THE FLOrYtu uilCTlUN
noErffiBUBl
nn in
PrJBLIS2ED WEEKLY BY A COMMITTEE OF MINISIEBS FOR THE METHODIST EPIS COPAI CHURCH, SOUTH.- RUFTJS T. HEFLIN, Editor,.
Vol. III-,-.2STo.. 29.
EALIUGH, TITXJUSr) A-Y, JIT LY 185.8. SI 50 a year, in advance.
I 5
1111
Original..
For the X. C. Christian Advocate.
Vacation Tour.
Jure the lt, at 4 o'clock in the j dashes the majestic ship to pieces and
evening we left G.oldsbcro' in the train & the beholder with amazement,
far Newbern. A pleasant ride with After we had all got ashore at
cheerful company, brought us to our socking (a queer Indian name) we wal k
destination, about seven. There stood jd about a quarter of a mile to te
brother Weaver to bid us welcome and! store of Mr. Brooks. lie cheerfully
conduct us to. the parsonage. We w,ent agreed to carry us m his buggy to the
with him and. took tea; but were afraid , house of an old acquaintance where we
. :.u n tT, hrt J cculd get a conveyance onward. Mr.
nr-ht' leave-us behind the next morn- l p., started with his bridle away down
in Who that has eve? traveled by ! Jnt0 the pasture for his horse. Butsee
'elm beat cr rail road, that doeanot inS that ,,e were much older than we
dreid the Pea of being 'bft.' It does i ere, and feeling that it was a great
make one feel so little and mean get j accommodation to have the use of his
to the derot iast in time to see the boat'; a""iial, we proposed to go after the
or cars pass away o,.tpf sighted leav , e ana reheve Mr.,, os tr.e w.,R.
you to stay behind. To avoid this ca- j hen w found the horse it was with
lamitv, we chose- to. stay at the hotel, some difficulty that we could catch him;
and be there in tl.e morning to get off j we succeeded at length however, and
with our company. soon he W;IS htched in the buggy, ami
Everything was very nice at Mr. ; awaJ we writ- About 3 miles brought
Smith's hotel servants attentive and;U5t0 the house of Rev. Jas. Watson.
tV table well sapplied. Next mor.ning i Ifere our 'end Mr. B. left us and re
when we were about to leave, we call- i turned, leaving us under many obliga
cd for our bill, and were quite surpris-1 tloI'3 to h for his kindness,
ed at the amount. For night's loding I It was pleasant to sit there in that
and breakfast we hsyl to pay the piazza, just where we had been seated
rious little sum of oo cents: Thank , i"- momus ueiojc-, m company uu
jou, sir, for your generosity-how did ; brother and sister Watson, and another
you find out that our purse was nearly J esteemed friend, the wife of Dr. Long,
empty' If 'Satan' always treats the,andnd that the iapse of one year had
preachers so kindly, we guess they will , ma(l no apparent alteration in their
all like him wonderfully: Mav friend j Matures, while their hearts were still
Smith's tablo Jways be supplied, rnd; as young as ever, brother Watson is
may his pockots ever be filled with j Lcal Preacher and a useful man.
something better than rocks. j llIS own aecord he offend us the use
June the 2nd, at an early hour, we!0 his horse and buggy to reach our
were netting ready to sail. To sail : appointment at oiauesvine on tne toi
Yes. for the steamboat had quit run- j lowing Saturday. It does one good,
nin and had been taken to be repair- , makes him feel good, and leads him to
ed.Our vessel, was one of the size and 1 think well of his fellow-men, to receive
make which the people down there call ; such acts of unexpected kindness. Let
a 'corn-cracker.' This small, neat era ;t .; arJ man visit Hyde county, and if he
had been chartered by our esteemed ! behaves himself, he will meet with the
fr'end, .1. S. Burns, Esq., for the pur-! greatest attention and kindness every
nn? r'f convevir.j? himself and some inhere. Next morning, June 4th, we
vcun- ladies returning, from school, j started for Sladesville distance about
across to Hyde county. Capt. Midyettjrty miles, more or less. Our trip was
i- command, we felt quite secure, and . not marxed with anything very striking.
iared to bid everything defiance except ; " e passed up the South side of Mat
sea-sickness and musquitoes. The wind : tamuskeet lake, through some of the
was riht aair.at us, for while we were ; "chest corn land in the world. Staid
makin ourwav down the Neuse river, ,a!1 night at Swan Quarter, the county
the wind was l'!o;rmg p the stream ; seat of Hyde, and next morning we ar
aiid yet our skillful captaia managed1"1 at Sladesville in time for preach
ta carry hU vessel cn in spits 02 the wind, But we have, perhaps, already
which is a very singular way of getting ; trained the reader too long from his
nlonNvhen viewed by a 'land luLbavd - supper; if so he will please accept our
from the ur. country. It te rather te-
dious, however, for one who is in a hur-;
rv as school girls always are, when j
vays are. wncn
returning Uome. we woriteu naru
.I. nn. milv trot about forty miles.!
The Captain did all he could to make :
i.-. p,--
us comScriable, down in the cabin Oim
iis little vessel : but the berth in which :
we lay down, was not large enough, we
cild not turn over, we could not;
breathe freely, we could not sleep at j
all. So. we got out ar.d fixed a scja.ll
pallet on the floor, and on it we rested .
snui'iy till morning.
4t fl.iv 'i-ht we found ourselves Ovt
in the middle of Pamplico. Scund. ; York, "Pimps were sent in every di
Yesterday we had too much wind, but rection ; newspapers, religious and see
now we are becalmed. For some time'uhir were bought up for, be it known,
thrrs was not a breeze to be discovered, the former are as readily so7d as the
Which is the -.sorstto have too much latter, only with this difference, that
wind, or to ha-ve none at all ? We oHVr they are vastly cheaper, and their ser
this -uestioa for discussion for the vices can he had at a most'contevrptihle
reader's am -jsement, when he is out to price money not being demanded."
sea and flails himself unable to move j We hope this astounding assertion
onward. We floated on very slowly made by " P. N." (for no proof is of
till about one o'clock, when a fresh j fered,) is a calumny on the religious
breeze epruug up and took us on ra-; press of New York ; for we would rath-
11 I " " . 1 . . ... 1 . 1 r. , . fll" 4ntVirt nvlil it tp Alii inmmAn ( ris.
DKilV. X HI 10 Our l iilliu n u tuuiu aci;j
the islands of Portsmouth and Ocra
coke. 0-2 the former we had spent a
few days most delightfully in the sum
mer of ISiS, and now, ten years later,
we were sailirg in sight of te same
Wo Mt. n vprv stronc desire to
r"; . , , !
tro shore ar.a see the old irien s,wnose ,
(.u.iuicj...'.dv , :
acquaintance we nau iormeu iti uuia
days. There lives a Ir Dudley, who
ha3 lono stood as a fine pillar in cur
!h arch ca Portsmouth. But we had to
forego the pleasure of seeing him, ami j
enjoying Lis hospitality. More than j
a thousand times have we thought of a j
remark whica ne made to us ten years
ago e were conversing about church!
members withdrawing whenever they,
irot a little offended, or when some per-
CUli liilliC". 'A uviu n". T v.....
, . 1 1 i . h Am thav h'l n nrv pnnn.
dence. Dr. D. remarked that he had
often been tempted to withdraw when
he saw so- many worthless characters
in the oh arch. 'But finally,' said he
'while rejecting on the subject one day,
I came to this determination, that I
icoirfd not witJidv'SJO from the church,
even if the devil himself came and
joined'it A good resolution.
About four o!clock, our good Cap
tain brought ua to. anchor off Wysock
in.r r.r Brooks' landing. We offered to
pay the captain, but he utterly refused
to receive c-ne cent. W e wished him a
lone and happy liie,and devoutly pray
ing'that the Old Ship of Zion might
land him sa&ly in the blessed port of
heaven, we bade him goodbye. By the
way. the sailcra are a noble race of
men'. They gwcraUy look rough and
unpolished, but their hearts are warm
and large, and felled with generous ira
pulses. Often have we bees surprised
at their frankness, their kindness and
their heroic boldness. Their, hearts are
expansive and boundless like the ocean
upon which they sail : their friendship
is pure and their professionsare radiant
n sincerity as the ieweled stars and '
silvery maon reflects! from he deep;
when once roused by a sense of injustice,
their rage is impetuous and their wrath
:a terrible as tha furious tempest which
:''" paper uy IOr me
present.
on the-
We will reserve our remarks
tUH fc c vjmun vi uvu ut juxiuo
, -"
Respectfully,
n -T nnrrm
i3. lU. CllU&i.
For the X. C. Chr:stian Advocate.
Things and Thoughts found Here and
There.
CoitRUPTiox of the Press. A New
York correspondent of the Nashville j
Christian Advocate says, with regard j
.'.1 ... ... r -
ta tne swiu milk- excitement m iSew
- j nvvun ui uuiurju vuno-
tianity, find one man guilty of a viola
tion of the ninth commandment, than
that the religious press of that great
city should prove to be so base.
Prayer at Suxset.
P.r. frtl, !t ovnnti.lo
, e , ' , ,
The eventi.le f summer, when the trees
Yield their frail honors to the passing breeze,
And woodland paths with autumn tints are
dyed ;
When the mild sun his paling lustre shrouds
Then wander forth niid )Cauty iinJ deeaj
To meditate alone alone to wath and pray."
K:0,VLEDGE.It ia tUe privilege 0f
an ;nt'elii t man t0 be , eithn of
ft cont of
.. 'But if hfi shoul(1 n ect
f ? t, iF...ifi e ?.
..A
as it is in Jesus, he will find that " he
that incieaseth knowledge iucrc-aseth
sorrow.
Circulation of Religious Lite
rature. The following excellent re
marks on this subject, from a recent
article in the North Carolina Christian
Advocate, written by Rev. B. F. Long,
ought to be pondered and prayed over
by some of the preachers who suffer
their people to perish from the "lack
1 .
of knowledge." Have they forgotten
that one ot the duties still imposed up !
on them by the Discipline is to 'Spread
the Booss !'
" As the M. E. Chui;cb. South, Ave
have established a 4 Publishing House
for the purpose of providing a supply
of Methodist literature, for circulation
within our bounds. This 'Publis ing
House' has in the persons of efficient
itinerant preachers, about twenty-five
hundred Agents, and yet their shelves
are loaded with seventy thousand dol
lars worth of ' stock oa hand.' That
this is, to a certain extent, to be attrib
uted to the peculiarities of location,and
want of facilities for rapid, transporta
tion, may be true ; but that to an al- j cation followed, andt then blows ; and
most entire extent, it is to be attribu- j then, commenced a regular row. Their
ted to want of interest and. industry in watchrcry was sounded by one of their
the circulation of these books, upon the gang ; they rallied their forces almost
part of these Agents, cannot be denied ; in a moment,, armed with axes, fence
There are many Methodist preachers stakes, pikes, single trees, ring-mauls,
who will not even keep a supply of.&c., and promiscuously and indiscrim-
Hymn Books for th members of their
charge. And while the Savior has
said, 'Judge not, that ye be not judg
ed,' I fear there are those who think it
rather beneath the dignity of their po
sition, to engage in the business of 'sell
ing books. 'Ihere is certainly no
preacher who will not admit that this
is a great means of doing good : if so,
should not the conscience convict of
culpable negleet of tluty, when this
means is not used : Do not tiie obli
gations of oar office require 'us to use
ev.'rv possible effort for the purpose of
securing the design of its institution ;
if so, does not the voluntary neglect of
the use of one of the most powerful
means placed within our reach, render
us guilty of wilfully neglecting the du
ties of our position ?"
Marriage among the Negroes ix
South Africa. Speaking of Ma
zinqua and his family, Dr. Livingstone
says : " His children, all hy one moth
er, very black but comely to view,
were tne nnet negro ramny I ever
saw. He were much pleased with the i 1 , . J "v
frank friendship and liberality of this j " elsewhere.
man and his wife She asked me to I ,Ihe VnVlt and P,ress' especially our
bring her a clotlffVom the white man's PulP;-and Press ha lo"? wae1 a
country; but when we returned poor ! war.farc li.st thosc felling Mena
Mazinqua's wife was in the grave, and I Senes asJ reuses, that almost every
ho. ns ic tl.P ,etnm 1 ,1 o )v, a,ma sou pass through our land: and it
-wj w .w VU.MU111) null u'-i IHHU1V,VI 1 i . I
trees, warden, and burs, to rnin. Thimlt seem a work of supererogation
' C 7 7 " . J
cannot
vorite
k.,t, i
afraid to remain on a spot where death i
has once visited the establishment. If!
the place is ever revisited it is to pray !
to her, or to make some offering i
Livinff stone's Missionary Travels and
2i,esearches in South Africa, p. 338.
Intellect of Native Africans.
" In general, they are slow, like all the
African people, hereafter to be descri
bed, in coming to a decision on relig
ious subjects ; but in questions affecting
tneir wonuiy anairs tney were Kepnly 1
i 1 ill f 1 t
alive to their own interests. 1 hey
nnght Lo called stupul h matters which
had not come within the sphere of
their observation, but in other things j
they shewed more intellect than is to
be met with in our own uneducated ;
peasantry. Jbid. p. -J.-1. 1 his state- ;
ment is made by a learned and pious j
Scotchman, who had spent sixteen ;
years in intimate intercouse with these !
people, and is worthy of consideration !
live on a spot where a fa-T, "7.,, y u-..,
wife has died, probably because !fhePuhliC' , But in reSard ? ihi9 88 j and wdl ncrget .t in heaven So
.i. i,," r.i. n. n.anv others, men need line upon ueep was the impression of the subiect
oy an wno aie interested in the evan-
gelization of Africa, or of the descen-
dents of Africans m th. countrv.
UxilArPY Marriages The Iiea-i101
son of it. Buhver is separated from
his wite, Uickens trom hi3 wile, ami ; a -n-s manager scattered broad- !
Chas. Reade (of Peg Woffington and j cas-t a pamphlet professing to give a i
White Lies notoriety) is living with i short history of the appearance, nature, I
another man's wife. From the davsof;a,!(l habits of every animal on exhibi-!
the poet Job, whose wife was the orig- j
inal Mrs. Caudle, down to Socrates j
and Xantiqpe, and so on down to By-j
ron, and finally to Dickens, matrimcni- :
al unhappiness has ever attached to j
literary men.
The above paragraph which is "go
ing round" in the newspapers without
any author's name, does injustice to
literary men. While in so large a class
some have been unhappily married, it
has not been shown that this is more
frequently the case with literary men
than with men of other professions,
The cases of the poft Southey, Dr.
Adam Clarke, and others, given in
"Marriage as it is and as it should be,"
are bright examples of connubial hap
piness among men of this class. The
error arises from the same source with
the false proverb, " The parson's chil
dren are the worst in the parish."' Lit
erary men and parsons arc conspicuous
objects, and their errors and misfor
tunes are sure to be noted by the pub
lic. 'BETA.
For the N. C. Christian Advocate.
Mr. Editor :
Tuesday, the Gth of July will be a
memorable day in Wilkesboro', N. C.
By large and naming hand-bills, it had
been extensively made known that a
" Great Show and Circus" were to be
here on that day. Our preacher, fore
seeing the evil and injury that were
likely to supervene, gave earnest and
faithful warning, kind and affectionate
remonstrance to his charge, fully de
livering himself.
The long expected day, however, at
length came around. Early ia the
day wagons, carts, horses, mules, oxen,
&c, began to flock in, loaded down
with human beings, a large majority of
whom were young, and ths crowd large
ly admixed with females.; so that by
12 o'clock,, our streets and avsnues
were alive with ppople. It was adver
- tised thai tha " Grand, Fandango"
would be open at one o'clock--prsvious
to this several little catch-penny stands
sprang up all around the main canvass
these exhibited paintings, sold, some
sort of curative humbug, cenjents, $c,
&c. In fixing up their large canvass,,
one of the managers oS'ered some in
dignity to one of our citizens, which
- j he resented. few words of alter-
i inately attacked every person, whether
friend or foe, magistrate" or officers, in
a real murderous onslaught, beatin
down like butchers every person who
opposed them, whether as antagonists
or peace makers. Our citizens, seeing
their danger, fled in consternation, all
but a few who rushed tb the rescue of
their friends, and succeeded in driving
back the cowardly ruffians ; not, how
ever, till they had striken down some
five or six men, like so Many brutes in
a slaughter house, ST.-.-vampted over
or kicked them to one side in efforts to
overtake others. Providentially no one
was killed ; but several men were se
riously wounded, who will have cause
tc. remember the day and its incidents,
till the end of their life.
Warrants were immediately issued, I
and several of the gang were arrested ; j
several escaped entirely, ar.d others !
assumed cM'ases, and at last only three!
or four could be sufficiently indemnified
to bind them over to court. And thu3 j
the day wound up, and the company i
lime, ana precept upon precept. J.he
Pre.sa r"a-yl , he pulpit forewarn,
and f 1 tfllre w,n be f(H,Vd PeoP1(?
har-eds of them to give aid and
countenance encouragement and sup-
'.ne wo'e miquitous concern
Now it would be no hard matter to
j adduce evidence thaj these companies
do a great deal of harm in our country,
or to prove that the influences that go
j out from them, are like a pestilential
! vapor, which in sweeping through our
land vitiates and corruDts our voiith.
and offers formidable barriers to the
progress of virtue, piety and reli gion.
Verily its fruits are easily s-en, and
its works do follow it.
Js t fht ? Is it consistent for any
sach h-reliions. mtr,mn,ratn
God-defying company to be sustained;
and sunnorted bv nnv
more especially by members of the
Church of Christ? Is it not a real
prostitution of money, of example of
influence, and a violation of that sacred
; compact we have taken upon ourselves i
i to. rpsisr ho a.i 1J J,i irorlcs." j
J But a few y. ars since a large collec-1
of animals passed through our j
i State, associated with which there was I
tim aT1d in many instances acknow- ;
leuSmS !"m pointing out the gooaness ;
1111,1 heniheence ot God (!) in sll these
peculiar arrangements of his divine
providence. And to give force and
effect U te idea or impression that it
was to magnify the goodness, wisdom
and, power of God, that prompted them
in part at least, to offer this exhibition, !
tney uistnuutea Jrce tickets far and
near to every minister of the gospel,
inviting them to come and behold the
wonderful works of God." The bait
took in many localities. The ministers
not only ceased to warn the people, but
actually visited the exhibition as it
passed ; and thus a deep laid scheme,
adroitly suggested by ' the prince of
darkness, entrapped many a unsus
pecting man. It passed away, and
left behind it that sad evidence, that
" not every one that saith Lord, Lord,
is fit for the kingdom of heaven." Ah,
no indeed ; but then as noiv a retinue
of ruffians, blackguards, profligate men
and prostitute women swept through
our State, regardless of the laws 'of
God or man in defiance of all the
rules of virtue, propriety or decorum
glorying in their debauchery, wanton
ness and shame leaving behind them
a moral stench which corrupts the youth
j of our beloved State, and withers the
hopes and crushes the hearts of those
who pray for the prosperity of Zion
and the peace of Jerusalem.
I do hope, Mr. Editor, that the time
is not far distant when Ave, as a people,
more especially as a church, wili cease
to give countenance and support to any
such ungodly crew. 0 ! how shall we
answer for these things at the judg
ment bar? Can we thus enrich the
treasury of ths devil by our money, in
fluence and example, while hundreds
and thousands of our fellowmen are
perishing for ths Word of Life, and ex
pert tat God will hold ua guiltless in
the day of final reckoning ? This sol
emn tribunal will try us by our ivorks,
not by our excuses, explanations, and
apolpgiea. These may satisfy the
world, aad with, them we may try to
quiet our conscience, and apologize to
the Bible ; but still the warning will
stand, out if) liviag words, " Come out
from among them, be ye separate."
" Their tongue is a fire a world of
1
iniquity." " Their way leads to.bell,
going down to the chambers of death."
A. A. SCROGGS.
Wilkesboro', July, 1858.
3.
From the Christian Advocate & Journal.
Peath of Jabez Bunting.
Sketch of his Life His Legislative
Talent His Missionary Set-vices
His Promotion of Lay Agency
in Methodism His Talents as a
Debater.
The news, not unexpected-, of the
death of Dr. Bunting was brought by
the steamer of last week. The greatest
representee of W esleyan Methodism,
since Wesley himself, has passed on to
the hosts of the good and great in the
Church triumphant; he had lived, how
ever, 30 long and so real a life,and his
decease had been so gradually and yet
so certainly approaching, that the
Methodist communities of both hemis
pheres will not be painfully surprised
by it. He has gone in a good old age;
he has fulfilled nobly the mission of his
life; it was fitting that he should at last
cease from his labors.
Richard Boardman, the first preach
er sent to this country by John Wesley,
passed on his way to embark, through
tho village of Moneyash. Derbyshire,
in the summer 1769. lie preached there
on the prayer ot Jabez 1 Chron. iv,9,
10. The word was a 'savor of life unto
life' to,at least,one soul present.a young
on her memory, that when, ten vt-ars
later, she became a mother,she devoted
her first-born son to God, and 'called
his name Jabez.' He was bom at Man
chester, (not Moneyash, as usually sta
ted,) May 13, 1779. Gre at men, it is
said, derive their characters from their
mothers. Unquestionably the decided
religious character ef his mother intlu
enced the whole destiny of Jabez Bun
ting. His early and great capacity for
any kind of success, and the numerous
temptations to secular life which beset
him, would have diverted from the self
sacrificing career he chose, almost any
ordinary man; but a direction was giv
en to his mind in the outset which bore
him energetically along through his
protraeted career. His mother carried
him, when yet a babe, to Oldham-street
ohape!, Manchester, to receive the
blessing of the venerable founder of
Methodism. Mr. Wesley took him in
his arms and pronounced a benediction
upon him. 1 he history of Methodism
has shown that it was a bequest of his
own mantle to the child,
His conversion s brought about by
an incident which, though apparently
trivial, seems to have had a providen
tial relation to his subsequent life as a
great administrator in the Church.
His mother, remembering her vows, ha
bitually took him to the love-feasts when
he was yet a child. About Iu3 fifteenth
uai iiiei.nuu., (
note) was their pastor. He was a rigid
disciplinarian, and admitted no one to
these meetings without the 'ticket;' the
prof of membership in the society. The
boy was getting ready to go one day,
when his mother informed him, with
much seriousness, that he could not get
admittance, remarking : 'I do not know
what you think about, it, Jabez, but to
me it seems an awful thing, that, after
having been carried there, you should
now be excluded by your own fault.'
'The Lord used these simple words of
maternal solicitude,' says an English
writer, 'to awaken a sou! that was to
be the instrument of awakening many.
Not a few will remember the simplicity
and pathos with which he related this
fact at the Centenary meeting in City-
road Chapel ; adding, with a gush of
emotion, '1 have to thank God for Me
thodist doctrine.' To use again his own
words : 'That moment the blow was
struck in the right place.' Soon after
he was a regular and earnest member
of a class, led by his maternal uncle.
The class-paper, for one quarter in
the year after he joined, is still extant,
and against the name of Jabez Bunting
'absent' is not once marked. Thus dis
cipline stood allied with his most sacred
recollections.'
Like most really great men, he ear
ly gave evidence of superiority. A
physician, Dr. Percival, was so struck
with the promise of his mind that he
proposed to take him under his patron
age. The opportunity was an auspi
cious one, and Mrs. Bunting being now
a widow, it might have seemed provi
dential ; but she remembered her vow,
and kept the boy for the Lord. In
about his twentieth year he went forth,
accompanied by his friend James Wood,
(a distinguished name afterward among
Wesleyan Methodists,) to preach his
first sermon in a farm-house. His text
was : 4 Ye believe in God believe also
in me.' The discourse gave to his
friend a presentiment of his future suc
cess ; I never heard s, better sermon,'
he exclaimed ; ' Jabez shall be more
honorable than his brethren,' ' Nearly
forty years from that day,' says an
English author, 'you might see this
same countenance fixed on the same
friend, and gl awing with like aenti.
raents. They are now in that Oldham
street Chapel, so connected with their
early religious course 2he blacK iocks
of Jamea. W,oad have become white as
snow, and time has also touched his
friend. The compact, expressive head
is very bald ; the pale countenance has
become full and strongly colored; ana
instead of extrerae slenderness, we have
advanced corpulency. But the whole
air speaks generosity and happiness.
Those smiles do not play upon the coun
tenance that confidence does not sit
in, the eye those various tones of easy
and1 sometimes playfiil sagacity, of
hope, and humor,and pathos, do not
come from the breast of a man who has
a bitter or a broken heart. Methodism
has reached the age of a hundred years,
and her chief men are met lo concert
measures for duly noting her centenary.
To him alLlook for the clearest expo
sition and the wisest counsel. He is in
the act of opening up tlrat plan which
is to evoke such a wonderful response
throughout home and missionary Meth
odism. As his friend watches him with
joy and pride, doubtless he thinks of
the day wher.; he saw him trembling
before his cottage audience. Have not
goodness and mercy followed theia
both : He sits there, one of the ir.&st
considerable merchants of his native
Manchester, president of tho Chamber
of Commerce, the beloved center of a
large and intelligent circle, one of the
most eloquent lay preachers in the
country, and about to lay down for the
hind, on Touch li s friend is discours
ing, the sum of- five thousand dollars.
And that friend, has not the prayer of
Jabez been indeed answered upon him,
and the lot of Jnhtz been repeated?
Ihere he stands, in that same chapel
where Wesley took him in his arms and
blessed him ; for mere than twenty
years he has been, taking him all in
all, the first man in the Methodist min
istry. Universal respect waits upon
'his virtues jnd:his talents.' He car
ries an amount of ecclesiastical in.3uence
perhaps greater than resides in the per
son of any other single man in Protes
tant Christendom; an influence that
touches every corner of the united king
dom, every colony that England holds,
and even many tribes lying beyond
the sphere of our national command."
His elevation to this eminence among
his brethren was rapid. Methodism
demands practical talent. The great
man among its people must be a great '
worker, in order to. be a workman that
ncedeth not to be ashamed. Brilliant j
accomplishments, without practical skill I
and palpable results, are of little esti
mation in a system so energetic and
demonstrative. Bunting had genius,
eloquence ; but he had also the insight,
the common-sense, the wisdom, at once
subtile and comprehensive, and, above
all, (as a requisite with a mul. itudinous
people and grea; resources,) a capa
cious, generous enterprise, that could
both project and sustain large schemes.
lhe elements cf these nullifications.
since so eminently developed, were visi- j
tie in the outset to the discernment of
his brethren. His career was there
fore rapid, and. in this respect quite
anomalous in the Wesleyan Conference,
lie I'liiiicu .. . p , .
1799, side by side with another young
man, who afterward became second to
him among the notabilities of English
Methodism, Robert Newton. His first
appointment was at Oldham. His sub
sequent appointmets are a curious re
cord ; a striking indication of the influ
ence of talent to secure, even without
ambitious management, its appropriate
fields of effort. Though one of the oldest
preachers in. th?, connection, his regular
appointments have been limited to but
eight places, and thosc the most impor
tant in England : Oldham, Macclesfield,
Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Hali
fax, Leeds, London. He spent eight
years, with intermissions, at Manches
ter; five at, Liverpaol; about thirty
three, in various positions in London.
These appointments, made not by his
own agency, but spontaneously by his
brethren, show, more perhaps than
does the case, cf any other man in the
history of Methodism, the predomina
ting power of real greatness, its power
to concentrate about it the requisite
conditions of success, to reinstate itself
spontaneously and continuously 111 the
midst of those conditions.
We have already indicated, in gene
ral terms, the trait3 that secured him
such an open and successful career.
In this country he has not been fully
understood ; we have considered him
chiefly as the great legislative leader
of English Methodism. This he wa3 ;
but this is not all. His remarkable in
fluence could never have been obtained
without eminent popular power in the
pulpit. Methodism has to do with the
masses, and Jabez Bunting has swayed,
not merely the ecclesiastical men of his
denomination, but its popular mind be
yond any man, since Wesley. He was
unquestionably one. of the greatest
preachers. 0 the age ; but great here,
as in ether tespects, net with adventi
tious or merely brilliant or rhetorical
traits, bujt with the wisdom and the
power which befit the office, and which
inherently belong to the man.
Truly great in the pulpit, he has also
been vigorously useful out of it ; the
master manager of the plans of Meth
odism since Wesley. Indeed, nearly
all the grand schemes of the denomina
tion in England have pprung, directly
or indirectly, from his energy. As.
soon as Dr. Cooke died, Jabez IJunting
became the chief director of the rais
sionary movement of Mr thodistn, (th.
greatest movement in its history,) and
to him more than any other man it owes
the precedence which it now takes oC"
all other Protestant missionary enter
prises of tho world. He had offered to
go to India himself as a n:issionary,and
has been heard to say : " Some cf tho
happiest moments of my life, next to
those that immediately followed my
conversion, were when I fully present
ed myself to the Lord as a missionary
to India." He was. wisely prevented,
from going, however,, that he might do.
a larger work for missions -at home.
He helped to organize the Wesleyan
missionary interest ; took the platform
for it with triumphant success ; was.
sent to. London that he might supervise
it, and there made one of the noblest
sacrifices for it that could be made by.
sach a mind, lie was endowed with
taste and capacity for literature, and
had formed witA a friend some favorite
literary projects ; but cn foreseeing tho
results of tho missionary undertakings,
of the 'connection,' he wrote tc. his
friend : ' The die is crt. if I give to
our missions the attention they require,
I shall not have any time hereafter for
literature.' 'This,' says the London,
Christian Times, 'must havs been &
conscious sacrifice of both reputation
and enjoyment ; but it was deliberately
made, and, consequently, except his
sermon on Justification by.Faith,whicb
has gone through seven editions, you.
will now inquire in vain for his produc
tions. Another sermon, preached in
Dr. Winter's Chapel, before the Sunday-school
Union, is, wc believe, out of.
print.'
Ho wa3 the first to introduce "tnyi&en.
into the management of the missionary
affairs of the Church, and not without
some clerical opposition. He has al
ways had the good judgment to sec tho
value of their services, especially in.
financial matters, where clergymen arc,
naturally enough, found wanting. Be
ginning with tho missionary society, ho
urged on this improvement ' till upoa.
every connectional committee, laymen
were placed in equal number with min
isters, lie also proposed and carried
the admission of laymen into, the di3r
trict meetings, so that through his leg
islation no matter of conneciioniil finance
ia settled by the conference : all this,
being done by mixed committees, and
the conference merely acting as. a couri
of record for their measures." So saya.
an English authority ; and another au
thor affirms that ' it is a fact but little
known, and, by these,, who have been,
accustomed to hear thiireat man rail
ed at as a priestly dictator, not even,
suspected, that nearly every measure,
which has popularised 'ie institutions,
of Methodism, (which has given to tho
people a more liberal representation,),
has originated with Dr. Bunting."
He has also led the way. in the great
educational cnterpri.ic of Wesleyan
Methodism. These are numerous, and,
now potent in their endowment and
influence. We can refer to but one of
th.9,U1r,the one at the hcad.cf which, as
an Theological Institute. This, is ai;. .
interest of the denomination that he.
anticipated with solicitude for many
years, and ha3 fostered' with unremit
ting care since its birth. At the very
first conference held by Wesley, some
such provision for the education of
young preachers was proposed. The
proposition was repeated at the next
Bession ; it was never lost sight of by
the Wesleyan Conference until it stood
real zed in two of their noblest denomi
national structures, one at Richmond,
in the south ; the other at Didsbury,
in the North. About fifteen years ago.
the Richmond Seminary was opened
with an address by Dr. Bunting.
At the session of the British Con
ference, in August, 1852, after the pre
sentation of the usual resolutions in re
spect to the theological institution, he.
arose, and, among other things, declar
ed uthat he was more than ever con?
vinccd that the institution was of God:
of God in its origin, and in its progress
to that state of maturity and cxtensivo
usefulness which it had now reached.
Dr. Bunting, like all first-class,
minds, was variously great. Wo have,
considered him as a preacher and as a
practical manager. As a debater he
was esteemed without a rival among,
his brethren. He was chary of his re
marks in conference sessions, well
knowing that frequent and unimportant
speeches there are a sure forfeiture of
influence, as well as a vexatious em
barrassment of business. IIo seldom
spoke over five minutes at a time, and,
for the purpose of concentrating tho
dispersed and bewildered thoughts cf
the body, cf allaying exasperated feel
ings, or clinching the subject by some
summary and coaclusive argument.
When, however occasion required it
he could enter the arena full armed,
and fight tho combat out; in variably
with victory.
He died at his residence, Myddletoi
Square, London, a,t a quarter beforo
one o'clock, P. M., on the lCth of June.
He retained his mental faculties elear
to the last moment, though hia speech
had failed.
Wc have no othes particulars of his
Jb