OLl^J BX Hi, >i ^v" jXTYi? %A CORNELL UNIVERSHY LIBRARY 3 1924 050 004 864 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924050004864 BIOGRAPHY Rev. Leonidas L Hamline, d.d., LATE ONE OF THE BISHOPS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. REV. F. G. HIBBARD, D. D. TO WHICH IS NOW ADDED IN APPENDIX DR. HAMLINE'S SPEECH BEFORE THE OENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844 ON THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. CINCINNATI : JENNINGS A.ND PYEJ. NEW YORK: EA.TON A.ND ]VLA.INS. PREFACE. THE present work was undertaken in compliance with a general call for a biography that should bring out more fully Bishop Hamline's personal and min- isterial character, and the' just proportion of his historic merit. Bishop Hamline lived in the most important epoch of the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and no man, since Asbury, has done more than he to sh;ipe its character and guide its fortunes over the rougli- est of navigable waters. Nothing was left by him which was prepared with reference to a biography. Even liis diary was written for his family and private friends. When solicited to pre- pare material for a biography, lie declined. But while his modesty was a marvel even to those who knew him best, his sincerity was never doubted. Yet the material for a biography lay scattered among his papers, or regis- tered in the archives of the Church, requiring only an extra measure of care and labor to call them forth and l)ut them in order. Many things, indeed, might have been better supplied and arranged by his own hand had health and leisure permitted. Still the reader of the fol- lowing pages, we trust, will be able to grasp the propor- tions and apprehend the genius and godly spirit of the man. Since the days of Fletcher the Church has not been blessed with a brighter light, whether viewed in relation to spiritual life and ex[)erience or minislerial talent and labor, while for wisdom in Church law and 4 PKEFACE. government he was ihoroiighly a son of Wesley. "The biograpliy and writings of the late Bishop Hamline," says the late Bishop Thomson, " should by all means be given to the Church. It will make a work of great value and permanent usefulness. It-would give me pleasure," he adds, "to edit the publication if I could find the time. I could do it con amore, but my engagements are such as to leave me no time for such labors, especially in ray feeble health." The object of the following pages is to put this "burning and shining light" in its proper relations before the world for the present and. future generations. S\ich lights never grow dim with age. The volume edited by Dr. Palmer, with pious care and affection, is a thesaurus of spiritual knowledge and maxims of hfe. While we would not impair the spiritual element of the biography, we would give the historic more fullness; yea, the historic becomes a medium of the clearer effulgence of the spir- itual. Besides, other material had come to light which it was due to posterity to publish. But in attempting this it has been a subject of unceasing care that his wonderful spiritual experience should suffer no eclipse or dimness by neglect or omission. Our task of love is done. It was begun anj contin- ued in prayer, and with prayer that it may be a blessing to the Church, it is now committed to the guidance of that Providence without whose favor and blessing all work and device must fail. F. G. HibBARD. Clifton Springs, N. Y., March 8, 1880. Note. — Tho reader will find the full headings o| ''e cliapters in the Table of Contents. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. AncesTRY — Early Life — Hopeful Conversion — Thoughts of the Ministry — Studies — Precocity — Health Fails— Goes South — Speaks in the Churches at Pittsburg — Goes to Zaiiesville, Ohio — Marries Page 13 CHAPTER n. Unsatisfied with worldly Good — Doctrinal Education nnd Prejudice — Comes to Perrysburg, N. Y. — Methodist social Con- tact — Christian Women — Colloquy — Fletclier's Appeal — Argues with Mrs. Maphet— Confusion — Game of Chess — Baffled in Argu. ment — Camp-meetings — Again Baffled — Attends Canip-meeling — Witnesses Prayer-meelings — Reads tlie Law — Unconscious Defense of Camp-meetings— Invited to Kneel at the Altar — Argues and Declines — Returns Convicted — Death — Alarmed and Submits — No Progress — Colloquy — Sees his Error — Despairs —Prayer-meeting — Goes forward for Prayers — Sore Conflict^ — Returns Home — With the Morning comes the Witness — Witnesses — Is established, .... 24 CHAPTER HL Mr. Hami.ine's activity after Conversion — Returns to Zanes- ville — Great Awakening — Not Satisfied with the Legal Profession — Gives up the Law — Called to Preach — Robert Hopkins — Monon- gahela District — -Liberty and Ohio Circuits — Labors with Jacob Young — First Appearance — Success— Tribute to Hamline — Letter to Mrs. Hamline — Visit of Rev. Mr. Coston — Savor of his early •Labors, 45 CHAPTER IV. Joins the Ohio Conference — Granville Circuit — H. L. Farnan- dis — Heroic Real — Letter to Mrs. Hamline — Revival — Power in Preaching— Sickness — Athens Circuit — ^Jacob Young — Revival at Batemantown — A Rencounter — Desperate Adventure — Letter to Mrs. Hamline — To Jacob Young 54 6 . CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Appointed to Cincinnati — Opening of the Year — Affliction — Death of Mrs. Hamline — Habit of Preparing Sermons, Page 65 CHAPTER VI. Marriage — Appointed to Columbus — Appointed Assistant Editor of Western Christian Advocate — General Conference of 1836 — Abolition Excitement — ^Thoughts of a Mission to France — Evangelical Labors — Hamline as an Exhorter — Varied Work, . . 74 CHAPTER Vn. German Apologist — Ladies' Repository 92 CHAPTER Vni. The Great Change — Entire Sanctificstion loi CHAPTER IX. Election to General Conference — Sickness — Opening of Confer- encfi — Harding Case — Committee of Six — Bishop Andrew's Cnse — Griffith's Resolution — Resolution of Fiiiley and Trimble — Hamliiie's Speech — Speech of Dr. Smith — Hamline's Reply — Treatment of Hamline's Speech by the South — Vote on Fiiiley's Resolution — Dr. Capers's Resolutions — First Committee of Nine — Declaration of fifty- one Southern Delegates. — Second Committee of Nine — ^J. B. M'Fer- rin's Resolution of Instruction — Report of Second Committee of Nine — Committee on Reply to the Protest — Hamline's Election to the Episcopacy — His Explanations of Committee of Nine, . . .116 CHAPTER X. Mr. Hamline's Status in General Conference — His Ordina- tion — His own Account— Conference Adjourns — Rev. Dr. Young's Letter — Visits New York Conference — Enters upon his Episcopal Duties — Troy Conference — New Hampshire Conference — Dr. Olin's Preaching — Oneida Conference — Genesee Conference — Michigan Conference — North Indiana Conference — Ends the Year 1844 — Jan- uary, 1845, Consecration — Evangelical Work — Pittsburg Confer- ence^Erie Conference — North Ohio Conference— North Indiana Conference, 148 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XL Difficulties of Admini»ti'a(ioii — Initiatory Proceedings to Church Separation — Hamline's Letters on the State of Things — Ma- lign Attacks upon him — Louisville Convention — Church Separation Accomplished — Settlement of the Border Line begins — Difficulties of p'raternal Union — Difficulties arising from Diverse Interpreta- tions of the "Plan of Separation," Page i6i CHAPTER Xrt. Difficulties of Episcopal Administration, continued — Call for Meeting of the Episcopal Board — Bishop Hamline's Letter to the Board — Bishops' Meeting in New York — Momentous Events of the Hour — Embarrassing Attitudes of Bishops Soule and Andrew-^ The former Resigns his work in the North — Pittsburg Conference — Erie Conference — Notlh Ohio Conference — Ohio Conference — Em- barrassment at Bishop Soule's Presence — A Startling Conference Scene — Bishop Hamline's Adroitness and p'irmness — The Explana- tion — Bishop Morris's Letter, 175 CHAPTER XIII. Difficulties of Episcopal Administration, continued — Em- barrassments in fixing the Boundary Line — Letter of Dr. Crouch — Of Bishop Hedding — Of Bishop Morris — Institution of Slavery — Kanawha District — Bishop Soule — Stewart's Report of Kanawha District — Severe Test of Constitutional Law of Methodist Episco- pal Church — Bishop Morris's Letter — Bishop Hedding's Letter — Bishop Hamline's Instruction to Border Preachers — Letter of Bishop Morris on the Times — First General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South — Bishop Hamline's Remarks on their Spirit and Doings — Letter of Dr. Mitchell on Episopcal Administration 190 CHAPTER XIV. Difficulties of Episcopal Administration, continued — Episco- pal Board meets at Philadelphia — Their Published Principles of Administration, as Relating to the "Plan" — Bishop Hamline's Agency in the Board — Baltimore Conference- — Cares and Conflicts — Philadelphia Conference, Border Troubles — Letter to Jacob Young — Disgraceful Doings on the Border — Mobs in Accomac and North- ampton Counties — Christian Advocate, of New York, indicted — Western Christian Advocate indicted 207 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. North Indiana Conference — Closes the Annual Tour of Con- ferences — Visiting the Churches — Diary — Letter to Mrs. Palmer — Border life Hospitalities — Illinois Conference — Staten Island^ — Diavy — Distress at the low state of Christian Experience — Letter lo Dr. E. D. Roe — Philadelphia— Three Weeks' Tour— Newtown — Rev. Alfred Cookman — Entire Sanctificalion — Returns to Philadelphia — Ballimore Conference — Stays at Washington, D. C. — Philadelphia Conference — Returns to Tarrytown — Sickness of his Son, Page 223 CHAPTER XVL Proposes lo go to Liberia — Leaves Tarrytown for New York and Philadelphia— Religious concern for his Son — New Jersey Con. ference — Letter to his Son — New York Conference — Birlh-day Re- flections — Family sickness — Maine Conference — Oneida Confer- ence — Four Weeks of Preaching and visitng Churches — Letter to Mrs. H. — Genesee Conference — Detroit Conference — Returns to Cincinnati-— Evangelical work among the Churches — Mexican W.-ir — Visits Wilmington and Aurora, Ind., and returns to Cin- cinnati — Visits Columbus, ZanJsvil-le, Putnam, Xenia, and returns to Cincinnati — Closes the Year with Dedication at Lexing- ton, Ind., .^ 24I CHAPTER XVII. Opening of the Year — Evangelical Labors — Social Religious Fidelity — Trials about popidar preaching — Views of Millen- nium, 263 CHAPTER XVIII. Generai, Conference of 1848 —Arrives at Pittsburg — Meeting with Dr. Herron — Opening of General Conference — Diary — Confer- ence Proceedings — Glance at the Pteceding Four Years — Episcopal Accountability — Dr. Holdich piesents the Bishop's Plan of Settle- ment of the Property Question — Sequel shows They were right — Plan of Separation annulled — General Conference Action on the Louisville Convention — On the Southern Organization — Episcopal Administration approved — In the " Plan " they had trusted Others too far — Church Administration vindicated — Bishop Capers on the Plan — Letter of Bishops Waugh and Janes — Close of General Conference . 277 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIX. Troy Conference — Ziiizendoifism — Mesmerism— Church Trial — Address to the Conference on Mesmerism — Expulsion — Conference closes pleasantly — Pittsburg Conference — Erie Conference — North Ohio Conference — Frames and Feelings in Preaching — Sickness — Triumph — Indiana Conference — Ohio fonference — Slops at Xenin, Going Abroad and Returning for Five Weeks — Visits Cincinnati- Conversion of Lawyer J. M. Leavitt — Visits Mrs. C. W. Sears in her last Sickness — Visits the Churches till the End of the Year — Death of Mre. Sears — Letter to her Husband, Page 288 CHAPTER XX. New Year's Covenant — Tliree Months' visitation of Churches — Mercersburg — Carlisle — Lancaster — Letter to Rev. H. Hickok, Mis- sionary to China — Philadelphia — New York — New Jersey — Provi- dence Conference — Reading Sermons — New Hampshire Confei- ence — Stage-coach Traveling — No Altai', No Revival — ^Pleasant Conference — Revision of Hymn Book — New York — Sick and Weary — Secularizing Regular Ministers — Troy Conference — Ver- mont Conference — Visits Bishop Waugh at Ohio Conference — Im- paired Health — Invitation to make his Home at Cincinnati. — Anniversary of his Conversion — Retrospect of the Year, . . . 305 CHAPTER XXI. Failing Health — Advice of Physicians — Decides against it — Spiritual Review — Fraternal Letter of the Bishops — Advises v^ith a Veteran — Begins his Conference Visits — Wisconsin Conference — Rock River Conference — Letter of his Physician — Iowa Confer- ence — ^Health fails — Letter to the Missouri Conference — Illinois Conference — Retires to Peoria — Letter of his Physician — Letter of Bishop Janes — Works of ."Vrminius — Joy in Affliction — The Two (Intes — Journeys Eastward to the Maine Conference — Attends Maine Conference — Springs of Life gone^Residence Near Schenectady — Letter of Dr. (now Bishop) J. T. Peck — Correspondence — Letter to E. A. G. — To Dr. Leavitt — Health — I'ribute to Dr. Olin — Letter lo Jacob Young — To Bishop Janes — To Bishop Morris — ^Judge Nel- son's Decision on the Property Case — All Hope of Public Labor •jiven up — Dissuasive lo Locating 319 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. General Conference — Necessity of Resigning Ihe Episcopal Office and Care — Consecration — Letter to Rev. L. S. — To his Cliil- dren — Resignation — Letter to tiie Bishops — To Rev. J, Young— 'I'o tlie General Conference — Letter referred to a Cotnimittee — A Pi'ivale Meditation — Report of Committee on Episcopacy — Discussion — Conference Action — Letter of the Bishops in Behalf of the Confer- ence — Regrets of the Church — Letter of Dr. (afterward Bisli^p) Thomson — Letter of Dr. (now Bishop) J. T. Peck — Feelings of Bishop Haniline after resigning his Office — Letter of Bisliop Morris, Page 344 CHAPTER XXIII. Bishop Hamline retires to Hillsdale — Letters of Comfort to Ministers — Thoughts of Europe — Of Palestine — The "Second Com- ing" — Letter to his Son — Returns to Rotterdam — Sliaron Springs; — Returns to near Schenectady — Diary — Management of Temporal Affairs — Letter lo Judge Goodrich — Property appreciates — Letters to Agents — Donates to Colleges — Does not donate in Consideration of its Name — Habit of Giving — Just Rebuke — Giving from Con- science — Maine Seminary — Benevolent Institutions — Uncharilable- ness — His Example Wesleyan, 371 CHAPTER XXIV. Bishop Hamline's Tlome and Occupation — Reviews his Life and renews his Covenant with Cod- -Increase of Faith — A Won- derful Manifestation of Power — Visit from Friends — A Series of Meetings — A Powerful Exhortation — Beauty of Faith — Walking on the Sea with Christ — Trials of a Studious Young Minister — Advice to the same — Slavery and Political Excitement — Close of the Year 1856 • • • • 390 CHAPTER XXV. Removal to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa — Religious occupation and En- joyment — Fidelity to Class-meeting and Church-erder — Letter of Rev. P. P. Ingalls — Letter to C. W. Sears^Doctrinal Corres- pondence — Growing Old, and Sympathy with the Work Abroad — Losing Friends — Retrospect — Letter to Rev. L. Swormstedt — To Dr. Mitchell — Iowa Wesleyan University — Fraternal Letter of Bishops, 403 CONTENTS. 1 1 CHAPTER XXVI. Letter on the War — General Habit of Life — Rev. Dr. T. M. Eddy — Letters to Coston — Can Die away from Friends — Episcopal Fraternal Letter — Letter of Bisliop Janes — ^To M. Broolis — Joyful Experience — Fraternal Letter of Bishops — Dying Advice — Rapid Decline — Death, Page 420 CHAPTER XXVIL General Retrospect 438 BIOGRAPHY Rev. Leonidas L. Hamline. Chapter I. EARL Y H ISTO R Y. HISTORY and biography stand related as genus and species, having a connmon origin, and sub- ject to the same laws of development and decay. The latter deals with individual character as its theme ; the former with the growth and destiny of masses or na- tions of men. History, in its broadest .sense, is little else than the record of the doings of individuals; that is, it is their biography so far as their acts affected the public welfare: while biography, on the other hand, is the record of a man's life and doings so far as it bears on his individual character and destiny. Thus the moral object of all human history and biography is the same, namely, to instruct, caution, and encour- age men in that which is right, by showing how certain principles of ethics, in religion or polity, in individuals or nations, affect character and human happiness. All ethical principles are tested only by experience. When incorporated into either individual or national policy they develop after their kind in 13 1 4 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. good or evil effects. The laws of material nature are not more certain and uniform in their effects than are those of the moral government of God. Indeed, they are not so certain. It is more certain that the prin- ciples of ethics, founded in the nature of God, and developed in moral government and redemption, shall abide immutably, than that the material "heaven and earth " shall continue. The interest we have, there- fore, in Christian biography and history is unspeaka- bly great, inasmuch as they are crucial tests, an infallible demonstration of the verity, power, purity, and blessedness of divine moral truth. We see how certain causes lead to certain results by the most sat- isfactory and only certain test of all ethical philoso- phy, that of experience. In the subject of the following memoir We see the working of divine truth and grace with uncommon clearness and fullness. His marked qualities and apti- tudes of mind, his high positions of official responsi- bilit)', his great sufferings, his culture and tastes, the natural, and we may say of his early life, skeptical, cautiousness of his mental processes, the perfect hu- nianity, and reasonableness of his acts, conspire to in- vest his life and experience with a wonderful force of evidence of the verity and power of that ail-conquer- ing grace which bore him so triumphantly to the end. Mr. Hamline was of French ancestry, of the Hu- genot Protestant type. His grandfather, Ebenezer Hamline, was born in Burlington, Hartford County, Connecticut, about 1740. He was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war, noted for his bravery; was at Fort Edwards, Ticonderoga, and other places, and died a Christian in 1810. He had six children, three EARLY Ills TOR Y. 1 5 sons and three daughters — Mark, Daniel, and Lent, and Rosa, Hannah, and Lois. His wife was a woman of character, possessing great energy and courage. The children were reputable and pious. Mark Ham^ line, the eldest, and father of the subject of this memoir, was born in 1764. He, too, served in the Revolution while yet but a boy. His wife was daughter of Captain Othniel Moses. They were pious, and settled in Burlington, Connecticut. He was a school-teacher, managing also a small farm ; was of marked ability and a prominent man in the Con- gregational Church, and among his neighbors. His great decision of character, sound judgment, and unconquerable resolution caused his opinion to be much sought after in matters of special importance. A strict observance of the holy Sabbath marked his Puritanic integrity. If he lent a horse on Saturday he strictly required that it should be returned the same night. While living some three miles from the church he was absent but one half da)' in ten years. He always took his children to church. Gentle- manly and dignified he blended kindness in all his social intercourse. The young loved him no less than the aged, and his appearance among the former in their moods of gayety and mirth would always command silence and respect. As a teacher of youth he was successful, and when in later life his daughter moved to a college in Ohio, men of distinction, in many instances, called on her, learning she was a daughter of Mark Hamline. He was the early in- structor and friend of Rev. Heman Humphrey, after- ward president of Amherst College. Character and courage ran in the blood. A granddaughter of Mark I6 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. /,. L. HAMLINE. Hamliiie, who had a son in the recent war sick at Washington, hastened there to attend him. She was withstood by the surgeon,, and denied a permit to take him to a private residence to nurse him. Her remon- strances were in vain. "I have charge of the hos- pital," he said, "and shall exercise my power. "^ Looking him full in the face, she replied, "Sir, you will find that I have more power in Washington than you have." She obtained that day an interview with President Lincoln, who gave permission for the re- moval of her son. That day, al.so, the surgeon was removed. Leonidas L. Hamline, son of Mark Hamline, was born in Burlington, Connecticut, May lo, 1797. His parents being of the Congregational order, and his father an admirer of the Hopkinsian pha.se of Cal- vinism, he was brought up after the genuine manhef of the New England Congregationalism of the day. Little is preserved of his early life beyond the simple facts of his great reverence for religious doctrine and worship, his obedience and devotion to parents, his amiable deportment, his precocity, and his strong love of study. Impressed that his natural genius and religious bent suited him better for the pul|)it than to secular callings, his father, in conformity to the cirstom Qf the limes, early proposed to educate him for the sacred office. It was probably this that en- couraged the ardent and ingenuous mind of Hamline, before his conversion, to turn the early current of his thoughts and study in this direction. When ten or twelve year.s' old he wrote a sermon on the text, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" The ability and tact which it displayed surprised his EARLY HISTORY. , 17 parents and friends, and encouraged their hopes. At that age, when plowing in the field, his father "often found him resting his team while he sat on the plow so absorbed in his book as to have forgotten his work." His great reverence for the Sabbath, and his scrupulous observance of its sanctity, were marked features of his life in childhood, and not less in his last years. Before his conversion a Presbyterian min- isterial friend used to say, "Some good will yet come to Hamline for his observance of the Sabbath." Of his supposed early conversion he thus speaks in later life: "My parents designed me for the min- istry, and I was partly educated for that purpose. When sixteen years old I was convicted of sin, and was thought to be converted; but, probabl)' from the' want of evangelical instruction, I came .short of it. But encouraged by friends, I joined the Congrega- tional Church, an'd became a warm youthful advocate of religion. I found I was not born again, but judged I was much like others around me, and 'hoped.' In a few years I was satisfied that I "had no religion!3 fitness for the ministry, and ambitiously turned to the law." When about seventeen he engaged in teaching portions of the year to enable him to pursue his edu- cation. At this time he introduced religious service in his school. The awakening was so strong that at times the school exercises \\ere suspended. Many were hopefully converted. A Cliristian lady living in East Barrington, Massacluisetls, iiifornied Mrs. Ham- line that there were elders in the Cliurch in that village, who were then living, who had been con- vented through Mr. Hamline's labors, when he was a 2 l8 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLIKE. young man of seventeen or eighteen, teacliing clas- sical school, with anticipations of the ministry. The pastor of the Congregational Church where Hamline, with his parents, worshiped was once asked what he tliought of Leonidas. He replied, "How do you think I would feel to see my son standing on the spire of the church?" thus intimating the danger of young Hamline from the precocity of his genius. He early became popularly noted for his ability and tact Ml public speaking and debate. While at the Acad- emy at Andover (not the Theological Seminary), he was so marked for classical taste in language and style that he was appointed censor of compositions. In New York, at one time, while staying a few weeks, he was urged to accept the challenge of a Uiiiver- .'^alist preacher which the latter was offering in his lectures from evening to evening. He at length con- sented, and after a few evenings, the interest of the debate rising and the audience increasing, tlie cham- pion feeling the day was lost began to be rude and abusive. The chairman expressed his regret that Ihe youth who had behaved with such decorum and pro- priety should receive such treatment. When the meeting broke up a lady said to Hamline, "You have saved my soul,, sir. I am a member of the Presbyterian Church, and led on by the sophistry of tjiat Universalist preacher was about to leave my own and join his Church." At another time, a debating club had proposed as a questipn, "Is there a God?" Hamline was not on the programme, but was alarmed when he saw on the negative a member of the bar of known intel- lectual strength and power in debate. He knew. KAKLY lUSIOKY. 1 9 alsOj those on the other side. When the debate closed the chairman announced, "If we take the vote now, we must vole there is no God." Ham- hne trembled for the effect on his friend, and said to a mutual friend sitting near, a Presbyterian gentle- man, "If you will move to continue the debate and place me on the affirmative I will consent." The motion was immediately niade and passed, and the debate continued through most of the night When the vote on the question was finally taken, it was in the affirmative. Mr. Hamline remarked afterward that he did not take up the argument or meet objec- tions on the ground commonly taken, knowing that his friend on the negative had thoroughly gone over that alread)', and had accordingly fortified himself. But he drew upon resources and modes of thought' which were his ovi^n, and much of it exUcmpore. He had feared that his noble opponent had been troubled with doubts, and hoped that his arguments had relieved them. "Once when he was passing up the OJiio River the company in the gentlemen's saloon on the steam- boat were engrossed for an hour or two b)' a noisy infidel, who had gathered a crowd around him, and v\as entertaining them with jeers at the Christian reli^i^ion. Mr. Hamline was walking back and forth through the saloon, not seeming to notice what was passing, though he observed that the speaker was e\ing him, and evidently wished to attract his atten- tion. As he turned from time to time he drew nearer the scene of discourse. At length the boaster said, 'When I die there will be no more of me than of my old white horse. Can you prove 20 BlOGKArilY OF KEV L. L: HA MLIXE. Otherwise, stranger?' appealing to Mr. Hainline, who turned quickly, and said, 'If, when your old white horse is reposing under the shade in a hot Summer day, I should approach and whisper in liis ear argu- ments to prove that lie is immortal, would you not deem me a fool?' The company broke up in a roar of laughter, leaving the chagrined boaster to hide himself as best he could." When about eighteen years of age, from hard study and continued strain upon the nerves, his health failed, which sympathetically affected his brain. The first symptom of mental aberration which was discovered was in the jovial relaxation of his characteristic and scrupulous observance of the holy Sabbath. It soon became plain enough that his habit of life must be suspended. A voyage South was determined on, hoping that sea air and change of climate would prove effectual. His nerv- ous temperament had not been understood by his parents, and his amazing precocity had been impru- dently stimulated by his admiring, but most impru- dent, friends. He remained in South Carolina till his father's limited means forced his recall. While abroad, as at home, his mind was? habitually calm and chieflj' ran upon religious themes. Serious con- versation ;\nd di.s'coiirses which were called preach- ing mainly occupied his time. On his return home he came by land, in the care of a military gentle- man, who was coming North for his health. On the way HamUne attracted attention and won good opin- ions by his conversation, and being ever ready to speak in public or any other place on religious themes, his traveling companion very imprudently EARLY HISTORY. 21 and improperly represented him privately as a can- didate for the ministry in the Presbyterian Church. For doing this he had no other authority than the facts that his parents were Congregationalists, and had designed him for the sacred office. Hamline himself had often spoken in public, and it was pop- ularly considered he would be a preacher. But he was not a licentiate, and there is no evidence that he knew that his companion had thus informed' concerning him. On this ground, while in Pittsburg, he was in- vited bj' the Rev. Dr. Herron, of the First Presby- terian Church, to occupy his desk. Hamline did so. His services were so well accepted that other Pres- byterian pulpits were opened for him. Without guile or thought of evil Hamline consented. His success was satisfactory and his popularity at Pitts- burg unquestioned. What he had done «as on liis part sincere, and in ignorance of any impropri- ety. He himself, at that time, b lieved he had ex- perienced a change of heart, and had the ministrj' in view. It is authentically stated that his senior traveling companion privately broui^ht Hamline thus into notice at this time. The excitement of the effort, however, was unfavorable to his health. Some trifling symptoms in conversation indicated that his brain had been overdrawn. There is something in- imitably touching in all this. But as a proof of the good impression left upon the minds of the clergy of Pittsburg whom he had served, in later )'ears, when Mr. Hamline entered the ministry and opened his itinerant life. Dr. Herron once and again sent him an invitation to visit him. But Hamline found no time 22 BIOGRAFHYOF REV. L. L. HAMUNE. to turn aside from bis work. When, however, in 1848 his duty as Bishop called him again to Pitts- burg- to General Conference, Dr. Herron, as will be noticed in its place, met him with great cordiality, and at once engaged him to preach in his pulpit. Other Presbyterian Churches did the same. Mr. Hamline's convalescence was slow. He con- tinued his studies as he was able. But in the lapse of time he became dissatisfied with the evidences of his conversion and changed his plan of life. He says of himself, "I gradually became convinced that I was not converted, and finally gave it all up and went to studying law." On his return from the South, or soon after, he went West, and, in 1824, we find him at Zanesville, Ohio. Here he became accquainted with Miss Eliza Price, an amiable, well- reported, and carefully educated young lady, an only child and an heiress. Her father, now a widower, came to this country from Ireland, when a young man, with high recommendations and experience in the mercantile profession. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His promptness, probity, and. ability soon gained him friends, and at Zanesville he rose to high repute and respect- able wealth. To Miss Eliza Mr. Hamline was mar- ried. They lived together in much affection and harmony in the elegant paternal mansion, with an ea.sy competence, but now without God. In 1827 he took licence 3s a lawyer, "at Lancaster, Ohio, and returned to his profession. Four children were given them, two sons and two daughters, of whom three died in infancj', one onlj' still surviving. Dr. L. P. Hamline, of Evanston, Illinois. With an in- FA Kl. Y HISTOK Y. 23 come of respectable competency, an honorable pro- fession which he entered with ambition and high qualifications, a social standing of the first quality, an sesthetical taste which drew from all sources the purest earthly enjoyment, a faultless human rriorality, a wife worthy of his affections, and a home like an earthly paradise, Mr. Hamline, to all worldly eyes, seeined the pet of fortune and the successful candi- date for happiness. "But mortal pleasure, what art thou in truth? The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below." 24 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. Chapter II, ' [ 1828-29. ] CONVERSION. NCfWITHSTANDING his uncommon resources for content and earthly happiness, Mr. Ham- line was not happy. His own language afterward, in a letter to a friend, best describes his state: "I was," he says. " unhappy. My days and nights were rest- ive. I could not complain of my earthly lot. Neither poverty, sickness, nor solitude made me wretched, for I was removed from all these common occasions of sorrow. I knew no one around me whose means were more competent, whose home was more allur- -ing, or whose intellectual tastes had larger means of gratification. Mj' fireside was attractive, m}' friends were faithful, my library liberally supplied me the choicest entertainments, and my allotment was a life of easy leisure for the unalloyed fruitions of all these means of comfort. But with all these appliances which seemed to promise me a paradise, I was the prey of unaccountable heart dissatisfactions which I was sure grew upon me with the progress of time ; for though at first they were the mere ennui which almost passed unnoticed in my memory, they slowly grew into serious annoyances, which I found my out- ward advantages could neither heal nor assuage." Mr. Hamline's education had been rigidly Calvin- istic, vet, through the Edwardean and, Hopkinsian coA'rE/:s/ox. 25 channel of reasoning, he supposed he had found a harmony of predestination and free will which rec- onciled him to the system, while the doctrines of total depravity and effectual calling, as Calvinistically taught in those days, lulled him to sleep with the belief that he could do nothing till God had renewed his heart. He was at this time living a life of relig- ious indifference, and at the same time of irreligious unrest. His love of metaplnsics made him an easy disciple and admirer of Edwards, while his educa- tional prejudice against, not to say. his contempt for, the Methodists left him no doctrinal antidote to his pernicious speculations. But he was a child of Prov- idence, and wonderful were the steps by which he was brought to Christ, in the personal assurance of his complete salvation. In the fall, or early winter, of 1827, Mr. and Mrs. Hamline came to Perrysburg, Cattaraugus County, New York. It appears that Mr. Hamline was called there on legal business which detained him for a length of time. He had also started to see his par- ents in New England. His usual way of traveling was in a gig, with baggage wagon, driven by a boy, following. He first took board with a Mr. Edwards, whose wife, an intelligent Methodist lady, with Mrs. Mapliet, also a Methodist lady of culture, residing in the same place, became important instruments in leading him to Christ. Subsequently Mr. Hamline took board with the family of Mr. John Kent, in Vil- lanova, an adjacent village in Chautauqua County. The Kent family were relatives of Chancellor Kent, of New York, and were also Methodists. Without being aware of it, Mr. Hamline found himself in a 3 26 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. neighborhood where he saw Methodism in its orig- inal simph'city and power. He soon became known in the social circles, and with the leading men, and his influence was felt. It was felt also that his influ- ence must be for good or evil upon a large scale, ac- cording to his choice or rejection of spiritual religion. As he had providentially fallen within Methodistic circles, to that Church he became a subject of special solicitude and prayer. The first steps toward his con- version were taken by the pious women above named. We give the account from Mr. Hamline's own pen: "What can be done,'' said Mrs. Maphet, " for a gentleman who listens to all you say, admits his obligations, confesses his sins, yet goes on, careless to eternity, phinging his soul into perdition ?'' " Indeed, Mrs. Maphet, you mistake. He is far enough from these pliant admissions. True, he will not dispute with ladies, because he is loo polite ; but he is a subtle Calvinist, as I learn from his conversation with my husband.'' " Do n't you think, Mrs. Edwards, that lie talks this way merely for argument ?' "O no; there's no mistake. He's a Calvinist, and one of the rankest sort. He told my husband yesterday that if he were to stab a neighbor at midnight, God would inspire him with the malice, and create the volition of the deed." " That is Calvinism with a vengeance.'' "Yes; but my husband says it is true, honest Calvinism, just as Calvin himself taught it, and as the standards of Cal- vinistic Churches maintain it, though its features are veiled or softened in the pulpit, so as not grossly to offend the public taste." ■ "I suspect, Mrs. Edwards, that there is little hope of Mr, Hamline's conversion ; but he is here a stranger, and from his cast of mind will do much good or evil in the world. Let us make an effort to save him. I think he is a man of dreadful principles, and were his heart as bad as his head, I should be afraid he would turn out a murderer. This Calvinism is a dreadful thing." CONVEKSION. 27 "I think bncUy enough of Ciilvinism, Mrs. Edwards; that you may be sure ; but let it pass at present. I wish you would take this Ijook to Mr. Haniline, and tell him tliat a lady re- quests him to read ib; and while he reads, will you join wilh me in secret supplication that God will bless its perusal to his conviction ?" " ' Fletcher's Appeal !' Mrs. Maphet, he won't read it." "Try him, and if he declines I have no hope. If he reads it he will not escape without some serious reflection. Its philo- sophical cast will suit his taste, and must arrest his attention. You know, too, that, like Moses's ark, it was woven with many prayers. Carry it to him, and if possible get him to read it.'' Mrs. Edwards returns home and finds Mr. Hamline and her husband engaged in earnest conversation on free will, pre- destination, and human accountability, in which Mr. Hamline toolc high Calvinistic ground. When the conversation closed, and Mr. Hamline rose to retire, Mrs. Edwards entered the room, and handing him the book, repealed Mrs. Maphet's re- quest that he would "do her the favor to give it a reading." He accepted it politely and retired. A few days after Mrs. Maphet called at Mrs. Edwards's to know the result of reading the book. Mr. Hamline said: " I received a little volume from you, Mrs. Maphet, for which I return you my sincere thanks." " Excuse the liberty I took, Mr. Hamline. I thought the philosophy of the treatise would entertain you ; and permit me to add, that I hoped a higher good would grow out of its perusal." " Mr. Fletcher is a lively writer, madam. There is French in his style. Not quite so profound as the Calvinistic school. Edwards is my fayorile. His work on the Will is the glory of the human mind. Do not by this understand that I underriUe Mr. Fletcher. He is a fine, flowing writer, and I thank you, madam, for sending me the book.'' " Did you read the ' Address,' sir, which follows the argu- mentative part of the volume !" " No, madam. I supposed the argument was what you designed for me ?" ^'I would be pleased, sir, if you could read the 'Address.' " " I saw that it was designed for ' seekers of religion,' and as I am not a seeker, I did not think it applicable to my mora/ state." 28 BIOGRAPHY OF RKV. L. L. HAML[^'E. " Perhaps, Mr. Hamline, it would induce you to be a seeker Tliat is my hope, and in it I solicit you to finish the volume.'' " Do you think, Mrs. Maphet, that we can become seekers when we wish ?' "Yes, sir, I am of that opinion." " I tliought, madam, this serious state of mind was induced always by a supernatural influence — -by the Holy Spirit.'" " Yes, sir ; of that I do not doubt ; but the Holy Spirit is waiting, unless I greatly err, to impart his gracious influences to every willing heart. He already moves you to seek a Savior ; and if you yield to his gentle drawings, he will greatly increase the influence until it becomes a soul-converting energy.'" " There are so many differing opinions, Mrs. Maphet, that one not skilled and experienced is at a loss what to conjecture. Some, you know, hold that the divine efficiency operates all moral changes, and that conversion is an unsought blessing, which none can gain by pursuing, or evade by resisting."' " But surely, Mr. Hamline, as you do not act on this prin- ciple in the affairs of life, you would not make a practical application of it in the weightier matters of religion. I can not undertake to argue the disputed points of Christian theology. As to the nature of God's supervision of all things, and its har- mony with our freedom, you can discourse much better than I ; but do not think it presuming when I say that I sought the dif- ferent states of mind through which a stupid sinner journeys into the fellowship of God, and I sought not in vain. This makes me solicitous to see others seek, and causes me to be- lieve tliat they will meet with like success." "Perhaps, Mrs. Maphet, your seeking and receiving were connected only in point of lime, and not in the order of cause and effect.'" "That might be the case if I were the only successful seeker. But many of my acquaintances, have sought with similar results." " But have you not known some converted wlio did not seek?" ' " Never one.'" "You will recollect better than I; but I was considering the case of Saul of Tarsus."' " True, sir, he was convicted before he sought, and that may sometimes happen. But after his conviction he waited • cojvyEKs/OA'. 29 three days before the scales fell from his eyes. In the mean- time he was put upon seeking, ;ind goinj; into the city he prayed, and God sliowed him wliat he would have him to do." " But Mrs. Maphet, this overwhehning conviction h:is never fallen on me." "Nor is it probable th;\t it will. Saul's w;is an extraordi- nary case. You know that sonie become rich without trade. and some honorable without effort; but tliis is not the common course of things. Wealth generally comes from business an your meeting, or say no more on the subject of disorder. After dinner the clergyman departed. Mr. Hamline was surprised, not to say mortified to find an "ignorant Meth- odist preacher" so well informed, and withal so shrewd in conversation, that even on topics concerning which he sup- posed clerical men knew very little, the argument was rather against himself. "You caught a Tartar," said the doctor, as the gentlemen withdrew and left Mr. Hamline and his companion to trifle away another hour at chess. The third day after this, as Mr. Hamline was walking in the yard, the doctor rode up and asked him if he would visit the camp-ground. H. You are not serious ? Dr. Get into my carriage, and I will show you. H. Then I answer no ; I can not ride in that direction. Anywhere else, if you please. Dr. But they have got into difficulty with the rowdies, and want your advice. " Go, husband," said Mrs. Hamline, who, overhearing the conversation, had come to the door, and was listening lo the proposal with deep interest. 32 BlOGliAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. Mr. Haniline looked first at tlie doctor and tl)eii_4it his wife, as uncertain wliat to do, or whether either was in earnest. H. Doctor, yoti say they are in trouble? Dr. Yes, and tliey ought to be protected in their rights. I wisli you would go over and lielp tlieni. H. Well, this is the legitimate result of camp-meetings; »et, as you say, they have the right— that is, the legal right — to worship God or Satan, if they will, undisturbed. I will go with you in ten minutes. The camp-meeting was held on what was called Lake Cir- cuit (then Pittsburg Conference) near Wright's Corners, Chau- tauqua County, New York. Job Wilson was preacher-in- charge, and William Swayze presiding elder. The doctor, with whom Mr. Haniline rode, was an infidel. In an hour they were on the camp-ground. The voice of singing as they ap- proached, the order and solemnity of the proceedings, ni;ide an unexpected impression upon Mr. Hamline's mind. The congregation were assembled for preaching. After the singing, the preacher, who had so lately challenged the utility of chess, arose to address them. The discourse was earnest and evan- gelical. It was not perfect, yet it was manly and convincing, and so superior to Mr. Hamline's views of Methodist preaching that he was taken by surprise, and was compelled to admit that not one in fifty of the sermons from the trained theologians of the day possessed half the merit. Prayer-meeting within the railed space, which was as usual constructed before the stand, followed the sermon. The description which Mr. Ham- line himself gives of the proceediiigs of the prayer-meeling indicates that it far exceeded in external demonstrations and spiritual results the average of such meetings. It was, indeed, a season of extraordinary power. Hamline watched the progress of the scene with emotions which he could scarcely endure, yet could by no effort sup- press. He had heard just such scenes described. He sup- posed that a view of them would provoke in his bosom no other feeling than disgust. But it was otherwise. He felt a solemnity, an awe so great that a faintness came over liim ; and unwittingly he leaned, pale and trembling, against a tree, and every now and then his hand was upon his heart, as though it were uneasy aad pained within him. Nor did he ob- serve that his friend, with a ja«f_/^OiV peculiar to himself, COA'VERS/ON. 33 eyed him closely, and read in bis manner the perturbations of his mind. At length tlie doctor snid : "Mr. Hamline, suppose we step forward and see what is going on ?" "Doctor, I am sick of it. This is a singular scene, and I am at a loss wliat to thinl«. I believe we had better return.'' "Tut ! we must stay long enough to speak with these min- isters, and hear one or two more of them preach." So saying, he seized Mr. Hamline by the arm, and, casting at him a significant glance, as much as to say, "Are you fright- ened?" drew him along to a position where more than a hun- dred sin-sick souls were crying for mercy. The sight was wholly new to Mr. Hamline. He had never until then seen a sinner convicted to the point of crying aloud in the presence of others for the pardon of sin. He fixed his eyes first on one, then on another, (racing them along to see if any tokens of affectation or hypocrisy could Ije detected. He grew dizzy as he gazed, while his convictions of the sincerity of the awakened ones at the altar increased. He became sick and faint. His friend, the doctor, saw it, and, though :im in- fidel, was, for a moment moved. They retired a little, wheie they could hear but not see what took place. Two hours had scarcely passed, and he had experienced a solemn conviction of the error of his former opinion that Methodist camp-meet- ing scenes were only adapted to excite vulgar mirth or curi- osity; He had no longer any fixed opinions in regard to what he now first saw in respect to the reported disorders of Meth- odism. The confusion of his mind had set afloat all his pre- conceived views of religion. This* confusion arose from the stirrings of his heart. He was smitten, and the biow had reached and wounded the "inward parts." The doctor, too, was disturbed. Mr. Hamline was interested for liim, and ob- served, with lively satisfaction, a shade of slight concern spread along the lines of his changing countenance. Litlle was said by either. But the doctor never came to Christ. The scene at the altar had spread religious concern among the witnessing multitude, and cliecked the purpose of liie riot- ers. Still it was considered best that the statute protecting re- ligious meetings should be read from the stand. A few loud blasts of the horn gave signal for closing the prayer-meeting and for the assembling of the people for preaching. Mr. 34 BIOGKArHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMI./XE. Haniline niul his companion ascended tlie stand with the preachers. As the gathering throngs dropped into their seats, , their eyes were directed to the stand. Mr. Haniline seemed the special oliject of interest. Some took liini for a minister; others knew liim. and knew his dislike of camp-meetings. He grew uneasy at his position, but in the crisis of liis emljarrass- ment he was told to " proceed.'' As he arose and stood before tliem, lumdreds of prayers ascended to God on liis behalf. For the incidents of that hour lie afterward praised God. It is not to be supposed that he himself premeditated any grave de- fense of camp-meetings. He proposed to expound the statute and retire from observation. But as lie proceeded he grew confident, and went on to sav that this was his debut upon a camp-ground ; that he had looked fur repulsive exhibitions, but that the very things which, in description, had disgusted him, appeared inoffensive to the eye. He tiien spoke to the disorderly, assuring them that "he who had the cowardice to interrupt these solemnities was loo mean to be cursed by any decent man.'' The sermon followed, and after it, again, the prayer- meeting. The presiding elder, " Father Swayze," invited Mr. Haniline to go to the vacant place at the altar and kneel with him before God. The following convers.ition ensued : H. Excuse me, Mr. Swayze; I am a hardened sinner, and dare not approach a place so sacred while my heart is unmoved. S. That, sir, is Satan's device. He would rob yon of God's pardoning mercy. If your'heart is hard, you should go to the altar to get it softened. The more obdurate it is, the more you need the prayers of God's people, and the more prompt you should be to assume the^attitude in which you may enjoy them. H. Surely Mr, Swayze, you would not have me assume the posture without the spirit of mourning. 5. Surely I would, if you can not otherwise assume it. Do yon not wish to mourn ? H. I suppose not, or I should xnowxn. S. And do you always, then, feel as you wish to feel? H. In religion I suppose I do. That is the view I have taken of religion when skepticism has not prevailed over be- CONVEKSIOU. 35 lief. I have heard it said tliat " every man has just as much religion as he desires." Is it not true ? S. No, sir. The habitual state of a devout heart is that of desire; and one of the most conclusive, indirect evidences of a gracious state is a thirsting after God and his salvation. If. But if God does not satisfy holy desires is he not ty- rannical, and a violator of his promise? S. What promise? ff. "He that hungers and thirsts after righteousness shall be filled." 5. Mr. Hamline, excuse me to-day from all doctrinal and metaphysical discussions. I urge upon you a simple effort to seek religion, assuring you, from God. "they that seek shall find." My duly toward you now lies in a narrow compass. Will you go with me and kneel down at the altar? H. I repeat, sir, that to do it would be hypocrisy. Sinful as I am, I should fear to desecrate that altar by approaching it without tempers befitting such a posture. I have no just con- ceptions of my depravity, no proper desires for renovation, and to do what would indicate such desires would be adding deceit to insensibility. i'. Whiit do you mean by ^r(7/^r desires for renovation? II. I mean a desire for renovation for its own sake, not for its resulting benefits. S. Will you never seek religion until you can do it without regard to its benefits? II. Indeed, sir, to tell the truth, I know not what I shall do. But I confess that I am all wrong, or these people are not right. I can not, however, go with you to the altar; I am self- ish, and my nature seems worse than common natures. If I wish for religion, it is merely as a step to heaven — mark that — as a mere step to heaven. I have no love for religion's self. I want'not its purity, but its peace; not its sore travail of duties and self-denials, but its escape from the maelstrom of perdi- tion to the beatific rest. Mr. Hamline's Calvinism was educational and honest. A mind like his could not rest in simple dogma, he must have a melaphysical ground work for his theology, which, indeed, if well laid, is right and immovable, but in this case it had proved seductive, and with an unconscious pride of intellect, had nearly proved his ruin. He did not approach the altar, but 36 BlOGKArHY OF KF.V. L. L. IIAML/A'E. remained at the nieetin<; until its close, his mind growing more and more perplexed. He seemed careworn and sad. When he retinned, his wife met him at the door; but her eye no sooner Tell upon his features, as she was advancing wilh great cordiality to welcome him, than she uttered an excila- malion of concern and said, " Husband, what ails yon ? Surely you have been sick.'' On his assuring her that he was well, she exchanged her look of alarm for an expression of humor, and said, "Then you must have got the power." The reply was embarrassed, and in a manner so serious that they soon fell into a grave and quiet conversation. Mr. Hamline had now passed repeated warnings, entreat- ies, and opportunities, while his heart remained prond and resist- ant. He was awakened, condemned, restless, and unha|ipy. All his old foundations of half-skeptical, metaphysical reason- ings had been shaken, and his strong prejudices rebuked and coiifoiinded. One more test remained to be applied. Pharaoh yielded upon the death of the Hrst-born. Two months had passed, when .Mr. and Mrs. Hamline, at two o'clock in the morning, September lo, 1828, might have l)een seen in earnest conversation over the sick cradle of their only child. "Sup- pose, husband, we send for Dr. D.,'' said Mrs. Hamline; "he is liighly spoken of, and is as near as any physician." H. I have no objection; but I assure you there is no hope. I believe that the child will die, and I have felt so from the beginning. It is a deeply wrvith no ordinary interest to hear from you. Let me know when we may meet you with a carriage at M. Can you be there on Thursday morning or noon ? The 'south-east' corner of my heart will be in reserve for you. "Yours, with much affection, J. SOULE.", ^ It was computed that nearly one hundred peisons dated their awakening from the sermons of Mr. Ham- h"ne on the Sabbath aUuded to. His labors were every-where attended with visible results. His ser- mons were marked for their sy.stem, their force of argument, pathetic appeals and vivid description, and above all by the power of the Holy Spirit. His man- ner was earnest, often impassioned, always dignified and serious, his imagination lively and chaste, com- bining beauty and strength, with a voice of richness and melody, and his appeals often seemed irresistible. The moment he opened his lips the people intuitively felt they were in the presence of a great inind and a man of God. Many of his visits, abroad were spe- cially owned of God. In the year 1841 he, visited Ripley, about fifty miles above Cincinnati on the Ohio river. Under his first exhortation the work broke out and twenty professqd conversion that evening, and within the week more thari one hundred were re- ceived intO' the Church, and many more were hope- full)' brought to Christ. While at Ripley he felt strongly impressed to visit Levanna, two or three miles dowii the river, a place notorious for its poverty, intemperance, and wretch- ASSISTANT EDITOR OF ADVOCATE. SS edness. In the eyes of his friends the measure seemed hardly prudent, but Mr. HamHne was resolute. In a small boat he dropped down to Dover, a place op- posite Levanna, and immediately began a prayer-meet- ing. In a letter to his wife he says: "While the prayer-meeting was going on I sent a brother to an old village [Levanna] of ten or twelve decayed houses, opposite Dover, to obtain a room and appoint preach- ing at half past twelve o'clock. The appointment was made at the home of three cripples, who are most miserable objects. Several went over from Do- ver, and eight or ten of the villagers, poor-looking objects, came in. I preached on the prodigal son. God was with us." After the sermon the tavern- keeper, who had heard the sermon in concealment, stepped forward with an apology for this meager re- ception, and asked him to preach in his house, which was agreed to for the next day. At three P. M. he i;eturned to Ripley and preached to the children, and again in the evening. The Sabbath was spent at Levanna. The whole region poured out its families to hear him. With an assistant, whom he had called to his aid, the hours were filled with preaching, prayer, and praise. On Monday the congregation was slill increased, and men, women, and children stood in the drenching rain (for no house could contain them) to hear the word of the Lord. A brother, who had come to join the work, says: "I found Brother Hamline standing in the door of a log house (the lotj tavern) preaching to hundreds in the door yard, like Wesley and Whitefield, to the poor and wretched." Hamline returned to his editorial work on Wednes- day, having received fifty persons into the Church, 86 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. including tlie tavern-keeper, besides many others at Dover, for the work was carried on in both places. On another occasion the Rev. M. P. Gaddis was with him, and says: "Mr. HamlLne preached from the text, ' Why will ye die ?' His soul seemed overwhelmed with a sense of the sinner's danger. Instantly he fell upon his knees in the pulpit, and for several minutes engaged in silent prayer. It was one of the most moving scenes I ever witnessed. Nothing, for some time, was heard but the sobs of the penitent. The speaker arose and resumed his discourse. His face seemed radiant, his soul inspired anew. He pleaded with sinners to come to Christ. At the end of that sermon scores were converted and added to the Church." "At another time," says the same writer, who was present, "he was preaching on Sabbath night from ' How shall I give thee up, Ephraim,' when, in the midst of his discourse, a man arose in the congregation and began to propound infidel ques- tions. The preacher replied courteously, but with such readiness and pungency that the colloquy soon ended, and the objector sat down in confusion. The speaker then opened his batteries and proved him- self ' mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.' Scores were converted and added to the Church." No man ever excelled Mr. Hamline in power and tact to meet a sudden emergenc)', which he always did with meekness and dignity. About six miles from Cincinnati, in the vicinity of Cheviot, was a Universalist neighborhood, with only one Methodist familj". Mr. Hamline opened meetings there. Considerable dislike was manifested, and the opposers said, "He would only frighten a ASSISTANT EDITOR OF AD VOCA TF. 87 few old women and children." But God poured out lis Spirit, and men who had despised fell under the power of the word. Some conversions were quite extraordinary. The revival changed the phase of the neighborhood, and a good society was formed. At Covington, across the river from Cincinnati, the pastor desired to be absent for a few weeks, and applied "to Mr. Hamline to supply his pulpit. Mr. Hamline consented on condition that he might hold a protracted meeting, in which the pastor gladly ac- quiesced. Mr. Hamline entered at once upon the work. A revival broke out, and on the return of the pastor about one hundred had been converted, many of whom were of the best citizens in the place. By this the church was greatly strengthened, and their attachment to Mr. Hamline, thereafter, was strong, so that after the separation of 1844 (to be hereafter noticed), the people, retaining their former love, urgently invited him to come and preach to them again. But the plan of General Conference for the regulation and limitation of evangelical work, in ref- erence to the line of division, was such that Mr. Hamline (then Bishop) felt himself forbidden, and affectionately declined. It is impossible to give more tiian a specimen of his common method of labor. The instances of his revival work, and pulpit labors art too numerous to be inserted in our limits. But the following, from the New York Evangelist, we can not withhold. We give only an extract. It was in 1842, after his great bap- tism. The writer says of Mr. Hamline : " The noblest exhibition of his popular talent, I saw in the Wesley Chapel in Cincinnati one Sabbath evening after the 88 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. stationed preaclier (Rev. J. L. Grover) had finished his dis- course. Mr. Hamline, who was in the pulpit, immediately arose and began to exhort the impenitent part of the congrega- tion to come to the altar to be prayed for. He had a cIoal< on, and as he began tb ' warm up' in his exhortation the cloak would slide first from one slioulder and then from the other to be drawn up with a jerk. At last, with a violentniiotion of one arm, it was thrown off entirely. Meanwhile his heavy features had kindled into a most animated expression, and his neat and perfectly appropriate words were flowing in a torrent. In this way he spoke several minutes, when he suddenly ran down from tlie pulpit to the altar, never intermitting his speech, and stand- ing there he delivered one of the most thrilling appeals to sin- ners I have ever heard. •'Vn audience of some two thousand people was present, and the effect was soon visible in the scoies who hurried up to the altar to be prayed for. The whole mass was in a state of excitemeiit, as was plain from the vocifera- tions, groanings, and prayei-s which went up in all parts of the house. It required more skepticism than I ever had to doubt the entire sincerity of the man, as I heard the prayer which he poured out in behalf of 'the mourners;' it was so fervent yet so rever- ent, it pleaded the promises with sucli appropriateness, and seemed,so full of an anguished spirit in behalf of tlie perish- ing, thaJto me it was the ' effectual, fervent prayer of the right- ous man.' "Evidently in Methodist tactics — if I may so name them without disrespect — the exhortation to mourners to come up to tlie altar, at least in former days, was one of the strongest agencies employed. In many cases more depended on 'the exhortation' than on the 'sermon;' and considering this, I must place that 'exhortation' of Bishop Hamline as the most tlirilling I ever heard. In those days when he rode the circuit, and attended camp-n»eetings as a preacher, he probably had not many, if any, superiors in this difficult work of exhorting. Many men exhort as they would blow a blacksmith's bel- lows ; but to mingle up argument and incident, statement and inference, imagination and fact, in such an appeal as bears down all resistance, is a field for high gifts, and here Mr. Ham- line was entirely at home. Ten yeare ago, when I heard him last, he was one of the most noble preachers of the word in Ohio, and he certainly was a prince among exhorters." ASSISTAAT EDITOR OF ADVOCATE. 89 At a camp-meeting one evening, during a lieavy rain, Mr. Hamline repaired to the churcli on tlie edge of the ground where he found a company of eight or ten men who had retreated there to escape the rain, and were lying on the benches. Mr. Hamline immediately began to exhort them with affectionate earnestness and power. The spirit of God fell on the auditors who yielded and sought the Lord. Before morning they were all happily converted to God. These are but glimpses of his spirit and method of life. The days of his editorial career were days of a wide and varied and wonderful evangelism. And this was worthy of his profession. True Christian influence is not limited and partial. The stream which flows through a deep-cut channel may be limpid and refreshing to the traveler who seeks its cooling waters, but it can not overflow to irrigate and fertilize the adjacent landscape. "Thoroughly fur- nished unto all good works" is the divine desQiiiption of a perfect Christian. The influence of such is ex- pansive like the atmosphere and the light of heaven. The qualities of Mr. Hamline's character, and the varied adaptations of genius and culture, were chan^ nels through which the inward power of grace found access to different classes of society and conditions of men. Various indices of his popularity in the Church, and beyond the sphere of the pulpit, appear in the course of his editorial life. He never sought place or fame, but often declined both, and always when they at all impeded his one great and loved work of saving souls. His classical taste, his legal acumen, his dignified mien and his unaffected humil- ity he could not conceal. They were patent to all. 90 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAML/iXE. They impressed the vulgar and the cultivated mind alike. The student, the statesman, the scholar, the humblest laborer felt that he came within their sphere, was their advocate, and took equal sympathy in their \cause. Numerous were his calls to lecture on topics of public interest, to literary societies, and in the province of Christian benevolence. College literary societies every-where solicited the favor of his acceptance of an "honorary membership," evinc- ing that his personal influence had diffused itself widely among the young men. Various were the applications of colleges North and South to fill the professorial chair in belles-lettres or the classics. At the time Mr. Hamline turned his thoughts to the ministry an influential leader in politics declared it had been his intention to bring forward his name as a candidate for Congress, which, had he consented, from the known position of the friends and the party, would probably have secured his election. As late as 1840 his political friends urged him to give his name for the national election. His answer was such as we might suppose the prophet Elijah would have given Ahab or Jehoshaphat, had they tendered him an office of government. (See his reply, Introduc- tion to Vol. I, p. 21, of his Works). Variously and widely his influence was felt, and the judgments of all ranks of men must be the verdict as to tiie adaptations of his gifts. As an advocate or as a counselor at law none of his age surpassed him. But while the legal, political, and literary fields of enterprise lay open before him, he abode in one mind without hesitation or wavering. The Wesleys were not truer to their one calling. Nor was wealth an ASSISTANT EDITOR OF ADVOCATE. 9 1 obstacle in his way. The path lay open before him. It was the opportune hour in the West. But the glitter of earthly riches had no attractions for him. His business was consigned to an agent, and he never "left the Word of God to serve tables," nor "turned aside having loved this present world." Of learning he was the friend and patron, and every-where he lent his aid in advocacy and money to encourage every worthy enterprise. In Cincinnati he was chairman of the first meeting called to con- sider the feasibility of establishing a female college in that city, under the patronage of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. He was on the committee to draft and report the plan, and also the committee to open the institution. It has long held the rank of a reputable and flourishing college. He was equally active and prominent in the transfer of the property at Delaware, Ohio, to the Methodist Episcopal Church, for the establishment of an institution now called the Ohio Wesleyan University. Notices of his benefac- tions to literary institutions will appear in another place. 92 BIOGRAPHY OF HEV. L. L. HAMLINE. Chapter VII. [1838-44] GERMAN APOLOGIST— LADIES' REPOSITORY. THE German missions in this country were begun in the Autumn of 1835, by Rev. William Nast. The gracious work spread beyond expectation, and two years later it was proposed to start a German weekly newspaper to meet the wants of the people. Nothing less than this would enable the missionaries to cope with their opponents, and reach the people with information necessary to awaken the religious conscienc'e and fortify them against the subtle and ignorant assaults of German neology and a dead formalism. The proposition was made by the Rev. Thomas Dunn, of the Ohio Conference, to raise three thousand dollars by ten-dollar subscriptions to start the paper. The friends of the enterprise were nu- merous and earnestly advocated the measure. The Church papers liberally engaged to awaken the public mind to tlie claims of the subject. Conference action followed in its course. But none were more active than Mr. Hamline. A question arose as to the authority of the agents to publish such a paper with- out the order of General Conference. The bishops were to hold a session at New York, May, 1838, and Mr. Hamline wrote them a strong memorial and argument in favor of the paper. Rev. J. F. Wright, Western Book Agent, was deputed to lay tiie case GERMAN APOLOGIST. 93 before them. They return, through Bishop Morris, their answer: "We agreed to recommend the pub- hcalion of the German paper at Cincinnati, provided the funds of the Book Concern should not be eni- ployed therein." On the first of 'January, 1839, the specimen number of the German Apologist was issued, and as the proposed amount — three thousand dol- lars — had not been secured, a committee was ap- pointed — Rev. L. L. Hamline and W. H. Raper — to prepare an address to the public to urge immediate attention thereto. The address is full of instructive information, Christian beneficence, and eloquent ap- peal. In their closing paragraphs they .say concern- ing this enterprise: "The German Apologist is abroad. The New Year gave it birth, and ere this it has probabl)' been cast a foundling at your thresholds. We beseech you, brethren, receive it, nurse it to maturity, that it may be emploj'ed, through a long and useful life, as an instrument of mercy to open the eyes of the blind and proclaim liberty to a multitude of captives. Brethren, can we appeal in vain for your aid to con- summate an enterprise so noble, so hopeful, so every way desirable ? You have done a noble part, and so much the greater pity that all your toil should go for naught, that jour works should begin to go to ruin while not yet finished. We deprecate the shame. You have laid out thousands to construct a strong foundation, which now stands to be gazed on.*by the world. Desert not the enterprise, j Avidji' few hundreds more. Half a thousand will-compKie the enterprise." "This paper," they go on to say, "may be considered our German missionary Bishop. It is 94 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMUNE. to travel over the whole land, to teach and warn, and, by the blessing of God, to convert and build up." At the next session of the Ohio Conference Mr. Hamline writes from the seat of Conference: "I preached on Sabbath in the Episcopal Church and had a very pleasant time. Last night I exhorted in the Methodist Church, made an appeal in behalf of the Apologist, and obtained one hundred and seventy subscribers. I never saw more enthusiasm." For some time the Apologist did not sustain itself, but the zeal of its friends would not let it go down. The Rev. W. H. Gilder says, "One of the editors of the Advocate [HamUne] told me that before such an event should be allowed he would take ofif his coat and sell it." And the writer adds: "When I was informed of the astonishing influence it was ex- erting I felt very much like giving my coat in with Brother Hamline's. " The work went forward, the paper was sustained, and the missions have prospered. No mission-field has been, and is, more succe.ssful or remunerative, or has given better omen of good influence on the generations to come, both in this country and the "Father-land." The Rev. Dr. Nast, the apostle of American German mission work, after the first two years of labor, says: "I travel in five weeks through an extent of nearly three hundred miles, and have about twenty-two preaching places." This might seem like the day of feeble things. But sound con- aversions jlvere multiplied, strong and educated men "were ^Irbught> to Christ and entered the field, and Churches were every where established. At present the German Methodists of this country and Europe GERMAN APOLOGIST. 95 number about 50,000, with over 500 preachers. Their literature is quite extensive, and the Apologist finds its way to many thousand families. The field was one into which many great philan- thropic hearts entered. From the beginning Hamline grasped the greatness of the movement and threw liis full force into the work. In a recent letter from Dr. Nast to the writer of this memoir, he says: "Without the powerful appeals of the sainted Bishop Hamline the Apologist would never have been started, nor the German missions at Cincinnati." In the first German love-feast held in Cincinnati Mr. Hamline was present. To the Germans it was all new, but the Lord was present in gracious power, and Mr. Hamline related his experience, which was rehearsed by an interpreter in the German tongue, much to the joy and comfort of the new society. The experien- ces of these German converts were exceedingly rich and abiding. Dr. Nast, in his sermon before the Pittsburg Conference, says: " The honest Dutchman, when he is tempted to go back to the beggarly elements of the world, tells the devil once for all : Ts been there once, I goes there no more.' One of the chief ministers of the Lord Jesus, the Rev. L. L. Hamline, to whose .nrdent and eloquent appeals the German Missions owe an everlasting debt of gratitude, said once: 'There is strength in German character which must eventually give it influence. Their mental aptitudes, their habits of secular diligence and carefulness, should enlist concern as well as admiration. Doubtless hereafter they will bear much sway in constituting the authorities which are to control this land, in molding the nation's mind and in fashioning its morals, and in making up the sum total of its weal or its woe. Let them become a leaven of malice, and unless saved by Omnipotence, the Church and the nation are undone. Let them become a leaven of holiness, 96 BIOGliAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLIN E. then liberty, and science, and heaven-born religion ni:iy con- cert their holy and everlasting jubilee." "So you see," adds Dr. Nast, "the Germans are worthy to be saved not only for their sakes, but for your sake." On the political influence of the Ger- man population of this country, he further says: "Our beloved Hamline says upon this point : 'Self-preser- vation, which is the first law of nature as well as chanty, binds us to saveourdenizensandsuch as will soon be fellovv citizens. If crude and contaminating elements are perpetually mixing with the proper constituents of the Church and state, and borrow no refinement nor purity from the intimate contact, they will gradually impart their natures to the bodies civil and ecclesi- astical. And it is perilous on our part to suflfer such a process. What will follow in due time? The very fountains which refreshed the distant regions of Africa and Oregon will them- selves become dry, and if they flow at all, will send forth to the nations not healing but poisonous waters'." The zeal, the extensive knowledge of his times, and the sagacity of Mr. Hamline naturally placed him in the front ranks of Christian enterprise and evangelism with the great men of his day who, like the sages of Issachar, "had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do." But Mr. Hamline not only wrote and. spoke for the Germans, he contributed of his means as well. To the first German Church edifice in Cincinnati he , gave five hundred dollars, with the pledge of one hundred dollars to every church they would build throughout the bounds of their mission work. At this time of his life Mr. Hamline was possessed of only a frugal competence. In the editorial department a new. sphere awaited him — one which gave a wider scope to his literary LADIES' KJEPOSnO/y'V. gj and classical taste, and the out leaeluny of his spirit- ual life. " Prevjious , to the General Conference of 1840 [we quQte from the Western Christian Advocate forrDecember, 1854] the subject of publijshing such a periodical as the Ladies' Rep&sitory (a monthly oc- tavo) was discussed in Cincinnati. Samuel Williams, of that city, was the original projector of the scheme. Rev. J. JF. Wright, the Book Agent, entered warmly i«to the subject. . Consultations were had. by the Editorsi, Agents, and others. The Book Committee looked upon it with , favor. The result was that qi memorial was sent to the General Conference of 1840, urging that body to consider the subject and order 1 its publication. The Conference viewed the matter favorably, :and the proper authority was given to the Bpok Agents to proceed with its publi- cation, 'provided the public would give due en- couragement,'" Meanwhile, at the said General Conference, Mr. Hamline was solicited to take the editoi-ship of the Advocate at New York. "The members seem determined," he writes to a friend, *' to make me editor of the Christian Advocate and Jotmtalr'yi I will consent. I shall probably decline. I believe I would rather be a Methodist preacher in the West." The Ohio (Relegates unanimously nomi- nated him as assistant Editor, with Dr. Elliott, at Cincinnati, and editor of the Ladies' Repository, should the same be published. The Western Con- ferences heartily seconded the nomination. He was so elected by the General Conference, and the public voice approved it. It was a large advance and a new experiment in the developing adaptations of our Church press. There is no comparison between the 9 98 BIOGRAPHY OF REV L. L. HAMLINE. circumstances of that time and those of the present as to the difficulties of such an enterprise. It had never been tried. There were then comparatively few writers in our Church to take a liberal interest in the support of Church periodical literature, and fewer still familiar with the labor and appreciative of the demands of such an enterprise as was now pro- posed. The publishing house was poor, and pay- ment for contributions was scarcely known among us. Some feared the whole was in advance of female culture and education, especially as la fies were gen- erally treated to light literature, less religious than what was now proposed, while other » augured that the most refined and literary taste, aid a high tone of religion would characterize the forthcoming ladies' book. "The expectations of none [we quote as above] were disappointed, though those of most were exceeded, when the first number was issued, January, 1841, under the editorial supervision of Rev. L. L. Hamline. Few men alive possessed equal gifts, as a writer, with Brother Hamline, whether it regards style, pure Christian sentiment, literary taste, or logical acuteness. His great pow- ers, with small assistance at that day, were brought to bear on the Repository, the happy effects of which remain till this day impressed on its pages. This was the man that gave character to the Repository. He gave it form and fashioned it after a pure model, and the result remains." The novelty of the movement as a Church enter- prise, to be conducted in the spirit of the higher religious culture, and its acknowledged legitimacy and importance as an advance in the right direction, LADIES' REPOSITORY. gg roused the hitherto latent powers of the Church. The preliminary steps were taken with great enthu- siasm. Its publication was looked for with intense interest. Great hope, however, was still mingled with many fears. The first number dispelled the furtive doubts of its friends, and the second assured them of a victory already achieved. Prof. G. W. Blair writes of it in the Richmond Advocate: "The pleasure which I realized in reading the first and second numbers of the Ladies' Repository and Gatherings of the West was so great, that I felt at once an almost boundless desire for its success and extensive circulation throughout the borders of our beloved Zion. " If the introductory numbers may be taken as a true index of its future character, |t will prove an unspeakable blessing to the Church. I expected much from it, knowing the hands to which it had been committed, but it has exceeded my highest expectations. Some of the finest writers in the Church are contributing to its columns, and these have claimed for it a high place among periodicals of literature and taste. And all is sanctified by the deep vein of piety which runs throughout. No one can read the excellent articles of the Editor, especially that on the 'Nativity,' and that on 'Works of Taste,' without feel- ing that he is holding converse with arich, cultivated, and spir- itual mind. His intellect will be improved, his taste refined, and his heart made better. There is a grace and harmony in the style, a sweetness in every word, and a mellowness in the spirit, which impart their own nature to the soul. A holy sympathy is begotten in the heart for the writer, and if one is so fortu- nate as to know that these are but the natural and unforced expiessions of the qualities of his heart (as is happily known by all who have made his acquaintance), his pleasure is com- plete. I consider these articles alone well worth the price of subscription." Hamline not only wielded a facile pen with Addi- sonian chasteness, but possessed the true enthusiasm which warmed and animated whatever theme he ipo BJOGRAPHY OF\f{EV. L. L. HAMLINE. took. , In his hands common events aKuined:,a new interest^ not by the illusive dress of fiction, but by the discovery of new and higher relations, while the crowning charm of his writings proceeds from: the high moral end for which he wrote, and the in- breatlied, and living desire to save souls.. Preaching or writing, he had this one object in view and upper- most. This was no detriment to literary taste or merit, but gave to both a more exalted standard and refinement. , Nor was his skill in eingaging others to work inferioti to his own ability to execute. The class of writers which constellated about him were of a veiy high order. A large proportion were edu- cated, of bjOth sexes, and with as much variety of talent as perhaps any corps of contributors could boast. Indeed, the public were surprised at the sudden awakening of gifts in a Church which had never competed for fame in literary and religious JQiarrialism. , No periodical published by the IVfeth- odist Episcopal Church ever called out a greater amount and variety of literary arid religious talent in the sphere of popular journalism than has the Ladies' i?^<>j?/t Subject to great alternations, and with a life of intense labor and the antagonisms of this "evil world," a perpetually " tjuiet sea" was not to be expected. His' exquisite sen- sitiveness often occasioned him sorroxv and temptation where a cominon mind would experience no embar- rassment. On one occasion whei-e the subject of sanctification had obtained prominence, and a revival was in progress, the preacher had not mentioned the great salvation, eithei- in his prayer or sermon. The heart of Hamhne was "Vvarm and tender, and he was grieved at this omission.' When he rose to exhort, his earnest Words were upon the theme of entire holi- ness,' niging the Church to seek the full salvation; The effort was timely and proved effectual.' Biit when the meeting was over he suffered much from the apprehension that his zeal had been misguided,- and his distress became .so great that he fbund no relief till the next day", when he was advised to resort to special prayer. Scarcely had he- bowed in- the- attitude of prayer when the cloud burst, aiid he Was filled with joy unspeakable. At the session of the Ohio Conference, at Hamil- ton, September 28, 1842, he had succeeded in avoid- ing a press of conference business, ■ and even of pVeachihg, probably in consideration of his ''editorial care and the great number bf visiting strangers. This eiiabled hirh to enter into the enjbymerit of confei*- ence with a keen relish. To his Wife he writes: * "I am well and happy. Conference moves on slowly. I hope to return more blest than when I went. Bless the Lord, d my smil. Be holy. Friends and foes' are all one. Nonedre foes. Who can harm iis if we be followers of that which is ENTIRE SANCTIFJCATION. IO9 good? . . , Yesterday (Sabbath) was one of the best days of my life. I had no preaching to do. Except the bishop's sermon alt the appointments were filled with foreign brethren. Many are from Kentiicky,North Ohio, and Iivdiana conferences. There IS more religion in our conference than I ever saw before. Many are sanctified. Many others are pressing into the king- dom, and the fruit of this revival in the conference already appears. Ten thousand were added to our Church in this conference last year — an unheard of thing in all the history of Methodism! My mind is kept in peace." The great baptism amazingly quickened his love for souls, and his ardent zeal to save them. In his diary for November 26, 1842, he says: "I feel as though I had come to the verge of heaven. I have had sad dreams, but am happy now, filled with weep- ing and praise. I feel like one who has been wrecked at sea and has got into the long-boat. Persons are sinking all around, and he clutches them by the hair. So I see souls are sinking. I feel in a hurry to .save tlrem. And it matters not what I eat or what I wear, or who are my companions, for when I have rowed a few miles I shall get home and shall find all my friends there." We have already seen specimens of his habit of labor in this department with his brethren in the pastorate. In one of his excursions, whence he had purposed to return after the Sabbath, he writes to Mrs. Hamline, on Monday: "There seems to be so special a call for me to stay here to day, that I dp not know but I shall yield. . . . If I am not home sooner you may expect me Wednes- day evening, but likely to-morrow," and a little fiirtlier on he says: "If I can stay till Thursday, say SO;" Thus his earnest soul was often in a strait betwixt his editorial claims at home and the revival work in the Gospel battle-field. In the same letter I lO BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. t. HAMLINE. he says: "Such a day as I had yesterday might be expected to be followed by some conflicts. Satan could not see me as I was yesterday without great wrath. I preach at half-past nine this morning and this evening. I preached three times yesterday with- out the least inconvenience. . . . Reports are coming in from the people which make me wish to stay. God is wonderfully working. I have a special call here. I am happy! happy! happy! God is doing wonders. It exceeds all." In a letter to his friend, Rev. C. W. Sears, De- cember i6, 1842, he says: "Since our conference rose on tlie 6th or 7th of October, I have by the divine goodness been almost constantly em- ployed in preaching Christ and him crucified, in Ripley, Dover, Levanna, Covington, Shiloh, Cheviot, Aurora, and Warsaw in Kentucky. In these places the word of God has had free course, iind more than five hundred have been added to the Lord. For one week I have been resting from these labors and enjoy- ing tlie peace of home. My breast, which was much affected by preaching more than seventy sermons in t\vo months, with all my editorial duties, is now gelling strong again, and to-day I expect to go ten miles into the country and recommence my labors. I have been ' watered also myself.* God has made the labors of the niinisUy svveel — unspeakably sweet." In the Fall of 1842, within less than three months, he says: "I have enjoyed the privileges of attending some eight or ten protracted meetings, at each of which there was a glorious display of God's saving power." Does tlie reader ask how he could, under such circumstances, not only give satisfaction but win reputation as the editor of the Ladies' Repository? He answers the question in part: "My labors are heavy. I take my papers often into the country and write betzveen preachings." He was a ready and rapid ENTIRE SANCTIFICA TION. 1 1 1 writer. When his mind was roused and concentrated, and that was as often as duty demanded and health permitted, after the first dictation little was left for critical review. His writings would read as well at the first as at the fortieth edition. Yet all this and more could not have sufficed to sustain his editorial care, liad not his ever faithful and highly accom- plished wife, herse If a writer and a critic, Mrs. Melinda Hamline, relieved his office duties, and substituted much of his editorial work. They perfectly sympa- thized both in the editorial and evangelical work, and they wrought as "true yoke-fellows." Some of his letters in these times may suffice to indicate his conflicts and triumphs and his habit of labor. In a letter to his wife, dated Lebanon, Ohio, Wednesday, January i8, 1843, he says: " I want to see you very much, more than usual. I trust you are near to Jesus. I hope you are not sorrowing. Yester- day was a blessed day to me, until near night, when very heavy clouds came over me. I could hardly keep from starting right home. Brother Elliott preached powerfully last night. Our congregations have been very large, solemn, and affected, but something holds back. Sister Brodie and three others joined last night. She was happy. I have preached eight times since Saturday night and feel no inconvenience. I start for Franklin in two or three hours. This morning I am some- what burdened, but hoping. My conflicts are mental, the absence of love and joy, no special temptations, much outward power ; and know no reason for my conflicts but ' the cup which my Father giveth me.' O may I meekly drink it. Pray, my beloved, as I know you do.'' To the same he writes, having reached Franklin, Friday morning, January 20, 1843: " The meetings here are blessed, especially to the Church. Yesterday morning was one of the best times I ever saw, and 112 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMUNE. the P. M. one of .the best in my .qloset. I eyer felt. I feel much stronger in Christ. I am struggling for the blessing both for you and myself. My health is excellent, and my breast very little affected. Preached twice yesterday. We have sacra- ment this niorning, and I shall .preach to-night. Leave in the stage to-morrow morning at.9 o'clock for Hamillon. My return will depend somewhat on appearances there. Write a letter on Saturday and direct to Hamilton. Let me know if I am wanted. I hope to be greatly blessed to-day ; have been up since 6 o'clock (now half past seven).. ,0 may Jesiis bless us exceedingly. I, told you, I think, that the day after I came up tlie stage upset near Jamison's tavern, and almost, killed the driver and one passenger. I thought we should be destroyed on the way. It was fearful to travel in the stagfe on that road." Ill the midst of labors beyond his strength, and wliieh he afterwards admits laid X\\e. foundation of h,is premature infirmities and his retirement from public life; with a popularity, which exposed him to envious criticism; and with the two mightiest social forced in his hands — the pulpit and the press- — one might well fear for his humility. But to him selfish am- bition was unknown. For himself he sought nothing, desired nothing ; for Ciirist, every thing. His dead- ness to the world and his self-abnegation were almost startling, even to his friends. His views of natural depravity and the malignity of sin in the light of the divine law left him in utter amazement at that divine love which had borne with his life of unbelief so long, and had multiplied such boundless "grace upon grace " in his redemption. Before Mr. Hamlin e was converted he was ac- quainted with a young lawyer of respectable parent- age and position who was indulging freely in the social glass till habit was fixing its iron rule, and the young man was on the way to ruin. Mr. Hamline was ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. II3 moved to interpose an effort for his rescue, and wrote him several anonymous letters. Although the lawyer knew not who was the author of the letters, yet the letters wrought such a powerful effect upon him that he turned from his cups and became a sober man. Afterward, in the height of Mr. Hamline's popularity, the lawyer writes to him, in real respect and friend- ship, urging upon his attention the duty of preparing an autobiography, suggesting meanwhile that perhaps some "concealed" grief might deter him or be the cause of his unwillingness. To this letter the follow- ing characteristic answer was given : "Cincinnati, December 20, 1843. "To A. S. C, Esq. "Dear Sir, — ^Whether I have written to you before with my own proper signature, I do not recollect. But for circumstances known to you I should never have beeil covert in my corre- spondence. I am glad that your friendly letters open the way for frank and full communications. You speak of autobiog- raphy. But for one fact I could never discourse, or scarcely think again of self. Except for that one thing I should be the most ultra of all misanthropes. And yet my man-hating would be concentrated self-abhorrence, while I sliould, witliout effort, look tolerantly on mankind. And what do you imagine is the isolated fact which renders me often willing to think of self ? If you were doomed to bury your chiefest friend, how would you thereafter lead over and over tlie productions of her admired pen ? As fruits and evidences of the riches of her mind they would be very precious. " Now, there is ONE — ^Jesus the son of God — who is doing a great work amongst sinners upon earth. He is saving them 'by the washing of regeneration.' The enterprise was com- menced upon the cross. In every believing heart he has written his law in letters of blood. All the regenerated are examples of the power of his cross, and the efficiency of his Spirit. I am an unworthy receiver of this grace. In my own renewed heart I read those characters which his wounded hand has there graciously inscribed. For this I love to look 1 14 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLIN E. I ill upon myself. Everj' motion of my heart — every thing in my whole being, which does not bear the stamp of total— of ineffable depravity, is a fruit of my blessed Savior's sufferings and love, and an illustration of his wonder-working ^ac*. " In this connection I can bear to see myself, and lo scan my inward life in its most repulsive aspects. In this connec- tion I can review my outward life, for the efficacy of grace is not only evidenced in whatever sanctified affections I may possess, but also in the long journey by which mercy brought me from the Egypt of my bondage to the Canaan of God's love. The artisan's skill should certainly be judged of not merely from the excellence of his mechanical productions, but also from the material out of which he wrought them. He who from dross could produce a single dime, would merit more than he who should coin millions out of pure massive bullion. " You see now, my dear friend, how only the sight of self can be endured. It is a helper in crucifying pride. It can contribute to cast me down deep into the dust.- It can aid my views of Christ. It often helps me to conceive more cle.-irly the love of yesus passing knowledge as displayed toward one so vile. I am this dross. Yet on me Jesus lays his hand of pity and of power. He takes 'my feet out of the pit,' and places them ' upon a rock.' He takes away my notes of mourn- ing, and puts into my mouth the song of joy and praise. Cast- ing all my sins behind him^^removing them 'farlxow^. me,' he raises me up to 'sit in heavenly places ' with his saints. "The song of the redeemed, even in the heavenly world, regards their lost estate on earth, as well as tlieir beatitudes in ]3aradise. 'Tliou wast slain and h.ast redeemed us to God by thy blood — ^and made us unto our God kings and priests 1' The Savior's love and gloiy appear not only in their present emi- nence and bliss, but also in running back to what they once were, and in the redeeming process which sanctified and crowned them. In the connections here expressed, I have use for all my past remembered life. Let its history be graven on my soul forever. I never must — never shall forget it. It must and will remain in everlasting junction with the cross of my Redeemer. No — no — thou bleeding one, let neither time nor eternity — nor both with their brief or lengthened cycles — efface from memory the past ! O how will the greatest follies and offenses of my life gather a welcome freshness from tlie ENTIRE SANCriFICA TION. 1 1 5 future, as seen in tlie ever growing light of a Savior's cross and passion ! "Wliile I sit in meditation on a theme so mortifying, and yet so salutary — so self-annihilating, and yet so life-giving, con- necting all with Christ's most gracious sufferings and doings, my nature is dissolved. To iiiy consciousness existence seems naught but Jlames, and tears, for gratitude and penitence do swallow up my being. And these very meltings are fresh fuel for the flames because themselves are new instances of God's exceedinggreat compassion. He kindles up this life of ardors or it never could exist. A threefold death is conquered first, that Life may gain dominion afterwards. You speak of some 'con- cealed ' grief. No, my friend, I. have none. There is not a sorrow of my nature but you and all the world may know. Butwould you know it you must come along with trie to Calvary. All my deep emotions are now kindled at the Mount. My griefs and joys, of any moment, are blended with its scenes. O my friend ! be assured that I am born into a new and higher life, which sligtits, as insignificant, the interests and the sym- pathies dissevered from the cross. Can you understand this ? To kndw it well is the acme of all wisdom and felicity in time. 'T is climbing Up to heaven. It is ascending to where angels would, but can not soar." I i 5 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. Chapter IX. [1843-44.] GENERAL CONFERENCE OF t844-ELECTlON TO THE EPISCOPACY. IN the preceding chapters we have brought down the manner of life of Mr. Hamline to the fall of 1843. This was the time to elect delegates to the General Conference which was to be held the follow- ing May. Mr. Hamline had not expected to be a delegate to the General Conference of 1844, he hav- ing been sent to that of 1840, and it was understood that others from the Book Room should now take their turn. With him it was all satisfactory. "It will be a trying session," he said, "involving impor- tant interests and great responsibility, and I would greatly prefer my every-day duties at home." He had never sought place or preferment. His physi- cians, also, had earnestly advised against his going. But an occurrence happening in which Mr. Hamline had meekly submitted to a public and unprovoked indignity, from the jealousy and rivalry of a senior, which his ministerial brethren deeply regretted and strongly resented, it was determined popularly that he should be elected. In this, also, there was a providence. The conference met September 27, 1843, at Chil- licothe. Toward the offending brother Mr. Hamline indulged no enmity. Concerning him he says: "I GKNUKAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. WJ have had no hard feelings toward S. at any moment since we left home. Still, I disapprove of his course, and, though I had nearly made up my mind to vote for him, I now hesitate. He is very kind and his ambition is a disease of the heart which I can over- look, yet I think maturer grace is needed in General Conference. These little occurrences, with the un- disturbed tempers with which I met them, greatly encourage me. I cried all day by turns, 'O Lord, give others all the honor, and me all the reproach, only so my heart be cleansed and kept pure.' So J feel now." The hour of election arrived, and Haniline, with a younger brother, walked abroad conversing delight- fully upon the "great salvation" which was now all his theme. When they returned he found himself elected. To his wife he again writes: " We are getting along tolerably well. The election, which was, most of all, in our way, is now over. Brothers Elliott, Finley, Trimble, Raper, Sehon, Ccniiell.Ferree, and your unworthy husband are the delegates. My election is one of the most unexpected events of my life. I can now scarcely credit it. My position alone [as editor] was, I supposed, an entire bar ; but I had left all to God, and I have one satisfaction — a sweet one it is : not more than one minute, put it all to- gether, has been spent in talking of General Conference in my company since I reached Chillicothe. I did not know that one person was going to vote for me, nor did one, as I know of, expect me to vote for him. Thank God that he gave me a higher calling, heavenly and blissful, so that I could not find it in my heart to talk of elections or General Conference. You may wonder how, with so much opposition to the Book Room, two editors should be sent. I wonder, also. I feel satisfied that it is of God. This fs the best of all. I feel more and more that God is working in me mightily. He blesses me.'' 1 18 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLIN E. On his spiritual experience at the same Confer- ence he further adds: "I believe God has sanctified me throughout— sbul, body, and spirit — and I am willing all the world should know it. He has sprinkled me, and I am clean. 'From all my fillhiness and from all my idols he has cleansed me.* This I first con- fessed in our love-feast last Sabbath morning. At first the enemy thrust sore, and almost devoured me, but the light is increasing. I believe tliis work was accomplished in New Albany eighteen months ago, and that I have been in bond- age ever since by .'hiding his righteousness within my heart.' I shall talk more of this if I live to, see you. The Lord strengthens me. ' I live not, bul Christ liveth in me.' Adieu, my beloved." The intervening months till General Conference were spent partly in his usual editorial and evangel- ical labors, and partly in perilous sickness. On the 5th of January', 1844, four months before General Conference, he returned home from a pro- tracted! meeting, after several days of hard work in preaching, exhorting, and revival labor. The next day was Sabbath, and three city appointments awaited him. About midnight he awoke with vio- lent symptoms of illness, notwithstanding which he arose at his usual early hour to prepare for his Sab- bath work. But a ministerial friend calling in, who was himself an experienced, physiciaii, perceiving his condition, said^ "You must npt preach to-day, your pulse is one hundred and twelve," and kindly, en- gaged to see hi^ pulpit supplied. His family physi- cian was called, but no reinedies took eflfect. After a few days a counseling physician was called, and then a third. The decision was thai; the heart was seriously diseased. Mr. Hamline now relinquished all hope of being able to attend the General Confer- GENERAL CONFF.RE/\'CE OF i844- Up ence, and prepared for easy traveling as a relief of the faintness and partial paralysis from which he suffered. He spoke only in whisper, and much of the time could not endure the presence of any num- ber of persons in the room. But the Ohio delega- tion were unwilling to release him, and urged that tliey might have his presence at the General Confer- ence, or at least in the city, where they could con- sult together. He replied: "I may not commit sui- cide, and my physicians say that to go there will be death. But at the call of the Church I am willing to go even unto death." As late as the month of March, six weeks be- fore General Conference, his symptoms left little hope of recovery. March i6th, Dr. Worcester, who had spent six years in Paris as a student making pectoral diseases a specialty, was called in to ejfamine him with the stethoscope. It was decided his heart was seriously diseased. Afterward Brother Sehon, who was present at the examination, and had been con- versing with the physician, came in. He said: "I told Dr. Worcester that you had been in the habit of preaching five sermons in a day, and he looked astonished at this." Mr. Hamline said: "I am not sorry I did so." Brother Sehon said: "But that was living too fast." Mr. Hamline replied: "But it was sweet living, and if I die now I am glad I worked while I could." On Sabbath, the 17th, he sto^ looking out at the window, and. remarked: "It is pleasant to look out upon these things, upon which, after a little tinie, I shall look no more with these eyes, or in this manner. The thought of so wonderfully changing I 20 BIOGKAPHY OF KBV. L. L. HAMLINE. one's mode of living is very exciting. To leave so many friends behind, to go to meet so many who have gone before, to leave so many saints who are struggling on their way, and so many who are not struggling, and so many sinners to be saved!" A little after he said: "Could I to-day be introduced to a thousand of those who are gone before in Wes- ley Chapel; could I see Jesus in the pulpit, and the apostles sitting in the altar, and Wesley and Fletcher and Fenelon and Guyon and Hester Ann Rogers and their companions in another circle; and could I spend the day with them and hear them speak in the order of love-feast their experiences, the Savior first uttering words of wisdom; and then hear Abraham tell of Isaac and of his feelings when he offered him up, with what wonder should I gaze upon their faces and listen to their words; that is, if they were men in the body and had never died. But I hope soon to see them and spend, not a day, but an eternity, with them!" His wife said: "Your unusual calm- ness and the manner in which you have regarded death has, ever since you were ill, made me feel that your condition was that of serious disease." He replied that "calmness does not always precede death. Hezekiah was greatly troubled at the thought of it." "True," she said, "but he did not live under the Christian dispensation." He rejoined: "I could not ask for fifteen years to be added to my life nor for fee months nor five weeks;" and his joy increasing in the near hope of heaven, he said: "I feel as though it would be easy for me to enter upon tlie song, 'Worthy is the Lamb.' My lips feel as though used to it." GENERAL COSTFENENCE OF iSdd. 121 111 the afternoon lie said: "It is a precious Sab- bath to me. I feel like Columbus and his crew when they got in sight of land. My soul sings a 'Te Deum.' But Dr. L. comes in and says it is all a mistake, it is only mountains of fog I see But as an eagle stirreth up her nest, and hovereth over her young, so the Lord stirreth me up and teacheth me to fly, and I think he will soon burst the cage and let me soar. I feel as though my soul had wings." His disease had been called "fatty de- generation of the heart." "It does not matter," he says, "whether my heart be turning to fat or to stone, physically, nor what ails it, so that it will answer to receive Jesus. This is all I want of it." "Choosing diseases," he adds, "is like going into a flower garden. One can hardly tell which to .select, all being so beautiful." At another time he said: "It will be very delightful for me to cast my crown at His feet, and cry, "worthy is the Lamb.' But I do n't know what he will do with me in heaven. I feel as though he would place me away in some corner, so unrworthy! But I sometimes think grace has done so much for me that I shall stand out a monument to show what Jesus can do for sinners." The General Conference of 1844 held its session in the city of New York. It was a time ever memorable in the annals of American Methodism, and sad as it was memorable. It ended in the separation from the Church of fifteen annual confer- ences, including Indian Mission Conference and Florida Conference, in thirteen slave-holding States, and their subsequent organization under the title of 122 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. the "Methodist Episcopal Church South." So great an event invests every act or person with his- torical importance who bore any responsible connec- tion with the doings of the session; and, as no one can claim this honor more than can the subject of this memoir, it becomes due to his name, and to the honor of the grace of God in him, that he should be placed'in his true position. Upon arriving at the seat of the General Conference, the delegates soon fouud that the great issue between the North and the South, on the sub- ject of slavery in the Church, was upon them. The alarm was great. The hour hiad come when deci- sions must be made, as to Church discipline, which would prove a final test of the strength of our con- nectional union. Like the strong man, when the cry was made, "The Philistines be upon thee," the Church representatives arose in their strength and wisdom and piety to meet the inevitable question. Old men were there, great men, men of renown and experience, fathers of the Chucrh, veterans of a hundred battle-fields. Young men were there, fresh, strong, and -versed in the history of the times, upon whom devolved the chief weight and brunt of the militant labor. The writer of this was there, a member, too young to enter into the great agony which made old men weep when they pleaded with and against each other — when like Olin and Bangs, they sobbed out: "Brethren, is this the last time that we shall meet in General Conference?" The North could not give up without, in their judgment, surrendering fundamental moral and ecclesiastical principles. The South claimed the same. And , GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844., 123 whatever doubts might have been subsequently ex- pressed as to the sincerity of either side, it is certain as history and personal observation can make it, the parties believed and respected and loved one an- other at the time. As to Hamline, he had no personal feeling as a party in the great issue. He had come to the con- ference under the call of the Church, which he ac- cepted as the call of God, to assist as he might, in counsel with his fellow delegates. But above the storm of ecclesiastical debate and excitement his soul dwelt in the serene atmo.spliere of peace. The con- ference opened May 1st, at 9 o'clock, and he closes his letter to his wife that morning with the words: " I am now going to see the conference opened. God is with me. I am happy. Not a temptation. Glory to God." The divisive question came up in a twofold form. The first was that known as the "Harding case." The Rev. F. A. Harding, of the Baltimore Confer- ence, had been duly tried, and suspended from the ministry, for holding slaves. The case was appealed by the defendant to the General Conference, and in this light came up as the order of the day on the eighth day of its session. The trial continued five days, and the action of the Baltimore Conference was sustained by a vote of General Conference of 117 to 56. It is not relevant to the purpose of this memoir to enter upon a statement of the evidences and arguments in the case, which the reader will find in the pubh'shed journals and speeches of con- ference, but the importance attached to it was of vast significance. The Discipline strictly forbade. 124 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. Z, HAMLINE. " all office" in the Church to those who held slaves, where the laws of the State allowed emancipation, and permitted the emancipated slave to enjoy his freedom ; but it allowed' preachers to hold slaves where the laws prohibited emancipation and freedom to the liberated slave. The whole question in the Harding case turned upon the single fact as to the laws of Maryland in the case. The decision of the case was understood to be a final test of the senti- ments arid purpose of General Conference in regard to the intent and application of the disciplinary law, as affecting traveling preachers. It was understood, also, to have an ominous and unmistakable bearing on the decision of the case of Bishop Andrew, yet pending, which, we shall notice hereafter. It was re- ceived every-where in the South as "the knell of di- vision." By speakers on the conference floor, in private letters, by the weekly papers of the South, in all circles, the tocsjn of alarm was sounded. Eight days of the coiiference passed in this increased and increasing agitation, when Drs. Capers and Olin offered the following preamble and resolution: " In view of the distracting agitation which has so long prevailed on the subject of slavery and abolition, and espe- cially in the difficulties under which we labor in the present General Conference on account of tlie relative position of our bretliren North and South on this perplexing question ; therefore, '^Resolved, That a committee of six be appointed to confer with the bishops and report within two days as to the possibility of adopting- some plan, and what, for the perma- nent pacification of the Church.'' The resolution passed unanimously, and'Wm. Capers, Stephen Olim, Wm. Winans, John Early, GENERAL CONFERENCE OF i844. '25 Leonidas L. Hamline, and Pliineas Crandall were appointed that committee. A day of fasting and prayer was ordered by the conference. Two days passed and the committee was unable to report. The time was lengthened. The delegates North and South were requested to meet separately to assist in the deliberations. The result proved that no ground of pacification could be found. It was in view of his thorough knowledge of civil and ecclesiastical law, his known practical wisdom, and his pacific spirit that Mr. Hamline was chosen to act in this most delicate, most responsible place. On the twenty-second day of its session the casts of Bishop James O. Andrew was formally brought before the conference by the report of the Commit- tee on Episcopacy. It was admitted by Bishop An- drew' that he had come into the possession of staves, which he then legally held. One was bequeathed to him in trust, another had come to him by inheritance from the mother of a former wife, others his present wife, not he, owned." Immediately upon the presentation of the case, on motion of Rev. John. A. Collins it was adjourned and made the order of the day for the 22d of May, the day following. It was well to approach so grave a responsibility with calm deliberation. Probably n6 question in any age or country ever elicited more able debate, more breadth of view, more resolute courage to abide by what was deemed right in principle or expedient in policy, or a broader charity and con- ciliation. It was never held that Bishop Andrew had vio- lated any statute of the moral or ecclesiastical code. 126 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. The Church had never had occasion to legislate, or frame a rule, on the case. Public sentiment, the common consent of the Church, had hitherto been a sufficient guard. The case, therefore, was not con- sidered judicially. The "impediment" simply lay in the relations of a bishop, as a superintendent of the whole Church, in which relations, under the present circumstances, Bishop Andrew must be unacceptable to the larger part. It was not a question of pure ethics, but of expediency in its highest and purest sense. The high antislavery feeling and conscience of the Church in the free States, could not concede to the system of American slavery the implied sanc- tion which such an example of one of her bishops would seem to give. It was certain and inevitable, if General Conference countenanced any legal connec- tion of the episcopacy with slavery, the great major- ity of the Church in the free States would renounce its jurisdiction, and disruption, division and misrule would overspread the land. They were conscien- tiously opposed to all volunt*y slave-holding, as against the rights of man and the laws of God, and they could not seem to ju.stify it by so impor- tant a concession as the South no\v claimed. A bishop was not, like a common pastor, limited in his residence to conference boundaries, or annual ap- pointment§. He could phoose his residence any- where. The case of Bishop Andrew, therefore, could not be considered under the rule on ^laver)- as apply ing to tpembere of annual conferences. The South had no right to demand a slave-holding bishop, and the North could not concede it Indeed the public Christian sentiment North, and in ^ large proportion GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. 12/ of the South forbade it. But having openly taken the issue, it became impossible for either party to compromise or recede. Bishop Andrew had always been considered as a Southern man. As such he was elected to the episco- pacy. " I did not support Bishop Andrew's nomina- tion," says Dr. Capers, of South Carolina, " with all my heart, but he was brought forward by the Georgia and North Carolina delegations concurrently [in 1832] at the first instance of Brother Hodges." But when Bishop Andrew saw the gathering storm in 1844, he shrank from the conflict, and shuddered at the thought of being the occasion of strife and division. "When I reached New York," he says, "and found the course which events were likely to take, I resolved to resign, and relieve myself of a burden of care and anxiety which I had long felt too heavy to be borne with comfort, and also to prevent a General Confer- ence debate which might very possibly be protracted and exciting." But knowing the feelings of the South, he resolved to advise with them as to the effect which such a step would have on the peace of the Southern Church. Their advice was, " If I val- ued the peace and unity of the Southern Methodist Church not to think of resigning: that my cherished object of giving peace to the Church could not be accomplished by my resignation : that my resignation under existing circumstances would be the signal for wide-spread disaffection, and very probably a gen- eral secession of a greater portion of the Southern Church." The bishops hitherto had been selected from the Northern Conferences. Dr. Capers would have been elected to the episcopacy in 1832 had he 128 biogkaphY of rev. l. l. hamline. been free from slavery. Tliis lie well knew, and when the South finally complained that the practice of thus selecting bishops had the effect, to keep them in servility to the North, and was an implied reproach, and demanded that a Southern man should be put forth, Dr. Capers himself wrote and pleaded against it, as a measure calculated to divide the Church. His influence had the effect to ward off the evil for the time. But when the South found, rn 1844, that they had a bishop already on hand who was connected with slavery, they instantly deter- mined to fight the battle on that issue. The South would accept nothing as a pacification but "the per- manent admission of slavery into the episcopacy," which Bishop Soule himself, it was said, "admitted to be impracticable." Dr. Wm. A. Smith, of Vir- ginia, and two of the Southern papers, had taken the ground beforeliand that "if the South was not in- dulged with a slave-holding bishop in 1844, the slave- holding conferences must set up for themselves, or the Southern ministers must tamely submit to be proscribed and degraded." On the day for opening the case, the Rev. Alfred Griffith, of the Baltimore Conference, offered a reso- lution by which Bishop Andrew was "affectionately requested to resign his office as one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church." For two days the debate was on this resolution. The arguments ran slightly upon the powers of General Conference to act in the case, and chiefly on the nature, justice and propriety of such action as the resolution con- templated. Little advance was made beyond the dis- covery that the parlies were immovably intrenched GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. I29 in their positions. It was seen also tliat the language was too severe. The thing therein proposed — "res- ignation" — was more than the offense called for, at least in this stage of the proceedings. The error was natural. The case was new, and the time short for maturing thought. They approached the painful re- sponsibility cautiously, tentatively, respectfully, but firmly. They wished to save the bishop, whom they greatly esteemed, and to save the Church, which they loved more. But the obstacle must be removed. Both sides displayed intrepid fidelity to what they believed to be right in principle and expedient in action. At the end of two days a substitute for Mr. Grif- fith's resolution was introduced by the Revs. J. B. Finley and J. M. Trimble, "That it is the sense of this conference that Bishop Andrew desist from the exercise of this office so long as this impediment remains." Five days of debate, in all, had passed, including the Sabbath, when on Monday morning, the twenty-seventh day of the session, Mr. Hamline took the floor. There was (we see him now as we saw him then) a meekness and gentleness in his mien, a deep and seated restfulness in his countenance, a calm deliberation in his manner, and a peculiar blending of majesty and humility in his appearance. Though quiet and unassuming he had already become known to the leading men. The classification of his thoughts was simple: "First. Has the General Conference con- stitutional power to pass this resolution ? Secondly. Is it proper or fitting that we should do it?" It is impossible to give a summary of liis argu- ment, which will convey any adequate idea of its 130 BIOGRArHY OF KKV. L. L. HAMLINE. scope and force. The reader will find it in full in the second volume of Bishop Hamline's Works. From the moment he opened his mouth, and his first sounds and sentences fell upon the ear, it was evident enough that he had control of the subject and of the audience. I can not describe the scene better than in the lan- guage of Dr. (now Bishop) J. T. Peck: "It was evi- dent that the question, so involved and far reaching was in the hands of a master. His positions were logicallv perfect, without a word* to spare, and 3'et in rhetoric and oratory, as fine as if intended for pop- ular entertainment. The tones of voice were new to many of us, and they were actually enchanting. All noise in the vast assembly ceased, and he seemed as if alone with God, uttering thoughts and arguments as of inspiration. 'True, true, every word of it true,' we would say without speaking, for no one would have dared to speak or move. ' Conclusive, splen- did, irresistible.' The last sentence was finished; the speaker quietly resumed his seat. A thousand peo- ple drew a long breath ; and the great issue was log- ically settled." The same day Dr. Wm. A. Smith, of Virginia, rose to speak. He was an able debater, thoroughly informed upon the subject, and thoroughly Southern in his sentiments. Subsequently he was president of Randolph Macon College, and published his lectures to his senior classes on slaverj', holding it to be a legitimate and divinely authorized institution, on the same principle of all civil government. Mr. Ham- line had so evidently settled the legal and ethical principles of the case that no champion speaker in the opposition could make any advance in his argument CKNERAL CONFERENCE OF 1Z44. I31 until the argument of Hamline should be disposed of. In the opening of his speech Dr. Smith regrets his want of "eloquence," and "persuasion," "so vast," he says, "are the interests involved — so absurd are many of the doctrines stated on this floor — and withal so ingeniously have some of them been de- fended by the eloquent speaker that has just taken his seat, Brother Hamline, of Ohio." He then pro- ceeds to notice the salient points in Mr. Hamline's argument. Later on he attempts to show that the Northern conferences will not, with comparatively small exception, reject Bishop Andrew, and adds: "Nor will the Ohio Conference refuse the services of Bishop Andrew. Brother Hamline, who preceded me on this subject, may go thus far. His speech, years ago, on the subject of slavery, so strongly char- acterizing him as an abolitionist (and which I never heard of his retracting), may justify this opinion. He is an eloquent man — a man I am told of great influ- ence — and may draw others after him. But still, sir, I have yet to learn that the Ohio Conference will take this offensive attitude toward the South, and the unity of the Church." The attempt to mark Mr. Hamline as an agitator and a leader of the abolitionists added nothing to the logic or candor of Dr. Smith's argument, and in the eyes of others was accepted as a strategy to lessen the force of his opponent's argument by impairing his personal influence in the conference. But he had mistaken his man, not only as to his antecedents, but as to his power to defend himself, and his strong intrenchment in the confidence and affections of his brethren. Hamline meekly aiid courteously heard 132 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. the speaker through, though parliamentary law gave him the right to interrupt liim for misrepresentation. The reply to his opponent' is as remarkable for its Christian humility as it is for its point and precision. When tiie speaker was through Hamline arose and obtained leave to explain, as follows: " First Dr. Smith says: ' He (Mr. Hamline) brought you to the conclusion that Bishop Andrew had acted improperly.' I answer, — I did not name Bishop Andrew, or any other bishop. I intended to argue, not to accuse ; and, if I car- ried you to that conclusion, as hie says, whether it was by argument or not, it could not have been my confident asser- tion, as to Bishop Andrew's conduct. " Second. I argued that a bishop may be displaced at' the discretion of the conference, when, in their opinion, it becomes • necessary' on account of improper conduct, and, I. might have said, without improper conduct, on his part, so far as constitutional restrictions are concerned. "Third. I never said, as Brother Smith affirms, that the administrative powers of this conference are 'absolute.' I' said they were ^supreme.' Absolute means ttot bound. This conference is bound in all its powers, wliether legislative, judicial, or executive, by constitutional restrictions. 'Supreme' means that, while acting within its constitutional limits, its decisions are_;f«a/and all-controlling. "Fourth. As to my use of the word legislative, the hyper- criticism of Brother Smith would apply to the use of the term judicial with equal force, for properly the conference has neither the functions of a legislature nor of a court. I used the term as it is used every five or ten niinutes by all around me. And it is amusing that Brother Smith should have fallen into the very fashion for which he reproves me. He said: 'If the conference does this it acts above law.' Now, where there is no legislation there can be no law. I commend to him, in turn, the report of 1828, which has long been familiar to me, and of which I most cordially approve ; yet I presume that he, as well as myself, will continue to use the only convenient terms, legislation and law, to distinguish one class of conference powers from another. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. 1 33 " Fifth. As lo the assei'tion thut the analogy between bishops and inferior officers will not hold, because this con- ference is not responsible for its action as removing officers are, I answer, — ^This conference is responsible to the constitu- tion, and, if it wished to bind itself not to remove a bishop, it could call on the annual conferences to aid it in assuming a constitutional restriction. Not having done so proves that it intends to hold this power, and execute it when necessary. " Sixth. As to the abolition address charged to me, the conference may be surprised to learn tliat it was a coloniza- tion address, and was so acceptable that the Colonization Society in Zanesville published it in pamphlet form. More- over, a friend of mine forwarded a copy, without my knowl- edge, to Mr. Gurley, of Washington City, who noticed it with unmerited commendation in the African Repository, the official organ of the American Colonization Society, and gave extracts of it to the public. Surely the brother is too magnani- mous to have attempted to counteract the force of my argu- ment by misrepresenting and rendering me personally odious. As to my exerting my slender influence for evil ends at home, I must submit to be judged by my own conference, wlio will know how to estimate the value and the motive of the in- sinuation." To this reply no rejoinder could be made, and none was attempted. During the debate Dr. Winans, a vehement South- ern man, one day met Mr. Hamline in tlie street and said to him: "Mr. Hamline, I wish to do only one thing before this conference closes. I wish to answer )our speech." Mr. Hamline replied: " Well, Brother Winans, I don't think there is much in it to answer, but if you really wish to undertake it I will try to give you sometjiing to cuiswer. " Mr. Winans re- plied: "Mr. Hamline, I am not afraid of you." "And I am not afraid of you," was the answer. Mr. Winans never attempted an answer to the speech. It could not be expected that Mr. Hamline's 134 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. U L. HAMUNE. speech should be well spoken of by his opponents. Dr. Capers, of South Carolina, said of it afterward, in the Christian Advocate and Journal: "Read the speeches of Drs. Olin, Hamline, and Durbin— men of noble honors and nobly meriting them — ^and see what they amount to. . . . Dr. Hamline's genius, put to the rack, found out a new interpretation of the constitution, by which he 'fortified himself, and strengthened his brethren in the persuasion that they could depose the bishop if they would, and therefore they had a right to do it — an argument which, put in a nutshell, is not very unlike 'might is right.'" Tlie speech of Mr. Hamliiie needs no higher trib- ute to its logic and its effect, than such attempts to parry and paralyze it. Still more inexplicable is the course adopted by Dr. Redford, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in his recent "History of the Organization" of that Cliurcli. Professing to give a full and fair statement of the argument? pro and con of the General Conference of 1844, on Bishop Andrew's case, he omits Mr. Hamline's speech alto- gether, and simply mentions the fact that he, with others named, spoke to the question. Could he hot afford to his readers at least a brief of tlie argument of Mr. Hamline? Was a statement of the arguments on the case com[)lete without it? Did it comport with historic faithfulness, and with justice to the majority of that General Conference to suppress it? The doctrine of Mr. Hamline's speeth relating to the power and jurisdiction of General Conference over a bishop — tlie doctrine so specially objected to by the South — was fully reiterated subsequently in the Re- port of the Committee on "Reply to the Protest," GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. 1 35 and adopted by the General Conference. It is the doctrine of the Methodist Episcopal Church and has been from the days of Coke and Asbury, who spe- cifically took this ground. On the tenth day of the discussion the bishops, after long consultation, presented a formal address to the conference, in which they "unanimously con- curred in the propriety of recommending the postpone- ment of further action in the case of Bishop Andrew till the ensuing General Conference." It was a last and forlorn effort to prevent precipitate action, secure the greatest maturity of thonght, to more fully test the sentiments of the entire Church, and, if possible, to effect conciliation. But the measure was not satis- factory to either party. The case, it was judged, admitted of no delay, and the sequel confirmed this opinion. After respectful consideration the "address" was laid on the table. The debate continued till June 1st — ten days in all — when the resolution of Mr. Finley was adopted by a vote of iii yeas against 69 nays. The last hope of continued union seemed now gone, and all further efforts were in the direction of some amicable and equitable adjustment of the questions of Church propert)' and jurisdiction in case of separation. Two days after this decision — June 3d — Dr. Capers introduced a series of resolutions, providing "that we recommend to the annual conferences to suspend the constitutional restrictions which limit the powers of General Conference so far, and so far only, as to allow that the Methodist Episcopal Church in these United States and territories, and the Republic of Texas, shall constitute two General Conferences, to 136 BIOGVAPHY OF REV. L. L. MAMLINE. meet quadrennially, the one at some place South, and the other North of the line which now divides between the States commonly designated as free States, and those in which slavery exists. That each one of the two conferences thus constituted shall have full powers, under the limitations and restrictions whicli are now in force and binding on the General Confer- ence, to make rules and regulations for the Ghurch, within their territorial limits respectively, and to elect bishops for the same." The one was to be denomi- nated the "Southern General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church," and the other the " Northern General Conference of the Methodist Epis- copal Church." The Book Room property and the Missionary Society were to remain intact, and the proceeds of the former to be divided among the an- nual conferences as heretofore. This is the substance and purport of the plan, which was referred to a com- mittee of nine, to-wit : William Capers, William Wi- nans, T. Crowder, J. Porter, G. Fillmore, P. Akers, L. L. Hamline, J. Davis, and P. P. Sanford. In view of- the importance of the case tlie committee were allowed to hold their meetings during conference hours. When the committee were in session they asked Mr. Hamline his opinion on the possibility of thus dividing. "Brethren," said he. "my opinion is that you can not divide. The moment you do tiiis you forfeit all the church property now deeded and held in the name of the Methodist Episcopal Church." Mr. Winans said, "Brother Hamline, you have told us what we can not do ; will you tell us what we can do?" "Brethren," he replied, " you can secede ; noth- ing else." Mr. Winans replied: "That is true, I GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. 137 see it; but I hope you will not call us seceders. " Mr. Hamline replied, "/will not." The committee found the plan submitted to them impracticable, first because it was unconstitutional ; secondly, because to pass it in General Conference would cause that body itself to take the initiative step to division. It was, therefore, then and there understood that nothing could be done unless the South took the first step by declaring separation inevitable, in which case the conference might make provision,- as far as its power extended, for an equitable division of church property, and the continuance of fraternity. For the present, therefore, they could only return their papers to the conference, which they did in a verbal report. Two days after the presentation of the above reso- lutions of Dr. Capers, fifty-one southern delegates united in a "declaration" that the agitation of the subject of slavery and abolition, the frequent action of General Conference on that subject, ai\d especially the recent action had in the case of Bishop Andrew, "must produce a state of things in the South which renders a continuance of the jurisdiction of this Gen- eral Conference over these conferences inconsistent with the success of the ministry in the slave-holding States." The loud tocsin had now "tolled its last alarm." Immediately, on motion of Dr. Elliott, a second committee of nine was ordered, to whom this declaration of the southern delegates was committed. This committee consisted of Robert Paine, Glezen Fillmore, Peter Akers, Nathan Bangs, Thomas Crow- der, T. B. Sargent, William Winans, Leonidas L. Hamline, James Porter. 138 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. No act of the General Conference hitherto had embodied the significance and solemnity of the ap- pointment of this committee. Hitherto their meas- ures had been tentative ; this was final. Hitlierto all movements had proposed the continued unity of Church ; this contemplated probable, we might say hopeless, separation. Soon after the committee was constituted J. B. M'Ferrin, of the South, and Tobias Spicer, of the North, offered the following resolution : " That the committee appointed to take into consideration the communication of the delegates from the Southern con- ferences be instructed, provided they can not in their judgment, devise a plan for an amicable adjustment of the difficulties now existing in the Church, on the subject of slavery, to devise, if possible, a constitutional plan for a mutual and friendly division of the Church." Mr. Hamline arose and said: "I will not go out with the committee under such instructions." Dr. (now Bishop) J. T. Peck, said: "Let the General Conferetice beware. This is a proposition to commit this conference to a division of the Church. We are sent here to conserve the Church, not to divide it." Dr. Early replied, and a desultory debate arose. Mr. Hamline thought he could propose an amendment which would be satisfactorj', and asked, "will the mover change so as to read : ' That in case no plan of amicable adjustment can be found, the committee be instructed to inquire if there be a constitutional mode for dividing the funds of the Church?'" After some hesitation, reluctantly, the amendment was ac- cepted. It will be seen at once that the amendment totally changed the important point of the resolution, but it was all that could be conceded. By an unac- GENERAL CONFEKENCE OF 1844. 1 39 countable mistake, says Bishop Peclc, this change in Dr. M'Ferrin's resolution was not made in the min- utes, and the resolution went upon the journal in its original, not in its amended form. The next morn- ing, upon the usual reading of the minutes for final correction, Dr. Peck was absent from the city on duty. Mr. Hamline immediately called the attention of Dr. Bangs to the point, and urged him to call the attention of conference to the same. Dr. Bangs felt reluctant to open a controversy, and thought it would make no material difference. Mr. Hamline, feeling that he was a younger member, and a comparative stranger in the conference, shrank from volunteering to arrest the matter against the judgment of seniors, and having expressed his opinion to Dr. Bangs that the phraseology would, in law, be against us, he re- signed it to others. The minutes were approved, and the error passed into the journal. All parties, at this time, considered a rupture of some sort inevitable, and anxiously guarded all points where misunder- standing or legal interference might widen the breach. Subsequently, when the division of the Book Room property came before the Supreme Court of the United States, the court took the ground that the General Conference had all the powers, of its con- stituency as in the Church economy prior to 1808 ; and (it was assumed) as the aggregate bodj' of Metho- dist preachers might prior to 1808 have resolved themselves into two distinct General Conferences or church organizations, so now the delegated body of the General Conference, representing the total Church as then existing, possesses all the powers of its con- stituency, where not inhibited by special restrictions I4P BIOGliAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. aud reservations., As' to the "restrictive rules" of the constitution, they do not specify or forbid the division of the Church ; hence, it was inferred, the power to effect such a result vests, in General .Confer- ence. The "plan of separation,". it was held; was anordinance of General Conference authorizing and providing for, the separation of the South;- that it was of the natiire of a compact between contracting parties ■; that the single fact of separation was author- ized by Gederal Conference, and was complete in itself, without referring the same to the annual con- ferences ; and that the single point of the division of Book Room property was,' according to the plan; the only matter dependent on annual conference concurrence. . " In the work, by Dr. E. H. Myers, of the Southern Church, on "The Disruption of the Methodist Episco- pal Church," he argues tliese. points in full, and charges Bi.shop Hamline.in his speech on Bishop Andrew's case, with teaching, the doctrine that the General Conference had' power t» divide the Church. His argument runs in a line with what has already been said, but he .especially charges that' when Mr. Hamline, in General Conference stated tliat the legis- lative .supremacy of; General Conference "consists of full powers to make rules and regulations for oin- Church," under the given restrictions, he does, by rtecessary implitation, comprehend ' the power to divide the Church, inasmuch as this is not embraced in the inhibiting rules. That is, according to the logic of Dr. Myers and the court, "full povver to make rules and regulations fot the Church" comprehends power to divide or dissolve the Church! . Th.is'mode GENE'jiAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. I4I of arguing calls for no answer. The power to do what is legitimate to conservative legislation, can not imply the equal power to do what is not legitimate to legislation, and which no constitution in Church or state ever made provision for. The powers of General Conference, be they more or less, being delegated, not primal, the object and intention of the act of investiture must become the gauge and limit of the power invested. To transcend this limit is a fraud and a usurpation. This is not less a principle of law than of ethics. In the inten- tions of the constituency lay the ethics and legal limitation of the delegating act, beyond which the acts of Greneral Conference had no jure humano ground or validity. That the power to divide the Church was not specifically mentioned in the "re- strictive rules" is no evidence that it is specifically vested in General Conference. It is evidence only that a power so extraordinary, not to say monstrous, and so contrary to the history and philosophy of all delegated bodies in Church or state, could not be supposed to have entered into the minds of the con- stituency as a possible future assumption. Nor had the constituency of 1808. itself the moral right thus to divide, without, at least, the concurrent voice of the entire body of the membership. To have as- sumed it would have been a usurpation and a viola- tion of the tacit but real compact of Ciiurch fellow- ship, The ministry were not tlie total Church. The resolution of Dr. M'Ferrin, as it stands upon the Conference Journal gives Countenance to the hy- pothesis that General Conference might Iiave power to divide the Church, and the facts that the confer- 142 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. ence ordered it first to go to the committee, and then passed it into their Journals as legitimate conference business give a quasi indorsement of the hypothesis. Especially as the committee to whom this resolution of instruction is said to have been committed actually brought in their report in the form of the so called "plan of separation," it might seem that they had only followed the said instructions. And all this when it was known that the committee on Dr. Capers's res- olutions had decided that church division under sanc- tion of General Conference was simply impossible ! which the conference had declared from the first. That the present reading of the Journal is an error, is sufficiently sustained by the facts, that Bishop Peck distinctly recollects the case, and his own remon- strance against Dr. M'Ferrin's resolution, as above given ; that Bishop Hamline, subsequently, often re- peated the fact of his prompt refusal to go out with the committee under such instructions ; that the mat- ter became a subject of written correspondence be- tween Dr. Peck and Bishop Hamline soon after the publication of the journals of General Conference, Dr. Peck expressing his surprise at finding the erratum; that the resolution, as in tli« journal, rpakes the Gen- eral Conference contradict itself; for it was their uni- form doctrine from the first that General Conference had no power to divide the Chnich, whereas this resolution gives to General Conference the initiative step, tentatively, to separation ; and finally, it places Bishop Hamline in direct contradiction to his most clearly and publicly declared sentiments. Indeed, the fundamental error which the General Conference avoided from the beginning, was that of involving CKNKRAL CONFERENCE OF 1S44. 143 itself, by sanction or encouragement in any form in the responsibility of either a division of the Church or a separation. This was not from unfriendliness, much less to fix a reproach upon the South for sep- arating, but simply and only from conviction of want of constitutional authority. The utmost good will toward the South prevailed, and bating a few extrem- ists North and South the designs of the Plan might have been amicably carried out. The day after the appointment of the committee of nine, already noticed (June 6th), the delegates from the South presented to the conference a pro- test against the action taken in the case of Bishop Andrew. It is called the ' ' Protest of the Mi- nority." In it the action of conference was severely, and, as it was believed, unjustly, reviewed and ani- madverted. The case was new in the history of the Church. No occasion had ever occurred to equally test the constitutional powers of General Conference in relation to bishops, and the extent of their ac- countability to that body. The case being without precedent, their action must determine the meaning of law and the genius of our episcopal government, and establish a precedent for future time. Upon the reading of the protest, therefore. Dr. Simpson (now Bishop) rose and offered a resolution, "That the conference appoint Brothers Olin, Durbin, and Hamline a committee to prepare a state- ment of the facts connected with the proceedings in the case of Bishop Andrew, and that they have lib- erty to examine the protest just presented by the Southern brethren." The design in appointing the committee was to 144 BIOGRArny OF REV. l. l. hamune. present the, facts and principles involved in tlie case on which the majority had acted, as an answer to the protest and a vindication of General Conference; It is entitled, " Reply to the Protest," The election of Mr. Hamline to the episcopacy the day following miaide it necessary that he should retire from the committee, and Dr, George Peck was appointed in his place. The matter is men- tioned here as another indication of : the rank Mr. Hamline held iiT the confidence and confidential business, of the Church. ■ Three- days after the appointment of the second committee of nine — ^June 8th — they reported to con- ference. Mr. Hamline took no part in the debate which ensued, having been, as we have seen, elected bishop the day previous. ■ But during the debate he arose twice to explain the; action of the committee. He himself took what may be called middle ground as to the parties — «. f. , he opposed «'« ^^A> all com- mittal of General Conference to the division or sepa- ration of the Church, but in case the South found it necessary to separate and erect a distinct Church organization, . he was wholly in favor of giving them their pro rata share of the church property. This was the ground on which the report of the commit- tee and the final action of General Conference on that report were based. But this seemed to some a quasi approval and encouragement of division, and to obviate this impression, while the matter was under discussion, Mr. Hamline arose and explained. He says: " When the first committee met they hiid before them a paper [the resolutions of Dr. Gapers] which proposed a new GEAEKAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. 1 45 form or division of the Church. The committee thought there were difficulties in the way of such a proposition. One provis- ion (of Dr. Capers's resolutions) was to send it to the annual conferences. But that was unconstitutional and revolutionary in its character ; and when tlieir votes came back, the General Conference would have no more authority than they had now. Why, then, send it ? The Book Concern is chartered in behalf of the general Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States ; and if they did separate until only one State remained, still Methodism would remain the same, and it would still be the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. "But if they sent out to llie annual conferences to alter one restrictive article [as in the report now before the housej it would be constitutional, and [thus confer power] to divide the Hook Concern so that they might be honest men and ministers. The resolution [before us] goes on to make provision, if the annual conferences concur, for the security and efficiency, of the Southern conferences ; for the Methodist Church would embrace them in its fraternal arms, tendering to them fraternal feelings and the temporalities to which they are entitled. And the committee thought that it could not be objected to on the ground of constitutionality. He, for one, would wish to have his name recorded affirming them to be brethren, if they found they must separate. God forbid that they should go as an arm torn out of the body, leaving the point of junction all gory and ghastly! But let them go as brethren 'beloved of tlie Lord,' and let us hear their voice responsive, claiming us as brethren. Let us go and preach Jesus to them, and let them come and preach Jesus to us." The comprehensiveness of this explanation, its spirit, its fidelity to the law and fellowship of tho Church, can not be fully appreciated without a gen- eral grasp of the circumstances and posture of the debate. The gist of the controversy lay in the un- foldings of these few statements. The reader will understand that the power of General Conference to divide the Church into two separate, yet co-equal 13 146 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. parts, was conceded to be constitutionally and legally impossible. The South might ''separate" by its own voluntary act, upon its own responsibility, and become an independency, but the Church could not divide itself. The report of the committee of nine said nothing about division, but only of separation, in the event that the South should find it necessary, as a condition of their retaining their pastoral relation to master and slave, and in that case provided for their proportion of the Church property. In order to this latter, one constitutional provision, which limited the appropriation of the dividends of the Book Room funds, must be altered. This law reads thus : "The General Conference shall not appropriate the produce of the Book Concern nor of the chartered fund, to any purpose other than for the benefit of the trav- eling, supernumerary, superannuated, and worn-out preachers, their wives, widows, and children." To this the report of committee proposes to add — "and to such other purposes as may be determined upon by the vote of two-thirds of the members of the General Conference." This change was considered sufficient to enable a future General Conference to award the South its eqilitable share. It will be per- ceived that this change would be a prudential guard upon the misappropriation of the funds independ- ently of any relation it might bear to the question of separation. But suspicions were awakened, and •for a time the debate was arrested at this point. Mr. Hamline again arose and explained : " They (the committee) had carefully avoided presenting any resolution vvliich should embrace the idea of a separation or division. The consliUitional .irticle which was referred to GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1844. 1 47 tlie annual conferences bud not necessarily any connection with division. It was thouglit as complaints were abroad re- specting the present mode of appropriating the proceeds of the Book Concern, it would be for the general good that the power to appropriate such proceeds should be put in the power of a two-thirds vote, instead of that of a mere majority, thus making it more difficult to make a wrong appropriation. And the occasion of this report was taken hold of by the com- mittee, to make it more difficult to misappropriate the funds, in which they believed they should serve both the particular object of the report and the general good of the Methodist Episcopal Church." After this statement little more was said, and the report was adopted. If the reader has surveyed the breadth and variety of the debate he will be sur- prised at the brevity and clearness of Mr. Hamline's statements. He spoke only from the stand-point of first principles, and what was fundamental to the question, and his modesty adventured only so far as represented the convictions of the committee. 148 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. Chapter X. - 11844-45-] ORDINATION— VISITATION OF CONFERENCES FOR , TWO YEARS. MR. HAMLINE'S duties, as delegate were now ended. A single glance over bis course at General Conference seems due, arid will suffice to show the extraordinary history and characteristic qualities of the man. He had come to the confer- ence a cofriparative stranger; he left it with a name and influence as widely known and felt as the bounds of the Church. He had used no arts, taken no measures, to bring himself into notice. What was done by him was meekly performed as a duty grow- ing out of his position, and what was done to him by the conference was done spontaneously. It was the impromptu voice of the Church. His whole demeanor was quiet, humble, and retiring, without thought or consciousness of acquiring fame or influ- ence, and when elected to the episcopacy he was both surprised and humbled. As a human call he would have at once declined the honor, but the circumstances of the case were so extraordinary, and the exercises of his mind so strongly corroborative of the hand of God in all, that he bowed in humble submission. The office had sought him, not he the office. The thought of his fitness for the episco- pacy had burst upon the conference like the sudden ORDINATION. 1 49 blaze of a meteor when he stood before them, four- teen da3'S before the final adjournment, and delivered his incomparable speech on the case of Bishop An- drew. In private intercourse, and in committees, lie had already been felt and appreciated, and his name was getting into the leading circles. But it was on that day and in that speech that he first stood before the public in his full proportions. Every subse- quent event only confirmed and enlarged the inripres- sions then made. The fame of that hour never de- clined. He proved himself master of the situation, and he held it. We find him on all the most re- sponsible committees. When in committee his opinion was sought, and when he spoke in confer- ence, his words were receiyed with marked attention. Still he was the same, unchanged, humbly man, con- tent if lie might only walk with God. , Eleven days after this speech, June 7th, the con- ference proceeded to elect two bishop.s. The result showed that Leonidas L. Hamline and Edmund S. Janes were elected. The next day (Saturday), by motion of Dr. S. Luckey, the time for ordination of the bisliops elect was fixed for the ensuing Monday at eleven o'clock. The hour arrived, and the busi- ness of conference was suspended. The bishops elect were invitpd to chairs in front of the altar, Hamline sitting between Brothers Pickering and Fillmore, and Janes between Brotiiers L. Pierce and Capers. The collect and epistles were read by Bishop Waugh, the Gospel by Bishop Morris, and the questions and prayers by Bishops Soule and Hedding. Brotlier Hamline was presented by Broth- ers Pickering and Fillmore, and Birother Janes by ISO BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Brothers Pierce and Capers. The imposition of hands was by the four bishops, Soule, Hedding, Waugh, and Morris. Thus the two newly elected bishops were solemnly set apart for their great work. Two purer, worthier men were never consecrated for the holy office. They have both an honorable rec- ord, were beloved and revered in the Church, and have entered into rest. Of the occasion of his episcopal consecration Mr. Hamline thus speaks in a letter to his wife, dated Monday, June lo, 1844, at twelve o'clock noon: "Yesterday was a day of holy deliglits. I preached my first sermon fov five and a half months, in the Sands Street Church (Brooklyn), from the text, ' If we walk in the light," etc. It was a precious season. Preaching seemed to bring to my soul a world of gushing emotions, such as I can not de- scribe. This morning Brother Janes and myself were conse- crated to the episcopal office at Green Street Church (in the presence of a great crowd), and were conducted to our places in the altar. My emotions were so overpowering that it was with difficulty that I could answer the questions, or make the responses. I wept and wept till I knew not what to do, and brethren around me joined in weeping. But O they were tears which, vile as I am, I believe were bottled up in heaven. It was a holy and delightful morning, one of the most solemnly joyful I ever had on earth. I feel fully that God has called me to the office of a bishop. In my heart he has set his seal to the commission in a way I hope never to forget. I feel that I am his in deed and in truth. O, may I grow in the grace which now purifies, strengthens, and saves me." The General Conference adjourned at a quarter after twelve o'clock, the night following, to meet in Pittsburg, May 1848. Bishop Hamline thus writes to his wife, Tuesday, June 11, six A. M: " I sat in conference until II o'clock last night, making about ten hours of constant sitting through the day, without ORDINATION. 151 riiiich weariness, or riillier with simple weariness without sick- ness. I slept boundly and feel well and blest this morn- ing. I feel cleansed wonderfully. The bishops meet this morning at 8 o'clock. The New York Annual Conference sits to-morrow in Brooklyn. I shall, if God permit, attend it dili- gently, to learn my business, for you know I never was in a sta- tioning room. . . Much as I love you, and delightful as it would be to see you, thes Lord gives me perfect patience and holy resignation. Wednesday morning. — I feel, my dear wife, that God's mercies are so great and so many that you will not be af&lcted when I say that I go to the Troy Conference next Monday, thence to New Hampshire Conference, thence to Black River, thence to Oneida, thence to Genesee, thence to Michigan, and finish my first year's work in October, from which I shall have rest until next July, when I go to Pittsburg, Erie, North Ohio, Ohio, Indiana, and North Indiana. The next year. Rock River, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and In- dian mission. The fourth year, Troy again I shall have six. months' rest yearly, unless some other superintendent fail. Traveling is my health. I expect to improve by every mile of travel. I can now walk rapidly two miles, and feel an unusual vigor of body and soul. ... I know I need not ask your prayers. I am perfectly (almost miraculously, it seems to me) free from the least temptation except to unbelief. Oh, what hath God wrought! I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ in God. Don't feel any concern about me. I never had less concern about myself in a temporal point of view. The Lord is with me. I go in his strength and under his wing.. I feel no loneliness. I never wanted to see you more, yet am perfectly content as it is." In this spirit he entered upon the vast care and labor of his office. He felt that his call was of God, for he had never sought or desired it. This his friends well knew. He himself declared "he would rather be a drayman than a bishop." This he said, not from disrespect of the office, but from a sense of its labors and responsibility. His state of health, also, was understood to be a formidable impediment. He had come to General Conference, as we have 1 52 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. seen, according to -the statement of his ph)'^sicians, at the peril of h'fe, under medical protest against )iis preaching or entering into conference business. But he had considered his election as delegate in the light of a providential order, and when electecl bishop he felt the same providential and spiritual call to assent. To him the will of God was supreme law and supreme delight. He contemplated the episcopacy from tlie spiritual stand-point, and entered upon it with the single aim to the salvation of souls and the sanctification of the Church. His past life had been a preparatory discipline, and his great bap- tism in 1842, the qualification of power for this strange and unexpected work. Not the least of his evidences and his consolations, was the common and hearty approval of the Church at large. The stay at Dr. Palmer's while in New York had been a grateful cordial to his spirit, and also a special favor to his physical health. From the numerous congrat- ulations of his friends I may be pardoned for giving the reader one — ^all our limits will afford — from a hero in the Ohio Conference, the venerable Jacob Young, D. D. He had known Bishop Hamline from his earlier life, was his first senior colleague on the circuit, and was a life-long admirer and friend. In a letter dated Cincinnati, Ohio, July 3, 1844, he says: "We are at tliis time far apart, and it is not likely that we shall meet very soon in this world. But neither time nor dis- tance can cool the ardor of my Oiendship. We, have passed through many changes since the Savior first united our hearts. You were living in Zanesville with your beloved Eliza, and I in Marietta with my beloved Ruth. Some time after our first ac- quaintance, our lot was cast together on old Ohio Circuit, where we became true yoke-fellows. You have passed through a ORDINATION. 153 variety of changes since tliose liappy days tliat we spent to- gether on Short Creek hills, and, to say all in a few words, you are now a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Cluirch. Well, my dear brother, I have had but one opinion of you since we first met in Wellsburg till this day. I need not tell you what that opinion is, but I will say, I am thankful to Almighty God that you are a bishop. It has been my wish and expectation for some years that you would be called to fill that office. Though the cross is heavy, and the station responsible, grace will sustain you if you rely on the Savior, and if my feeble prayers will be of any avail, you will always have them. You will stand in need of both moral and natural courage. I pray that God may give you good health ; I am sure he will give you favor in the eyes of all good people. . . . "My heart was in agony while Bishop Andrew's case was before the Conference, but at present I am calm and happy. I love many of the Southern brethren, but I love the Church too well to have a slave-holding bishop^ I have with my dim eyes.rqad. your, speech oyer gnd over, and will siiy in truth I lean not take one exception to any line or word in it. I think you have taken a correct view of the constitution of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. ... I would not take such liberty with ai)y other bishop, but I know you love the Savior and loye the. Chiirch, arid, though you are my bishop, and I am happy to receive you in your true character, yet, when I write to you, you seem more like a son than a superintendent. I believe you will be sustained by God and the Church. Be strong in the Lord and •" t'le power of his might. And ^low, my dear brother, I cpmmend you to God and the Woid of his grace, %vhich is able to save you and to give you an inheritance with ail the saiictiified.'' In a memorandum later made, he records: "At the General Conference in 1844, most unexpectedly to myself (and tp nearly all, I believe) I was elected to the superintendency. A translation in the chariot of Elijah .would not have overtaken me much more unexpectedly. My struggles were peculiar, and yet I found evidence that I was called to this ministry. On the 1 2th of June I first occupied the chair in the I 54 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. New York Conference, at Bishop Hedding's request. My soul all the while overflowed with unutterable baptisms of the Spirit, such as I can never describe. As business proceeded my soul cried out to God in behalf of his ministers." "Bishop Hamline being present," says Dr. Bond, "was introduced by Bishop Hedding. In the course of proceedings Bishop Hamline took the chair, which he seemed to fill with great dignity and ease, and much to the satisfaction of the conference." After four days he left for the Troy Conference at Poultney, Vermont, of which he records: "I commenced my first conference June 19th. The Lord was with me and gave me blessings. I was ill — very ill — ^for two days; but my worthy friends, Rev. J. T. Peck and lady, nursed me with the greatest care and kindness, so that I was able to attend to the ordination." His attack, here referred to, was sudden and vio- lent, so much so that at one time Dr. Peck exclaimed: "The Bishop is dying!" The Troy Conference closed the 28th of June, and after twelve days of rest he reached the.seat of the New Hampshire Conference, at Portsmouth. He arrived there four days before the opening of the session, and not finding at first the deep congeniahty and sympathy of feeling on the doctrine of holiness, which had sustained him during the previous weeks, his heart sank into partial dis- couragement. "But," he says, "the preachers are coming in, and I am told that some of them are warm and sunny and fierj', and can weep and shout. Oh, I bless God for religion and for Methodism. But when Methodism affects the dignity and silence and VISITA TION OF CONFERENCES. 1 5 5 stiffness and corpse-like aspect of formalism, it makes me weep. I want to see it the warm, breathing thing it was in the days of Abbott, and not a statue. Thank God, I feel his life in me this morning." The session proved a pleasant and profitable one. He says: "It is said by the brethren that they have never witnessed so much spirituality and devotion in any former session of their conference. It is all through, so far, a sort of love-feast. ... I find no great difficulty in my business, only to keep my heart right. Whatever I do without the sensible power of grace is foolishly done, and I am ashamed of it; but when I feel Christ with me all seems to be done as it should be." As to his health he says: "I am as well now as I have been at any time since leaving the West." On Sabbath he attended love-feast at eight in the morning, heard two sermons and attended to two ordinations, "equal to one sermon." The day was an ovation throughout. In the morning Rev. M. Sorin; of Philadelphia, "preached an excellent ser- mon," and in the afternoon Dr. Olin. Of the latter he says: "It was one of the grandest exhibitions of intellect I ever witnessed,^ and as pious as it was majestic. He preached from the witness of the Spirit and the doctrine of perfect love to a vast number, I presume, who despise both. I doubt not that Dr. Olin is the greatest man on the continent, and simple as great." His text was John xiv, i. "My text," .says Bishop Hamline, "and my leading propositions: I. The belief of God the Father and Judge troubles the heart. 2. Believing in Jiesus is the only method of relief from that trouble. I often think it strange," 156 BIOGKAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINB. lie adds, "that in all my hearing and reading I never lighted on that division of the text, it seerned so obvious and so important; but it was my supposition that I alone \\2iA it, except some one had borrowed it from me. But he made so much better use of the divisions than I could that I freely relinquish it to him." Bishop Hamline had avoided preaching, not from positive inability,' but to give his system time to rally and re-establish itself after the shock at Ppultney. His spells of physical strength were transie;nt arid at irregular intervals'. On his journey from Plattsburg to Potsdam, to attend the Black River Conference at its sessiort of July 31st, he notes that he "suffitred much, but was helped of the Lord and blessed by the company of his dear wife, who ministered to both his soul and body." His kind host, Rev. T. Sey- more, pleaded against his goings but he ventured, bolstered up in the stage in a recumbent posture. August 2 1. "it 'he presided at the Oiieida Confer- ence, Ithaca, New York. He says': "The Lord was with us and his ministers were blessed. This is a model conference.' Many enjoy perfect love,' and the people, like their ministers,' press into the liberty." At 'Genesee Conference, Vienna, (now Phelps) New York, September nth, he makes this entry: "Here I found much talent and piety, but fear that Count Zinzendoif has taken some of the young men capiive. May the Lord make us a pure people in heart and life and doctrine." He alludes to the doctririe, which some had imbibed, that justification and sanctification were identical, or, at least, simultaneous, after which no distinct stage of Christiail life Vvas to be expected, ViSITATION OF CONFERENCES. 157 but a gradual growth in grace. This sentiment was distinctly repudiated by the Wesleys, and Bishop Hamline regarded it, as they did, as directly antag- onistic to Scripture and experience, and mourned over it as the greatest calamity of the Church wher- ever it obtained. At this conference, though so feeble that most of his meals were brought to his bed, the bishop attended the five o'clock morning prayer-meetingsy and labored in the conference ses- sions and out of them for the spiritual good of the preachers. There were many warm and earnest hearts among- the latter, some witnesses of perfect love, and hrs visit was a public blessing. At the close the conference passed a resolution warmly expressive of their high appreciation of his services, and of their feelings of affection and confidence. In October 2d we find him at the Michigan Conference, at Cold Water, Michigan. He says: "It was a devout sea- son, and perfect love was very much the theme. The conference adjourned on Wednesday, and we started for Fort Wayne, the seat of the North Indiana Con- ference, Bishop Waugh presiding." October 29th he reached home, in Cincinnati, "comfortable," he says, "healtli improved and blessed of the Lord." Thus ended his first tour of episcopal visitation of confer- ences, wliich every-where left impressions of spiritual religion upon the Churches never to be forgotten, while his method of presiding and his administration gave equal satisfaction. On the Sabbath following his return home he l)i-eached, and of the Church which he served he savs: "I have found war and wickedness here. Let me keep my garments clean and live in peace. Trials 158 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. IIAAfL/NE. bear on me. If God be for me who can be against me? I have been carried hitherto, and if I go I must be carried by the arms of my Father's love ; and, if borne on, none can check me, and I shall not turn aside." We next find him at Springfield, Ohio, December 22d. He says: "Preached this morning to a large congregation, and though I had not those fervors which are so agreeable in ministering, I believe the word preached will not return void. Since I left Cincinnati, on the 12th inst., I have preached three times in Xenia, where the Church was stirred up and one entered the state of perfect love, and five times here, where there is now a great hungering and thirsting after righteousness, I believe, amongst this people." January i, 1845, Bishop Hamline is still at Spring- field, where he renews his covenant with God in language and spirit which the Church universal might well adopt: " A new year! I dedicate it to thee. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ! May I and mine be wholly thine ! Let me have grace to em- ploy every moment of life from this hour for thee. If thou pleasest, let this year end my pilgrimage ; if otherwise, let its commencement end my unbelief, my coldness in thy service. O that this may be such a year as I have lioped to see on earth, or such as I long to see in heaven ! Let what may come, I give myself to thee, soul, body, and spirit, without reserve, to be forever thine. I seal my vows before heaven and in thy si<^ht, -O thou all glorious God ! I am forever thine. Anien and amen !" He adds, touching his labors in that place: VISITA TION OF CONFERENCES. 1 59 "The Lord is at work in Springfield. His ministers are athirst for perfect love. Their families are pur- isuing it. Several . members are exceedingly stirred up, and three or four have already attained this great blessing." In a letter of the same date to his venerable friend, Rev. Jacob Young, he says : " The Lord is pouring out his spirit in Springfield, where I have spent a week, and have been able to preach six times. This I never expected to do again. The work is principally in the Church, where it is most needed for the present. I have enjoyed here much of the presence of Jesus. My soul exults in the perfect love of God. There is a glorious fullness to me in Christ. I trust the Church will be stirred up on that subject. O, for a shaking among the followers of the Lamb ! " Again, January 5tli, he says: " I am at peace, and see that God is moving on many pious hearts in this town. Let me labor, and then die and soar to ,him whom my soul loveth. I have peace." At Zanesville, April 27th, we find this entry : "Here the Lord works on the hearts of his people. I have visited Columbus, Newark, Irville, and some other places, and found the preachers faithful and tlie people blest." "July 9, 1845. Closed the Pittsburg Conference at Beaver. Had a blessed season. This is a large and pious body of ministers. They go out in the spirit of their Master." "July 30th. Closed the Erie Conference at New Castle. A spiritual season. The Lord is pleased to put his strength in me that I may serve him. My soul often dwells above. My life is hid with Christ. Eternal things come near, and earth is all forgotten. Blessed be God ! " l6o BIOGKAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMUNE. "August 3d. Spent in Ravenna, and Sabbath, lOth, in Tiffin, Ohio, and on the 13th commenced the Noiith Ohio Conference at Manon. About one hundred and tfwenty preachers present, talented, devoted men. A good session. Parted with my dear brethren feeling that ,it was good to be here." It is to be much regretted that more full notices have not been preserved of his wonderful influence on annual conferences. A writer in the Western Ad- vocate 'Caw^ refers to the special encouragement given on the subject of holiness by Bishop Hamline's labors: " The North Indiana Aniuuil Conference closed its ses- sion on Monday, 29111 of September, 1845, after a most de- lightful and hainipnious sitting of five days. Your presence at the conference, and editorial remarks, preclude the neces- sity of additional communications touching the general spirit actuating the members, and the harmony and dispatch with which business was accomplished. One feature of this con- ference, howevier, is worthy of peculiar notice — the anxiety generally prevalent among the preachers on the subject of j)erfection. While many profess, others, are earnestly seeking this essential and indispensable requisite for a traveling preacher, having been greatly encouraged in seeking its at- tainmeiit, by the example and exlioitations of Bishop Ham- line, whose spiritual and business qualifications, as a superin- tendent, are probably unsurpassed." His eye was ever watchful of the devotional and charitable spirit of the conference. Often at the ap- pearance of uncharitablene.ss or levity, he would arrest bu.siness, and, in his own inimitable way, ad- dre.ss -the brethrien briefly, calling them lovinglj' to watchfulness and prayer, and then propose a brief season of prayer, calling on the brother aggrieved, or perhaps the one offending, to pray. He was commonly successful, but few could follow his ex- ample here. EPISCOPAL ADMINISTRATION. l6l Chapter XI, [1845-48.] DIFFICULTIES OF EPISCOPAL ADMINISTRATION. WE have already' referred to the steps by which the General Conference of 1844 cautiously and anxiously strove to maintain the unity and integrity of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and by which they were at last Compelled to anticipate separation as probable, if not inevitable. The Southern dele- gates strenuously and solidly maintained that the action of the conference in the cases of Mr. Hard- ing and Bishop Andrew were so against the laws and public sentiment at the South, and would awaken so violent a prejudice and opposition to the Methodist Episcopal Church, that no ministers acting under her authority and govermtient could be allowed access to the master and the slave, or be tolerated on the soil; and that said action, therefore, would practically de- stroy their influence, and annul their ministry. Noth^ ing, therefore, remained to them, as they averred, but the dread alternative of abandoning the South or erecting themselves into a new organization, inde- pendent of the rule apd government of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is only necessary to say that the Northern delegates confided in the sincerity of their Southern brethren, and admitted that experi- ence might prove such an alternative necessary. Of this the Southern brethren alone could be the judges, 14 1 62 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. but the necessity must be real, and beyond the control of either party. Whatever might have been the feelings of some individual members of General Con- ference, known as extremists, and whatever subse- quent years may have developed, it is certain and beyond dispute, and to the everlasting honor of that body, that it was pervaded by a disposition and pur- pose to do justice, and conciliate, and preserve fellow- ship. But when the question came down from Gen- eral Conference to the annual conferences, and fell in among the existing political and Church parties, and above all, when the press took up the gauntlet, and extreme Southern politics entered the arena, the gath- ering clouds thickened and the elements of conrimo- tion intensified, till the raging storm swept over all the land. To trim and guide the ship before this storm was a task eminently committed to the bishop.s. Prudent, wi.se, and godly men were given for that emergency. The memories of Hedding, Waugh, Morris, Hamline, and Janes are a legacy to the Church beyond price, for all time, and a savor of peace. In order to meet the threatened exigency a plan was devised whereby it was hoped that fraternity might be preserved should a separation take place. This plan was called popularly, "The Plan of Sepa- ration," but in the archives of the Church it is known as the "Report of the Committee of Nine on the Dec- laration of the fifty-one Southern delegates to the Gen- eral Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, adopted June 8, 1844." Two objects were to be secured, first, to provide and define terms on which the geographical line of distinction between the two Kl'/.SCOPAL ADMrNISTRATION. 163 organizations slioiild be determined; secondly, an amicable and equitable division of the Church prop- erty. Fifteen annual conferences, lying within thir- teen different States, it was supposed would unite in the separation, should it occur. The Church prop- erty had been created by the joint patronage and concurrence of North and South, and hence, if sepa- ration became inevitable, a division would be just. The boundary line between the two organizations was not to be determined by State lines between slave and free States, but by conference limits, leaving the societies and conferences contiguous to this border, on the south, free to adhere to the Church South, by a vote of the majority. On this latter the following provision was made, to-wit: "Should the annual conferences in the slave-holding States find it necessary to unite tn a distinct ecclesiastical connection, the following rule shall be observed with regard to the Nortli- ern boundary of such connection : All the societies, stations, and confereiices, adhering to the Church in tlie South, by a vote of the majority of the members of said societies, stations, and conferences, shall remain under the unmolested pastoral care of the Southern Church ; and the ministers of the Metli- odist Episcopal Church shall in no wise attempt to organize Cliorches, or societies, witliin the limits of tlie Clunch South, nor shall they attempt to exercise any pastoral oversight therein ; it being understood that the ministry of the South, reciprocally observe the samie rule in relation to stations, soci- c.ies, and conferences, adhering by vote of a majority, to the Methodist Episcopal Church ; provided, also, that this rule shall apply only to societies, stations, and conferences bordering on the line of division, and not to interior charges, which shall in all cases be left to the care of that Church within whose teriitory they are situated." As to the division of property, first it was pro- posed to submit to the annual conferences the ques- l64 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. tion of altering a rule in the constitution of the Church (thg; "sixth restrictive rule"), by which the proceeds of the Bpok, Concern are to be appropria- ted "for the benefit of the traveling, supernumerary, superannuated, and worn-out preachers, the;ir wives, widows, 3iid children," so as to read io addititMj, "and to, such other p;urpose.s as may be determined upon by the votes of two-thirds of the members of the General Conference." Oa.this point, and in order to this; change,, a vote of three-fpurths of all the aijnugl conferences and two-thirds of the, General Confer- ence was necessary. Had this obtained, commis- sioners from Nortli and South Avere to divide the Bool^ Room property, so, that the Ccipital and pro- duce awarded to the Souther.B Church ".shall have the .same proportion to the whole property of the said Coiicerh, that the traveling preachers in the Southern Cliurcli shall bear to all the traveling ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; the division to be made on the basis of the forthcoming Minutes." '" ■ ' Immediately, upon the adjourrinrterit of General Conference, the Southern, delegates held a meeting ill New York, and assuming that they possessed the right t6 decide, as repiesenlatives of the South, that the necessit)' of separation already existed, issued a call to the Soulliern conferences for a delegated con- vention, to be held at Louisville, Kentucky, May i, 1845, for the purpose of ttrgaiiizing a Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, independent of the jurisdiction of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Thus the move- ment of actual separation was inaugurated. Jt seems necessary to have inserted thus much of the doings and documents of General Cpnferencej Jn EriSCOPALADMimSTRATIOlf. l6S order to put the reader into position to appreciate the difficulties of administration of the Methodist episcopacy in the yeairsi tliat immediately followed. Wliei} submitted to them the annual confevences did not concur in the proposition to alter the constitutional rule, and did not, therefore, indorse the separation of the Southern cohferertces. There was hence no pthe chairman to retire, he took command. In a moment the conference came to order, when he thus addressed them: ' "The confusion WhrchisaHsing Jirdmiscs (nd surely ' a man's foes are those of his own household.' The time is at hand and hasteth greatly. I desire to be prepared, and have my family (and the Church) prepared, for all these things. I think God, who has so wonderfully wrought hitherto, will lielp us. There are fearful sights and great signs. I will join you, my beloved wife, in humble endeavors that we may be found worthy to stand before the Son of Man." EPISCOPAL ADMIXISTKATION. 211 A little later, April I4tli, in a letter to his old friend, Rev. Jacob Young, he writes: "Worn down as I am by tlie labors of the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences I take up my pen to extricate myself from embarrassments relative to onr long continued, confiding, and to me most pleasant and profitable correspondence. " We closed the B;illimore Conference the Saturday week after it commenced, having enjoyed great harmony in confer- ence, and gotten through much earlier and with less difficulty than usual. Border difficulties may be anticipated in Warren- ton, King George, Westmoreland, and Lancaster Circuits, Vir- ginia ; but these we must leave to the control of Providence, commending the four preachers sent to them to the prayers of the Church and the protection of Almighty God. In the Phila- delphia Conference the preachers sent to Acconiac and North- ampton will have to meet most formidable difficulties ; and in the former, the "citizen mind,' as Dr. Capers calls it, arrayed against the t Methodist mind,' may kindle flames which nothing but the blood of several victims can quench. The violence of the excitement in Accomac exceeds all I have known in connection with our border difficulties.'* The apprehensions here expressed of trouble in that part of the Baltimore Conference which pro- jected into Virginia were well grounded and too fearfully realized. The session of the Baltiinore Con- ference, just referred to, was their first, after the date of the first General Conference of the Church South. Up to 1846 the Churches of King George, West- moreland and Lancaster Circuits had expressed them- selves in favor of retaining their connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, but when the preachers from the Baltimore Conference returned to these cir- cuits that year, they found them supplied by the Southern bishops from the Virginia Conference. Many received the Baltimore preachers cordially as personal friends, but sorrowed that they could not 212 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMUNE. receive them as ''Baltimore. Conference men, or as Northern men." Few places were open for them to preach, and in some they were exposed to personal danger, from \yhich their friends qould not shield them. They could do little else than make a recon- noissance, and after a time were recalled for other fields of labor. In 1847 the above circuits were dropped, from the Minutes of the Baltimore Confer- ence, and from the scattering societies still adhering to said confeience, they constructed a circuit under the name of ''Northern Neck," including the Soiith- ern section of country lying between the Rappahan- nock and Potomac rivers. ; To the preachers sent there, Bishop Hainline gave instructions according to the information, laid before him, and in harmpriy with the pastoral address of the conference wherein they state that the Baltimore Conference could not ^'olul1tarily withdraw its jurisdiction 'froin any cii-cuit or station within its territory. After personal survey of the ground, the preaclier in charge" of "Northern Neck" writes to Bishop Waugli for further instruction, which he forwards to' Bishop Hamline, as the proper adviser. The whole affair appeared dubious. The next year the circuit was "left to be supplied," and the year following, drof)ped from the Minutes. On Warrehton Circuit one of the Churches, where the society had voted by majority to remain in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the house of worship was forcibly entered and new locks attached to the doors, and the Baltimore preacher excluded. A suit at law was commenced for the recovery of the church, but in 1849 ^^ ^€^^ was abandoned and the circuit dropped from the Minutes. At Leesburg a similar EPISCOPAL ADMINISTRATION. 213 State of things occurred, and in 1849 it also was abandoned and left off the Minutes. It was not for territory that the Baltimore Conference strove, but for the maintenance of the pastoral relation over a people whom they had brought to Christ, and who had, when left to their own choice, asked for their continued oversight. They felt bound also in good faith to execute the plan of General Conference re- specting territorial lines, as a solemn agreement be- tween North and South and binding upon both. The Philadelphia Conference had still greater trouble with her Virginia territory. In the counties of Accomac and Northamptpn, lying east of the Chesapeake Bay, by which it is separated from the rest of Virginia, the excitement and violence trans- cended all precedent. The preacher in charge of Northampton Circuit was seized in the pulpit and forcibly taken out of the church. The court was in session at Eastville, the county seat, and on Mon- day, with several Methodist fricnd.s, he repaired thither to seek redress and protection. Again the mob met him, then and there, drove him from the seat of justice, and warned him to leave the county. Con.sidering his life in danger, he retired.* •The pastor himself, the Rev. V. Gray, thus narrates the affair: He had been advised, before entering the church that he would meet with difficulty, but his friends thought best not to interfere, unless serious violence should be offered to his person. He says: "I went intothe pulpit, and while selecting the lesson to read the mob entered the house. The foremost of the mob came up within a short distance of the pulpit, and addressed me in language lo this import. 'Mr. Gray, we command you to submit the pulpit.' I answered, ' I can not do it, sir.' Several of Ihem then came near the pulpit. I asked tliem for their authority for such a course of conduct, but they showed me none. Several brethren entered into 214 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. In Accomac County a public meeting was held at the court-house April 2i, 1846, "to take into con- sideration the serious evils to be apprehended from the adherence of the Methodists of this county to the Philadeljihia Conference, and to urge upon them the necessity of connecting themselves with the Methodist Episcopal Chureh, South." The meeting was called to order by the judge of Northampton County, from whose bench the mob had driven Rev. Mr. Gray, above mentioned. The meeting adopted the report of their committee, in which they " re- spectfully ask the members of the Methodist Episco- pal Church in this county to take into consideration, conversation with them, on the impropriety of tlieir conduct, tell- ing them they were violating the laws of the Slate. They said 'they did not regard the law.' Tasked them what I had done to deserve such treatment, but all they would say was, ' You are a North- ern man, and we do not intend to let a Northern preacher preach here.' After they had been in the church some time, one said, 'Well, if I had been foreman of the committee I would have had hold of him long ago.' One of them then came into the pulpit and took hold of my arm, while some cried, 'Put him over the top of the pulpit.' Several of them reached over the pulpit, but could not get hold of me. While the one in the pulpit had me by the arm another got upon the bench, and reaching over, caught me by the coat collar and cravat, and choked me considerably, also pulled my hair. Two or three others c.nnie into the pulpit and forced me out of it. They then let me go, and asked if I were not going out of the church. I told them I was not. They then seized hold of me again, and forced me out of the church. During this struggle they tore my coat. After I had gone to my carriage they told me not to come back or the consequences would be serious. On Mon- day I went to Eastville, where the court was in session, to seek redress. But while I was in the court-house I was met by the mob, and told that I must leave Eastville in fifteen minutes. I intimated that was a short time to get my horse and carriage. So they gave me an hour, and told me I must leave the county. Thus I have been driven away without redress or protection." EPISCOPAL ADMINISTRATION. 2\% and to restore peace and a feeling of security to this community by severing tlieir connection with the Methodist Episcopal Cliurch North, and uniting with the Methodist Episcopal Church South." A com- mittee was then appointed "to address the people and the Methodist societies in Accomac," pursuant to the sentiments and purposes of the meeting. The Methodists present had already been informed by the honorable chairman they were not to vote. The ad- dress was published in the Richmond Christian Ad- vocate, and was extravagantly commended and eulo- gized by its editor, Dr. Lee, who says: "With the present race of Methodists Methodism must die out of Accomac, if they now persist in their adherence to a Church so justly chargeable with abolitionism." Into the controversy men of all ranks, outside the Church, entered. The point urged was, not that any man or conference had committed overt acts of impropriety, but, that the public influence of the posi- tion of a society, in its adherence to the Methodist Episcopal Church, was against the peace of society in the slave States, by silently encouraging discon- tent among the slaves, and practically approving and abetting what they now called an abolition Church. The matter of choosing between the North and the South was now fully taken up by the populace, backed by the peculiar, local politics of the extreme South, leaving only the empty name of freedom of choice to the Methodist societies. Preachers were, in various instances, prudently advised to leave the county. The press was assailed as well. The oppo- sition of the South to the Christian Advocate published at New York appeared immediately after the Gen- 2l6 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. eial Conference of 1844. Both it and its editor, Rev. Dr. Bond, were repudiated and proscribed in un- measured terms, although from first to last no fact of history is better established than that Dr. Bond unfalteringly maintained the conservative disciplinary ground, to which the united Church had hitherto strenuously held. But "at the court of Accomac County, March 29, 1847, the grand jury returned into court with a presentment against the 'New York Christian Advocate and Journal,' " because ' ' it advises, and is calculated and intended to persuade, persons of color, within this commonwealth, to make insur- rection or rebel, and denies the right of property in their slaves, and inculcates the duty of resistance to such right, contrary to the statute in such cases made and provided." The intended effect of this was to prohibit the circulation of this paper in that county, "postmasters not being permitted, under penalty of the law to give it out from their offices." This had its influence for a time. The .same had been done to the Western Christian Advocate, by the grand jury of Wood County, Virginia, April, 1846. A cowa!rdly assault upon religious freedom and the liberty of the press ! Similar troubles were experienced in Kentucky and Missouri, which we need not particularize, as we are not writing a history of the disorder of tlie times, but lifting the curtain upon the sad picture only so far as may illustrate the embarrassment of episcopal ad- ministration. It was not the least of the sources of embarrassment to the chief executives of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church that a warm controversy was early opened at the North on the constitutionality of EPISCOPAL ADM/msra AT/OAT. 21J the Plan of Separation. A division of opinion at this point, among prominent individuals and annual con- ferences, necessarily made the decisions of the bish- ops unsavory to the opposing party, and caused them to feel wounded in the house of their friends. By the best minds, however, both the constitutionality of the "Plan" and the action of the bishops were sustained. The General Conference had simply as- sumed it might be necessary for the Southern breth- ren to separate, as their leaders solemnly asseverated it would be, in order to retain their pastoral relation, and have access to master and slave. Yet if they separated it would be their own act, done and com- mitted on their own responsibility. Of the necessity of this act they alone could judge, and the judgment and the manner of reaching it were committed to them. If they separated on this principle, in the true spirit of the " Plan," they would do it, indeed, upon their own responsibility, but it would not necessarily destroy fraternity. Then, in such a case, the Gen- eral Conference agreed to submit to the annual con- ferences, for their action, such an alteration of one of the <:onstitutional restrictions of the Discipline, as would allow the South their pro rata share of the Church property. The "Plan" itself was thus grounded in the highest equity and courtesy of Chris- tian brotherhood, and reverence for constitutional gov- ernment. The General Conference proposed nothing at variance with either ; and standing as we do upon the more elevated ground of history, more favorable, in its retrospection, to correct observation and just judgment, the present age and posterity will award to that body, that it acted both with constitutionality 19 2l8 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. and Christian urbanity. And this was the ground which Bishop Hamline took at the first and sustained to the last. If the General Conference erred at all, it might, with more plausibility be considered to be, not in trusting too far the prudence and integrity of the great body of the Church North and South wh.en left to their own Christian convictions, but in not counting fully upon the influence of a few extreme leaders, and, more than all, the pressure of outside and ultra Southern politics which was brought to bear on the case. It has been already noticed that the bishops were pressed for opinions and decision upon the two ques- tions of ecclesiastical division and jurisdiction, and the division of Church property in favor of the South- On the latter, the subject had been constitutionally laid before the annual conferences for their concur- rence, and they had failed to secure the legal vote necessary to authorize the measure. What now to do was the vexed question. If the General Confer- ence could have divided the Book Room property, and given to the Southern organization its pro rata share, the question would have been simplified, and its session of 1848 might have determined the case. But as the matter now stood the wisdom of the Church seemed baffled. The following letter of Bishop Hamline to Bishop Morris on the subject is worthy of historic preservation. It evinces, also, the characteristic modesty, carefulness, and thoroughness of the author . "Wilmington, Ind., November \%, 1S47. "Rev. Bishop Morris, — Dear Brother: Two or three times I mentioned to you my doubts whether the General Conference EPISCOPAL ADMlNISTKATfON. 2I9 has authority to divide the funds of tlie Book Concern without the coiicunence of the annual conferences by the usual 'three- fourths ' vote. Since I have had leisure I have thought more on the subject, and am in still greater difficulty to reach any other conclusion. True, the Discipline, in its sixth restriction, men- tions only the 'produce' of the Book Concern. But it seems to me that our whole capital is the accumulated produce of the Book Concern ; and that to divide this principal would be in fact dispersing the amassed or treasured produce in direct vio- latibn of the restriction. "This was the opinion of many brethren, both from the North and the South, in the last General Conference. The fourth resolution in the ' Report of the Coinmittee of Nine,' indicated my opinion ; and I believe evei-y member of the com- mittee concurred with me then ; or at least I heard from no one a contrary hint. I think we have contemplated the concur- rence of the annual conferences as indispensable to give va- lidity to those resohitions of the report (succeeding the fourth) whidi relate to the division of Church. Looking at the remarks in debate on the report, you will see that Bishops Capers and Paine, as well as others, clearly held that opinion, and that some even went much further, and held that the whole Plan of Sep- aration was of no force unless approved by the three-fourths vote of all the annual conferences. (See pp. 223-226, of De- bates of 1844.) We all supposed at that time that the annual conferences would concur, and but for that conflict which was commenced through the press almost immediately, it is proba- ble they would. They did not, however, if we may trust report, and now the question is, whether the General Conference can divide the funds, not only without their concurrence, but in the face of their «(7»-concurrence either by formal vote or by de- clining to vote. "I do not argue that they can not, but frankly avow that as my opinion; and repeat it to you that if you see otherwise, my mind may, if practicable, get clear of the difficulty. I should be obliged to you for your views, and if they differ from the above, for your reasons, that 1 may have an opportunity to ponder them. You will perceive that I am somewhat com- mitted to this doctrine of General Conference inability, by the ' Report of the Committee of Nine;' and yet I do not believe any man should be tenacious of error. If my views were then 220 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. Z. Z. HAMUNE. incorrect, I, convinced of them, shall renounce them. If they seem to me correct, I suppose it would not only be wrong to give them up, but even bad policy to do so. It is belter to maintain the constitution of the Church than to suffer the most pressing exigency to draw us into an obliquity from its rules; and to meet the existing exigency in any case we must turn to such measures as harmonize with our restrictions. I am at a loss what these should be. But time may show. " If it be not too great a trouble, I would be glad to have your views (for my private use strictly) in writing. When I reach the city, through 'wzy haste ox your absence, I may not have opportunity for a full conversation on this subject ; add to which I am of so poor a memoiy that I can not distinctly enough recollect what you might say, for after and mature meditation. If you will write me a letter and explain your views on this subject, I will weigh them carefully, and theii be better prepared to converse with you afterwards. "I think this question may in the end become of consider- able moment. I find many are anxious to settle this matter peaceably with the South, but are at a loss as to the method. I I would not wonder if the whole question should, before the General Conference, be resolved into a 'How ?' I am not sure but it is of sufficient importance to be a theme of correspond- ence with all our colleagues to obtain, if practicable, harmony amongst us all. I would suggest this, and submit it to your judgment.'' Bishop Morris differed with Bisliop Hamline on the question of the constitutional power of General Conference to divide the Book Concern property, and his views and the strength of the argument on that side are clearly given in his answer to the above let- ter, dated January 3, 1848, which it seems proper to give to the reader. He says: "In regard to the authority of the General Conference to divide the Book Fund with the South without the concurrence of the annual conferences, your views are such as I understood to be entertained by a large majority, both in 1844 and since, while I knew full well that mine were thoSe of a feeble minor- ity, for which reason I have never felt much zeal in recom- EPISCOPAL ADMINISTRATION. 221 mending tliem, believing it would be lost labor. I would not wish to come in collision with the constitutional scruples of so many respectable brethren in any pul)lic manner. Slill I have my opinion, and have occasionally ventured to express it to a friend. I have no copy of the debates on the subject. If I had not heard them I might have felt curiosity or interest enough to buy and read them. But my opinion rests on other grounds than the expressed opinions of brethren in General Conference while arguing the case. I found my opinion first on the language of tlie sixth restriction, 'They shall not appro- priate it to any purpose other than for tlie benefit of the travel- ing, supernumerary, superannuated, and worn-out preachers, their wives, widows, and children.' To these objects, then, the proceeds may be, nay, must be, appropriated. I am not will- ing they should be applied to any other. Nor do the Southern conferences propose to apply their dividends to any other objects than those specified in restriction sixth. 2. I found my opinion on the action of the General Conference of 1844. When separation was anticipated, the General Conference esteemed it their duty ' to meet the emergency with Ciiristian kindness and the strictest equity." This latter clause, 'strictest equity,' evidently refers to the division of property, subse- quently described, and is a clear recognition of the Southern claim to be used in case of separation. The objection that the brethren South separated without cause avails nothing, seeing we agreed 'That should the annual conferences in the slave- holding States find it necessary to unite in a distinct ecclesi- astic connection,' etc. No mode of finding that necessity was prescribed; they selected their own mode, and say they have found it, and have therefore become a distinct body. Nothing was required of the annual conferences to make the division 'of the capital and produce of the Methodist Book Concern' so soon as the South organized, but to concur in altering the sixth restriction. The failure to obtain that concurrence by the three-fourths majority prevented the commissioners from esti- mating, and the agents from transferring the funds till fin tlier orders, but should not finally deprive the South of their just claims. If that method of meeting their claims be impracti- cable, we should adopt some other. If the brethren South, each individual for himself, had withdrawn from the communion of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as did O'Kelly and his follow- 222 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAHILINE. ers, the Methodist Protestants of 1828, or the self-styled 'True- Wesleyans' of 1842, I would unhesitatingly admit they had no claim. We never proposed to provide for such cases. But all the superannuated preachers, wives, widows, and children of thirteen conferences, having just claims on the Book Concern, were transferred in a body, without any act of their own, or any wish on their part to leave the Church. Surely their claims should be met with 'strictest equity.' If their claims be with- held on any alleged constitutional ground, the natural conclu- sion of mankind will be either that the constitution of the Methodist Episcopal Church is wrong, or that it is badly admin- istered, either of which would operate against us. If in this matter we have sworn to our own hurt, we ought not to change. Our lay brethren where I have been are generally in favor of allowing the claim and ending the dispute. The preachers, too, appear to lean more that way than heretofore. As to what will be done, I am alternately hoping, and despairing. Were it not for my belief in an overruling Providence I should be still more discouraged with the prospect. If the question of claim must needs go back to the annual conferences, we shall be agitated four years longer, and. then be just where we are. To think. of obtaining the concurrence of three-fourths of the preachers is hopeless. As an individual I am persuaded that allowing the claim at once would be a less evil than to reject or refer it back." The bishops and the whole Church were anxious to effect an amicable and just settlement of the claims of the South on the Book Room property. These great questions agitating the Church could not fail to act injuriously upon the spiritual prosperity of Nortli and South. "I can not avoid the fear," says Bishop Morris, "that Methodism will never resume its wonted prosperity till the matters now in dispute between the North and the South are amipably settled so as to terminate the controversy. May the Lord hasten that important event in his time." VISITATION OF CONFERENCES. 223 Chapter XV. [September, 1845, to April, 1S47.] VISITATION OF CONFERENCES AND EVANGELICAL WORK. WE resume the thread of our narrative, which was interrupted at the date of September 14, 184s, '^wo weeks after his rencounter with Bishop Soule at the Ohio Conference. (See Chapter xii.) Bishop Hamline's next appointment was at the session of the North Indiana Conference, Lafayette, Indiana, September 24th, of which he says : " This is one of the most interesling annual conferences I liave yet visited. Here I find very holy men. Nearly all our business was done on Saturday noon. Two days and a half would have finished it but for ordinations. Read out the ap- pointments Monday morning, and rode to CrawfordsviUe. Spent the Sabbath, October 5111, in Indianapolis, and reached this place (Madison, Indiana] to attend the Indiana Confer- ence with Bishop Morris. This is the first annual conference I have been permitted to attend throughout its session with another bishop since my election to office, and from my small experience I expected to find myself in many mistakes. But I am surprised to find how few and unimtjortant I have com- niiued, I believe it is because God has helped me.'" Bishop Hamline closes the year, as usual, with abundant labors. His one absorbing object was to awaken the niinistry and the Churclies to the higher claims of their holy calling, and to reach out a hand of rescue to the perishing. His summer months were spent in attending annual conferences, and his win- 224 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. ters in visiting the Churches. At Gallipolis, Ohio, November i6, 1845, he records: "In consequence of the death of Brother Ferree, the Pre- siding Elder of this (Portsmouth) district, I have been in this neighborhood some three weeks attending quarterly meetings and doing what I could. This is a barren place at present, but when God shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory. Come, Lord Jesus.'' January 22, 1846, he writes from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where were four distilleries named after four evangelical Churches in that place, the Baptist, Meth- odist, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian. He says : " This is A day of his power here. The Methodist Church has been noted in this place for its wealth, its backsliding, its internal strife, and its inconsistencies. But, blessed be God, a change has come over them. We came here on New-Year's to spend two or three days, and have been with them twenty-two days. More than seventy have joined the Church ; but the greatest blessing is, more than a hundred Church members have been converted — truly converted ; for I believe there was not a sinner in town more removed from justification than many of them were. Your little 'Way of Holiness ' is leading many of them into liberty." Again, February 27th, he says: "I have spent the last thi-ee months thus: In Athens, with my dear friends, and Brother Jacob Young, one week ; four weeks in Lawrenceburg in a glorious revival, preaching twenty-two sermons, with other labors ; one week at Aurora and on Cheviot Circuit ; some days in Portsmouth, Ohio ; and several in this city (Cincinnati) and vicinity, preaching the word and writing. I have had some blessed seasons. Glori- ous revivals are breaking out in almost every part of thd* North-west. Eleven hundred accessions to the Church are re- ported in one week by the Western Christian Advocate. In Cincinnati, where 'grievous wolves have entered in not sparing the flock,' the Lord is doing wonders. Wesley Chapel is all alive under the ministry of the Rev. J. M. Trimble, and many are getting the blessing of perfect love. Glory be to God !" VISITA TION OF CONFERENCES. 22$ To Rev. J. Young he says : " I have been shut up with sickness almost three weeks, and in the midst of sickness I have to confess that my faith has been for me unusually weak, and, of course, my strength and comfort feeble. It has been a season of spiritual barren- ness. This shows, as you say, how liable we are to change in this world of sorrow. The last time I wrote you I was on the mountain top, and it seemed as though I never could come down. But alas! I have descended into the valley; may learn some lessons there ! It is a school for such proud worms as we are, always forgetting." " Cincinnati, May p, 1846 — This day closes the forty- ninth year of my life. What a waste of years is behind me! I am an old man, but have done little for my Lord. I often wish to die. Holy joys so swell my bosom that I long, as Paul did, to depart and be with Christ. But I chide the longing. In view of my wasted years, I should long and struggle to live and labor and suffer for Christ. O for ten or fifteen years, if that might be, of hard labor for God and his well-beloved Son. I have been absent nearly nine weeks in Xenia, London, Columbus, Reynoldsburg, Lura, Hebron, Jackson, Rushville, Zanesville, Brownville, New Carlisle, Mt. Vernon,. Utica, New- ark, Charleston, Sharonville, and Lockland. Preached some thirty-five times in those places. Often filled with holy joy. Glory to God ! '' But the time drew near that he should resume his wonted summer work in visiting the annual con- ferences, and after a few days ' respite we find him on his way. In a letter to Mrs. Phoebe Palmer, of New York, dated June 15, 1846, he writes: "Having started on our way to the conferences, I write t» solicit your special supplications on my labors this year. . . . For two years, I am constrained to acknowledge, God has helped me. If prayer be continued for me, I still have hope. I am now on my way to the Pittsburg Conference as a visitor (Bishop Morris presiding), and on the 9th or loth of July start for Galena, Illinois, a long journey to the Rock River Conference. My conferences are as follows : At Ga-- 226 BJOGKArHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. lena, August I2tli ; Iowa Conference (at Bloomipgton, Iowa), September 2d ; Illinois Conference, at Paris, Illinois, Septem- ber 23d; and Indiana Conference, at Connersville, Indiana, October ytli. At these times plead with God for us. " Deep impressions were made at the conferences last year on the subject of perfect love. As one minister after another has written to me, and announced ' liberty ' from sin, and stated that he left conference resolved never to rest without the blessing I have sunk in deep humility before God. , O, may he use us still as his instruments ! " I say us, for I deem Mrs. Hamline's labors are, if any thing, more fully blest than my own. We enjoy the presence and holy smile of the all-seeing God. My soul trembles often under the weight of his love. He draws me by the sweet vio- lence of faith and love after and near him. 1 feel like giving him glory. , "For two years I trust God has shown me favor, and good has been done, but now the third has come, and I have fears. I fear that my hands will slacken, and that ' giants in the land '' will make me afraid. Pray for us ! " To Dr. arid Mrs. Palmer he writes on steamboat, July 17, 1846: "T write on this jarring boat to solicit your special prayers in bur behalf. We have just spent three weeks in travel- ing through the country toward Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to attend, Bishop Morris's conference. We make all this jour- ney. Providence permitting, in a private carriage^ through a, region proverbially sickly, over the corduroy bridges of Indi- ana, and through swales, forests, and prahies of Illinois, Wis- consin, and Iowa, for the purpose of visiting the societies and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, Do fpllow us with your earnest prayers, and especially at the conferences let us not be forgotten. , "The work of holiness is progressing in the West. A large number of the ministers have professed the blessing the last winter. On one circuit alone one hundred members obtained the blessing. The conferences last year were seasons of~re- freshing to my own soul, and it seems, by God's grace, to many of the brethren. A leading brother in North Indiana, some- what skeptical, of great influence, especially in the higher cir- VISITA TION OF CONFERENCES. 227 cles, obtained tlie blessing at New Yeai 's, and preached on the subject with great power. Nine of his station obtained the blessing in a few days. He writes that at conference he re- solved to rest no more till he had tested the doctrine by a llior- ©ugh effort to seek the blessing. On our present journey we met with a sister whose husband (a meniber of the North In- diana Conference) experienced the blessing at conference. Of this we had not before heard. Thanks be to God if our con- ferences, so often dreaded by the preachers as seasons of back- sliding, can be attended by such results. "Mrs. Hamline is as well ?s usual at this season of the year. I have urged her to spend the summer in New York; but she will go with me. It will try her strength to the utmost. Yet, in truth, I need her. I find her conversation with the preachers often does more good than all my exhortations in the conference. A remarkable power also attends her prayeis. Under them souls have been directly and powerfully sanctified. Pray earnestly for her, also, and that Satan may not hinder us, for there are many adversaries." The journey before them might well induce anx- ious thought for Mrs. Hamline, as here expressed. Tlie hotel accommodations for travelers over the prairies were yet in their primitive, Western, ro- mantic stage. One day, after traveling sixty miles, often out of sight of human dweUings, they Stopped at the only place in the region for lodgings, worn down with fatigue. The wife and only woman of the house had recently died. Five stalwart men held the fort. None to cook a meal of victuals, aiid no victuals to cook. The bed was constructed of sticks laid across four rude crotches, and the dressr ing of the bed of an ash color from long use with- out washing. The men slept upon the floor with portmanteaus for pillars. Four other travelers had met at the same place at the same time for hospital- ities, and still other preachers afterward came stray- ing in. The man of the house was kind, but power- 228 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. less. The guests retired after such supper as their scanty lunch bag afforded, and the next morning resumed their journey to some more hopeful inn, in search of breakfast. The Illinois Conference this year was at Paris, Illinois, September 23d. Dr. Elliott, who was there, writes: "The manner in which Bishop Hamline conducted the business of conference greatly contributed to expediting it, and promoting the kindest feelings one toward another. The frequent exhortations of the Bishop to prayer and devotion and the promotion of holiness had the most salutary effect upon the minds of the preachers. They prayed more than usual. They watched their words and governed their spirit and endeavored to profit by the godly advice given. All the preachers were delighted beyond measure with this first visit of their new bishop." The beginning of 1847 finds Bishop Hamline at Staten Island, with "Father Henry Boehm, for many years the traveling companion of Bishop Asbury. " The two months following are spent in New York, New J^sey, and Pennsylvania. In New York his society in the family of Dr. and Mrs. Palmer was delightful and refreshing. He says: "New York, yanuary jth. — At Dr. Palmei's. I enjoy pre- cious privileges in the society of this holy family. Intimate ac- quaintance changes approval into admiration of God's grace in them. I know two persons at least who live up t6 their pro- fession. Jesus can make his disciples wonderfully like him- self. In these I find a proof. Grace has been here with her plummet and line. The stones are all shaped and polished ready for the temple. They will be used by the great Builder as his wisdom pleases. The polisher knows where. My soul is helped. '^Thursday, jth. — I have met at Dr. Palmer's and con- versed with two brethren whom I greatly desired to see, Pres- VISITATION OF CONFERENCES. 22g ident Mahan and Professor Upham. They seem to me to be exceedingly devoted Christians. I deem them both sanctified men, and pioneers in spreading holiness in the Congrega- tional Church. "Saturday, gth. — Spent this week in New York. Sat for a portrait at the solicitation of Dr. Palmer. If we get to heaven it seems a waste to be pictured on earth. Shall we not live forever? How will such a sinner as I have been look, washed and glorified in heaven!" In one place he says: " Methodism trembles in tliis region. The subject of per- fect love is strange in the ears of many. Spiritual death pre- vails, of course. Methodist preachers shall answer for it at the bar of God. He that stands up at the altar and repeats the usual answers to the solemn questions in the conference ex- amination, and then makes light of the doctrine of perfect love, is fit for almost any thing but the pulpit. According to Mr. Wesley, he is either a dishonest man or he has lost his memory." At another time when, at family prayer, freedom was indulged in historic and sometimes curious ques- tions on the Bible lesson, he remarks: "It is unfavorable to devotion to me. I lose all the ardor of devotion by such a method. In family prayer I wish to leave my dictionary, whether English, Greek, or Hebrew, out of sight; and also my geography, natural history, metaphysics, and all else but God. Just then I would be as Moses in the cleft of the rock — able to think of nothing but the overwhelm- iiig i)rcsence and glory of God." In another place he says: "A great dearth prevails her-e. Preacher is smooth, pol- ished. He needs perfect love. The people need it. They are as near death as they well can be, yet live. In the language of the Word, 'are ready to die!' " In a letter to Rev. Edward D. Roe, January 23, 1847, he says: "You are now, by the providence of God, restored to the delightful labors of the ministry, and I am in no worse health, 230 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. perhaps somewhat better. God's ways are not as our thoughts, thanks to his name! "I saw you seventeen years ago, a merchant. How rap- idly time has run ! It seems scarcely so long since, in com- pany with my now sainted wife, I rode from Washington', six miles, and you with us, on the 'little bay;' but it is seventeen years last or will be next September. What a large breach in one's life' is seventeen years! Well, my dear brother, we do not regret it, only that we have not been more diligent and lived nearer to Jesus. ' But lie forgives our follies past.' "I have been able to preacli from three to five times a week this winter. My labois have been in New York and New Jersey, where I now am, and tending toward Pennsylvania, and so on toward the Baltimore Conference, which sits in four or five weeks. I have two petitions to present: I. That you will give me your prayers, especially in regard to my labors this spring, that God will conduct me safely through embar- rassing scenes in connection with our border difficulties; and, 2. That, if it lie not a disagreeable task, yon will favor me with a few lines, friendly and affectionate, for Christ's sake, and let me hear a word about the grace of God toward you and in you, in your return to the pleasant work of preaching Christ and him crucified. " I am happy to say that Christ is precious to me, and that, through much tribulation, I hope, to enter into the kingdom of heaven." He reached Philadelphia, January 29th, where he spent eight or nine days. He says: '^Sunday, January jist. — Preached in the morning at Union ; had comfort and some freedom. At night tried in 'Old St. George's.' A great crowd. I find if any 'running after ' romes upon me I am discouraged, and, also, if there is a great falling of. Agur's prayer about riches seems to meet my views of a congregation : ' Give me neither a crowd nor empty seats;' but I should always leave this to God. I have comfort to-day, and feel that I am on my journey home. 'Home!' precious word. • " Thursday, 4th. — Had at Brother H.'s a pious meeting. Mrs. Cookman there. What a monument of God's sanctifying VISITA TION OF CONFERENCES. 2% I grace ! She said : ' I should have died of giief before now, but for that perfect love which enabled me, and does enable me now, to say, Thy will be done.' " Mrs. Cookman was the wife of the late lamented Rev. George G. Cookmail, who was lost at sea, in 1 841, in the ill-fated steamship President, from which and its passengers and crew no information has ever been obtained. Cookman was one of our most emi- nent pulpit orators, twice elected chaplain to Con- gress, a godly man and greatly beloved. "Friday, 5. — Preached this evening in Wai-ton - street Church. A good congi-egation. By mistake walked about" three miles before preaching. Expounded, and rather a dull time. Lord, give me far holier and mightier labors in thy blessed cause ! ^'Saturday, 6. — I pant for God this day. Many precious friends call to see us. God is merciful to this family (Mr. Boswell's). His wife is p;inting after God, the living God. May she be filled with righteousness ! "Sunday, 7. — Preached in Trinity Church in the morning, and in Eighth-street Church at night. One of my happiest days. O how full has my unworthy soul been of God, the liv- ing God! It is near unto heaven to spend such a morn- ing in this way in God's house. O may there be fruit of my labor ! "Camden, N. J., Monday, 8. — Have started on a three weeks' tour. Lord go with me. Preached this evening to a crowded house. Tried to be faithful. Reproved cold and wandering professors. May the work take eflfect. Lord, save! " Tuesday. 9. — Great mercies to-day. In private and in communing with saints Christ was in me the hope of glory. Truly could I say, 'The best of all is, God is with us.' Not able to attend meeting at night, but filled unutterably full of glory and of God. Death looks sweet. I long to depart and be with Christ." From Camden he passed on to Burlington and Mount Holly and Pemberton, preaching at each place. 232 BJOGKAPHY OF HEV. L. L. HAMLINE. Of his stay at the latter place he thus records: "Monday, 15. — A good day to my poor soul; deep, precious peace. Piayer-meetiiig in the basement at 6 A. M. Sisters' prayer-meeting at 2 P. M. ; Mrs. Hamline attends. Speaking- meeting at night, and all the churches at the altar. Glory be to God for his goodness. " Tuesday, 16. — Not so joyful a day as yesterday. Prayer- meeting at 6 A. M. Many out. Preaching at night, large auditory, very serious. Our Baptist brethren push the battle. Lord bless them abundantly, and bless thy needy Methodist children also. '■'Wednesday, 17. — A precious prayer-meeting at 6 A. M., preaching at 10 A. M., and a better season I have scarcely had or seen in my life. O glorious baptism of the Spirit ! Thou waterest thy heritage, O Lord. This morning our bow abode in sti-ength, for God himself was with us truly. '" Thursday, 18. — Prayer-meeting at six o'clock, preaching at nine. Much worn down. 'The flesh is weak.' Have had a good season, however. The Lord has verily been present with me here. O what seasons of refreshing ! Never shall I forget them. My chamber at Brother A.'s has been a ' Bethel indeed." " Newtown, Pa., Sunday, 21. — Came on Thursday from Pemberton to Mount Holly, and put up witli Brother James, whose godly wife so resembles her sanctifying Lord that it brings to mind the saying, ' For he who sanclifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.' Friday came through Bur- lington and Trenton to this place to dedicate the new church, thirly-six by fifty. Dreadful weather to-day. Prayer-meeting in the morning (best dedication), preaching and prayer-meet- ing P. M., at old house; dedication sermon at night in the new house. A good congregation for such a fearful storm. It was a blessed day for my soul until night, when I was worn out; spirits flagged, poor preaching, and felt ashamed to render to Christ so poor, poor a service. Fear I did not get the right subject. I rejoice I have 'an Advocate with the Father.' Jesus, foigive and save ! " Wednesday, 24. — Preached twice to-day with great com- fort. God was in the midst of us. Young Brother Cookman preached at night. Small congregations. As the weather prevented collections for the Church on Sabbath, they were VISITA TION OF CONFERENCES. 233 received to-day, and amounted to two hundred and seventy- five dollars, leaving the new church about one hundred and fifty dollars in debt. This is a good day. "Thursday, 23. — A pleasant day. Brother Hand preached at night. Theme, 'Christ and his Government.' My soul rejoiced. A solemn season. The Lord is near this people. Weather has been rather unfavorable most of the time." It was during this visit that Bishop Hamline became acquainted with that beloved and distin- guished man of God, the late Rev. Alfred Cookman, mentioned above, son of the Rev. George G. Cook- man, already referred to. Alfred Cookman was the pastor of the Attleborough Circuit, Pennsylvania, and through a pious mother's counsels had been led by the Holy Spirit to see his need of entire consecra- tion and the full baptism of the Spirit. Under deep convictions he was earnestly seeking the Divine anointing. He says: "While thus exercised in mind, Bishop Hamline, accom- panied by his devoted wife, came to Newtown, one of the principal appointments on the circuit, that he might dedicate a church we had been erecting for the worship of God. Re- maining about a week he not only preached again and agaiu, and always with the unction of the Holy One, but took occasion to converse with me pointedly respecting my religious experi- ence. His gentle yet dignified bearing, devotional spirit, beau- tiful Christian example, unctuous manner, divinely illuminated face, apostolic labor and fatherly counsels, made the profound- est impression on my mind and heart. I heard him as one sent from God, and certainly he was. His influence so hallowed and blessed has not only remained with me ever since, but even seems to increase. O how 1 bless and praise God for the life and labors of the beloved Bishop Hamline.'' It was while engaged with the bishop and his wife in prayer that Cookman received the witness. He says: "The great work of h^art purity was 20 234 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLIA'E. wrought, and tlie evidence was as direct and indubi- table as tlie witness of sonship vouchsafed at the time! of my adoption into the family of heaven." In a letter to Mrs. Hamline he, further says : "It was after a sermon which fell from his precious lips, pleached in the afternoon, that I carefully and intelligfently consecrated all I had and hoped for to God. The entire con- secration, with faith in Jesus, brought peace — deep, full, sacred, blessed peace — ^but it was not until the following day, whfen you and I were praying together, that the witness came, clearly, strongly, and satisfactorily, that'I was wholly sanctified through the power of the Holy Ghost., With me, in that epochal tiine in my history, Iny heart turned toward you with an unutterable interest and lovei. May our kind, heavenly Father visit .-ihd bless you with abounding consolations. You must soon realize the joy of reunion with the glorified, and, more than this, the beatific vision of Jesus. Oh, may I not hope to be associated with you and dear Bishop Hamline in tTie many-mansiohed home." "DoYLESTOWN, Pa., Friday, 26. — Rode fourteen miles to this place this P. M. Preached this night to aboiit one huiulietl souls. Methodism low as to numbers, but a good chapel and an attentive congregation. Put up with Judge Smith; not a member, but an afflicted, and, I judge, a serious family. Not a lively season in public. " Newtown, Pa., Saturday, 27. — Rode from Doylestown this morning in a dreadful storm. One of my worst journeys on a small scale. We were in a one-horse sleigh, snow half gone, rain and wind in our faces. I worked hard to^iold an umbrella braced against the storm, and we reached fourteen miles in H^ree hours. "Sunday, 28. — Preached twice; not warm in my affections. Not one of my best Sabbaths. Let me bless God for the past, and trust him for the future. "Philadelphia, March i. — Came to the city and put up with my dear friends, the Boswells. A. pleasant home. The ■ Lord bless us here for Christ's sake. Absent three weeks; preached seventeen times." ' ' ' His business at Philadelphia was to a:ttend a meet- ing of the bishops, and especially to settle upon prin- VISITATION OF CONFRREXCES. 235 ciples of administration by which ,they would be governed in relktibn to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, according to the Plan of i Separation. Of the doings of this meeting we have given account in a previous chapter. From Philadelphia he passed on to Baltimore, where he says: ' ' "Sunday, 7.^PieacIied iii the morning at Light Street; a good time. P. M., wentthree-qtiarters of a mile oh toot to a German love-feast. Weary and sickt Preached at night, at Charles Street Splendid Church; not nijuch like llie.niaiiger or the cross. „ "Washington City D., C, Tuesday, 9;^— One-fourth of a century since I was liere. Baltimoi-e Conference Commences to-morrow. Lord, help me and help thy ministers." In a letter Written from this place to Mrs. Hamline he says: "March 10, 1847. — Opened the conference myself. Bishop Morris present. Read the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians, and sang a hymn. Prayer by Bishop Moriis, Brother Gere, and Brother Guest. A good time. Addressed them five min- utes on the importance of order, diligence, and devotion, the last above all. It was a pleasant session. . . . Brethren are generally very kind. I feel thankful and promise my heav- enly Father more gratitude and fidelity. "March 11. — Conference progressed rapidly. Last year it sat seventeen or eighteen days, this year t hope it may adjourn in nine days. If the Lord will aid (and his servant Seeking he will aid) we may close on Friday the 19th. " Saturday,, l'^. — Nearly half the business of conference is finished unless some unforeseen difficulties arise. Lord, help ! I feel' firmly resolved to urge holiness of heart on Christ's members. I will dief rather than give it up. God help liie to be faith fulf " Washington, D. C, Saturday, 2p.- — Closed the B.-iltimore Conference. It is said to have been tlie shortest, most harmo- nious arid devout session they have had for many years, I antrcipated great difficulty. The Lord has opened our way. It has fatigued me beyond measure ; but thanks be to God !" 236 BIOGKAPKY OF KEV. L. L. HAMUNE. In his closing address to the conference the Bishop urged upon them the necessity and obligation of class- meetings, Sabbath-school labor, parental discipline and instruction, the missionary enterprise, and per- sonal holiness. On this latter theme, says the re- porter, " He read several extracts from the writings of Mr. Wesley. He referred to the London Confer- ence, held forty years before, which insisted that no one should hold an office in the Church unless he be- lieved in total depravity, the itonement of Christ and his divinity, justification by faith, entire holiness, as understood by the Methodists. These were cardinal doctrines of the Church." The parting hour' was solemn diid affecting. As a true fellow-laborer he spoke of the crosses and triumphs of their itinerant life, and their parting hour was at once solemn and exultant. " Sunday, 21. — Preached this morning with much effort (being exhausted) in M'Kendiee Chapel. President Polk and family, and Secretary Buchanan, and other officers of the gov- ernment present. Tried to deal faithfully with all ; but O for power in preaching ! I mown." On the 22d he reached Baltimore greatly enfee- bled, and on the 24th records : " My dear Mrs. Ham- line left me this morning for Tarrytown, New York, to see Leonidas [their only child], who is sick. I, too, am sick. Lord go with her and stay with me, and bless the sick. How perfectly has the conference worn me out." A few days, however, restores him so that he is "nearly as well as ever," and he thus writes: "Sunday, 28th. — O happy day! Preached in the morning at High Street, to Mr. Cole's rag- ged Sunday-school. A heavenly season. How sweet it is to preach in the strength of the Holy Ghost! VISITATION OF CONFERENCES. 237 Lord, thou wast with the people. P. M. at Washing- ton Temperance Sabbath-school. It is a high day to my soul. Glory!" In writing to his wife he says of his sermon at High Street in the morning. "Preached on 'the mercies of God.' My voice was weak, but my heart was strong. It was a very feeling lime among the people." Of his afternoon sermon at Washington Temperance Hall, he says: "A large congregation was assembled. I preached forty min- utes on 'the best robe' with unusual liberty." " Monday morning. — Feel well, except my cold, and much better in mind. I have been much afflicted at times since you left me, that I am so unmindful of God's goodness, and espe- cially one act of his goodness, namely, in bestowing upon me yourself as a help to escape from sin and ruin, and in a won- derful manner to reach heaven. ... If others have angels for ' ministering spirits,' so have I, witli one addition, that God was pleased to give me, also, one to minister to me visibly and personally ; and when we reach the place of purity and repose I expect to make the full acknowledgment of it before God and the holy angels. What a history will it unfold !'' On the same evening he preached to "the most crowded congregation he ever had of colored people, in Sharp Street. Had a very precious season." The next day, March 30th, we find him at Wil- mington, Delaware, the seat of the Philadelphia Con- ference that year; and the day following, Wednesday, March 31st, the conference was opened by Bishop Morris, who had accompanied Bishop Hamline. At half past ten conference business was suspended to hear a sermon from one of its members. Rev. David Dailey — Text, " We preach Christ crucified. " Says the Bi.shop : "One among the best sermons I have ever heard, over- whelming in its clear and forcible exhibitions of truth. How 238 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. strange the taste of the people ! Here is a man of wliom I never heard until I reached this place, and little known beyond his own conference ; yet there are men whose fame as orators is on both sliores of the Atlantic, aiid after whoin there Is a rush of ' crazy crowds/ who probably have hot in all the ser- mons they ever preached delivered so much real oratory as this humble man gave us in one sermon. The conference un- derstand it, call for his sermon to be published, and It would do tliem honor if it' could travel and bfe read iii Iwo hemi- spheres. It is WoMhy to be placed beside Wesley's.' " Sunday, April ^. — Preached at half past ten o'clock, and ordained fifteen elders. Lord, I will record thy goodness. Thou hast helped me in deed and in truth. Thou gavest me to speak thy word. I feel'thy love still' all flalning within me. I yield my body unto God a living sacrifice foievef ! Amen." Writing to Mis. Hamline of the same morning service, he says : " Christ is truly with m'e to-day. One of the sweetest sea- sons my Lord and Savior has ever given me is to-day. And the fire which has burned gently in the inornihg, and *axed brighter and stronger till the close 6f the ordination, is a heat of joy and strength unspeakable now. Well may you, my be- loved helper in the way, exhort me with the encouraging *ords of your precious letters, which, came as i\iess;iges from heaven, with a power of refreshing and strengthening unspeakable to my poor soul. Doubtless, while I was trying to preach, '1 be- seech you, therefore, brethreh.'by the iilercies'ofGod,' etc.Vyour heart, if not youi" lips, was- pleading for me and for the cause In earnest struggles. The Lord did npt, I am sure, turn away his ear or his heart from your faith and desire. Thank him, when you read this, at least as earnestly as you prayed. "Monday morhing, 7 o'clock. — I* had somfe wakefulness in. the night and a wonderful nearness to Christ. I had, indeed, upon my pillow more than ever before, . '"Tlie solemn awe which dares not move, And ail the silent heaven of love.' 1 did not know but the ' heavenly atmosphere' would stop my breathing, and thai in it rhy soul would float away to the bosom of my God. But no, I am here ; yet how sweet the morning VISITA TJON OF CONFERENCES. 239 Its heavenly perfumes are all around nie ; the air is loaded with odors unearthly. Penitence, faith, glowing love.O how sweet!" To his son Leonidas, with whom in his sickness at Tairytown his mother is watching, he writes : " My Dear Son, —May the God of your fathers bless you ! Seek the Lord and yon shall live. Were. you and mother here, both of you in the same spirit, how much it would add to my joy ! Read the Bible, talkof Jesus, pray, and never rest with- out religion. Death and judgment are always near." Conference was progressing pleasantly. "A much better spirit prevails in the conference," he says, "than I expected. Many, very many are hungering after righteousness. It is one of the best conferences as to order. I have not had occasion to say a word on the subject for four days. This shows that there is a spirit of devotion abi^oad. How often we are disappointed."' Disappointed he was indeed! In a former chapter we have seen how much he appre- hended of perplej^ity and trial from the border disr turbances, crying out, "O for help hefe ! I dread this conference more than I did Baltimore." But though God had smoothed his way and lifted him above his anticipated trouble in a marvelous manner in both conferences, yet was he not wholly without anxiety. He writes : "Wilmington, April 5. — Conference was harmonious to- day. Business progressed rapidly. I had strength and com- fort. A long communication has come from the citizens of Accomac County, Virginia. They would warn us from sending preachers to that region. But we must send them. The Meth- odists want them, and we are not at liberty to deny our peo- ple pastors. This interference of the citizens with the Church affairs of their pious neighbors is extraordinary. 1 have known nothing like it in America. Where is our boasted liberty of con- 240 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. science ? That question, in connection with the times, awakes my fears. ' O temporal' "Philadelphia, .4/r«7 8.— Conference closed at nineo'clock last evening. A short address. Solemn close. The Lord has been gracious to me. I am much fatigued, but hope to escape sickness.'' Immediately he repairs to Tarrytown to the bed- £.ide of his sick son. "Tarrytown, April 9. — Preached here at eleven o'clock, having left Philadelpliia yesterday afternoon, and reached New York at ten o'clock. Find Mrs. Hamline improved in health. Leonidas very feelile, but getting better. Thanks be to God for all his mercies ! Praise his holy name ! '^ April 10. — Made up the minutes for the Book Room. Had a laborious day ; little time for meditation. In the even- ing Mr. Lyon returned with our excellent friend Mrs. Palmer. The Lord gives us great privileges. How wonderful his gifts and blessings ! " Sunday, 11. — Heard Mr. C. in the morning; felt well, but faint in body. Did not think I f^wAf preach in the afternoon ; but at three o'clock tried, more because I desired to preach than from any special sense of duty. It was a comfortable exercise, in whicli I took pleasure, and if any change an in- crease of strength.'' EVANGELICAL WOKK. 24I Chapter XVI. [April XI, to December, 1S47.] VISITING CONFERENCES— EVANGELICAL WORK. AT the bishops' meeting in March 3, 1847, the sub- ject of providing a president for the Liberia An- nual Conference was up; the present superintendent, Rev. J. B. Benham, having given notice of his purpose to return to the United States on account of ill health. As the conference would be thus left without a presi- dent at its next session it became imperative that one should be sent. None of the bishops were in con- dition to go. Bishop Hamline did not announce openly his willingness to go, but with prudent reserve enters upon his diary : '^ J^arck 5, 1847. — The subject of visiting Liberia Confer- ence was up. All against going. Got a resolution passed not to object. Lord, shall I go ? Teach me." Under date of April nth, 1847, we find this in Bishop Hamline's diary : " I am thinking a little of Africa. It seems to me if I die soon it would be agreeable for me to try African soil, and offer same little sacrifice to Christ betore I go to meet him face to face. How little I have done and suffered for my Savior ! May I find guidance from his hand, and wisdom in regard to this visit to Liberia ! I feel somehow drawn that way." In his perplexity he thus writes in a letter to his venerable and honored friend, Rev. Jacob Young, for advice, dated, Tarrytown, April 14th, 1847: 242 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. "I wish to consult you, confidentially, on a malter of some Importance to me, and possibly to the Church. While the bisliops were holding their meeting in Philadelphia a paper reached us from Brother Pitman, secretary, etc., inclosing a let- ter from Brother Benham, superintendent of the Liberia Mis- sions, urging a visit from one of the bishops to Africa to attend their next conference in January, to ordain the eight men elected to orders there, expressing great surprise that in seven years iio bishop has visited their conference, and hinting that the Wesleyans at Sierra Leone, and the Protestant Episcopal- ians south of them, are urging our colored preachers to join them and receive ordination at their hands. The paper was read, and the secretary asked our counsel what should be done. The bishops passed a resolution that we did not see it to be our duty to visit Liberia, and recommended that the eiglit elected men be brought over two by two, ordained, and sent back to Africa. Not perfectly assured that this was right, I proposed a resolution, ' That though we could not recommend any one of our number to visit Liberia, yet if either felt it his duty to go, we would not disapprove of it.' This is the most favor- able resolution they were willing to pass. Now for the facts : " I. If tlie eight men come over, two by two, for ordination, it will cost from twelve hundred dollars to sixteen hundred dol- lars; our journey tliere about two hundred and fifty dollars to three hundred dollars. , " 2. If one does not go, I fear brethren will find fault with us, and say we are afraid, and missionary funds are lavished on our fears. " 3: The climate is proving more and more fatal to whites. One of our late missionaries (Hoyt) has returned, and the talk is of surrendering up the field wholly to the blacks. "4. If any one goes, I must, as evidently none else feels it to be his duty. AH decline promptly, and discourage me. " 5. If I go, I can only attend conference and come directly back (h.iving ordained the missionaries), and perhaps my brethren would lliink worse of my going than of my staying here, unless I delay there long enough to visit the several sta- tions and explore the country. Now I want your advice. Dr. Bond and others say I shall die if I go to be there but a week. Now, ff ready, it is a pleasant thing to die ; but if I throw away my life, I sliidl not be ready to die. I can not tell whether EVANGELICAL WORK. 243 it would be suicide or not. Write as soon as you can. Ask God for wisdom, and counsel nie tliis once." April i6th, he records: "A fast unto the Lord. A precious season, felt drawn toward him. A fresh application of the blood of atonement. Had Africa in view to-day. Suspect I have not a warrant to go there. Had my colleagues encouraged me, or had I any thing that looked like.a call to go, how freely would I start ! The Mis- sionary Board, I understand, have invited two of the mission- aries over to be ordained. If so, my way is scarcely open to go. May be the next General Conference will direct some one of us to go. If so, well." Thoughts, interviews and counsels were had, and the time drew near that a decision must be made. But as yet no clear providential indications appeared. Wednesday, October 6th, he records: " I think much of going to Africa. Can not give it up. I have written letters which will probably decide me. They say I will die. That I shall, whether I go Or stay, at no distant day. Africa aeedsavisit from one of the Methodist bishops." In a letter to Mrs. Hamline April 19th, he says: ' ' Brother Jacob Young sends me a hng, good letter. Says I must not go to Liberia." October 27, 1847, the Board of Managers of the Missionary Society passed a resolution, "That we approve of one of our bishops visiting our missionary stations at Liberia, Africa, should he come to tire conclusion that it is his duty to do so, and that we will appropriate funds to defray his expenses." This was done b)'^ the Board without any knowledge on their part that either of the bishops had thoughts in this direction. Bishop Hamline had engaged Bishop Janes to present such a resolution, and the matter had been committed to Rev. George Lane, who framed, and offered it. It was done to;test the^enti- 244 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. ment of the Board, and none but the above three had any knowledge of Mr. Hamhne's feelings. An important obstacle was now removed by this favor- able disposition of the Board, and Bishop Ham- line confidentially communicated with Rev. Dr. Pit- man, corresponding secretary, and a few others. A limited talk was had in a private circle, but no one was authorized to speak openly. The call was urgent. About eight preachers in Liberia were eligible to elder's and deacon's orders, and there was no presiding elder who could, according to the provisions of the Discipline, preside at conference, ordain, and make the appointments, consequently no conference could be legally held, or ordinations given, or appointments made. The appointment of a superintendent rested with Bishop Hamline, and no bishop was, as their correspondence shows, able to advise as to his going, or the person to appoint as a superintendent of the mission. Bishop Waugh asks, October 1 6th, "What can be done ? I am without knowledge of a suitable person to take charge of this most interesting, im- portant (and if properly managed), most promising field of labor. Please give me your knowledge, opinion, and advice on all the aspects of the case as they present themselves to you." Bishop Hedding also writes Bishop Hamline, October i8th: "It may be that Brother Benham [the present superintendent of the mission] will not come to this country, or, if he come, he may go back before the conference meets, or possibly you may see cause to send out another president from this country to meet the con- ference in January." If all contingencies failed he named the person he would send. Bishop Janes EVANGELICAL WORK. 245 Considers it "entirely optional with Bisliop Hamline to dismiss the present incumbent from the superin- tendency of the mission, whenever he judges it best to do so." But he has no candidate to recommend in his place. Meanwhile Bishop Hamline opens the secret working of his heart in his diary. "November 15. — Spent this day in writing. Have my mind on Africa. Reiid some in Cox's Remains. He died like a hero. Nearly alone, in barbarous Africa, in a room where the rains made it look as though 'tubs of water had been poured on the floor,' in unutterable triumph he breathed out his soul to God. Where are the thousands to 'fall' like hin\ before Africa be given up ! Lord supply them by thy spirit. "Wednesday, 17. — I am in trouble to find so many men willing to go to China, and so few to Africa. Ought not some of them to look after their motives ? A Chinese mission is more genteel, and has in it more of literary honor." The difficulty of obtaining missionaries for Africa well deserves this admonitory question. Yet heroic men like Coker and Ashmun and Carey and Seys have toiled and fallen there. Fourteei) years before Bishop Hamline proposed to go it was the "dying grief" of Cox, first missionary there from the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, that help was so tardy in coming. The example of Miss Sophronia Farring- ton, the first female missionary the Methodist Epis- copal Church ever sent into a foreign field, is worthy the best ages of the martyrs, and that of young Dr. Wesley A. Johnson must be ranked in the same class. He served as assistant to the governor, Rev. J. J. Matthias, and saved his life. After six years of great activity and usefulness, having laid upon the altar of God talents and education of the first order, he re- turned in 1844 to die. A proposition to go to Libe- 246 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLIN E. ria was indeed like leading a "forlorn hope," but the Church is now entering the African field in every direction. Bishop Hamline continues his diary: "Monday, December d. — Think much about Africa. Am waiting for news from the Liberian packet.. Now tliink, if it sails by the 1st of January, I shall j;o, especially if Brother Benham, the supeiintendent, returns in her. May the infinitely wise God' direct me ! ■• 1 ■ . -, . " Wednesday, December 22j — Give up going to Africa. So' I am persuaded it is the will of God. The packet can not sail by Jannary 1st, and I dare not start later than that. I had begun to set my heart on going, but now I expect never to see Africa:"' Tliis whole matter, which was real to him, and inl the eyes of all was a question of life and death, evinces the readiness of his mind to undertake any. service for Christ to which he might be called. For nine months the subject had been before his inind with growing convictions, and desire. Tire prpbabil-, ities, for. a tiine, seemed to turii in favor.of his going,, and he promptly acquiescpd, but when a change in the time of sailing, as first advertised, was made, it became little less than blank suicide to go, and he declined. No act of his life was more unselfish or heroic, than this willingness to visit Africa with his state of health. In his diary for January i, 1848, we find this entry: "The, last three weeks before December, 1848, were spent at the house of M,, Brooks, Esq. It was a rest season, as I supposed, preparatory to visiting Liberia, as 1 had determined to take the Voyage if the packet sailed by January 1st, as she was advertised." We left Bishop Hamline at Tarrytown, April Iith, with his wife and sick son, now convalescing. From EVANGELICAL WORK. 247 thence he went to New York, to Dr. Pahiier's, "a pleasant, profitable place to sojourn." He writes: "In the pure. Christian fellowship of this household let us be richly, richly blest." From New York he came to Philadelphia, April 19th. "We now fly, not travel." Thus he writes to his wife: "At pres- ent, who needs our prayers and tears and affectionate counsel more than our dear Leonidas? I feel con- tinually as if I were preparing an answer for the judgment, as to how I have warned and counseled him. The Lord help me to be more faithful to him. I will try to remember him much and often and fer- vently in prayer." April 2ist we find him at Salem, New Jersey, the seat of the New Jersey Conference, now convened for its annual session. "Conference opened with a short prayer-meeting. Session passed through pleasantly. About one hundred and fifty preachers here. Salem is a pleasant place for its session. Have a retired place to lodge. All right." The sickness of his son bore heavily upon his heart, and it is a beautiful comment on his fatherly and Christian qualities that in the midst of great cares and the pressure of conference duties he could turn aside to give vent to his feelings in a letter like the following : ' "Salem, April 7,1, 1847. "My dear son, — Thougli pressed with business at confer ence time, I desire greatly to write you a' line this morning before I go to the church. It is so critical a time with you now that I can neither suppress nor conceal my great anxiety on your account. I have been thinking what a happy life mine would be, above what it now is, if at your age I had been acquainted wilh the Methodists, and from seventeen years old had lived a Christian. It seems to me, were the city of New 248 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. Z. Z. HAMLINE. York mine in fee simple, I would give it all away in one mo- ment for the privilege of knowing and remembering that my whole life, from seventeen to thirty years old, had been given to Christ. I was at seventeen under deep religious impressions, but my Calvinistic parents could not tell me how to be saved. I became stupid, and then they thought me converted ; and for three or four years I thought so too, and studied Greek and Latin, expecting to be a minister in the Congregational Church, and prayed and talked in meetings; and some were convicted and converted under my little talks. But I gradually became convinced that I was not converted, and finally gave it all up, and went to studying law, and took license as a lawyer in 1827 at Lancaster, Ohio. "But soon after, in 1828, your little sister, Eliza Jane Price, two and a half years old, our little idol, was taken sick and died, and with her your dear mother, and I buried all our earthly hopes and projects. We were then spending the Sum- mer near Buffalo, New York, and in a Methodist family and neighborhood; and among them, while under this bereave- ment, your parents were converted to God, truly and gloriously. Then I knew that my former state was not religion. " I began to talk to the people, and they got convicted and converted, and in a year I was licensed to preach without ask- ing for license, and since 1829 have been trying to labor a little in the Lord's vineyard. I was above thirty years old, if I remember, when licensed. Now, if I had been among the Methodists, as you are, at seventeen, I presume I should have commenced preaching at twenty-one or earlier, and here would have been ten years saved; and in them, by God's blessing, thousands of souls might have been saved by my feeble instru- mentality. These ten years haunt me often, not to wound my conscience with guilt, but to wound my love and affections with gieat grief, that I should have used my Savior so cruelly. Oh, I would give a world if I had it that I could blot them out! And then these years were wasted, and my Christian character has not that staidness, and I have not that power to do good that I should have had if I had been a Christian from the age of seventeen. I am not half, as well qualified for usefulness now on account of my ten years lost. " My beloved son, will you not let your father's errors warn you? I expect in all eternity to be grieved (or something as EVANGELICAL WORK. 249 near it as heaven will permit) at those ten years lost. Some- times I feel almost afraid to go to heaven and see my Savior on account of them, and the poor, unfaithful service I have rendered since, on account of habits of mind then formed. " Now, my beloved son, when I think of your losing ten years to come (and under Methodist training, too), it fills me with distress ; and I fear, in addition to that, you will lose your soul. I had not your privileges. I heard nothing of Method- ism. When, at thirty years old, I got to know what it was, it wrought on me. When you get to be thirty Method- ism will not be to you, as it was to me, a startling discovery, suddenly rousing you, and newly opening to you hopes and ways and prospects that you never before understood. What was by God's grace salvation to me will have been already tried in vain on you. That which was a new medium to my soul will be an old one to you, tried thirty years in vain. O, my son, now let the remedy be effectual ! Come into the 'Church with the simple resolve, as Adams said : 'Sink or swim, stand or fall, live or die, I go for serving God.' I write in great anxiety, and must now break off and commit you to God's gracious love and caie.'' It should be remarked that the duties of his episcopal office, calling him abroad in extensive trav- eling and incessant labor, and his precarious health, demanding the constant presence and care of his faithful wife, cornpletely broke up his family life, which increased his solicitude for his son. The lat- ter, now in the course of his education, was thus left without a home. This fact aggravated his anxie- ties for both the health and spiritual welfare of his son, who said "he never had had a home since he left Zanesville," in 1836. Itinerant preachers and their families well know what this care and privation mean. On conference business he records : " Thursday, lid. — Business goes on rapidly; slow in the stationing room. 2SO BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. " Saturday, z^th. — A week of toil, but' health and comfort. Bishop Janes has helped me, but he leaves this evening. Conference business forward, but in stationing backward. Feel Christ's presence, but O for more ! ■' Sunday, 2Sth. — A good day. Tried to be faithful. Lord forgive my failures ; but thanks to thy name for comforts large and plentiful." In a letter to his wife he says : "The close of tlie P. M. services was followed by a voluntary general class. One old preacher (Father Neill, whom you saw at Burlington), commenced it by springing up and telling his experience with shouts ; then Father Van- nest followed; then Father Boehm, of Staten Island; and llien an old local «lder by the name of Jaquett. It was a glo- rious time. The whole house was on fire ; and if the New Jersey preachers do n't believe in perfect love, they believe in siiouting. I think there is a good and rising spirit in confer- ence. But alas ! many of our preachers get happy rather than holy, 2m6l think more about it. I am well." "Monday, 26th. — Hard work to-day. Fear I have ex- horted the coi^ference too little. In the midst of hard labor I forget. O blessed Jesus, fill me with the Holy Ghost ! ,. Amen. " Salem, Tuesday, 2jth, — At 10 o'clock P. M.closed con- ference. Much worn down, but well and comfortable. O Lord, help me to be more faithful ! Go with thy servants. Comfort them. Some of these preachers, have hard work. They will not be crucified. O may the God of the harvest go with them ! " '. The New York Conference held its session in Alien Street, New York, May 12th. He immedi- ately returns to the city, to Dr. Palmer's, where his wife and sick son were : " New York, Friday, joth.-r^kl Dr. Palmer's. Reached here from Philadelphia at 3 o'clock. Found my son very sick. Expected to meet him nearly, well, as letteirs to Salem had so announced. Disa:ppointment. It is our lot, but good for us. ' If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as 'with sons.' EVANGELICAL WORK. 2$ I "May 1st. — Son no better; very ill. I give liim, blessed Jesus, to thee. Save his soul. Had a long interview with P. P. Sandford, Presiding Elder of New York District. I perceive there will be work enough on hand here. Lord, help thy servant, for Christ's sake. " Sunday, id. — Preached at half-past lo o'clock A. M., in Vestry Street, and at 3 P. M. in Second Street Church. Rain and small congregations. Enjoyed the morning ; P. M. less. Very weary. Spent the evening at home. L. very sick ; suf- fering much. " Monday, jd. — General Missionary Committee a:t 9 A. M. Called out at 12 o'clock to see my son, who was seized with convulsions. Spent the afternoon in the sick chamber. At 2 o'clock he. had another dreadful convulsion— thought him dying. This evening little hope. Lord, help ! Nature groans in me. " Tuesday, 4th. — Able to go to missionary rooms this morn- ing and afternoon. L. better. Hope for his recovery. Sick to-day. Head much distressed. Nervous system disordered. Lord, I give all to thee — all ! Committee finished its business. Wednesday, ^th. — Spent the day in much relaxation, which I exceedingly needed. Have had toils and watchings. Feel low in spiritual things. L. still better, and a good pros- pect. I have never asked his recovery, but on condition that it is God's will, and he sees that my son will glorify him. " Thursday, 6th. — Walked about the city. Some relieved of my hard labor. Mind and body may spring up again in liveliness. Refreshing sleep does much for me. My habits are almost too regidar in regard to sleep, as they can not be violated. " Sunday, gth. — This is my last day of fifty years. A half century gone. It sickens me to look back, but it comforts me to gaze at the cross. Sin and salvation, guilt and grace ! What couplings ! yet they go together. I have enough of each for both penitence and praise. Blessed God! Thou knowest that this weeping, rejoicing heart feels both. Glory be to God ! " May joth. — ^This day I am fifty years old, Dne half cen- tury have I lived in this world. As to any good my life has done, how vain it all looks. I can not review the past in connection with myself, but I am pained at my very heart. I must fly from all to Christ Lord, help me to fly ! I desire to 2S2 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. yield a different service to my Redeemer for any time to come which he permits me to stay below. " If I may stay and labor ten or five years, and in these could be ■ full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," and exactly faithful to the solemn trust committed to me, may be I should redeem time, of which there is great need. " Fifty years — one-half century I O how these years are fled I Lord, pardon afresh all their transgressions. Sprinkle me to-day with atoning blood. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me! Help me, for the honor of thy name. 'Teach my hands to war and my fingers to fight ■ in thy good cause. Hold thou me up, O Lord, ihnt^jy thy strength I may toil, and by thy wisdom may do good to souls, and be the means of rendering praise to thy holy name in Zion! What little time remains to me on earth may I spend to thine honor and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ! ^'Monday, ijth. — New York Conference has been in progress since last Wednesday. Nearly three hundred preachers in connection with it. Business has so far gone on rapidly, but many difficulties threaten us ahead. This body is too large. If a constitutional restriction had limited our number to one hundred it would have been better for the Church. These large conferences embarrass the business in the confer- ence, and the stationing is at a disadvantage of from ten to twenty per cent. " Thursday, Tjth. — Conference closed this day at half-past 9 A. M. Have never seen so much business transacted in one linnual conference. The conference sat fourteen days, and most of the time had three sessions per day. . . Mrs. Hamline was taken sick during the conference, and continues quite ill. Between public duties and private griefs I have been imusually burdened. But the Lord has fulfilled his word. 'As thy day so shall thy strength be.' I have endured beyond all my hopes." The Bisliop's private family sufferings were at this time indeed great. The terrible convulsions of his sick son, above mentioned, had so shocked the nerves and prostrated the health of Mrs. Hamline EVANGELICAL WORK. 253 that the consequences threatened were alarming. With his own life held by a slender tenure, he was now walking in the "shadow of death." Bishop Hamline stayed in the city till the 23d inst., watching his sick family, preaching on Sab- baths, and attending official duties. On that day he left for Hillsdale, New York, Dr. and Mrs. Palmer accompanying him to the boat. Of them he says : "Such friends I have not found; such a family for Christian order and steady, consistent piety I have never before seen. Whatever ttiay be demurred to the doctrine ot Cliristian perfection, here is an example of it. I have been in this family within one year more than to have stayed in it three full months. I have never yet heard an unadvised, un- charitable, undevout word, or witnessed an improper act. What Wesley says of Fletcher can be safely said of them. Truly they are Christ's, and have ' put on the Lord Jesus.' What Sister Palmer is in her writings, she is in her heart and life.'' His next official call was to the Maine Conference, which met at Saco, July 30th. "Conference," he says, " opened by Bishop Hedding. He is in good health, his mind vigorous as in his prime, and proba bly he was never more useful to the Church than just at this time. The members of the conference seem as his children, and he is truly a patriarch in the midst of them. How venerable his position and character ! May the Lord continue him among us for many years to come." The session passed on pleasantly, perfect harmony and order prevailed, meetings spiritual. "The love-feast Sabbath morning one of the best," says BLshop Hamline, "I ever attended, and probably more than half that spoke professed perfect love. A great interest prevails. I 254 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. have been received as a friend, brother, and minis- ter." Conference adjourned Wednesday, 7th, and Bishop Hamline returned to Hillsdale. The follow- ing Sabbath was spent sixteen miles from , Hillsdale, and returning, he preached in Barrington Monday evening. On Tuesday he reached his temporary home, and preached to a "parlor congregation " for the benefit of the aged Brother Foster and his wife, now unable to go to church, and administered the sacrament. " It was a plea.sant season," he says, "and I think not unprofitable." A few days' rest and we find him at Binghamton, three hundred miles away, to attend the Oneida Conference, via Albany, Cayuga, and Ithaca. "Binghamton, N. Y., July 22.— Left Ithaca at six A. M., and reached here [fifty niifes] at 7 P. M. [by stage]. Weary. Learn that conference li;is gone on pleasantly and rapidly. Bishop Morris and wife well. Am quartered near the Meth- odist church in a comfortable way; "Friday, 21. — Oneida Conference has about one hundred and sixty members. Much talent. Several visitors here— Drs. Olin, Peck, and Dempster. The latter urges the theolog- ical school on the attention and '^palronage of the conference. Is defeated." The same day he writes to Mrs. Hamline : " I feel greatly refreshed to-day ; visited from on high more than usual. I was enabled to spenk a few words at the close of con- ference. Met a great many brethren who seemed full of com- fort, and my own heart had a holy day in communion with them and with my Savior. I am glad that I am here. "Sunday, 25. — Uishop Morris preached at eight A. M., and ordained the deacons. I attempted it at ten, and ordained the elders (ten). Dr. Olin preached at two P. M., stirringly. What a man ! His elpquence is all out of the ordinary course, yet he has no eccentricity, only greatness. Could I preach as he does I would almost desire never to slop. He will leave no proper memorial of his greatness. He can write, but then his thoughts lie on the paper likoHie cinders around the volcano, EVANGELICAL WORK. 25$ affording no conception of the scenes of the eruption. He is a holy man. For the second time he informed me that he en- joyed the perfect love of God. This was a good day to my soul. " Wednesday, 28.^ — Conference asks a division into Oneida and Wyoming Conferences. It has elected eight delegates, wlio xvill go for nullifying all the last General Conference action on the subject of separation. The elements are gathering. "Thursday, 29. — Conference adjourned at five P. M. Preachers generally satisfied with appointments. The close of an annual conference is sublimely affecting. O thou God of Israel, go with thy servants and give them victory." During the interval of nearly four weeks between the sessions of the Oneida and Genesee Conferences he was constantly traveling, preaching, and mingling in families and in social worship with the Churches ill Tompkins, Tioga, and Seneca Counties. At Ithaca he was obliged to leave Mrs. Hamline for a while, she having been taken sick, and his appointments having been mostly thrown out in advance. To Mrs. Hamline he writes back from Candor, Au- gust Sth: "Your sweet letter helped me. I have had better times here than ever before. God has wonderfully blessed me. I pray much for you, and feel that God hears nie. God bless thee, beloved, and sanctify us wholly, soul, body, and spirit. I will talk to you when I see you about God's wonders to my soul. My temptations seem to vanish like vapor before the sun. O! Christ is precious. Almost all the time my peace is like a river. Farewell, with ever-during love in Christ." In another letter to the same, August 7th, he says: " We owe more than ten thousand talents, and have nothing to pay; but to the humble forgiveness is so grateful! Where we really and truly forgive, do we not marvelously pity, and, if it be suitable, even love? When God forgives us, he makes a change in us which renders it fitting for him to love 256 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. us. How, then, must lie love us! This thought, a fresh one, makes my heart gush out in streams of holy gratitude. But there is tliis to be added: we are forgiven in Christ and through his death, and it seems to me God's thoughts and feelings in regard to Christ and his deatli run over to and on us and em- brace us as part and parcel of the wonder. 'As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you ;' Christ and his redeemed became one to tlie Father's affections. Glory to God ! The Lord restore and bless and keep thee !" " OwEGO, Sunday 8. — Preached twice in the large Meth- odist church here. Not a very satisfactory day's labor. Quite ill this evening; faint and feeble. My work is well-nigh done. "Ithaca, Monday, 9. — Had a sick night atOwego. Found very kind friends who watclied me and assisted me, or it might have been my last night on earth. By the mercy of God was able to ride to this place to-day, and found my dear wife some better." His route thereafter lay through Trumansburg, Jacksonville, Townsendville, Lodi, Ovid, Penn Yan to Geneva, tlie place of his next conference. Writ- ing to his old friend, Rev. Jacob Young, August 1 6th, he says: " I have this year attended my own conferences, namely, the Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York, and have also visited the Maine Conference with Bishop Hedding and the Oneida Conference with Bishop Morris. I am now on my way to the Genesee Conference with Bishop Morris. From thence I propose to go with him^to Michigan, and then to Ohio. I shall have been absent almost a year, and shall have stayed at home only four weeks in eighteen months, having been laboring in the pulpit and at conferences steadily without any rest all that time except four weeks. After I get around to Oliio I propose to spend some weeks in the winter in reading, praying, and writing, and hope the brethren will not think me indolent if I do so." "Geneva, N. Y., August 23. — Three years ago I was here also, in poor health. God has preserved me. I hope for a baptism while here. I need it greatly. Come, Savior, to my heart. May it be a profitable season to us. EVANGELICAL WORK. 2$J " IVednesday, 25. — rGenesee Conference opened at nine A. M., and all the session taken up in miscellaneous business. I feel revived these two days past. Thanks be to God! " Thursday, 26. — I am much revived. I have tried con- fession, and am blessed. I feel Christ unusually near me. I am blessed ! O I am blessed ! "Friday, 27.— Conference proceeded rapidly to-day. About one bundled and thirty elders were examined at one sit- ting, and of only two hburs. Great harmony prevails, and so far the session is pleasant. "The best of all is, God is with us.' ".Saturday, 28. — Conference agreed on division, if Gen- eral Conference please. That is right. Brother E. Bowen, of Oneida Conference, preached, on ' Be ye perfect,' a most excel- lent sermon. Many rejoiced. Blessed be God ! "Sunday, 29. — Preached this day at three o'clock. Trust some good may have been done. Bishop Morris preached at ten A. M. a delightful sermon. Deacons were ordained by me at the close of sermoh, and elders by Bishop Morris at three P. M. Our love-feast in the morning was one of the very best. The Lord has been merciful to us to-day. I trust his ministers are rising in zeal and purity. Oh, may the baptism come speedily! Lord, revive us, shine upon us, and we will praise thee. " Tuesday, 31. — Conference progresses rapidly. The spirit is good, delightful; no harsh words or looks of displeasure. Several preachers here are very devout. The missionary an- niversary last evening was remarkably interesting. Henry Hickok was informed after the services commenced that he was appointed to China, and, being introduced as the appointee, made a shdrt, excellent address; and, after remarks by Dr. Levings, more than three hundred dollars were contributed. Robert S. Maclay is also appointed for China. " Thursday, August 2. — Conference closed at half past ten A. M. A short session for Genesee. It asks a division by the Genesee River. This is well. The body is too large to do busi- ness comfort.ibly." Bishop Hamline, as he notices in his diary, put up with tli6 writer of this memoir, during conference. Mrs. Hamline was with him. It was one of the most 22 258 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. delightful and memorable weeks of our family social life. Great blessings came to us through their means, and great regrets were felt at parting. This is not a place to dwell upon particulars, the blessed fruits' of which abide to this day. The reference which the Bishop makes to his Sabbath sermon, and to his influence on the conference, gives no adequate idea of the reality. His administration was indeed sanctified to us, and left a savor which long remained. His sermon on the Sabbath is not yet forgotten. Tears and shouts and feelings too deep for expression by either tears or shouts, responded to the blessed and searching words of his lips. We have never heard it excelled. The plan of his discourse — on "Ye are. my witnesses" — is given in his Works, volume 2., "Sketches and Skeletons." From Geneva Bishop Hamline passed on to Buf- falo and Detroit, preaching in both places, and reach- ing Ypsilanti in time for the conference. At Detroit he preached morning and evening — " had a good love-feast in the morning." Many gave witness of perfect love. Good Sabbath." "Monday 13. — Looked about Detroit. Find it teeming with Germans. Three mammoth Roman churches, one about eighty by one hundred and eighty feet. Two Methodist Epis- copal churches, about forty-two by sixty-five feet. Preached this evening to thirty Germans. "Ypsilanti, Mich., September 15. — Michigan Conference commenced its session to-day. About seventy members pres- ent, a goodly company. Conference opened with prayer by several brethren. Some fervor in devotion. " Saturday, 18. — Conference has got along better for a day or two. This is a Northern people. Their house is large, and. they sit to prayer, and turn round and gaze at the choir like an exhibition in singing, ' O temporaP '' EVAIVGEL/CAL WOKX. 259 In a letter to Mrs. Hamline, September i8th, he says : " I have had pleasant communion with Bishop Moriis and the brethren. The town is much crowded, will be more to-day. I hope for a good Sabbath to-morrow. Feel determined to try to do my duty. Find a few men read sermons here. A brother read one last night (or night before), and it was a Maffitt affair, except taste and elocution, having angels with their "sunny pinions," and "rosy clouds,' and many such like matters all through it O for men filled with the Holy Ghost to preach Christ crucified !" Sabbath 19th, wa,s a "precious day." He says: "At two o'clock I tried to preach thirty-five minutes, from Romans xii, i, and we wound up in a storm. . . After tea poor, sad Dr. T. (my host) scolded about the shouting. He won't say Bishop Hamline intended to make them shout, but he thinks ' Tippett' did, and he is indignant. He says they have not so much of the ' animal' up this way. Bishop Moriis hits him on one side, and Pittman gives it to him without mercy. I think we shall get a sliout under Pittman's sermon to-niglit, and may it come in thunder."' Bishop Hamline leaves Ypsilanti, Wednesday, 19th, for Detroit, where lie preaches the same evening, and is rejoined next day by Bishop Morris. Crossing the lake by night they took canal boat at Toledo for Cincinnati. Spending the Sabbath at Defiance, they reached Cincinnati, September 29th. He says : " I liave now been absent from Cincinnati, since the l6th of November, 1846, more than ten months. This is itinerating largely. I have enjoyed and suffered, have labored and been perplexed.- What is before ? May I accomplish as an hireling my day, and be received to rest everlasting! '^Friday, October \. — Rest from toil. Home. I need rest. During my absence I have presided in the most difficult con- ferences. Stationed a large number of preachers, ordained many deacons and elders, sat up at night, felt great perplexi- ties, and preached a great number of sermons. 1 need rest." 26o BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. He preached once on Sunday," and says of him- self on Monday, 4th. " Very busy t6-day in little arrangements for winter and its toils. I can not afford to rest long. Why should I ? My Mas- ter calls me to many labors. ' I must- be up and doing. The day of labor-will pass away. '* Tuesday 5. — Busy, busy. Much news from the [Mexican] war. One or two thousand Americans killed and wounded ! What scenes the battle-field must; present! But a nation Is drunken with the triumph of our arms. " Wilmington, Ind., Friday 8. — Reached here, this even,- ing on a lumber wagon from ^he river, riding on the reach and a board,' and hdldmg my trunk. Found my friends well. " Aurora, Ind., Sunday 10. — Preached and held class in Wilmington at eleven A. M., and preachedherein the evening. A good day for these cold times. The class-meeting at Wil- mington exhausted me, there being some seventy present. But I asked help of the leadei-s and obtained jt. It seems as though there were a little movement on the minds of the people here and at Wilmington. - - , . ,. ., "Cincinnati, 7««jrfaj' 12. — Reached here at eleven o'clock last night, and found my dear family,- and Brother T.'s fam- ily well. This little trip was on the whole pleasant and prof- itable." J ' The next day. he reaches Coliimbus, Ohio, "weary and sick, thankful to have reached there at all. The journey required five hours in the cars, and six in the stage. The last were painful, being crowded." He expected to be iii Zanesville, but failed. "October 14. — Expected to be in Zanesville to-night, but was too unwellto proceed. Had to lie over oiie day. Spent it at Mr. M.'s tavern, v«ry still, and resting.much in bed. I Iping to be Christ-like in all circun^stances. " Zanesville, October 1 5.— Reached Mr. Lippitt's at five o'clock. Brothers Dnstin, Warnock, and Moorhead called dur- ing the evening, and also. Brother Brush. May the Lord bless this place! Here, just by, my de.nd lie buriedl. "Zanesville, Of A>^^r 161— Was taken unexpectedly ill in EVANGELICAL WORK. 26 1 the night with fearful distress (like dying) and faintness inde- scribable. Sent to town for' medicine, and received all the attentions the family could bestow, Monday, October 18. — A little relieved. What confusion of thought sickness makes! I scarcely think at all, or rather I have ' broken fragments of scattered thought.' I desire to be ready to die before death comes." Under the same date he writes to Mrs. Hamline: "I reached Zanesville on Friday without inconvenience, but was taken \yith one of my spells during the night, but did not faint. ... I love, but I have not served as I ought. These distressing turns might carry me off. I have to remem- ber that I was truly converted on the 5th of October, 1828, in Villanova, New York. I was wholly sanctifietl in New Albany, Indiana, in March, 1842. I have enjoyed greiil peace with God, and commend his blessed religion to all. Should 1 die, 1 think through Jesus's blood I shall rest with the sanctified in glory. But of this I have no hope but through the blood of the cross. No hope besides. • To the dear fountain of tliy blood, Incarnate God, I fly.' " Saturday, 23. — Have been sick through the week. Have ■walked out two or three times into the gii've, but was the worse for it. Have thought I might die here and go into the tomb close by. Had several visits from dear Christian friends and enjoyed them. But ' none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good.' " Sunday, October 24. — This is the second Sabbath I miss labor. It is of the Lord. I can do but little, and other men are here who can labor, 1 sincerely believe, to better profit than I can. If I go out again, Lord go with me ! "Monday, October it^. — Have been able to walk out to-day, and the tokens are of convalescence. By a careful diet, and watchful guarding against cold and damp, hope to improve. God is good, healing our diseases. '■^Sunday, October ■^i. — Preached this morning in Putnam at quarterly meeting. Had not been in the church for fourteen years. A good and attentive congregation. Not so much plain Methodism as twenty years ago. Is the fine gold changed ? O Lord, thou knowest ! 262 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAM LINE. " Xenia, Saturday, November 6. — Reached here at six A. M., after riding all night and from twelve o'clock yesterday (noon). Stood it quite as well as I could have hoped. Spent a pleasant day in rest. " Sunday, November 7. — Preached at eleven A. M. and seven P. M. A tolerable season. Trust some one may get good. Lord, arm thy word with power ! Let the Spirit descend and water the seed ! Sanctify the people through thy truth ; thy word is truth ! On the 9th of November he returned home to Cin- cinnati, and "found all well." Two days more and he is at Wilmington, Indiana, where he hopes to rest a little. "I need retirement," he says ; "an opportu- nity to read, ^ray, write, meditate, get nearer to Christ. Lord, help me, for Christ's sake!" Sunday, 14th, he preached at Wilmington at eleven A. M., and again at 3 P. M., to the children. Monday was spent in writing, and thinking of Africa, of which we have already made mention. On Sunday, 2 1st, he preached at Wilmington in the morning and at Aurora in the evening. Of the latter he says: "I think a protracted meeting here would be likely to be attended with a glorious revival. People talk about religion in the streets." He was detained here by a fall which injured his shoulder, but on Friday, 26th, he reached Madison, where he attended two serv- ices on Saturday and preached twice on the Sabbath. On Monday he preached to the children on " the best robe," and at night attended love-feast, and exhorted. On Tuesday, 30th, evening, he preached to the Ger- mans. ' ' Took tea at Brother Richey's, and had several prayers. This praying in company, he says, does not come so easy and natural as it did three years ago. I fear I am not so wholly bent on suffering shame for Christ's sake as I have been. Lord, increase my faith EVANGELICAL WOKK. 263 greatly for Christ's sake. " December 2d, he preached at Mt. Auburn, Cincinnati, and on Sabbath preached with ' ' unexpected peace, joy and help. Souls seemed precious." Here he remained five days with sensible profit to his jaded system. Here again, for the sick and infirm, he "preached and administered the Lord's- supper to a dozen persons." In a letter to his friends ill New York, he gives the bugle blast of hopeful victory to the Churches. He says: " A few glorious revivals are breaking out around us. One, under the labors of Brother Sears, is attended with uncommon iokens of God's power to save. Nothing in this region has equaled it for some time. We have a strong hope that God is about to appear in his glory and build up Zion. The congre- gations are getting larger and more solemn, and it seems as though there was ' a sound in the tops of the mulberry trees.' O how'gloiious it will be to see sinners flocking to Christ and saints cleansed and filled with the Spirit! The Lord in mercy hasten it !" An idea of his method of private visitation is thus given: " Friday, 10. — This has been a good day. My heart waxes warm. Called on Sister Strobridge, whose pious husband went to rest two years ago last month. She is a good woman. This evening has been pleasant. Spent it in social conversation and prayer. God was present. Under my dear wife's prayer, felt that God came down in power. O that I had her power with God, and could prevail as I feel she does ! Lord, I thank thee for this gift." On Sunday, 12th, Montgomer)', he preached and ordained two preachers, and on Tuesday returned to Cincinnati, where on the Sabbath he preached. "Rather a cold time of it," he says. "The people seemed cold." But he records on Monday, 20th : " This has been a glorious day. Christ was with me all the day long. Why yesterday was so barren I know not. Had .264 BIOGKAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. grace for comfort abounded yesterday as to day, it seems to me I could have preached, 'Thy will- be done.' " Wednesday, 22. — This evening, in conversation and prayer, with the family and my dear wife, Ihad some new views of faith, and ui'ging them helped me, if not others. One thing suggested was, that our thoughts and words must flow in the channel of faith, or we resist the Spirit, who would work by faith. We must not think or say, ' I dare not," but ' Lord, I be- lieve.' " Salem, Saturday, 25. — ^Came out to-day with Brother Sears to spend a few days with the people at Salem. Preached at eleven o'clock to a small congregation. A very pleasant hour. Brother Calhoun labored at niglit. " Sunday, 26. — Preached at eleven. A moderate congrega- tion. Brother Sears at night. We want power. There is great backsliditig among us. We want faith, zeal, spiritual life, cruci- fixion to the world. We, want discipline. "Monday, 27. — This morning preached and administered baptism and the Lord's-supper. Very small congregation, but a comfortable time. Christ was precious. This evening Brother Sears preached an excellent sermon to a few, and meeting closed. Better success than Jesus often had." From Salem he returned to Cincinnati, whence, after two days not idly spent, he left for Lexington, Indiana, to dedicate a church, and closes the record of the year thus : "Lexington, Ind., Friday, 31. — Came to-day from Madi- son much jolted and weary, with aching bones, but faith in Christ. Put up with Judge White. Did not go to meeting to-night. Felt too wayworn to venture out. The year closes. Adieu ! How many will not see the close of another. Perhaps myself among them. ' Prepare me, Lord, for thy right hand. Then come the joyful day.' " May I go on understanding and remembering, ' This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.' " EVANGELICAL LABORS. 265 Chapter XVII. LJanuary to May, 1848.] EVANGELICAL LABORS—SOCIAL RELIGIOUS FIDELITY- TRIALS ABOUT POPULAR PREACHING- VIEWS OF MILLENNIUM. "Lexington, Ind., January i, 1848. — ^The new year has come. Here I am with a new history commencing. I can not but strongly hope it will be the best year of my life. I cry unto thee, my God, and implore great grace for its duties and con- flicts. I feel that I have more faith — thiat faith which is ' of the operation of God,' and stands in the power of God — than ever I had before. I think, unless my heart deceives me, that God lias wrought a strong faith in me within three weeks. And as it seems to me that he is the ' author' of it, he will also be the supporter and the finisher of it. Looking back on the past year, what cause have I for humiliation, for penitence, for mourning. But the 'bridegroom ' conies to my soul. I rejoice ! " On Sabbath, January 2d, he dedicated the new church at Lexington, and ordained two deacons, "a good, I might say, a glorious day." " Tuesday, 4. — Preached in weakness last evening. To-day my soul mounts. My heart is near to bursting this morning. The fire burns ! burns ! ! What flames of love ! How can I contain it ? Blessed Jesus, thou knowest how I love thee, how I trust in thee. Much as thou givest me of thyself, I want still more of thee, still ' I thirst for the life-giving God, The God that on Calvary died !' Hope whispers, ' I shall have enough of thee, blessed Lord, by and by,' for the * mansions ' are being prepared. Let me honor thee here and then go home. Amen !" 23 266 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. His spiritual exercises seemed specially to tend in the direction of strengthening his faith. He says : " My peace is like a river. My faith never seemed so strong. I am going to school to Christ, and he is teaching me much about faith which I never learned. Never did the words, ' Lord, I will believe," exert such an influence on me as now. Jesus, blessed Lord, let me not forget to ascribe this to thee, to thy teaching, and to tlie power of the Holy Ghost who en- ables me to be taught." On' January 9th, we find him again home at Cincin nati, preaching on Sabbath in Morris Chapel. He writes : " What a field is Morris Chapel to those who should feel inclined to build up a Church in holiness ! I know none like it, save Christie Chapel, which is nearly of the same spirit, and has about the same number of sanctified souls. " Thursday, 20. — Preached to-night at Wesley Chapel. Had a glorious time, and some twenty mourners were at the altar. Several were coltVerted. God is at work truly." On Friday, 2 1st, he came to Xenia, and thence to South Charleston, Ohio, where on the 23d, he preached a dedicatory sermon. " Tried to preach Christ crucified. Blessed be God ! he w.-is not far from me. Here, where twenty years ago life civil- ized began to be, is a beautiful church edifice forty-four by sixty-two, of brick, with spacious basement, lecture room and class-rooms, and some seven hiindred were crowded into it to-day. " Tuesday, \ 25. — Well does my soul prove this day ' that the word of God is quick and powerful, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.' In reading the first four chapters of the Hebrews, familiar as they were to me, worlds of light seemed to open to my understanding, and scarcely could my being endure the power which visited me, while reading those wonderful revelations of God's mercy. ' Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.* Amen and amen!'' EVANGELICAL LABORS. 2tj In a letter to Mrs. Hamline he says: "A revival has commenced in Charleston. One was con- verted each evening during my stay, after the dedication. I labored too hard, preaching, exhorting, and talking to the Church and mourners. Came down to-day in a buggy, re- freshed by the ride, but worse for weai'. I am in perfect health except exhaustion. You need have no concern, for if I am unwell I am on the railroad, and you can soon reach me. I am not sorry you did not come, and think you ought often to let me take my journeys alone, when Providence opens the way by giving you a home so comfortable and so profitable to the soul. You are feeble and should not forget it. I have en- joyed much, very much of the presence of Christ. Peace, peace! I hear that fifty mourners are at the altar in Brother Inskip's charge, Dayton, and a work is breaking out at Leba- non; ii revival in Bellbrook, a wonderful time in Springfield." Bishop Hamline next visits Xenia, where "the revival was glorious," and Yellow Springs, where he received a great and unspeakable baptism, reaching Cincinnati February 1st, "to spend two or three days, and then start again." But, "unexpectedly," he left the next day for Lebanon, where he preached ; the day following he rode twenty miles to Bellbrook, and preached, and returned the ensuing day to Leb- anon, and preached in the evening. He says: "Went to the church with a full heart, and thought to preach with great power. Was dis- appointed. I find that I do not always preach best for the people when I feel best. I scarcely ever did. I go into the pulpit with more feeling, and preach with less power." Saturday, January Sth^ he rode to Centerville, Ohio. On Sabbath he says: " Felt as though I could not preach. I remembered how poorly I preached on Friday evening. . . . Yet I went into the pulpit under heavy trials, took 'perfect love' for my theme. 268 BIOGRAPHY OF RBV. L. L. HAM LINE. the clouds vanished, and seldom have I enjoyed a better season in the pulpit. The lesson taught me is, ' never trust to frames, but preach, depending on God for the increase. ' " Passing on to Olive Branch, where was "the promise of a glorious revival,'' he preached twice, and returned, to Cincinnati, where he remained about three weeks, preaching and laboring in the meetings and elsewhere, performing the usual duties of his office, and writing. He says;, "Am trying to prepare a sermon forpublrcation, and find it not easy to turn from travel and miscellaneous duties to the pen. Mr. Wesley's great strength (given him of God) is not seen by those who read his works, but lose sight of his circum- stances. Amazing man ! traveling and often preaching three times a day, lodging in all manner of >vays, and mixing with old, young, and children in a very unretired manner, yet writ- ing works that will render him immortal! God gave him to the Church and taught him to fight. "Wednesday, 8; — Am nearly thiough with my sermon on Rom. X, ip, written for Brother Miller's book, 'Experience of German Preachers.' I pray God's blessing on my feeble efforts. I write with great labor and difficulty, on account of a tendency to paralysis. Have been, by turns, three weeks writ- ing this short sermon. Have had other writing to do." As illustrating the tenderness of his conscience in the manner of social conversation and intercourse, the following letter is worthy of consideration. At the General Conference of Baltimore, in 1840, Mr. Hamline, then editor, had been, by special request, a guest of the excellent family of A. G. Cole, Esq., for whom he had entertained a sincere regard and spiritual concern. Fearing, upon a later review of his life, that he had failed to do all his duty to them, he thus writes, under date of January 11, 1848: "A. G. C, Esq. Dear Sir, — Tlie close of the year is apt to bring fresh to our memories the occurrences of the foregoing EVANGELICAL LABORS. 265 twelve months. Among' these are the scenes of my visit to Baltimore, and, with others, my visit andxonversations with Mr. C. and his family. And I feel a desire in reviewing that visit to write and make a humble confession. For it strikes me with great force that there was a great lack of both zeal and wisdom in the ordering of my conversation while with you. Yet, while 1 confess, I fear I shall mend nothing by my short letter; for I am finding my whole life to be a scene of growing blunders in my efforts to do a little good toothers and borrow much good from them. • But I feel a solicitude for Mr. C. and his family which 1 can not repress, and, perhaps, ought not to conceal. ■ Permit me to urge on your attention {I would hope and pray without seeming to obti'ude) the rapid flight of time, and the amount of labor which remains to be done preparatory to the close of life, on the part of those who have deferred re- ligion and its duties until the vigor of youth and even of man- hood begins to yield to the touches of age." Later he learned that soon after the receipt of this letter Mr. Cole died suddenly after a short illness. In dying he exclaimed, "I never meant to die with- out religion; I always meant to' be a Christian." Bishop Hamline had been faithful to converse with him- upon the subject of religion, and Mr. Cole's mind had been much exercised during the visit. March 22d, he says: "Have finished my sermon on 'iconfessing and believing. ' It is now hard work to write. My pectoral difficulty, whatever it is, is wonderfully aggravated by it." From March 15 th to May ist, his time was con- stantly employed in travejing to visit the Churches, preaching almost daily, attending private social meet- ings, visiting families, conversing with whomsoever he found disposed to be led to Christ, or to clearer knowledge of God, writing to. friends abroad, and attending to the necessary functions of his office; Cincinnati was his home, from whence he made ex- 270 BIOGRAPHY OF^ REV. L. L. HAMLINE. ciirsions, returning often to attend to necessary offi- cial correspondences and other duties, but giving himself no rest. He says, in a letter to Rev. Wm. Reddy, April 1st: "My connection with foreign missions lias kept me more at home than I anticipated, as it was necessary for me to be where I might get letters seasonably; yet three-fourths of my time has been spent in excursions in the vicinity of the city (Cincinnati), and now and then one hundred and one hundred and fifty miles out. I am now moving toward Cincinnati on such an excursion, expecting to reach the city in two weeks. I then propose to prepare for General Conference." At Rushville, Ohio, he meets the family of his late venerated friend and senior. He <:an not pass them by and thus speaks: "Spent the last twenty-four hours with the pious family of that departed saint, Henry S. Farnandis. I was his colleague 1832-3 on Granville Circuit. He taught and helped me. What a man! Christian! minister! He loved God with all his heart. Three years ago I met hini here on his death-bed. What a dying saint he was ! How full, how holy were his triumphs ! Oh, may my last end be like his. His family walk in his footsteps. They will honoi- the memory of the sainted husband and father, and the Church and the God whom he served." At Zanesville he preached twice, but the second time with much difficulty from "feeble health." He says: "My disease, whether of the heart or what, is serious, and this morning disarmed me of all power. I feel almost unable to kneel in closet prayer from suffocation ; but I will ' cleave ' and trust, drag myself, when I can not fly, after Christ." In a letter to a friend, he writes: "The work of holiness is spreading in the West, and there have been some notable cases of God's ministers receiving it, who have been, until recently, opposed to the doctrine, and EVANGELICAL LABORS. 27 1 'mad' at its advocates. A great revival is spreading through the West in connection with the fiiitlifiil preaching of lliis doc- trine. The Church is rising, and where every tiling was gloomy and unpromising there is now tlie freslmess of opening spring. One presiding elder writes me that more than two thousand backsliders have been rechiimed on his district the last winter. He thinks backsliding had become universal, and went around the district preaching about little else. A wonderful waking up succeeded, and the revival following exceeds almost all I have heard of since that of Pentecost.'' Reflecting at one time on his own ministry, he remarked : * " I believe I could preach more ' popularly,' but what would become of my conscience? It was given out once by my friends that I could be eloquent: so aiming, doubtless 1 could get more hearers ; but 1 should feel a curse and blight upon my soul. Lord, help me to be more willing than I am to be vile before the people. It tries me to think the Methodists should be told, ' Your bishop can 't preach much ;' but they may need to be humbled as Well as I. Lord, help! sanctify ! bless!" Wesley said, concerning the style of his sermons, "My style is from choice, not necessity. I could write floridly, but I dare not; because I seek the honor that cometh of God only. I dare no more write in 21. fine style than wear a fine coat." And in this respect Jolin Weslej' has liad no truer son in the Methodist family than the subject of this memoir. Still his sermons were models of chasteness, terse- ness, and beauty, the natural and unlabored product of his culture and mental movements. As the period of active labors and most vigorous manhood of Bishop Hamline was that in which his published and private communications more fre- quently recur to the millennium and the second com- ing of Christ, it seems proper in this place to insert a few paragraphs, which may suffice to suggest his 272 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. views, and his testimony of faith and love for the Savior's second appearing. His views of the millen- nium were not wrought into a perfect theory, not dog- matic as to the relative order of prophetic events. He does not appear to have been established in the pre- millenial coming of Christ, though he did not oppose or deny it. The points relating to the millennium, on which his faith took more the foim of dogma, were: i. That it is to be a period when Christ shall reign "really" and "solely' upon the earth, whether in" visible presence or spiritually. 2. That it is to be a state of society "bordering on perfection." 3. That great tribulations, causing a falling • away of many, especially of nominal and worldly-minded pro- fessors, shall precede it. 4. That a great and daring prevalence of wickedness and corruption should pre- vail as a sign of its near approach ; also powerful and marked revivals of pure religion, by which the distinction between the godly and the ungodly shall more Openly appear. 5. That the millennium was near at hand. Writing on Palestine, Syria, and adjacent regions in 1840, he says: " We judge, as we have already hinted, that this is one of the most inviting fields for Methodist missionaries on the face of the earth. Long before the return of the Jewa shall usher in the full gathering of the Gentiles, we trust it will be occupied by good and true met), who will be prepared to ful- fill the pleasuie of the Lord in reaping his harvest. At present it is testified that the Druzes are accessible to the missionary, who would be welcomed and received with open arms in nearly all the highland villages of Lebanon. The bigoted priests have little influence over them. Excommunication for reading the Bible, or hearing it read, would not deter or terrify them. Though they are exceedingly ignorant, degraded, and EVANGELICAL LABORS. 273 deceitful, yet tliey wait for tlie gospel, and in lliem may be ful- filled that saying, ' The last shall be first ' — the most diseased and miserable shall be first to seek and find the Physician of souls. "Not only Palestine, bnt the Mediterranean regions generally should, at present, attract the observing eye, and anxious meditations of the Church of Christ. The important signs of these times are connected with the Mohammedan delusion. The various expositions of the prophecies harmo- nize in regard to the approaching overthrow of this mighty and long-contin\ied system of falsehood — a system which, next to that of the synagogue, is the most obstinate heresy on earth, and has extended its curse and blight and woe over a vastly larger portion of mankind. And when these expectations of faith are fulfilled, as they surely will be, the ground should al- ready be occupied. No interregnum between the rejection of the delusion and the application of its antidote, Christianity, should be permitted, lest, instead of truth, error come in the place of error. " We believe, as Methodists (for an honest Methodist can not believe otherwise), tliat the gospel is held and preached in its purity by our own Church. And we feel a deep solici- tude that in every region which prophecy points out as the scene of approaching revolutions for the destruction of error and the conquests of truth the Methodists should be in the van of the armies of Israel — should be the first to assail the intrenchments of the enemy — the first to wrest from him his strongholds, to seize his posts, and take possession of his for- saken territory. And it is most certain that the prophecies, unfolding to us the series of revolutions, whetlier past or future, which are most intimately connected with the millennium, point us to the Mediterranean. The three anti-Christian spiritual powers — Judaism, Mohammedanism, and Popery, which, asids from paganism, present the strongest barriers to the universal diffusion of the gospel, are principally located on its shores. There, on seven hills, have arisen out of the sea the ' beast ' and the false prophet. There, 'Babylon the great' Is to fall, and the man of sin is to- suffer. Indeed, as far as we caii learn, these regions have been, since paradise was forined, the theater of the most important revolutions which Providence has wrought, to forward the designs of love toward man — • the scene where paradise was lost — regained — and, perhaps, 274 BtOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLTNE. where — by new, and strange, and overwhelming struggles and changes, the kingdom of God is to come in its full power and glory. At this moment the most gigantic power on earth is rousing itself to battle against the disciples of Mohammed, and we have good reason to apprehend that one of the most sanguinary struggles ever witnessed on earth will occur within the next ten years between the proud Autocrat and the Otto- man Porte : 'Tlien the waters will be dried up, and the way of the kings of the East will be prepared.' " In a letter ' to a friend concerning his work in great revivals in 1842, he says: " In this region nothing has ever been witnessed like the present revivals of God's work. Whether the millennium or the judgment is coming I know not, nor am anxious ; but God has come forth in his power among the people. Great sins rest upon the nation, and I am looking for great won- ders and for woes from heaven. But in the midst of all, as a minister of Jesus, I hear nothing but ' Go ye and preach the gospel.' " At another time he says : " I do not know that the.judgment is near, but I brieve that fearful events are just at hand, and we should be prepared for them. But above all, death is near; our days are passing away, and we shall soon be in the grave, in heaven or in hell. O, that the blessed Jesus may prepare us for our final state !" Learning from a minister in one place "that a fearful declension prevails, that vice is increasing, and is alarming," he writes: " The millennium is not come yet. , A dark night is to precede that glorious day. The prophets do not lie, and we shall yet have interpreted to us : 'I saw three unclean spirits like frogs.' (Rev. xvi, 13.) Lord help thy people to watch ! I feel the need of refreshings, in my own soul." "The times are perilous, and omens of events of tremen- dous import, just at hand, multiply daily. Sin is becoming more bold and flagitious. It cares no longer for concealment, but reveals itself in every form of which it was heretofore ashamed. Religion is still bashful, but her foe is become bold and impudent.'' EVANGELICAL LABORS. 2/5 In a letter to his son, 1842, he says: "Great revivals of religion are going on all over America, and the millennium, I doubt not, is near at hand. Should you live to be old, I think you would see it. But many great and fearful events will transpire before it fully arrives. The wicked will become worse, and the good more pious than ever. Mill- ions of the former will be cut off by earthquakes, plagues, and other fearful dispensations." Speaking of the great revivals of 1842, he says: " Is the millennium come? Surely it is not distant. We are in sight of its holy and happy scenes. The light of a new day streaks the heavens, and the Sun of righteousness is about to be more fully unveiled to a dark and perishing world. Come, Lord Jesus — come quickly!" Again : " ' But after all do you not think that the day of Christ is at hand ?' If you mean the day of judgment, it is doubtless at hand. And it has been for eighteen hundred years. It is even nearer now than ever. It may come to-morrow. But to be plain, we do not gather either from prophecy or observation, that it will come for many years. The only marks of its ap- proach which we are authorized to look for are ' the signs of the times.' " To a friend he writes, January, 1861: " You ask what of the ' signs of the times !' ' One thing I know,' said the sage ^ I know nothing! So of the signs I know little ; but the times themselves are becoming unveiled, and soon the veils will be so lifted up that the jfiropheticw'xW. be the historic. I never seemed to myself less capable of in- terpreting the language of symbols than now, for I am as a man approaching a distant city of which he could form some idea as he saw in the distance where the spires of churches and the outlines of its suburbs could be traced with a clear and un- confused vision ; but when he came near and entered its busy streets, all distinct views were lost, and his senses half buried in the bustle and noise. I do feel that we are on the precincts of the city — that we are touching the waves of the tumultuous Sea of wrath which the ' vials of woe' are to fill with God's fiery vengeance. — Mingled with the increasing indignation of 276 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAM LINE. Jeliovali, are those pburings out of his spirit, which will increase more and more, and marvelously distinguish- the people of God and \\i^ yielding ?i\-aow^ sinners from the obstinately impenitent and incorrigibly unbelieving." The following remarks on Isaiah ii, 1-5, are in agreement with his constant teaching. He says: "The chapter read in your hearing this evening is a pre- diction of that joyful state. And what may we gather from the language of the seer ? He tells us of that approaching period, that then the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord; and that the influence of this knowledge shall be most benefi- cent and grateful. It shall transform tlie earth into a mountain of holiness, in which there shall be nothing to hurt or to destroy. He predicts a stale of purity and blessedness so unlike what mortals have beheld that it is scarcely possible for our minds to conceive il. But we should strive to conctiive, and derive from it the chief and allyabsprbing motive to zeal and diligence in the cause of missions. What is this millennium ? I will not say it is a period in which Christ shall visibly and personally reign on the earth. But I will say it is a period in which he will spiritually and solely reign,; maintaining dominion over all human affections. The millennium has, in my opinion, been unwarrantably viewed as a state of very partial improve- ment. I believe, and I see no reason why we, holding the doc- trine of sa notification as we do, should not believe, that it is a state bordering on perfection.' Look at the language of the chapter before us." The reader will find Bi.shop Hamline's views more fully stated in his admirable essays on the millennium, given in Volume II of his Works, pp.' 351,^ 445- jt is clear from these that he accepts the view of the spiritual reign of the Church, not dogmatically, but as the more probable. His views are cautionary on points hot fully determined in Scripture, and evan- gelically liberal, but always practical and positive on what is clearly revealed. His sympathies were deeply committed to the hastening of the Lord's coming. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1848. 277 Chapter XVIII. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1848. THE General Conference of 1848 opened its ses- sion in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, May 1st. To Bishop Hamline, aside from the great and perplexing questions which invested tlie session with uncommon importance and difficulty, the spiritual associations of the occasion were of special interest. A pleasing incident, a reminiscence of early life, greeted his first appearing. We have already seen that when a youth, on his return fron* the South, where he had spent a time for his health, he passed a Sabbath at Pitts- burg. At that time he was supposed to be converted (though he himself in later years thought otherwise), and through the influence of parents and others con- templated the ministry. We have also seen that on the Sabbath above named he preached in Dr. Her- ron's (First Presbyterian) churcli. More than twentj' years had passed. Dr. Herron was still living, at the time of the conference, and pastor of the same Church. Upon hearing that Bishop Hamline had arrived he called at his lodgings early before break- fast. While a member of the family went to his room to announce the call, the doctor stood at the foot of the stairs. Bishop Hamline immediately de- scended, and the venerable doctor received him in his open arms. At once he was engaged to preach for 27^ BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. him the ensuing Sabbath. Bishop Hamline thus speaks of his first Sabbath: "Pittsburg, Monday, May i. — Preached yesterday for Dr. Herron. Had a comfortable season. Heard Nerval Wilson in the morning. A good discourse. Have had comfort. This morning Bishop Hedding opened General Conference at nine o'clock by reading a chapter, calling on Bishops Waugh and Morris to pray, choosing secretaries, and then briefly addressing conference. It was a pleasant morning, Ijut many are gone. Lord, help thy servants to be tine to themselves, the Discipline, the Church, and, above all, to God. Clouds hang over us, but God can disperse tliem. "Wednesday, 3. — General Conference has now been in session three days. Tlie sessions have been pleasant and de- vout. Presided for the fiist time to-day. The Lord did not forsake me, but it is a trial to preside in the conference before so many colleagues. The Lord help us to be united, discreet, and devout in discussing the important questions which must come before us. ' Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Except the Lord keep the city the watch- man waketh in vain.' "Sunday, 7. — Pieached. at half-past ten at Liberty-street. A large congregation and happy time. Thank God for his great goodness! In the evening heard Dr. Dixon. A great sermon, truly great. Its style smiple, its thoughts sublime and moving. My soul rejoiced. God, I trust, has sent this mes- senger to the American Wesleyan Church. "Tuesday, 9. — General Conference proceeds slowly. God has helped me, wonderfully helped me. I desire to make a new coven;int with my God. Heard Dr. Dixon preach to the conference at half-past ten, A. M. A sermon long to be remem- bered. I dwelt on high. - Dined with him and the bishops. "Sunday, 14. — Preached this morning at Beaver Street, Alleghany City, on Christ's intercession. A house full of sol- emn, attentive listeners. It has been a good day to my soul. I am thankful for the privilege of refreshing my spirit in God's own sanctuary. O tliat with a larger measure of the Spirit I could plead, both with God in prayer and with man in exhorta- tion and 'prevail.' Lord, will tliou not help me for the honor of thy name? Christ shall have the glory. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1848. 2'jg "Saturday, 20. — A weary week. The business of the con- ference fatigues me, and differences of opinion on questions of moment disturb me for a day or two, and for a season my com- munion with God seems restrained. This last is peculiarly distressing. Lord, why hidest thou thy face from me? 'Return, O holy Dove, return.' "Sunday, 21. — O Lord thou hast returned indeed and in truth, and I hasten to record thine unmerited goodness. This morning the Sun of righteousness gradually arose with healing in his beams. My appointment to preach was at St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church (Dl\ Preston's). Little did I think to enjoy such a heaven on earth there. O how precious to my soul was the truth I preached! How wonderfully did God sharpen my appetite and cause me to feast on the honey of his word ! Now my soul is strengthened, now I am in the green pastures, and bursting fountains and flowing streams of comfort surround me on all hands. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.' "Sunday, 28. — Preached this morning at half-past ten for Dr. Reddle, Third Presbyterian Church. The preaching of the cross is sweet indeed, while the heart bears the cross and its adorable victim. The last week has been spent in the land of Beulah, and this morning Christ was in me the hope of glory. O what enjoyments I have had for some days past! Jesus, my adorable Redeemer, how canst thou take so vile a worm to thy heart ! ' O for this love let rocks and hills Their lasting silence break.' " The four preceding )'ears had witnessed tlie sep- aration of the South from the North ; the erection of a new Methodist Episcopal organization, consisting of fifteen annual conferences in thirteen States, incKid- in^ Texas; great agitation throughout the country, especially along the line of separation; disagreement between the General Conferences of the old and new organizations; disagreement of administration of the Southern bishops with those of the Methodist Epis- copal Church; an active litigation respecting the 28o BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LI ME. division of church property; and a most- unhappy controvers)', leading to strong party feeling, every- where disturbing the quiet of pur Zion. They were also, by the presence of. the venerable Dr. Lovick Pierce, fraternal delegate of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, called upon to determine whether they could fraternize with the Southeni brethren un- der existing, circumstances. Our bishops had striven to maintain fraternity with the bishops South, upon the Plan of Separation, but complained that their honorable endeavors had not been reciprocated. It is not relevant to the purpose of this biography to notice these general points farther than they may bear upon the official conduct of Bishop Hamline, and illustrate the infelicity of the times. He took his share of individual responsibility in episcopal ad- ministration over the Churches which were disturbed and often rent by the unhappy agitations, and also in counseling and instructing pastors and presiding elders. He fully bore his part in the councils of the bishops, where the policy of administration was settled. In various particulars that policy was shaped by his own motion and advice. He was repeatedly solicited by other bishops for advice in special cases. He sought no prominence, and he shunned no obli- gations. He had been mode.st in demeanor, meek in spirit, but prompt and resolute in action. In the height of party .sympathy and excitement the bishops had been threatened with complaints at this General Conference, but they had steadily held the reins of constitutional administration and stood together in counsel. As Bishop Hamline, by his office, was , excluded from all participation in the business of con- GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1848 28 1 ference except that of chairman, in common with his colleagues, we have little to record of him personally in this connection. Yet, as they were individually accountable to General Conference for their adminis- tration for the previous four years, and as what they did in joint counsel and agreement they were liable for personally, the action of General Conference on the great points of difference between the North and South, as it touched the administration of the bishops, touclied also their individual history. Early in the session these points came up in connection with the ill-fated fortunes of the "Plan of Separation," and the so-called "Property Question." The time had come for final advice and action. By request of several delegates the bishops had prepared a paper, settin— and the motion was immediately changed to some compara- tively severe penalty, I think suspension." With this precedent to authorize, and the unani- mous request of conference to incite. Bishop Ham line made the following address to the conference : " The conference has invited to a difficult task which the chair is poorly prepared to fulfill. But as there is at least one precedent, it may not be reasonable for me to decline all remark. 292 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L; L. HAMLINE. "Your first duty will be to decide by vote, whether any of these specifications are sustained. This requires a careful con- sideration, of the positive and rebutting testimony bearing on each allegation. Your chief effort should be to recollect this testimony and apply it discreetly in determining whether or not theSe allegations are true. " Several of the specifications are of an ordinary character, such as conference experience must have made you familiar with. The first three are of this character. They are plain, and nothing has intervened, in the progress of the investiga- tion to render them obscure or perplexed. They may, there- fore, be passed without special notice. " But one specification — that which refers to mesmerism — is somewhat novel, and moreover has become involved by the course of argument. A point of considerable interest and difr ficulty has been raised, and pressed with admirable skill on the conference. It claims, therefore, deliberate consideration. I refer to the position taken by the defense, which I understand ta be in substance (not in words) as follows : ' If you sustain this specification, you can not make it support the charge of immorality, for how can you say the practice of mesmerism is immoral unless you know what mesmerism is f This you will perceive is an abstract question, and may be properly noticed by the chair. " The conference, I presume, does not know, and can not know what mesmerism is, but it may know, from the testimony, what it claims to be — or rather what it claims to do; and it is a question of vital importance whether its claims do not impart to it a moral character. May not its pretensions alone without regard to its nature, enable you to determine its moral merit or demerit ? Is not the following the true doctrine ? ' You must first know what mesmerism claims to be or to achieve before you can pionounce the practice of it immoral.' This may sound like the proposition presented in the argument, but they widely differ. One refers to the nature, the other to the f/s/wjj of mesmerism. " As to its nature, it may be nothing but a name or fancy, as many affirm. Or it may be a simple mode of inducing sound sleep, and sometimes, that peculiar sleep called som- nambulism, in which view it may be innocent, because such sleep infers no more than belongs to human powers or suscep- tibilities. But if mesmerism be more than this — say, a newly EVANGELIZING. 293 developed force, or power, which on Christian principles must be accounted superhuman — if it be a science whose manipula- tions, states, and resolved volitions both mysteriously control and empower the mesmerized to a degree transcending mere human experience, if not the experience of angels; can we hope to understand its nature? Who can explain < it. To say it is composed of electric fluid, or ' magnetic currents,' explains nothing and proves nothing. I suppose the con- ference knows just as much about the nature of mesmerism as the professional niesmerizer — as much as the accused him- self knows. " But if you can not know what it is, there is evidence be- fore you as to what it claims. That evidence shows that it claims to be a powerful agent, operating the most astonishing results. Are these professed results (as wrought, not by divine inspiration-, but by mesmerism), in hannony with the claims of Christianity? The name mesmerism, or ' animal magnetism,' is of no moment. If its feats were denominated ' witchcraft,' ■ conjuring," they would be neither mOre nor less reprehensible. And if they were called ' witchcraft' would they pass for sound morality ? Would it be said you must know What witchcraft is, or you can not pronounce it immoral? Perhaps the Jews knew not its nature, though they punished it, and punished it because like ancient magic and sorcery, it professed to work wonders, and profanely iiwitated miracles, so that the people exclaimed, these are the 'great power of God.' But witchcraft, severely as it was punished, was no more blameworthy than mesmerism; if it made no higher pretensions and assumed to work no higher wonders, on what principle could it be more blameworthy ? Mesmerism is not divine inspiration, and if it is said to be ' above the angels' surely its claims are as lofty as those of witchcraft, and as much in rivalry with the miracles wrought by prophets, by apostles, and by the Son of God. And if so, then to vindicate and practice it is to war against Christianity, which Theism may approve, but Christianity must condemn. For what is its tendency but to reduce the prophetic, apostolic, and even Messianic functions to a level with mesmerism? " But there are functions superior to the prophetic and apostolic, and properly divine. And you will of course inquire if these are trenched upon by the claims of mesmerism. Among the divine functions referred to is that which endows men with 294 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. supernatural gifts. To be a prophet implies no power equal to that which inspires a propliet. Does the evidence before you prove that mesmerism goes the length of claiming tliis last — this incommunicable prerogative of God-head^lhat it claims to manipulate men into seers, and tliose generally irreligious men ? It is for you to decide whether the parol and written evidence under this specification shows that mesmerism, as vin- dicated by the accused, claims not only to be a prophet, but also to make prophets by imparting to others superhuman power — for instance, the power of vision called 'clairvoyance,' which like Jesus discerns 'what is in man,' or like omniscience searches the bowels of the earth, sees hell and heaven naked and open, and reports from inspection who of our friends are in this or in that world. Sliould you find the accused vindicates mesmerism in these its loftiest claims, and professes practically to achieve, or empower others to achieve these — miracles I will call them — you will then say, in voting on the charge whether this demerits reprehension. You will decide whether claims which, if universally accredited, would put an end to Christianity on. earth by destroying .ill convincing proofs of its divinity, and' thus rendering it the- theme of just ridicule, may be advocated even by the ministers of Christ without any violation of sound- Christian morals, " In conclusion, if you sustain the specification, you are not bound by technical rules to abide by this charge. You can substitute another caption. This charge expresses" the opinion of the prosecutor, and to change it \yill be no injurious surprise to the accused, because the moral cliaracter of his acts when proved, can not be determined by testimony which he would need warning and time to produce, but must be decided on Scriptural grounds, after fair discussion. The specifications warn the accused what testimony he will nefed. Not so with the general charge, which even at this late hour you can adjust to the specifications. May Infinite wisdom enlighten you, and ' guide you to just decisions." It is hardly necessaiy to say that when the case went to conference for final decision the brother was expelled. He appealed to General Conference of 1852, and they confirmed the decision of the Troy EVANGELIZING. 2gS Conference by a vote of one hundred and ten to thirty-seven. The Troy Conference lasted twelve days, and on Monday, 26th, he thus records: " Conference just closed sweetly. Brethren think they never had so good a conference, though it was the hardest they ever had. I am sure the Lord has been with them. O bless his name forever." Bishop Hamline left Troy the same day the con- ference closed, for New York, thence, via Pittsburg to Wheeling, Virginia, where he arrived July ist, to attend the Pittsburg Conference. He records: "Wheeling, Va., Jufy i. — Reached my home for the con- ference this morning, (Sister List's.) Was brought safely on my way from New York, and reached Pittsburg on Tliursday evening, and found all well. Left Pittsburg Friday evening, and, after a restless night, reached here at six o'clock this morning. Lord, help me to seek thee here, and have fresh blessings sealed on my heart. Refresh me from thy presence. I can not, O Lord, do thy work but in thy strength and wisdom. Grant me these at this conference for Christ's sake. Amen.'' His labors here, as usual, were abundant and greatly blessed to the ministers and people. On Wednesday, 12th, he records: " Conference has closed, having done up an immense amount of business in seven working days. It was a peaceful, good session. God was with us. O may it be the beginning of better days for Pittsburg! They need better days. Secret societies do injury among them." His next engagement was at the Erie Conference, Ashtabula, Ohio, July 26th, 1848. On his way he preached four times, dedicating one church and reached his destination Saturday, 22d. On the fol- lowing day he listened to "a good hortatory dis- 296 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLIN E. course. Fear," he says, "the dull (choir) singing helped me to be dull. O that Methodists would be. Methodists ! Tried to preach at 3, P. M. A large and attentive audience. Same dull choir singing. Had a little more life than in the mornings yet short, O how short ! of what I ought to have." Conference opened the 26th, but he records noth- ing before the Sabbath; ^'Sunday, 30. — Love-feast in the morning in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and six deacons ordained; the seventh ob- jected to, as teaching that the Bible sanctions slavei^. At half-past ten A. M. preached in the Presbyterian church to a crowrded house and a multitude outside, and ordained six eldejs. "God was pleased to bless me to-day and make the word sweet to me, and I trust some of the serious congregation were edified. O Lord, revive thy work! Let tby ministers feel thy power, and be the channels of thy power to a cold-hearted Cliurch and a perishing race of sinners. Praised be God that Christ is mine; is made unto me 'wisdom, righteousness, sanc- tification, and redemption!' 'I the chief of sinners am, but Jesus died for me.' '^Tuesday, August I. — Erie Conference closed this morning at half-past eleven A. M. It has been a good conference. God has given us peace, brotherly love, and a good measure of his blessed presence, which led us to exclaim, ' The best of all is, God is with us !' Five days and a half to a conference. Religion helps on our work." From Ashtabula he journeyed to Mansfield, Ohio, the seat of the North Ohio Conference, preaching along the way and laboring privately; in which he was heartily joined by his' faithful wife and fellow helper. "Mansfield, Sunday, 13. — This Sabbath has been a most precious day to my soul. In the morning I preached with a feeble intellect, and was greatly surprised and somewhat em- barrassed to find so little power and freedom of thought, while EVANGELIZING. 297 my heart was so uplifted and comforted. Praised be God for the comfort! and as to my want of power to preach, two good results may follow: I. It may be that 1 shall be convinced more than ever that low and high states of joy do not neces- sarily control my power to proclaim the Gospel, but God's good pleasure and blessed will. 2. I am humbled, and that is impor- tant. Many not of our Church were present. The ex-governor sat just before me. I doubt not but he and many others thought that the General Conference acted wildly when it chose me for the oversight of the Church. This humiliation, however (and I vvas conscious of it), did not disturb my joy in Christ. The fire of his love burned in on iny soul, and I was happy slill. This assured me of a great conquest over nature. Grace does reign. O God, I praise thee ! "Monday, 21. — Conference has progressed rapidly to this time, but Freemasonry and Odd-fellowship have arrested it. Oh, how can brethren allow the peace of the Church to be thus violated! The Lord will judge in these matters ! Preached in the morning on Christian fellowship. Some, I trust, may have been blessed. Ordained sixteen deacons and seven elders. The love-feast was excellent. The Lord yet blesses me, and my peace is as a river. O Lord, I will praise thee ! "Wednesday, 23. — Conference closed at twelve M. Have enjoyed and suffered iiKich during its session. Masonry and Old-fellowship, a bane in the midst of us, have done us much evil here. Oh, may Methodist ministers be men of one work !" The days intervening till his next conference were spent in sickness, with much physical suffering and mental trials. As the time for his next official duties drew near the burden of his soul increased: "I cry unto thee, my God, my Rock! 'Hear me, O Lord for my spirit faileth.' Strengthen me for Christ's sake. Amen! "Indianapolis, September i. — Had no great comfort to- day. Lord bless me for conference duties. Oh, how shall I appear before the conference unless thou bless me! Come, Holy Spirit, and diflfuse thy quickening grace through all my wounded nature. " Greencastle, Ind., Sunday, 3. — O my God and Savior, thou hast met me again in mercy, in unfathomable mercy! My soulj but not my lips, shouts inwardly to thy praise. Thou 298 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. hast lielped me this day. Glory be to thy name forever! What a change hast thou made in me by my spirit! 'Thou hast changed for me my mourning into rejoicing.' Thou hast made me full of joy with tliy countenance. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy. Ghost!" The Indiana Con/erence convened at Greencastle, Ind., September 5th. On that day he records: "Conference commenced to-day, and proceeded piously and rapidly with its business. Had comfort in its morning de- votions. This is a body of young, talented, and pious minis- ters. The Lord grant us a pious session for Christ's sake!" To Mrs. Hamline he writes: "September 4. — ^Yesterday was a pleasant day without and especially within. The Lord made my heart the 'burning bush' and dwelt within me. T am in perfect health. Have a most delightful place near the church. Piay for me and the conference. "Monday morning, li. — Had a good Sabbath. A love-feast and sacrament in the morning, and twelve deacons ordained. A good season in preaching. On the whole a precious Sab- bath. ' Thanks be unto God for his great goodness toward nie. "Indianapolis, Monday evening, li. — Closed the confer- ence at half-past three P. M., and rode in an open buggy forty miles, reaching here at a late hour. I am not so exhausted by all the labor and riding but that I can bless my God for his gooiliiess. This is the shortest session I have seen for the amount of business. A discussion, too, on college matters of one whole session. A good conference withal, and spiritual. Thanks be to God for all his goodness ! O Lord, help, and I will praise thee." From Indianapolis Bishop Hamline passed on to Lawrenceburg, and thence to Newark, Ohio, preach- ing as opportunity opened, and resting. The Ohio Conference held its session at Newark, September 27th. October 1st he records: "Our conference has progressed pleasantly. A good spirit prevails, God has done much for us. This day has been un- EVANGELIZING. 299 iittenibly glorious to my own soul, and, I trust, to the souls of the preachers. O blessed Savior, what hast thou wrought!'' At the close of the conference he says: "An interesting) religious session. The Lord helped me,: and I desire to record his goodness. Never liave I been more consciously blessed than in conducting the business of this con- ference. O Lord, I will praise thee." After the Ohio Conference Bishop Hamline re- turned to Cincinnati via Zahesville, Rushville (to visit the afflicted family of his old friend, Rev. H. S. Farnandis), Aurora, Wilmington, working with his accustomed diligence. " Cincinnati, Oc^o^ifr 20. — Have had a meeting with Bishop Morris, who returned in safety from his long North-west tour. Thus we have finished our work in the conferences in great peace." The third day following he left for Xenia, Ohio, where he says: "Here I think to rest, except on Sabbaths, for five weeks to come. I need rest. Since the General Conference I have been unremittingly employed. To relax will be all im- portant. Sometimes it seemed to me I must fail in my sum- mer work; but God helped me, and I have, by his aid and mercy, got through. O Lord, I will praise thee." But his time was still employed on the Sabbath preaching, and on other days writing letters to friends, especially to the afflicted and on official business, and laboring privately for the salvation of souls. His active soul could not be at rest. His Sabbaths were generally spent abroad, his week-days at Xenia. During these days he made a visit to Cincinnati (December nth to 14th) where he became the hon- ored instrument of the conversion of a young law)-er, Mr. John M. Leavitt, now Rev. Dr. Leavitt, President of the Lehigh University, Pennsylvania. Mr. Leavitt 300 BIOGKAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. was an educated man, an eloquent and successful advocate, with a flattering future. opening before him. Mrs. Hainh'ne had conversed with his wife, who had become the subject of deep and powerful conviction. On Mr. Leavitt's return from Church one day his wife met him, and proposed to begin a Christian life if he would join her. He asked twenty minutes to consider and reply, and meanwhile .sought an inter- view with Bishop Hamline, who asked him, "Do you believe in the depravity of the heart?" "I never doubted it," was the reply. "Do you feel that you are accountable to God?" He answered, "I never thought upon the subject." After suitable instruc- tions the Bishop prayed with him. The result was he decided to be a Christian. In the evening he called for a second interview with the Bishop, and when about to leave he suddenly paused, put his hand to his forehead, and said, "But stop; I had forgotten one thing. To-morrow morniiig I have a suit, and I expect to win by using sophistry. What can I do?" Bishop Hamline assured him he could not do it and maintain his purpose to give himself to Christ. "I told him," he says, "he must not wound his conscience, cost what it might." They parted. The Bishop spent that night in prayer; the lawyer also prayed. Nothing more was said. Next morn- ing came the final test "This morning I trembled for him," says Bishop Hamline. But Mr. Leavitt was decided. He saw his associate ini business, com- milted the cause to him, and turned from the court to his ofifice, locked himself in and gave the morning to prayer. Before the hour of noon the Lord spoke the word of pardon and peace. He was "powerfully EVANGELIZING. 30I saved," and returned to his house "justified." The day following his wife also was converted. The human agency of his great change, Dr. Leavitt says, in a letter to the writer of this memoir, " was wholly that of Bishop Hamline." Thenceforward their spir- itual relations and feelings toward each other were those of father and son, as the facts in the case and their future correspondence beautifully show. The event of the conversion of these two persons is thus noticed by Bishop Hamline: "Tuesday, December 12. — This afternoon Mrs. Leavitt, the daughter of Mr. Brooks, experienced religion, or was reclaimed, as the case may be. At four o'clock both of the young con- verts gave me their names for pi-obalion, and I administered to them the sacrament of the Lord's-supper at the death-bed of their happy sister, Mrs. Sears. O what a season! God was tliere ! Such triumphs as this dying saint exhibits are enough to inspire louder songs in heaven. And her raptures at the sight of these new-born souls were inej^pressible. These two or three days of wonders my soul can not forget. Praise God forever, even forever and ever. Amen. *' Thursday, 14. — This morning left Mr. Brooks, and am ready to start to Marietta. Mrs. Sears [daughter of Mr. Brooks] still alive and full of holy triumph. Mr. and Mrs. Leavilt pressing on their way. What a change! Scarcely have 1 seen its equal. He says he can never practice law. May the S>^\\\t guide him." And the Spirit did guide him. He renounced the profession of law, gave hfmself to tlie ministry, and tlie year following — 1849 — was received into the Ohio Conference. In a letter to his son, dated Cincinnati, January 28, 1850, Bishop Hamline, after referring to great revivals in that region, saysT "Mr. Leavitt, the young lawyer and his wife, are devoting themselves with a wonderful zeal in this good cause. They go 302 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. out to piotiiicted meetings on his circuit near the city, and after preaching hibor together at the altar with great success. Her zeal is equal to his. His seems equal to Wesley's.'' Dr. Leavitt has always maintained a high rank in character and usefulness in the spiritual Church of God. We resume the diary: "Point Harmer, i6. — Preached here at two this morning. Found Jacob Young absent. His family well. Here are the friends who helped me to Christ. Mother Kent, eighty-two years old, is still in Iier senses, and understanding clear, O Lord, I praise thee for this privilege. "Sunday, 17. — Preached at half-past ten in Marietta, at two P. M.; visited and addressed the Sabbat^i-school, and preached at half-past six P. M., at Point Harmer. A precious day to my own soul, but fear no mighty works were done among the peo- ple. O my God, help me to be meek, patient, and humble. Thou knowest all my trials. In all these matters, O my God, I cast myself, as well as my work, upon thee, through Jesus Christ. "Zanesville, 21. — Reached here on Tuesday. Have had much perplexity. I have had a specimen of the morals of Universalism. 'Cursed is the man that trustetli in man.' The Bible is true. "Pittsburg, Monday, 25. — Reached here on Saturday. Preached on Sabbath at Liberty Street, and to-day dedicated the new Smithfield Church. Brother Kenny preached at three P. M., and Birkett at night. "Friday, December 29.^-Preached last evening in base- ment of Smithfield Street Church. A good time. Hope some good was done. The Lord be praised, who only doeth it." Bishop Hamline was always tenderly moved toward the aged, the little children, and the afflicted. His heart was the seat of great sympathies by which he strove to draw all to Christ. To his friend, Rev. C. W. Sears, whose wife above mentioned had just departed this life, he writes, December 28th: "By all means, my brother, see that the rod and the staflfof the alniighly Comforter be your support, as they have EVANGELIZING. 303 been. Nature can do nothing for you now. Reiison — phil- osophy — can do nothing. The 'Comforter' can do all. The Spirit loves to work where and when nature fails. But you know his efficacy, and all you need is to entertain by faith the heavenly guest. You will, of course, and I perceive do, intend to be comforted. That is right; for such intention harmonizes with the Spirit's aim and office in our hearts. It is co-operating with the Comforter. For if he would comfort us, and we volun- teer difficulties and hinderances in his way, he will be grieved. He strives to comfort, and we should strive with him to be comforted. "Blessed be God for such consolations. First the death of the departed is a coronation, which must needs come after such conquests and triumphs as angels may wonder to behold. Here is consolation ; yet its influence to console--us depends on the work of the divine Comforter himself in our hearts, without which we can not derive from the joy of friends in death the delights and assuagings which triumphant dying ought to afford. All our comfort, therefore, in such sad bereavements, must be from the Holy Spirit.'" To another he writes, same date: " It often falls to our lot to grieve and rejoice at the same event. Yet it seems to me that your case is unusual, in having so deep a grief and joy flow in your heart from one single fountain. Christians must suffer; for through much tribulation we must 'enter into the kingdom of heaven.' But we have two advantages. Our sufferings are relieved and often sweetened by religion, while we feel the pressure of them; and then it is scarcely doubtful that greater tribulations would not over- take us in the sinner's path. If it be hard through much trib- ulation to enter into the kingdom of heaven, how much harder it must be, through still greater tribulation, to enter into the kingdom of darkness; to crown a life of trouble with an eternal retribution of anguish and despair. "You and yours are afflicted; but the sorrow must be little in comparison with the joy. You have buried one child; but three or four other children, who were dead, have been raised to hfe. The deceased child has only been raised from a lower to a higher and perfect life, and with her advancement your other children have been raised up to sit together in the heav- 304 BIOGRAPHY OF REV L. L. HAMLIAE. enly place vacated by Iheir sainted sister. How wonderful and glorious are all these changes! The iidvancement and corona- tion of one whose death you mourn has drawn after it, as a connected sequence, if not in some sense as an effect, the resurrection of the dead in your family circle. Sometimes a profligate child dies in despair, and his brethren sin on. A worldly sinner dies in his purple, and his brethren press on after his fatal example. That is affliction. For a serious parent, to see one child die in despair or blaspheming God, and his brethren pass on unmoved to the same infernal des- tiny, is indeed heart-rending. But your case is wonderfully different. The dead are gone with halleluiahs to heaven, and the surviving turned by her death-bed jubilations toward heaven." ABUNDANT IN LABORS. 305, Chapter XX. 11849-] NEW YEARS COVENANT— ABUNDANT IN LABORS. WHEN Bishop Hamliiie left Xenia, Ohio, of which we have already given notice, he passed on, in moderate stages, to Pennsylvania, intending to spend the winter in that State. At Washington, Penn., he thus begins the new year: " yanuary i, 1849. — Here I am, commencing another year. Yesterday 1 tried solemnly to dedicate my life, family, and estate to God more fully tlian I had ever done. O my God, ac- cept me for Christ's sake ! The cholera is abroad fearfully, and in New Orleans is a mighty destroyer. But 1 would act from love, not from servile fear. ' Here Lord I give myself away, 'Tis all that I can do.'" Writing to his wife, January 1st, he says: "Yesterday was a comfortable day, more especially last evening. Crowded houses, and Christ was with us. I have tried to make a new covenant with God, my blessed Savior, for the new year, and feel ^hat I am blessed in my deed." His first public duty for the ensuing season was at the session of the Providence Conference, April 4th. The three intervening months, the most severe for travel and exposure, he spent in visiting the Churches. Twenty different towns were visited, thirty sermons preached, much private labor bestowed, offi- cial and private correspondences to maintain, sickness and infirmity at times baffling his plans, but in all 26 3o6 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L, L. HAMLINE. and through all the zeal of the Lord impelling him forward. Much of his travel was by stage, some- times all night. From Greensburg to M'Connells- town, he says: "Traveled through the night and all the next day, in a coach. Among the company was Dr. M'Calla, a venerable minister of the Presbyterian Church, with whom we took sweet counsel. He wept and we all wept while we talked about Jesus." They reached their destination the evening following, ^nd Bishop Hamline preached " to a moderate assembly, but had comfort in so doing." At Mercersburg lie says of the German Reformed Theological Seminary, " Dr. N. at its head has become a great man. Gre^t in a way that any man of considerable art and learn- ing can (by pursuing it) become great. He is great in theological eccentricitieis. Preached twice on Sab- bath, and had some of these people and professors out to hear me. Felt Christ's presence. Spent Mondaj' in visiting, conversing, and praying with several aged members of the Church." At Carlisle he meets Dr. J. T. Peck (now Bishop Peck), president of the college. Here, he says: " We had a precious season with the friends of Christ. We stayed more than a week with Dr. Peck, and got both soul and body refreshed, as both were worn down by labor and ex- ertion. I had preached ahnost every night the previous week, and had a slight touch of my old complaint in consequence, so that I preached only twice while there." At Lancaster, February 23d, he says: "Lancaster, i^rjVo^ 23.— Reached here yesterday at four P. M., and met Brother Uiie at the cars. Took lodgings in his very pleasant family, and found a 'pilgrim's rest.' Am quite unwell. Rested pdorly last night, considering how pleasant a room and how downy a bed I had. My system is somehow ABUNDANT IN LABORS. 307 disordered. My hard fabor three weeks agfr hurt me. I cart^ do little now but preach on Sabbath. God reigns. I received about forty letters atM., and have them half answered. This hard writing tries me. So do th^ distresses of some of our sick ministers make me sick. Lord, pity tli'em 1 Brothel' Brentbrt' of Fort Wayne, young and strong, is stricken down with pa- ralysis. What shall I do ? Well may Bishop Waugh talk of ■ stronger nerves.' They who think it a fine thing to be a bishop might discover a more desirable field after trying if aivhile. A circuit would begin to look lovely after a' season. Lord, give u^ supporting grace!" To Rev.- H, Hickok, missionary to CJiiiia, he, writes: '. , "Your last letter excited peculiar interest in my mind. It was an encouraging letter. I shall have much moie hope of China, if it turns out that the Gospel musibe ' predcaetV to Ihfe people. That is what Christ sent his ministers to do, and the promise, ' Lo I am with you,' etc., is not; in my npinton, to be claimed, except by those who go and 'pi-each.' ■ Literature is an accomphshment much to be desired ; but its office is not t6 convert the world. A tolerable effort has been made already iR that mode, without even the sliadow of s'nCcess. " If th^' labors of our missionaries are to floW in such a direction, we shall soon learn the difference between original and derived Methodism — between God's ordinance and bidiian substitutes therefor. And in' this I do not intend, for'a moment, to set aside literature, or to suggest that any of the converted tribes or nations shall or ought to be without literature. Religion will create letters where they are hot, and new create where they are, as in China. But Christianity in its life or being tnust go before Christianity in its ornaments, or its indirect, but sure fruits." From Lancaster he passed on to Philadelphia, and thence to New York, preaching and working as he went. At Dr. Palmer's he found, as ahvays, a con- genial home, and most salutary medical care with rest. The Sabbaths of the i8th and 2Sth of Feb- ruary were spent in Newark and Paterson, New 308 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. Jersey. At the former place "had a pleasant visit at Dr. Kidder's. An amiable family. Methodism is becoming strong here," he records. At Paterson, where Brothers Monroe and Morrell were stationed, he says : " Had a modeiate time in preaching. A very stormy day. Fear little good was done. My poor health was in my way. The scenery of the Passaic here is exceedingly picturesque, and entertained me more than did the Falls of Niagara. In bad taste, perhaps, but so it was. " Wednesday, 28. — Have received a gracious visit from my Lord. He was near in my chamber devotions. Felt a delight- ful recumbency of soul upon him. O what a season of rest- lessness I have had ! Lord, thou biddesl the cup pass from me. I record thy goodness. After breakfast had a singularly profit- able conversation with Sister P. on the way of faith and my own sinful misgivings and unbelief — a throwing away of my shield as it were. I greatly hunger and thirst after thee, O God, my Rock and my salvation ! After a season of prayer, in which Mrs. P. and Mrs. H. wrestled earnestly, I withdrew with strength in my soul. Now, O Lord, wilt thou not seal me wholly and forever thine ! cleansed by thy Spirit, through faith in Christ Jesus ! Then will I teach transgressors thy ways.'' The Providence Conference was to meet at Province- town, Cape Cod, April .4th. En route to the place he spent the previous Sabbath at Boston, not able to preach, but "administered the Lord's-supper at Rus- sell Street Church." April 2d he reached the seat of conference. At .seven o'clock the next Monday morning he ' read off the appointments.' " A con- ference of one hundred and twenty preachers," he says, "finished in four days is new; but the breth- ren talked but little and worked hard. I labored with all my powers. Preached twice on Sabbath, and ordained five deacons and nine elders. Did not enjoy the conference, but some did." ABUNDANT IN LABORS. 309 While in New England, in one of the cities, he says in a letter to Mrs. Hamline : " Methodism is certainly dull here, but we shall do no good by speaking of it. Heard a sermon read, and it reminded nie of school-boy days. Yet they call it good preaching. Not a soul kneels in prayer. I thought of Garrick's reply to the question, 'Why is it that you speak fiction and make all the people weep, while I preach truth and they all go to sleep?' ' Because you utter truth as though it were fiction, and I speak fiction as though it were truth.' " Again he returns to New York to attend the meeting of the bishops. Preached three times while here, and Monday, 23d, left for Springfield, Massa- chusetts, to attend the New England Conference, which convened April 25th. The session lasted five days and a half. " It was pleasant," he writes. " No deaths or difficult cases in either this or the Provi- dence Conference the last year." The New Hampshire Conference held its session this year at Lancaster, May 9th. His route to this place from Springfield was to Leb.inon one hundred and eighty miles by cars, thence to Littleton, forty miles by railroad, and thence, the last twenty miles, to Lancaster in stage. This last stage of the route is a fit illustration of the not iinfrequent perquisites of the episcopal office. Bishop Hamline writes: " We had two stages to Littlfeton, where we spent last night, and reached there at nine o'clock. The road was not so bad as I expected, and we went on about three and a half miles an hour. I had a comfortable bed, and room with fire in it, and Brother Clarke to lodge with me ; awoke at three o'clock and got up a little after four, and had a long time at prayers, and much comfort. We took breakfast and started on two crowded st.iges, one with four and the other with six horses, and drove twenty miles over a dreadful road without a change of horses, 3IO BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAAILINE. reaching here a lirtle before one P. M. One drtach broke dbwN, and but for providential mercy, Some miist liave been injured. The axle broke and some on the top were tlirown over on the horses, and others wele clinging hold' as they conld. The driver was thrown 'tfff/andyet stopped the horses. The cbach did not upset. 'We waited half ah hour for Otir tiiateS to be remounted oil a wagoii, brirrowed near by." ' '" Second day, of ,:Cor)f(?reiice, .^e says; "I am well this morning. Heard the -conference sermon last night, written and talented, but not in good taste ; would do welLfor a Congregational minister in a theoldgiciit and re- ligious point of view. A great want of men here. Preachers can hardly stand up to sing, and can not kneel to pniy. Here is degeneracy both in spirit and form fi-bm Methodism. No altar here in' the Methodist church. They left it out for more seats tb rent. I asked them what they do in revivals ? Tliey said they had never had one since the church was built. No wonder." In the same letter to Mrsj Hamline, May lotli, he writes: . . - > .1 "This is my birthday. Fifty-two years clean gone forever. What years! May they make an end of siri. Withiri'twetity feet of my east window a stream gurgles along beautifully, with a constant bass, or semi-bass, provoking me to praise. I feel peace.' I will try to be faithful." . , At the; close of the third day of , conference, he says: "We had a remarkably pleasant day in cotr- ference. Business is going on rapidly and delight- fully." The day foUowhig (Saturday), he writes : "J think we shall close on Monday^ P. M. I have not hurried any, but business seems to melt away re- markably. A .good spirit prevails, I think. Little exhortations seem to do good." T^ie last reniarjc is characteristic. No man ever excelled him in point, precision, and spiritual unclion of his "little exhorta- ABUNDANT IN LABORS. 3 1 1 tions," as he calls them. In a few minutes he would often change the whole phase and spirit of a confer- ence to devotion and a reyefent attention to business. The Bishop left Lancaster at Monday noon, the con- ference having sat four and a half days. He retraced liis steps to Lebanon, and thence to New York, where he arrived at Dr. Palmer's, Tliursday, the 17th. "A safe journey. . ' The Lord is my shepherd. ' " His business in the city was to review the new Hymn Book, in company with the other bishops, pursuant to the order of General Conference of 1848. Much of their timewas spent, in this work, at the Rev. Dr. Kid- der's, Newark, New Jersey. Monday, 2 1st, he writes: ' "Monday, 21. — My Inboi's press heavily on my strength. Had to be excused to-day and get aut in the open air. The examination of ..the Hymn Book is h^ayy business. Lord, |ielp thy servants ! And when the work is finished may thousands exiilt to sing thy praises in its evahgehcal lines. Preached ort Sabbath morning in Seventh-street. Wiis feeble in bbdy, but comfortable in soul. This evening the New- York. Monthly Meeting for the Promotion of Holiness was held in tlie Allen Street Church close by. Mrs. Haniline and the family are there. The Lord bless, his people, and inade \\\i Church holy, for Christ's sakie!"' His labors were wearing him down. Seldom did be undertake preaching, or any other work, but with depleted strength. His life was a wonder to those who knew him. flie foll6wints. I will predicate them of _)'<»«r opinion, and make you (if you please) responsi- ble for them. What, right have Dr.. Peck, Dr. Simpson, and above all, what right have I, to intermeddle with law de- cisions? I give it up. I \i you feel tolerably sure that your views are correct, what a sad picture does our government pre- sent, with its judiiial department, where, above all, we look for incorruptible and iinflinching integrity, and an almost in- fallible discriminalioni rendering awA reasoning out decisions, which not only the bar, but the people deenv, not merely erro- neous, but grossly derelict. ,\ will not say that I, one of the people, maintain this opinion. But I heir this said, and see it written on every hand. I wish a lawyer-would review the de- cision in the Western Christian Advocate that I may be better prepared to judge. 1 write rashly if my words are to go abroad; please, therefore, to consider all ' sub resa.' I liave desired to speak, and this v«as my first saffe opportunity. I will Say in conclusion, I wish the South to have the money — ^but I did not expect they would obtain it from the United States Courtif appealed. " My health is very poor. - I do not go to- meeting at all, but the preachers come to the house and preach once in two weeks.' I am unable to spe lU above a w.hisper much of the time, but' I have great peace. O the blessedness of /arrfo« — of an'. indwelling Clirist^of fellowship wilh the Father and with his son Jesus Christ! Let us be sure, my dear brotherj to keep a witness of these blessings every moment. It is equally necessary for all. May God help us to be faithful unto death." -■ • ■ ■-■ '•■' ' '■ ;.' FAItlNG HEALTH. 343 November 15, 1851, he writes to his beloved and faithful physician : " I give up all hope of more labor in lliis world, and wait my appointed time for my change. The last fifteen months 1 have preached but once. Now I can not use my voice in pub- lic or private, even in gentle conversation, without producing distressing symptoms." To a ministerial brother who had been much aggrieved at being suddenly removed from a loving people before the expiration of his allowable term of service, he writes, December 31, 1851: " The things referred to in yours are certainly a great trial, not only on your own and your family's account, but as peril to our Church interests. But we will try to check our fears by reflecting tliat God rules and overrules. If there be wrong he can turn even it to good account. Perhaps in this case he suffered impure motives somewhere to prevail, for your greater good, or for the greater good on the whole. " Clever think of locating. Remember it is more honora- ble — respectable — to leave a society where tliey desire your re- turn, than to stay where they desire your absence. The former is your happy lot. Take courage, then, I beseech you. I trust this may be a year of fatness, — that God will do great things for you and for tlie people of your charge. My health is ex- ceedingly poor. I do not go out, now, at all. I can read, think, and converse a little. Writing tries me. I am, with all my afflictions, enjoying the winter very much. Seclusion suits me in my feeble state. I could look hack with regret (do, in- deed), that I have done so little for my Savior. But 'Covered is my unrighteousness.' I have faith in Christ,— • ' T is all my hope and all my plea. For me the Savior died.' " 344. BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. Chapter XXII. liSsa.] GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 18^3— RESIGNATION OF HIS EPISCOPAL OFFICE. THE year 1852 marks an epoch, not only in the life of Bishop Hamline, but in the his- tory of the episcopacy of the Methodist Episco- pal Church as well. In that year, at the General Conference held in Boston, Massachsetts, Bishop Hamline tendered his resignation as bishop, and re- tired to the rank of a superannuated elder of the Ohio Conference. The doctrine of the Ciuirch, as to the nature of our episcopacy, had always been that it was an office, and not a distinct clencaX order, but no act or precedent had ever occurred to give i't practical and administrative sanction. Aside from ecclesiastical considerations, the spiritual lo.ss to the Church by the retirement of such a man from the episcopacy was accepted with universal regret as a common affliction. The simple and only ground of his retirement was want of health. We have seen how he has carried with him a disabled body from the beginning, but his excessive labors had at length so impaired and exhausted his normal powers that, with his organic disease aggravated, the necessity of rest became imperative. The sequel proved that his constitutional force was unable to rally. He might have superannuated as a bishop, but this would not GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1832. 345 release him from a relation to Churcli care and au- thority which would prove to him a constant occa- sion of unrest and solicitude. We have seen him retire from liis visitation of conferences in 1850 with alarming physical prostra- tion. The rest of intervening months fails to restore him, and in 185 1 he is able to adventure upon pub- lic duty but once, and this at the hazard of life. Clinging to the forlornest hope, he writes, May 24, 185 1, to M. Barney, Esq., a friend of his boyhood, "I have some hope that I may yet get to work." But it was vain. The experiment in the following July decided the case forever. As late as March 25, 1852, in a letter to a ministerial friend, he says: "My health is gone, so that I have attempted to occupy the pulpit but once in almost two years, and not once for the last fourteen months. The dis- ease is of the heart, if physicians report correctly, and is often very tedious, accompanied with faint- rtess and often faintings, which threaten dissolution. I find such a state involves trial, over which I some- times trust grace enables me to triumph, but at others the conflict is severe." The eventful year of 1852 opens, with Bishop Hamline, with solemn thanksgiving and covenant: "O thou Infinite Father of my spirit, in whom I live and move and have my being, and from whom cometh every good and every perfect gift, help me this day to renew my covenant with thee, and thereby consecrate myself afresh to thy most holy service, by thy Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ thy Son ! Help me to apprehend the solemij nature of this act, and to be deeply humbled and affected in view of the parties to this trans- action. Thou, O Lord, who condescendest to regaid thy serv- ant in this solemn hour, art infinitely pure and perfect, and, 346 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. thejeforei infinkely exalted above the loftiest of tliy creatures. 'Behold, I am vile.' All my nature is corrupt, atul without the cleansing power of thine OranippteiVt Spirit tjiere is no sound- ness in me. Yet thou hast condescended to reveal thyself to nie in the most wonderful relations. Thou art my creator, and I am thy creature. As thy subject thou art my King, and as thy probationer thou art my Teacher and ipy Judge. As a sin- ner I may call thee my Redeemer, in which relation thou hast done, and (be astonished, ye heavens), hast suffered for me, a& neither my- thoughts can cbnceivfe'nor my trembling pen declare.' . -■■-.■.: ■.:■,,'.• " How unspeakable the benefits which I Jiave received a,s the fruit of Christ's, sufferings thou, Q Loi-d, and thou alone, knowest; as well as the terrible and eternal wratb due to my sins, instead theredf! Blinded by sin; thy Spirit has in some measure enlightened me, and shown me thy law, and laid upon my conscience the burden of my traijsgressiqns. Dead iji tres- passes and sins, thy Spirit did quicken that conscience, so tliaf its burden should become intolerable, and cause my soul to cry for relief to thee. Helpless, and unable to escape from my burden, thou didst receive me and <:all rtie to life. Full of misery, thou didst send toniejlhe Cpmfprjer; to, abide with. me forever. Polluted in all the depths, of my moral being, thou didst descend into the loathsome sepiilcher of my affections,' and not with ' hyssop sprinlclings,' but with the blood of Christ, commence the purifying of my unclean heart. And,i amid the. frequent and guilty wanderings of twenty-fpur years, thou ha^^ not utterly forsaken me; but with as frequent and with as powerful calls, reproofs, and drawings of thy love, hast restored and comforted my weak and wounded. soul. Thou knowest, O Lord, what thou hast done fpi\ nie -in. all these marvelous in- stances of thy mercy; and full well thou knowest how impossi- ble, it is for the finite to comprehend the Infinite of thy par- doning, preserving, restoring loye,tpward one, mojt ungrateful and vile. , r . . "And now, O blessed God,- thou crownest thy patience, and, pity toward me by causing me to taste at this present time the sweetness of thy comforts, audio feel that thy hand is, not with- dra,wn from me; but thatthou witnessest to'me, as well by thy Spirit as by: thy Word, ^hat thou forgivest iniquity, transgres- sion, and sin. Therefore, O Lord God of iHosts, Father, Son, GENEKAL CONFERENCE OF 1832. 347 and Spirit, I give myself to tliee, now and forever, to serve and glorify thee; to be subject unto thee cheerfully :ind constantly, in all states which may serve thy will and glory, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Araenl" ■ In such a divinely serene and devoted state of soul he looked out upon the untried scenes of the coming year with the dignity and the resignation of faith. In this trying hour the marked feature of his Christian life — supreme concern first for his own soul, then for the Church and humanity — derived new luster from the deepening shadows of his affliction. He could "decrease" if thereby Christ should "in- crease." With unabated z$al for the pulpit and the battle-field, he could remain coiitent with his confine- ment, "the prisoner of the Lord." But if about to be released from service in the field, he was not exempt from the practice of arms in camp. His trials and conflicts were chiefly necessary incidents of his in- firmities, while his victories were astonishing even to himself. Writing to Rev. L. Swormstedt on busi- ness, he closes with a glance at the coming General Conference and himself: "Many plans are on hand," he says, "as to presiding elders, laj' representation, pewed houses, etc. I suppose something is said, too, about offices. For my part, the only agreeable thing I would desire is to get back into an annual confer- ence, travel two or three circuits, have a glorious re- vival, see a few hundred souls converted and deeply pious, die in peace, and go to heaven. Who knows but a gracious God may grant it? I would be very willing to have you for my presiding elder." During almost the entire itinerant life of Bishop Hamline, Rev. L. Swormstedt had been his presiding 348 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. elder. Thus they were thrown much into each other's society, and, being nearly of age, a warm, brotherly attachment sprung up between them, which added years served but to increase. They were as David and Jonathan of old, and, perhaps, to no other per- son did Bishop Hamline talk and write more freely on confidential matters than to him. To his children. Dr. and Mrs. Hamline, he thus writes, February 19th. " Dear Children, — We rejoice exceedingly that you are thoroughly convinced the world can not make you happy. This conviction, if it be thorough and continually deepened, will be an important step toward real happiness. Yet do not for- get that we may resign the world in general, but still pursue it in detail. We may resolve against it as a whole, yet seek and seize it by parts and parcels. To reject it as a whole is easy, because as .i whole it has many things really repulsive, even to our unsanctified hearts ; whereas, divided up by Satan into baits of temptation, portions of it may look very alluring. The trout dreads the bearded hook, and persuades itself that the whole affair is to be dreaded ; but the skillful angler lays the tempting bait around its shady nook until all the fear is for- gotten, and death is greedily swallowed. ■' If we can fix the purpose to reject the most alluring things of earth, we may succeed to eschew all. But this we can not do without religion. We are so constituted that we shall choose the best apparent good. To the irreligious that ' apparent good ' is the world. Religion does not appear ^ood for present entertainment unless we possess it. When we lose the relish for it, we can not remember how sweet it is. When we possess it, we wonder how we can forget its sweet- ness ; but if we lose our relish we do, and always shall, forget it, Now, dear children, choose, pursue, obtnin, enjoy all the religion God will grant you, and you will be in no danger from the world." " Wednesday, March 3. — The powers of darkness have been repulsed. I have been joyful all the day. What a mercy ! What a miracle I am ! It seems impossible that I should be. thus blessed ! My trials have for some weeks been very great. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1832. 349 " Sunday evening, 7. — I have had a blessed day. I am almost afraid to say so. I am surprised to find myself repeat- ing, ' My God, the spring of all my joys,' etc. My conflicts and struggles have of late been very great. '^Sunday, 21. — My flesh Irembleth under a sense of his mercy. How wonderful are his blessings ! It seems as though my Savior was trying every possible method to bless me; as though Infinite Wisdom would exhaust itself In expedients to bless and save me. I would love to tell all the world the height and depth and breadth, the bottomless abyss of mercy that saves sinners.'' Mrs. Hamliiie had been speaking to him, at one time, of his making an effort the next week to go and meet the bishops, and thence to attend General Con- ference. Talking of it, she says, agitated him, and now that he felt he must resign his office, urging him to attend General Conference distressed him, and he seemed to sink. Mrs. Hamline expressed anxiety, upon which he said: "You ought not to be anxious; may be the Lord will take me away before that time. I felt last night as though I might be baptized for the grave. I had a deep and peculiar blessing last night. What a wonder that such a sinner can look calmly at death and even long for it; And it is not the impudence of self-confidence, but the gush of heart-felt trust in Christ. I am reminded of the rainbow round the throne — it is all rainbow. If we were to depend on justice, what could we do ? But it is mercy ! Mercy I If it please his Infinite mercy to take me- now, I will rejoice, but 1 leave it to his wisdom. It will be right either way. I had a blessed time in secret prayer to-d;iy." To a friend he said : " Do you expeiience any thing which answers to that say- ing, ' Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God ye have no life in you?' I think I have now something in my experience which just answers. O the wonders of redemp- tion ! Christ die for sinners ? Who can think or speak of it ? 3 so BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. the wonder that lie should visit such a heart! For some hours my heart has been like running waters. " Well might I hide my blushing face, While his dear cross appeare." To the Board of Bishops, at their meeting in Philadelphia, Bishop Hamline writes, April 21, 1852: "Rev. and Dear Brethren. — With some hope that I may visit Boston, if I make no previous effort, I am compelled to decline meeting you in Philadelphia. A friend and phy- sician, who is fiimiliar with my state of health, warns me not to attempt to go either to Philadelphia or to Boston. I may be compelled to relinquish both ; but as I could render you no service I ought now, I think, to give up the former. If I fail to reach Bostoa I Shall in -due time forward you another com- munication, with my parchment and resignation, there being no hope that 1 can perform any more service in the ministry. " I have been afflicted to see my dear colleagues laboring so hard the l;isl year or two to supply my lack of service ; but 1 am thankful that God has brought you through. I have had great comfort in my retirement, and precious seasons in prayer for you and the Church, and t will be thankful for an interest in your devotions. In the absence of our venerated senior [Bishop Hedding], removed lo the Church above, may God, even our God, abundantly bleSS you in all your deliberations and conclusions !'' To Rev. Jacob Young, he writes. May 6th. " Beloved Brother. — You said twenty-one years ago, as we walked together, 'you must increase, but I must decrease." I am now just as old as you were then — fifty-five. I am un- able to preach, pray in family or get to conference ; but yon, twenly-one years older than then, can do all. Surely ' God seeth not as nxan seeth.' ... I shall forward my resigna- tion in a day or two. I can write no more. I hope to dwell with you forever in heaven ! .0 delightful thought ! Pray for me. Your son in the Gospel." The General Conference met in Boston, May I, 1852. On May 7th, Bishop Hamline sent to that GENERAL CONFERENCE OF tSjz. 35 1 body a letter, together with his episcopal parchments, and a letter from his physician. On May loth, tlie bishops presented the same to the conference, which was read, and referred to the Committee on Episco- pacy. The following is Bishop Hamline's letter: "To the General Conffrence of the Methodist Efiscofal Church convened in Boston. " Dear Brethren. — Doubting jvhether the state of my health will allow nie to reach the seat of the conference, I for- ward this communication at an early period that you may be informed on one point of moment to your future conference action. " Many will remember that when elected to the episcopal office I was in poor health. For several previous months I had preaclied but once, and was incapable of much labor. Traveling so improvedmy health, that for six years I attended my conferences, and, after a few of the first months, performed considerable labor in the pulpit. But in 1849 my duties were unusually laborious. In the intervals of some of my confer- ences I took long jourrteySj and devoted myself with my col- leagues to the revision of the Hymn Book; and in addition to my own district, which was large that year, the partial failure of BiiJiop Hedding induced me to attempt extra efforts; From that year's labor I have never recovered. Through the following winter I was much of the time confined to my room. Towards spring in 1850 my physicians urged me to get released from all official duties and take a sea voyage, warning me that a tour of conferences during the summer would be extremely hazardous and might end my labors for life. But the severe toil likely to fall on my colleagues induced me to proceed, and I reached four of my six conferences, though .in the last I was of little service. Since then (September, 1850) 1 have preached but once. Last summer, I presided in one con- ference only, which I found, after the excitement was over, greatly aggravated my difficulties. As to the nature of my dis- ease, in 1844, three physicians in Cincinnati gave me their written opinion (urging me in the same not to attend the Gen- eral Conference) that it was a disease of the heart. Perhaps all but two or three who have carefully examined me since. 352 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. concur in that opinion. The inclosed letter from Professors Lawson and Coniegys expresses the same view of my case in 1850. But whatever my disease may be, it incapacitates me for labor. "Under my official responsibilities, to be unable to dis- charge my duties was an affliction, especially as it bore heavily on the effective superintendents. But I was comforted under this affliction, being persuaded tliat I had done all I could — more than physicians and counseling friends deemed incum- bent or even warrantable. I have been much of the time calmly resigned to this trying inactivity. "And now I think that the circumstances warrant my de- clining tlie Episcopal office. Eight years ago I felt that Divine Providence liad strangely called me to the office. I now feel that the same Providence permits me to retire. I, therefore, tender my resignation, and request to be released from my offi- cial responsibilities, as soon as the way shall be prepared by the preliminary action of the Episcopal Committee. " Relieved of my official obligations; I think of nothing but cleaving to Christ with all my heart, and in my feeble retire- ment aiming to promote his blessed ■ cause. I mourn over my unworthiness, personal and official, but trust in one great Prophet, Priest, and King, for acquittal, cleansing, and eter- nal life. "Though my heart is moved at severing an interesting rela- tion to the militant Church, to the General Conference, and to my venerable colleagues, beloved in Christ, yet I rejoice in those other relations which I pray may always endure until they shall heighten into the fellowships of heaven. " ' Of heaven !' There tlie sainted Hedding has found his rest. In his letters of condolence heiised to say, '1 shall soon follow you.' He went before me. But we are all going, and shall soon all be gone. Even -you, so active in Zion, strength- ening her bulwarks and beautifying her palaces, will soon have finished your work and have left behind you the traces of your foot-steps in your walks about the city of the great King. When you surrender your sacred trust to a younger generation may the fruits of your present labors move them to rise up and call you blessed. And to this end may the blessing of the Lord your God be upon you in the labors of the present conference, and in the toils of a life-time devoted to Christ's service." GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1832. 353 On the nth of May, the day after the foregoing document had been read in conference and referred to the Committee on the Episcopacy, two events oc- curred — a private meditation of Bishop Hamline in his room at home, and a public act of General Con- ference. We give them both. The Bishop thus muses and writes: "This is the "beginning of my fifty-sixth year. Yesterday was my birthday. I desired to record some things yesterday, but was not so secluded as to-day. My dear wife — thanks to thee, Heavenly Father, for this precious gift of thy providence — is abroad for a few hours, and I am alone with God. Let me make my record now. My habitual feeling is, surely I am the chief of sinners. This I believe is not ' voluntary liumility.' ' But I am a pardoned sinner. Christ's mercy has reached me. I feel his blood applied. I am not now saying, I shall get to heaven. I may fall away and perish. But I am now a par- doned sinner. " The General Conference is in session, and its doings affect me. I have resigned my office. I was called by the Church, and thought I was moved by the Holy Ghost to take the office. If my brethren pass me, and leave me uncensured, I shall now lay down the office, and this God approves. Now, O my God, sanctify to me all trials. Support nie under all sick- nesses, nervous weaknesses. Give me penitence, faith, meek- ness, love, and all the graces of Christianity, and save me, the chief of sinners, to the honor of thy grace, for Christ's sake. Amen.'' At the hour of this meditation the case of the Bisliop came before the General Conference for deci- sion. The following is an abstract of their Journal: "TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1852. " Tlie Committee on the Episcopacy reported in part as follows : " 'They have had the communication from Bishop Hamline * under consideration, and- present the following resolutions, and recommend their adoption by the coi>ference : " ^Whereas, It hath pleased Almighty God deeply to afflict 30 354 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. our beloved Bishop Hamline, and, whereas, he has been laid aside from active service thereby ; therefore, " ' I. Resolved, That we sincerely sympathize with our be- loved superintendent in his afflictions. '"3. Resolved, That after having fully examined his admin- istration for the last four years — his administration and charac- ter be and liereby are approved. " ' 3. Whereas, Bishop Hamline has tendered his resignation in the following language, to wit, " And now, I tliink that the circumstances warrant my declining the office. Eight years ago I felt that Divine Providence had strangely called me to tSie office. I now feel that the same Providence permits me to retire. I, therefore, tender my resignation, and request to be released from my official responsibilities, as soon as the way is prepared by the Episcopal Committee." Therefore, " ^Resolved, That the resignation of Bishop Hamline of liis office as a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America be, and the same hereljy is, ac- cepted. All which is respectfully submitted. " 'P. P. Sandford, Chairman. "'Boston, May 11, 1852.'" The discussion of this report, prior to action, pre- sented a scene of dignified sorrow, delicate appreci- ations, personal sympathies, and stern adherence to Church principles rarely equaled in any deliberative body. On the one hand, to accept the resignation would settle forever the doctrine that a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Cliurch was an ecclesiastical officer, not representing a distinct priestly order; while, on tlie other hand, such an act would be a great loss to the Church and her episcopacy, and a seeming dis- respect to the retiring bishop. The thing the confer- ence would choose was that Bishop Hamline might be permitted to retire from active service in view of his loss of health, and still retain his title and rank. Dr. Sanford, chairman of the committee, said it might be proper for him to say a word or two in GENEKAr. COXFEKENCE OF iSjz. 355 reference to the report. The committee had had in contemplation a different report from the one pre- sented, until some brethren, intimate with Bishop Hamh'ne and his afflictions, assured the committee that noticing else, in the opinion of the Bishop, could possibly relieve him from the burden that must inces- santly press upon him. Consequently it was the opinion of the committee that this was the only course they could recommend in order to relieve the mind of the Bishop from the extreme pressure that weighed him down in his afflicted condition. Dr. Bangs said that no man had a higher respect for Bishop Hamline and the episcopal office than he had, but he had other reasons than those assigned by the chairman of the committee for approving of the report. He believed the Bishop perfectly super- annuated, and that when he resigned his office he did so in the utmost sincerity. He thought that the present was a fair opportunity to set the precedent that we did not consider the doctrine "Once a bishop always a bishop" our doctrine. It was not so. The principle was recognized in 1844, in the case of Bishop Andrew. If they adopted these resolutions the principle would be carried into practical effect. J. A. Collins said he could not look with appro- bation on the resolutions proposed. It was clear that Bishop Hamline's illness was brought upon him by the increased labors of his position. He felt that when a bishop had lost his health through excessive and extraordinary labors, they ought not to accept his resignation. He might get better, and if that were the case, he presumed every one of them would delight to have him perform his functions as a bishop 3S6 BIOGKAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He did not wish to place himself in conflict with so able and venerable a body as the Committee on the Episco- pacy, and would not be understood as doing so, but he would suggest the following resolution as a sub- stitute for the last offered by the committee: "Resolved, by the delegates of the several Annual Confer- ences in General Conference assembled, Tliat the bishops be, and they hereby are, requested to return to Bishop Hamline his parchments, accompanied with a communication informing hini tliat this General Cdilference declines accepting his resig- nation as a superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and grants Irim unrestricted' ipennission, and advises hiai to adopt and pursue such course for the restoration of his healtji as his judgment may dictate." Mr. Griffith said, he yielded to no man in his profptind respect to. the office of the epispopacy as recognized and defined by the Methodist Episcopal Churcli. He deemed it the most perfect scriptural model , of the episcopacy , that ever existed jn the world. He \yas, therefore, exceedingly unwilling to come to the conclusion to which at last he did come; but when he came to look jit the subject fully, he felt himself forced to .grant the; Bishop's request. If they would take the communication of the Bishop, they would find that he set forth ^lis case something like this : He was in ill health when elected, and th^t ill hejilth had beei;i increased. and augniented almost perpetually from the weight of his duties, until finally he was reduced to z. state of utter prostration. The testirripny of eminent physicians was that his dise?ijse was that of the heart — a malady of which ordinarily there was no cure. Su,ch was hjs condition. He also further states that such is his peculiar temper- GENERAL COXFBKENCE OF i8j2. 357 ament and constitution of mind, that while there is any sense of responsibility resting upon him he could not enjoy hirnself. Under these circumstances he had come to the conclusion, that the only remedy Avas to be released froni this sense of responsibility that rests upon him. He felt himself incompetent longer to disclvarge the duties of his ofifice, and wished to be freed from them; and he thought also that jt was a providential dispensation of, God, , that he had it in his power to esta,blish a precedent that might be of use in future time. Frorn these reasons, said Mr. Griffith, the; corpinittee voted as they did. Dr. Holdich moved that the report of the com- mittee be taken up, item by item, which was carried. The first two resolutions were then taken up and adopted. Dr. Sandford said he had confidence in the judg- ment. of the brethren who had had, recent and inti- mate communications with Bishop Hamline. They expressed the opinion that .it , w as . impossible to. relieve his mind from the burden under wliich be is laboring, except by the acceptance of his resignation. They would not hive had a unanimous opinion in the committee on the subject, had they not been assured that there was no other way to relieve the Bishop from his sense of responsibility. Dr. Cartwright had been in intimate correspon- dence with Bishop Hamline during the greater part of his afiflictions, and he. spoke understaiidingly when he said that it was the Bishop's earnest desire to have the privilege of resigning his office. He also thought it a good time, the set time, to test the principle involved in the resolution. 3S8 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Mr. Moody was in favor of the substitute. Bishop Hamline's services, before and since his election, had gained for him enduring fame, and entitled him to their most specific and positive regards, and to the honorary relation to that body contemplated in the resolution offered by Brother Collins. While the Methodist Church was racked with discord from cen- ter to circumference, he came to the General Confer- ence, and with the might of his arm struck with the wand of his power that huge stalking shadow erst in our midst, and rolled back that portentous cloud which hung darkly over them. He thought that every principle of delicacy and of Christian courtesy would lead them to adopt the substitute proposed by Brother Collins. They knew the particular situ- ation' of the Bishop's mind. It was the peculiarity of gifted minds to feel acutely where those of a grosser cast felt not at all, and he believed that if they over- rode the resignation tendered, and requested him to use his own time and judgment in seeking the restor- ation of his health, it would fall like a balm from heaven upon his troubled heart, and would have a more powerful influence in restoring him to health than any other means. E. P. Tenny said that from the statement of the brother last up it appeared that Bishop Hamline had struck down the shadow of a ghost that had stalked into the Methodist Episcopal Church in relation to episcopacy. Very good; but now they wanted the General Conference to strike down the thing itself, and he hoped the original resolution would pass. Mr. Pilcher did not rise to make a speech, but only to give a little information. He had a conver GENERAL CONFERENCE OF iSjz. 359 sation less than a year ago with Bishop Hamline on this very subject, and he told him he intended to resign, and hoped the General Conference would set a good example by accepting his resignation. He suggested to him that he had better not resign, but take a superannuated relation, and then be left at liberty to pursue such a course as he should think most likely to benefit his health. He told him that that would not relieve the matter at all. The sense of responsibility was too much for his enfeebled frame. If they passed the substitute it would not meet the case, for the weight of the responsibility would still be felt, and he would feel it his duty to relieve his colleagues to the very utmost of his power. Mr. Shaffer said this was not a question of deli- cacy nor of S3'mpath_\'; it was not a question to be decided by resolutions of professed friendship, but it was a question big with the destiny of the Method- ist Episcopal Church. One objection which the friends of our system had often to meet was the difTiculty that grew out of the ceremony of ordina- tion. The argument that they had but two orders in the Church — deaconship and eldership — and that the bishopric was not a third order, was met by the question, "But why bring forward a di.stinct ordination like that of the Episcopal Church?" If we had a precedent that an officer could resign, we could at once point to this precedent, and silence the objec- tors; but why should they crush that good man with the weight of that office upon him? He was in favor of the original resolution. Mr. Slicer was in favor of accepting the Bishop's 36o UlOGliAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. resignation,' It would place the Methodist Episco- pal Church in the United States upon a vantage ground which she had long needed. Adopt the sub- stitute, and, although the Bishop might not plreside in an annual conference, or make the. appointment of a single circuit preacher, he would stilli'have his proportion of episcopal authority and responsibility, and it would hang as a millstone about his neck. B. M. Hall said that in 1844 it was Ivs unspeak- able pleasure to read the famous speech of L. L. Hamliiie, and he felt that God had raised up a man to meet the crisis which they had reached. He agreed in every word respecting that speech which - had been uttered by his brother from Ohio. He felt as though principles were advocated and positions taken in these days exceedingly injurious. to us aSa Church, aided, as he thought tbey were somewhat, ;by the effect of our service of ordination to the office of superintendent. He did not blame the outsider for insisting that they, had three orders in the .ministry before he was fully initiated .into its policy. He really believed that the speech was worth more than could be estimated in dollars and cents. That speech made him a bishop. He \vient out to the Sti-aits of Thermop3dae just at the time to save us, and fought nobly. Now, he would beg the brother from Ohio not to dim the glory that encircled the head of that 'man, nor the reflected glory that falls upon his con ference, but let the low Church principles of that speech be carried out to their consumma.tion by the very man who originated them. Then, he thought, the Ohio Conference and Bishop Hamline would have a double glory; then tlie Methodist Episcopal Church GENERAL CONFEKENCE OF 1831. 36 1 would receive a benefit from that man which they had not received from any other livini^ man. Dr. Holdich thought this was not a fair case for a precedent. He was in an infirm state of health when elected, and had worked himself down by a devotion to the duties of his offie. He thought the failure of his health was not a sufficient reason for accepting his resignation, and he favored the substitute. Dr. Durbin asked himself the question, "Will it be well for Bishop Hamline that we accept his res- ignation?" He believed it would be best for him. Brethren who knew him had told him it would be, and on their judgment he relied; and, therefore, it was due to Bishop Hamline that they grant his re- quest. Bishop Hamline was competent to resign, and the conference was competent to accept his resignation. At this point in the discussion a letter from Bishop Hamline to Jacob Young, then just received, was presented and read. An extract is as follows: "Schenectady, May 8, 1852. "To Rev. J. Young, — ^Yours is just received. But for some peculiar difficulties I could get to General Conference, and wish I could, for I greatly desired to see you. But for your difficulty of sight I would have written to you a long letter asking your advice; but as I have forwarded my resignation, and, I trust by divine guidance, come to my conclusions, I will only say, when my resignation comes before the. conference I hope you and all my friends will vote for it promptly. I am embarrassed by the office, and I believe in the principle of resigning, and wish to set an example. Free from office, I may yet rally in mind, and then in body; and preach a little more. I should like to fall into the conference with Revs. Jacob Young, Trimble, Heath, Connell, etc., if God so orders. 31 362 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. "I sent on my parchment and letter of resignation yes- terday. •' To-day I am wonderfully blessed. It is one of the hap- piest mornings of my life. I think God approves." Mr. Clark added that lie recently had an inter- view with Bishop Hamline, when the Bishop told him he should resign at the next General Conference ; that the Bishop said he should consider it ^Imost a sin to retain an office the duties of which he could never hope to perform. Mr. Clark said he was con- vinced that if they would soothe his spirit, and place him in a position to recover, they must grant his request. The case was now clear, no ground was left to further advocate non-acceptance. By motion of Rev. Wm. Reddy the "substitute" was laid on the tabkj and the original form of the report was taken up. We quote from the journals of conference : " It was ordered to consider and act upon the report item by item. "The first: resolution of the report was unanimously adopted by a rising vote. " The second resolution was unanimously adopted. "The third resolution was adopted. ; '-'■■- " The report was amended by appending the following res- olution submitted by J. A. Collins, and adopted by the con- ference: " 'Hesolved, by the delegates of the several annual confer- ences in General Conference assembled, that the bishops be, and they hereby are, respectfully requested to convey to Bishop Hamline the acceptance. of his resignation as a superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church by the General Conference ; accompanied with a communication expressing the profound regi"et of this body that the condition of his health has, in his judgment, rendered it proper for him to relinquish his official position, assuring him also of our continued confidence and GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1832. 363 affection, and that our fervent prayers will be offered to the thione of grace that his health may be restored, and his life prolonged to the Cliurch." "The preaiiible of the report was adopted, and then the report as a whole, and as amended, was adopted. The following is the letter of the bishops" to Bishop Hamline, accompanying the record of the ac- tion of General Conference in the case, pursuant to to their order: "Conference Rooms, Boston, May 13, 1852. " Rev. Bishop L. L. Hamline. Dear Brother, — In compli- ance with a request of the General Conference of the Method- ist Episcopal Church, we herewith transmit to you a certified extract from their journal setting forth the action of that body in accepting your resignation of your episcopal office, i ! " In pei'forminor this duty We take occasion to join with the General Conference in expressing our ' profound regret ' that Bishop Hamline's health has led' him to feel it necessary to tender to the General Conference his resignation of his episco- pal office.' Most deeply and fraternally do we sympathize with him in his severe and proti-acted sufferings. Most earnestly and frequently do we invoke the blessing of God upon him. We also avail ourselves of this opportunity to express to Bishop Hamline the high, satisfaction which his association with us in the superintendency of the Methodist Episcopal Church has afforded us, and the sincere regret we feel at losing him from our number. Be assured, reverend and dear brother, that in retiring from the episcopacy you bear with you our high esteem, our warm fraternal affections, and our best wishes for your future welfare. "We remain your affectionate brethren in Christ, " Edmund S. Janes, T. A. Morris, B. Waugh." The regrets of the Church at the necessity of this resignation, and for the public loss sustained thereby, were universal. It was a day of mourn- ing. A bright star had set. It was as "the day 364 BWGRAFHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINK. of his burial." It would be unseemly to publish the regretful letters received by Bishop Hamline on this occasion, but two we may not withhold from the reader, the first for its sweetness, the second for its historic insight, and both as representing the senti- ments of the Church. From the seat of General Conference, Dr. E. Thomson, president of Ohio Wesleyan University (afterward Bishop) thus writes. The letter is dated May 9, 1852, two days Earlier than the acceptance of the resignation, but when the inevitable result was fully foreseen: " My Dear Brother, — I was deeply grieved to learn of your slate of health, and especially that it is such as to forbid your continuance in the episcopal office. Permit me to say that I love you, that I feel under great obligation to you, that if at any time I have caused you pain I am very sorry for it, and:that if at any time or in any way I can serve you, 1 shall be pleased if you will point it out. 'Most sincerely do I pray that your health may be restored, that your peace of mind may be uninterrupted, and that, whether you live long among us or die soon, you may be filled with all the fullness of God. " Remember me, dear brother, to your excellent wife, and ask for me an interest in her prayers. I intended to call upon you when you were in Peoria, but the boat did not stop. You will do me a great favor if you will write me, and still greater if you will pray for me. I shall always value your friendship. Accept my thanks for your kindness. No bishop has been more couiteous to me than yourself. " Yours, truly, E. Thomson." The following is from the Rev. Dr. J. T. Peck, President of Dickinson College, Pennsylvania (now Bishop). Those who attended the General Confer- ence of 1844 will readily recall the discussion on the nature of the Methodist episcopacy, and corroborate the views taken in the letter of Dr. Peck. The letter GENERAL CONFEKENCE OF iSsi. 365 is dated eight days after the final action of the confer- enceon ' ' resignation :" " Dickinson College, May 19, 1852. " My Dear Bishop : I must beg yon to allow me the use of this word as a title of respect to which I have become accus- tomed, and which I feel to be eminently due. Indeed, I do not know how I can reconcile my feelings to any other style of ad- dress, for you are my bishop, and shall be so long as we both live. I am very well aware that you have no fondness for titles of any kind — that y,tTiense practical impor- tance of thiSiSichiev«iaei>t. I J'ail it ^as one of the providential indications that he hasiyet a >v,o,rk of. immeuse importance for the Methodist Episcopal Church to do,, ■ , , "And, may we not, hope, my dear-,brotheri that this relief from th&burden of work i>nd responisibi'ity will be favorable tp the recovery of your health? i,It, will certainly give you quiet of mind, and remove much perplexity from your correspond- ence. Oh that you might be fayored, with returning strength ! How I should thank ,GQd!to,see you,rising-3gain-^to hear your voice once more on Zion's walls. , Take ,cpur^ige,;iriy brother, it may even yet be so. It will be so if God, has yet another work for-:yon,to.do. But be this as it.may., y,o]u,will be, sweetly in the hands of your kind. Father- I was gratified to observe the feeling of tender regret, in Generiil, Conference, for your illness,. and foruhe Joss, the, Church bad sustained in the failure of your hpalth. , If you had noturgedthe case in a private Ijet- ter.ithey would* have, been importunate for the withdrawal of your resignation."! -. , •, , , , . I The feelings of Bishop Hamiine, after the deter- mitiation of his case by Genera} Conference, were GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1832. 367 those of thankfulness, satisfaction, and rest. The agony was now over. The critical point of his his- tory was passed. To him and to the Church, it was grateful to know that, if it must be done, it had now also been well done. The great change had taken effect under such prudent counsel, and discreet and dignified action, that both in the principles and the personal feelings involved in the method of accom- plishing the delicate Avork, it had secured the greatest satisfaction. He had accepted the office unsought, and as a cross, under a marvelous sense of duty, and now, after' eight years of overwork in great infirmity of body, he had laid it down, by providential order, as a burden he could no longer bear. "I feel," said he in a letter tO Rev. L. Swormstedt, "that a mount- ain ; load has fallen from me. I regret some errone- ous statements in discussing my resignation, but it can not be helped, and I am frefe from this office. As to orderi \ am as much a bishop as ever, but I am not called to superintend 'at large.' I know I was never worthy of the office, and you know I never sought if , nor thought of it." Again he says: "The 'acceptance' was received on the 13th (yesterday), and gave me comfort. Others who crave the honors of office ire welconieto them. I have more comfort in leaving than in receiving office, when I can leave conscientiously, as I now do. I am now a 'local preacher,' and if I could only preach I would be very biisy, I assure you.' But my power of speech, and almost of breathing, is gone. I will Wait on the Lord, and be of good courage." Bishop Morris writes to Bishop Hamline, July 27th : "The acts of the late General Conference, with a few exceptions, accord 368 BIOGKAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. with my views of propriety. . . . Had I been similarly situated in regard to liealtli, I think I should have pursued the same course you did. I never doubted the doctrine that a Methodist bishop, in good standing, miglit resign his office, that the Gen- eral Conference might accept it, and allow him to return to the ranks of the eldersiiip for an appoint- ment, or for such relation as his health required." The resignation of Bishop Hamline was the sub- ject of criticisni, not entirely friendly, by the Church South. The case of Bishop Andrew, at the Gen- eral Conference of 1844, as we have seen, forced the Southern delegates upon the ground of at least moderate Puseyism. Indeed, they never defined, log- ically or theologically, their own doctrine further than that it was assumed that in ordination the episcopal candidate received something which he thenceforward held through life, or till "excommunicated by due process of trial." According to this his rank must be priestly, not simply ecclesiastical ; held jure divino, not jure humano ; belonging to the essence, not the economy of the Church ; made to stand upon an ex- act parity with the order of elder, only a grade higher. According to this theory a bishop might, per- haps, resign his jurisdiction, or the active functions of his office, but not his parchments, as, on the same principle, an elder from failure of health may resign the pastoral function without surrendering his ordi- nation papers. But the cases are not parallel. A bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in re- signing his episcopal parchments, resigns only the pastoral function, or jurisdiction of office, not his GENERAL COXFEHEKCE OF iSjz. l6g priestly order. All that distinguished him from the presbyter was the extent and authority of his eccle- siastical jurisdiction. This governmental power was all that was conferred in the solemn form of his or- dination, and this surrendered, he retires ecclesi- astically to the simple rank of a presbyter. His episcopal parchments are only his vouchers for the legitimate investiture and exercise of this new pru- dential power. The form of episcopal ordination is not, therefore, evidence of priestly rank, but only of the solemnity, greatness, and legitimacy of the new jurisdictional function. The question proposed to the episcopal candidate, in ordination, touching the distinguishing feature of his office, is not the same as in the ordination of deacons or elders, but simply : "Are you persuaded that you are truly called to this ministration according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ?" The "call" is to a "ministration," which is elsewhere defined as belonging to the eccle- siastical economy of the Church, and tlie specific work, and his call thereto the candidate professes to believe to be "according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ." This office being prudential, the officer is subject to the judgment of General Con- ference, by whom he was elected, not merely for his moral conduct, but for the legality and discreetness of his administration, and his acceptability before the Churches. This view does not derogate from the dignity and solemnity of the office. There was a moral grandeur in the act of Bishop Hamline, in resigning, of great significance, and, while the Church regretted the fact, they approved the principle involved in it. The right to resign, 370 BfOGKAJ'HYOF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. and of General Configrencfe to accept, was according to the doctrine of Wesley, of Asbury, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church; and no act, simply ec- clesiastical, has ever occurred in the history of ouf Church of broadfer import or more decisive ioilu- erice upon its polity in the generations to come. PRIVATE LIFE. 371 Chapter XXIII. [iSsa to S854.} RETIRES TO PRIVATE LIFE— THOUGHTS OF TRAVEL- WEALTH AND LIBERALITY. AFTER the General Conference of 1852 Bishop Hamline removed to Hillsdale, N. Y. , where arhoiig his family friendsj he enjoj'ed retirement for about one year. The change of official relation to the Church wrought no change in his solicitude and sympathy for his' active brethren, and for the cause of the Redeemer. To Rev. Dr. Roe he writes, Sep- tember 16, 1852: " Your remark that ' life seemed a failure ' has been thought of almost daily since you wrote to me. But, my dear brother, if we get to heaven, probation will not be , .1854. "To Dk. L. p. Hamline : My dear Son — ^We were very lonely after you left us. Our prayers followed you on your way. I trust you roused up arid was cheerful on your return home. We are in a world of suffering, arid miist have our share with others. We can find no true refuge but in Christ. In youth, as well as in old age, we need a Savior. O, my son, my dear son, rest not but on the bosom of Jesus. I can scarcely write this evening, but it seemed a little like talking with you to write a few words, and I thought I would attempt it, for after you went away I found it so lonely^ without you, that I re- gretted your departure, even though reason approved it, seeing I expect you down again soon, I will add a little in the morning. I triist you will be blest through Christ our Lord," Though unable to go out to war as in other da)'s. Bishop Hamlihe's heart was toward them that offered themselves freely to the Lord's army, and his sym- pathies were alive to the progress of the Redeemer's \,Pflf:VA.T£.LIFE, 375 kingdom. This appears in all his letters, whether of friendship or on business. ' ' I hear of great revivals among you," he writes to Rev. M. P. Gaddis. "Praise God for this. Revivals are the great hope of the Church. There, can be no Church without them. May the people and preachers never forget it. I pray that Brother Caughey niay be a son of thunder iji Ohio. He is a heavenly-minded man, unlike some who went before him as revivalists, and, I think, worthy of great confidence." On April 20, 1854, Mr. Hamline left Hillsdale and returned to his relative, Mr. Ford, near Schen- ectady. Here he records: "Sunday, 23. — At Mr. E. Ford's, Rotterdam. Attended Church in P. M., but felt unusual dryness. The local brother gave us a good sermon, however, and here is a people devoted to God. "Monday, May 8.— -The Lord has blessed me this day. I feel that Jesus is unspeakably precious. My soul breathes after ' him. 'Whom have I in heaven but thee!' is the exclamation of my soul, visited by the Spirit of the Son sent forth into my heart, crying, Abba, Father. "Tuesday, 9. — 'I will extol thee, my God, O King, and will praise thy name for ever and ever ! With my whole heart will I praise thee.' This has been a day of precious blessings to my soul. Lord, thou knowest if I am thine. Let me know myself, and not mistake where eternity depends.'' As an experiment upon his health, after a few weeks, he removes for a time to Sharon Springs, a pleasant village and watering-place in Schoharie County, New York. His stay was about two weeks too short for any permanent effect, though he says: "I trust the waters have done me some good." While at the Springs he writes: - " Sharon SpkiNCS, Sunday 14. — This lovely Sabbath is spent without any but closet privileges; but these are precious. 376 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. .There is a chapel half a mile off, occupied by the Lutherans and Methodists alternately. This is the Lutherans' day. It seemed to me it would be a feast to my soul to hear the Lutheran, but was too ill to go. I am here at a hotel, but the family is very kind. . . . Lord, give me this day the waters of life. 'Insatiate to this spring I fly, I drink and yet am ever dry.' " He left the Springs May 27th and returned to his residence near Schenectady. On Sunday, June nth, lie records: "The holy Sabbath. Have felt humbled under the mighty hand of God. Life with nie is almost past; but a fragment remains. I have attempted to serve my God for many years, yet when I bear these services into the presence of God's law, and compare them with its stern and. righteous requirements. I am confounded, and cry out, 'God be merciful lo me a sinner!' O Lord, I am ashamed to lift up my face in thy presence! I lie in the dust, I put my hand upon my mouth. I beseech thee, God, to show me, this day, the malignity of sin and the full- ness of the Savior — his power and willingness to deliver me from sin ! Thou hast brought me to taste tlie sweetness of par- don and freedom in Christ. Convey, I beseech thee, to-day, while I wait before thee in prayer and in communing with thy wojd, a fresh witness of thy favor, which is life, and of thy loving-kindness, which is better than life. O bless with thy salvation, thy full salvation." In a letter to dear friends, June 1 2th, and allud- ing to their notice of fulfillment of prophetic signs preceding the coming of Christ. He says: "Your last deeply interests me — us; but amid the coming events we forget not ' Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God !' Jews and Papists will all disapjjear by ingrafting into Christ, or wrath from his judgment sentence. May the little Jew be a shining light! My mind is comfortable. I rest in Him who says, 'Ye shall find rest.' I find it.'' In his diary he thus writes: "September i. — Reading Baxter's 'Saints' Rest' a few days 1 as greatly refreshed me. It and Wesley's incomparable ser- pjiiVATE Life. 377 nions (the Bible first), and liymn book, are a precious Christian library. I believe I have seen more clearly into my own heart of late, more clearly, too, the preciousness of Christ O what a vile heart! O what a precious Savior! ' His name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.' I need yet" further and fuller discoveries. I desire such a view of my sins always, as, but for divjne support and comfort, would destroy me; and then such views of Christ, that if my sins were ten thousand times more, yea, more than those of the whole v»orId in all its geheratioiis, I could instantly by faith cast them all on Him who bore.them all in his own body on the tree. Such views are needful for me. By these, endeared each day more clear and more affecting, must I grow in grace. Each step in the knowledge of Christ must be a step also in the knowledge of myself; just as incrtisSng light, thrown on a painting, ren- ders more distiiKt the background' as well as the features and finish of the portrait. . . "Sunday, 3. — I am very feeble to-day, too ill to visit God's house; breathe with difficulty, feel as though I might easily expire in a few minutes;' yet, by liiy earnest request, Mrs. Hamline is at meeting, and I am glad she is there. If I should expire and reach heaven before she returns, how wonderful it would be. I do not dread the journey more than she does her return, nor am I alone. Christ is with me and in me." As it was during the years 1853-4 that Bishop Hamline!s property iaterests and bequests came more prominently before the public, it seems proper to here pause and survey rapidly both his financial ability and his habit pf benevolent giving. This is the more proper, partly because he has been misun- derstoo^i by some at, this point, but chiefly because "pure religion and undefiled before God, even the Father," is declared in Scripture to be unv.orldly and unselfish, and is universally thus accepted among men, whether Christians or unbelievers. No part of the life of Bishop Hamline more beau- tifully illustrates tlie deptl) of his experience, and the 32 378 BTOGKAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. sincerity and strength of his Christian character than his practice of disposing his temporal affairs. In his earh'er life he was ambitious of wealth, and by his marriage came into possession of a comfortable estate, which, with his profession gave him ease and a qual- ified affluence. But his conversion changed the whole plan of his life. Within a year after this event he began -to preach, and when settled in his convictions that this was his calling, he immediately "left all to follow Christ." As to his temporal affairs, they gave him no con- cern. The time he gave to them scarcely equaled two days in a year. As early as convenient, after entering the itinerancy, he committed all his prop- erty interests to the trusty hands of Daniel Brush, Esq., President of the Zanesville Bank, himself a Methodist and a gentleman of high standing for prob- ity and prudence. Later this care fell to Mr. Bru.sh's son-in-law, Mr. J. Taylor, and still later to Grant Goodrich, Esq. (now Judge Goodrich), of Chicago. His agents were always faithful and competent. This enabled him to turn to his one work, "knowing nothing among men save Jesus Christ and him cruci- fied." It is interesting to know how lightly the cares of this world .sat upon him, and how true was his Christian conscience to acquit himself faithfully as the Lord's steward. When it became necessary, on account of his itinerant life, to dispose of his prop- erty in Zanesville, and to invest elsewhere, he had no plan or thought to do more than preserve what he already had by simple loans on interest. But after earnest advice and solicitation he consented to invest, especially in con.sideration of his son's grow- riilVATE LIFE. 37g iiTg family, and the probable wants of liis faithful wife if she should survive him. After full consultation with Mr. A. Garrett (whose widow afterward founded the Garrett Biblical Institute at Evanston), and with Hon. Grant Goodricli, to whom he had now com- mitted the agency of all his fiscal affairs, an invest- ment was made in real estate in Chicago. In a letter to Mr. Goodrich, December 14,-1851, he thus expresses his concern at the amount of care which necessarily devolved on him in managing his affairs : "I fear these various matters, small and great, invade your time too much, considering how arduous such professional researches^' viginti annorum,' etc. — are, whicli the lawyer is compelled to by severe necessity. But I do not see, in my present sick state and remote position, how I can otherwise attend to the business which (I trust not without providential favor) now lies at Chicago and in your hands. But if it is a serious annoyance do not liide it from me. Be sure lo let me know. Unless there is a radical improvement in my health, I shall [infernos) positively decline my present office in May; and if I have strength enough to do any thing, I can contribute a little counsel in my business. Be assured, however, I shall never attempt to be a business man, or approach that charac- ter. My face is strongly set in another direction. And I can not sufficiently praise God that he gives me neither the disposi- tion nor the necessity to mingle in the affairs of this vain world. Blessed be his goodness I" It was late in Bi.shop Hamline's life before his property investments had largely appreciated so as to entitle him popularl)' to the rank of a moderately wealthy man. It was not till 1853 that he was esti- mated to be worth one hundred thou.sand dollars. But even this was not all productive. A liberal sub- traction from available income must be made for unproductive property, for taxes, repairs, insurances, 38o BIOGKAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLIN E. payment of agent, etc. As to his salary as bishop he says.; "After paying travehng expenses, all goes back to the Church." As to his donations he says, May, 1854, "I have been giving about one thousand dollars annually, one-half my income, in small dona- tions here and there, and tried to tliink I was dofng my part; but of late I have felt dissatisfied, and began to feell was 'laying up,' or Providence was laying up for me, and that it might be my duty to invade the principal." In another place he says: "I did not sleep last night till twelve o'clock. The Lord greatly blessed me: I think I shall do more for the Church, pecuniarily, at least." Thug hi^ thoughts ran. When it was first arinou need j to him that, his real estate was valued a? ^bpve, hq; retired .and upon his knees in prayer and thanksgiving consecrated it to God. But it was a larg'e trust aijd could not, by human, wisdom, be suddenly, disposed of. , The cause; of education in the West had been much on his mind, aivd he desired to aid the more distant West as being less able to sustain college.s and institutions of the higher, grade. With thjs yie\y he opened a corre- spondence with Rev. D. Br,ooks,;.of Minnesota,, and; Rev. G. B. Bowman, of Iowa Conference, to ascer- tain what were their plans for education and what their needs. At this time he had no knowledge of any existing colleges in tlie.se conferences, but, sirnply sought information with a view to the most judicious disposition of his means. . To the Rev; C. Kingsley (afterward Bishop Kings- ley) he writes, April 17, 1854: ; : "I have souglil for some months to concentrate my pecun- iary means of nSefiilness at some very needy point, wtth tlie PRIVATE LIFE. 38 1 puipose of a very special effort, on an extensive scale, to fur- nish the means and facilities of education to a large number of young persons. For this, end I have been in correspondence with frontier ministers, where the field is comparatively unoc- cupied, and yet is so ifilling up with emigrants that no time should be lost. To accoinplish this, enterprise I have pledged to a friend, who joins me in it, all that I can possibly spare fpr years to come in this good cans? — ^more than one-half of my yearly income^ — and ultimately about half of all my pos- sessions.'* To Rev. C. W. Sears he writes, May 17th: "I have fell a great desire to' do' something in the cause of education, especially in a way to promote missions." These extracts are from letters to the above breth- ren who were agents for polleges, and had communi- cated with Bishop Hamhne. The brethren, Brooks and Bowman, above named, waited on Bishop Hamline at an early date, and the result of their visit is thus given by Bishop Hamline in his diary: "May 25, 1854. — Have been visited by Rev. David Brooks,, presiding elder of St. Paul District of the Methodist Episcopal Church ill Minnesota. Have donated twenty-five thousand dollars for the university in Minnesota. This is about one- fourth of my estate. 1 have done it in a wholesome dread of such scriptures as ' How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven. ' God has prospered me without my own agency, and added to the value of my possessions. ' - " Tuesday, 30. — Brother Bowman, .agent of the Mount Ver- non Institution, Iowa, has been withnie since yesterday morn-' ingi I have pledged him another twenty-five thousand dollars for a college at Mount Vernon, if he succeeds in getting a charter, and. the Iowa Conference and North-western University separate. Thus, within one week, I. have endeavored to con- secrate half . I: have . on earth to roy blessed Redeemer. I. should have no comfort in this but for the strong hope that. 382 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. when I am gone, some of God's gifts to me shall be my vol- untary gift to his blessed cause. O how condescending in him to seem to make something mine, that my heart, moved by his own goodness and Holy Spirit, may seem to return some- thing to him. How fondly do I hope that in after time a Jiid- son, or a Wesley, or a Nast, oi' a Jacoby may be nourished up for the Church in the very institutions which I feebly assisted to rear. I rejoice that my dear Mrs. Hamline is so cheerfully, cordially, and forwardly united with me in these considerable donations of fifty thousand dollars. We have still fifty thou- sand dollars left. In view of my son and his family, and of two families (a brother's and sister's) wliich I have principally to support, I think it will be right for me to keep my estate at about its present value. If it increases, or lands advance in f alue, Lord, help me to watch against riches ! And now, O Lord, show me thy glory in the fact of Jesus Christ! Amen." As the Institution in Minnesota was named the " Hamline University," and as pubh'c notice of the gift was forbidden by Bishop Hamline (according to his habit in bestowing benefactions), it went abroad that the gift was bestowed in consideration of giving the Bishop's name to the college. But this was un- true, and it is just to his memory to correct the error by giving tlie following extract from a published letter of Dr. David Brooks, dated Red Wing, May loth, i8S5- In the letter he says : " Having seen an article in the Western Christian Advocate. asking for information as to a donation of twenty-five thousand dollars given by our beloved Bishop Hamline, I wish to say Brother Hamline wrote to several brethren in Iowa and Min- •nesota — to me among them — stating that he proposed to ap- propriate fifty thousand dollars of his estate to colleges in the far west. " I happened to be the first to respond, and to visit him. I found him at Sharon Springs, New York, where — though scarcely able to, see company — he received me very kindly, examined the posture and prospects of our university, just PKIVA TE LIFE. 383 then chartered, and, without a word of persuasion, gave us twenty-five thousand dollars, about one half of which is in hand, to be used in putting up college buildings. "In this transaction there seemed a singular coincidence. We had' just got our university charter, and, without a syllable of correspondence with Brother Hamline, had given it his name. We had never notified him that we had even thought of ;; university in Minnesota till I received his letter. If he desired the honor of giving a name to the college, that was secured to him without a donation, as the institution was iilready chartered. But to the fact that I visited him before the Iowa brethren, who were a week later, I owe it under Providence that I obtained the first subscription, and not to the name of the college. "Some conditions were annexed to his subscription, as, for instance, a portion of it should form a permanent endowment fund. Bishop Hamline insisted, also, that no public notice should be given of his bequest, which is the reason that hints only have crept into the press. But now, as many are inquir- ing on the subject, and some erroneous notices have been before the public, I presume it is right ;ind proper to give this explanation. Red Wing is in Minnesota, and not Wisconsin." In writing to Rev. E. S. Grumley, August 2Sth, 1854, Bishop Hamline says: "Yours received. I have given twenty-five thousand dol- lars to the Minnesota University, but the name was all unknown to me, and was given it before tliey expected any thing from me. I wish the name was chiinged. I will write again soon. I will give no institution any thing for a name." Bisliop Hamline's income was never large. From two thousand dollars it increased to "less than five thousand dollars per annum ;" but when from this he had met his necessary foreign claims, the amount left was "between five hundred dollars and six hun- dred dollars," and this at a time when within the five months previous his benevolent donations had 384 BIOGKAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. amounted to five hundred and eighty-five dollars. He generally anticipated his income. . Writing to Bishop Janes, Septerntjer, 1851, he says: "I find they are about ktteiiipting.a Gierman Cluirch in Albany. I hope to be able to give something toward it during the Avinter, but must wait a little, as I fiird I have givien almost three hundred dollars' (rtiOstl'y in the West) within eight weeks, and as I can only spare at about' half that rate consistently during the year, I shall be compelled to check my hand." This shows that his habit of giving at that time was at the rate of nearly one thousand, dollars per annum, which was more than half his net income at that time. His agent, Mr. Brush, asked him for a donation of two hundred and fifty dollars for a chapel for the Ohio Wesleyan University. Bishop Ham- Hne sent him a jist ofj his donatio)) s for the fjew pre- ceding months "and asked him. to say if he thought he ought to give it ?" to which he promptly answered "nOf" , He gave it, howeyer, \yith addition, a little later. Another brother, a college agent, wrote hiin^ and "thought he ought to give a thousand," intimat- ing that it was considered he lacked in liberality. Two hundred and seventy dollars he had recently given to (he same instijtution. In reply, and after a courteous explanation of his affairs, Bishop Hamline says : "I trust always to receive in a proper manner the admo- nitions of my brethren on every point of duty. In regard to donations I am told by some valued friends, acquainted with my circumstances, that I am too lavish. I infer from your letter that yourself and some around you think me far other- wise. I can have no hope of meeting the views of both par; ties, and perhaps ought to think myself happy in the middle course. . - .' PKIVATF. LIFE. 385 ■'I must add one more leniaik. I can not purchase repu- tation from brethren who accuse me of covetousness, while I am probably laying out less expense on myself and family than they are, and am giving not one-tenth, but six-tentlis or seven- tenths of all my income to the Cluuch. I would not for any ,thing pay a price to such to husli tlieir 'gainsayings.' Above all, I would not buy from these brethren the verdict that I am pure and good. I am not willing, therefore, that my name should appear on your list of subscribers. I will request you, therefore, to have the one hundred dollars alluded to by you, credited as a subscription by my friend Dr. C. Elliott, and the one hundred and seventy dollars, forwarded to Mr. Brush some weeks ago, when paid, credited as a subscription of one hun- dred dollars to L. Swormstedt, and seventy dollars of it pay the subscription of Rev. Jacob Young. May our Heavenly Father bless you for Christ's sake. "Affectionately L. L. Hamline.'' The rebuke of this" letter needs no comment, and the sharp edge of it, in the spirit of dignified meek- ness and charity, is thoroughly characteristic of the writer. In 1856 Bishop Hamline was appealed to for personal aid by a stranger, recommended by several friends. In reply, he confesses that "the statement of his condition was a clear case to call forth Chris- tian sympathy." But after courteously detailing the reasons for declining aid — which, indeed, was impos- sible without a forced sale of real estate — and stating ' ' I never yet received [from my estate] two thousand dollars per annum, clear of taxes, repairs of build^ ings," etc., he says: " My dear sir, I answer thus at length, because I fear to decline a call of this kind without such reasons as will do to present in the judgment to Him who says, ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto my brethren, ye have done it unto me,' shall be made a test of fitness for the benedictions of that swiftly coming day.'' 386 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Writing to a beloved brother, an agent, on busi- ness, in 1855, he drops these words: " I am now without a liundred dollars in the world above the necessary provision for family current expenses, living very economically at that, and I do not expect any surplus income for two or three years to come. I can not purchase me a home, liaving no means for that object. It is not very probable I shall feel it my duty (or privilege rather) to give mucli more to col- leges. Yet if the same advance should be realized on Chicago property for six years to come, as for five years past, I might give more to that good object. Then I will, if Bloomington should be under your care, and you still advise it, remember that young college." It is an interesting evidence of his Christian sin- cerity in giving that in 1864, when he had relieved himself of the heavy obligatidns assumed for other institutions, he remembered that in 1855 he had been applied to for aid for a seminary in Miiine, which he was then forced to decline. Being now in condition to respond to the call, he is still embarrassed at hav- ing mislaid the letter. Not being ablelo recall which institution had made the application he writes to each of the Methodist seminaries of that State to find the one desired. In his letter he says, — :" I have hope that I shall be able to resume my benefactions abroad very soon, if I live, and if I do not live — which seems now likely — I wish to have my last will and testa- ment in such a form as seems to harmonize with providential indications, and my own former' pur- poses when I could judge better than in my present weakness." This was a little over a year before his death. To various literal)- institutions, too many to men- tion, from Maine to Miimesota, he contributed in PRIVATH LIFE. 38/ smallers sums of from one hundred to three thousand dollars. To I>r. Scott, for the Irish educational fund, he gave one thousand dollars. To Churches he has lent aid in a similar ratio as to literary institutions. His aid to the German missions in this country has already been noticed. His stated annual subscription to the Methodist Missionary Society was one hundred dollars, which sometimes went up to two hundred and fifty dollars. To the Bible Society he was a liberal patron, and left an annuity of one hundred dollars,, with a further bequest of one thousand dollars ; and the same to the Methodist Missionary Society, and the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. These often required the sale of real estate, as his correspondence, shows. He also left directions for various other bequests, to be executed by his surviv- ing partner, some of which have been paid, and all provided for. To individuals his benefactions were constant and unnumbered. Toward his aged breth- ren, less favored with worldly stores, he was drawn in true practical sympathy, not only in personal bene- factions, but by making benevolent donations in their name and to their credit, or by assuming their sub- scriptions, thus keeping up their social status. Yet, ' as we have seen, there were not wanting those who thought him parsimonious. Rumor had given an in- definite, and imagination almost a boundless, extent to his means, and applications flowed in upon him for aid from all quarters, and almost for all objects. To cour- teously answer these involved an amount of corre- spondence which his later years could not well sustain ; while declinatures were construed as evidence of penu- rious tendency, a common liability of infirmity and 388 BIOGHAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. age. His friends understood the case, but strangers and illiberal minds were left to their sinister suspi- cions. It would be to expect too much of human na- ture to require that a disappointed applicant should return well impressed and lovingly disposed. Bishop Hamline's habit of life was always simple and frugal, comparing well with the average fare of his itinerant brethren ; but even this, though adopted for conscience' sake, and as a necessary condition of benevolent lib- erality, was sometimes imputed to an unworthy mo- tive by those who could not penetrate the mystery that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." In his first years in the itinerancy he was in the habit of giving to his brother ministers whatever he received from the Church, they being in greater neces- sity. In a letter to his sister, accompanying a valu- able remittance, he says: " I have been careful all my days, or I should have been a pauper now. I fear I am ahnost lh6 dnly one of the family that always had a place for every thing and every thing- in its place. I never throw any thing down, but put it in its place. When I. have ten dollars I study what I can do without and buy little, and then what I want most. ... I want my nephew to receive and practice this lesson." This was Mr. Wesley's habit. His well-known maxim was, "Make all you can honestly, save all you can, give all you can." Wesley wore no fine clothes, allowed no useless expenditure, was the chief support of his father's family, gave away fortunes. Bishop Hamline's heart and his house were open and hospita- ble, and he was in .sympathy with every good work. There were other claims than his own, as we have seen, upon the family estate, and the fluctuations of PRTVATE LIFE. 389 value of property might at any time reduce his pos- sessions to a moiety of their then estimated value. Indeed, his revenue fell off more than two thousand dollars in one year (i860). Much of his property was inherited from his first wife, and due to their son and his family. Upon a candid review of his course it must be conceded that he acted wisely. As a steward of the Lord he used the proceeds of his capital, and not un- frequently portions of the capital itself, for beneficent and Christian ends, adopting the maxims to help the most needy when equally wortliy. To have wholly dispossessed himself to enrich others would have been only to cause the same capital to change hahds. This might have (as in the fable) only destroyed the source of the "golden egg," and in any wise it would not have been in harmony with the Lord's 'method to take the talent from him wlio iinprbves it to give to another^ but only from him who buries it and abuses hrs trust. There is no reason to suppose that the same capital could have been made tnore productive of aid to the kingdom of Christ in any other hands. By the Chufch he must be accounted a true son of John Wesley, as we doubt not he is by Christ pro- nounced "a good and faithful servant." 390 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Chapter XXIV. 11855-1856.] RETIRED OCCUPATIONS— "ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN THE WORK OF THE LORD." THE opening of the year 1855 finds Bishop Ham- line still at his residence near Schenectady, to which he had returned from Hillsdale, April 20th, 1854, and where he continued till the spring of 1857 — about three consecutive years. Here, as his strength permitted, he emploj-ed his time Jn reading, medita- tion, and . prayer, in social meetings at his house, in visiting and talking with the neighbors,, m,- corre- spondence with friends abroad, in, attending the usual Sabbath services and cla.ss meetings, and in, such extra meetings as he was able to sustain by help from visiting ministers, and in receiving his numerous calls from friends abroad. As his life was quite retired ^id: himself greatly burdened, with, infirmity the events of his history were few. The rural . home of Bishop Hamline is thus de- scribed by his venerable and faithful friend, Rev. J. B. Finley, in a letter to the Western Christian Advocate: " I wiite you from the beautiful cottage of our mutual friend, Rev. L. L. Hamline, situated on a public road leading from Schenectady to Albany, and where the turnpike and plank-roads to that city intersect. It stands on a beautiful eminence, and is indeed a most lovely spot. The cottage is forty-eight feet, in front and twenty-six back, containing five RETIRED OCCUPATIONS. 39 1 rooms below, two large piintries, and tlie office of his son — Dr. Hamline. Four chambers above were finished as bedrooms, with a room containing his unbound library, one hundred volumes of the North American Review, with all of tlie Meth- odist Reviews, and a large number of the Biblical Repositories, with n>uch other useful American literature. Bishop Hamline's entire library contains about eleven hundred volumes of choice books. The cottage is neatly but pl:iinly painted; every room carpeted, nearly all of them papered very neatly, and furniture corresponding to the plain neatness of the house and tlie piety of its inmates. A fine piano stands in the parlor, and daily discourses cheering music. " It will be a treat, no doubt, for many of Brother Ham- line's ardent Christian and other friends, to know that in the midst of all his bodily affliction he is comfortably situated ; his health is various — sometimes it permits his being up and taking some moderate exercise; at other times he is confined entirely to his room ; his disease is angina pectoris, with others, which often bring on a state of suffocation ; his nervous system is much shattered, yet he is as devoted a Christian as ffe has been ever since he professed to be born of God. His mind is still vigorous, and he is looking forward in joyful ex- pectation of an eternal rest. My good and kind sister Ham- line, with whom I have been acquainted for thirty-five years, still retains her uniform piety, and is now the center around which her family circle revolves. Nothing reigns- here but ■peace and religious influence." His state of mind is thus given in a letter to friends in New York, January i, 1855: "A 'happy new year' to you both, and to your dear chil- dren. We are happy in Christ, the portion and dwelling-place of all the truly blest; out of whom none can be happy, and in whom none can be miserable. We are h;ippy in the Holy Ghost — the Comforter — in the Father of our Spirits, God over all, blessed forever. May the fresh and full anointings of the Spirit all the yearlong be on you and yours, like the plentiful, priestjy unctions on Aaron ; nay, like the unctions of Him who is our great High Priest, in the days of his suffering for us, for it is your privilege to be partakers of the same anointing with your elder brother, that like him you may conquer and triomph." 392 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMUNE. Again later, "to the same: " I trust you are winging your way upward, and still striving to bear others along. 1 doubt not you are. Letters from the West notice glorious revivals. What developments are opening and impending! In the history and progress of events, students of the Bible must feel a lively interest. Ci^owd- ihg events must throw a flood of light on the prophecies, and are calculated to excite high expectations in the public (Christ- ian) mind. May the blessed Master prepare us for the future, both of time and of eternity." The year of 1855 was one of great and unpre- cedented trial to Bishop Hamline, offering a severer test of his faith and Christian graces than he had been called to hitherto. As his affliction cattie through the false faith of professed friends it was the more difficult to bear, and being unprovoked and without cause as the sequel pt-oved, he could only refer it to God. It is beautiful to witness how he demeaned himself in this hour of darkness, and how through prayer and faith he sublimely rose above its hurtful power. As if thrown back upon first princi- ples he reviews his providential and Christian life, and then renews his covenant with God. " Schenectady, ^aWaM, &//f»«fcr 30, 1855. "It will be twenty-seven years on the 5th day of October, now at hand, since God, through Christ, pardoned all my sins, and gave me the ' glorious liberty of the sons of God.' In about six months, without asking or seeking it, I received license to exhort; and in about a year, license to preach. In October, 1830, I was called to Short Creek Circuit, asan assfst- ant to the venerable Jacob Young, and in 1831 was again in- vited to take an active sphere of labor on Mount Vernon Cir- cuit, with Rev. James M'Mahon, a most devout and lovely man, who, like my precious Brother Young, was a fatlvsr to me. In 1832 I was received on ,trial in the Ohio Conference, and sent to Granville Circuit with that holy man. Rev. H. S. Farnandis, in charge, and a good young brother, Stephen Hol- ind, as a third man, on a six weeks* circuit. Here God RETITKD OCCUPATIONS. 393 wrought wonders in a revival at Newark. In 1833 I went to Athens Circuit, and was again blessed with the companionship of Rev. Jacob Young as my colleague. And wlio ever had a better counselor or friend? Here my health failed. In Sep- tember, 1834, I was sent to Wesley Cliapel at Cincinnati, and had for my colleague that able and faithful minister, Rev. Z. Connell. Long may he live and labor. In 1835 I was returned to Wesley Chapel with the lamented W. B. Christie, of precious memory ; but before the year closed was placed in Columbus by Bishop Morris, to fill the vacancy caused by the sickness of Rev. E. W. Sehon. In September, 1836, I was ordained elder by Bishop Soule, and elected assistant editor in place of the worthy Rev. William Phillips, deceased, where I remained till 1840. In 1840 I commenced the Ladies' Repository, and con- tinued it till 1844, when I was ordained superintendent, which office I resigned in 1852. I have now been almost four years at rest, and three years on the superannuated list of the Ohio Conference. This morning, under trials of no ordinary kind I have a deep sense of unworthiness before God — yea, such as my pen can not describe. But I must add, I have a woiider- fiil sense also of the presence and smile of God. No tongue can describe how Jesus blesses me to-day. What I esteem a very gracious act on God's part, I have the most unexpected comfort and peace of soul, in a sweet submission to all the will of God. "And now, O my God, I desire this day, by thy Holy Spirit moving me thereto and enabling me, to make a new dedication of myself to thee, and enter anew into covenant with thee. ' And I do yield myself afresh up to tliee, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as a 'living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, through Jesus Christ my Lord,' forever and ever to.be thine, and thine alone. And herein I record this my unworthy but sincere purpose to fear, love, honor, serve, and praise thee, living. in strict obedience to thy pure law, and in humble subjection and cheerful submission to thy holy will and providence in all things. Nor do I (so 1 trust and purpose) propose to serve and submit to thee, blessed God, on condition that I am saved out of the hand of my cruel foes (whom I pray thee to bless and bring into thy kingdom) ; but, whatever thy wisdom shall permit to come upon me, I pray thee for grace to keep this covenant, even passing through thnt valley of the shadow of death which such affliction must open 394 BIOGKAPliY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLIN E. before me. O Lord, even then; above all times, help thou me, that I may not only cry on the Moiuit of Transfiguration,' It is good for me to be here,' but also in the Gelhseman'e of sorrow and in the judgment hall of offense, buffeted and spit upon, or bleeding with the agony at every pore, I may be able to cry, 'Though I wiilk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' So, O Lord, even now 'thou art with me.' Amen and Amen. Eleven o'clock A. M." On the evening of tlie same day he writes: "Since I made the foregoing dedication of my all to God, I have been kept in great peace. My mind has been much exercised daily on the subject of faith, in connection with per- fect love. This has led me to ciy to God for some days for a specific faith in regard to it. I have not cried in vain. " I now perceive that I have depended too much on emo- tions; that I have not adverted to faith as distinctly as I ought; that I had more faith than I supposed ; that I needed, by some divine discipline of soul, to be taught more clearly the impor- tance of faith in connection with this great blessing, and that some loss of comfort and strength has been a method of in- struction in the great mystery of faith. But the best of all is, I do now reckon myself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. Yes, it is gloriously true. ' My hallowing Lord hath wrought a perfect cure.' Amen.'' To Dr. and Mrs. Palmer, he writes, October 15, 1855, speaking of the great blessing he had received, he says: "On Thursday, October 4th, this visitation became, it seemed to me, almost miraculous. For about five hours I scarcely changed my position ten minutes (which, at another time, I could not have endured without great difficulty for an hour), and yet I was no more weary than though I had been reclining in perfect health on a bed of down. This memora- ble day of days must not be forgotten." Three days later he writes to his venerable friend, Rev. Jacob Young: " O my dear brother, like Jacob delivered out of the hand of Esau, I have in my wrestlings received what I was not spa- RETIRED OCCUPATIONS. 39S cially looking for — a wonderful and glorious work of God in my own poor heart. I have never enjoyed such peace and fullness as I now do. The heavenly Master is preparing me to ' enter into the joy of my Lord.' His Word has such a sweetness in it as I can not describe. Oh, how I exult in the thought of meeting you in heaven, and there, in the full light of eternity, with expanded powers and, spotless affections rehearse the marvelous works of God." Through conflicts and victories a great lesson of faith was learned. "Satan,"' he says, "mostly assails my faith. I take it as a proof that he knows wherein my strength lies. Faith gone, Christ is gone, and, of course, all is gone, for Christ is all." But in this "good fight of faith" he was not alone. The sympathy and prayers of thousands had been awak- ened in his behalf. In him the Church felt an un- speakable interest, and many were the words of cheer end loving sympathy given him by those who could not see his face. Not the least among these goodly words were those of his old and -beloved Ohio Con- ference, who, at their recent session, sent him their greeting, with a resolution unanimously passed, "ex- pressive of their unabated confidence and affection." In his Patmos of retirement the visitation of old friends was doubly grateful. With this he was often cheered. The Rev. Dr. Elliott, with others of Cin- cinnati, returning from New York, November, 1855, turned aside to greet their time-honored friend. He says: " Messrs. Swormstedt and Poe, and ourself deemed it our duty, on returning home, to visit our much esteemed friend. Bishop Hamline. We found him in improved health. He sometimes takes part in religious meetings, by exhorting and concluding. He visits, prays, and talks with his neighbors, much to their spiritual advant.age. Through the aid of Brother 396 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Cox, from Jersey, last summer, meetings were conducted in a pine grove near his house, much to the edification of believers and conversion of sinners." It \yas the policy of Bishop Hamline to utilize all gifts of visiting friends for the direct promotion of vital religion. It was in pursuance of this policy that the Rev. Henry Cox was engaged during the summer of this year for a series of grove-meetings every after- noon and evening. At the closing "meeting of the series," writes Dr. Carhart, "after sermon the Bishop arose, and, though scarcely able to stand without asi sistance, made an application of the sermon, and an appeal to the people, such as I have' never heard equaled. Tlie Holy Ghost fell on us; weeping was heard in every dfrection in the vast assembly ; sobs and 'cries for mercy followed; and, as the .speaker continued, and even before the invitation was given,-* peiiitefits crowded around the riide altar, and the whole assembly, rising to 'their feet, seemed drawn toward the speaker, and to melt like wax before the fire. When the invitation was given to those seek- ing Christ to come forward, it seemed to me that, the whole audience moved simultaneously, while some actually ran and threw thettiselves prostrate upon the ground, and shouted, 'God be merciful to me a sinnier!' The memory of that scene can never be effaced frohi my mind." " Thus in varied labor, suffering, .solicitude, and tri- umph, the j'ear of 1855 wore away, .A suffering sister, dying by the slow process of cancer, drew upon' their loving sympathies aiid care, and shadowed the domestic life. She passed away in triumph. It was a year never to be forgotten, of which a bright RETIKED OCCUPATIONS. 39/ record was made in the religious histories of many converts, in the grateful hearts of many friends, but, above all, in "the Lamb's Book of Life." On re- ceiving a great strengthening of joy and faith. Bishop Hamline thus records, December 6, 1855: •'Jesus is precious, unutterably precious. Oh, what can he not do for poor dying souls ! for souls that believe. Never be- fore did I see such a beauty in faith. It is the mode prescribed by Infinite Wisdom for the reception by sinners of all the bless- ings of salvation, and, if Infinite Wisdom prescribed it, there must be ample reasons for the prescription; and, as religious influence gains power over the heart and understanding, of course that method of salvation which God has prescribed will, in all its parts, be more and more admired by the soul thus saved. Faith works by love, and purifies the heart. And, al- though they who exercise it have no merit on its account (be- cause even faith is wrought in them by the Holy Spirit), yet it is a grace most comely in the eye of God, and one that he com- mends in the strongest terms. No sin is so severely condemned as unbelief, no Christian virtue so eulogized as faith. That makes God a liar, this honors him above measure. Of this it is said, • He that believeth shall be saved ;' of that, ' He tliat believeth not shall be damned;' but how liitle is it con- sidered that unbelief is so great a sin that it hinders the par- don of all other sins; that all prayers and cries for mercy are utterly vain unless faith supplants unbelief in the soul. How many are striving to please God and reach heaven by various resolutions and efforts of amendment, while unbe- lief holds possession of the heart, and the struggling soul is every moment sinking lower under its influence." " Tuesday, yanuary l , 1856. — Comfortable morning. Christ is precious. Company interrupts a little. I spent the time from ten A. M. to three P. M. at E. Ford's, and dined. Had a comfort;ible day. I covenant afresh with Jesus. Amen. " Wednesday, 2. — Company — Brother B. Isbell and daugh- ter. Good prayer- meeting at night. O Jesus, thou art precious ! Come near to my poor soul; dwell in me the hope of glory ; reign in me for evermore ; set me as a seal upon thy heart. Glory be unto thee, O Lord most high ! "Saturday 5. — Arose this morning dull, but in private 398 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. MAMLINE. prayer, about nine A. M., the clouds fled. A glorious day broke in upon my soul. Oh, how sweet and precious this heavenly light! Lord, abide now with me forever. Increase my faith, I pray thee, a hundred fold." To his friends in New York he writes, Janu- uary 30th: "If Jesus walk with us on the stormiest seas we need not- sink. Like Peter, he bids me come to him on angry waves, and, though the first impulse was dismay, I was caught up, as it were, from the 'beginning to sink' by his Almighty arm, and now I am calmly and delightfully walking on the troubled waters close to his bleeding side; and never did conquering prince or monarch in his triumphant chariot, amid applauding millions, enjoy what I do. I invile you not to mourn and lament over me, but to prajse, rejoice, and give thanks. Glory be to God on high ! I am weary or I would dwell on the theme. Farewell." Many sought words of counsel from his pen, which had not been entirely disabled by his infirm- ity. Tlie Rev. Dr. Leavitt, who ever reverenced and loved the Bishop as his spiritual father, was now in the flush of manhood. His religious experience, which had very much taken the type of that of Bishop Hamline, had served to intensify his desire of Biblical knowledge in the direction of philological study. The new .spiritual trial to which this exposed him lie thus unfolds in a letter to the Bishop: " — To what next shall I refer ? My inner life ? Here is, indeed, a boundless theme. Yet, how often have I poured its history into your ear. You know its beginning, and its pro- gress. Permit me, however; to say, that my experience has undergone some change. Tliat freshness, that simplicity of Christian joy which for more than two years have marked it, have been in some measure modified. I am far more painfully alive to my own defects. The self-confidence of my nature is diminishing. The point of view in which I see myself has varied. My sermons are more studied, and elaborated. I am RETIRED OCCUPATIONS. 39y mofe bent on the improvement of my intellect. I lay more stress upon the training of the intellect. 1 am prosecuting with more zeal my favorite plans of acquisition in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. O, sir, I burn with consumi4ig desires to read my Bible fluently in these tongues, and to preacli the Gospel with more efficiency and power. These feelings have embarked me in courses of study of which I formerly never dreamed, and they have been working' a silent change in my religious life. I can not now be contented with that simple elementary training which I once esteemed all-sufficient. I con- fess to you I wish intellectually to be thoroughly furnished for my work as a minister, and I know that this aim is gradually dissipating that simplicity tluA contentedness which once char- acterized my experience. At the same time I must say that my purposes are stronger, my consecration is more entire, my views of duty are more clear, my love to Christ is deeper, my faith is more unwavering, and my witness, although not so joy- ful, is steady and abiding. My communion with God contin- ues. In the pulpit, if I do not have as much lively satisfac- tion, I think I do more real good — What has produced these changes ? Is it neglect of duty ?, I am not conscious of any. Is it the work of the devil ? I have often asked myself the question, ' Am I in a snare?' This I have tried to settle. Is it the result of my more accurate, and laborious habits of study as a teacher ? These have doubtless exerted an influence. Is God preparing me by this modification of my inner life for more extensive usefulness? Tlie future must answer. I must tell you, also, that I look upon thorough and extensive prepara- tion for the ministry with far more favor than formerly. Truly, sir, when I reflect upon the matter these changes startle me. I feel they are giving my character its impress for life. They are ushering me forward in a new and unexpected direction. Have I made myself intelligible ? Perhaps these things have all oc- curred in your own history, and are ftimiliar to you. Will you please drop me a word of advice, and help me to take my bearings? Life is a dark sea, and we must often take our reckonings. Help, dear sir; I need help. It just occurs to me that I have been more and more careful about confessing in public the blessing of full salvation. I have been solicitous to guard and shield the doctrine from ridicule and reproach. Per- haps this has been a snare." 400 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. It would be difficult to describe in language more clear and beautiful the ^xercises of d devout heart, while pursuing a course of intellectual study, and the difficulty of guarding against formalism, and of preserv- ing a fresh glow of spiritual ardor in connection with the absorbing demands of the refle;ctive and logical understanding- — in fine, to harmonize high feeling with cool thinking. Every Christian student, every devout and spiritual young minister, has grappled, more or less, with the same perplexing problem; and the answer of Bishop Hamline which follows, though clothed in general terms, may safely be pronounced to contain the sum of human wisdom on the subject: " Schenectady, September 20, 1856. " To Rev. Professor Leavitt, — Yours was duly received , but my laboring pen is slow to answer it. Broken machinery will not work. I am tliankful that I can write a little. As to study, you must feed the soul with knowledge ; and if you do not allow either ambition or mere intellectual taste to control your devotion to literature so as to cool your desires after God, your keen relish for prayer and praise, you need not fear. The Spirit will always give some signal of alarm when we are in danger. All we need is to keep a lookout for the token. He does not always give a very bold signal, startling the soul and arresting careless obsei-valion, which renders it the more necessary that we 'watch.* As Christians, we should not rest without making an observable progress in faith, love, hope, peace, joy, zeal for good and the salivation of souls, and, in a word, in all those branches of heavenly-mindedness which be- long to redeemed sinners, in a world like this. As ministers, we must have our eye on our great commission, and the heav- enly tempers which belong to and befit it. We ought to have more faith than Abraham, more love and religious heroism than Daniel, more close walking with God than Enoch, more meekness than Moses, and more patience than Job; for our dispensation is far richer than theirs in all the means and motives of piety, while our hearts are no more corrupt than theirs, for these means and motives to operate upon and subdue. RETIRED OCCUPATIONS. 401 "Now, dear brother, press on in literary pursuits as earnestly as you please, only taking care to be ready to offer up your son whom you love, as Abraham did ; to keep your head o\\ Christ's bosom, as John did ; to be ready both to be bound and die at Jerusalem for Christ's sake, as Paul was, and, if I may depart from Scripture examples, feel, as Olin said, ' I can conceive of no degree of physical suffering which I would not endure for the privilege of preaching Christ crucified.' " In all his sufferings and personal exilement from the busy hum of public affairs, Bishop Hamline never lost his interest in national politics and doings. The political excitement on the subject of slavery reached its maximum in the fall of 1856. The na- tion, the very earth, seemed to heave and rock in dreadful portents of an eruption and catastrophe. Our great men knew not what to do, and men looked in every quarter with apprehension, "their hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which were coming on the earth." Four years later the crash came. In his prison of in- firmity Bishop Hamline could only think and feel, but his apprehensions were those of a seer. In writ- ing to a friend he says : "Your last was full of refreshing news of the salvation of souls — the progress of the kingdom. Amidst so many alarms it is good to hear that Christ's work is being accomplished in the hearts of men. We seem to be entering on a time of trouble. Perhaps we have gloried too much in our ' Great Republic,' and God is teaching us, ' He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord.' " To the Rev. B. Isbell he writes, November 10, 1856: "We trust that your hopes of a good revival will be realized. This, after all, is the hope of the Church — the 34 402 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. only liope of the world. A successful eleclion in favor of sound morals is most desirable, and I have both desired and prayed for it. But God is wise, good, inighty, and what he permits or works must be best on the whole. He may permit, slavery to work out its dire effects. We deserve it as a nation, though hundreds of thousands are clear, and he will cover them in the shadow of his wing until the calamity be overpast. " There are signs, I think, that the slave-holders are to eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. Thirty years ago scarcely a man in the South justified, but simply excused, slavery. Now nobody there excuses, but justifies, it — and ' O tempora I O mores I ' — by the Bible, per- verted to that base end. ' It is time for tliee. Lord, to work ; for men make void thy. law ! ' We rejoice in the brilliant suc- cess of K and A. May the Father's choicest blessing rest upon- them, and you all, forever ! Amen ! " To Dr. and Mrs. Palmer, December 2d, he writes : " We greet you in Christ's name, who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows ; who was wounded for our ,transgressioji5 and was bruised for our iniquities ; who bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors ; who was op- pressed and was afflicted, yet opened not his mouth ; who now sees in us, and multitudes .-iround us, the travail of his soul, and is satisfied. Unto him who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood be glory for ever and ever! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain ! " A fitting benediction for the dying year. LAST YEARS OF LIFE. 4O3 Chapter XXV. l»857-es.] REMOVAL TO MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA— LAST YEARS OF LIFE. IT had not been the intention of Bishop Hamline to remain so long in his Eastern home. He liad purposed to return to Ohio, the State of his adop- tion, at an. early day; but his great exhaustion, after his resignation in 1852, made it necessary to remaiii in quiet retirement till nature should recuperate. This delay was still further prolonged by tlie illness of his son, then a student of medicine in Vermont. He had been fishjng upon a. beautiful lake when the boat was upset, and he and his associate remained three hours in the water, holdjng to the bottom of the boat. He escaped drowning, but a severe and prolonged sickness followed. Three years were tluis added to their stay near Schenectady. It had been a grateful home amons friends and kindred, and, like tlie house of Obed edom, where the ark abode, vvas sig'nyas just as requisite he should obeyl\ie law as suffer its penalty; and, from Heb. ii, 10, and v, 8, 9, that he suffered for us all along, before the final conflict, and thereby became per- fectly qualified to be a sympathizing high-priest for us. In re- lation to our terms, 'full assurance of hope' and 'full assurance of faith,' both are Scriptural. See Heb. yi, 11, and x, 22. " I was deeply interested in the ' Experience of German Methodist Ministers,' and am greatly obliged to you for it. It will do good, as from the simple experience of so many of them it will effectually show that they are not still German Rational- ists, or cold-hearted formalists. I am glad to have so satisfac- tory a refutation of that imputation. "I shall read wilh pleasure the 'History of Methodism,' and will return as soon as I have read it. '' One more remark. I wish the difference between Wes- leyan and legal perfection were more generally understood, because I am persuaded it would greatly increase love and confidence between you and Calvinists. . For, as you mean so nearly the thing which we believe attainable, we certainly will not object to your choice of a word to express it. I trust the perusal of these works has given me more charity, and led me to desire more conformity to the will and spirit of Jesus, our Lord. Pardon my freedom in writing, and remember me when you come near our precious Savior. "Fraternally, T. Stearns.'' The propriety of using the terms "entire sancti- ficatipn, "" perfect love," etc., to denote a state of LAST YEARS OF LIFE, 413 grace in this life, had been before them. Mr. Stearns ■objected to the use of them because, according to their technology, and certain errors tliat had risen up, they would be likely to be misunderstood, and hence mislead. Bishop Hamline replies: ■' I still find the question presses on me, why not apply the words 'sanctified wholly^ or 'perfect love,' to some gracious stale of the soul ? I have no oljjection to predesitination and election; none even to imputation. Mr. Wesley does not hold your explanation of them to be correct, much less the terrible Antinomian view which you so strongly object to in the New England Perfectionists. And you will think more charitably of his views expressed in the history and elsewhere, perhaps, if you considered what Antinomianism had done to ruin the Churches of England, and almost blot out religion in his day. You think your views of sin and holiness forbid the use of lliese phrases. But the question arises \yi my mind, have we a right to embrace any views of sin and holiness, or any other theolojrical point, which will render it inconsistent or erroneous in us to apply Scripture phrases a<;cording to apostolic us'age? We claim that we do use ' predestination ' aud ' election ' after the usus loquendi of Scripture. You would npt drop the us? of the word repentance because Arminians apply it to convicted sinners, rather than to the generous grief of the regenerate. You do not ignore the phrase 'born again' because Pelagians deny total (congenital) cjepravity, and other errorists, hold it to be a mnc outward reformation or an outward fprm (baptism). Why, I pray you, give up the apostolic terms applied to mature believers, merely because a liorrible and.blasphenious clique in New England proclaim themselves too holy to need prayer or the Sabbath, and say when they siji Christ does it? Nay, even if Wesley and Fle;fcher and Peck and Finney andUpham, and len thousand others, make a wrong application of these phrases ? Tlie learned divines of the Calvinistic Church ought to rescue these Scripture phrases from such abuse, if abuse it is, and help to turn a pure language upon Zion. I fell in company with old Dr. M"CalIa in 1849, and had A^ar/. communion with Iiim in the stage half a day. He wept like a child, and talked of Jesus till it seemed like rising to the third heaven. I know 414 BIOGRAPHY OF REV, L, L. HAMLINE. not how uniformly he evinced this heavenly spirit, bill if always I should say he is made ' perfect in ldv«.' Now, which has the best autliority from Scripture — to call it ' perfect love ' or 'assurance of faith?'" The friendship of these two ministers of Clirist was intimate and hallowed: Their manner of life! was similar. Both rose early, and spent a long time in reading the Bible and prayer ; and both lived in full sympathy with the age and the progress of events till the close of life. They died within about tliree years of each other. During all the prison-life of his confinement the mind of Bishop Hamline was ever active, and his heart enlisted in the progress of Christ's kingdom. In a letter to Rev. J. Young, January, 1859, ^^ says: " I am now old and gray-headed — locks almost, white.. I am feeble and sore broken ; all my bones (as it were), out of joint. My mind, like my body, is enfeebled. Tlie grasshopper a burden, the wheel just ready to break at the cistern of life. "As to public and Church interests, I find my affections all awake concerning them. New phases of society in India and China, as well .as in Japan, suggest serious and solemn medita- tions as to the state, resources, and obligations of the Church amid such clear indications of Christ's approaching reign. Italy, France, and Austria, to say nolliing of Turkey and otiier na- tions and principalities, are evidently nearing another earth- quake period, and both hopes and fears are quickened at the approach of some terrible convulsion, out of which may spring good or evil in regard to tlie progress and prevalence of Christ's kingdom in the earth, though, whatever may be the immediate results, the remoter effects must be gootl. For ' Jesus shall reign where 'er the sun Does his successive journeys run.' " In another letter he says : "O that the Cliurch were prepaied to meet all these favor- ing tokens, and send forth thousands of missionaries to the harvest-fields so earnestly inviting the reapers ! But we may LAST YEARS OF LIFE. 415 hope that the Master will prepare the way, and soon produce in the Church a temper and a conduct in harmony with his other movements abroad. " It is a comfort to see the things which we behold, even if we must be mere spectators, and not actors, in such scenes. Like Simeon in the temple, you must feel like exclaiming, ' Mine eyes have seen tliy Siilvatioii." " But in his "decrease" he enjoyed not less than John Baptist had in his castle-prison among the mountains. An oasis of privilege was still left. "We have a large class-meeting," he says, "in our own house Sabbath afternoon, and often fifty persons present. It is the best class I ever saw assembled, and I can give you no idea how sweet it is to my poor soul. Sabbath week we had Dr. Elliott, Pro- fessor Wiiitlock of Victoria College, Canada, Pro- fessor Kelly, brother Coston, two other traveling, and four or five local, preachers. Yesterday we had the class-room filled, so that I believe not another chair could have been put in the room. But ' the best of all is, God is with us.' O what a mercy to us in our old age to have such a privilege ! On Thursday we have a female prayer-meeting in the same room ; generally about twenty five to thirty present; and, thou'^h I do not see, I hear the sisters' fervent prayers and praises. Except in an annual or Gen- eral Conference, I have never seen the same number of persons as well trained in experimental and prac- tical piety as in these two meetings." Among the peculiar trials of this period of his life was that of witnessing the departure of friends and compeers. In a letter to Jacob Young, March> 1859, he writes: "David Young has followed Finley, and I gloomily say to myself, Jacob Young goes soon in the course of nature, and 4l6 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. what early friend have I left? Say what we will of death, and of heaven in view also, there is a deep gloom in this breaking up of earthly ties. I mean not to complain of the economy ; it is all right. When transferred to the other side of these Chris- tian death scenes, a new light will doubtless so illustrate and beautify them that all the gloom of them will vanish; but sur- veyed on this side the dark valley, we must now and then behold them under those guises of sadness which render them solemnly mournful." The sympathetic strain of this extract is as true to nature as to triumphant faith, and honors both. Perhaps no one feature of Bishop Hamh'ne's charac- ter is more worthy his profession than his deep and generous sympathy with the afflicted, as his numer- ous letters in this department show. Jacob Young, above referred to, died a few months later. He was, as we have seen. Bishop Hamline'-s first colleague on the circuit. His wife was of the Kent family, Avith whom Bishop Hamline resided when he was converted. In his letter of condolence to her he could only say: "Mrs. Hamline requests me to write. Alas! who shall comfort me while I strive to comfort others. My father and your husband is in the grave. No, is in heaven. But we can not see his face nor hear his voice. Lord Jesus, help and bless and comfort us !" In the opening year of i860 he records: " I have spent thirty-two years in the ministry of God's holy word. For eight years I have been superannuated, and God has 'tried me as silver is tried ;' but he has often sweetened those trials by his presence in a marvelous manner, and now, day by day, ' my fellowship is will) the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.* Though almost helpless, and dependent on my devoted, aflfectionate wife for personal attentions, which her exemplary patience never wearies in bestowing on me, (thanks to thy name, O my God, for such a gift!) yet I am far more contented and cheerful than in the best days of my youth. O LAST YEARS OF LIFE. 417 thou adorable Redeemer, wlio hast bought me with thy blood, and new-created me by thy Spirit, grant that this record of thy love and mercy to one so unwbrtliy, may be a blessing to my children and children's children when I am gone the way of all flesh, for Christ's sake. Amen." To the Rev. L. Swormstedt, February, i860, lie writes : " I have been confined all winter almost entirely to my house. Have been off of the square but once in three months, but my confinement has been as a paradise. My soul never dwelt so fully under the shadow of his wing as it does now. It seems as though only a thin veil separates my soul from glory; not from God, for I dwell as near to him as my humanity can bear, and sometimes I am ready to cry out with Fletcher, 'Lord, withhold thy hand!' And like him, \ cry, 'O for a gust of praise to go throiigh the universe!' 'God is love.' "O, my dear brother, this faith is a wonderful power in the soul. 'Believe, only believe,' the Spirit whispers in my heart. I believe, and, glory to God ! I am saved. May the Lord bless you more_ and more for Christ's sake ! " To Rev. J. T. Mitchell he writes: " It seems to me I am neaiing my heavenly home and can not stay long below. If otherwise, my words will do no harm; arid if so, let me say to you, Farewell ! "I have peace with 'God and with all mankind. I am, if not greatly mistaken, ready to depart and be witlj Christ, and should I dep.nrt suddenly, you may indulge the hope that I am gone to the land of the pure and the blessed. The Spirit bears witness with my spirit now, and nearly every hour and moment, Ihat I am a child of God ; and the Spirit of his Son is sent forth into my heart, crying, 'Abba, Father.' " Such is the straiu of his letters and diary entries at this period. The following letter may suffice to indicate his opinion of .so-called " spiritualism," rather and more properly demonology. The letter dates December, i860: "To Mrs. H. H. Bigelow, — Tell H. to be sober, devout, and diligent, and his youth of poverty will be a blessing to him. 41 8 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLIKE. But if he, like too many of our ' staik-mad ' Yankees, leave the pure, ' blessed Gospel of the Son of God ' for chaff, and for the 'cunning craftiness of men;' for witches, necromancers; for ' wizards that mutter and peep,* as the Bible calls them, he will live (and probably die) a fool. " I found here a venerable and well-educated Methodist brother out of the Church, who had been a fine physician near forty-five years, given' up to ' spiritualism,' and mad with cre- dulity on the subject. I labored with him two years, when he recovered his peace with God, renounced all its 'filthy com- munications' in ' circles,' etc., denounced its deceits and abom- inations, and now is clothed and in his right mind, wondering at the audacity of his apostasy, and the mercy of his restoration to Christ, and has present 'joy unspeak;ible and full of gloiy.' I suppose worlds would not tempt him into a 'circle' for five minutes. His wife led him astray as Eve did Adam of yore. She died in mercy, and he returned to that Jesus whom he had crucified (as he says) in his heart. "We are right in the midst of that period referred to in Rev. xvi, 13, and the "spirits of devils working miracles' will ' nnilliply wonders and -deceive the nations.' The Lord jn mercy, save us in the trying hour.'' It was in the year i860 that Bishop Hamline drew up and presented to the Trustees of tlie Iowa Wesleyan University a plan for liquidating its debts. The university was badly involved. Several attempts had been made to extricate it; especially in the year 1856, but despite all efforts the buildings were likely to be sold at public sale to cancel its debts. The plan of Bishop Hamline was so practicable and so well guarded the subscribers and donors against the possibility of losing their money in case the effort failed, and so equitably provided for the different claims so that no creditor should be wronged, and as a legal instrument so adroitly prepared, that courage revived and a vigorous effort was again made by which the total amount was secured on paper. But LAST YEARS OF LIFE. 419 the war and other causes embarrassed collections, so that actual payment was not effected till 1864, through the energetic agency of Rev. Mr. Bradrick. But the plan of Bishop Hamhne was the ground and opportune means of finally rescuing the college from its embarrassments. In the midst of labor and sufferings, with numer- ous calls and visitations of friends, Bishop Hamline is cheered with the fraternal letter of his former col- leagues, the bishops, from their meeting at Spring- field, Ohio, December, 1861: "Convened for our annual consultation, we avail ourselves of the opportunity to write you a fraternal letter. Though you have long been deprived, by want of health, of the privilege of participating in the active duties of the ministry, we doubt not but you still feel greatly interested in Zioh's prosperity. We remember with pleasure the days of other ye:u-s, when you shared with us the responsibility of the general oversight, when we consulted and prayed, preached and exhorted, wept and rejoiced together. Since you retired from the field to seek rest and health, we have toiled on, as God enabled us, with humble reliance on our Heavenly Father. The result is before the pub- lic. In the mean time we have deeply sympathized with you in your sore and protracted afflictions, such as we suppose would long since have brought your iinal release. That you yet live, is proof of supporting grade and cause of devout thanksgiving to God. We pray that ihe Lord may be with you to the end of life's painful conflict, then bring you to the heav- enly inheritance. We hope to join you there. "Wishing many blessings to Sister Hamline, yourself, and children, we are, dear brother, as ever and for ever, yours in he love of Jesus, "T. A. Morris, M. Simpson, E. S. Janes, O. C. Baker, L. ScoTT, E. R. Ames." 420 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Chapter XXVI. [i86> to 1865.] LAST YEARS— CLOSE OF LIFE. WE have already said that Bishop Hamline took a lively interest in Church enterprise and public affairs. The political and military movements in Europe and Asia from time to time drew from his pen and lips opinions and expressions wiiich e\i- deiiced his insight into prophetic Scripture and cur- rent history, and his heart of true humanity. Our country was now in the depth and darkhe.ss of civil war, and an ardent patriot could hot be still. Chris- tianity illuminates and intensifies the moral principle of truly defensive war, and makes it the sword of God "to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Tlie following letter wiW suffice to show how thor- Oiighlj' he penetrated the perils, necessity, and true policy of the hour : ^"Jtanuaty a, 1862. " To Hon. James Harlan, — I seize tlie first scrap of paper 1 find to say tliat it seems to me the best way, if not tlie only way, to meet the rising tide of treason in the West, is to arm and train, one hundred and fifty thousand blacks ns sobii as possible. I They will be in, the field as one hundred and fifty thousawd, loyal Republicans. If tl.ie war takes a turn that so many can be spared from Che field, the white Republicans can return and vote. If they can not be spared, then it will save a draft, and i>erhaps great difficulty. I know it is a bold measure, but such measures are often the salvation of a peo- CLOSE OF LIFE. 421 pie, a dynasty, a^ government. You remember the language of Junius : ' If the prophet had not armed himself with bold- ness, he would have been hung for the malice of his parable.' Boldness is in the advancing success of traitors ; boldness has carried this rebellion forward to the formidable stage it has now reached; resistance, on the other hand, has been temper- ate, prudent, and if not now made to shape itself into an aspect bold and fiery like their own, I fear we are lost. The boldest measures are now safe, 1 think. We have prudence and humanity enough for histoly, we need boldness for tri- umph. Arming three hundred thousand blacks would make traitors, North and South, hale us no more, but would cause loy- alists to distrust us far less. To seek, by mild measures, to conciliate the former is hopeless policy. The government must address itself to the fears, not to the hopes or favor of the Benedict Arnolds of the age. " Pardon me for dogmatizing. I forgot, in the passion of writing, that I addressed a Senator who knows so much better than I do. I write with pain and confusion in my head, too, so that I can scarcely see my pen-marks. " Mrs. Hamline says : ' Please remember me affectionately to Mrs. Harlan, and be assured yourself of our respect and prayers.' " P. S. — Suppose it comes to the worst, and some hundreds of thousands in Illinois and elsewhere attempt a bold revolt, would not the armed blacks be a formidable force to put down revolt and save the country ?" An extract from Senator Harlan's answer to this mil)' not be improper, dated Washington, 27th : " Dear Bishop Hamline, — Please accept my sincere thanks for your excellent and patriotic letter of the 21st inst. I agree with you fully in relation to the policy that should con- trol the Administration. The President, I think, is initiating measures to carry it out. But every thing moves so slowly! The Lord only can know how much the nation must suffer on account of the delays in carrying out a policy admitted by all earnest lovers of the coimtry to be not only right, but abso- lutely necessary. Colored men are being enlisted for service on land and sea — but the work drags — drags." 422 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. t. HAMLIN E. As a further specimen of Bishop Hamline's deep and patriotic interest in the war, we add the follow- ing letter: " September 216, 1862. "To Mrs. H. H. BiGELOW, — A paper from your place gives me reason to conclude that your son has enlisted. I did not feel like urging his enlistment, but will now say I most heartily approve of it.' I think every young man in America of right age and good health should give himself to hia coun- try. My son is not very young nor very vigorous, but if he chooses to go I will not say a word. He has offered as a surgeon, and has been examined and approved ; but there are so many pressing their claims on the governor that he who does not urge himself forward has no chance; besides, many doctors are poor and without practice, and are appointed in compassion to their families, while they know that my son is well off from his mother's estate.'' The events of Bishop Hamline's life during con- finement were ^q\n, and our principal remaining task is to follow along the even current of the da3's and observe the symmetry and uniformity of a character which had hitherto :been contemplated in connection with the honors and publicity of office, and the brilliancy of talent. The' 'habit of early rising re- mained with him till the last. His first employment every day, even when most feeble, was to pray, re- maining on his knees as long as his strength per- mitted. He then read his Bible lessons, consisting of several chapters from the Old and New Testa- ments. Then, especially during our country's war, he read up the news. With him public events were the footsteps of Provideiice. He always read secular subjects from the religious stand-point. During one year of his illness he was unable to read at all, and a member of the family read to him as long as he was CLOSE OF LIFE. 423 able to hear. Subsequently his sight improved, but the intense suffering of his brain forbade his hearing any reading, and then he read his large type Testa- ment and Hymn Book, as strength allowed, placing , them open in a chair by his side that he might read a few verses at a time. It was in this position they were found when he died. When his health had allowed he commonly spent hours on his knees. In 1848 he attended a dedication at Lexington, Ind. The preacher there, who lodged with him, observed his habit of private devotion, and said to him: "Bishop, do you have to pray so much always?" In relating it to Mrs. Hamline afterward he said : "The dear brother did not know that I was en- joying a heaven upon earth on my knees." Mrs. Hamline says : " For years it was his habit to kneel at his arm-chair, bending low over its seat and re- maining so long perfectly still that, having been often assured by physicians that from the condition of his heart he was imminently exposed to sudden death, I used to go up softly to see whether he was not dead on his knees — whether he breathed." The hour of female prayer-meeting in his little chapel he always kept sacred in his apartment, and it was during such a meeting, while the ladies were praying, that his spirit took its flight from earth. His favorite lines of one of our incomparable hymns, which he often repeated when retiring, were : " Safe in thy arms I lay me down, Tliine everlasting arms of love." It was while they were singing these lines that his wife Eliza's spirit departed 424 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMI,INE. To Rev. L. M. Vernon he writes, March, 1863: " I have longed 10 write to you tor a year or more^ but my eyes, head, and nerves almost wholly prevent my writing. A letter from Bishop Morris lias remained unanswered for nTonths. "'Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season.' Work night'and day for our adorable Lord.' ' I am now ready to be offered,' quite on the verge of heaven. "Dr. Elliott' just bade me farewell, and I-expect to see his face no more until 'death is swallowed up in victoi;y.' O, I feel the victory, even now, through air my inmost soul! " Rev. Dr. Eddy, editor of North-western Christian Advocate, returning from a visit to Bishop Hamline, July I, 1863, writes: " We enjoyed a pleasant interview with this venerable and eminent minister. He looks older than when we saw him years ago. His hair is white, his beard is of silvery hue, but the tones of his voice are as in days long since. His health is frail. Providentially on Saturday he was unusually well, and we had several hours' interesting conversation. Old days, past scenes, mutual friends, the country and the Church were spokenof. His spiritual sky is clear. For the Church he has strong, faith, for the country unswerving loyalty, with deep loathing of home traitors and spurious patriots. Mrs. Ham- line is also in frail health, and, with her husband, is looking for the better liome. We will bear with us the memory of our interviews and tVie meeting at the mercy-seat. " Tliey have made a liberal arrangement for the benefit of the Park Avenue Mission Church, for which they merit the gratitude of the Church." To Rev. Z. H. and Mrs. Coston, Bishop Ham- line writes, April 10, 1864: " I have been very happy to-day, yet weep much. O how precious is Jesus! 'the sinner's Friend,' when, broken-hearted and believing;, we cast ourselves on him for ever and ever. We are not afraid to trust in him. " Old age, sickness, sorrow, death near at hand, all csu CLOSE OF LIFE. 425 not diive me from thee, blessed Jesus ! The more they gather and center on us, the more closely and confidingly we trust in thee, O thou Lamb of God, who takest away the sin of the world ! Praised be the name of our God for ever and ever! And let all the people say, Amen ! " Sister Swormstedt, of Cincinnati, is with us for a few weeksy Her dear, precious husband, whom we loved so much, •s in heaven, an4 she in weeds of sorrow, yet full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, wailing to pass over." Mrs. Coston was at this time sick and near her end. Nine days after she died in holy triumph, and as the previous letter was one of saintly victory, the following is one of- brotherly condolence; " Mount Pleasant, Iowa, April ig, 1864. "To Rev. Z. H. Coston, — Yours of tlie fifteenth instant arrived this morning, and its affecting news was read with such emotion as you would expect from the pleasant chastening society we enjoyed with you and your sainted wife. I drop a note to say you have our deep and prayerful sympathy. We both, you know, have passed through those cypress shades, and know, better than you ever did until now, how dark the vale, cheered indeed by no light but from that Sun of Riglit- eousness, which shed his beams sb brightly on the death scene at which you.just;now gazed with tearful admiration. We catch the blessed song from her dying lips, 'Glory to Jesus!' Be comforted, my mourning brother, with 'very full comfort' while you bear those words in your very heart's memory along to the same joyful translation scene which awaits you, and I trust us also, and for which and its issues we wait in hope. " Mrs. HaniUne joins iji all these expressions of sympathy, :ind in prayers for your hourly peace and comfort in Jesus, our foundation and strength." It was a trying hour to Bishop Hamline. His close, friends of other years were fast departing. Finley and Farnandis arid David and Jacob Young and Dr. Berry and Swormstedt, with others, had gone. Elliott was absent, and now Mrs. Coston, a ^6 426 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLIN E. noble spirit of their household circle, had been called away. But while it saddened his earthly life it had no such effect upon his heavenly outlook. A year before, when quite sick, he says to Mrs. Elliott: "Tell Dr. Elliott that I am perfectly happy; I feel as though I was in Paradise — never was more cheer- ful." "If Mr. Elliott hears how ill you are he will come home," says Mrs. Elliott. "He must not," replied the Bishop; "I can die without him if I have my Savior with me; could even die without my wife and children, though it would be pleasant to have them by my side, if Christ is with me. But would be glad when I die to have Dr. Elliott before I am buried, if possible." The General Conference of 1864 met in Philadel- phia. On May 26th the bishops sent to Bishop Ham- line their fraternal greeting and sympathy: "Rev. L. L. Hamline, Dear Brother, — Accept oiir frater- nal salutations in the Lord. Those of us who had the privilege of being associated with you in the cares and duties of the episcopal office and work rem'ember with great satisfaction the fellowship of labor and love of those eight years. All of us remember, with interest and high appreciation, your association with us in the holy and active ministering of our Lord Jesus Christ. "We are very thankful that, since your retirement fi;om the effective ranks of the ministry, you have been enabled in so many ways to serve your fellow-men and to honor God. "We are grateful to our Heavenly Father that in your years of superannuation you have been so divinely sustained and so greatly cheered and comforted by the Holy Spirit. " It is with us, also, a matter of praise to God that you have been so exempted from acute sufferings, and that so many years have been added to your life upon earth. "God has also been very merciful to us. He has given us sufficient health to enable us to meet our official obligations so as to be approved by the General Conference, and we trust CLOSE OF LIFE. 427 also to divine acceptance. He lias also given iis the great happiness of seeing the work of the Lord prospering in our hands. We have also enjoyed mnch of the divine presence in oiu- journeyings and labors, and great spiritual peace and com- fort in believing. "You will be pleased to learn that Rev. Brothers D. W. Clark, Edward Thomson, and Calvin Kingsley have been elected and ordained bishops during this session of the General Conference. You will unite with us in hailing these brethreJi welcome to the office of bishops in the Church. " You have learned from the official papers how greatly God has prospered his Church. It is certain God is still with his ministers and people. We are, with you, looking and pray- ing for the glory of God to fill the whole earth. "With Christian salutations to Sister Hamline, and com- mending you both to the grace of God, we remain yours fra- ternally in Christ Jesus our Lord, "T. A. Morris, E. S. Janes, L. Scott, M. Simpson, O. C. Baker, E. R. Ames." "The undersigned heartily concur in the foregoing expres- sions of esteem, good will, and high appreciation of your services to the Church. We entertain severally a grateful remembrance of the pleasure and profit we have derived from your ministrations, and our earnest prayer shall be that God's richest blessing may abide with you. "D. W. Clark, E. Thomson, C. Kingsley.'' Bishop Janes, in acknowledging the gift of Bishop .Hamline's seal of office and letter press, for which the latter had now no further use, says: "I am greatly obliged to you for the very useful gift. It was not, however, its intrinsic value that made it so desirable to me, but the fact of its having been possessed and used by yourself as one of my colleagues in the general superintendency of the Church. As mementos, your seal and letter press have great interest to me. I desired very much to possess some memento of yourself. The circumstance of om- being elected and ordained together always gave me a peculiar regard for 428 BIOGKArHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Bisfaop Hamline — a sort of class-mate feeling. So far as I am conscious, there never was the least rivalry or jealousy to mar ourTellowship of labor or love.: . .: . "God has given me health to work, and a heart to work. I delight in his service. I thank God he has kept me, in my administration, from ruinous errors, and given me much favor with the people. He has been; my wisdom and prudence and success. I bless his name continually. I pray God to spare you from suffering,, and continually to cheer, you , with his presence. "Mrs. Janes joins me in affectionate regards to Sister Hamline. I deshe to be remembered to Dr. Hamline's family. "Yours fraternally in Jesus, E. S- Janes." To his dear friend, Moses Brooks, Esq. , on receiv- ing the news of the death of his wife,- Bishop Hamline writes, October lo, 1864: ' "Afflicted Brother, — 1 have, not for years been so anx- ious to, write a letter as. Iq you, my dear afflicted friend. I greatly desjr,e,Jto dwell a moment. on the sanctified, glorified, redeemed one who just agcejnded from your presence to lier God J and tlieji on that , infiiiitely glorious Redeemer who bought her and us with hisi bipod, and has made her, and will soon make us 'kings and priests, ui.ito Qod." Btlt my heacj is so distressed and confused, fhg.t I must give up the, pen to my dear wife* In such affliction I rejoice that you have such a home to fly to as you will find with our dear Brother and Sister Leavitt. , Give to them the assurance of our undying Christian love, -please write often. Farewell! ... "Tell Brother Brooks that I do not expect to live to write another letter. This is my farewell." A few daj's before, Dr. Elliott having come in, Bishop Hamline said: "I am not able to converse," but he desired iDr. EHiptt to write on a slate which he handed him. The doctor wrote, ''The will of the Lord be done." Tlie Bishop wrote underneath, "i(\,men." Dr. Elliott )vrote again, "Amen! Amen!" and added, "In heaven, we shall not need .slate and CLOSE OF LIFE. 429 pencil to converse." The Bishop took the slate, and added, "No; nor tables, nor light, nor a temple, for the Lord God is the temple, and the Lamb the light thereof;" and, taking up the Testament, turned to Rev. xxi, 22, and handed the passage to the doctor, saying: " 'T is beautiful ! glorious! glorious!" Sunday, October 2. — Feeble as he was he read tlie sermon of Monod on the fafth of the Canaanitish wornan, and was greatly blessed. He said: "Were I fortyrseven instead of sixty-seven years old, it seems to me I would bend all my energies to the subject of faith, praying, preaching, talking, and writing about it." October 4. — At evening he said : " To-morrow will be the 5th of October. Thirty-six years to-morrow since the Lord revealed himself to me the hope of glory." On the fifth, to his little grandson, he- said: "To-day I am thirt)-six ye.irs old." The child was puzzled, and said: "Sixty three you mean, grandpa." The Bishop- explained in a most in: cresting manner. Afterward he said: "The Lord has sometimes won- derfully blessed me during the last Summer" (men- tioning paiticularly a sermon preached in his class- room by Rev. G. B. Jocelyn), saying: "I received a great blessirig under that sermon. I went up stairs weeping aloud, and going through the chambers. I knelt before the Lord fir.st in one place, and then in another, Confessing and praising." He then spoke of a season of suffering which followed. He said : "I ought to suffei- and die meekly, patiently; How is it that he so "ble-sses me ?" October \6.— To yi.x%. Hamlifte he said : "The weary wheels of life stand still, I know what that 430 BIOGRAPHY OF KEV. L. L. HAMLINE. means, the weary wheels of life;" adding, "I feel a wonderful peace pervading my whole being. Christ is so near me as I can not describe. He answers me by Urim and Thummim. Light pours from his breast into mine. I dwell not in a world of glory, but a world of love. " 'O love, how cheering is thy ray! AH pain before thy presence flies.' " After kneeling some time in silent prayer, he said . "Such blessings are poured upon me when I kneel to pray that it seems as though I can not live. 'Tis wonderful thus to live in a furnace." ^ October 27. — After suffering great pain, he said: "What I have suffered to-day I think has taught me a useful lesson — has been very profitable. I have thought of mj' Savior's sufferings as I never did be- fore." After dwelling some time on this theme, he asked his wife to show him the hymn (in the old edition of our hymn-book) which contains the stanza beginning with the lin^, "See how his back the scourges tear." The year 1865 dawned upon the setting of one of the brightest luminaries' in the militant Church. Memorable is that year, and sacred in the calendar of the Church, above, below. But we should not call it a setting sun. It is so, as in nature, only in appearance to us who dwell upon the earth's surface. In reality the departing of earth's great lights is only constellating a new hemisphere with stars of rare and enduring glory. Until the soul of our lamented Bishop "passed into the heavens" he continued to shine with increasing luster, as a star in the right- CLOSE OF LIFE. 43 1 hand of " Him who liveth, and was dead, and behold he is alive for evermore, amen ; and hath the keys of death and of hades." On Sabbath evening, January 4th, Bishop Ham- line thus writes: " Dear Wife, — Deprived of the privilege of the class, I hereby give you, in brief, my testimony. My sins are all par- doned ihrough the blood and righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ. The great work of inward purification and Christian edification is gloriously progressing.- I feel that, living or dy- ing, I am my Lord's. Press onward, my beloved, after Christ and heaven. Should I die soon, follow me to the grave with holy transports as an attendant on joyful scenes, for I go to the ' marriage supper of the Lamb,' to your God and my God. I wait your coming there. O may the dear children and grandchildren (how my eyes gush forth in tears as I write of them !) meet us there ! Ever, ever yours, and Christ's above yours. " 'And if our fellowship below In Jesus be so sweet, What heights of rapture shall we know When round his throne we meet 1' " At anotlier date he writes: "I have not recently recorded my joys and sorrows; but now, knowing my end is near, and that I shall soon go to my blessed home, and having strength to write a few words for your comfort when I see'you no more on earth, this morning I am so filled with 'joy unspeakable and full of glory ' that I c;in scarcely contain the bliss. Heaven is so near. I am near to God, and near to my eternal home. O, I wish I could ex- plain how Christ now appears! but I can only say, 'Expressive silence muse his praise.' Again, ' He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself,' 'the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits,' etc. " 'My guilt is washed away By my Redeemer's. blood, Aitid by the Spirit I can say That I am born of God.' 432- BIOGRAPHY OF REV, L. L. HAMUNE. " O blessed assurance ! My dear wife and son, ' Behold, I ascend, unto your Father and my Father, to your God and my God !' Glory be to the Father, and to th? Soq.anid to (he Holy Ghost ! Amen J" Sunday, January 22. — Unable to attend the class- meeting in liis little clfapel, he went to the class-room door, ancl gave! the following, which proved his last class-meeting testimony. He said: " I am not as happy to-di\J dtel was laSt Sabbath, and not as hiippy as the sister I heard shouting just ndw. I am not able to speak to-day, and at first thought I would not try. But I have had a solemn day; was greatly .affected while reading my morning lesson. I read where Jesus prayed, 'Father, for- give therii, for they know not what they do.' I thought he could not pl-ay that prayer for me if I lived short of tlie full- ness of the blessing of the Gospel^ and it is a solemn thought. Dear bi.eihren, bur blessed Lord can not pray that prayer for you if you live witliout his full salvation, for you know what you do. O brethren, get this fullness, this perfect love ! Dear brethren, get perfect love !" etc. Dwelling most earnestly and affectiiigly on the believer's dut)' and privilege, and retiring, as he often did, under the apprehension that it might be his last opportunitj' to speak to the class, he said: "I would like to go home to-night; O, I would like to go home to-night! I am ready." After a suffering night of family alarm, his chil- dren. Dr. Hamlinc and wife, coming in in the morn- ing, Mrs. Hamline said: "Father, I am sorry to see you so ill this morning." He replied: "It is all right; just as the Lord pleases. His will be done, and the will of no other. His infinitely holy Provi- dence does every thing right. He gave his Son to die for me; that is enough to all eijernity. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!" CLOSE OF LIFE. 433 In the midst of tliese celestial joys and mortal conflicts, and the assiduities and affections of visiting friends, he is cheered by the remembrance of his former episcopal colleagues, now sitting in council at Cleveland, Ohio, who lovingly send him their last joint fraternal greetings, February 22, 1865 : " Rev. Bishop Hamline. Dear Brother, — The under- signed, having learned through Rev. Dr. Elliott of your severe illness, desire to express to you our deep sympathy with you in your sufferings, and also our grateful joy to learn that in your affliction you are abundantly sustained by the grace of God, and cheered by a consciousness of the Divine presence. We desire to renew our assurances of high esteem and fraternal love in Christ. While thus cherishing you in our affections, we also remember you in our prayers, earnestly beseeching our heav- enly Father to bestow upon you all the blessings your soul and circumstances may require. "With affectionate salutations to Sister Hamline, we re- main your affectionate and sympathizing brethren in Christ. " T. A. Morris, E. S. Janes, L. Scott, M. Simpson, O. C. Baker, E. R. Ames, D. W. Clark, C. Kingsley." Bishop Morris, also, in a personal note, writes: " Dear Brother and Sister Hamline, — . . . We sincerely sympathize with you both in your painful and pro- tracted family affliction, but ' reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." We are hopeful as to the final success of Methodism in the world, also as to its results in our own case as individuals. " We shall write to Sister Palmer for the ' Guide ' to help us. " I send you a copy of my tallt on the 'Spirit of Methodism.' " Please give our love to Dr. Elliott and family, Dr. Ham- line and family, and accept for yourselves the prayers and Christian affections of yours, ever, T. A. Morris." Friends were speaking their last words now, and the certain nearness and probable suddenness of 37 434 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM1.1NE. death prompted from his pen what might be his final testimony and advice as to his burial: "March .6th. " My Dear Wife, — In 1844 I did not desire the ' office of a bishop,' never thought of it, nev'er connected my person and that office even in my wildest imagining; but I desired then, as you must remember, a ' good work ;* that is, the work of saving souls; and how wonderfully God endowed me with strength for that work in 1842 and 1843, until stricken down by disease. Now, this very day, I feel the burning desire, kindled by the Holy Spirit, to engage in that 'good work ;' but there is a difference. Then, I desired to die and go to Christ, whom I loved with such a glowing love, but also desire;d the good work, not the office; but now, with the same desire to save souls, I have no expectation of it. Of course 1 am not ' in a strait,' as Paul was, but my desire to depart and be with Christ is unre- strained by conflicting desires. I infer that my time is close at hand, and that I shall soon be ' absent from the body and pres- ent with the Lord,' so I give you in writing a few words of affec- tionate advice: Procure a plain, modest monument for my grave, with no letters on it but the name, date of death, or the like. If convenient, let this be inclosed with an iron railing large enough for a few family graves. I would advise you to stay with the children. Be with them daily, and you can coun- sel and comfort and help guide their dear little ones to .Christ. And now, finally, thanking you with a warm and grStefulheart for your labors, patience, and prayers for me these twenty- eight years, gone forever, I commend you to God in Christ Jesus, who is able to build us up, and I am persuaded will bring us to meet before his throne. His holy religon has been our solace and strength on earth amid many toils and trials, and I trust we are to be numbered with those who came up out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The few remaining days of his conflict were spent in the usual order, rising early and with help, attir- ing himself for the day, then spending a season in his sitting room in prayer, after which his hymn- book and Bible were placed for his use during the CLOSE OF LIFE. 435 day in a chair by his lounge. Wonderfulwere his suflferings, and transcendently wonderful were his victories of faith and joy and hope. His living was "quite on the verge of heaven." He said: "I do not want one thought that is not fit for heaven. I have of late thought much of that." Some of his spiritual exercises seem almost more than belong to the honor of human nature in this life. The Mon- day before his death his son, Dr. Hamline, went to Chicago on business,: to return the following Satur- day. But on Wednesday, being strongly impressed that he was needed at home, he hastily returned be- fore his time, and just in time, to be present at the scene of parting. Wednesday, the 22d of March, Bishop Hamline was able to attend to some business matters. At family worship he offered a short prayer, but after breakfast was taken with severe spasms, from which, however, he revived and seemed as comfortable "as at any time for the past two months. In the afternoon his violent symptoms returned. "That pain is coming back," he said, "and I do not see how I can live through another such spell as I had this morning." The business to which he was giving attention was su.spended. Handing the papers to Mrs. Hamline, he said: "I can not attend to thai now. If I live till to-morrow I will attend to it." His agony increased rapidly, the perspiration streaming from his face. A messenger was dis- patched with all possible liaste for the family physi- cian, and very soon another, who ran to bring the first physician he could find. He often exclaimed: "O agony unspeakable! I never knew what pain was before!" He could not keep one position a 436 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. moment; but, extending his hands for aid several times, rose and stepped a few steps, and then sank back again to the lounge. He said, "Pray that I may be relieved." Two short, earnest prayers were offered for his relief. When a third commenced, he said pleasantly, "There, now," it being all the voice he could endure. During all this time he was per- fectly calm in mind and collected. Remembering the feebleness of Mrs. Hamline, he said to her, "Sit down, they will do all I need;" and when she ex- tended her hand to help him rise, "No," he said; "let them help me." At length he exclaimed,, a glow spreading over his agonized features, "O, children, this is wonderful suffering; but it is noth- ing to what my Savior endured on the cross for me." This was his last effort to speak. He had said a little before, "I feel the pain approaching my heart;" and now the agony, which exceeded in intensity any thing the beholders ever witnessed, had reached its climax in the spasm of the heart. When the doctor arrived, consciousness was appar- ently gone, and a few brief moments closed the scene. Thus passed to its heavenly rest the redeemed spirit Thursday, March 23, 1865. As he lay dressed for the grave, friends who visited the remains, ex- claimed, "What a picture of rest!" The agony be- ing over, and the noble features having settled back into natural form and expression, the countenance looked more like devotion than death. Three days had passed, when, on the 26th of March, the solemn cortege moved along the way to Asbury Chapel, the doors and pulpit of which were CLOSE OF LIFE. 437 draped heavily in mourning. The crowd around the door gave way for the procession, and the officiating minister, as they passed down the aisle, pronounced the service, "I am the resurrection and the life." In the pulpit were Dr. Elliott, Revs. Z. H. Coston, T. Corkill, A. C. Williams, and H. M. Thomas, the latter four taking part in the service. Dr. Elliott gave an excellent discourse from Pslam xxxvii, ^f\ "Mark the perfect man." After divine service the' remains were interred temporarily, according to the forms of the Church, upon his own grounds, whence, subsequently, they were removed to "Rose Hill Cemetery," between Evanston and Chicago, where they await the voice that shall call them forth to "the resurrection of life." "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that have turned many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." 43^ BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAMLINE. Chapter XXVII. GENERAL RETROSPECT. OUR labor of love, though properly ending here, might seem to be incomplete without some gen- eral retrospect. The facts of the life we have delin- eated we have endeavored to spread out truthfully and impartially and in their just proportions upon the pages of this volume. Yet the different features and phases of the character portrayed, we have been able hith- erto to consider only separ-ately, which the reader may not be able to arrange in theii" true relations and harmony. Few men, in any age l of- -the Church, have attracted more attention, or won. more admira- tion, or commanded a more positive influence over men and councils, over individuals and the popular mind, than Bishop Hamline. It were but natural that he should be judged of variously, and that his principles of action should sometimes have been mis- understood and misapplied. The history of the world familiarly .shows that the' man who, by native genius and talent, rises above the average of his fellow-men becomes a mystery to his age in propor- tion as he transcends other minds. It is so, and has been so in all ages, and in all professions and depart- ments of society. As a sequence of superiority, office and honor often fall in train, and these ex- pose 'to envy and the selfish passions of men. What is the secret of success? is a question which GENERAL RETROSPECT. 439 curiosity prompts, whether from good or evil motives. The power of Bishop Hamline, as an individual mind, apart from office, can not be doubted. The secret of that power is readily seen by those who thor- oughly kndw his history and mental structure, and understand the words, • ' ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." One undisputed fact stands out in full relief upon the canvas of his' life — from his early boyhood he was a leading spirit 'in whatever Circle he moved; and as clearly does it appear that moral principle, reverence f6r God and his Word, and cultivated man- ners marked every period of his life. Not less not- able is the^fact that in every responsible position of maturer years he was successful. As a lawyer, as a candidate for thie ministry during the years of his first essays, as a preacher and pastor, as an editor, as a bishop, he was not only successful, but eminently so. In writing, in preaching, in debating, in Church' administration, in council, he held a leading influence, and this without seeking or intending to make him- self public, or aspiring to distinction. There must be something remarkable in the intellectual, moral, and aesthetic character to sustain and account for all this. But greater than all, when, by premature afflic- tion, he was laid aside, retiring from public life to pine and suffer and waste away in the seclusion of the sick-room for a period of fourteen years, he de- veloped a greatness, a resignation, a living sympathy for the salvation of souls, a degree of positive useful- ness, which showed him superior to adversity and tlvoroughly penetrated with the doctrines which he professed and taught. 44° BIOGKAPHY OF KEV. L. L. IJAMLINE. His religious experience was strongly marked, both in the change it wrought and the evidences by which it was attested. Great wer« the transitions in his conversion and in his experience of perfect love. They were the epochs of his history; they were the gates of ingress to the spiritual mysteries of God ; they were as keys of the kingdom of heaven. His whole after life pointed back to these marvelous events. From thence arose his power with God and with man. The convictions which preceded in both cases made the changes more real, left no shadow of doubt of that reality. He could always say, "That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life, declare we unto you." He had now passed beyond the region of the specu- lative, by which in earlier life he had been entangled, and had attained the positive. This, also, gave power and effect to his teaching and preaching. The doctrine of entire sanctification which he preached was not a speculation, nor a mere dogma, but an experience in consciousness, attended with ; the "witness of the Spirit," with "signs following" in corresponding fruits and effects. With Bishop Hamline this conscious experience was the great conservative, aggressive, balancing power of his life. His whole character was recast in this mold. To those who had seen and heard him but once or twice, or occasionally^ on public occasions or social meetings, he might seem to carry this subject to an extreme; but those who knew him long and inti- mately saw and knew that what he appeared to be occasionally, he was really and daily. "He believed. GENERAL RETROSPECT. 44 1 therefore he spoke;" and that faith was, indeed, "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" — "the faith which is of the opera-, tion of God." On this subject he spoke not as one that "beateth the air;" but words had a meaning, because the things which they represented had en- tered into his inmost soul and liveliest apprehension. His teachings on this subject, and on every subject of experimental religion, will be a legacy to the Church, and a way-mark to Wesleyan theology, in all ages. What he might have been had he never been converted, or what he might have been had he never entered fully and deeply into the experience of perfect love, is not our prerogative to guess; but this we may clearly and safely say, had it not been for the great baptism of the Holy Spirit abiding with him, he never could have left the record he has. True, he had uncommon natural talents, without which the Holy Spirit would not have chosen him for the particular sphere which he filled; but it was the Spirit using these talents which made him mighty. And this is the New Testament idea of "gifts of the Holy Ghost," which served the ends of miracles, namely, natural talents wholly sanctified, wholly brought under the will of the Holy Spirit. The souls which he was instrumental in reaching with the light of conviction, and effectual teaching on the higher truths of the spiritual life, may be reckoned by thousands. Bishop Hamline did not always preach alike elo- quently, though always to edification and profit to those who sought after truth and grace. His early life was shadowed by sickness and suffering, which 442 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. t. L. HAMLINE. followed him into manhood. The effects upon his nervous system from excess of study and mental action while yet a youth were felt more or less till the time of his conversion. After conversion his preaching and spiritual labor several times prostrated him, up to the spring of 1844; and twice to the extent that his life was almost despaired of. He was never well but in .the comparative sense. His excessive labors in 1843-43 came near cavryittg him off, and laid the foundation of his premature infirmity and retirement from public work. Few, very few, even of his friends, knew the cost to him of his great sermons, and his unreinitting toil. While the multi- tude would be discussing the merits, and speaking in praise of the sermon, he wbuld hasten to his cham- ber, exhausted, to receive the special ministrations which a loving wife or Christian friends might bestow, for the soothing or the reanimation of an exhausted system. At such times, too, bodily infirmity would induce a mental suffering over his inability to preach' Christ worthily. He never* preached for fame. "Rep- utation as a pulpit orator, the" applause of men, wer6 lost sight of in the absorbing thoiught of savirtg souls. Most emphatically could he say to the Churches, in tlie language of Paul, " For neither at any time Used we flattering words, aS ye kndw, nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, God is witness." His sermoft on "The Witnesses " was pre- pared in his earliest ministry for the pufpdse of reclaiming a senior fellow lawyer from his skepticism. As his friend did not habitually attend Church, he car- ried the skeleton of his .sermon in his pocket Aveek after week, hoping to find him in the house: At GEXEKAL RETROSPECT. /IA1 last he gave up hope of his being present, and de- cided to preach on the subject. As he rose to announce his text he saw his friend in the congre- gation. His soul went out into the subject, and God gave point to the truth. His friend was much affected, inquired after that when Mr.: Ham- line would preach, was checked in his course, but not long after suddenly died of accident, Th€ meekness and humility of Bishop Hamline's character were" a marvel. He often .startles one with his bold ■ expressions. He says : ** I find myself ■ often adopting Edwafds's expre.ssion, 'infinitely vile!' responding even to the clear and most manifest visits of the Comforter. How canst thou dwell in a heart infinitely vile, and fill it with such jubilating joy? O^ten my bursting raptures mingle with a most grate- ful grief, that Jesus should condescend to dwell in so loathsome a heart as mine is, artd employ his omnipotent Spirit to purify what is so corrupt. ■ Who can speak in proper terms of such condescension of such a Savior ?" His humility and self-abhorrence were grounded in a deep sense of native depravity and the exceeding sinfulness of- sin. It was no affec- tation. He saw with eyes illuminated by the law, the throne, the nature, and attributes of God, What was he? "Now that mine eyes see thee," says Job, "I abhor myself, and repeint in dust and ashes." Bishop Hamline's joys, which often seemed more than the human frame could sustain, were commonly accompanied with a view of thie depravity of our na- ture, and the ill-desert of sin inversely profound. Perhaps in this he has few ec(Uals. Perhaps ho feature of his Christian ' life was more 444 BIOGRAPHY OF REV. L. L. HAM LINE. open to unfriendly criticism than his uniform seri- ousness, his general restriction, in conversation, to subjects of experimental religion, and his habit of in- troducing seasons of prayer in social parlor gather- ings. It is, however, enough to know that he never ignored the claims of social intercourse where the themes of conversation were instructive, edifying, or needful. But where the occasion dwindled into what the apostle calls "insipid talking" or "jesting," or any form of unprofitable communications, he consid- ered a few minutes spent in prayer was the surest and best method of recovering the hour, and putting things upon a right course. If lightness or frivolity discovered itself in an annual conference, his prompt and ready voice recalled them to watchfulness and prayer in a manner that could not offend a Chris- tian spirit, and could only be unsavory to a worldly mind. He never joked nor talked idly. In the pul- pit and in the social circle he was alike intent upon the cultivation of his own soul in Christian grace, and saving others. His faith seemed to apprehend Ciuist as really always present, as though he were so in visible form. He lived " as seeing him who is invisi-- ble, " and adjusted all his habits of life to the proprie- ties of such a fact. That he was sometimes sad and despondent is true, but it was not the fruit of any peculiar cast of his piety, but. the force of his com- plicated infirmities, and these seasons were brief and always succeeded with glorious visions of faith, and joyful experiences. He was never ascetic, much less misanthropic, and never violated the law of love and sympathy. He was simply earnest, upright, sincere. , In the midst of sufferings which, in common eyes, GENERAL RETROSPECT. 445 might excuse him from all active interest in the wel- fare of others, he sustained a continuous system of efforts for the salvation and temporal good of his neighbors and fellow-men, and this for a period of fourteen years. There is no mistaking the sincerity and integrity of his religious profession. If the reader has carefully noted the steps or pro- cesses of his mind in his awakening and conversion, and afterward in his new and more profound conse- cration of himself to God, his experience of perfect love, and his habit of renewing this consecration and carefully retrospecting his life from time to time, at New-year, birthdays, or on occasions of special af- fliction, he will discover the ground and secret of his strength. Although he never had occasion to "lay again the foundations " of his Christian character, he often recalled, revie\^d, rehearsed, and confirmed them in solemn form of covenant; and the lively re- membrance of what he was, and what grace had done for him, threw him newly and fully upon that ever- needed grace. As the ship is carefully examined often before putting out upon a new voyage, to know that her timbers are sound, that her fastenings remain sure, .'iiid that all is safe and "seaworthy," so did lie ill regard to his habits of faith and love and obedi- ence. This habit of self-examination was a marked feature of his life, and only when he knew himself by the light of the Holy Spirit, who "searches the deep things of God," and by that Spirit was assured that he rested only and wholly in the atoning blood, did he feel safe. The condescending love of God to him, and a sense of his own natural vileness and de- merit, were the balancing forces of his character. 446 BIOGRAPHY OF REV: L. L. HAMLINE. Bishop Hamline was no quietist, mystic or mo- nastic. Jf : his rules of life, exceeded those of a worldly Christianity, they were not out of harmony Avith the oracles of God and the example of Christ. He was thoroughly churchly in his principles and habits. His reverence for, and faith in, the written word of revelation was: an integral element of hi.'i religion. He sought no artificial methods of humili- ation, or forms of life. He was no recluse ; he lived in the world, grappled with its realitieSj conformed to its innocent custom.?, and entered into hearty .sym- pathy with its real duties, relations, and trials. The depravity of man, the blood of atonement, the regen- erating, sanctifying, witnessing Spirit, the authority and fullness of the written Word, were the formative dogmas of liis creed. As to his talent as a preacher and a writer, the reader is referred to the "Introduction" to Volume I of Bishop Hamline's Works, where the subject Js fully stated. And now, in taking leave of this work, which was undertaken with a humbling sense of inadequacy, yet for the love of God, it only remains to say that an intimacy of three years with Bishop Hamh'ne's writ- ings, in preparing the two volumes of his Works, and this of his biography, added to a personal ac- quaintance with him durinjj the term of his episcopal office, the love and esteem wliich the writer of tliis had for him from the beginning have become more intensified and settled upon a surer ground of knowl- edge, and the symmetry and beauty of his character have beai more clearly api>reciated as this knowledge has increased. The unused manuscripts are laid aside GENERAL RETROSPECT. 447 with feelings something like those of burying a friend, but thankful that the heart has been brought into closer communion with one whom the Lord loved. Many have been the seasons of joyful fel- lowship, not unfrequently accompanied with tearful thanksgiving, during the preparation of this volume. And if the effort to help in placing the voice and character of this "angel of the Church" back in their true place in the Church shall be in any good degree successful ; if the reader shall derive as much profit in reading as the editor in preparing this vol- ume; if, in a word, God shall approve and "further it with his continual help," then shall we all unite to "glorify God, who has given such power unto men." THE END.