Beams of light on early Methodism in America : chiefly drawn from the diary, letters, manuscripts, documents and original tracts

Preface

rTlHIS work was written for the purpose of giving the student of the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church facts concerning her early years that are essential to a ^clear understanding of them. These facts have been gathered from the documents, letters, tracts, and diary of that venerable man of God, Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, and after his decease transmitted to his nephew and heir-at-law, the honored Rev. Ignatius T. Cooper, D.D., late of Camden, Delaware, who held them until April, 1884, when he was called to join his uncle in the courts above, leaving the papers hereof spoken in the hands of his son, Ezekiel "W" Cooper, M.D., also of Camden, who now holds them in possession.

Desiring to furnish the reader with such stateiv Preface.

merits as are vested with full authority, the character and standing of these Christian ministers should be acknowledged and recorded.

Of the uncle, Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, Kev. Daniel Curry, D.D., LL.D., has spoken in the Introduction, and frequent allusion is made to him in the volume now submitted to the public. Of Rev. Ignatius T. Cooper, D.D., by whose kindness the writer received and held the documents for several years, it may be said : He was a man of God ; for fifty-five years led the life of a pure and devoted Christian ; for twenty-five years served the Methodist Episcopal Church in the effective work of the itinerancy, was an able and impressive preacher, a wise counsellor, to whom was intrusted the responsibility of legislation in the Church of his choice, and was, as his biographer truthfully remarked, " A man of unbending principle, of positive convictions, and uttered his sentiments fearlessly, but with a dignity becoming the lofty character which he sustained. A warm advocate of temperance, and every progressive movement in moral reform, he was unswerving in his devotion

Pbeface. V

to the cause he espoused." He fell asleep in Jesus on the 12th of April, 1884, in the seventy-ninth year of his age.

These papers, falling into his hands, were religiously preserved, and were loaned to the compiler of this volume, who in order to obtain them was led to give a written obligation to preserve them undefiled, and to return them without loss of any one of them when called upon to do so.

Among the facts drawn from these papers are some that give proof to the Methodist of the present day that the early days of our Church were not altogether free from care and anxiety in relation to the harmony of the preachers and laymen. This is illustrated in the disunion in Philadelphia, which caused the removal of the Book Concern from that city ; the disharmony at Lynn, Mass., which led to the stationing of one of the preachers in a field of labor unheard of in the annals of the Church before or since — Rev. Jesse Lee being appointed to the Province of Maine, and Lynn, Mass. Other instances are also recited, but none without reliable vi Preface.

testimony to account for the causes producing the disorder.

The reader will also find valuable letters, from our Church Fathers, that have not hitherto been published, and in their perusal will gain knowledge of the various interests of the Church, her cares, sacrifices, triumphs, and prospects in those early days. Among them he will find letters from Bishops Asbury and Coke, and others ; and by them all may be edified and instructed. G. A. P.

Chapter I. Early Life And Experience Of Ezekiel Cooper

Place and date of his birth — His parents — State of religion — The influence of his mother — The Reformed Quakers — The Methodists in that field in 1776 — Freeborn G-arrettson there — Convicted of sin through Garrettson — Religious waverings — Again convicted in 1780 — Heart troubles — Converted in 1781 — Joined the Methodists in 1782 — Called to preach — Exercise of mind thereunder — Took up the cross in 1784 — Won a brilliant fame in the Church. ... 11

Chapter II

Quarterly meeting at Barratt's Chapel, Delaware, Nov., 1784 — Caroline Circuit, 1784 — Kent Circuit, 1785 — Petition against a poll-tax — Historic value of the summary given — Spirit of revival on the circuit — Quarterly meeting at Dudley's — Long Island Circuit, and New York — A week in New York — Outline of Long Island Circuit — John Hagerty, elder on Long Island Circuit — Methodism in New York — Order of ministerial service — Children's meetings — Rev. Mr. Lynch — One hundred prisoners in New York ask for prayer — Methodism on Long Island Circuit — Nehemiah Brush — John Wicks — Bread and Cheese Hollow — Philip Ellis — Esquire Edsell — Flushing — Quarterly Meeting at Hempstead Harbor — Benjamin Raynor — Wier Connack — Quarterly Meeting at David Furman's — Flemington — Methodism introduced into Jamaica, L. I. — Rev. Jacob Brush visits Long Island Circuit — Jerusalem — Rockaway and Searingtown — Quarterly Meeting at Searingtown , , . . 22 viii Contents.

Chapter III

Four Circuits in the State of New Jersey in 1786— List of charges on East Jersey Circuit in June, 1786 — Opposition to the Methodists — Letters from New York, Long Island, and Newark Circuits— Methodist preachers using the churches of the Episcopal Church — Rev. Mr. Ogden — Mr. Cooper invited to take Orders in the Episcopal Church — Methodism introduced into Reading, Pa., in 1786 — Also in Germantown, Pa. — Letter of E. Cooper to a member of the New Jersey House of Assembly against sin — Methodism planted in Newburgh, Pa. — Also in Bethlehem, Pa. — In Goshen — Second Quarterly Meeting for East Jersey Circuit, 1786 — Methodism at Hughes's Forge ; Debate with Judge Hughes — Third Quarterly Meeting at Mr. McCullock's, near Reading — A visit to Trenton Circuit — Also to West Jersey Circuit — The Methodists opposed at certain points on East Jersey Circuit 46

Chapter IV

The charges within the bounds of the Circuit — A survey of the Circuit — Singing without lining — State of religion in Burlington — Rev. Messrs. Spragg, Wilson, and General Lacey — Heroism of a Mr. Allen — Rev. Mr. Ayres,ofSpottswood, Pa. — A controversy — Quarterly meetings at Hopeweli, Freehold, Manahawkin, New-Mills, Joseph Hutchinson's — Mr. Francis at Middletown Point — Richard Ellis — At Allentown, Pa. — Controversy with Rev. Mr. Clark, the rector, about Methodists preaching in his parish— The Episcopal Church at Shrewsbury used by the Methodists— Efforts to secure Methodist churches 70

Chapter V. Methodism In Baltimore, MD., 1788, 1789

Session of Philadelphia Annual Conference of 1788— Drs Rush and Clarkson before the Body bearing testimony against the use of spirituous liquors— E. Cooper and Francis Spry assigned to Baltimore —Number of preaching-places within the charge— Baltimore made a station— Account of a great revival in Baltimore— Services under Rev. Nelson Reed, presiding elder, and others-Rev. John Hagerty

Contents. ix

from Annapolis, also assisting — Opposition to the revival exercises — "We worship God as if the devil was in us" — The zeal of all the members of the Church — Benefit of pastoral visitation — " Shouting and noise" — The home of every Methodist was like a church — Prayer-meetings — Thomas Foster stationed at the Point in 1789 — The Quarterly Meeting held August 8, 1789 — Scene at W. Buchanan's— At N. Joaes's — In the Church — Conversion of Jonathan Dagan and Jacob Welch — Watch-night service at Capt. C. Ridgeley's — Number of conversions, and members added to the Church — Children converted and brought into the Church — Mr. Cooper's personal reflections during this pastorate — Philip Rogers and others — Rev. Francis Spry — Band-meetings — Care for children 84

Chapter VI. Methodism In Annapolis, MD., 1789, 1790

Annapolis in 1789 — Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 129 whites, 140 colored — Order of religious services in the Methodist Episcopal Church — The annual public races — Debate in the Maryland Legislature: Freedom— The subject discussed in the Maryland Gazette — Also from the Methodist pulpit — Effect of the discus:-ion — An effort by some to make a law incorporating the Church in Maryland with the State — Letter of Bishop Asbury — Mr. Cooper embarrassed by domestic affliction — Kindness of his brethren in Annapolis — Letter from Rev. Jesse Lee — Agents of the Society in Annapolis for the Spread of the Gospel — Pageantry denounced— Letter from Bishop Coke, LL.D. — Letter of E. Cooper to Rev. John Wesley, A.M. — Letter from Rev. Emory Pryor — Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Rollings — Fighting about a preacher — Internal strife over the Church Council and Constitution — Letter of E. Cooper to Bishop Asbury — Action of the Annual Conference at Smyrna, Del., in 1790, on the Council — Letter from Bishop Asbury to E. Cooper 104

Chapter VII. Methodism In Alexandria, Va., 1791, 1792

Early history — Visit of Bishops Coke and Asbury to General Washington— General Roberdeau — Bishop Asbury provides for a church building — District Conference held there in 1791 — Trial of a slave for murder — Order of religious exercises — Some of the members of the x Contents.

Methodist Episcopal Church—Christian affinity: Rev. Mr. Muir — Montgomery Quarterly Meeting — Colonel Ormes — Letter to Bishop Asbury concerning Mrs. Harris — Letter from Bishop Asbury on the call for General Conference, 179^— Conference at Alexandria— Baltimore and Duck Creek Conferences — Revival spirit in Alexandria — Poheck Protestant Episcopal Church — Methodists of Alexandria opposed by the Baptists — Small-pox epidemic — Quarterly Meeting at Rev. Joseph Pigman's— Other Quarterly Meetings— Letter from K. Cooper to Bishop Coke — Reply of Dr. Coke — Oxon Hill Methodist Episcopal Church — Quarterly Meetings on the district during the winter — A member expelled from " Society " for marrying an unawakened man — Letter of Rev. Thomas Morrell — Letter of Rev. Jesse Lee — Mr. Cooper called to Charleston, S. C. — Closing scenes of his ministerial work in Alexandria 121

Chapter VIII

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CHARLESTON, S. C, AND IN NEW ENGLAND, 1792, 1793.

Condition of the work in Charleston — William Hammett's dispute with Thomas Morrell — Treatment received by a woman under conviction for sin — A malignant fever prevalent, by reason whereof Mr. Cooper is removed — A visit to New York, Heightstown, Allentown, Philadelphia — Samuel Emly — General Conference of 1792 at Baltimore— Mr. Cooper's journey to Boston — A season of religious joy at Tolland, Conn. — The journey to Boston resumed — John Allen, a disaffected Methodist preacher — The pastorate of Boston assumed — State of Methodism in Boston in 1792 — Methodism in Lynn — Leading Methodists in Boston — Discipline not enforced at Lynn — Arranging for building a church in Boston — Petition to use the school-house — Relations between the Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal Churches in Boston — Controversy between Arminians and Calvinists — Growth of religion in Boston— The first love-feast in Boston— The Annual Conference at Lynn in 1793 148

Chapter IX. The Methodist Episcopal Church In New England

The Conference at Lynn— Trouble in stationing the preachers- Rev. Jesse Lee's course— Note— The district over which Mr. Cooper

Contents. xi

was presiding elder — Controversy with Rev. Mr. Sherman, of Lynn — Salem, New Mills, and other places visited — Mr. Cooper pastor at Lynn, as well as presiding elder — How the work there was attended to when the presiding elder was at another point on his district — Manchester and Ipswich Hamlet — Quarterly meeting at Needham — Mrs. Blanchard, of Mansfield — Quarterly Meeting on Warren Circuit — Greenwich circuit, Judge Philips of Newtown — Lynn Circuit, Marblehead — Benefit o.f pastoral visiting — Historic review of the work on the district for the year — Boston, Needham, Lynn — Early Methodism in Lynn — Society parish meeting — Lynn Methodists sought after by the Episcopalians — Letter from Bishop Asbury — Mr. Cooper stationed in New York 168

Chapter X. Methodism In New York And Vicinity, 1794, 1795

State of the Societjr in New York — Pastoral visiting — The Church in Brooklyn — Burial of E. Cooper's mother — Widow Gray — Christmas-day observance and other religious services — New Year's services in New York and Brooklyn — Liberality of Mr. McKenness, the British agent in New York — Sacramental services in the New York churches every month — Quarterly concert of prayer — Pastoral visiting — Letter from Bishop Asbury — Ministering to prisoners in the City Jail — Thanksgiving-day — A sermon for New York deists — Letter from Rev. Lawrence McCombs — Election of trustees of the Church in New York — Letter of Bishop Coke — " Moving-day " — Long Island Circuit — Manitou Well — Quarterly meeting at Comack — Whitsunday among the Methodists — " Quarter-day " — Elizabeth. N. J. — Ministerial visitants in New York — Bishop Asbury 's visit and work — Quarterly meeting at New Windsor — Dr. Anderson at Bellevue Hospital— New York Society for Suppressing Yice 192

Chapter XI. Methodism In Philadelphia And Vicinity, 1796

African Church in Philadelphia — Mr. Cooper assistant to Rev. John McCloskey — Father Abbott — Excursion through New Jersey — The Society at Mr. Burgh's, near .Monmouth Court-House — Mr. Cooper preaching in the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches in Philadelphia— Methodism in Germantown, Pa. — "Chartered Fund " instruxii Contents.

ment drawn up — Mr. Cooper and Wilson Lee stationed in Philadelphia, 1796 — The importance of Philadelphia at this time —Dr. David Rittenhouse — Funeral of Mrs. Brown and three children — General Washington— Inauguration of President Adams— Why Mr. Cooper did not go to Pittsburg — The first Methodist Society in Germantown, Pa. — Yellow fever in Philadelphia— Conference of 1797, in Smyrna, Del. — Committee on printing-business 217

Chapter XII

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN WILMINGTON, DEL., AND VICINITY, 1797, 1798.

Methodism in Wilmington — Letter from Bishop Asbury — Mrs. Wright, of Baltimore — Fraternal spirit of the Wilmingtonians — Letters of Bishop Coke, D.D. — He visits the Society at Wilmington — Meeting of the Book Committee in Philadelphia — Visit to New York — Methodism in Newport, Del. — Revival spirit in Wilmington — Philadelphia Annual Conference of 1798 — Yellow fever in Wilmington— Cecil Quarterly Meeting — Death of Rev. John Dickins — Letter of Richard Allen — Letter of Bishop Asbury, 236

Chapter Xiii.- The Methodist Book Concern

Early circulation of religious books by American Methodists — Conference action in 1782 — Action of 1784 — Book stewards appointed — Official title of superintendent adopted in 1790 — "Book Concern" appears first in Minutes of 1792 — The Book Concern the depository of the Preachers' and Chartered Fund — John Dickins — Philip Cox — Other sub-agents— Book-rooms— First publications by Mr. Dickins— Ezekiel Cooper appointed superintendent of Book Concern— He declines to assume the charge for a while— Letter of Bishop Asbury to him— Letter of Jesse Lee— The Philadelphia Annual Conference elected Mr. Cooper as agent in 1792— Address of the agent to the Church— Embarrassments— General Conference of 1800— The superintendent begins to visit the several Annual Conferences— Cu use of removal of Book Concern from Philadelphia— Letters from Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat— Another letter from Bishop Asbury— The Philadelphia Annual Conference of 1801 attempts to pacify the So-

Contents. xiii

oiety at St. George's, Philadelphia, but fails — A third letter from Bishop Asbury — Founding of the Union Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia — Interests of Book Concern increasing — Book Committee of 1802 — Extract from Conference Minutes of 1802, first edition — The Book Concern ordered to be removed to Baltimore in 1803— Letter of Bishop Asbury to the Superintendent — Reasons for declining to move to Baltimore — The Book Concern located at New York by the General Conference of 1804 — Plan of operation under E. Cooper, General Agent, and John Wilson, Assistant — Letter of Bishop Asbury 256

Chapter XIV. The Methodist Episcopal Church In Philadelphia

1799-1804.

Account of the disorder in the Methodist Society in the city — Longa-Corning — Dr. Coke's visit to the city in 1800 — Mr. Cooper's report of the disorder 285

Chapter XV. Presiding Eldership In The Methodist Episcopal

CHURCH.

Eldership in the Methodist Episcopal Church prior to 1792 — Title of "Presiding Elder" first used in 1789 — Adopted to designate members of the Bishop's Council — Station of preachers as by the Minutes of 1789 — The order of stations prior to this division — In the Council of 1790 they were styled Delegated Elders— In 1792 the office of Presiding Elder formally recognized — Attempt to make the office elective — Letter of Bishop Asbury to E. Cooper — The General Conference of 1820 on the election of presiding elders — Committee appointed to confer with the Bishops — Their report to the General Conference — The report adopted — Action of Bishop McKendree — Communication of Rev. J. Soule, Bishop-elect ; a protest — Great excitement — The Bishop-elect resigns — The debate on the suspension of the rule making the office elective — Protest against this action — The agitation after the adjournment of the General Conference — Letter from Bishop George to E. Cooper — Letter from Bishop McKendree to Annual Conferences — Action of the Philadelphia and New York Annual Conferences 293 xiv Contents.

ADDENDA.

The .struggle for the emancipation of the colored people — Action of the Conference of 1780 — Resolutions of the Conferences of 1783 and 1784— Action of the "Christmas Conference," 1784— Slavery denounced by clergymen — Publications of E. Cooper in Maryland Gazette— -Letter to "A Friend to the Union" in Maryland Gazette — Keply to "Abaris" in Maryland Gazette — Letter in Maryland Journal against '-Lawyer's Justification of Slavery" — Articles of E. Cooper in Virginia Gazette — Address of General Conference of 1800, opposed by the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Charleston, S. C, Rev. P. Matthews — Reply of Rev. George Dougherty of the Methodist Episcopal Church — Deposition of Rev. John Harper — Additional statement by Mr. Harper — His letter to Rev. E. Cooper — Letter of Alexander McCaine to George Roberts — Ode on Slavery more than eighty years ago 312

Introduction

The history of the rise and early growth of Methodism in America is still very largely unwritten. Materials from which to construct such a history are as yet sufficiently abundant, though, no doubt, very much that once existed and might have been made available has perished beyond recovery, and what still remains of original information, whether in the form of personal reminiscences or of written documents, letters, memoirs, and crude semi-official papers, is rapidly perishing. The time for enriching that history from the recollections of individuals has very nearly passed away, with the generation that lived among its events and participated in its acts ; but there are still living those who were, in their early lifetimes, the contemporaries and associates of those who made that history, and these heard from their own lips the stories of their labors and successes, their trials and their victories. From that resource, no doubt, valuable contributions of original historical information might be obtained were the proper efforts made for obtaining it; and here, too, there is no time for delay, for the few survivors of the second generation of American Methodists are rapidly passing away. The dew of its youth is being rapidly exhaled by the strong light and heat of the midday of that wonderful something called Methodism, and there is need that what still remains shall be seized and secured while it is yet practicable.

Happily for the interest of our historical inquiries, there still remain in existence and within easy reach valuable collections of private papers, letters, diaries, and records of personal observations and experiences, which contain an untold amount of the best kind of historical data. The art of letter-writing was in vogue, down to the earlier years of the present century, to an extent that is now but faintly appreciated. People were then accustomed to put their thoughts and feelings into their private epistolary correspondence in a manner that has since passed quite out of fashion ; and the letters so written and received were usually carefully filed away, and kept as choice treasures. Many of these collections of old letters written by the Methodist fathers are still in existence, awaiting the examination of the real students of original Methodist annals. The keeping of personal journals was also a prevalent practice, in which, scattered through masses of introspective selfconfessions, may be found nuggets of historical facts, which, if wrought into the history of those times, would explain many a hitherto inexplicable puzzle, and illuminate many an obscure historical entanglement, and correct not a few misconceptions. Yery much of this kind of material that once existed has, no doubt, perished beyond recovery ; but still very much remains, and it may be hoped that by the

The volume to which this Introduction is prefixed is the result of an exploration, by a competent student of Methodist originese, among the papers of one of the ablest and best of the first generation of the American Methodist preachers ; one who, without ostentation or design, has left on record for the use of later generations a record of the things which he certainly knew, and in which he was himself a not inconsiderable actor. Ezekiel Cooper was a great man in early Methodism, and his greatness, under God's grace, was all his own, and not the accidental outgrowth of official position. As soon as the Methodist body took organic form, he became one of its itinerant preachers, and after its incipient organization by the " Christmas Conference " he became both an active co-operator in its evangelistic

propagandism and an effective directing agent in shaping its economy. In both these directions his influence was clearly manifest from the beginning, and the expressions which he helped to give to both the spirit and the form of the then infant Church have, no doubt, been perpetuated, and American Methodism is now, in its best features, what it is because such hands and hearts as his were upon it during its formative stages. Without a trace of fanaticism in his nature, he united the devoted ness of a saint with the zeal of an apostle ; and while in the presence of rightful authority he was obedient as a son in the Gospel, he never failed to assert his own manhood, nor consented to sink the rights of the individual in deference to the demands of official greatness.

Students of ecclesiastical history have found out 2 that in the conflicts of the early Church the right was not always the exclusive possession of either party, and some have come to believe that the signatures of " orthodoxy " and " catholicity," in the times of the Fathers and the early councils, were simply the records of the greater number of votes in a nonrepresentative body, or the personal preferences of certain individuals of commanding places or personalities. So, too, it is becoming more and more evident, as the oldest Methodist authorities are brought to the light, that many things in our Church's economy now claimed to belong to the essence of the system, so that to call them in question is stigmatized as disloyalty, and to fail to sustain them must be accounted as infidelity to the system were not originally favored by many — apparently the most — of the best men of the golden age of primitive Methodism. As there were divisions and contentions among the apostles, and factions in the apostolic Churches, so the first Methodist bishops were not always of one mind, and each had his friends and supporters among those who served under them. But they were good men, and could yield their own preferences for the sake of the common interest, or else they could win forbearance, with even unwarrantable self-assumption, by greater zeal and more abundant labors and sacrifices.

of his686 PageS' and esPecia% Mr- Cooper's accounts

that InZ^ ?f •ll°1ds as an e™»gelist and the success

tnat attended his labors arr> fnli ^

fipect to tli* o.™ + ' u11 of suggestions in rehe went to the people, wherever they were found, and delivered to them the message of the Gospel. The available appliances for prosecuting evangelistic work were the most meager that can be conceived. There were very few houses of worship of any kind, and these were usually closed to the Methodist itinerants ; nor were there other places in which considerably large congregations could be accommodated. In warm weather their services were sometimes held in the open air ; but in most cases private dwellings were utilized as preaching-places, and for all other forms of their religious exercises. The disadvantages of this condition of things were perhaps not so serious as they may seem, for the companies so gathered were usually small, and the people were not accustomed to better accommodations. The coming of the preacher broke in upon the monotony of the rural hamlet or neighborhood, and the novelty of a "preaching" sufficed to bring the people together. But the preacher had to contribute every thing to the service, and the reading and singing, not less than the praying and the preaching, devolved on him alone. It appears, also, that, as to its matter, the preaching was of the plainest character, without any labored expositions, or arguments to prove the truth of Christianity, or even an intimation that there could be any possible doubts or questionings respecting the things declared; the simple verities of the Gospel were stated ; men were told that they were sinners, and that the wages of sin was death ; that Christ came into the world to save them from sin and death, and that all who would might come to him and be saved ; while in the back-ground rose to view the fearful menace of eternal death for all who should neglect this great salvation. And these things were told not as a formal message, but rather as an earnest plea, with urgent exhortations, made all the more persuasive by the abiding expectation in the heart of the preacher that the word would not fail of its proper results. They expected to succeed, and spake and acted accordingly, and they were not often entirely disappointed. In the present widely changed condition of things it may not be possible to reproduce these proceedings, and so to achieve like results ; and yet it may be questioned whether the prevailing methods of preaching are any improvement upon those of earlier times, and the want of the expectation of speedy results is itself an occasion of unsuccess.

Another thing, quite remarkable, seen in these memoranda, is the action of these preachers in respect to slave-holding. The standing declaration of the Discipline committed the Church to "'the extirpation of the great evil of slavery ;" and among its practical regulations was a scheme looking to the emancipation of all slaves owned by the members of the Church. The preachers, acting in harmony with the law of the Church, set themselves actively to denounce slave-holding as contrary to the spirit of Christianity, and entirely incompatible with the religious life to which all Methodists were, by their profession, consecrated, iheir testimony was, in most cases, accepted by the

fan! T JUSt-an.d rlght' a"d "<* a few in Maryland and some m Virginia emancipated their slaves some at once and others eraduallv T l £ SlaVieS~ Jnlv T7QO +-ji c i giauuaiiy. ihe Fourth of ">} , 17*), tell on Sunday, and the occasion was used for the public expression of the sentiment of the Church against slavery, as at once opposed to the Gospel and. to the spirit of American liberty. Of course some opposed, but the prevailing sentiment of the people in and out of the Church was favorable. Mr. Cooper tells of the responses made to the declaration of the preachers, which were such as to show that the convictions of fhe people were at first with them. But with the abatement of the public zeal in favor of freedom and equality for all men, and the growth of cupidity and worldliness among professed Christians, the testimony against " the great evil" became fainter, and the law of the Church was suspended, or made practically inoperative, till at length the Church was rent asunder by it, and at last deliverance came at once to the Church and the country in the throes of civil war, and with a terrible baptism of blood — a fearful lesson concerning the folly of tampering with wrong for the sake of temporary advantages.

It is well known to all who have examined the early history of the Methodist Episcopal Church found in original records, instead of trusting wholly to its prepared histories, that there were not infrequently wide differences of view among its great leaders, which sometimes occasioned earnest conflicts, and in more than a single case resulted in disastrous divisions and permanent alienations. And of all such disturbing causes, those relating to the power of making the appointments of the preachers to their several fields of labor has, no doubt, been the most active and persistent, for it continues to the present time. Mr. Wesley claimed and exercised absolute authority in the assignment of their fields to Ins u helpers," as lie had the legal right to do, since he had himself created the system, and each preacher had accepted his place with a clear understanding of its condition. The expediency of such a method would be a proper subject of inquiry in the proper place, and it may be said, in passing, that perhaps no other method could have been successfully used, in the then existing conditions. It can scarcely be doubted, however, that in his later years, when the number of the preachers had become large — and among them were found not a few able and judicious men, whose counsels, if called for, could not have failed to be reliable — he might have lightened his own burdens and greatly strengthened his " connection," by sharing his autocratic powers with them. Mr. Asbury, both from his admiration for Mr. Wesley's wisdom, which seemed to him to be worthy of the closest following, and no doubt from his own instincts, wished to hold the appointing power in his own hands exclusively, and this he did, consenting to share it only with those whom the General Conference placed by his side with equal authority with himself. Perhaps even here he would have preferred that his associates in the superintendency should have been constituted his suffragans, rather than his equals and co-ordinates. These high claims were not always quietly acceded to ; they are still submitted to only under protest by thousands of earnest and loyal Methodist ministers, who prefer to submit their own preference, and if needful, to forego their natural rights, rather than disturb the peace of the Church, and so hinder the work of saving souls and edifying the body of Christ.