PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY A COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS FOR THE METHODIST EPI COPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. RUFUS T. HEFLIX, Editor
R A LE I G H , T HURS dTy7d!Tc EMlHrRnr7T??97
VOL. IV NO.' 48.'
$1.50 a year, in advance.
For the N. C. Christian Advocate. cnce picture. Just a week after it was
The Southern kt!irlit Bishops. ! too bite, Dr. Myers met with Bishop Paine
i at Nashville, anJ procurred a tliird copy
Rev. and Dear Brother : of his fac which looks more at case
I ask the favor of making the following ; ta.m any j jiavc cver seen hut several who
statement in regard to the lithographs ot know the Bishop declared "The present
the Southern Methodist Bishops, in the ; oue ns good or better than the other,''
columns of your paper. therefore it was let alone. Those of Bish-
ItCthe spring of 185S, upon seeiug a j UpS Andrew and Capers look young, as
similar lithographs of the Northern Bish- j they were both engraved by Sartaiu, seve
ops, of tli Methodist Episcopal Church, j nil years ago, aud this is the caso with
Icor' . ivie idea of grouping our vener- Bishop Early's yet I think they will
atei'ireTind fathers, who have been j give better satisfaction on the whole, than
lionorec by 'hurch with her highest : any cver yet taken, being taken nearly
.gifts, so as torJorlv in one memento the ! in the prime of the Bishops' lives and
first eight Bishops, living and dead, of the
Mettodist Episcopal Church, South, at a
price that every admirer and friend of the
beloved brethren, could, without inconven- "perfect I" &.c, and the same maybe said
ience, procure a copy ; and thus, (when ! of the opinions giver, of Bishop Soule, who
many or all the Bishops have passed away) ! occupies the centre of the picture, it is
they or their children could look with plea- j pronounced by many gooo judges "the
sure, upon the countenance of these they ; best they cver saw." Dr. Myers says :
once delighted to love and honor. I have j "Bishops Soule and Pierce will do as well
a likeness of Bishop Ausbury, alive, passed j I suppose as a lithograph can be made to
to me by "my father, which was published I do," and of the picture, "I suppose this
in 1S00, that I would not part with for ten j ma' do for a cheap picture, but I do not
times its value, though in his last visit to j admire this cheap art." The Doctor's judg
iny father's house, I was an infant in the ; ment is evidently "steeled" on this subject,
cradle, yet I seem to have known him ; so j Bro. Gillepie of the X. O. Christian Advo
familiar bis countenance has become, and j cate says, "I noticed with sincere approba
so oft have his deeds been recounted to me tion your likeness of the Southern Metho
and how many thousands of our Israel will ; dist Bishops." Dr MeTyeiro of the
ever remember our venerable Senior Bish- j of the Nashville Advocate, says: "You
op, when he shall as he soon must, j are a man of perseverance, not to say pluck
sleep wi:h the fathers and "dwell with the j will not be beat oil" from a good picture
goo'i and blest," "those we loved most and j of our Southern Bishops. Well, you de-ie.-t,"
aud so of all his compeers, each j serve success. Bishops Kavanaugh and
having his own admirers and devotedly at- j Soule, f si-rate, admirable ! Bishops
taehed friends. Aside from this, my de- I Andrew, Capers and Early, too young
vorLin fur Methodism, and my having been
t-oru and raised to manhood in that part of
cur beloved country ; being the son of a j
Methodic preacher who w is among the j
firrt to peuctrate the wilderness of Western j
Carolina in 1iG2, and who lived and died
in the faith wuh armor on, at an advanced
age, after having preached the everlasting
gospel for fifty-two years. I felt a holy
ambition to place these soldiers of the Cross
in a form which should endure for genera
tions. I therefore wrote to Bro's Deems,
Hk-Us and MeAnnally, who were from dif
ferent Conferences, and all members of the
General Conference (which was to convene
at Nashville in the following May.) to con
suit, and if nothing of the kind was in j
ronteirr.lation by any one else, and the (
thought well of it and could get me good
likenesses at Nashville without regard to
price, to do so ; the result was, that Dr.
Deems kindly procured and sent me a pho
tograph or those there present ; but from
the weather, light, or some other unknown
cause, they were exceedingly imperfect,
irloomv and indistinct in appearance, caus
ing nil the Bishops to appear as though ; Pierce-the best ; Bishop Andrew next. I
they were careworn, in a bad humor, or hope you will be successful." Dr. Deems
physieally distressed; being anxious to j says . "There is a decided improvement
succeed, "and knowing the great difficulty j on all ; the more I look at each face, the
of ever getting their likenesses again, with- j more nearly do they seem to come to
out annoyance to them ; the artists, or one j a most faithful representation. 1 really
of them, agreed to 'try'' them ; yet before like your picture more than any I have
proceeding I wrote to all the .iviug Bish- seen. Bishops Andrew, Kavanaugh and
ocs and many of their friends, fur better or Early, as good as can be made in litho
more distinct copies. I got only one in graph; Kavanaugh, capital." Dr. IcAn
time, after weeks' delay ; a daguercotype ally, of the St. Louis Advocate, who gen
of Bishop Kavanaugh, which everybody! erally drives a nail in the right place, says :
concedes to be "good." After the draw- j "I think it equal or superior to any litho-
were all done, Bishop Early kindly j
ro
sent me a likness of himself, remarking :
"I send you the very best likeness of my
self that I have ever seen, except the Cray
on from which it was taken." A good
copy of this is in my present picture ; of
the first picture, Bishop Paiue says: "The
design and execu ion are admirable, except
the likenesses, these are horrid ; Bishops
Pierce, Early and Soule excepted " The
result of several month's anxiety and ex
traordinary exertions to succeed, was a pic
ture, wLIch, as a whole, neither pleased
the artists, the publisher, the Bishops or
their friends ; though many very favorable
notices were given of it, as bad as it was ;
to make it worse, the stone fell on its face
and was irreparably damaged, cau.-iug a
Northern paper to reman: that ' the South
ern Methodist Bisnops were all in the hu
miliating position of being upon their faces
in the dust ;" and whilst some editors were
verv kind and charitable, others laid the
whole thin" bare, as with a butcher-knife
sharpened on a brick. I have then ex- j
pciided some lour ouuuieu
ceived comparatively nothing. Yet I went
i tosm'T.- v.-i-r,ti nfain to all the
zealously lu
BM'Ops and many of their inends, to ;
'hoiu I am under great obligations, and j
rv noibl reasonable exertion, ,
without regard to expense, to get good
- -w r- 1 - 1
trig
- Eishoi.s Kavanaugii s ana
E-irly's were furnished by themsc.vcs, and
,i...i mi,.r:d!v to be "eood." Of
are coi:ccueu j -- a
Bishop Bascom I never could hear of but
nno 'ikeness, that in his book of sermons,
and with two exceptions, his is pronounced
'oW Dr. Myers, ot tiiCouineru .iu- , - -
oca-" interested himself very generously; j ter picture will never be produced for any-
1 ihrou-h his advice ::nd the kindncsof ; thing like the price. Since the criticisms
Iuithon and Mr. Buttree, I procured j were given. I have had several slight im
iccried the p-cscnt likeness of Bishops provenients made, and have now sent a
Paine, Capers and Andrew, from those supply to ad -Advocates" and Deposito
t'uat arc to appear in the General Confer- ric?, where they may Ic Lad at $1 each,
I good when taken. Of Lishop Pierce, ev-
cry body except one, who says "it is not
sharp enough" concur in saying "yoZ!"
looking," ke. Brother .Watson, of the
Memphis Advocate, says : "I think them
all good, except Uishops J-arly and l'ainc;
the latter look- rattier too old. .brother
Hefliu, of the X. C. Advocate, says :
"The liKenesses of Bishops Soule, Pierce,
Andrew, Capers, Bascom and Early are
good, except a slight defect in Bishop
Soule' s mouth ; that of Bishop Paiue as
good as any thing I have seen ; some seem
ing defect in the mouth, yet the picture as
it is, is worth much more than the price."
Bro. Carnes, of the Texas Advocate, says:
"The copy 1 received was very much abus
ed, and has been taken away ; as we'll as I
remember, I was not perfectly pleased, but
cannot tell why. I hop., to be able to as-
sist the sale ot tue picture, when it re
ceivea the final to-ieh." Dr. Doggett, of
the Quarterly Review, says: "The like
ness of Bishops Soule and Pierce are very-
good ; that of Bishop Pierce, perfect."
Dr. Thos. O. Summers says : "I consider
these portraits greatly inferior to the oth
ers, and I have shown them to a number
of friends. Bishops Soule, Capers and
graph I have ever seen ; I suspect the dif-
ticulty if there be any is, that certain
editors, preachers and people, expect a
iighograph to appear like the finest steel
engraving, and fret because it docs not and
cannot : on yours, the likeness and the ex
ecution are certainly good." Bishop Kav
anaugh says : "As a whole, the picture
is an improvement. The likenesses of
Bishops Pierce, Paine, Andrew and Capers
all improved ; Bishop Pierce as good as
I think could be taken on stone ; any one
of them would be readily recognized ; two
or three are good, not to say elegant." Dr.
F. W. Capers says of the likeness from
which Bishop Capers is taken : "It is the
best I have seen."
I might thus go on giving "opinions"
ad libit, m. In asking them.. I solicited an
opinion of "any one or all,"thus a number
only refer to one, two, or three, with whom
they are familiar. As scarcely live per
sons can ever be found to concur in their
opinion of a beautiful woman, a landscape,
the merits of a book, the eloquence of an
orator, or give the same statement of what
each heard ; so of the opinion given of any
single face, and much more so where there
are eigMt on tne same picture, anu me
same person often presents, from natural
and artificial causes, a very different ap-
pearance, and then our judgments are of
ten warped by our admiration of, or our in
difference to, certain persons or things.
To conclude, allow me to say that I have
labored faithfully, earnestly, sincerely, to
produce a picture worthy of the object I
had in view ; if I have failed it was not my
and hv thn mmnfitir nt i 1 IT-.
free of expense, I send them everywhere,
and handsome 1 1-2 inch gilt oval frames,
in New York, with glass, at $2-75, and
beautifully carved oval 3J inch frame and
glass at $5.00, each. They are very
much improved in appearance by oval
frames.
Begging your pardon for this first and
last appeal, I am very truly and respect
fully, Yours,
JAMES M. EDXEY,
Publisher,
47 Chamber St., N. Y.
For the N C. Ch. Advocate.
Bible Characters Tila!-Caiei.
In the absence of metalic instruments
the work of the husbandman must have
been attended with great inconvenience.
How they cleared the land, broke the soils,
and kept under the noxious weeds, is be
yond our comprehension. Yet it would
seem that the art of working metals was
unknown until the days of Tubal-cain.
The discovery of making instruments of
brass and iron, must have been an era of
great improvement in society. Not only
was it a great improvement in agriculture,
but also in the mechanical arts. It is a
little remarkable that tent making was
discovered by Jabal the brother of Tubal
cain. Perhaps the invention of iron in
struments was the cause of the other at
least it never could have succeeded without
the use of such instruments.
The beasts of the forest were now man's
enemy, thirsting for his blood. How use
ful the instrumonts made of brass and iron
in destroying these.
The wickedness of men was increasing
in the earth God's anger was rising up to
destroy man from the faeo of the earth by
briugiug over it a flood of water. But
there is found one righteous family and
the Lord determines to save Noah and his
family from perishing by water. An ark
of huge dimensions is to be built for this
family and animals to replenish the earth.
Without the invention of Tubal-cain it
would have been impossible.
As the Preacher of righteousness is fel
ling the gopher or cypress tree and as he
is framing this the greatest architectural
wonder of the world, he finds it easy by
the aid of the great Tu'oal-cain's invention.
It is melancholy to think how soon this
like every good invention was made sub
servient to a bad cause. Instruments were
soon forged for the purpose of destroying
human life. And even in this enlighten
ed age how sad to think of the improvements
going on in this work of destruction, and
of the thousands annually hurried to the
grave by warlike weapons. But it is
pleasing to witness the great improvements
in instruments and 'implements for man's
comfort and peace.
We are encouraged to hope that a time
will come when the nations of the earth
"shall beat their swords into plough-shares
and their spears into pruning-hooks, when
they shall hurt nor destroy neither learn
war any more." Let us then than:-: God
for the inventive genius of this great man
and esteem his invention as a great public
benefit. C.
For the N. C. Ch. Advocate.
jI'Sjc Itinerancy V4 Esat it Itas
Done.
I recently came across an old number of
the N. C Presbyterian in which there
was a cermnunication written by some
gentleman at Washington N. C. urging
the propriety of incorporating the " Evan
gelist" system more extensively in their
ministerial operations If I remember
aright, he suggested that ministers settled
over churches in the towns might devote
one sabbath in the month to some destitute
neighborhood in the country. To show
the great extent to which many portions
of the state had been neglected by his
church, he made in substance the follow
ing statement. In the first Congressional
District embracing seven of the largest,
wealthiest, and most intelligent counties
in the State, there was not one Presbyte
rian church, and only one member, the
llepresentitive elect, Hon. W. II. N. Smith.
In the second District, embracing about
the same territory, there were but three
Churches .
Not being well posted on the subject, I
must confess to no small degree of surprise
at the statement. I began, involuntarily,
comparing the Itinerancy wilh other plans
for the preaching of the gospel, and its
superiority to all others, has been so deep
ly impressed upon my mind that I feel my
heart more imbued with its spirit, than
almost ever before. I am glad that other
churches are begining to see and acknowl
edge its advantages. The "Evangelist"
principles has done much for the prosperi
ty of Presbytcrianism, and will no doubt
accomplish much more ; but why do not
our brethren in other churches, adopt the
Itinerancy at once ?
But insteadeof other churches adopting
the plan, is it not the case that the Meth
odist church, which has ever recognised
its advantages, is allowing innovations
upon its spirit? Should we not watch a
tendency which is manifest in the church ;
that of persons being local itinerants ?
That there are instances in which men are
justified in settling their families and itin
erating contiguously. I freely admit, but
that there is getting to be too great a ten
dency to the course, I fully believe. Oh
that our hearts at this day were filled with
the spirit that moved our fathers to thread
the labrinths of the forests, ford rivers, scale
mountains, and undergo allliiuds of hard
ship, that they might preach Jesus, and
save souls. RIDGEWAY.
For the N. C. Ch. Advocate.
Tlic MetEiodist Episcopal Clmrcli
South, In Washington City.
Mk. Editor. Some time ago I sent
you a short communication, in regard to
the laudable tntcrprize in which Mr.
Smithson is engaged, in the erection of a
house of worship for the accommodation of
Southern Methodists in the Metropolis of
the Country. And inasmuch as he makes
his appeal to the entire South for aid, I
stated that as the entire Southern Church
is to participate in the erection of the house
of worship, when completed, that its pul
pit ought not to be filled exclusively by
ministers from the Va. Conference, but
that the pulpit ought to be filled alternate
ly by a minister selected from all the An
nual Conferences. I am of the same opin
ion still, notwithstanding you look at this
subject from a different stand-point. Your
remarks embraced in your laconic edito
rial do not reach the main point in ques
tion. No proposition has been made to
transfer men from other Conferences to the
Va. Conference t fill the pulpit in Wash
ington City, but a change made in the
Dcseiplin of the Church, to suit the case.
You know that the General Conference
could very easily provide for the Church
in Washington City as above intimated,
and each preacher selected annually to fill
the pulpit from all the Conferences in
rotation remain a member of his beloved
Conference. I would not call in question
the fact that the Va Conference has men
enough of ability to supply Washington
City, but 1 would assert that other Con
ferences have men of equal ability, and as
the South is appealed to f r aid in this
matter, I think while the South aids in the
erection of the Church that the South should
participate in filling the pulpit. If there
is any honor in being a stationed Preach
er in Washington City then let as many
preachers share in the honor as cau upon
the plan proposed in this communication.
You may think that there is no chance
for you Mr. Editor, but others may think
differently. You may yet vacate the Edi
torial Chair, and then how nice it would
be for you to go to Washington City to re
present the Methodists from N. C. How
North Carolinians visiting the City would
flock to the Southern Church to hear you
discourse eloquently of " God and heaven."
I am anxious that Mr. Smithson shall
succeed in his labor of love. The Churoh
slrould come up to his assistance, and at
once place in his hands one hundred thous
and dollars. This could be done if all had
a mind to work. I shall rejoico when I
learn that the work has been consummated.
JOSIAII.
Elizabeth, N.C., Nov. 11th, 1859.
Selected for the N. C. C. Advocate..
Fxcerpts from "Hamper's Maga
zine." Wesley's catholicity.
His practical mind saw a system in eve
rything, and evolved it as naturally as
forming chrystals take their shape. As
converts multiplied he organized them in
to societies. These societies might be
Churchmen or Dissenters, orthodox or het
erodox, anything human that desired to flee
the wrath to corne, and would agree to
avoid evil, do good, and leave off high
bonnetts, ruffles and rings. In a few years
they were found in almost every town from
Northumberland to Cornwall.
HIS ABILITY TO COMMAND.
lie had the peculiar property of a great
intellect born for command. It was a mys
terious influence over men, felt by all who
approached him, but which none could ex
plain. His very look frequently calmed
the furious leader of a mob, and instantly
converted him into a friend. It was more
than the respect that ignorance pays to ed
ucation. It was more than his wig and
robes, contrasted with the almost shaven
heads and rough garments of his preach
ers ; for a more uncouth looking set of
evangelists never undertook a high moral
design. It was the subtle spell that the God
or nature gives to a great enterprise. It
is born in him ; and perhaps unconsciously
to himself, it subdues whoever comes with
iu its influence, as a man full charged with
electric fire feels nothing of it, but sees
lighter things attached to him, and strikes
with the inevitable spark whatever touches
his person. Wesley's influence over these
men (lay-preachers) rapidly developed the
powers that lay dormant in them. He in
spired them with the ambition of students,
and directed their studies with paternal in
terest. He set the exampleof bearing
hardships, and they followed him when
blaclc-berries were their 'only food and a
plank their only bed. Many of these riien,
from the humblest walks of life became
eminent as scholars, and the most of them
reputable in every qualification for effect
ive preachers. The christian church at
large will not easily let die the names of
Joseph Benton, Adam Clarke, Gideon
Ousley, Richard Watson, and
The list might fill the page.
JOHN FLETCHER.
Tne purest and ablest of these (the reg
ular clergy that joined Wesley) was Fletch
er of Madley a man of whom it is not too
much to say, that a better was never trans
lated to heaven, or never entered the ter
ritory of the grave. He was as near per
fection as it is possible for a man to come,
until his soul is lifted away from this vile
compound of bones and muscles, arteries
and nerves, flesh and fat. Though settled
at Madley, he was Wesley's right hand
counsellor, and in the field of polemics
more than a match for all Wesley's foes.
This is the frank, truthful confession of a
writer by no means favorable to Wesley's
theory, as fully appears elsewhere in the
article from which these extracts are ta
ken. P. I.
FRANCIS ASBUIIV.
Francis Asbury was the ruling spirit
among the American Methodists ; their
first bishop, with a continent for his dio
cese, and for labors, suffering, and success,
unsurpassed by any name iu modern Chris
tianity. Washington was not better enti
tled to be called the father of his country
than Francis Asbury its apostle.
THE QESTIOX OF SEPARATION.
More than once, in Wesley's lifetime,
the question was raised in his conference
shall we separate fioin the church? Wes
ley's influence defeated the proposition as
often as made. Meanwhile he was the
target at which bishops and deans, with
sportive malice, directed their pieces.
Warburton and Lavington took deliberate
aim : but their balls flattened and fell back,
as if they had struck the iron man in the
pistol-gallery. The substance of the whole
controversy between him aud his oppo
nents lay in the single question, "whether
it is not better that men shall go to heaven
by irregular methods, or regularly to go to
the devil ?" Wesley's christian zeal deci
ded the question for himself, and his dex
terous logic defended the discussion against
every assault.
wesley's old age.
No man ever enjoyed a healthier or
more serene old age. At fifty-five he
did more work than most men, renowned
for energy and industry, do at forty. He
had passed the period of reproach, and his
hoary head was looked upon as a crown of
glory. He had acquired an influence in
the high places of the kingdom which he
exerted in the cause of mercy and justice
1 he highest offices of cities did honor to
themselves by making him their guest, and
the grandchildren of those who had stoned
him forty years before, now revereuccd him
as a patriarch. Southey (a high church
man, P. I.) never forgot his venerable ap
pearance in the street. Wilberforce (an
other high churchman) received one of the
last three letters written by his trembling
hand, and with affectionate respect wrote
upon the back, "the old man's last."
George the Third declared that he had done
m re good in the kingdom than all the
bishops anJ clergy put together.
DR. JOHNSON AND WESLEY.
Johnson's admiration of Wesley appears
in the following extract from a letter which
contains the best classical compliment we
have ever seen. Johnson had written a pam.
phlct on the American question, which was
soon after followed by another on the same
side by Wesley They were both entitled
"Taxation no Tyrany." In the letter to
Wesley are these words : ' 'I have thanks
to return you for the addition of your im
portant suffrage to my argument on the
American question. To have gained such
a mind as yours may justly confirm me iu
my own opinion. I have no reason to be
discouraged. The lecivrer was surely
in the right, who, though he saw h 's audi
ence slinking away, refused to quit the
chair wh'le Pla'o staid. I am, reverend
sir, your most humble servant, "Sam
Johnson."
THE ITINERANCY.
We have referred to Wesley's genius
for government, which Macauley pronounc
ed uot inferior to that of Richilieu. He
not only created a religious society, but
gave it laws which secured its pcrpetuit",
and insured its expansion without limit.
Its main feature is its itinerancy, which as
naturally overruns a country as light seeds
are scattered in every direction by the va
rying winds. Some churches flourish in
particular sections, and arc elsewhere un
known. Ochcrs, by emigration, slowly
spread through the land ; but it is in the
very nature of Wesley's scheme to propa
gate itself "in the regions bevond.
o --- o y
Whitfield's societies came to nothing be
cause he gave them no organic life. Wes
ley's arc girdling the world, with a spirit
as ambitious of further conquests as that of
Alexander when he sat down on the shore
of the Indian Ocean and wept. The grand
results have demonstrated the efficiency of
the novel experiment. Archbishop Seek
er one day said to Wesley, "could you a
hundred years hence look out of your
grave, you would have abundant reason to
regret your present course." Wesley's
answer was, "God governed the world be
fore I was born, and he will take care of
it when I aui dead. Present duty is
mine events I leave to him." More than a
hundred years have gone by since the Arch
bishop's remonstrance, and could Wesley
now look from his grave and see xchat an
impetus he gave to the zeal of the christian
world, he would fur likelier sing, as once
he delighted to sing amidst derision and
flying stones,
"I rejoice that I ever was bom."
HIS LITERARY LABORS.
Wesley's literary labors arc an ample
subject for a separate article. Many oth
erwise intelligent men, who have paid lit
tle attention to his history, have regarded
him as an honest enthusiast, as destitute of
learning as Bunyan or George Fox. It is
time that such men knew better. His works
comprise seven large octavos of sermons,
journals, controversy, correspondence and
criticism, including a grammar, each of
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French and Eng
lish. These lie wrote for a school which
he founded in Kingswood in Occidental
America it would be called a University.
His translation of the New Testament is
unsurpassed for an accurate rendering of
the Greek. Besides all this, he produced
a commentary on the whole Bible a mod
el of brief, clear, and terse annotation,
which no man can read without wishing to
become a better man. Moreover he
abridged and published innumerable
works, chiefly of practical divinty, but
including history, philosophy, poetry, an
English dictionary, morals and a fam
ily medicine book. While thus employed
he governed his numerous societies, presi
ded in his conferences, visited the sick,
(performed thoroughly pastoral visiting
over a large field of labor, P. I) preached
not less than five hundred sermons a year,
and traveled principally on horseback, a
distance equal to six times the circumfer
ence of the globe ! This wa9 not otdy
"laughing at impossibilities," but literally
overcoming them.
IIIS INFLUENCE CPON THE WORLD.
But easy as it is to find fault with these
and other extreme opinions, Christian
Perfection, Witness of the Spirit, etc., P
I. of Wesley, it is the meanest bigotry to
deny him the character of a great reform
er. Besides myriads of individual conver
sions wrought among the poor and the profli
gate, the Church of England and that entire
protestantism within the limits of the Eng
lish language felt the reanimating power
of his life and ministry. The visible effects
that bestrew the whirlwind's immediate
path may declare its trcmendaus erergy,
but its purifying power cools the stifling
atmosphere of the whole country.and makes
men breathe easier than before. The influ
ence of Wesley's labors on the safety and
prosperity of the British empire is a sub
ject for a philosophical historian. We have
referred to the infidel tendencies of Eng
land when he first threw his voice on the
open air. Bolingbroke was ihe hierophant
of the upper circles, and the pulpit had lost
all power over the masses. Delancy, in a
letter to George the Second, written five
years before Wesley preached in Moor
fields, told the King that England had oc
come as degenerate as the Roman State at
a period when, according to Tacitus, " ho
who reverenced virtue in his heart dare
not express it with his lips." "A sure
sign," he adds, "of approaching ruin, un
less God in his mercy prevent it." Had
this state of things continued, England, in
another half-century, might have echoed
the horrors of Paris and Lyons. The same
brutal class that dragged Wesley through
the streets in the earlier years of his min
istry would, by that time, have been strong
enough and wicked enough to do for Brit
ain what the savage sans-culottes did for
France. But Wesley lived to convert an
immense number of that mob, and iu?pire
the remainder with the sentiments of reve
rence for religion, government and law. A
staunch royalist himself, he infused his
spirit into all his societies. The leaven
worked through the myriad mass that gath
ered around him in every part of England.
Meanwhile, Voltaire, in France, was do
ing another work. Voltaire entered the
world nine years before Wesley. Ilesley
outlived him thirteen years, and died on
the eve of the French revolution. Vol
taire's pamphlets poisoned the mind of
France and prepared it to enact the Mood
iest scenes in human history. The world
trembled beneath the shock. The names
of Robespicre, Clootz, Danton and Marat
were awhile the terror of England . The
infection of the fiendish spirit was sensibly
ten and worse feared. Burke s "Rights of
Man." and Hannah Moore's Village Pol
itics," and a thousand other fly-sheets writ
ten in fear, were intended to stay the flood
of anarchy that came rolling across the
channel. But neither Burke nor Hannah
Mcoro alluded to the fact, that for sixty
years, providence had been throwing up an
effectual barrier against the wars by the
gospel labors of John Wesley and his co
adjutors. The work was already done,
and the throuo of England Btood firmly on
the religious convictions of the peoplo. It "
was impossible that London could becomo
as Paris, and impossible because God had
made Wesley's preaching the antidote for
Voltaire's infidelity. His name grows with
the circling years ; aud that Mcthodism.of
which he was the founder, is now felt as a
great religious power in every quarter of
the globe. The partial evils that marked .
iis early history have sloughed away. It
has become less violent in its irrational
workings, and more active in the ercat
j charities of life. The niouutain has ceased
to rumble, to smoke, or pour forth rivers
of liquid lava. The sky now hangs serene
ly over it, while the vine enriches it from
the basis to the top, bearing precious fruit
in its season." Here ends our extracts.
And now with a few words oni Brother
Heflin we too have doDe. The time has
come when the great merits of Wesley
should be fully recognized. Many men
in the last two hundred years have done
admirably and have now a high meed of
just praise, but verily, tho well informed
and fair-minded reader mast acknowledge
thit in tho extent of his usefulness, in his
multifarious labors, in his perils by land
and by sea, in energy, practicability and
great common-sense, Wesley has excel
led them all. In a time ofdaDgcr and in
tellectual darkness he commenced his glo
rious career of evangclizatiou. Driven
from the pulpits and churches of the Es
tablishment to which he belonged, and of
which he was one of the chicfest ornaments;
persecution with every ingenuity that
malice could devise, slandered and villificd
and hounded by periwigged dignitaries and
privileged formalists, at imated by a holy
zeal and strengthened by that Spirit which
casteth out fear.
John Wesley, then in the full vigor of
manhood's early prime aud already illus
trious for his ability and learning, went
forth conquering and to conquer against
the high etnbattknicnts of sin and super
stition and ignorance, bearing aloft in his
arm of powr the strcamiug blood stained
banner of the Cross, under whoso ample
folds was soon to be marshalled a host of
consecrated soldiers soldiers as yet un
t: led aud unaccustomed to the melee and
she deadlier conflict, but whose stout, man
ly hearts had been purified iu the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. It was there when his
beloved England lay enshrouded with u
dark panoply of vice, corruption aud ig
norance, that this pious man of God per
formed his greatest labors. It was then,
when hooted, and mobbed, aud oppressed
that he strung his nerves and strengthen
ed himself for his noblest exploits ; it was
thero when almost crushed and broken by
the overwhelming mass of opposing Church
men and of the rabble that fretted and
raged around him, that he gave out, like
the fragrant Indian trees, tho sweetest
odors of sanctity, and the most precious
of pure Christian doctrine. May his me
mory be ever held by the whole Christian
world in grateful remembrance ! May
his example, noble and lovely, cvrr shine
a bright beacon light in this world of fin
and sorrow, and may the Methodist Church,
his own well favored child be ever bless
ed with faithful sons to do the work of the
Lord and Saviour on earth. And may
the Great God of Mercies so order it, that
the time shall not come until the end
of all things, when the words of Inspira
tion cannot le applied to that church,
Blessed is she, for she has a quiver full
of them !" E?ro Pehpetca
P. I.
Power of Conscience.
Among themost striking evidences of the
reality of tho rcigious belief of Christfau
nations, is tho fact that government iu
Christian countries is continually receiving
sums of money from unknown individuals,
who are driven thus to make restitution,
not by the power of law, or tho fear of
detection, but solely by the sting of con
science, In the settlement of their taxes,
or in some other way.known only to them
selves and to God, they have not rendered
to the State all the money that was its due.
But they have learned to fear a righeous
God, who sees in secret and who will judge
openly, and they dare not keep the unlaw
ful gain. From a document just publish
ed in England by order of Parliament, it
appears that the sums thus remitted to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer as 'conscience
money,' during the last year, was more
than $15,00?.
o