One,' was a favorite expression with him, and rarely in any man's ministry has it been more gloriously exem- plified than it often was in his. REMINISCENCES. 269 "In the commencement of his sermons he was usually argumentative, but, having stated his doctrinal points and defended them, he would pass to the Christian dutiea based upon those doctrines, and, after sufficiently enforcing them, would again pass to the Christian privileges connected with them. And as he advanced in his sermons, his emotions would rise, and, carrying his congregation with him, he often became over- whelmed with his subject and the responsibility of his position as an am- bassador of Christ, and at such times he would give utterance to his feel- ings in the language of the weeping prophet : ' Oh ! that my head were water and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.' Upon such occasions his congregation would sympathize with him to such an extent that scarcely a heart could be found unaffected, or cheek not bathed in tears ; often, too, the exhibitions of feeling were frequently those of unbounded joy. " An illustration of this occurred at a camp-meeting, near Plainfield, N. J., while he was on the ' East Jersey District.' His text was Rom. viii. 17, 'And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him.' Having treated the subject doctrinally, practically and experimentally, rising by degrees all through his discourse, when he came to speak of the blessedness of the heirship, he was wholly absorbed with the grand- eur and glory of his theme, until, reaching a sublime climax of emotion and oratory, he asked triumphantly, 'Heirs of what? a hundred acres of land? No. A few thousand dollars in gold? No. A kingdom or a throne on this earth? No.' Then, ascending to the loftiest possible summit of overmastering eloquence, his voice full, melodious, and clear, as the tones of a silver bell, yet towering to its sublime pitch, the echoes were heard through the forest a mile or more, as he asked again : ' Heirs of what?' Then, with a soul overflowing with divine emotions, answered : ' Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, to an inheritance incor- ruptible, undented and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.' "The effect was overpowering, and the saints of the Most High in an ecstasy of joy felt that they were scarcely any longer heirs, but had al- ready entered upon their bright and eternal inheritance. Here, then, in his commanding style, his well-arranged discourses, his sound theolo- gy, his earnestness of spirit, his sympathetic nature and his baptized soul, we have the key to his great popularity and power. "While in the pastorate he had very extensive revivals of religion, receiving into the church, as the fruits, sometimes as many as three or four hundred in a revival. About seven years of his ministerial life were 270 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. spent in the office of Presiding Elder. This position furnished him an ample opportunity for the exercise of his popular and useful talents, and faithfully did he employ them during that period throughout the entire State of New Jersey. When it was known that he would preach at a camp-meeting, whether among the pines of the Atlantic Coast or in the neighborhood of the great cities, or among the mountains bordering the Delaware River, the whole country, for miles around, would be on the move. Not infrequently would he have five, six or seven thousand persons to hear him preach on such occasions. At such times I have seen his audience apparently chained to the spot for two, or two and a half hours at a time, forgetful of everything but the great theme of the redemption of a lost world, upon which he dwelt. Toward the latter part of his sermon, unconsciously and instinctively, the people of his congregations would rise, one after another, until the whole would be on their feet, and at the close it would be difficult to distinguish between the rejoicing Christian and the weeping of awakened sinners. It would seem as if heaven had been brought down to earth, or earth had been lifted to heaven. " Although uniformly an extemporaneous speaker, he was accustomed to make laborious and careful preparation for the pulpit by means of the pen. He wrote many sermons in full, not for the purpose of either read- ing or memorizing them, but for the sake of disciplining his mind to thought and language, and also for the purpose of putting his best thoughts on important subjects into convenient form for reference, when he might have occasion to treat those subjects again. " When in the full exercise of his noble powers, he once said to a friend : ' I should, perhaps, write no sermons, were I sure I should al- ways have the same activity of mind that I now possess, but as I cannot reasonably expect this, I deem it but prudent to make preparation, when I can, for coming days of mental decline or physical feebleness.' To his friends who were cognizant of the state of mind and body, during the last few years of his life, these words will seem a8 prophetic as they were discreet, and full of wisdom for the guidance of others. " His natural temperament was highly nervous. At times he was sub- ject to a great flow of spirits, which made him exceedingly companiona- ble, and at other times to great mental depression, which very much abridged his personal enjoyment. He was a fast and firm friend. He was ambitious, but his ambition was of an exalted kind. It was his pleasure to place others on a proper level, and then endeavor to rise above them not so much, however, in position as usefulness. " In the missionary secretaryship he excelled in the eloquent presen- REMINISCENCES. 271 tation of the glorious provisions of the gospel, as adapted to every de- scendant of fallen Adam, and most powerfully would he urge the mo- tives for its dissemination. The management of its finances, however, was not congenial to his mind or habits ; a large correspondence was a burden to him, and he always delighted less in platform speeches than in the more substantial, and, as he regarded it, more religious mode of pulpit address. " But, as has been said, with all his talents as a man, his faith and zeal as a Christian, his power as a minister, called and anointed from on high, there were better things in reserve for him, and so, on Saturday, the 13th of January, 1854, in the triumphs of the glorious gospel, God took him to himself, aged fifty-eight years and five days." REV. JOHN KENNADAY, D.D. The late Rev. John Kennaday, D.D., in a letter to the late Rev. William B. Sprague, D. D., of Albany, N. Y., in reference to inserting a biographical sketch of Rev. Dr. Pitman in his " Annals of the American Pulpit," says : " MY DEAR SIR, You are right in giving the late Dr. Charles Pitman a place among the subjects of your work, as he was un- doubtedly one of the most distinguished ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During a period of twenty years, I was accustomed to hear him preach frequently, and on various occasions, and, through the same, enjoyed the intimate intercourse with him resulting from mu- tual and uninterrupted friendship. " The personal appearance and carriage of Dr. Pitman were highly favorable to his vocalion. A little above the ordinary stature, his form was well proportioned. His head had a gentle inclination forward, but not enough to form a stoop. His complexion was slightly sallow, his eye dark, active and flaming, while a soft melancholy seemed almost constantly to pervade his countenance. His entire appearance, when he arose to address an assembly, was in a high degree impressive. His voice was of great compass, and capable of being modulated to the best advantage, and he used it in admirable harmony with the sentiment he uttered, and with a flexibility rarely equalled. " His mental powers were remarkably well-balanced. Of these the more prominent were a vigorous and discriminating judgment, ready perception, active imagination and strong memory. His pulpit efforts always bore the impress of these characteristic features of his mind, 272 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. while they were not less remarkable for a tone of evangelical fervor. He was emphatically a preacher of the cross the doctrine of the Atone- ment was his favorite theme ; and it was this and other doctrines essen- tially connected with it, or growing out of it, that awoke his faculties into the most vigorous and glowing exercise. Sometimes, when the multitudes were hanging' upon his lips, as he was holding up a crucified Saviour, one could hardly help thinking of that ' burning and shining light ' who, in the wilderness of Judea, pointed to ' the Lamb of God.' All who heard him felt that his utterances were from the depths of his heart, and many, very many, received with faith the word of truth, which he proclaimed. " Notwithstanding the embarrassing circumstances attendant upon his frequent changes, a* an itinerant minister, Dr. Pitman was a diligent student and had gathered a very valuable library. His extraordinary early popularity having awakened high expectations in the public mind concerning him, he sought, by the most assiduous culture, to render himself a workman needing not to be ashamed, and he certainly attained his object in no common degree. During his ministry, either upon the circuit in the station, or as a Presiding Elder, he was in labor more abundant ; insomuch that I doubt exceedingly whether any other man ever preached to so many people in the State of New Jersey, where a large portion of his labor was bestowed. He also filled some of the most important pulpits in Philadelphia, and there, also, his popularity and success were almost unequalled. As Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, his labors were more widely diffused, extending indeed over the entire country, yet his efficiency was apparent in the largely increasing usefulness of the society. " His active ministerial character was the subject of admiration with multitudes, and it has left an abiding impression, especially upon the conference, in the bosom of which he died. His more private deport- ment as a Christian was in happy unison with his public position. Gen- erous and sympathizing as a friend, and cherishing no resentment towards any, cheerful without levity, and affable without affectation, his whole life was a beautiful illustration of that blessed religion which it was his vocation to recommend. " When health failed him, and it was necessary for him to withdraw from all active labor, he accordingly retired to Trenton, where he had a family residence, and there passed his remaining days. His health continued greatly to fail, from that period to the day of his death. When he passed serenely and joyfully out of life, at the age of fifty- eight years, leaving behind him a name for Christian consistency and REMINISCENCES. 273 purity, and ministerial ability, fidelity and usefulness, which all who knew him delight to honor. " The name of Dr. Pitman is embalmed in the reverence and grati- tude of the Methodist Episcopal Church, though the amount of service that he performed for her can never be adequately estimated until it is contemplated by the light of Heavenly Glory. Yours Truly, " REV. JOHN KENNADAY." REV. G. D. CARROW, D.D. The Rev. Dr. Carrow, of the Philadelphia Conference, pays the following tribute to the name and memory of Rev. Dr. Pitman : " In the spring of 1843 1 attended the session of thePhila. Conference, being recommended to that body for admission on trial into the traveling connection. I was an uninformed country lad in my nineteenth year, and had heard only one of the great preachers of the denomination. Natur- ally I was disposed to improve to the utmost the opportunities of the Conference Sabbath. Learning that Mr. Pitman (he was not then Dr. Pitman) was to preach at St. Paul's, I went early, and with that precau- tion, but barely secured a seat. The late Thomas J. Thompson was pastor of the church. My mind was filled with recollections of what I had heard a gifted elderly lady say of Mr. Pitman's preaching. When the pastor and his famous substitute for the morning had prayed and taken their seats in the pulpit, a simple look at them was worth more than some men's sermons. They were both in the prime of their ripe manhood, and as ministers of Christ, were in personal presence, as in still higher gifts, singularly adapted to their momentous vocation. The theme of the preacher was the Priesthood of Christ. As his subject be- gan to glow within him, and his heart began to melt, it was evident that he was aiming to check, rather than encourage his emotions. Mean- while the audience was beginning to feel the power and influence that was moving the preacher, and the tide of emotion kept rising higher and higher, yet strange to say strange in a Methodist audience of that day there were no outbursts, but only a subdued response here and there. At last the preacher o'erwhelmed by the tide that was flowing through his soul, was obliged to pause and recover strength from the spiritual influence that was filling his heart. After a moment's silence he re- sumed, by begging the audience ' to excuse him ' in view of the na- ture of his transcendently glorious theme. It was so overpowering upon 18 274 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. his whole nature as to require a pause for a return of vivifying physical energy. Mr. Spurgeon, in several respects resembles Dr. Pitman, and while the great Baptist is master of a wider range of topics, he cannot move an audience as could the great Methodist. Dr. Pitman possessed wonderful power to move the masses, and no congregation seemed to weary with his preaching, even though continued over an hour. The Spirit of the Lord seemed specially present on every occasion, when he preached, or addressed people." REV. RALPH W. ALLEN, D.D. The Rev. Ralph W. Allen, D.D., of the New England Con- ference, and Corresponding Secretary of the " New England Methodist Historical Society," contributes the following highly impressive and interesting testimonial to the memory of the great and lamented Rev. Dr. Charles Pitman. Addressing the author, he says : " I am very glad to learn that you are preparing a memorial of the life of that great and excellent man of God, Eev. Charles Pitman, D.D. Grand, noble man he was. I was a member with him of the General Conference in Pittsburgh, of 1848, and with him a member of the Com- mittee on Missions, of which he was chairman. In that committee originated the idea of forming an annual conference on the Pacific coast, and largely through the influence of Dr. Pitman the project was carried through the committee and the Conference (though through much opposition). It proved to be a wise movement and a great blessing to the church. " Dr. Pitman seldom visited New England except when his duties re- quired him to attend an Annual Conference in his official character as Missionary secretary, and to attend -the ' Martha's Vineyard Camp- Meeting.' He was always greeted with delight at the Conferences, and his missionary addresses were full of pressing inspiration, in advance movements on the territory of darkness, and thrilling appeals for the world's conversion, by which the missionary interest in the hearts of the preachers received an inspiration and life which was through them im- parted to the churches and congregations. " Dr. Pitman attended the camp-meeting at Martha's Vineyard for several years, and said to the preachers and friends who gathered in his time there to worship, that he should attend it annually as long as he was able to go anywhere. His presence was a charm and delight to the REMINISCENCES. 275 meeting. Those wonderful sermons and addresses ! Who that heard them can ever forget them ? How they swayed and moved the vast au- diences ! What a noble physical organization did he possess, and how majestically as well as gracefully and appropriately did it fill the pulpit, as the mouth-piece of God, the deputed herald of salvation to a sin- ruined race. What a voice ! as soft, sweet, musical, and yet full-toned and melodious, as ever came from human lips. What a deep, pure, heav- enly, heaven-inspired spirit breathed in every word and utterance of his soul ! How eager the vast throng to catch every word from those seem- ingly-inspired lips ! What tongue, pen or pencil, can describe the good done. by those sermons ! for they were often followed by immediate and great results, and though the definite number cannot be obtained and numerically stated, the Recording Angel did not fail to chronicle them in the Lamb's book of life. What happy greetings ere this, in the heavenly home, of a host of those who listened, and of him who spake, at the forest meetings of other days, when Pitman, Bangs, Durbin and others offered the word of life. , Of all the distinguished good men who have preached at this great meeting at the sea, for these many years, none will shine with greater lustre, as having turned many to righteous- ness there, than Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D." "This veteran brother adds, in a P. S. : " Rev. Charles Noble, who was a member of the ' New England Conference,' for about fifty years, and died at Wilbraham, Mass., in 1880, at about seventy years of age, was converted under the labors of Rev. Charles Pitman, when quite young, in Philadelphia." This brother, doubtless, is a part of the fruit of the great revival at St. George's, in 1837-38. " His only son he named Charles Pitman Noble, but he preceded his now sainted father long since to the skies." " Dr. Pitman being asked by Rev. Dr. R. W. Allen to write in his auto- graph album, wrote the following beautiful sentiments, which are worthy to be cherished by every Christian heart : " God in nature is God above us, God in Providence is God beyond us, God in law is God against us, God in Christ is God with and for us." REV. WILLIAM ROBERTS, D.D. The Rev. William Roberts, of Colfax, Washington Territory, and one of the oldest and most effective men of the " Puget Sound Conference," contributes the following interesting and valuable historical delineation of his connection and life-service 276 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. with the work of Christian missions in the Northwest, and of Dr. Pitman's labor in securing him to that wonderfully fruitful field of * evangelical labor, and also of his early association and high appreciation of Dr. Pitman's extraordinary powers as a minister and public teacher and officer in the Church of God. " I am asked to prepare an article for the biography of the late Dr. Charles Pitman, a man of blessed memory, whose influence more than that of any other man has helped to shape my own life and ministry. His visits to the home of my youth, his sermons both before and after conversion, and his counsel as to going to the Northwest coast, together with his letters during the early years of toil on this hard field of labor, all come up with freshness and interest. Just at that most important period of life when character was forming, when the aim of life was being determined, and when that dark conspiracy called in Scripture "the world, the flesh and the devil" was laying its toils to ruin and destroy, then -just then the presence of this eloquent, earnest minister helped to decide for Christ and His Church. That decision was final, and by divine grace irreversible. " How wonderful the change at regeneration, and how exhaustive the terms used in Scripture to express it ! What wonder is it that to ex- press anything higher in the maturity of Christian life, these same terms must be repeated o'er and o'er ! What little reason to build up a party in the Church and establish a literature and a nomenclature by drawing nice distinctions in religious experience, putting a vernier on the scale, unknown to Scripture and unused by the Apostle Paul ! Of course, the lapse of half a century bedims my recollection somewhat, and the width of a continent prevents any comparison of notes with the few remaining associates of those earlier years. Charles Pitman was a man of most imposing and attractive presence. He was an imperial speaker; his voice clear in tone, full in volume, and natural in its mod- ulations. I can hear it ringing to this very hour. As I call to mind his discourses, together with the readings of Samuel Aaron, a Baptist minister of marked excellence in Burlington at that time, and the lec- tures of my old tutor, Samuel Gummere, is it any wonder that I carry with me through life an inflexible purpose to excel in vocalism ? The three essential points in all good speaking are truth, voice and pathos, and they are most happily developed in the subject of this paper. " First, Truth, or the subject-matter of discourse. A man to preach REMINISCENCES. 277 well must have a gospel, he must bring good tidings. There are some persons yet living in New Jersey who heard the discourse preached by the late Dr. Durbin at camp-meeting near Pemberton early in the thir- ties. It was just at the time when the poor, starveling notions of the Hicksite Quakers had attracted attention, and this sermon was a dem- onstration of the Godhead of Christ, showing that Jesus, the sinner's friend, was God over all, blessed forever. The effect was overwhelming. Verily there is hope for humanity if Christ is Head over all. I have heard the late Starr King, of San Francisco (Unitarian), succeed grandly in a lecture on the Union in war times, and fail sadly in a sermon for want of a gospel. " I think Dr. Pitman in his average discourses was the most thoroughly evangelical preacher I ever heard. Salvation as to its necessity, its na- ture, its freeness, its fulness, its wondrous adaptation to human want and human necessity was his constant theme. He had a perfect horror of Cal- vinism, and he persistently opposed it. I think one of the reasons why the pulpits of all the churches to-day are so largely Arminian is because the giants of Pitman's time, and " there were giants in those days," bore such a clear testimony against it, so that what with its natural repulsive- ness to enlightened human reason, and these wonderful words of life, giv- ing a fair chance to every man to be saved, the miscalled " doctrines of grace" are relegated to the " confessions of faith " and the theological seminary. I'd rather speak of this just now because no notice of Dr. Pitman would be true to his ministry which omitted his telling blows against that most disheartening and exaggerated of all ideas concerning the Divine Sovereignty. " An incident he related once of a man in despair at the idea of being a reprobate, committed suicide, but lived long enough to give his reasons for committing the rash act, made a terrible impression as to the practi- cal working of hyper-Calvinism. Quite, possibly, the very fact that the pulpit to-day has been Arminianized so fully may explain why there is less difference in the proportionate success of the Methodist pulpit, com- pared with the pulpits of the Calvinistic churches. The change is not with us, but with them ; hence, a Southern writer said, recently, " there is more Methodism outside the Methodist church than there is in it." Not, by any manner of means, that we have less, but other churches have more. " If, therefore, the grand men of other churches preach the same glor- ious truths that Pitman and his contemporaries preached, why should they not succeed ? The second essential element is Voice, or the vehicle of truth. How 278 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. far Dr. Pitman was ever the subject of instruction in vocalisra, I have no means of knowing ; but it is certain his voice was a marvel of excel- lence. Full in volume, clear in tone, distinct in articulation, wide- reaching in compass, well-sustained in endurance, it would arrest atten- tion and enchain the hearer. My impression is the gift of speech was with him more nearly a natural endowment . than with any man I ever knew. "If speaking be, as I am sure it is, a matter of art, just as music and painting are matters of art, still it is much easier for some to learn than for others. Aaron, Apollos, Whitefield and Summerfield are illustrious examples in vocalism, and Mozart and Raphael in music and painting. " The third item is pathos, sympathy, or that mysterious something which places speaker and hearer en rapport each with the other. At this point the subject of this sketch was pre-eminent; he was the very soul of sympathy and feeling. He had studied most thoroughly the wants and necessities of the human soul, and the divine plan of saving men met his idea of human want most completely, and he would thrill his hearers with the old, old story, and many were turned to righteous- ness by his touching appeals. I make these remarks along the line of good speaking because preaching was the especial business of this most useful man. I have purposely omitted to use the word elocution, for the reason so many choose to mistake its meaning. When God called Moses to go to Pharaoh, he repeatedly objected, alleging, among other things, ' that he was not eloquent, but a man slow of speech and of a slow tongue,' whereupon God said, 'Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well, and he shall be thy spokesman unto the people.' Now what I conceive Jehovah meant by ' speaking well ' is just what I mean by elocution, if I use the term at all, a gift that Dr. Pitman possessed, as did Aaron, without any of the tetter's weakness, as exhibited in the matter of the golden calf and in the con- spiracy with Miriam against their noble and patriotic brother. "Quite early in my religious life an incident occurred which called my attention to the subject of missions. A juvenile missionary society was formed in my native place, and, as I had been known to pray in public, my name was taken at Dr. Pitman's instance, from the adult society, and placed at the head of the juveniles, in order that its business meeting might be opened with prayer. " I little thought then that the larger part of my life would be spent in missionary work. Eighteen years later, in the summer of 1846, it was deemed necessary to send some younger man to relieve the Rev. George Gary, then Superintendent of the Oregon Mission, whose age seemed to REMINISCENCES. 279 require relief. At the instance of my friend, Dr. Pitman, I was induced to prepare for the long voyage around Cape Horn to assume the charge of Methodism on the northwest coast. On Nov. 27th, 1846, in company with Rev. J. H. Wilbur and family, we sailed from New York, reaching San Francisco April 24th, 1847, from whence, after nearly two months of careful exploration, we sailed for the Columbia River, landing at the present site of Portland, in the last days of June. Since that time great changes have been effected, growing out of the discovery of gold ; ex- tensive immigration from the Atlantic and Western States, opening up the transit across the Isthmus of Panama, and the building of four vast trans-continental railroads, shortening the time of transit from six months to as many days. We have founded a new empire, and have baptized it with tears and labor, with prayers and blood. We have seeded it down with Bibles and schools and religious literature and churches and colleges, and we have harvested hundreds of precious souls. A somewhat careful estimate, made ten years ago, showed over 16,000 persons gathered into the church not from other churches, but from the outside world. " Of course, the percentage of loss in this frontier work has been fear- ful, in spite of all our efforts to build up and establish our people iu their most holy faith. A net-work of circuits and stations and districts has been formed, including six or more Annual Conferences and, ex- tending from the Straits of Fuca to the Gulf of California, and from the weather-beaten beach of the Pacific to the mountains of Idaho and Utah. " All these weary years we have been exiled from the associates of our earlier ministry, but the same nearness to the mercy-seat the same ful- ness of grace, the same witness of the Spirit, the same Divine Comforter, of which we heard in boyhood, from the lips of this peerless minister, have been our solace in all the toils of the wilderness and hardships of pioneer life. We have been in perils by land and by sea ; we have faced death many times. In looking after our legitimate work, we have had neither the time nor the ability to seek wealth or personal promotion. " We have sacrificed home and family to build up Christ's Kingdom, and now, after more than half a century of public life, extending from 1833 to 1887, stand facing the grave in a distant land, proving the truth of one of Pitman's sweetest discourses on ' The work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for- ever.' " My recollection of the ministry of the subject of this memoir leads me to emphasize the following points : 280 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. " 1st. In every discourse introduce the marrow and fatness of gospel truth. Let the oil of the sanctuary be well beaten. Man's deep want Christ's all-sufficiency. The abundance and freeness and joyousness of God's love in Christ this will attract, this will save. " 2d. Make the most of your own voice, but imitate the voice of no other man. No, not that of Pitman, or even of Aaron himself. Cultivate your own. Gain a knowledge of its peculiarities, strengthen its weakness, smooth its roughness, extend its volume, correct its monotony, control its rhythm, let its individuality stand out, but its essential timbre must not be adulterated by imitating any one, not even a seraph. The hu- man voice is never at its best when simulation in any form is present. An imitator may make an ape, but never an Apollos. " 3d. The prevalent opinion is that higher education is essential to the ministry of the present time, and I am aware that Dr. Pitman spent quite a portion of his valuable life in helping to provide it for others ; and yet right here, in his own person, we have an instance of success in its very best sense with but a limited amount of classical scholarship. A thorough mastery by one's self of our own mother-tongue, if nothing more is within reach, with God's blessing on a consecrated heart and life, will win the prize." REV. C. H. WHITECAR, D.D. The Eev. Charles H. Whitecar, D.D., of the New Jersey Conference, contributes the following panegyric to the memory, life-service and distinguished attainments and exalted virtues of Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D. : " Whatever may be said of classic characters, or the heroes of ro- mance, the distinguished person of whom we write is no ' myth.' He did not belong to the age of the ' gods ; ' nor to that of ' calendered saints,' but is an actuality of our own period, and well known to many now living. The impressions he made upon the masses by his public min- istrations, both as to his persons and his powers have survived the years of his activity, and are still inwrought in affectionate memories, and undulate the life of saintship in many localities. ''Some men, called to public ministrations, seem to have been run in a perfect mould, having centered in themselves excellencies in a climax to take from, or to add to, would be to mar the harmony of well-adjusted greatness ; as in nature, why narrow or broaden a mountain, or contract or deepen the sea? Such characters should stand forth, as the divine hand made them, on the plane of the years, the observed of the passing REMINISCENCES. 281 millions, serving as an incentive to lofty aspirations within their own spheres. " To speak and write of such celebrities is not man-worship ; as it is not for himself alone, but for his endowments that we exalt each ; as all of this class of social and public life to provoke their imitations by others. While some men are thus specially marked in their parts, so are they in their world-mission, as born to lead and fitted for conquest ; or as gifted in utterance, and impassioned in address, as a divine local force. " As in the introduction of any new system of belief, the burden of proof is on the part of those who present it, the apostles who inaugu- rated the Christian system possessed extraordinary powers, and creden- tiated their mission by miracles, and a convincing address, which was a necessity of its period ; and which accounts for their special subsidence in after centuries. So also in the introduction of Methodism as a prov- idential evangelism, and a new aspect of gospel work. Special charac- teristics marked its leading ministers, as to their qualifications, zeal and success, the design being to affirm the providential character and mission of Methodism, as an evangelical reform, to contribute to deliver organ- ized churches from a cold formalism and ritualistic subserviency, as also to reach and save the neglected masses. This, to our minds, is an ex- ponent of the personalities and times now so conspicuous in the frontage of our branch of the general Church. No wonder then that there were men of gifts, and will, and work, who advanced to charge impetuously ; and who ministered to enlighten, to convince and to convert ; and no wonder that fallows were broken up, seeds sown broadcast, and that rich and full harvests sprang up and ripened in golden splendor on the moun- tain slopes and summits, in the vales, and by the rivers and sea. Of the number of these apostolic celebrities was Rev. Charles Pitman, t).D., a son of New Jersey, and a child of Methodism. "My first recollection connecting him with his ministerial work, relates to his preaching at the historic Blackwoodtown Camp-meeting, in 1825. I had been taken, then but a boy, to that meeting by my now sainted mother. After having knelt as a 'seeker,' in one of the tent prayer-meetings, I went to attend a preaching service at the stand, Mr. Pitman officiating, and under his sermon I received the inspiration of a spiritual life, which, amid all the variations and vacillations of after years, never has been lost in its influence, and now gives cheer and hope in life's decline. "I have been with Dr. Pitman in the 'old love-feast' near to the same period, held in the little frame ' Nazareth Church,' on Hirst 282 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Street, Philadelphia, and seem to see him move as I saw him then happy in his work, happy in glowing song, and happy in the fellowship of his people, in their unpretentious social position, and in their humble surroundings, it being one of the four churches in St. George's charge, Philadelphia. " I have been with him at camp-meetings and dedications ; in the vis- itations of the sick and in the social circle ; I have sat with him at the table and had his company in many miles of ride in a private convey- ance, and heard him preach in various churches and deliver missionary, addresses in several instances and in different localities, all of which have contributed to give to him a special distinction in my personal judgment, and this, sustained and heightened by the traditional and historic account of his most wonderful accomplishments on some extra- ordinary occasions, make him to be the man of New Jersey Methodism, whose intelligent grasp, unctious nature and address, and plastic hand shaped its proportions and progress, to a present cheering attitude, and to a future of more enlarged triumph. "Superadded to his other eminent gifts was that of melodious song. Among his selections were : ' The Christian Pilgrim,' ' Whither Goest Thou, Pilgrim Stranger, ' with the chorus, ' I'm Bound for the King- dom ; ' also, " The Royal Proclamation,' with the chorus, ' Jesus Reigns/ etc. As an illustration of his love for song, I adduce this inci- dent : When under his superintendency, and at his suggestion, Rev. William Roberts, of our Conference, was appointed superintendent of the Oregon Mission, by the managers of our Church Missionary Society, of which Dr. Pitman was then secretary, there was held, in the city of Newark, three farewell missionary meetings, one of which was held in the Franklin Street Church, of which I was at that time pastor, it being the first of the series. What gave special interest to these meet- ings was that Rev. Mr. Roberts had popularly served two of these churches, which we had then in that city. At the first meeting, feeling at home in my own church, though many strangers were present, in a pause that ensued I asked Bro. Pitman if I might sing ; he consenting, I sang two verses of the ' Pearl,' it being entirely new to the audience ; the meeting proceeded, when, at another favorable moment, Bro. Pitman turned and said : ' If you have anything as good as that which you have sung you can sing again.' I replied that there were two more verses. ' Give them to us,' said he, and I sang them. I attended each of the other meetings, and he would have his speeches prefaced by the same hymn. " The same was true, subsequently, at the Conference missionary meet- REMINISCENCES. 283 ing, in the Walnut Street Church, Salem. ''All music,' said Charles Wesley, ' is divine,' so that the divinity that stirred him in unctious utterances moved his sensitive and flowing nature in sacred song. "Dr. Pitman was not insensible of, or indifferent to, the decline of life and of labor. Following him in the charge of Green Street, Trenton, when he was appointed the Presiding Elder of the District, and soon after Secretary of the Missionary Society, he said to me : ' You must in- crease, but I must decrease ; so long as we are going up, it is well enough, but when we turn to come down, that is the time." It was his last ap- pointment. I saw him in his decline, the frame-work of the noble and the good had weakened, his earth-life was in eclipse, the index finger of his destiny pointed the other way, he was being disrobed of his battle-armor of bow and spear and sword, of helmet and breast-plate to put on, ere long, the victor's robe and crown, and triumphantly to bear his palm. He was to be renewed and enthroned, while his great work sur- vives him, and his memory is lovingly cherished and his name appro- priately monumented in churches, called after it, and eminently so, in the charm and sacredness of Pitman Grove Camp-meeting. But one thing has been at fault, as to his deservedness. No commensurate history of Dr. Pitman, of his times and compeers, has ever been written in the years of the past, and possibly never would have been, had not the inspiration fallen upon one who highly appreciates his person and his work, and who felt called upon to save from oblivion many of the particulars, inci- dents and achievements of his illustrious career. " I commend the patience, research, labor and devotion which the author of this volume has put forth to secure to our church and the public this valuable biographical work. He has availed himself of all the facilities within his reach, and has had varied assistance in contribu- tions, both written and oral, and having heard the manuscript read, and its chapters, I appreciate both the merits of the history itself and the able, chaste, and effective style of its preparation, and believe that its publication and circulation will be acceptable and useful to our Meth- odism." REV. HEBRON VINCENT. The Rev. Hebron Vincent, of the New England Conference, furnishes the following highly important and interesting histor- ical article, which, in its descriptive character, perspicuity of thought, distinctness of utterance and narration of impressive incident, both illustrates and commends the valuable labors and 284 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. life-service which Rev. Charles Pitman, D.D., rendered to the church of his choice, and to Methodism throughout New Eng- land and elsewhere : " As I have been earnestly solicited by the biographer, to furnish an article for the chapter in this book on ' Reminiscences of Dr. Pitman,' it may be proper for me to say that I was one of the founders of the well- known Martha's Vineyard Camp-Meeting, and am now the only survi- vor of the original projectors and organizers of the meeting, the annual assembling of which commenced in the summer of 1835. It was regu- larly held ten successive years, and then discontinued. But the year following its discontinuance here, viz., in 1845, a meeting was held for the same section of country at Westport, a town some twelve or fourteen miles from the city of New Bedford. But the place being unsatisfactory we returned in 1846 to the old site on Martha's Vineyard, where annual religious gatherings have been maintained, it being now over half a century since the beginning here in this place. Being the secretary of that meeting at Westport, perhaps I was more conversant with things which transpired there than I should otherwise have been. It was there that Dr. Pitman first visited our meeting, and it was there that my ac- quaintance with him became more permanent. By his preaching and other services he added greatly to the interest, and the good results of the occasion. Rev. Frederick Upham, then Presiding Elder, now the Nes- tor of the N. E. Southern Conference, was the president of the meeting. The opening service was on Tuesday, and on Friday afternoon, following the venerable Daniel Webb, of the morning service, the Rev. Dr. Charles Pitman, then missionary secretary of the M. E. Church, was the preacher. Speaking of the preaching at this camp-meeting, the pub- lished account says, ' Superior talents were displayed in the sermons of the venerable Fathers Webb and Bonney and in those of Dr. Pitman. We felt that it was a privilege to be highly prized, to sit and learn at the feet of those Gamaliels of the Christian Church.' Again, ' On Sabbath afternoon, while the vast multitude were held in almost speechless ad- miration by Dr. Pitman, for the space of about an hour and a-half, while discoursing on the parable of the talents, it seemed as though the Holy Spirit pervaded every mind, and penetrated every heart.' " In my first published history of the camp-meetings here, occurs this passage in connection with the account of this meeting at Westport : "'AN INCIDENT. " ' At the communion season on Monday, after the exercises of that REMINISCENCES. 285 sacred occasion were through, Dr. Pitman craved the privilege of ad- dressing the assembly for a few minutes. Adverting to the fact that he represented the great missionary interest of our church, he remarked that, although the privilege of taking up a missionary collection during the meeting had been kindly and repeatedly tendered to him by the Presiding Elder, yet, owing to the fact of the heavy bill of expenses imposed on the friends in preparing the ground (most, if not all, of which bill, however, was unavoidable under the circumstances), he could not have the heart to ask for a collection. But, if any one had anything he or she wished to give, it would be received. Whatever was done in this way he desired should be considered as a special offering, and not to operate as a drawback upon their regular missionary operations. He could not consent, he said, that basket, plate or hat should be passed round, but he chose that whatever was given in this way should be put into his hat, standing on the table. He proposed and promised, that whatever was given on the occasion should be appropriated to pay the passages of the several missionaries about to embark for Africa, a sum sufficient for that object being wanted. The proposition thus happily made, could not certainly have succeeded better had it been specially de- signed to answer the objects of a collection. The Doctor's hat was placed upon the communion-table, and the scene which ensued was one of most thrilling interest. There was a gust of Christian sympathy and benevolence, followed and accompanied by a rush of brethren, sisters and friends (apparently vicing with each other in works of Christian valor) to cast their offering into the treasury of the Lord. Among other things, twenty dollars were raised to constitute Sister Beedle, who was a mother in Israel, a convert under the labors of 'Bramwell,' a life-mem- ber of the present missionary society. The finishing up of the proposi- tion was the presentation, by a New Bedford sister, of a gold pencil, valued at seven dollars. The whole sum obtained was about one hun- dred and twenty dollars. I must add as follows : " On our way to New Bedford, on board the fine steamer ' Massachusetts,' Captain Lot Phin- ney, master, Dr. Pitman, by the request of the company, preached a most able and soul-stirring sermon. Isa. xliv. chap., 3-5 vers. (See sketch at close of this volume). It was none the less interesting for being unpremeditated. Tears moistened the eyes of many present, not excepting those of our excellent and noble-hearted commander." ' "In the following autumn, viz., November 13, 1845, Dr. Pitman came and preached the dedication sermon of a new church at Vineyard Haven, which was an occasion of wonderful interest and power. "Although not the secretary of the meeting at the Vineyard the fol- 286 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. lowing year, 1846, I find I said in my history that Dr. Pitman was again with us, and although during a part of the time of the meeting he was in a state of comparative physical prostration, yet he so far recovered as to be able to lift up his voice and proclaim to us ' the acceptable year of the Lord.' I find also from the report of the meeting by the secre- tary, the excellent Dr. David Patten, the following : ' The prayer-meet- ing at the stand on Wednesday evening, when heaven and earth seemed to meet together, and angels and men to mingle their sympathies and rejoicings, the love-feast, in which the dumb spake and the people won- dered, the missionary meeting, in which, after an eloquent and earnest address by Dr. Pitman, our missionary secretary, the multitude rushed with eager haste to throw their offerings into the treasury of the Lord, an account of these and other interesting and affecting incidents of the meeting may be given you by another hand.' But I am not now aware that any other hand did write such account. " The Doctor came from this meeting to Edgartown. On his way he was taken very ill. Arriving, he was kindly taken care of at the house of our late, excellent brother in the church, Josiah Gorham, and was attended by Dr. John Pierce, also a member of the church here. Some time after his recovery, Dr. Pierce (now deceased) and his estimable wife, having occasion to go to New York, were treated to a very cordial reception by Dr. Pitman and his wife, thus showing a kind remembrance of his medical benefactor. The incident is now related to me by Mrs. Pierce, aa a pleasant memory. " He subsequently visited this town and was cordially received by our people, in his official capacity as Missionary Secretary.. And from our first meeting at Martha's Vineyard, such had been our cherished ac- quaintance that he proposed and actually commenced with me, an inter- change of views by letter, upon religious themes, which proposition I could but accept, although with due diffidence, and well knowing that in the results I should be the more favored one. Unfortunately for me, at least, circumstances beyond our control, soon put an end to our pleas- ant anticipations. We here introduce the aforementioned letter. "NEW YORK, October 19, 1846. " DEAR BROTHER : " I think at our last interview I gave you a partial promise that I would at my convenience communicate with you by letter, not without an understanding, however, that the favor should be reciprocated. I mention this understanding between us, because I have found in many instances that my Edgartown friends are not the most prompt in re- REMINISCENCES. 287 turning favors of this kind. I shall certainly expect great promptitude on your part. " In opening this correspondence, it has struck me that it should be conducted in such a manner as to render us useful to each other. The mere exchange of friendly salutations, and professions of esteem, which I have reason to believe will always be mutually pleasant and agreeable, are, in themselves, hardly sufficient to give a correspondence all the advantages it might and should possess. It has occurred to me that to exchange thoughts occasionally upon some topics in Christian Theology might be useful to us both. And as Unitarianism and Universalism are combining their efforts to weaken the Divine Government by striking out of the Christian creed the Doctrine of Eternal punishment, I propose an examination of some of their arguments. And first. How shall we obviate the common, and in their estimation, strong objection, 'That to assert an Infinite and Eternal punishment for Finite and Temporal sins, contradicts our fundamental ideas of the Divine Kectitude, Benevolence and Love ? ' " In answer to this objection, I have lately seen an argument of which the following is the substance : Let all such objectors be reminded that as long as the creature sins, so long will it be just for the Creator to punish him. Now all the analogies of our present experience, combined with the express declarations of the Divine Scriptures, reveal to us that in a moral sense, our characters in time are the productive roots of our des- tinies in eternity ; consequently, our present life in the flesh is the preg- nant seed of a corresponding consciousness which will continue to ex- pand for ever more. Hence he who dies in sin unpardoned and unre- pented, will continue to sin without pardon and without repentance, as long as his nature shall endure. The covenant of Redemption does not act upon the unbelieving in the world of spirits, except in the negative way of justifying their condemnation. 'As the tree falls, so it lies.' He that is unjust let him be unjust still, and he that is filthy let him be filthy still (Rev. 22 : 11). From hence, it appears, an unrepenting sinner in time, will continue an unrepenting sinner in eternity. Beyond the grave, the ' blood of sprinkling ' is not applied to the conscience for an atonement; and the Spirit of Grace is no more imparted for renewal and sanctifica- tion ; and yet, without the cleansing blood, and without the imparted Spirit of Christ, the sinner will nev.er cease to be a sinner ! But if the sin continue, so will the punishment; nor can the purest idea of moral justice which we can form dispute this assertion. ' How, then, shall we escape a just condemnation hereafter, if we neglect so great salvation' now ? By a process as inevitable as God is immutable the sin of the 288 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. unregen crated creature will continue to expand itself, and the curse of the unreconciled Creator to realize itself, until the one ceases to be sin- ful, or the other to be holy. And thus we venture to think, the reason- ableness as well as the certainty of eternal punishment may be demon- strated. Of course there is a judicial infliction on the part of God; but still, we must ever bear in mind, that no such thing as Sovereign Justice exists ; Grace is altogether a Sovereign expression of the Divine will ; but Justice is the essential and immutable attribute. Hence no man will be in the locality of hell, in whom the dispositions of Hell do not pre- viously exist and reign. In other words, the Hell of his outward destiny will be essentially derived from the Hell of his inward character. Where- fore, he who now ventures to reject the ' Great Salvation ' which God offers, and by consequence inherits the great damnation of which sin naturally, as well as judicially, must partake, will embody the fearful truths which our great priest of epic song ascribes to the evil one : ' Me miserable ! which way shall I fly, Infinite wrath and Infinite despair, Which way I fly is Hell ; Myself am Hell : And in the lowest deep, a lower\deep, Still threatening to devour me, opens wide ; To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven.' " Will you please give me your views on this awful subject, and if you see any flaws in the above argument, point them out. Most certainly the time has arrived when the true ministers of Christ should be well prepared to sweep away the sophistries of the whole semi-infidel tribe who would bewilder the church in the midst of Theological fog, instead of placing her under the fertilizing influences of Celestial dew. " Yours Affectionately, " C. PITMAN." " Doctor Charles Pitman was one of nature's noblemen, saved by grace, with a strong mind, with fine oratorical powers, including a sten- torian voice, especially when aroused by lofty thought, and was emi- nently ' a burning and a shining light.' " Edgarlown, Mass., May 12, 1887." CHAPTER XVIII. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. I. THE BEAUTY AND GLORY OF THE CHURCH. Walk about Zion, and go round about her : tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces ; that ye may tell IT to the generation following. For this God4& our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide EVEN unto death. Psalm 48 : 12-14. This Psalm is evidently a song of triumph, written on occasion of some eminent victory. But the meaning must not be restricted to Jewish times. Like most of the other Psalms, while it serves to commemorate some great historical event, it may very properly be supposed to point to after times, to be applicable also, to the glories of the gospel church, of which Jerusalem was a type, and which was emphatically called " the city of God" and " the city of the Great King," " the place of His rest forever, and where He will dwell." It is enlightened with His knowledge. It is devoted to His honor. It is the place appointed for His worship and solemn service. It is taken under His special protection. It was beloved and admired throughout the ages and generations of history. And in all these respects there is a striking resemblance between the ancient Jerusalem and the gospel church. But, again, her enemies were afraid of her (see verse 4). The kings of the earth were assembled, but the very sight of Jerusalem struck into them consternation, " they saw it and marveled, and hasted away." Though they were kings and though there were many of them in confed- eracy, yet they knew themselves an unequal match for Omnipotence, and therefore " fear came upon them and pain " (verse 6). Their defeat is compared to the dreadful work made with a fleet of ships by a violent storm, when some are split, others shattered and all dispersed (verse 7). The use that the people of God are taught to make of divine interpo- sitions in their favor is here noticed. First, Their faith should be confirmed (verse 8). Second, Their hope should be encouraged. Third, They should think much of His loving- kindness (verse 9). Fourth, They should give glory to God (verse 10). 19 289 290 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Fifth, They should be joyful in God (verse 11). Sixth, They should diligently observe the instances and evidences of the Church's beauty and strength and security, and faithfully transmit the results of their observations to their posterity for their benefit. This clearly is the sense of the text. First, we shall consider the Church of God under a figurative repre- sentation. I. She has her bulwarks. The primary allusion here most probably was to the strong fortifications of Jerusalem ; but the reference, doubt- less, is to the Gospel Church, and by her bulwarks we may understand, 1. Her excellent doctrines. 2. Her wholesome discipline. 3. Her union, or spiritual co-operation. 4. The divine promises, "I will be a wall," etc. 5. The gracious interpositions of Providence. II. She has her towers. By which we understand the places occupied by the sentinels in the anciently fortified cities, to whom are answerable the ministers of the gospel, implying that their office is (1) Elevated, (2) Responsible, (3) Essential and (4) Highly Useful. III. She has her palaces. The seat of the royal residence, the place of splendid entertainments. Spiritually, it is the theatre of the divine glory, the place of sacred immunities and royal privileges. Consider, Secondly, The survey here proposed, " Walk about Zion," etc. Nothing is lost to the Church by the examination of her claims. She has always courted investigation. It is true she makes high pretensions and claims the homage, both of the intellect and the heart, but she has nothing to fear from the most scrutinizing investigation. I. She claims for herself heaven-derived doctrines, an immovable foundation and immutable promises. "Mark ye well her bulwarks." II. She claims a divinely authorized ministry, infallible protection and final conquest. " Tell ye her towers." III. She claims distinguished honors and royal immunities. " Con- sider her palaces." IV. She claims a divine relationship and infallible guidance. " For this God is our God, and He will be our guide even unto death." The survey proposed in the text is the honest investigation of all these claims. These claims established, we proceed to show, Thirdly, That it becomes the duty of all the votaries of Christianity to endeavor to perpetuate it down to the Tatest generation. " That ye may tell it to the generations following." To this end, L We should labor for a succession of faithful ministers. SKETCHES OF SEEMONS. 291 II. We should labor for high and holy attainments in the membership of the Church. III. Parents should be at much pains to inculcate religious truth upon the minds and hearts of their children, and masters and guardians upon all those under their care and instruction. IV. All Christians should unite cheerfully in the support of the var- ious institutions and benevolent enterprises calculated to promote this object. Lastly, For this God is our God forever and ever. I. This is the language of personal proprietorship, and it is founded in truth. In the covenant of grace, God makes himself over to His people, saying, " I will be thy God, and all that I have is thine," my perfections, my relations, my works, my word, my ordinances and all my dispensations. II. It is the language of an assured proprietary. " This God is our God." It is a relation that may be known and claimed, and with what a repetition does David express it. " I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength," " The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer," etc. Here are no less than eight distinct appropriations for our assur- ance and Christian confidence. III. It is the language of a permanent proprietary. "This is our God forever and ever." No power is subtle enough or strong enough forci- bly to dispossess us of the inheritance. IV. It is the language of an exulting proprietary, not that of self- sufficiency, but of a soul making its boast in the Lord. Says the Prophet Haggai, " The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," etc. (Hag- gai 2 : 8). Inferences, 1. How rich the Christian's inheritance. 2. How clear and satisfactory his title to it. 3. How firmly secured is his inheritance from injustice, force and fraud. II. PRAYER OF SOLOMON AT DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM. Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and LET thine ears be attent unto the prayir THAT is MADE in this place. Now therefore arise, LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength ; let thy priests, LoKi> God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. 2 Cbron. 6 : 40, 41. The consecration of buildings erected for public worship, obtained very early practice in the church of Christ. Whether this practice ex- 292 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. Uted in the first three centuries, we have no certain information, but we have the most authentic testimony that it prevailed to a very great ex- tent in the days of Constantine. Eusebius mentions it with peculiar satisfaction, to which Bingham refers in his Book of the Antiquities of the Church, Book 8, Chap. 9, Sec. 2. And when we consider for what holy purpose they are set apart, we can have no doubt but that it is a service highly reasonable in itself and truly acceptable unto God. The idea of consecrating such edifices seems to have been suggested by the dedication of Solomon's Temple, which exhibited altogether one of the most glorious scenes ever beheld on earth. On that occasion the king (who was himself a paragon of wisdom, and the greatest monarch of his day), bowed his knees before God in the sight of all the congregation of Israel, and with uplifted eyes and outstretched hands, implored the favor of his God. To this prayer was vouchsafed an answer, which filled all the specta- tors with the deepest awe; for fire came down from heaven in the sight of all to consume the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord so filled the temple, that the priests could no longer continue their ministrations. The fuller account of this dedication is given in the 8th chapter of the first Book of Kings. But in this place we have a most interesting part of Solomon's prayer, wherein in the former place it is omitted. The piety and pathos of these concluding sentences are worthy of the high- est admiration. Limiting their application to that particular occasion, they would be found replete with instruction; but knowing as we do the figurative nature of that whole dispensation, we must trace their bear- ing upon our own times and upon the Christian Church. And for this purpose we will show : First, What Solomon so earnestly desired and so devoutly prayed for, as the crown of all his labors in the erection of the temple. In grand- eur and beauty, this edifice exceeded any structure that ever was erected on earth. And Solomon had deposited the ark in the place prepared for it. But he was not satisfied with having executed the office which God had so graciously assigned him. He looked for some token of the Divine acceptance, some signal manifestation of the Divine glory. In short, he had built a home for God, and he looked for Him to come and occupy it as His fixed abode and resting place. In this prayer he embraces (1) The notice of God's eye. " Let thine eyes be opened towards this home." Most generally, in the Scriptures, this phrase signifies approba- tion and acceptance, and surely this should be the aim and end of all our actions. What is the applause of men ? and what is our own self- SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 293 complacency, even in reference to moral and benevolent enterprises, unless the purity of our motives and the object of our efforts secure for us the Divine approbation and sanction ? (2) The attention of his ear. By way of eminence the temple was designated "the house of prayer/' and this is the character of every true house of worship ; " it is the place where prayer is wont to be made." It is true we have other places of prayer, such as the closet and the family altar, and happy is the man who delights to retire in secret, to hold private fellowship with his God ; and blessed is that family whose same daily devotions present them to the notice and care of God. But let it be remembered that the same authority which has instituted the duties of the closet and of the family, has established also the obligation of pub- lic and social worship. " Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves," etc. Every other mode of worship is inferior to this. Private prayer is designed principally for personal purposes, family worship for a blessing upon our households and relatives, circumstances and pursuits. Public worship includes all these, and much more. Large and general intercession is reserved for our public assemblies, and to these various and comprehensive petitions, Solomon invokes the attentive ear of heaven. " Let thine ear be attentive," etc. But this embraces 3d. The instruction of his word. " Arise thou and the ark of thy strength." This part of the text may be considered a prayer for spirit- ual instruction, because the ark contained the tables of the Ten Com- mandments and a copy of the whole law, which the priests were ap- pointed to teach. This was essential to the constitution of a temple. In like manner must be placed in our churches and rest there, the ark of the new covenant blessing, i. e. t the gospel of Christ, of which the ark was only a type. What then is the gospel ? This question will find an interesting answer by referring to its type, the ark of the covenant. The ark was a chest containing the law. Its covering was called the propi- tiary or mercy seat, on which was sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices, on the great day of expiation. Above it were figures of cherubs, and between the cherubim was the visible symbol of the divine presence and glory, and may not this type be realized, in that pure gospel which affords such a perfect correspondence. (1) The gospel is law, as much law as any other dispensation of God, and a gospel of mere faith, which makes void the law, and insists not on personal holiness, is not the gospel of the grace of God. (2) The gospel, like the ark, presents law in connection with grace ; an atonement, a sprinkled mercy seat, justification of the guilty, by 294 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. faith. A gospel, therefore, of morals and duties and ceremonies, with- out a sacrifice, faith and pardon is not the gospel prefigured by the Ark of the Covenant. (3) The cherubim at the extremities of the mercy-seat represented invisible powers, angels, and by consequence, a spiritual world and im- mortality. To this the gospel answers, Angels are God's ministers, and the gospel brings us into more immediate connexion with them at death, and associates us with their immortality. Any system, therefore, directly or indirectly opposed to these views, is not our gospel. But, (4) And above all was the Shekinah, that was seen in constant con- nexion with the ark, and most strikingly represents the grand peculiari- ty of Christianity, that God is ever with his truth. This, indeed, is one of the most impressive representations presented by the ark of the Cov- enant ; the presence of God was with it. It is that which gives the gos- pel all its efficiency, as it was that which made the ark, " the ark of his strength." The power of that was not in the wooden chest and its stone, no ! nor in its mercy-seat, overlaid with gold, and its carved cher- ubim ; it was not before these that so many wonders were wrought and victories gained for Israel, but it was before the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel ; God arose and his enemies were discomfited. Thus it is not " in word only " that the gospel must come to us, but in " power," otherwise it would be inefficient and without success. It is, therefore, perfectly clear, that the instructions of the word and the ac- companying presence of its Divine Author were comprehended in Solomon's prayer, and should be embraced in our petitions. But we proceed to observe that Solomon prayed, Fourthly, For a holy and successful priesthood. " Let thy Priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation." This is an allusion made to the garments of the priests, which were white, as emblems of purity. "To be clothed with salvation " or righteousness, signifies that they should have a personal experience of what they teach. This is an in- dispensable qualification. For (1) No man can teach what he does not know, and no man can fully understand spiritual truth but by experience. (2) No man can be properly affected in the discharge of his high and responsible office as a minister, without a deep and constant experience. Heart must seize heart, and this is the soul of all holy eloquence. But, (3) Unconverted ministers have no promise of success. " Lo, I am with you alway," belongs to those who had received Jesus, and were waiting for " the promise of the Father." They received it, and success crowned their labors. But these great blessings for which Solomon SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 295 prayed, and which we now implore for the church in this place, may not be granted unconstitutionally. We will, therefore, call your attention : Secondly. To the implied obligation of the church for whom this prayer was offered ; or, the conditions upon which these bold, yet appro- priate petitions may be answered- (1) That the worship of the temple may be performed under the ap- proving eye of Jehovah. Its worship must be spiritual. Mere lip service can never be accepta- ble to God. The splendid ceremonial of the Jewish worship could not be substituted for the homage of the heart. It is the heart for which God calls, the feeling heart, the sigh of penitence, the whole strength and purpose of our affections. But again, (2) It must be the worship of faith. Such was that of Solomon ; he offered bleeding sacrifices, symbols of faith in the Messiah. None en- ters here but by blood. " Without the shedding of blood there ia no re- mission." The remembered and appropriated sacrifice of Jesus is the worship, which God only can approve. (3) It must be characterized by purity. Not that God will not hear the prayer of a polluted and vile sinner, but that sin must be repented of, abhorred and forsaken. The temple of Solomon had its immense laver ; the laver of regeneration is here made known. " Wash and be clean ; " " put off thy shoes from off thy feet," " cleanse yourselves from all your filthiness," " for the place on which thou standest is holy ground." 2d. The text contains a prayer for the attention of God's ear. This clearly implies that his house is emphatically " a house of pray- er." But what is the character of the prayers to be offered to him ? 1. Personal prayers, arising from a consciousness of guilt, weakness, etc. " Then hear thou from the heavens and forgive the sin of thy people Israel," etc. 2. Prayers for ministers are to be made here in this temple. You cannot refuse them this, when so much depends upon prayer for their success in God's work. 3. Prayers for the people of this place and its vicinity will be made here ; all have a deep interest in this house; they are to be prayed for, here, in this place. 4. Prayer for our land and nation will be offered here. Every Chris- tian is a philanthropist and a patriot. God governs nations and peo- ples. 5. Prayer for the extension of Christ's kingdom will be offered here ; 296 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. all moral and spiritual enterprises will be remembered and presented before the Lord. 3d. The prayer of the text embraces the instruction of the word. " Arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou," etc. From this ut- terance of Solomon, it is legitimately to be inferred, that it is the duty of all who enter the temple of God, to hear his word : (1) With a docile and teachable disposition. " In thy light let me see light," etc. (2) In the spirit of self-application. " Search me, O God, and try me," etc. (3) With the unflinching purpose of practising the great and inter- esting truths we are taught. (4) For the purpose of strengthening our faith and multiplying our comforts. But the prayer of the text embraces in the 4th place, A holy and successful priesthood. What then is the duty of the church in reference to her ministry ? To this we would answer : (1) She should declare her decided disapprobation of the philosophi- zing, compromising minister, however learned, courteous, or eloquent he may be. He is a usurper, and the church's bane. (2) She should honor the faithful minister, though he be not a giant in intellectual strength. His holiness should be his passport to her af- fection and confidence. (3) She should avail herself of all the advantages of a spiritual min- istry, and rejoice in "his goodness, by whom it is given and sustained." III. HOLY ZEAL FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF ZION. And 1 will glorify the house of my glory. Isaiah 60 : latter clause of 7th verse. The inspired penman, the author of this work, is by way of distinction and eminence justly denominated the evangelical prophet. And it is not dim cult to perceive the reason and propriety of the appellation. For although with the other prophets, he occasionally dwells upon the rise and fall of kingdoms and nations, the judgments of God upon the stubborn and rebellious Jews, yet his most common and delightful theme is the coming of the Messiah, his character, offices and vicarious sacri- fice, together with the extent of his reign and the glory of his kingdom. In the chapter with which our text stands connected, the subject is the SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 297 flourishing condition of the church at that period of the Gospel dispen- sation, when the Jews shall be converted and gathered from their disper- sion, and when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and the king- doms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. Such was the prospect which burst upon his enraptured vision, lighted up by the splendor of holy inspiration, that he seems to have been elevated above his usual majesty. This subject is portrayed in the most lively colors and is characterized by a simplicity and dignity which declares the Divinity of its origin and the certainty of its accomplishment. The imagery employed, is of the most magnificent description, and is designed to give a general and luminous view of the glories of that perfect state of the church which we are taught to look for in the latter times. The parallel passage to our text is found in the prophecy of Haggai, 2: 7-9. The superior glory promised in this passage can only have its explanation in the grand scheme of human salvation ushered in by the Messiah's advent, and when Eedemption's price was paid down for a lost world. Both passages are doubtless applicable to the Christian Church, the real house of God ; the glory of which is most certainly greater than any glory which was ever possessed by the Jews. The glory to which these Scriptures have a special allusion, was seen while the second temple was still in existence ; when it was graced with the presence of Him, who was God Incarnate, " Immanuel," " God with us," and who gave himself a ransom for the world. Having taken this cursory and summary view of our subject by way of introduction we shall enter upon its more particular discussion and application according to the following plan, viz. In these words we have, First, The true Church of God figuratively represented. " A house." Second, Its distinguishing application. " The house of my glory." Third, The dignity to which she is exalted. " I will glorify her." I. We shall consider the Church of Christ under the appropriate im- age by which she is characterized " A house." To those who are acquainted with the holy Scriptures it is scarcely necessary to say that the terms " Temple,'* " House "' and " House of the Lord," are frequently and indiscriminately used as descriptive of the universal church, composed as it is of the whole body of true believers. In a Jewish writer, this allusion was peculiarly natural, especially if we consider the importance attached to the house of God in Jerusalem. This image is exceedingly appropriate for several reasons, among which we may name the following : 298 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. 1. A Temple is a place divinely consecrated. As the house of God at Jerusalem was appropriated to sacred uses, so all the members of the Evangelical church are chosen out of, and separated from the world and consecrated to the service of God. " The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself," and they set themselves apart by a voluntary surrender. " One shall say I am the Lord's, another shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his hand to the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." 2. It is the seat of royal residence. A mansion is a dwelling for a nobleman, a palace for a king, a temple for a God. The Church is called the Temple of the Lord because He occupied it. "Know ye not," says the Apostle to the Corinthians, that " ye are the temple of God ; if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy ; for the tem- ple of God is holy, which temple ye are " (1 Cor. 3 : 16, 17). Again, "God hath chosen Zion for his habitation." "This is my rest forever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it" (Psa. 132 : 13-14). The church is also called " the City of our God," which is to be the joy of the whole earth (Psa. 48 : 1-2). 3. It is a place of Spiritual Devotion. There the Lord Jehovah re- ceives spiritual homage, adoration and worship. " Spiritual Sacrifices are offered up." Mark the language of the holy Psalmist ; " One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple" (Psa. 27: 4). Hear him again. In view of this his soul rises into a holy fervor and he exclaims, " How amia- ble are thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts, my soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God " (Psa. 84 : 1-2). Again, " Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee." So the apostle exclaims, "Ye also as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ " (1 Peter 2 : 5). In this house the name of God is reverenced, his laws revered, and his worship performed, while the adoring worshipers ex- claim, " This is none other but the house of God and the gate of heav- en " (Gen. 28 : 17). Second. We shall notice her distinguishing appellation. "The house of my glory." 1. The glory of God is displayed in the ministry of his word, and in the institutions of his house. We have already intimated that the glory of the latter house spoken of by the prophet Haggai, in its ulti- mate and spiritual meaning, regards the glory of the gospel church in SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 299 its authority over that of the Jewish dispensation (greater than the Jewish Church). John bears witness that this " glory was seen taber- nacling in flesh and blood, and they beheld it, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1 : 14). The ark of the covenant was called the glory of the Lord, because it represented " God manifest in the flesh," therefore said the mother of Ichabod, when the ark was taken, " the glory is departed." And truly may it be said of that church, where the doctrines of the cross are either discarded or corrupted, " the glory is departed." Jesus Christ, and him crucified, constitutes the centre and sum of the gospel system. When Christ ap- peared on earth, then the " brightness of the Divine glory and the ex- press image of Jehovah's Person " shone with a peculiar splendor. When the pious and devout Simeon took up his infant Lord in his arms he called him " the Light who should lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2: 32). The doctrines of the mediatorial scheme, when unfolded in their universal adaptation, spiritual amplitude and moral tendencies, constitute the glory of the church. See this subject luminously set forth in the apostle's admirable contrast in 2d Cor. 3: 7-11. 2. In the manifestations of his presence. The visible symbolical ap- pearance of God, called by the Jews the " Shekinah," was in the most holy place between the wings of the Cherubim above the Ark. It ap- pears, therefore, that the first Temple was the dwelling-place of God, for here he manifested his glory between the Cherubim, and it was his con- stant residence for more than four hundred years. In gospel times, the manifestation of the Divine presence is the ministration of the Spirit giving efficiency to the preached word, and spiritually to all the services and privileges of the church. With respect to the ministry, the Spirit's hallowing influences are comprehended in that soul-stirring promise, " Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." And in regard to the membership of the church they are explained in the prom- ise, " Where two or three are met together in my name there am I in the midst of them." Thus he glorifies his house by his spiritual presence. Third. God is glorified in the members of his household. 1. By spiritual participation. They derive all their excellencies from him. They perform all their duties by him. They ascribe all the glory to him. 2. By Spiritual Conformity. " Being changed into the same image," they adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. As ministers we contend from Sabbath to Sabbath that our doctrines " are according to godliness," yet after all, we mtfst come to the written Word for our proofs. " Ye are our living epistles read and known of all men." 300 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. 3. By the cheerfulness of their lives. We hear one of the Old Testa- ment saints exclaim, " Thy comforts delight my soul," again, " Thy word was found of me, aud I did eat it, and it was the joy and rejoicing of my heart," again, " Thy statutes have been my song in the house of my pil- grimage." Hear also the language of the New Testament saints. " Our rejoicing is the testimony of a good conscience." " Who comforteth us in all our tribulations." "Sorrowful yet always rejoicing. 1 ' See this cheer- fulness exemplified in our time. In the excellent Payson's Memoir, in a letter to his sister. In the life of the learned and pious Adam Clarke. See Life, vol. I. last page. 4. In their willing and patient sufferings. Peter and John " rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name's sake." Hear Paul's own account of his sufferings. " In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft," etc. (2d Cor. 11 : 23-28). Witness also his patience and resignation. " I take plea- sure in infirmities, reproaches," etc. See also the testimony of the mar- tyrs, etc. 5. By their public profession of his name. The church receives light that she may reflect it " Arise, shine for thy light is come," etc. " Who will rise up for me against the evil doer ? " A Christian is compared to a " candle which is lighted, not to be put under a bushel, but on a can- dlestick, that it may give light to all that are in the house." Christians are called " fellow-citizens with the saints." They belong to a holy state of laws and immunities. They join in communion as to the privileges of religion ; in co-operation as to its duties ; and in sympathy as to its conditions. 6. By their exertions, for their promotion of his cause. In the diligent use of all the various talents and capacities. Third. The dignity to which she is exaked. I will glorify her. As God is glorified, in and by the church, so the church shall be glori- fied by him. 1. In the augmentation of her numbers, see Isa. 60 : 5, 8, 11, 22, Isa. 49 : 19, 20, 21. 2. In the increase of her light, see Zech. 14 : 7-8. Isa. 60 : 20. Isa. 60 : 1, 2, 3. 3. In the advancement of her purity, see Isa. 62 : 2, 3, 12. Isa. 59 : 21. 4. In the subjugation of her enemies, see Isa. 60: 12-14. 5. In the multiplication of her triumphs, see Isa. 49 : 23, 24, 25. Isa 60: 15-16. In her triumphant state she shall be glorified. SKETCHES OP SERMONS. 301 1. In the vastness of her numbers. 2. In the completeness of their deliverance. 3. In the grandeur of her elevation. " A Temple filled with Godhead, its walls his attributes, its roof his majesty, its gates his eternity, and to worship in this temple, to live in this temple, to worship God in God," forever. 4. In the beauty of her residence. " The heavenly temple will present no aspect of material perishable matter, but one brilliant manifestation of the Godhead. Its walls com- posed of the sapphire, and the cloud, and in the solemn grandeur, and the splendid consecration of righteousness, and truth, and justice, and love, and kindness, mingling themselves for its roof, shall forever shield the household of God's elect to all eternity." 5. In the eternity of her joys. They are everlasting, they will know no diminution or change as long as eternal ages shall continue to roll for ever and ever. rv. THE NATURE AND PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL. And there they preached the gospel. Acts 14 : 7. It was no part of the object of the sacred writers to gratify public curiosity either by scientific exhibitions or appeals to the imagination. It is true they inform us that the great Apostle of the Gentiles once stood amid the beauties of Athenian glory ; but they tell us of nothing con- nected with this visit but the agitation and grief of his soul on witnessing the superstitions and idolatry of the people. The statues and the temples the very fragments of which, in some minds, produce an almost idolatrous reverence, and which were then in the autumnal charms of their vicious loveliness were by them passed over unnoticed. And now, when the sacred historian relates the circum- stances of their visit to several other Grecian cities, it is remarkable that every thing is passed over in silence but one solitary fact, and that the very fact which other historians would have thought beneath their notice to record. Their cities, temples, science, philosophy, all would have been without attractions, and would probably have been passed over without a notice if it could have been said, "There they preached the gospel." Here is a fact, my brethren, which doubtless at this moment awakens a deep interest both in heaven and hell. Many a glorified spirit in 302 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. heaven and many a lost one in hell are looking back to these cities, and with very different emotions are saying, " There they preached the gos- pel." And it is with this fact that we design to associate the solemnities of this morning. We are commencing transactions here of which, through eternity, the short, the simple, the sublime record will be the language of the text. The memorial of this house is not to be preserved as a place of splendid architecture, oratorical display, or of ceremonial pomp, but as a place where "the truth as it is in Jesus'* is preached in its purity; as a place of which it may be said with emphasis, " There they preached the gos- pel." And now, as this church may be considered as a new territory to be ceded to the " King of kings " and " Lord of lords," you will allow me this day to unfurl the flag of salvation and claim it for Christ, and in hia name possess it. In discoursing on this subject, which by many may be thought to be somewhat trite, I shall first offer a few remarks upon the nature of the gospel ; secondly, attempt to show what it is to preach the gospel ; and thirdly, endeavor to prove the paramount importance of preaching the gospel. First. We will endeavor to explain the nature of the gospel. In simple etymology the term means "glad tidings." In Christian theology the term signifies "the glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord." It will perhaps be best explained by a reference to the various designations given to it by the sacred, writers. And 1. It is called "the gospel of the grace of God," because the whole sys- tem originated in free and unmerited favor. 2. It is called " the everlasting gospel," because it occupied the coun- sels of the Divine mind from eternity, remains the same amidst all the changes and revolutions of time, and will extend its benefits over the ages and cycles of the future world. 3. It is called "the glorious gospel of the blessed God," because it manifests and illustrates all the attributes combined in the moral char- acter of Jehovah in all their harmony and glory. 4. It is called " the gospel of the kingdom," because it is the basis on which the whole kingdom of the Redeemer rests. It includes in it the Divinity of Christ, the atoning sacrifice that was offered for our redemp- tion, the justification of our persons in the sight of God, and the entire renovation and sanctification of our natures by the influence and power of the Holy Spirit. Secondly. We shall attempt to show what it ia to preach the gospel SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 303 summarily. It is to explain its nature, exhibit its blessings, and to en- force its obligations. It is not to exhibit a mere system of morals, how- ever far it may be removed from the cold and cheerless systems of Epic- tetus and Seneca; not to dwell upon the high and mysterious doctrines of Predestination. We remark 1. It is to exhibit the fact of the Saviour's crucifixion, and the design of that fact. I say there must be a union of the fact and the design, other- wise it would not be gospel. Separate the death of Christ from its desiga as a vicarious offering for sin, or exhibit it as the closing scene of an il- lustrious martyr, or an unimpeachable witness of the truth, and there is no gospel in the message. 2. It is to exhibit Christ in the Divinity of his character and the effi- cacy of his death. The Divinity of Christ is essential to his atonement. An atonement properly understood signifies an equivalent either in kind or degree. The sufferings of Christ were not an equivalent in kind, but in degree and effect. 3. It is to exhibit the death of Christ as the only foundation of a lost sinner's hope. It procures his pardon and restores him to the Divine favor. 4. It is to exhibit the sacrifice of Christ as the only means in the hands of the Spirit of sanctifi cation. It not only brings the pardon of a sov- ereign, but the healing balm of the physician. 5. It is to exhibit Christ in the prevalency of his intercession. " We have not an High Priest," &c. i 6. It is to preach Christ as the Resurrection and Eternal Life to all that believe. These are the great fundamental truths which make up the gospel. 7. It is to exhibit the invitation of mercy as co-extensive with the as- pect of the atonement, and to exhibit both as co-extensive with the reach of human guilt and extent of misery in the world. Third. The paramount importance of preaching the gospel. 1. This may be seen in the grandeur of its ultimate design. This de- sign is nothing commercial, nothing scientific, nothing political, nothing philosophical. The minister of Christ, when preaching the gospel of the Redeemer, is infinitely above the philosopher in his study, the statesman in his cabinet, the traveler in his observations. The noblest employ- ments and enterprise of man, compared with his, are but as the puerili- ties of children or the trifles of a moment. The great design of the gos- pel ministry is the salvation of immortal souls, in connection with the manifestation of the Divine glory. 2. In its actual benefits, individually and collectively. Look at its 304 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. effects on individual character. It knows no exclusiveness. It melts down the most incorrigible. It saves the most abandoned. In view of the glorious efficacy of the gospel, there are no desperate cases. Then see its effects upon communities : how it meliorates human condition, softens the asperities of our nature, and gives peace to our consciences and rest to our souls. In a word, how it elevates society, and ennobles human nature, and dignifies human beings. And who can tell what its restraining influence upon society is generally? The gospel is the only conservator of public morals. But for this our fair country would be soon overcome with profligacy and licentiousness. 3. In its astonishing adaptations to accomplish these effects, nothing can be substituted for it. Intellect, science, eloquence, none of these will do without the gospel ; and however they may serve as auxiliaries, the gospel, even without them, is adapted as a means to an end. It is in itself " the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 ' 4. By a reference to the history of its effects. Passing over the ante- diluvian, the patriarchal, the ceremonial and the prophetical ages of the Old Testament history, we notice the effects of apostolic preaching. Most emphatically may it be said that wherever souls were converted, pagan temples were abandoned, idols were cast to the " moles and bats." "There they preached the gospel, 1 ' and proclaimed Christ as the author of salvation. Persecutors endeavored to stop their career ; but the blood of the martyr illustrated the truth of the gospel. His dying groans gave force to his testimony, and his truth survived himself in the hands of those who were converted around his scaffold or at his stake. But after a time the Church formed an alliance with earthly power. The dark ages came on, and the darker night of superstition covered the hearts of men and spread spiritual death over half the known world. But what was it, when these had rolled away, that struck down a third part of that colossal fabric of Roman superstition, and cracked and un- settled all the rest, beyond the architecture of Eome to make it sound or substantial again? It was the preaching of the gospel from the lips of Luther that revolutionized the whole continent of the Eastern world. Leaving other ages dark and bloody and troubled, what was it, when the Church, having gained the act of Toleration, used it as a downy pillow on which it fell asleep? What was it that aroused her from her downy slumbers? The preaching of Wesley and Whitefield. Then were energies awakened in the Church which will never sleep again until the ushering in of the Millenial glory and the universal reign of the King of righteousness. See then the importance of the gospel. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 305 We close by adding two or three inferences : 1. We learn from this subject what constitutes the chief interest, im- portance and glory of places of public worship. 2. We learn the legitimate sphere and chief glory of the pulpit. 3. We learn the obligations to provide places of public worship and to sustain them by the presence, the prayers, and the means of the wor- shippers. V. EVANGELICAL PREACHING. Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labor; striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. Col. 1 : 28, 29. In this chapter, which is the opening of the epistle, we have the Apostle's usual inscription and salutation to his Christian Brethren at Colosse. He then gives a very high commendation to the Colossians, for their faith and love, and a very solemn prayer for their advancement and perseverance in grace. He then proceeds to enumerate, in a sum- mary way, those great fundamental truths of Christianity which had been instrumental in their salvation. One of these was the essential Divinity of Christ, which lies at the foundation of the Christian religion, and perhaps there is not a more powerful vindication, nor a more clear and full exhibition of this vital doctrine to be found in the sacred record than that which is here set forth by our Apostle. But he not only gives the Divine character of Redemption's glorious Author, but describes the work of Redemption as it flows from the sympathies of the human nature of Christ, as well as the perfections of the Divine nature. This redemption as it is received and enjoyed in the Church, consists, accord- ing to St. Paul, in the remission of sins, and reconciliation to God. But this regards its application. Its procuring cause is the blood of Christ; its efficient cause is the Holy Spirit, called here the work of the Father, be- cause the Spirit of grace is the Spirit of the Father. It is by his agency that the atonement is applied. And it is by his mighty efficiency we are "delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the king- dom of his dear Son," and rendered " meet for the inheritance of the saints in light." Here then is an epitome of the whole gospel. The Godhead of Christ, a vicarious atonement, the sensible influences of the Spirit, and these 20 306 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. appropriated by a loving faith, and practically developed by a perseve- ring obedience, constitute the ministry of Reconciliation, of which Paul was a minister, and which office he so magnifies, as to declare himself willing to " labor and suffer reproach, and even to die in the prosecution of it." Nor was he influenced more by the desire of applause, than the fear of reproach. He was no self-seeker nor man-pleaser in the things pertaining to God and salvation. He knew the adaptations of the Chris- tian system, and he availed himself of them. With the most suitable instructions, he mingled the most solemn and unpalatable warnings. Though Christ was the sum of all his ministrations, yet Calvary's bless- ings were never offered, where Sinai's terrors had not prepared the way for their acceptance." Whom we preach, warning every man and teach- ing every man in all wisdom," &c., &c. We have in these words, First, the burden of an evangelical minis- try. " Whom we preach." The Apostles preached Christ, and so we should preach Christ. 1. In the dignity of his person, as " over all God blessed forever." 2. In the glory of his character, as Mediator and Saviour. 3. In the condescension of his grace. " Though he was rich yet for our sakes," &c., &c. 4. In the wonders of his love. " Behold what manner of love," &c., &c. 5. In the efficacy of His death. " He is able to save to the uttermost all that come'' unto God by Him. 6. In the prevalence of His intercessions. " If any man sin, we have an Advocate," &c. 7. In the character of a judge, whose decisions shall be in righteous- ness. Second The best method of rendering the preaching of Christ suc- cessful : (1) Warning every man. In doing this, 1. The authority of the Lawgiver must be demonstrated. 2. The purity of this law displayed. 3. The depravity of the heart portrayed. 4. The guilt of voluntary offences detected and exposed. 5. And the awful sanctions of the law arrested and enforced. To give the greater effect to these solemn exhibi- tions of truth, the faithful minister will derive motives to repentance and reformation from the character of our probation, Divine threatening against sin, the near approach of death, the solemnities of the judgment, and the destinies of Eternity. 2. " And teaching every man in all wisdom." In this system of in- struction will be included : 1. The nature of true repentance. 2. The nature and necessity of evangelical faith. 3. What is implied in the blessings of justification, regeneration and entire sanctification. 4. The SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 307 witness of the Spirit, direct and indirect. 5. A faithful exhibition of the Scripture doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. 3. "Striving according to his working," &c. This clearly regards the spirit of our ministry. There is not so much difference between the thoughts and arrangements of one man and another, as in the impression and effect. How dry, devoid of feeling and uninteresting is the one case, how warm, touching and saving is the other. In what then does this art consist? It is to avoid a worldly spirit, to walk with God alone, to keep conscience alive and awake, and to maintain a deep sense of the value of the soul. It is to speak from the heart, to speak experimentally, to speak under a mixture of solemnity and tender feelings ; in a word, it is to speak with the Holy Ghost, sent down from heaven in answer to " strong crying and tears." When such a man, under such an influence, engages in his work, he enters his congregation, as Aaron went into the Tabernacle to minister, when the precious ointment had been poured upon his head, and ran down to the skirts of his garments ; then it is we think of the language of our Christian bard : " When one that holds communion with the skies, Has filled his urn, where those pure waters rise, And once more mingles with us meaner things, 'Tis e'en as if an angel shook his wings; Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide, That tells us whence his treasures are supplied ; So when a ship well-freighted with the stores, The sun matures on India's spicy shores, Has dropped her anchor, and her canvass furled, In some safe haven of our western world, 'Tvvere vain inquiring to what port she went, The gale informs us, laden with the scent." Third The grand result at which it aims. " That we may present every man perfect," &c. 1. That every man may be thoroughly instructed in the mysteries of Christ's spiritual kingdom. 2. That we may present every man perfect in the day of the Lord Jeaus, not absolutely perfect, nor in the perfection of angels, nor of Adam in Paradise, but " perfect in Christ Jesus." 3. This perfection includes " The crucifixion of the old man," supreme love to God, a maturity of all the Christian graces ; in short, it is light in the understanding, correctness, spirituality in the judgment, acquies- 308 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. cence in the will, peace in the conscience, harmony and order in the affections, and purity in the life and conversation ; where all these spiritual excellencies meet and combine there is doubtless " a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light," and it shall be the unspeak- able privilege of the faithful minister, though he may be destined for a while to go forth laboring, " weeping " and suffering, ultimately to "return again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him," and these seals to his ministry shall constitute " his crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus." VI. THE WEEPING HUSBANDMAN. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves WITH HIM. Psalm 126 : 6. The Holy Scriptures are no less remarkable for their spirituality and simplicity than for their majesty and sublimity. They abound with figures and metaphors ; and perhaps this method of conveying spiritual instruction is best adapted to our limited capacities. The inspired pen- men frequently borrow their most striking illustrations from those ob- jects in nature with which their countrymen are most familiar, and this mode of teaching has the sanction of the Great Teacher himself. In one single chapter we find no less than six parables, in all of which he illustrates the character of the gospel dispensation and the operations of divine grace upon the human heart. And among all his parables, perhaps, none is more replete with spiritual instruction than that of the sower. The allusion to the science of agriculture, is very frequent in the sacred oracles, and this is the al- lusion in the text before us. Whatever may be the reference in the text we feel ourselves perfectly authorized to give it a spiritual application. The probable primary reference is to the sufferings and the sorrows of the Israelitish nation in captivity, and their glorious deliverance, and return from it. In the spiritual use we 'shall make of it, our attention will be directed, 1st, to the Seed ; 2d, the Sower ; and 3d, the Harvest. first. We notice the resemblance between the science of agriculture and the spiritual cultivation of the human heart. 1.) The natural seed has a principle or germ of life in it ; so the gos- pel is the " power of God unto salvation ; " it is the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, etc. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 309 2.) The ground must be prepared to receive it ; so the fallow-ground of the heart must be broken up, etc. 3. ) The natural seed must be mixed with earth in order to fruitful- ness ; so the gospel must be mixed with faith in them that hear it, etc. 4.) To promote vegetation, growth and maturity, the friendly shower and the genial rays of the sun are necessary ; so in order to spiritual growth and maturity, we need spiritual influence, and the genial rays of the Sun of Righteousness. 5.) In order to perfection, the seed and plants must be guarded against the ravages of devouring beasts ; so holy vigilance and godly discipline are essential to the preservation and maturity of grace. Second. The character and qualifications of the gospel seedmen apply these first to ministers. 1.) He bears precious seed in his heart, in his life, and on his tongue. 2.) His credentials are of divine authority, etc. 3.) His commission is universal, etc. 4.) His ministry is divinely sanctioned, etc. 5.) He goes forth "he itinerates" he runs to and fro, his object is to increase knowledge. 6.) He goes forth weeping, impressed with the value of immortal souls, conscious of their danger and intensely longing for their salva- tion. Let us apply this also to pious parents, children and godly neighbors. Third. The glorious harvest. Contrast the seed-time with the harvest. 1.) We go forth to labor, we return to rest, etc. 2.) We go forth weeping, we shall return rejoicing, etc. 3.) We go forth with doubts and fears, we shall return with certainty of having seals to our ministry, etc. 4.) We go scattering precious seed ; we shall return bringing our sheaves with us. Is not the doctrine of future recognition taught here? " his sheaves," etc. And shall not the faithful minister know they are his? And will they not be his crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus ? Inferences: 1.) This life is our seed-time ; 2.) We must sow in tears; 3.) The joys of harvest are certain. 310 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. VII. THE MINISTER'S COMMAND AND DUTY. He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted. Isaiah 61 : 2d clause of 1st verse. That these words primarily and specially refer to Christ in the exer- cise of his personal ministry admits of no doubt, for he quotes them in Luke 4 : 18-19, and applies them to himself. But that they may have a more extended application, and belong to all true ministers of the New Covenant is equally clear, for of that ministry which he es- tablished in the Christian Church he was both the Author and the Model. Among the most striking characteristics of this ministry are its purity and its benevolence. While it makes no compromise with the unsanctified and unregenerate dispositions and inclinations of human nature, it offers its commiserations to all the exigencies of our suffering humanity. It has purity to impart and blessings to bestow. But the enjoyment of these blessings depends upon the personal appropriation of its precepts and purity to our heart and life. The message of mercy in the text is not to the proud, unbending and im- penitent sinner, but to the broken-hearted and sorrowful penitent. Between it and the self-righteous Pharisee, and the presumptuous Antinomian, there will be interposed the barrier of a perpetual resis- tance, but to the heart of the " weary and heavy laden " it will find an easy and welcome access. By him that is ready to perish it will be hailed as " good news from a far country." It is the " wisdom of God," and none but true disciples will prize it. It is the power of God, on which conscious impotency will gladly repose itself. It is the " right- eousness of faith," in which alone the repentant sinner may find pardon. It is the gospel of salvation, and like its divine Author, comes to seek and to save them which were lost. The whole human race is involved in one general curse, for which the gospel of Christ presents the only means for its removal and for our deliverance, and it is only in propor- tion as man feels the need of Christ that he will be constrained to apply to Him for salvation and deliverance from the powers and effects of sin. We may further remark that there is not only the stamp of a divine original upon the message of mercy itself, but those who claim to be its dispensers must be divinely commissioned. No man is at liberty to select for himself the office of the ministry as a mere profession, or to SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 311 intrude himself into the priest's office for a living. Nothing short of a divine authority can warrant the assumption of this holy office. " He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted." In the discussion of this subject, two distinct propositions claim out attention, and let us contemplate : I. THE TRUE AND LEGITIMATE SOURCE OF MINISTERIAL CALLING : 1. Ministers may not enter upon this work on their own responsibility. A thus saith the Lord, is necessary to every man that takes upon him the solemn office and work of the ministry, etc. 2. They must not be influenced by the hope of ease, honor or pecuniary reward, "not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind." 3. God claims the right to select His own instruments ; it was so under the law, and in the organization of the Christian Church. That preroga- tive has never been delegated to others. It must therefore remain with Him in whom it is inherent. 4. Every individual called of God to this work will find the following facts to exist in his experience : (a) an ardent desire to promote the glory of God and the salvation of souls ; (6) a deep and abiding conviction that he is thus called; (c) increasing comfort and satisfaction of heart in yield- ing to his impressions, and great distress in resisting them ; (d) the con- currence and encouragement of the Church; (e) some liberty and success in his efforts. We claim that every true minister must be divinely called and sent, or in other words, commissioned of God, etc. He must look for his authority above Councils, Presbyteries, Confer- ences, and even honors of Episcopal prerogative. His lips must be touched with the living coal, etc. " The Spirit of the Lord God must be upon him." Let not the church in her refinements and improvements- take this work out of the hands of Christ. Let us consent to no policy which will destroy or in any sense weaken this vital principle. Let us do nothing, consent to nothing, that would make the Christian ministry a thing to be bought and sold. If we do, the strength and beauty of our Zion will depart. The angel of Truth will proclaim, f alien f fallen f fa lien! Ichabod will be written on our walls, and our true glory departed forever. And what a source of comfort is here. " God hath sent me." I am an ambassador for God ; I am engaged in his work. He will therefore sus- tain me ; I shall not labor in vain. O, for a ministry like this, divinely instituted, shielded and sanctioned. May it be preserved to us in per- petuity, etc. But we pass now to notice, 312 LIFE OF EEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. II. THE INTERESTING WORK TO WHICH SUCH A MINISTRY is CALLED : " To bind up the broken-hearted" 1st, There is a broken-heartedness produced by the convicting influences of the divine Spirit. Man is naturally hard, insensible, unfeeling. Mercies are slighted, judgments despised. Talk to him about God, his soul, heaven, hell. Repeat to him the story of the cross, and he turns away with indif- ference, perhaps with disgust. But suppose him under the influence of conviction ; how changed his feelings. What fear, sorrow and distress. Listen to his language, " O wretched man," etc. Tell me not of the wormwood and the gall of a heart literally pierced. There is no bitter- ness, no agony like this. " But He hath sent me to bind up " heal, etc. 1. By exhibiting thefreeness and fulness of the Atonement ; the heart's relief from sorrow ; the balm of Gilead to bind up the broken heart. 2. By a full and affectionate presentation of the promises of the gospel, and O how many and multiplied they are. 3. By referring to scriptural examples of divine mercy, taking care to present, in connection, the proper guard against presumption and despair by holding up Christ. But 2d. There is a broken-heartedness which is the result of increased light, a clear view of the bitter fountain of depravity, a deep and painful sense of the existence of unsanctified feeling, and those inbred corruptions de- nominated by the apostle as the roots of bitterness. And who among us has not felt them? Who has not often exclaimed " Prone to wander?" etc. Take away this bent to sinning. Who has not mourned over his errors ? " Bind up," etc., 1. By making known the all-sufficiency of the Atonement. Its extent not only to guilt, but pollution. "It is the will of God, even your sanctifica- tion." " The blood of Jesus Christ," etc. " The God of all grace," etc. 2. By making known the simplicity and power of saving faith as the only condition of salvation. 3. By insisting on it as the privilege of all Christians, and to be exer- cised and enjoyed now. But 3d. There is a broken-heartedness produced by the sufferings and afflic- tions of life. Human life is a chequered scene at best. It is a picture of dark and gloomy shades. There are times when the heart must be left alone, when even friendship's softest sympathies can be scarcely said to alleviate. "Bind up," etc., 1. By the assurances of divine help, protection and the abiding presence of God. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 313 2. By the doctrine of a special providence. In the Divine Administration there is no such thing as chance, no casualties. " Afflictions spring not from the dust." " The very hairs of your head are all numbered." " Consider the lilies of the field," etc. 3. By insisting, that the various occurrences of life are not accidental or detached events, but parts of a general plan, of a great whole. 4. By urging the fact that even the afflictions of life are necessary means for the improvement of the saints in virtue and grace. Man was made for suffering as well as for action. It is his to struggle with difficulties, to brave the tempest, to endure the pain. And thus by magnanimity, heroism and patience he reaches the goal and receives the crown. " If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him." 5. By the blessed assurance that " our light afflictions, which are but for a moment," etc. We close with a few inferences : I. How awful the responsibilities which are attached to the sacred office. Even though we rejoice in its beneficence, we have occasion to do it, with fear and trembling. II. How elevated and ennobling the employment of a Christian minister. Saving souls, building up waste places, searching out the poor, the halt, the lame, the blind, and pointing the wayfaring man to Jesus the Saviour. III. How wisely adapted is this ministry to the wants and exigencies of our fallen and suffering humanity everywhere. Preaching is a religious ordinance, a divinely instituted means of grace. " Preach the word," etc., says the Apostle, and in another place he says, " We preach not our- selves/' etc. O the sin of preaching ourselves. The essay sermon, the fugitive sermon, the quaint subject, are not what the people want. The multitude are famishing for the bread of life, while the pulpit teems with the chaff of a popular gospel, and souls are going down to ruin amid the splendors of the intellectualism that is the boasted sentiment of this day. God and Christ are not held up before the people in their true light, and if alluded to, it is by way of comparison to some new discovery which comes abreast with the advance interests which are developed in the march of the ages. O for a Heaven-instituted ministry, a God-called ministry. fof a ministry that feel the burden and care of souls. Men of God ! Women of God ! Pray for this ! plead for this ! demand this I A ministry that separates itself from all secular pursuits, from all the speculations of the day, whether under the covert of religion or other- wise. This is your right ; remove the candlestick that has no light and 314 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. no candle to be lighted. for a revival of evangelical piety ! A renewal of the fire that touched prophets' lips and caused them to utter words that sunk deep into men's souls, etc. VIII. MISSIONARY SERMON. The field is the world ; the good seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares are the children of the wicked ONE. Matt. 13 : 38. The ministry of the blessed Redeemer was characterized by spirituality and simplicity. And both of these are essential qualifications to an evangelical ministry. Indeed, the former always implies the latter. Where there is most of spirituality, there is always least of meretricious ornament and philosophical subtilty. External splendor and ceremonial pomp illy comport with a single eye and purity of purpose. Hence our Lord, in explaining the mysteries of his spiritual kingdom, borrows his most striking illustrations from those objects in nature with which his hearers were most familiar. In the chapter we find no less than six parables, all of which are illus- trative of the character of the Christian dispensation, and of the oper- ation of divine grace in the human heart. Our text is a part of the explanation and application of the parable of the wheat and tares. " The field is the world." From which we gather that, unlike the Jew- ish, the Christian religion was designed to be universal. It is at war with a spirit of selfish exclusiveness, whether it be found in the unwar- rantable assumption of prelatical successionists, or in the revolting dog- mas of unconditional predestination. So expansive is its benevolence that it can only be bounded by the miseries of a degenerate world, and so strong its sympathies that it ac- knowledges no insurmountable obstacles, save the obstinacy of the hu- man will. Such is the character of the Christian system. The world is the sphere of its operation. Our subject is appropriate to the present occa- sion, and in pursuance of its high and holy import, we shall endeavor to sustain and urge the claims of the missionary cause." In doing this we shall adopt the observational mode of discussion, and First, The field for missionary effort is large and extensive. 1. It can be limited only by the extent of sin and misery. 2. It is co-extensive with the merits and efficacy of the atonement. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 315 3. It must be measured by the far-reaching authority of the original commission. "Go ye into all the world," etc. Second, The field to an alarming extent remains uncultivated. 1. A large portion of it is in a state of utter spiritual destitution, etc. 2. Even in those portions of it where cultivation has commenced the instrumentalities and efforts of the Church bear scarcely any adequate proportion to the demand for laborers, etc. Third, It is a field, the cultivation of which must necessarily call for a large amount of labor, sacrifice and pecuniary means, etc. 1. The missionary himself must be unwearied in his labors and toils, etc. 2. He must~be pre-eminently a man of self-denial and sacrifice, etc. 3. The Church must look upon her missionaries as her "Messengers,*' and furnish the means necessary to sustain them, etc. Fourth, The field is one in the cultivation of which great difficulties are presented : 1. In the obstacles to be removed, such as ignorance, idolatries and superstitious rites and the most degrading sensual habits. 2. In the slowness of vegetation, arising mainly out of the unfriend- liness of the soil. 3. In the exposure of the crops. This is particularly great in all heathen countries. Fifth, It is, nevertheless, a field of great promise. 1. The certainty of ultimate success is based upon the sure word of prophecy, and the unfailing promises of God, etc. 2. The successful results of past efforts furnish the strongest guarantee of future prosperity. 3. Remarkable providential interpositions in favor of missionary en- terprise, are highly encouraging indications of success, and they should serve to nerve the heart and animate the hopes of the Church in this glorious work. IX. MACEDONIAN CALL MISSIONARY SERMON. And a vinion appeared to Paul in the night; there stood a' man of Mace- donia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. Acts 16:9. " It is not in man to direct his steps." " The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." This sentimen t is the language of Inspira- 316 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. tion^and is confirmed by universal experience. And it is one which should be embalmed in the memory and affections of every Christian. It should guide him in all his pursuits, regulate him in his business, and exert upon him a salutary restraint in the exercise of his judgment, and of his passions. Man is a creature of extremes, and is always in danger of running into enthusiasm or infidelity, of believing either too little or too much. The age in which we live presents a fearful exhibition of both of these extremes. And perhaps this is not to be wondered at, for the one nat- urally engenders the other. The enthusiast substitutes visions, impulses and doubtful traditions for " the sure word of prophecy." To avoid these fanatical vagaries the infidel discards religion " as a cunningly devised fable," and plunges into a cold and heart-searing liberalism. What cannot be interpreted by the dim flicker of human reason, he unceremoniously rejects. While the true Christian, anxious to avoid both these extremes, says : " I will hear what God the Lord will speak ! " Thus acted the great apostle to the Gentiles. He had, as we learn from the context, formed the purpose of going into Proconsular Asia, " but the Spirit suffered him not." In a vision of the night he was directed to go to Macedonia. These are certainly remarkable facts. But why is Paul thus arrested and diverted from his purpose ? Two solutions have been proposed to this question. One is that the people to whom he had purposed to preach the gospel were not as yet ripe for it. The other is that he might go into Europe. And it cannot be questioned that he was the very man to gage and grapple with the European mind of his times. This was a valid reason for keeping him out of Asia. It does not follow, however, that he was given to Europe at the expense of Asia. It is extremely probable that Asia had, at that time, the services of some of the other apostles. For if they were not in Asia, where were they ? We can in no other way account for one half of the apostles' staff at that time. They were not dead. We cannot trace them in the spheres of Paul, Peter or John. We cannot believe that they were idle, or less faithful to their commission than their brethren. Instead, then, of attributing this sudden arrest to a myste- rious sovereignty, is it not more natural and pious to suppose that those apostles whom we cannot trace in the wide circle of what we call Apos- tolic Churches were in the spheres beyond it, and occupying this very field ? Be this as it may, our text teaches us, First, That the circumstances and condition of the heathen world im- peratively demand help. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 317 1. They are grossly ignorant and need to be enlightened. To turn them from darkness, etc. 2. They are idolatrous and superstitious, and need to be turned from " dumb idols to serve," etc. 3. They are barbarous, and their very habitations are those of cru- elty. And nothing can tame their savage ferocity but the mild and peace-giving gospel of Christ. Secondly, Their necessities, in many instances, are apparent to them- selves, and deeply and painfully felt. They desire and call for help. 1. This Macedonian cry is heard from many of the tribes of Northern and Southern India, the isles of the sea, and even from the Celestial empire itself. 2. This is also true of the most of the tribes of Indians on our frontiers, and of several others beyond the Rocky Mountains. 3. It is emphatically the case with whole tribes of the nations, both of Southern and Western Africa. Thirdly, The Christian Church is under the strongest obligations to afford the help required. 1. These obligations are imposed upon her by the original commis- sion, " Go ye into all the world," etc. 2. They are confirmed and urged by the adaptations of the gospel. 3. They are of the very nature and genius of our holy religion. 4. Gratitude to God for our personal advantage urges these obliga- tions upon us. X. THE NATURE AND EFFECT8 OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATIONS AS PE- CULIAR TO THE GOSPEL DISPENSATION. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring : And they shall spring ftp AS among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, /AM the LORD'S ; and another shall call HIMSELF by the name of Ja- cob ; and another shall subscribe WITH his hand unto the LORD, and surname HIMSELF by the name of Israel. Isa. 44 : 8-5. The author of these words is not infrequently, nor improperly called by ministers and expositors of divine truth, for the sake of distinction, the Evangelical Prophet. This appellation has been given him on ac- count of his clear conceptions and striking illustrations of evangelical subjects, such as the "Saviour's incarnation," the " promulgation of the 318 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. s gospel," the " pouring out of the Holy Spirit," the " calling of the Gen- tiles," and the " general establishment of Christ's kingdom among men." He has also been called the Demosthenes of the Hebrews. The reason why this name has been applied to him, may be found in his superior elo- quence, the sublimity of his sentiments, his florid and lofty style of speech, his glowing imagery, his splendid diction, his bold and graphic delineation of sublime events, his minute descriptions of the picturesque and beautiful and the importance of the station he occupies in the church. This connection of interesting matter, with beautiful illustrations, which characterizes the whole prophecy, is particularly observable in the text. The holy prophet, in his contemplations upon gospel times, kindles into a holy rapture himself, and in his prophetic descriptions, he cannot fail to enrapture the evangelical believer. In these words, he makes an exhibit of that rich cluster of evangelical blessings, which shall mark the latter day glory. The diffusion and profusion of spiritual communications, with their excellency and extent, as they are received and enjoyed by the Christian church are clearly ex- pressed, and happily illustrated. The figures employed are highly sig- nificant, wisely selected and well applied. But that this subject may be interesting, instructive and edifying we must be more particular in its discussion. We shall therefore notice : I. THE SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATIONS HERE PROMISED : (1) They are suitable, adapted to our wants and necessities, as water to the thirsty, or floods upon the dry ground, copious and abundant, satisfy- ing. (2) They are plentiful and exhaustless. This is also implied in this figurative representation " waters poured upon the thirsty, and floods upon dry ground." (3) They are diffusive and extensive, embracing 1. Those to whom the promise was first made (Jews). 2. Their children, whether Jew or Gen- tile, Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free, etc. 3. Those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call. They shall be universal, etc. II. THE EFFECTS THAT THESE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE DESIGNED TO PRODUCE : (1) A high state of spiritual prosperity. 1. The fruit shall spring up SKETCHES OF SERMOXS. 319 suddenly and immediately. 2. It shall grow rapidly and largely. 3. The character of the fruit shall proclaim the spirituality of its origin. (2) A practical acknowledgement of the blessed effects of true divine com- munications. 1. One shall say I am the Lord's. His property, etc. 2. Another shall call himself by the name of Jacob. This acknowledgement is still stronger, and implies an association with the people of God. (3) And another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord and surname himself by the name of Israel. The first item of mention in this acknowl- edgement may refer to the signing of a bond, or certifying by an oath, fealty and allegiance, to an interest, or truth, or doctrine, in which obli- gations are imposed and privileges are secured. The second item refers to a custom which prevailed in the east, of giv- ing a surname to persons under extraordinary circumstances, or to another in which was inscribed upon the right hand of the servant, the name of his master, of the soldier, the name of the captain, etc. Kev. " new name," 3 : 12. Inferences : (1 ) Let us learn from this subject to employ our thoughts, etc. Meditations more frequently upon those truths which we have heard from the be- ginning. (2) This subject should lead us to a close examination with regard to our spiritual experience. (3) This subject should influence us to pray ardently for the general dif- fusion of these spiritual communications, and especially pray for our children, who are especially mentioned in the promise. XL NATURE OF EVANGELICAL RELIGION. Therefore IT IS of faith, that IT MIGHT BE by grace ; to the end the promise night be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham ; who is the father of us all. Rom. 4 : 16. The Church of Rome was made up partly of Jewish and partly ot Gentile proselytes; it could, therefore, hardly be supposed, that their national predilection and educational biases would be immediately given up. It was owing to the force of early education and long cherished prejudices that the Jewish converts were so unwilling to acknowledge the claims of the Gentile Christians to equal privileges with themselves. 320 LIFE OF REV. CHAr.LES PITMAN, D.D. Before they would admit their claims of equality, they insisted these Gentile converts must submit to the rite of circumcism. The object of the apostle in this epistle was to adjust and settle these disputes. His argument goes at once to settle these claims, and to place the Gentile convert in respect of his religious condition and spiritual rank upon a parity with the believing Jew. The apostle sustains this position by a variety of arguments, such as, First, That no man of either description was justified by works, for the obvious reason that no man, either Jew or Gentile, had been able to perform good works. Secondly, That it became necessary to appoint another medium or con- dition of justification in which the Jewish peculiarity was merged and lost. He shows clearly that Abraham's justification was antecedent to the law and independent of it, that, according to the Scripture account, Abraham was justified by faith, and he proceeds to explain the nature of that justification by a quotation from the Psalms, see verse 6. Thirdly, That the believing Gentiles are the seed to whom the promise belongs, as well as the believing Jews, see verses 12-17, and he described Abraham's faith as illustrative of the faith of the gospel. The great doctrine of justification by faith as explained in this chap- ter, and referred to in the text, is considered by all evangelical Chris- tians as vitally important to the interest of the Church, as it is to the salvation of the soul. It is intimately connected with every other doc- trine of the Gospel. Nor will the others be understood, or even relished by believers, if this be not known. What is its nature ? How is it obtained ? and is it attainable by all ? are questions of the deepest interest to every human being. We propose to notice these three ques- tions in their order, and First. Its nature. We may remark 1. That the justification referred to in our text, is not that which comes upon infants through the mediation of Christ, according to Rom. 5: 14. 2. Neither is it that justification which shall take place at the day of judgment, see verses 13-16 ; see al?o Matt. 12 : 37. This will be accord- ing to our works, not by the merit of works. See chap. 6 : 23, but by the evidences of work. See Rev. 20 : 12-22. 3. Nor is it the being acquitted of all censure, or not being reprehen- sible for our conduct, or our being declared innocent, according to the sense in which the term is used in courts of law (see Psa. 143 : 2 ; Rom. 3 : 20). It is not the being made holy or innocent, or person- ally righteous, which would confound it with regeneration and sanctifi- cation, but it is the forgiveness of Bin, the reversal of the sentence of SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 321 condemnation, the non -imputation of sin, and our obligation to punish- ment canceled, and all this by the judicial act of God upon our exercis- ing faith in Christ (see vs. 3, 4, 5). This blessing is distinct from regeneration and adoption, it being sim- ply an acquittal from actual guilt, whereas regeneration is the renewal of our natures in righteousness, and by adoption we are admitted into the family of God. But although these blessings are distinct in their nature, and therefore not to be confounded the one with the other, yet they do not exist separately, and it is impossible to have the one without having all the others, at least in a degree, for regeneration and adoption are the concomitants of justification, and are always received with it, so then no man is justified without being regenerated and adopted, and no man is regenerated and made a son who is not justified. In their nature they are perfectly distinct, but as to the time of their reception they are inseparably connected. We proceed to show, Secondly, How this blessing is obtained. " It is by faith, that it might be of grace. 1 ' But here it may be proper to notice the particular sense in which it may be said that justification is by faith. We remark, 1. That faith is not the moving cause of justification. This is to be found only in the promptings of infinite love. Hence we are said to be justified by grace. 2. It is not the meritorious cause. This is to be found only in the atonement of Christ (see chap. 3: 24, 25; Isa. 53 : 11 ; 2 Cor. 5: 14-21). Hence we are said to be by Christ brought nigh (Gal. 2 : 13-22). 3. It is not the efficient cause, for this is to be traced alone to the divine influence. To prepare the way for the reception of this blessing and to furnish the satisfactory evidence of its possession are exclusively the work of the Holy Spirit. 4. Nor is it, except in a qualified sense, the instrumental cause. The instrumentality employed on the part of God is His own word and truth, its declarations and its promises concerning this blessing. It is, however, the instrumental cause on our part, the sole condition on which the blessing of justification is promised, that principle on which is dis- claimed all pretensions to human merit, it resting exclusively on the worthiness and merit of Christ. On this account it is reckoned unto us for righteousness, because it relies for salvation only upon the atoning righteousness of Christ. It is not, then, by the imputation of Christ's personal righteousness to the sinner that he is justified, for (1) no such office is ever ascribed in the Scriptures to the active righteousness of Christ, and (2) such impu- tation would render his Bufferings superfluous and unnecessary, and (3) 21 322 LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. it is opposed to the ends of moral government, and shuts out the obliga- tion of personal obedience to the law of God, and (4) it makes the justi- fication of men a matter of right and not of grace. The only legitimate conclusion, therefore, at which we can arrive is that which we find in the text and context, viz., that faith itself is computed or reckoned to us for righteousness. But what is the nature of that faith by which we are justified ? We have the pattern of this faith in Abraham, the father of the faithful, as furnished by the apostle in the chapter before us. Faith is here pre- sented to us as combining the assent of the understanding with the cur- rent of the will and the trust of the heart. The former may exist without the latter, but the latter cannot exist without the former. Hence it appears that, though the assent of the understanding is essen- tial to justifying faith, yet of itself this assent of itself is insufficient. Faith in the sense of mere intellectual assent to truth is allowed to be possessed by devils, and cannot, therefore, be evangelical. But the faith that justifies connects with a full persuasion of the truth of Christianity an unhesitating reliance on the atonement, with a firm be- lief in the doctrines of the gospel, an actual trust in the Saviour and personal apprehension of his merits. Such was the faith of Abraham. Being fully persuaded what God had promised, he was able to perform. He staggered not at the promise through unbelief, but was strong in faith, in hope. He believed in hope against hope, giving glory to God. Thus nothing is required of penitent sinners but their actual trust in, and personal appropriation of, the merits of Christ's death as a sacrifice for sin, and upon thus believing, they are justified, and their faith is counted for righteousness. But to this doctrine of the imputation of faith for righteousness, it will be probably objected '' that faith is not righteousness," and, there- fore such imputation would be false. In reply to this objection it is only necessary to say that as justification is simply pardon by a judicial act of God, the objection is without foundation. But, perhaps, it will be objected, that if faith be put for righteousness, then justification is by works. To this objection our text furnishes the appropriate and suf- ficient reply, " It is by faith that it might be by grace." But it is some- times said, *' that such imputation gives occasion for boasting." To this we answer, " If Christ had not. merited, God had not promised, then justification had never followed upon this faith. Therefore, we are jus- tified not by the merit of faith, but by faith instrumentally as the con- dition. But we might hasten to notice, in conclusion, SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 323 Thirdly, The purpose and end for which faith is the appointed condi- tion of justification. 1. That it might be by grace. That grace might have the honor of it, by grace and not by law, by grace and not by debt, not of merit. It is in the very nature of true faith to exclude all notions of its meritorious- ness. It is an unwavering trust in an atonement offered by another in our behalf, by which trust in something without us, we acknowledge our own inefficiency, guilt and unworthiness, and directly ascribe the merit to that which is the object of our trust, viz., the propitiation of the blood of Christ. " Faith," says the pious Henry, " has particular ref- erence to grace-granting, as grace has reference to faith-receiving. For God will have every crown thrown down at the feet of grace, free grace ? and every song in heaven sung to that tune, ' not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise.' " 2. " That the promise might be sure." The first covenant, being a covenant of works, was not sure, but through man's failure its benefits were forfeited and cut off, and then there was no provision in that cove- nant for their recovery. But the more effectually to ensure the convey- ances of the covenant, the blessings of the gospel are placed in the hands of Christ, as the Trustee of our salvation, who when drawn upon by faith, is ever ready to make the promise sure. If the promises were based upon works, human frailty must ever render them uncertain. 3. "That the promise might be sure to all the seed." If it had been by the law, it had been limited to the Jews, and not even sure to them, although to them pertained the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law. But it was by faith that the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, might be interested in it, the spiritual, as well as the natural seed of Abraham. The promise made to Abraham's faith was made while he was yet in uncircumcision, and therefore his seed must comprehend all true believers of all ages. Inferences, 1. This system humbles pride and dethrones self; 2. It exalts grace and honors God ; 3. It therefore bears the indelible stamp of a divine origin. XII. EXPERIMENTAL AND PRACTICAL HOLINESS. / beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, hvly, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable ser- vice. Rom. 12:1. The religion of the gospel has not been exhibited to men merely for the sake of gratifying curious minds or speculative imaginations ; but for 324 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. the purpose of imparting to the mind of man the knowledge of truth, the most salutary ; to produce enjoyment in the heart, the most delightful, and to impress upon the character and conduct a sanctity the most rational and spiritual. It should therefore be considered and embraced, both in its doctrinal instructions and practical enforcements. The pro- fessed design of its doctrines is to inform men of their guilty, depraved and helpless condition, to direct them to an infallible remedy, and to point out the means requisite to an entire deliverance. When all these truths are brought to bear upon the faculties and sen- sibilities of man according to their design, they never fail to furnish him both with the will and the power to be practically holy. But when the doctrines of Christianity are only learned scientifically, though they may serve to amuse the fancy or feast the intellect, they neither change the heart nor better the life. From this view of thesubject, it appears, that to study ihe evangelical truths theoretically is not sufficient ; they must be realized in the heart and developed in the practice. This perfectly accords with the plans of the Apostle Paul. Having, in the preceding part of this epistle, made an exhibit of the fallen, corrupted, ruinous and helpless condition of both Jews and Gen- tiles in their natural state, and having shown that neither the vain philosophy of the latter, nor the violated law of Moses, so much revered by the former, could expiate their crimes, or screen them from the indig- nation of heaven, and that no man by mere human effort, could render himself acceptable to God, or perform the obedience His law requires ; having stated the only foundation of a sinner's justification before God and illustrated the great doctrine of faith, by which the merit of the Atonement is appropriated, he proceeds to point out and enforce that holy obedience which is inseparable from the spiritual reception and operations of these doctrines. So far is he from maintaining that Christ's obedience exonerates us from keeping the law, that he affirms that it is in virtue of the Atone- ment that we are both obligated and capacitated to fulfil its requisitions under the influence of those sentiments. He exhorts, urges and entreats the Christians at Rome to consecrate themselves entirely to the service of the Lord. "I beseech you, therefore/' &c. In the further elucidation of this subject, we shall notice: First The comprehensive duty which the Apostle inculcates. " Pre- sent your bodies," &c. 1. The nature of the sacrifice required to be offered. All our bad dis- positions, criminal passions, evil tempers, &c. 2. All our good things reputation, influence, worldly genius, &c. SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 325 3. It must be a living sacrifice, living faith, and living experience, and a living practice or example of obedience. 4. A holy sacrifice, pure in its nature, with a pure intention in its offices. 5. And this will be sure to render an acceptable sacrifice. 2. We observe that such a sacrifice is essential ; salvation is suspended on it ; purity of heart and life depend upon it ; perfection in God's grace and glory forever, is a requisite of it. Second The motives or arguments by which it is enforced. 1. It is a reasonable service. The Father has given His Son, and the Son has giyen (or sacrificed) his life for us, therefore we should dedicate ourselves wholly, body and soul, to his service. 2. Another motive here mentioned, is the mercies of God; these are manifold : 1. Temporal mercies Food, raiment, and all the blessings of natural life. 2. Providential mercies Such as are both general and particular. 3. Redeeming mercy The being brought over to a state of probation. 4. Awakening mercy. 5. Justifying mercy. 6. Regenerating mercy. 7. Glorifying mercy. Inferences: 1. The religion of the gospel is chiefly experimental and practical. 2. Those who employ their reason against the gospel are most un- reasonable of created beings. 3. " Mercy has its bounds, and turns to vengeance there," when its limits are crossed. XIII. SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH. For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves : IT IS the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. Eph. 2 : 8, 9. The passage before us contains one of the most sublime and soul- entrancing subjects with which the ear of man was ever saluted or his heart interested. It is the subject of Salvation, the salvation of the soul, the present and eternal salvation of man from the thraldom of sin and its consequences, and his entire restoration to the favor, image and en- joyment of God. This all comprehensive subject is traced up to its 326 LIFE OF EEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. source connected with the only instrumentality by which it may be at- tained, and by which the glory of God and the happiness of man are equally secured. But errors are always dangerous, just in proportion as the subject is important. And as there is no subject on which men are so liable to err as this, the Apostle in presenting the true views of the Christian salvation corrects those false ones with which this great ques- tion has been so often perplexed. He repudiates any and all systems which proceed upon the merits of human conduct, or which account the gospel a provision of simple opportunity and facility to man to save himself, or which vindicate the prerequisite to an interest in the gospel as inclusive of all the moral virtues, or which vary the universal freeness of the gospel by moral influences in man. Neither of these views can be reconciled with adequate impressions or a worthy inter- pretation of grace. " And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." In these words we have, first, God's method of saving sinners, as- serted. 1. " By grace are ye saved." Grace in the sense of the text is unmer- ited kindness, undeserved favor. Salvation is by grace : 1) In its origination. It is called the grace of God, and he is denom- inated the " God of all grace," because he is its author. 2) In its actual bestowment. " He giveth grace and glory." Grace and truth come by Jesus Christ. 3) In its progress and continuance. So says the Apostle in Heb. 12 : 28, " Let us have grace whereby we may serve God," etc., and again in Heb. 13 : 9, " For it is a good thing that the heart be estab- lished with grace," etc., and again, 1 Peter 1:2," Grace be unto you and peace be multiplied," etc; again, 2d Peter 2: 18, " But grow in grace ;" again, Acts 13: 43, Paul and Barnabas exhorted their converts to con- tinue in the grace of God ; and again, 2d Cor. 1 : 12, " By the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world." Paul's own experience is directly to this point, see 1 Cor. 15 : 10, " By the grace of God I am what I am, yet not I but the grace of God which was in me." 4th and lastly) In its final triumphs and glorious consummation. " My grace is sufficient for thee," 2d Cor. 12 : 9. It is the alpha and omega in the system of human salvation. It lays every stone, it brings forth the last stone with shoutings of grace, grace unto it, Zech. 4:7. " Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name, O Lord, be the praise." 2. "Through faith." Not a mere abstract credence, or opinion, or assent, but a principle in the heart. " For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." It is a firm truth in Christ for salvation an en- tire submission to his plan of saving sinners. The instrumentality of faith is as necessary to salvation as the provision of grace. For SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 327 1) The Scriptures positively require it in order to salvation. Without faith it is impossible to please God. 2) The bestowment of salvation is in the Scriptures inseparably connected with faith. " Faith is counted for righteousness," Rom. 4 : 5 ; It is of faith that " overcometh the world," 1 John 5 : 4 ; "It is connected with the purification of the heart," Acts 15: 9, also Acts 26: 18; "It is .associated with religious comfort," Eom. 1 : 12 ; " Through faith we inherit the promises," Heb. 6 : 12, and eternal glory. " He that believeth shall be saved." 3. The final issue or consummation of grace is associated with faith. " Henceforth there is laid up for you," etc., " receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. ", 4. Without faith there can be no gospel salvation. " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins," " He that believeth shall not be condemned," etc. This co-operation of human instrumentality with a gracious and divine efficiency, 5. Perfectly accords with our own and all genuine Christian experi- ences. Surely salvation by faith is the glory of every regenerated heart. " We are the children of God by faith," " By faith we stand," " Kept by the power of God through faith," etc. But in our text we have, secondly, the errors on this subject corrected. We cannot fail to observe with what jealousy the sacred writers denounce any encroachment upon the province of grace. Justification is one of its first expressions, as an act of pure grace, and they set around it a guard of the most solemn cautions. Circumcision was the only rite that the Jewish converts wished to retain. They sought and struggled hard to mingle this with " the righteousness of God by faith." It seemed a harmless peculiarity. But it was a foreign infusion in that element which must be purely integral. It was opening the door to other insti- tutions. It was a declaration that something might and must be added to that on the simple ground of which we are accepted. And the Apos- tle regarded it as so irreconcilable with the profession and truth of Christianity that he who was guilty of it " was a debtor to do the whole law;" that Christ should profit all such as were circumcised, nothing ; " That Christ was become of no effect unto them ; " that they " had fallen from grace." Such is a sum of the texts. 1. It is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, and God is its Author, as well a.i its finisher. 2. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and must therefore be the gift of God. 3. It is the subject of prayer and cannot therefore be of human pro- duction. The Apostle prayed for it. " Lord increase our faith." 328 LIFE OF REV. CHAELES PITMAN, D.D. 4. It is at the divine disposal. God deals to every man the measure of faith. But although the principle of faith, or in other words the power of faith is the gift of God, the exercise of faith is ours. He works effectu- ally in us, but does not believe for us. But 2. " Not of works," This may be considered 1. From the natural character and relation of man. Every man is a sinner and of course under the malediction of the law. The law as law justifies no man. It cannot remit its claims. This was beautifully illustrated by the excellent Mr. Newton, which he said he had used in a sermon preached to a company of colliers in his own country. " Sup- pose," said he, " you were to be let down into the pit by a chain of many links, would not your destruction be as certain by the breaking of a single link as if every link in the chain should break ?" The applica- tion is easy. " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things," etc. ; " He that offendeth in one point is guilty of the whole." The poor colliers perceived it and simultaneously cried out, " Now I see it, now I see it." " Not of works, not of works." 2. From the nature of the covenant under which we are placed. A covenant of grace and not of works. But let us carefully discriminate. The work to which grace is opposed is some presumed ground of merit. Something that was against the ready, thankful and earnest compliance of the sinner, with the tendered salvation of the gospel. But if work predominate over grace, the gospel is only the republished law. This law is what it was, or it is not. If it is, then, why call that " the gospel of peace," which only tells of war. Why speak of " the hope of the gospel," when Sinai has not spent a thunder, or allayed a curse ? Why rejoice in the republication of a law with greater clearness in those rules which we have violated, and greater terribleness in those penalties which we have incurred ? Is this the ministration of righteousness in contrast to " the ministration of condemnation ?" But let grace have the pre-eminence, let the tender mercy of our God visit us. What a change comes over " the great salvation." What light passes through it. What significance impresses itself upon it. It is pardon to the guilty, it is renovation to the depraved, it is relief to the wretched, it is restoration to the undone. It undertakes the whole burden, and condescends as far as we have sunk, to stoop to relieve and rescue us. It never pauses until it has found out " our low estate," and never relaxes its efforts until it has lifted us from it. This is the new covenant, the better covenant. In this covenant " grace reigns through righteousness unto SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 329 eternal life." We honor grace, therefore, just in the degree we honor the mediation of Christ. For saith the apostle, " I do not frustrate the grace of God ; for if righteousness come by the law, then is Christ dead in vain." But, " if it be of works," at once the Saviour's mediation is disregarded. It is perfectly clear from the view we have taken of this subject that salvation " by works " finds no warrant in the provisions of the new covenant. Inferences : 1.) In this system of grace, " all boasting is excluded," necessarily and intentionally excluded. The God of this religion will suffer no one to "glory in his presence."' Assumption of independence is the "cursed thing," the root of every evil, the stamp of every crime. He will be acknowledged as the giver of all good. 2.) If the views we have taken of this subject be correct, there is no room in this system for despair. Salvation is not the result of human merit, but of the infinite and gratuitous mercy of God in Christ Jesus. 3.) If salvation be entirely of grace, we may have it now. A long course of human preparation ia not only unnecessary but derogatory to it We are not required to " do some great thing," but to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all the heart. XIV. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH THROUGH CHRIST. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Bom. 5 : 1. The perfection and utility of the Christian system, whether it be viewed as a great whole or candidly investigated in all its component parts, carries with it almost irresistible evidence of a Divine Original. To the spiritual mind it bears the indelible impression of Infinite wisdom, power, justice, holiness and goodness. And, although, novelty and refinements in the arts and sciences may be, and generally are bene- ficial, yet such is the perfection and excellence of Christianity that every attempt to improve and refine it is not only unnecessary but dangerous innovation. In the former every inventor may be an improvement, but in the latter there are always delusions. "This System," says a beautiful writer, " is not a superannuated thing which wants repairing, nor is it an incomplete thing which wants filling up, nor is it a redundant thing whose excrescences want lopping, nor yet an erroneous thing whose errors must be expunged. Hence metaphysical and speculative inno- 330 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. vators are, in all cases, the perverters and corrupters of Christianity. Let them tremble," etc. In taking a minute survey of this incomparable system, while we are charmed with its admirable perfections, we are particularly interested in its benevolent designs. And what are those designs ? That guilty and wretched sinners might obtain pardon and peace, that impure men might be made holy, and, finally, that a guilty, dying, sin-cursed race might have life. The first thing mentioned in this gracious design is the pardon of sins and the doctrine of justification by faith. This is one of the most important doctrines in the gospel scheme, and, con- sequently, is incorporated in the Articles of faith of every Orthodox Christian Church. The doctrine of justification by faith is asserted in our text, and it now becomes my duty to endeavor to explain and enforce it, and your duty to strive to understand it, and our mutual interest to embrace and enjoy it. That the subject may be edifying to us both let us consider: I. The nature of the justification spoken of in the text. This justification assumes two facts, that man is guilty and condemned, and that he deeply deplores his guilt and misery, while he humbly submits to the terms of pardon. To come to a particular explanation of this gospel blessing, we observe, 1. That it produces no change or diminution in the nature and desert of sin, etc. 2. This justification is an act of God, not in, nor upon man, but for him and in his favor. It is simply a change of moral relation, etc. 3. It extends to all past sins up to the time when the act takes place, etc. 4. It does not terminate our state of probation. It is neither irreversi- ble nor eternal, etc. 5. It may not only be forfeited, but if rightly sought (during proba- tion) recovered again, etc. II. Its immediate effects and consequences. 1. The restoration of amity and intercourse between the pardoned criminal and a pardoning God. 2. Adoption into the family of God, and a consequent right to eternal life. '3. The habitual indwelling of the Holy Ghost, which implies the en- joyment and exhibition of its fruits, such as : 1. Tranquillity of con- science. Rom. 15 : 16 ; 5 : 5. 2. Power over sin. Kom. 8 : 1-3. 3. A joyous hope of heaven. Bom. 5 : 2. III. Its medium, or causes. SKETCHES OF SERMpNS 331 1. God the Father is the great procuring cause of man's justification. His free grace is the originating cause. Titus 2: 11, 12, 13; 3: 4, 5. Kom. 3 : 2-4. 2. The Lord Jesus Christ is the meritorious cause. Rom. 5 : 9, 10. Eph. 1 : 17. 1 Pet 3 : 18. Rom. 3 : 21-26. 3. The Holy Spirit is the efficient cause. 4. Faith is the instrumental cause, a present faith fixed upon Christ as its object. Faith implies an enlightened understanding to discern the plan, the consent of the will and affections to it, the choice of it, the renunciation of other refuges, giving it the desired preference. An actual trust in the Saviour, with a personal appropriation of His merits. This is the faith by which we are justified. XV. FORMAL BUT POWERLESS PROFESSION. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof : from such turn away. 2 Tim. 3 : 5. "All is not gold that glitters." This maxim will hold good in the natural, moral and spiritual world. Perhaps nothing is more common than for a man to be deceived by his fellow-man in consequence of im- posing but fallacious appearances. As physical beings more often artfully impose upon each other by passing for beautiful, mighty, opulent, chaste beings. While the reverse is true. As intellectual and moral beings, they often palm themselves upon society, as intelligent, learned, benevo- lent and virtuous, and with these assumptions demand from the cringing multitude around them, all that attention, respect and homage which is seldom, or never claimed by those who are in reality, what they are only in appearance. But when we contemplate man in a religious point of view, we fondly anticipate an exhibition of unsullied purity, inflexible virtue, unbending integrity and undeviating piety. In this we are liable to be frequently and sadly mistaken, for even the histories of the best furnish, but too much proof of the universal peccability of man. And if the " Cedars of Lebanon " have been shaken, what may we expect from the " bruised reed " and " smoking flax ? " When we look abroad and see the great exertions which are being made in the Christian world to extend the boundaries of the church, and when we see these exertions crowned with success in the accession of multitudes to the visible church, we are led to look for the speedy extinction of all vice and misery. But when we take a view of the in- ternal State of Zion, these pleasant prospects become obscured, and 332 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. where we least suspected it, and most dreaded it, we are constrained to witness the prevalence of pride, covetousness, bigotry and formality. Such a state of things, the apostle seems to have reference to in the text. It may be proper to notice. First. What may be comprehended in a mere form of godliness. 1.) Mere external devotion. Isa. 29 : 13 ; Ezek. 33 : 31-32. 2.) Orthodox sentiments. 1 Cor. 12 : 2. This is like Nebuchadnez- zar's image, " the head fine gold, and the feet iron and clay." 3.) A superficial repentance and partial reformation. 4.) The appearance and ostentatious shows of some particular grace or virtue. 5. ) Great zeal for some party opinion or circumstance of religion. Second. What is meant by the power of godliness. 1.) An abiding evidence of God's reconciling love. 2.) A sincere and diligent use of all the means of grace. 3.) Singleness of heart and purity of intention. 4.) Experimental and practical holiness which consists : 1. In the mortification of our lusts. 2. In the subjugation of our passions. 1 Jno. 3 : 10. 3. In the government of our tongues. James 1 : 26 ; 3 : 2-4. 4. In the cultivation of all the Christian graces. Third. The danger of separating the form from the power of godliness. 1.) It endangers our personal salvation. The ends of true religion are to please God, to give solid peace to the heart, and to save the soul in heaven. In the mere formalist all these ends are defeated. Thus the pains he takes to appear what he is not, results in his own damna- tion. 2.) It endangers the salvation of others. " From which turn away." The mere formalist is infectious in his spirit, conversation and practice. He is always an Achan in the Camp of Israel. Inferences : 1.) The religion of the gospel is spiritual. 2.) Professors are in danger of self-deception. 3.) This subject should lead us to serious examination. XVI. 8ANCTIFICATION OF BELIEVERS. And for their sake* I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17 : 19. Our text forms a part of that most admirable prayer offered by our Lord and Master, at the conclusion of a sermon commencing at verse 13th, of SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 333 the 13th chapter of this book. The sermon itself is inimitably grand, and, in one respect at least, is superior to the sermon on the mount. In the latter the reader sees a strict morality which he fears he shall never be able to perform ; in the former he sees all things possible to him that believeth ; for that very God who made him shall dwell in hia heart, and enable him to do all the pleasure of his will. The passage is in no respect inferior to the sermon. Why should it be? They were both from the lips of him who "spake as never man spake." But did the blessed Redeemer pray? Yes. If some of you can live without prayer he did not. "In the days of his flesh he offered up prayers and suppli- cations with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared." In the sacred history we often read of his praying, but the Holy Ghost has more iully recorded and signalized the prayer contained in this chap- ter than in almost any other case. It was delivered in the open air, just as he was going to suffer. He had left the communion chamber and was approaching the garden of Gethsemane. He passed near Cedron. The hum of the adjoining metropolis was diminished. It was towards mid- night. The moon was walking in brightness, and was at its full. He was now to take an affectionate farewell of his immediate disciples, who stood around him weepii\g. He considered them as the depositories of his truth, and the representatives of his Church in all ages. " And lift- ing up his hands to heaven " he commends them to the blessing of hia Father, and our Father ; his God, and our God. And now behold the principal argument upon which his intercession rests: "All mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them, and for their sakes I sanctify myself that they might also be sanctified." In the further illustration of this most interesting subject, let us make a few re- marks on the twofold sanctification spoken of in the text, with the two distinct applications of the term arid their intimate connection, the one being derived from the other. According to this plan we inquire : 1st. What is the sanctification of Christ? Here the word sanctify evidently means to consecrate, set apart, or, as Dr. Clarke renders, to devote to death. It could not mean, in his case, to purify, for he was not impure or depraved. As under the law, persons and things dedicated to God were considered as hallowed, or holy, so Jesus, when he says, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God," consecrated himself to be an atonement, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Observe, 1. The voluntariness of this consecration. He does not say, I am sanctified, but " I sanctify myself." He made himself of no repu- tation, etc. He was not passive in the business, neither was he com- 334 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. pelled. His life was not taken from him : " I lay it down of myself." It was, therefore, a matter with him of the freest choice and fullest pur- pose. He assumed our nature and entered our world for that very end. "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister," etc. 2. The relativeness of the consecration, " for their sakes/' not his own. He had no sin of his own to expiate. He was, therefore, cut off, but not for himself. He was stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Here preach Christ as the sinner's substitute. 3. The expensiveness or priceless worth of the dedication. This is not in our power to estimate. -We must possess the same feelings and bear the same load before language or imagination, however lively, can do anything like justice to the sufferings he endured. Here examine his history and describe his sufferings. 4. The unworthiness and vileness of the objects of this consecration. "When we were without strength in due time," etc. " For scarcely for a righteous man," etc. " But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners," etc. Contrast his love with that of the noblest of earth's benefactors. " O for this love, let rocks and hills," etc. , Secondly. What is implied in the sanctification of Christians? This differs much from the former. It not only implies consecration, but purification. It includes in it : 1. Universal renovation and purification. Having the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse from all sin. 2. Universal obedience. Walking in all the ordinances of the Lord's house blameless. 3. Universal submission. Casting all your care upon him. Commit- ting all to his disposal, and calmly acquiescing in all his dispensations. 4. View these two sanctifications in their intimate connections: "For their sakes." What an estimate he places on our sanctification ! For its accomplishment he died. See Gal. 1:4; Titus 2: 14; Psa. 130: 8. Inferences : 1. Learn the deception of those who seek, from the death of Christ, hope and not holiness. 2. Of those who substitute a lifeless devotion for an obedient faith. 3. That as Christ is the source, so is he the means of sanctifica- tion. Gal. 2: 20. SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 335 XVII. SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY; OR, THE SYMPTOMS, CAUSES AND CURES OF DISEASES INCIDENT TO THE HUMAN SOUL. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. \ Cor. 11 : 30. In discoursing upon this subject we shall I. Point out what we conceive to be the most striking symptoms of a weak and sickly state in religious experience. II. Notice a few of the causes which never fail to produce it, and III. Give some directions concerning a cure, both as it respects the remedy itself, and the means of its application. According to the afore-mentioned plan, we are I. To point out what we conceive to be the most striking symptoms of a weak and sickly state in religious experience. In doing this it may not be improper to observe, in the commencement, that the symptoms of spiritual disease, are, in many respects, analogous to those of the maladies of the body. Hence the Evangelical Prophet, in exhibiting the apostacy, defection and depravity of the Jewish nation, makes it resemble the human body, " whose whole head is sick," whose brain, that most essential and precious organ of the mind's operation, is deranged in all its functions ; " whose whole heart is faint," has become feeble and intermittent, having lost, in a great degree, its elastic and propelling power by which the circulation of the blood is effected in short a body universally infected with a loathsome disease, in a state of putrefaction, getting worse and worse. See Isa. 1 : 5, 6. How very striking is the description of the state of that highly favored, but rebellious people, both as it respects their apostacy and pollution, and extreme danger of perishing without remedy. Who that contem- plated the beauty and force of this illustration can doubt the propriety and utility of illustrating spiritual truths by the sober and legitimate use of figures ? Here let us also add that Jesus Christ himself has sanc- tioned this mode of spiritual interpretation in Matt. 9: 12, "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Supported by the highest authority, and encouraged by the brightest and best examples, we shall proceed, by way of analogy, to give some symptoms of spiritual disease, or of a weak and sickly state of the soul. 336 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. 1.) The first sign of disease which we shall mention is a disrelish for food. It is a fact obvious to all that the continuance of animal life de- pends upon the reception of a proper portion of corporeal aliment. But when the body is in any considerable degree disordered the stomach generally loathes its food, and the patient refuses sustenance. This evi- dence is equally striking in our spiritual state. In that very proportion that the health of the soul declines, in that same proportion do we dis- cover a disrelish for "the bread of life." He who could formerly say " Thy law is my delight, and in it do I meditate day and night," now lays aside his Bible, as a neglected book, and perhaps substitutes a novel for his amusement, and thus all his leisure hours are employed in extracting intellectual and spiritual poison from its fanciful, if not filthy, contents. He who could say from the sincerity of his heart, " I was glad when it was said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord," and would scarcely suffer even lawful obsta- cles to prevent his constant attendance upon the ministry of the word, now feels a strange discontent to a preached gospel, to all the ordinances of God's house, and, in a word, to all the divinely-appointed means of grace. Indeed I am inclined to believe that spiritual declension uniformly commences in the heart, and thus gradually taints the spirituality of closet exercises, clips the wings of devotional fervor, obstructs the sweetest intercourse with Heaven, eclipses the brightest prospects of glory and finally brings the once truthful and happy believer into a state of condemnation and wretchedness. In this situation, being shorn, in a considerable degree, of his spiritual strength, and too much disposed to reason with the adversary of his soul, who now " comes in like a flood," upon him, he falls an easy prey to infernal subtlety. The arch-fiend, having been so successful in his attack upon the vitals of Christian experience, now finds it comparatively easy to persuade the enfeebled soul either that Christianity is a delusion that he has only exchanged the reveries of enthusiasm for a more refined and rational re- ligion or that in consequence of his apostacy his case has become en- tirely hopeless. The fatal qonsequences of this gross deception will be a disrelish for spiritual nutriment, and the partial or entire neglect of all the exterior of divine worship. This view of the subject is authorized by our blessed Lord himself, when he affirmed that " a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit." This divine affirmation fully justifies us from the charges of raah judging and uncharitable censure, when in the absence of all the fruits of the Spirit we pronounce, there is an entire destitution of saving SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 337 faith ; or if, when the streams are impure, we assert that the fountain must be impure also. 2. Another symptom of disease, to which we invite your attention, is that of an irregular appetite. And here it is proper to remark that the different kinds of disease are accompanied with different symptoms, as also that the same disease, in different constitutions, differs in its charac- teristics and evidences. An irregular appetite sometimes loathes its food, and at other times is extremely voracious, ready to devour, almost without discrimination. This irregularity is generally considered, as it regards the body, a very unfavorable indication. And inconstancy in the temperament, experience and conduct in a professor of religion, argues quite as unfavorably of the state of the soul. Sometimes he manifests such an eagerness for spiritual food that he seems ready to swallow everything that drops from the lips of his min- ister, whether it be true or false, without any kind of discrimination. At others he finds it difficult to drag himself to the house of God, and when there he is so far from considering it an entertainment, or a feast, that he is glad when he is released from his comfortless confinement. There is generally, however, with all his irregularities, a very great uni- formity in his experience and practice. At the time you hear him speaking of his ecstatic joys, his brilliant prospects, etc., you will find him so scrupulously conscientious in avoiding even " the appearance of evil," and in the performance of the smallest duties as to induce the be- lief that his religious attainments are of a superior kind. But no sooner has his spiritual tide run down than you may hear him complaining of depression, discouragement, oppositions, weakness, etc., and this is accompanied with such a laxity in self-government, and with such indifference to spiritual duties aa might influence you to change your opinion concerning him, and dispose you to rank him with the fallen and lukewarm Laodiceans. But to avoid misconstruction, it may be proper to observe here that every degree of irregularity is not incon- sistent with a justified state. Indeed there are cases in which it may be discovered, to a considerable extent, even where the pardon of sin is realized and enjoyed. It is requisite that we make great allowances for natural constitutions, intellectual deficiencies, a bad education, with a great variety of circum- stantial impediments, all or any of which may produce inconstancy, both in experience and practice. But the character we have been con- sidering is one who is governed more by his passions than his under- standing one whose heart is without light, whose zeal is without knowl- edge, whose heart may sometimes be warm, but whose understanding is 22 338 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. generally dark ; who, when his animal fervor runs high, is a strenuous and active Christian, but who, when these transient emotions have sub- sided, being destitute of any other stimulus, sinks into spiritual torpor and inactivity. This man, having no other criteria by which to judge of his spiritual state than his frames of mind and feelings, is frequently as great a mys- tery to himself as he is to others. And until the faculties of his mind and the affections of his heart are equally improved and cultivated his enjoyments will be inconstant and his deportment irregular. An entire disregard to mental and spiritual improvement, where the means of them are within our reach, makes ignorance our crime, and renders us inex- cusable for its evil consequences. From what has been said it will appear that instability in matters of religion does not comport with a state of Christian holiness ; that with some exceptions it is even incompatible with a state of justification, and that in all cases it argues a great want of soundness and firmness in the general health of the soul. 3. Again, where food is received in sufficient quantities and periodical regularity, in consequence of the weakness of the digestive organs, it re- mains in its crude state and affords but little nutrition to the body. Indeed, in many instances, it rather enfeebles than nourishes it. So the Christian, however punctual in his attendance upon the word and ordin- ances, if he does not digest what he hears and receives by serious medi- tation, private and conscientious examination, accompanied with solemn prayer to God for has blessing upon it, will, notwithstanding his valu- able privileges, be constrained to exclaim : "O my leanness, my lean- ness!" and to acknowledge that he has "received the grace of God in vain." But the healthy Christian is a different character altogether. He goes from his closet to the church and returns from the church to the closet. The blessed Jesus condescends to "talk with -him by the way," to his understanding, while his heartburns within him in consequence of the spiritual discoveries he has made, the heavenly manna with which he is so abundantly supplied. This is the man who, like the tree planted by the rivers of waters, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper, Psa. 1 : 1-3. Thus we discover that spiritual indigestion is a third symptom of a diseased state of the soul, while at the same time it is calculated to increase that dis- ease. 4. It may not be unimportant to notice in the fourth place, that extreme languor, which in many cases, characterizes the invalid. Such is the SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 339 sense of debility and lassitude, that he feels an aversion even to moder- ate exercise, although it may be the very thing his feeble state requires. This languor does not only affect the body, but the mind, and it partially, or entirely disqualifies its subject for the business and concerns of active life. Perhaps these remarks may best apply to those diseases which are of a nervous character. In a spiritual sense, however, they will gener- ally apply without much qualification. Languor and listlessness are al- ways prominent features in the character of the sickly Christian, or spir- itual sluggard. He pleads for self-indulgence. " A litfle more sleep, a little more slumber." He spends his time in cold, heartless, lazy wishes. " He desireth " saith Solomon, "and hath not." The smallest trifles discourage him with " His way " in his estimation, " is as an hedge of thorns." He is fretful in excuses for his negligence. " He will not plough by reason of the cold." He creates imaginary difficulties and dangers. " He saith there is a lion in the way." To sum up all in a few words, he has an entire indisposition to holy exercise, and conse- quently is disqualified for the enjoyment of Divine favor and for the ob- servance of the Divine precepts. This listlessness in Christian experi- ence is certainly incompatible with a state of religious progression, both as it regards faith and practice, and must therefore be considered as another symptom of moral debility or spiritual declension. 5. Sickness is very frequently accompanied with much restlessness, and in these cases it requires an almost constant change of bodily posi- tion, and still its subject ia a prey to uneasy sensations and anxious dis- quietude. With regard to moral disease it is generally attended with much restlessness arising from a sense of past deviations, present guilt, or a continued dread of future consequences, and when this is not the case, there are exhibited symptoms still more unfavorable. But this inquietude of soul is always augmented in the backslider when he reflects upon his pardon forfeited, his joys departed, his spirit- ual sun eclipsed, his heavenly prospects beclouded and all his towering hopes buried in ruins. Under these circumstances his soul is frequently " cast down, and disquieted within him." And it is worse than in vain, after having " forsaken the fountain of living waters " for him to " hew out to himself cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water," and such is every attempt he makes to fill the vacuum of his soul with earthly good. No change of worldly circumstances, however agreeable and ad- vantageous, can relieve his agitated breast, and if he has recourse to company, amongst Christians, he is self-condemned, and in society with the ungodly he is an object of ridicule to them, of shame to himself and of pity to the church. In days that are past he could stay his soul on LIFE OP REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. God, while divine grace flowed like a river; but now his mind ia full of perturbation and his heart of trouble. 6. Another very unfavorable sign in our abnormal state is a desire for unhealthy food. This, in a physical sense, is perhaps peculiar to some diseases, or to different stages in the same complaint ; and the gratifica- tion of it, is in many instances, fatal. In a spiritual sense this symptom is as unpropitious, if not more so, than any of those afore-mentioned. It was this state that characterized the fallen Corinthians ; not being contented with a Christian institution, they attempted to blend their Jewish ceremonies with a gospel ordinance, thereby evidencing that their spiritual taste had become dangerously vitiated. And here we may remark that in the hearers of the word a desire for literary varnish or oratorical embellishment, instead of plain, unpolished, uncorrupted truth, is a desire for unhealthy food. Those who are anxious for public harangues upon the secret decrees of God, while they give but little attention to those which are revealed, evidence a desire for unhealthy food. Those who wish free grace preached in such a manner as to destroy moral agency, and those who would have free-will exalted so as to detract from the merit of free grace, are equally desirous for unwholesome nutriment. And what shall we say of those whose thirst for novelty is so great that they make no hesitation in deserting their own churches where they are constantly " fed with the sincere milk of the word," or the pure mar- row of the gospel, for the sake of being entertained by a man who has all the infernal art of leveling all distinctions between virtue and vice ? or one who, indulging in all the reveries of a visionary imagination, promises all his deluded followers a heaven as gross and sensual as that of Mahomet ? These corrupters of the gospel, I boldly affirm, are never encouraged by healthy and conscientious Christians, unless they do it ignorantly. We have now, according to promise, brought to view some of the most striking symptoms of a weak and sickly state of religious expe- rience, and we fear there are few upon whom one or more of these marks cannot be found. More symptoms might be adduced, but it is time to dismiss this part of our subject and proceed agreeably to the plan pro- posed, II. To notice a few of the causes which never fail to produce it. 1. The first which we shall notice is strife, and divisions among pro- fessors of religion. The apostle charges the church at Corinth with being contentious, and the prevalence of envy, strife and divisions among them, he declares to be not only an evidence, but a cause of their carnal SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 341 and sickly state. The same charge is reiterated against them in the chapter out of which we have selected the text. And we may unhesita- tingly assert that strife and contention are directly hostile to the sancti- fying influences of the Spirit ; and that while they give evidence of par- tial decrease, they lead to its increase, and unless counteracted, must inevitably terminate in death. Hence St. James affirms that " where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." These dispositions indulged in the heart, necessarily banish and exclude from it the love of the Father, the fellowship of the Son, and the peaceful influences of the Holy Ghost. The sum total of the Christian religion is comprehended in supreme love to God, a love of complacency and delight towards sincere Christians, and a love of pity and commisera- tion towards the vilest offenders, yea our bitterest enemies. Where this love is wanting with respect to the latter object, it is a clear evi- dence that it does not exist towards the former. And what is still more lamentable is, that the indulgence and cher- ishing of these wrathful dispositions render it impossible to use those means by which reconciliation and restoration might be effected. In fostering these ungracious tempers we voluntarily debar ourselves from all access to a throne of grace, break off all communion and intercourse with Heaven and thus expose ourselves to the just wrath of an in- censed God. Scripture, reason and experience all unite to demonstrate that the "God of love," "of peace," and "of mercy" cannot make that heart his habitation which in its tempers and affections is the very reverse of these glorious attributes and perfections. Can the "Prince of Peace " who shed his heart's blood to " make peace" live in that heart that har- bors the serpentine brood of hatred, malice, revenge, etc., to the entire exclusion of peace? Or is it reasonable to suppose that the Spirit of Peace can be the root upon which grows the base and fatal tempers of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking and malice? Religion, morality, and even refined heathenism, with one united voice, answers in the negative. From the afore-mentioned remarks, it must be obvious that strife and contentions, cherished in the heart, invariably produce spiritual debility and death. 2. The great head of the Christian Church has, in the infinitude of his goodness and mercy, favored it with the " ministry of reconciliation." He also has instituted in it ordinances, and means of grace, and all this with a special design to our present and eternal benefit. How the cor- ruption of this ministry, these ordinances and means, must of necessity be productive of fatal consequences. Of this crime, however, the Cor- 342 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. inthians were guilty in several particulars, two of which we shall men- tion at this time. First, they virtually corrupted the ministry of the word in their un- due partiality towards its ministers. By this " glorying " in favorite preachers, they poured contempt upon the sacred word, prizing it only for the sake of the vehicle through which it was conveyed, or the man- ner in which it was discussed. And here let it be observed that these cherished partialities, where they are excessive, always go to arraign the Divine Being at the bar of human reason or fancy, and to impeach his wisdom in the qualifications and appointments of his own ministers. Thus by attributing more to the instrument, than to God who employs it, we prevent the salutary effects of the gospel upon ourselves, and pro- voke the just displeasure of him who is jealous of his own honor and " who will not give his glory to another." But Secondly, they had perverted the design and intention of Heaven in the institution of the Lord's Supper, and this, according to the text, was the particular cause of their weak and sickly state. Here we may safely remark, that the corruption of religious ordinances and the abuse of Christian privileges, will be no less fatal to us than to them. Some make the ordinance of Baptism especially if it be administered accord- ing to their mode equal to the New Birth ; others find no difficulty in dispensing with it altogether. In the former case, it is corrupted, in the latter, contemned. Some participate in the Holy Eucharist, without discerning the Lord's body or without a spiritual " remembrance of Christ," and thereby bring upon themselves condemnation. Those whose prayers are mere " lip service," corrupt the duty and displease the Lord. That faith which is not loving and obedient, is the faith of Antinomianism, dead and use- less. That charity which originates in pride, worldly interests, or any other carnal motive, is corrupt at the foundation, and therefore Phari- saical. The abuse of these sacred and blood-bought immunities, as is here set forth, never fails to produce and strengthen spiritual disease. 3. Another cause of the prevalence of disease among the Corinth- ians, and of which the apostle in this epistle complains, was their great laxity in church discipline. Scandalous crimes should never be toler- ated in the Church of Christ. The work of God cannot prosper under such circumstances. Hence the apostle censures and condemns the Christians at Corinth because they retained the incestuous person among them, whereas they ought not to have countenanced him as a brother nor to have held communion with him in things either sacred or civil. SPIRITUAL, PATHOLOGY. 343 It is utterly impossible for us to associate with the ungodly by choice, whether in or out of the Church, without receiving a portion of their contagion. Hence the importance of the apostolic injunction: "Purge out, therefore, the old leaven," which may apply to ungodly men in the Church, as well as evil principles in the heart. Excessive lenity in the exercise of church discipline, and particularly the entire neglect of it, must always result in unhappy consequences to a Chris- tian community. 4. Further, it is proper for us to recollect that the characters exhib- ited in the text and throughout this discourse are such as have been perfectly or partially cured of an original disease, but from certain causes have taken a relapse ; and because the second attack is generally more fatal than the first, it seems necessary that we should be the more particular in tracing out those causes which lead to it. Here we may remark that where a disease has merely been palliated, and not radically cured, although many of the most dangerous symp- toms may have disappeared, and a partial restoration have taken place, yet so long as the seed of original malady lurks within the system, the patient is continually liable to and in danger of relapse. The application of these remarks in a spiritual sense is equally striking and forcible. In order to guard against relapses and secure to ourselves a state of permanent health and vigor, it is essential that the seeds of spiritual disease and death should be extracted, or that our " hearts be cleansed from all sin." If we would have the ground cleared of a noxious tree, it is not enough that we lop off its branches; we must pluck up its roots. Without this, the reasons for the first operation will frequently recur; and we think we are divinely warranted in say- ing that here lies one of the most general causes of the spiritual languor and debility, the frequent instances of apostacy and the superficial state of religious experience for which the different churches among us are so deplorably remarkable. III. To give some directions concerning a cure, both as it respects the remedy itself and the means of its application. 1. The remedy itself. The Lord Jesus Christ, is both the balm in Gilead, and the physician there. " He is the Healer of all manner of diseases." It is not unfrequently the case that new diseases must be produced in order to counteract old ones, and this seems to be the case here, that he might be a proper Mediator and the Physician of our souls, the blessed Redeemer took our nature into union with his own ; to assuage our griefs he " hath borne them," to alleviate our sorrows he hath " carried " or endured them ; that he might be able to bind up our wounds, he waa 344 LIFE OF EEV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. wounded for us ; that he might forgive our sins " He was bruised for our iniquities ; " that he might restore us to the forfeited favor of heaven, " the chastisement of our peace was upon him," and that our stripes might be healed " he was stricken for us." Though he was the " Ever- lasting Father," he condescended to become an infant, to be born of wo- man, that we, the wretched posterity of degenerate Adam might be born again born of God. He who launched all the planetary globes through the illimitable void, who guides them with the most perfect regularity, and who ornaments them with all their exquisite beauties and glowing decorations, vouchsafed to wrap himself in the veil of our degraded hu- manity, that we might be invested with the richest ornaments and high- est honors of glorified spirits, around his throne. Though the supreme Sovereign of heaven and of earth, he deigned to stoop so low as to take upon him the form and office of a servant, that we might be freed from the bondage of sin and slavery of Satan, and be honored as the heirs of salvation, with the ministration of celestial spirits. In infinite condes- cension he submitted to be stripped of his seamless garment, that our shame might not appear; he became naked that we might be adorned with robes of righteousness and garments of salvation. He who " tinc- tures the metallic dust,'' furnishes the exhaustless mines of nature with all their glittering treasures, who decked the sky with all its silver drapery. He, when tabernacling among men, was possessed of no riches but the riches of active benevolence, had no ornament but that of immaculate purity. Poor as he was in his circumstances, and mean in all his accommodations, "that we might be rich in faith here, and heirs of an imperishable crown and unfading inheritance hereafter." " The judge of all the earth '' yielded to the false accusations, the unjust judgment and the cruel decision of an earthly tribunal, that we might be graciously and honorably acquitted, and gloriously rewarded before his righteous and spotless throne. Although " the government was upon his shoulders," we behold him bearing the infamous load of a malefactor's cross, and a barbarous sol- diery, followed by an infuriated mob, leading him as a Lamb to the slaughter, that we might be delivered from the curse of the law, which we have justly merited, be favored with peace and triumph through death's dark passage, and ultimately conveyed, by celestial attendants, into the Paradise of God. Though he was the " Living God," who gave life to universal being, he, in the assumption of our nature, submitted to have his sacred body bound to a transverse piece of wood, with his two arms stretched out upon the cross-beam, while his hands and feet were made fast to the tree SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 345 by hammers and nails, which shattered his nerves and pierced his whole animal system with the keenest anguish, until the violence and slowness of the torture, forced from its fountain, drop by drop, the precious stream of life, that in his death he might conquer death, heal the inveterate plague of sin and restore the humble believer to immortality and eter- nal life. " Survey this wondrous cure ; And at each step let higher wonders rise ! Pardon for infinite offence ! and pardon Through means that speak its value infinite I A pardon bought with blood, with blood divine ! With blood divine of him we made our foe." ********# Draw near ye diseased and dying sons and daughters of Adam, behold this wonderful Physician, and contemplate his sovereign remedy. He suffers the medicine which is to heal your mortal wounds to be drawn in trembling drops from his palpitating heart, until its sluices are ex- hausted, and with his expiring breath he cries, " It is finished," while at the affecting tragedy the earth is in convulsions, the dead in agitation, the planets wrapt in mourning, hell in consternation, and all Heaven in silence. Here all is marvelous in the extreme, for this Tree of Life had but just bled to death, when a divine assurance was given that by some mysterious power of its own, it had revived again and was transplanted in the New Jerusalem clothed with beauty and verdure, abundant and seasonable in its productions, and that " its very leaves are for the heal- ing of the nations." Here, O diseased soul, is thy sure and only remedy. This " Tree " sheds forth a sacred balm which, in its marvelous efficacy, can heal all thy wounds ; it issues forth a tincture which, though of a crimson hue, can cleanse thee from all thy defilement, and wash thee white as snow ; it produces fruit which is suited to the weakness of the digestive organs, and is pleasant, nutritious and strengthening ; it affords a shade to the weary pilgrim, where no chilling damps expose him to the ravages of disease and death. Thus we discover that Christ is the Physician of sin- sick souls, and his blood their only remedy. " To man the bleeding cross hath promised all ! To man the bleeding cross hath sworn eternal grace : Who gave his Son, what gifts shall he deny ? " In the perfect cure of spiritual disease, two things are requisite. As 346 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. guilty rebels we must be pardoned and restored to Divine favor; aa de- praved and loathsome sinners we must be purified and restored to the Divine image. And from what has been said with respect to the remedy, it is clear that in Jesus Christ ample provision is made for the accomplishment of both. But if there is such a sovereign remedy, such a gracious, wise and powerful Physician, and all within our reach, we may take up the prophet's complaint and say, " Why is not the hurt of the daughter of my people healed ? " This leads us to notice, 2. The means which are to be used in order to an effectual application of the remedy, the first of which is to avoid the causes of the disease. " Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts." Cease to be contentious ; this last particle of malice or strife, har- bored and cherished in the heart, must, of necessity, prevent any inter- course with Heaven in prayer. It would be solemn mockery to entreat the " God of Peace " to take up his abode in a heart filled with wrath. "Go, then, and be reconciled to thy brother," yea, to thy bitterest enemy ; at least, make the attempt, or never expect to obtain spiritual health to the soul. The revengeful man cannot use the Lord's prayer by way of petition without praying for his own damnation. Forgive them, or never expect to be forgiven ; and forgive in the same manner, and to the same extent, that thou would'st pray for forgiveness. Prize the ministry of the word because of its own intrinsic value, and not on account of mere human embellishments. Hear and receive it as the gift of the Gospel of God, and treasure it up in an " honest heart," that it may bring forth fruit unto everlasting life. Use all the ordinances of God's house, and all the appointed means of grace, regularly, reverently, and spiritually. Let the Church cease to tolerate iniquity by refusing to exercise discipline, but let its officers seek the detection of disorderly members, and let every Achan found among God's true Israel receive his merited punishment, lest by their spirit and example a general infection take place among the flock. In the observance of all this, the bane of the Corinthian Church will be avoided. But, perhaps you have found it dangerous and injurious to rest satis- fied with superficial attainments, or to content yourselves with a partial cure. " Go on, then, to perfection." " Leave the things which are be- hind,' 1 and reach after those " things which are before." And let no state be considered as a secure one but that in which thou canst " re- joice ever more, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks ! " Beware of an unwholesome atmosphere. Shun the fashionable circle, the fatal haunts of the epicure and the sensualist. Take care of those SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 347 who talk much about innocent diversions, to pass away the time, etc. their way leads to death and hell. In short, " come out from among the wicked, be separate from them ; touch not, taste not, handle not, the unclean thing." But, again ; neither the physician nor his remedies will be highly prized or earnestly sought until the patient has a deep consciousness of the dreadful nature and alarming tendencies of his disease. In a spirit- ual sense, this is of such vital importance that there is no salvation without it. Our blessed Lord declares that " He was sent to heal the broken-hearted," and that those only who were sensible of their sick- ness would come to Him for a cure. Searching and unpalatable medicines must always precede those which are more relishing and agreeable. The wound must be probed before it can be healed. The bitter cup of wormwood and of gall must be drank before there will be an ardent thirst for the waters of life. The sinner must feel the inveterate disease deeply rooted in his heart, and be filled with the keenest anguish and bitterest remorse in conse- quence of it. He must be ready to acknowledge that there is no health or soundness in him. He must be so pricked to the heart by a con- sciousness of his guilt and impurity as to be extremely weary and heavy laden with the burden of his crimes. In such a condition he will be restless and dissatisfied. In the midst of worldly prosperity and encircled with dearest friends and relatives, his mind will be gloomy and his heart comfortless. Every object in na- ture will have ceased to charm. He wants spiritual health, and nothing short of that can satisfy him, or give him relief from the agonies of a wounded spirit. He sees, too, that there is no time to be lost, that he is already half dead, and that unless his disease is speedily arrested and skillfully resisted, he must, inevitably, fall a victim to its merciless rav- ages. Perhaps he may, formerly, have had recourse to various expedients to' palliate his alarming symptoms, but his "hurt" having been frequently " healed slightly," has now burst out with increasing violence, and with- out prompt and effectual resistance, threatens him with immediate death. He now disclaims his own ability and strength, and despairs of healing himself. Having been driven from refuge to refuge, and from one ground of hope to another, he is at last forced to abandon them all. And now we behold him not only a guilty, but an almost hopeless sin- ner. On the very borders of despair, in the most violent paroxysm of mental agony, he is heard to groan out his almost spiritless inquiry, "Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no Physician there?" or " is His 348 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. mercy clean gone forever ? " O, how welcome to such a soul is the news of an infallible remedy for his mortal distemper, and of a glorious Physician who never fails to apply it with such skill as to render it effectual 1 These repentant tears, agonizing throes and heart-rending anxieties of the sin-sick soul are the effects of a spiritual operation by which His compassionate Healer prepares him for a radical cure. These Divinely-wrought preparations in different degrees always char- acterize those who obtain the interposing aid of the gracious Restorer. And these being deeply rooted and realized, the principal hindrances to the exercise of the only principle by which spiritual health can be ob- tained and secured are removed out of the way. But what is that mighty principle upon which is suspended such glorious results ? The answer to this question leads us to contemplate the last and only refuge of the wounded penitent, " Salvation by faith." This great and glorious doctrine is both maintained and exemplified in almost every part of the sacred oracles. It is a cardinal point in the Christian system. It was a leading doctrine in the creed of the Re- formers. It was the sweetest theme of the Wesleys and their coadju- tors. May their followers never lose sight of it. But what is faith ? This is an important question, and demands an answer from the lips of inspiration. Such an answer we are graciously favored with. The great Apostle Paul, in describing Abraham's faith, simply observes, " he believed God " (Romans 4 : 3.) From which ex- position we learn that it is to place an implicit reliance upon all the truths which God has spoken, and especially to believe the record which He has given of His Son. It is a cordial reception of the whole Evan- gelical system. I am aware of the fact that this simple definition though, of Divine authority, has nothing in it congenial with the high notions of Metaphysical speculators, nor with the soul-freezing systems of such as directly or indirectly discard the doctrine of the Atonement. But this discourse is intended, not for those who wish to feed upon fanciful speculations, but for such as are willing to receive plain truth in the love of it, and such we think are those who lie at our spiritual Bethesda. They acknowledge their utter inability to help themselves, and also that they have no one to help them. In this distressing dilemma, let but the compassionate Jesus address them as he did the impotent man spoken of in the gospel, " Wilt thou be made whole?" and a gleam of hope is instantly inspired. Perhaps my case is not entirely desperate. Perhaps from the tenderness and compassion which is so conspicuous in the address of the gracious phy- sician, he designs to interpose in my behalf. Thus encouraged, he cries SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 349 out, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " and receives for answer, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved I " Now it is that simple saving faith which honors the Redeemer by exclaiming, " Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean ! " "I will, be thou clean," seals the dear-bought blessing, and introduces the wounded and dying sinner into a state of spiritual life, health and happiness. In the first application of this salutary balm, the cure may not be radical, yet the foundation is laid for a perfect and entire restoration, and unless the believer should mistake his state and settle down upon the mere threshold of Christian experience, his ardent faith will speedily embrace the Divine Healer, not only as his " righteousness," but as his " sanctification " and full "redemption." Then, in the rigorous and un- wearied exercise of all the Christian graces will he " hold on his way, and grow stronger and stronger." Then the whole tenor of his life will correspond to his name and profession, and while " the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day." Then, and not till then, will he experience all the pure felicities of that faith which ani- mated the holy apostle, when he exclaimed, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ, by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." And now, his affections being cut loose from earth by the powerful attractions of the cross, the life he lives is by the faith of the Son of God, through whose merit and by whose power he is preserved from falling, and entitled to "an entrance, ministered unto him abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1 : 11. We have now, agreeably to promise, exhibited some of the most striking symptoms of a diseased soul, brought to view a few of the causes which invariably produce it, and given some directions relative to a cure, both as it respects the remedy itself and the means of its application. It remains for us to improve and apply the subject by a solemn address. And, 1st. To those who are insensible to their spiritual maladies; such as imagine themselves whole, while they exhibit the most alarming symp- toms of a dangerous and fatal distemper. But, you ask, is it possible that I can be diseased and be insensible of it? "Can I be full of wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores," and at the same time ignorant of my state and danger? Moat assuredly this may be the case. It is not impossible in a physical sense. There are many instances in which persons are dangerously sick, who imagine, or strive to imagine themselves well ; and to whom the candor of a friend would be construed into cruelty. Thus, poor, infatuated sinners, sunk 350 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. into a state of spiritual lethargy, or under the influence of a fatal deli- rium, although threatened with speedy dissolution, fancy themselves in health, or but slightly indisposed, and flatter themselves with the pros- pect of life and happiness until death and hell engulf them forever. These poor deluded souls are both infected and infectious. They by turns flatter each other, and thus contribute toward a blind and fatal se- curity. Those are the characters by whom faithful ministers and zeal- ous Christians are considered in no other light than as "the troublers of Israel." But " whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear," we must honestly and conscientiously endeavor to give sinners, as well as saints, their proper portion, in due season. Settle it well in thy heart, O secure sinner, that the very worst symptom which discovers itself in thy case is thy insensibility or criminal indifference. Search, then, the records of salvation, attentively ; read and devoutly meditate upon those inspired descriptions of thy lapsed and ruined condition. Pray for Divine illumination ; cherish every spiritual emotion ; be willing to feel thy disease in order to obtain a cure ; to know thy danger that thou mayest avoid it. And may God help thee to " consider thy ways," and give thee to understand the things which " belong to thy peace," before they are forever hid from thine eyes. But, 2d. Let us turn our attention to a different and more hopeful charac- acter ; to him who is deeply conscious of " the plague of his own heart," is trembling on the very verge of despair, and, as he supposes, on the point to die eternally. There is an object of our most intense commiseration. Witness that inexpressible anguish of soul which extorts from his throbbing heart the bitter lamentation, " My days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearih. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass ; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wil- .derness, I am like an owl of the desert, I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the house-top." Psalm 102 : 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Hereby the finest sensibilities of the pious heart, and the tenderest sympathies of Christian benevolence will all be called into practical operation, on beholding so moving a spectacle. It is now that the de- vout Christian " will weep with those that weep." Now the " Boanerges " will become a " son of consolation." He will recollect that a part of his commission runs thus : " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God," Isa. 40: 1. Yes, ye bruised and mangled penitents ! we re- joice to proclaim unto you, Jesus, "the Healer of all manner of dis- eases," and " the Redeemer of your lives from destruction." SPIRITUAL PATHOLOGY. 351 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer's ears. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, And drives away his fears. O, ye afflicted, tossed and uncomforted ! reflect upon the heart-cheer- ing import of that sacred name. He shall save his people from their sins. This was the object of his mission, the end of his atonement, and it is his gracious offer in the gospel message. He opened his message with a promise to the broken-hearted; he prosecuted it in doing good " to the bodies and souls of men ; " and he closed it by pouring out his heart's blood as the only balm to the wounded conscience. This is the good news proclaimed by the gospel, and this heavenly intelligence is as true as it is pleasing. Despair then no longer of obtaining relief, nor doubt the possibility of a final cure. Christ is thy physician, his blood thy remedy, and his promises thy security. Dwell no longer upon thy distress, weakness, or unworthiness, but look to Jesus, who is strong to deliver and mighty to save. Honor the Divine Kestorer by trusting in his skill, believing in his mercy, confiding in his power, and relying upon his promises. In making this venture upon the Divine benignity thy envenomed stings will be healed and health and happiness restored to thy soul. 3d. We will conclude this discourse by addressing those who have been partially or radically healed. How great are your obligations to the Friend of sinners, who has become the physician of your souls. Such an unmerited favor certainly demands your earnest gratitude, your unceasing praise, and your cheerful obedience. Act not then like the ungrateful lepers, but like him who returned to give glory to his de- liverer. Remember, the blessed Jesus does not say to you, as he did to one of old, "see thou tell no man;" but he commands you to let your light shine before men, in order to benefit them ; yea, he absolutely forbids its concealment. And it is expressly said in the sacred oracles that whoso offereth praise, glorifieth God. Psalm 50 : 23. Indeed, so essential are these devout adorations, that to withhold them ia to deprive yourselves of the tender regards of your gracious Redeemer. But, if from a heart bursting with grateful emotions, your cry is, " What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me ? " then may you "take the cup of salvation," and, with implicit confidence, " call upon the name of the Lord." Psalm 116: 12, 13. It is also of the highest importance, as it regards your present and 352 LIFE OF REV. CHARLES PITMAN, D.D. eternal interests, that you guard against relapses. " Be not high-minded, but fear." You are never so safe as when you are most awake to danger. Perhaps you have already felt the fatal effects of spiritual declension. It may be you are not ignorant of the inexpressible anguish, bitter pangs, and extreme torture of a penitent backslider. If this be the case, learn wisdom by past experience. Remember the fatal rocks upon which you split, and let them be as beacons to you during the remainder of your voyage. If, as a justified believer, thou hast heard the consolatory whisper, " thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee," continue thy importunate suit until the gracious Physician shall add, " thy faith hath made thee whole." But if thou hast already experienced an entire conformity to the image and will of God, and art rejoicing in his perfect love, then thou shouldst earnestly beg, with the apostle, that " the God of all grace would settle, strengthen and establish thee." I Peter 5 : 10. It is in this way only that thy spiritual health can be secured. Ex- amine frequently and closely thy spiritual symptoms, and let thy relish for spiritual food, and thy practical conformity to the law of faith, be considered as the only genuine evidences of a healthy and vigorous state of the soul. Thus, having the Holy Spirit to bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, thou shalt be happy and useful in life, and triumphant in death. And when the destinies of Adam's family shall be eternally fixed, thou shalt be exalted to those healthful climes and united to that holy society, where God shall wipe away all tears from thine eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying ; neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former things have passed away. Rev. 21 . 4. There, without interruption, without weariness ; yea, with incessant transports of holy joy, thou shalt join in singing the heavenly anthem ; " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever, and ever. Amen." MBfl^^^^b3f29HB^H^ waagS BMBHSH^KBH