ISHOP SIMPSON JHP GRCROOK Columbia 3!nit>e tsitp intljeCttpaflfttjgork THE LIBRARIES / BISHOP SIMPSON IN MIDDLE LIFE. THE LIFE OF BISHOP MATTHEW SIMPSON OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH BY GEORGE R. CROOKS, D.D. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, :FRANKLIN SQAURE Copyright, 1890, by Harper & Brothers. All rights reserved. PREFACE. In the preparation of this life I have been placed under many obligations by friends of Bishop Simpson who have supplied me with materials. I desire especially to thank the Kev. George B. Smith, of Cadiz, Ohio, for aid given me at the time of my visit to that town ; also to Professor Hamnet, of Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Professor James K. Weaver, of De Pauw University for help when I was in those places searching for information. I am also indebted to Ex-Governor A. G. Porter, and Dr. T. A. Goodwin, of Indianapolis, for their accounts of life in Greencastle, when the university was under the direction of President Simpson. Mr. John H. Nicolay, of Washing- ton, the biographer of President Lincoln, very kindly made a search among the Lincoln papers for letters. And I beg also to thank Bishop Bowman, General Clinton B. Fisk, Dr. John Lanahan, Professor Joseph Tingley, President W. F. Warren, of Boston University, Mr. George II. Stuart, and other correspondents for reminiscences of the bishop which have greatly enriched this volume. It ought to be said that I have found among the papers placed in my hands no trace of the bishop's opinions upon public questions, or of his estimates of public men. His fa- miliar correspondence is in the main with his family, and is iv PREFACE. wholly of a domestic nature. On this I have drawn free- ly, for it shows his character in a most amiable light. I have looked for letters which contain expressions of his judgments upon public affairs, but have looked in vain. The bishop has put his thinking into his public addresses, and there is nothing remaining that can be added to these sources of information. George E. Crooks. Drew Theological Semen* ary, Madison, New Jersey, February 86, 1890. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION Page 1 CHAPTER I. LIFE IN CADIZ (AUTOBIOGRAPHIC). Autobiography. — Birth in Cadiz, Ohio. — The Simpsons Migrate from Eng- land to Ireland, and thence to the United States. — Settlement in Ohio and Pennsylvania. — James Simpson, the Father. — His Failing Health and Death in 1812. — The Simpsons, from Presbyterians, became Meth- odists.— Sarah Tingley, the Bishop's Mother. — Childhood of Matthew Simpson. — Early Schooling. — Advantages and Disadvantages. — Learns to Set Type. — Works at Reed-making. — Receives Permission to Enter a Classical School. — Works Energetically on Latin and Greek. — Health Injured by Close Application. — Walks to Madison College, Uniontown. — Kind Reception from Doctor Elliott. — The Faculty. — After Two Months Decides to Return Home. — Dedicates Himself to a Christian Life. — Activity in the Church. — Begins the Study of Medicine. — Is Licensed to Preach 7 CHAPTER II. LIFE IN CADIZ. Personal Appearance. — Bashfulness.— The Old Home.— Helps in the Shop and Teaches in the School. — Passages from his Diary, 1831-1834. — Reads Medicine with Dr. McBean. — Is Admitted to Practice as a Phy- sician. — Great Variety of his Occupations. — Verse-Making. — Distrust of his Ability to Become a Public Speaker. — Makes Known to his Mother his Puipose to Preach. — Her Answer. — Consecrated from his Birth to the Christian Ministry 33 CHAPTER III. HIS TEACHERS. Uncle Matthew Simpson. — His High Standing as Teacher and Legisla- tor. — The Bishop's Mother. — Dr. James McBean. — His Kindness to vi CONTENTS. Young Simpson.— Dr. Elliott.— The Start on Foot for Uniontown — Hears Classes i'or the College President.— Is both Student and As- sistant Teacher.— Appointed College Tutor— Dr. Elliott's Place among Methodist Educators. — Presbyterianism and Methodism in the Forma- tion of the State of Ohio Page 55 CHAPTER IV. HIS EARLY MINISTRY. His Reasons for Hesitating to Enter the Travelling Ministry.— Appointed to the Circuit on which he Lived . — Remonstrances of his Friends.— Advantageous Business Offers in Cadiz.— Prefers a Six Weeks' Circuit, with Thirty-four Appointments.— Good Advice of a Hicksite Quaker. — Much Work, but Small Pay.— Appointed to Pittsburgh as a Junior Preacher. — Dr. Sellers. — Appointed to Liberty Street Church, Pitts- burgh. — Trying Position, but Complete Success. — Marriage. — Wishes to Graduate A.B., but Receives Unexpectedly the Degree of A.M. — Stationed at Williamsport — Begins Housekeeping. —The House. — Preaching on the Evidences of Christianity. — Rules of Life 65 CHAPTER V. INCIDENTS OF HIS EARLY MINISTRY. Was Bishop Simpson's Pulpit Power of Slow Growth ?— Accounts by Relatives of his First Sermons.— Professor Hamnett's Testimony.— His Appointment to Liberty Street Church, Pittsburgh, Proof of his Rapid Success.— Counsels of Dr. Sellers. — His Early Style Impassioned. — His Own Description of his First Attempts to Make Sermons.— His Method Purely Extemporaneous. — Looked for Immediate Results from Every Sermon. — The Itinerant Life of that Period. — The Simple Worship of Rustic Congregations. — His Own Account, from his Diary, of his Cir- cuit Preaching. — Laborious Pastorate in Pittsburgh. — Studies in the Hebrew and in the New Testament. — Pastoral Visitation and Sunday Sermons. — Completes his Twenty-fourth Year.— Dissatisfaction with his Spiritual State " 89 CHAPTER VI. PROFESSOR IN ALLEGHENY COLLEGE AND VICE-PRESIDENT. The Beginnings of Higher Education in the Methodist Episcopal Church. — Asbury's Notice of the School in Uniontown.— Dr. Alden, the Founder of Madison College. — The Madison Merged in the Allegheny School. — Young Simpson Elected to the Chair of Natural Science. — Success as a Teacher. — A Close Reader of the Books of a Choice Library. — Elected President of the Indiana Asbury University in 1838-9.— Rough Journey to Indiana. — His own Review of his Life in Meadville.— The Course of Natural Science in Allegheny College.— Repairs the Appa- ratus with his own Hands.— His Various Reading in these Years. . 125 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER VII. LIFE IN INDIANA. Early Settlement of Indiana. — Captured from the British by General Clark.— Settlers from the Southern Border States. — The Early Method- ist Preachers. — John Strange. — The Charter of Indiana Asbury, now De Pauw, University. — Opposition. — Devotion of the Old Preachers to Education. — President Simpson's Arrival at Greencastle. — Difficulty of Finding a Resting-place.— Only the Beginnings of a School. — At- tends the Indiana Conference. — Preaches the Centenary Sermon. — James V. Watson.— Condition of the State in 1839 Page 139 CHAPTER VIII. THE COLLEGE PRESIDENT AND HIS TRIALS. Disappointment on Both Sides.— The Bare Rudiments of a University. — President Simpson Enlists the Aid of the Methodist Preachers. — En- couragement Given to Plain but Promising Boys. — Cynthiana Cir- cu it._A Stirring Appeal. —The First Faculty. — Descriptions of the President by Former Students. — Colonel John Ray's Account. — "He is My President." — Dr. Simpson's Versatility. — His Methods in the Lecture-Room. — Ex-Governor Porter's Narrative. — Dr. T. A. Good- win's Story of his Journey to Greencastle. — Rough Riding with Two on One Horse. — " Not Much of a University, I Reckon." — The President's Rules for the Direction of his Own Life.— The Inaugura- tion. — Governor Wallace's Address of Welcome. — The President's Address. — The Charge of Sectarianism Answered. — The University and State Politics. — Incessant Labors. — The Heroisms of Methodist Education 155 CHAPTER IX. LIFE IN INDIANA. THE MATURED ORATOR. Bishop Simpson in the Maturity of his Oratorical Power. — Deep Interest of the People of Indiana in Preaching. — Religion and Politics. — His Unquestioning Faith in Christian Truth. — Sympathetic Quality of his Voice. — The Great Preachers of Indiana, Simpson, Ames, and Beecher. — The Influence of Methodism on Henry Ward Beecher's Preaching. — Rev. James Hill's Account of the Centennial Sermon, 1839. — Pounding an Excited Hearer on the Back. — Description by Rev. O. S. Munsell of a Sermon Delivered at a Camp-meeting near Greencastle. — Hurrying of the Crowds to the Meeting-ground. — An Extraordinary Climax. — Some Incidents of that Day. — The Lawyer at the Church Door. — The Rev. John L. Smith's Narrative. — The Rev. Aaron Gurney's Reminis- cence. — Contrast between President Simpson's Appearance and the Exhibitions of his Power. — A Comical Mistake. — The Rev. B. F. Raw- lins's Travel with President Simpson on Preaching Tours. — Marvel- vi CONTENTS. Young Simpson.— Dr. Elliott.— The Start on Foot for Uniontown — Hears Classes for the College President.— Is both Student and As- sistant Teacher.— Appointed College Tutor.— Dr. Elliott's Place among Methodist Educators. — Presbyterianism and Methodism in the Forma- tion of the State of Ohio '. Page 55 CHAPTER IV. HIS EARLY MINISTRY. Bis Reasons for Hesitating to Enter the Travelling Ministry.— Appointed to the Circuit on which he Lived.— Remonstrances of his Friends- Advantageous Business Offers in Cadiz.— Prefers a Six Weeks' Circuit. with Thirty-lour Appointments.— Good Advice of a Hicksitc Quaker. —Much Work, but Small Pay.— Appointed to Pittsburgh as a Junior Preacher. — Dr. Sellers. — Appointed to Liberty Street Church, Pitts- burgh.— Trying Position, but Complete Success. — Marriage. — Wishes to Graduate A.B., but Receives Unexpectedly the Degree of A.M. — Stationed at Williamsport. — Begins Housekeeping. —The House. — Preaching on the Evidences of Christianity. — Rules of Life 05 CHAPTER V. INCIDENTS OF HIS EARLY MINISTRY. Was Bishop Simpson's Pulpit Power of Slow Growth ?— Accounts by Relatives of his First Sermons.— Professor Hamnett's Testimony. — His Appointment to Liberty Street Church, Pittsburgh, Proof of his Rapid Success.— Counsels of Dr. Sellers. — His Early Style Impassioned. — His ( >wn Description of his First Attempts to Make Sermons. — His Method Purely Extemporaneous. — Looked for Immediate Results from Every Sermon. — The Itinerant Life of that Period. — The Simple Worship of Rustic Congregations. — His Own Account, from his Diary, of his Cir- cuit Preaching. — Laborious Pastorate in Pittsburgh. — Studies in the Eebrew and in the New Testament. — Pastoral Visitation and Sunday Sermons. — Completes his Twenty-fourth Year. — Dissatisfaction with his Spiritual State ." 89 CHAPTER VI. PROFESSOR IN' ALLEGHENY COLLEGE AND VICE-PRESIDENT. The Beginnings of Higher Education in the Methodist Episcopal Church. — Asbury's Notice of the School in Uniontown. — Dr. Alden, the Founder of Madison College. — The Madison Merged in the Allegheny School. — Y'oung Simpson Elected to the Chair of Natural Science. — Success :i- a Teacher. — A Close Reader of the Books of a Choice Library. — Elected President of the Indiana Asbury University in 1838-9.— Rough Journey to Indiana. — His own Review of his Life in Meadville. — The Course tit Natural Science in Allegheny College.— Repairs the Appa- ratus with his owu Hands.— His Various Reading in these Years. . 125 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER VII. LIFE IN INDIANA. Early Settlement of Indiana. — Captured from the British by General Clark.— Settlers from the Southern Border States.— The Early Method- ist Preachers.— John Strange.— The Charter of Indiana Asbury, now De Pauw, University. — Opposition. — Devotion of the Old Preachers to Education.— President Simpson's Arrival at Greencastle.— Difficulty of Finding a Resting-place.— Only the Beginnings of a School. — At- tends the Indiana Conference. — Preaches the Centenary Sermon. — James V. Watson.— Condition of the State in 1839 Page 139 CHAPTER VIII. THE COLLEGE PRESIDENT AND HIS TRIALS. Disappointment on Both Sides.— The Bare Rudiments of a University — President Simpson Enlists the Aid of the Methodist Preachers.— En- couragement Given to Plain but Promising Boys. — Cynthiana Cir- cuit.— A Stirring Appeal. —The First Faculty. — Descriptions of the President by Former Students.— Colonel John Ray's Account.— "He is My President." — Dr. Simpson's Versatility. — His Methods in the Lecture-Room. — Ex-Governor Porter's Narrative. — Dr. T. A. Good- win's Story of his Journey to Greencastle. — Rough Riding with Two on One Horse.—" Not Much of a University, I Reckon." — The President's Rules for the Direction of his Own Life.— The Inaugura- tion. — Governor Wallace's Address of Welcome. — The President's Address. — The Charge of Sectarianism Answered. — The University and State Politics. —Incessant Labors. — The Heroisms of Methodist Education 155 CHAPTER IX. LIFE IN INDIANA. THE MATURED ORATOR. Bishop Simpson in the Maturity of his Oratorical Power.— Deep Interest of the People of Indiana in Preaching. — Religion and Politics.— His Unquestioning Faith in Christian Truth.— Sympathetic Quality of his Voice.— The Great Preachers of Indiana, Simpson, Ames, and Beecher. —The Influence of Methodism on Henry Ward Beecher's Preaching. — Rev. James Hill's Account of the Centennial Sermon, 1839. — Pounding an Excited Hearer on the Back.— Description by Rev. O. S. Munsell of a Sermon Delivered at a Camp-meeting near Greencastle.— Hurrying of the Crowds to the Meeting-ground.— An Extraordinary Climax.— Some Incidents of that Day.— The Lawyer at the Church Door.— The Rev. John L. Smith's Narrative.— The Rev. Aaron Gurney's Reminis- cence. — Contrast between President Simpson's Appearance and the Exhibitions of his Power.— A Comical Mistake.— The Rev. B. F. Raw- lins's Travel with President Simpson on Preaching Tours.— Marvel- viii CONTENTS. Ions Effects of Simpson's Descriptions.— The First Redeemed Sinner. — A Break-down in the Midst of a Quagmire. — Bishop Simpson at the Tremont Temple in 1866.— The Rev. R. II. Howard's Narrative.— The Old Vigor Still Alive in 1370 Page 181 CHAPTER X. bishop Simpson's theory of preachixc;. Methodist Preaching the Style Adopted by Laymen. — Ridicule by Society of the Early Methodist Preachers. — Goldsmith on the State-Church Sermons of his Time. — Bishop Simpson's Theory of Preaching Con- tained in his "Yale Lectures." — Preaching is for the Common People. — The Minister a Connecting Link between the Rich and the Poor. — A Beautiful Illustration. — The Sympathetic Voice.— The Exhortation at Lock Haven. — Persuasion rather than Instruction the End of Preach- ing. — The Minister a "Witness. — Extemporaneous Preaching the Most Effective. — His Own Mode of Acquiring the Power of Extemporaneous Address. — Bascom, Summerfield, Olin, Durbin, and Simpson. — Durbin and Simpson Contrasted. — Examples of Durban's Electric Power. — Account of the Sermon on u The Victory of Faith,'' by an Editor of the Andoter Review 207 CHAPTER XL DELEGATE TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, 1S44, 1843, 1852. General Conference of 1844. — Diary of President Simpson's Trip to New York. — His Weariness of the Conference Proceedings. — The Case of Bishop Andrew. — He is Asked to Resign. — Dread of the Effect upon the Country of a Division of the Church. — Position of Olin. — George F. Pierce : ' ; Lct New England go." — Brilliant Reply of Jesse T. Peck. — Constitutional Argument of Ilamline. — Address of Bishop Andrew. — Bishop Soule Threatens to Secede. — Durbin's Reply to Soule. — Southern Tact. — The Protest of the South Read by Bascom. — The Reply of the Majority. — A Contingent Plan of Separation. — The Louis- ville Convention of 1845. — John C. Calhoun's Reference to the Division of the Methodist Episcopal Church. — The General Conference of 1848. — The Plan of Separation Repudiated. — Conference of 1852. — Simp- sou's Report on Lay Delegation 229 CHAPTER XII. EDITOR OF THE "WESTERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE." The Life of a College President Forty Years ago. — The Failing Health ofPresident Simpson. — Advised to Change his Mode of Life. — Elected Editor of the Westi n> Christian Advocate. — Invited to be President of Several Colleges. — Power of a Methodist Official Editor. — Doctor El- liott, President Simpson's Editorial Predecessor. — The New Editor's Idea of the Administration of his Paper. — No Controversy to be Tol- CONTENTS. ix crated. — Doctor Foster Replies in the Advocate to Doctor Rice, not- withstanding. — The Make-up of the Advocate.— Is Drawn into Con- troversy on the Great Political Question of the Time. — The Situation North and South. — Threats of Disunion. — Henry Clay's Omnibus Bill.— Positions of Clay, Calhoun, and Webster.— The Famous Editorial on " The Union."— Its Reception. — Attacks the Fugitive-Slave Bill. — Controversy with the Indiana State Sentinel. — Ridicules Compromising Politicians. — Rapid Growth as an Editor. — Mr. S. P. Chase's Letters to Him . Page 253 CHAPTER XIII. FIRST EPISCOPAL TOURS. Elected Bishop, May, 1852.— Gloomy State of Public Affairs.— The Inci- dents of his Election, as Narrated by Himself. — Refuses to Try to In- fluence Votes, by any Word or Act. — Modest Estimate of his Fitness for the Episcopal Office.— A Reminder of his Early Struggles. — His First Conference. — Holds Pittsburgh and Erie Conferences. — Gets Points by Observing the Administration of his Elder Colleagues. — Tour up the Kanawha River. — Reflections upon the Closing of the Old Year and the Opening of the New. — Prayer for Wisdom and Grace. — Meets Gordon D. Battelle— Active Labors in Pittsburgh.— A Delayed Train. — Reaches Lancaster, Pennsylvania. — Will not Travel on Sun- day. — An Amusing Mistake.— Unpretentious Bearing of Bishop Simp- son. — The End of his Diary 275 CHAPTER XIV. AN EPISCOPAL TOUR THROUGH CALIFORNIA AND OREGON. New Conditions of Life for Bishop Simpson.— Incessant Travel Required of him.— His Mental Activity. — His Secretary's Account of his Mode of Preparing for Preaching and Lecturing. — Skeleton of the Sermon on 2 Corinthians iv. 18.— Too Busy to Write. — A Compensation for the Loss of Opportunities of Study.— The Many Applications for his Ser- vices.— Readiness to Help the Churches.— Sails for California, Decem- ber, 1853.— Crossing the Isthmus of Panama. — Hotel Experiences in the " Gem."— The Chagres River.— Cruces— Spoiling of Romantic Ex- pectations.— The "St. Charles" or the "American," Which? — The " Refuse of Creation " Brought Together.— Riding on Mules through the Gorges.— A Native Forest,— Panama.— Another Crowded Hotel.— A Little Prayer-meeting on the Last Evening of the Year.— A Broken Cot, and a Night's Sleep on the Floor.— The Golden Gate Breaks her Shaft.— Drifting on the Pacific Ocean.— A Glorious Sunset.— Arrival at San Diego. —The Golden Gate nearly Wrecked.— Failure of At- tempts to Rescue the Ship.— Subsidence of the Storm. — Arrival at San Francisco.— Meets William Taylor.— Preaching nearly Every Day — Delay of Steamer for Oregon.— Difficulties in the Way of Reaching the X CONTENTS. Seat of the Oregon Conference. — An All-night Ride in an Open Wagon. — Sleeping on Sheaves of Oats. — Twenty Miles on Horseback, Satchel in Hand. — Reaches the Log School-house in which the Con- ference is Held. — Great Joy of the People. — Return to Portland. — Jour- ney up the Columbia River. — Perils of Waters and of the Wilderness. — A Night in an Indian Camp. — Journey Home Page 295 CHAPTER XV. AN EPISCOPAL TOUR TO TEXAS. JOURNEY TO EUROPE. Many Gaps in Bishop Simpson's Papers. — Episcopal Tour in Texas. — Travels with Bewley, the Martyr. — Rough Stage-riding. — His Connec- tion with the Founding of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India. — The Rev. William Buttler's Commission. — Appointed in I806, with Dr. McClintoek, a Delegate to the British Conference. — Rev. W. II. Mil- burn Joins the Party. — "You Dr. McClintock?'' — Recejjtion of the Delegates by the British Wesleyan Conference. — Their Speeches. — No Rest at Home or Abroad. — World's Conference of the Evangelical Alli- ance in Berlin. — Krummacher's Address of Welcome. — Replies on Be- half of Americans by Governor Joseph A. Wright and Bishop Simpson. — Entertainment of the Alliance at Potsdam by the King of Prussia. — A Handsome Reception. — Sermon on Christian Unity by Bishoji Simp- son in the Garnisons Kirche, Berlin U27 CHAPTER XVI. JOURNEY TO THE EAST. ILLNESS AND RECOVERY OF HEALTH. On the Way to the Holy Land. — His Travelling Companions. — At Con- stantinople. — Taken Sick on the Voyage to Smyrna. — " Twenty Years Ago." — Slow Recovery. — The Traveller's Enthusiasm. — Last Look at Palestine, and Homeward. — Alexandria, Cairo, and the Pyramids. — Prostrated again at, Naples. — Reaches Marseilles, Paris, and London. — At Home, and at Work again. — Removal from Pittsburgh to Evanston, Illinois. — Reaches his Fiftieth Year.— Growing Old. — The Troubles in the Church. — The Nation and the Church in Sympathy with Each Other. — The Agressions of the Slave Power in the State. — Aroused Anti-sla- very Feeling in the Church. — The New Chapter on Slavery. — Unrest of the Border Conferences. — The JL thodist Established. — The Last Struggle between Freedom and Slavery Coming on oil CHAPTER XVII. T H E CIVIL W A R. The Contest over the Spread of Slavery Transferred from the Church to the State.— Attitude of Political Parties in 18G0— Effect on the South of Mr. Lincoln's Election. — Bishoj) Simpson and the President. — Tes- timony upon the Bishop's Relations to Mr. Lincoln.— Bishop Bowman's Narrative. — Testimony of General Fisk and Doctor Lanahan. — The CONTENTS. xi Bishop becomes the Evangelist of Patriotism.— His Great War Speed). —Effects Produced by its Delivery.— Scenes in Cincinnati and New York. — Not a Line of this Address Written by Him. — Despondency of the Country in 1864. — The General Conference Sends a Deputation to the President to Assure Him of the Support of the Churches. — Mr. Lincoln's Reply to the Conference's Message.— Removal of the Bishop to Philadelphia. — Address, in Behalf of Mr. Lincoln, at the Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia. — The Death of Mr. Lincoln, in 1865. — Bishop Simpson's Address at the President's Grave. — Another Closing Scene. — The Last Meeting of the Christian Commission in February, 1866. — The Bishop Speaks the Final Words Page 367 CHAPTER XVIII. LAY DELEGATION. The History of Methodist Lay Representation a Long One. — Origin of the Ministerial Power. — Dissatisfaction with the Sole Government of the Church by Ministers. — The Wesleyan Repository. — Merged in the Mutual Eights.— Mr. William S. Stockton and Dr. Thomas E. Bond.— The Report of 1828 on " Petitions and Memorials."— The Philadelphia Movement. — Return of Dr. Bond to the Chair of the Christian Advocate. — The AVolves and the Sheep. — Petitions to the General Conference. — Popular and Ministerial Vote on Lay Delegation in 1861. — Lay Dele- gation Defeated. — The Cause Taken Up by The Methodist. — Prejudice against its Supporters. — The Right to a Free Press Asserted. — Bishop Simpson becomes a Helper of the Laymen. — Letters of Daniel L. Ross to Him.— The John Street Meeting, March, 1863.— The Bishop's Coun- sels. — The Convention in St. Paul's Church, New York, May, 1863. — The Bishop's Address. — Angry Opposition.— The Opposition not Sur- prising. — Succeeding Conventions.— Co-operation of Leading Official Editors. — The Minority becomes a Majority.— Completion of the Work in 1872 407 CHAPTER XIX. THE YEARS OF PEACE. Peace Restored. — Reunion of the Northern and Southern Methodist Churches.— Visit of Bishops Janes and Simpson to the Southern Bish- ops. — A Friendly Meeting.— At what Point shall the Restoration of Fraternity Begin?— Demand that the Church South shall be Recog- nized as Legitimate. — A Deputation to the Southern General Con- ference of 1874. — Speeches of our Fraternal Delegates. — Fraternal Messengers from the South to our General Conference of 1876.— Doctor Lovick Pierce Unable to Attend in Person. — His Address Read. — Its Beauty and Christian Spirit. — Appointment of a Commission to Settle Pending Questions.— These Questions Difficult— Order of Secretary Stanton, in 1864, in Relation to Southern Methodist Churches.— The Order Modified.— Its Operation.— The Case of McKendree Chapel.— xii CONTENTS. Some Good Results of the Order. — General Fisk's Pacific Policy. — "Disintegration and Absorption." — Terms of Settlement Unanimously Agreed to by the Joint Commission.— Anxiety of Bishop Simpson for the Success of Lay Delegation.— His Letters on that Subject. — Letters to his Family Abroad.— Trip to Mexico in 1874 and to Europe in 1875. —Preaching through an Interpreter.— The Yale Lectures on Preaching. — Starts for Japan and China in 1880, but is Taken Sick at San Fran- cisco.— The Methodist (Ecumenical Conference, London, 1881. — The Garfield Memorial Meeting in Exeter Hall. — Wonderful Effect of Bishop Simpson's Address Page 431 CHAPTER XX. LAST DAYS. Serious Nature of the Attack of Illness at San Francisco. — The Bishop's Hopeful Spirit. — Solicitude of his Family and Friends. — His Last Ser- mon in Boston, in the Winter of 1884. — Giving Way of his Strength. — General Conference Meets in May, 1884, near his Home. — Opens the Conference. — Unable to Preside more than Once. — Occasional Visits to the Conference Sessions. — Closes the Conference with an Address.— A Rallying of his Strength, Followed by Relapse.— Last Words. — Death, June 18, 1884 4C3 APPENDIX. I. Published Works of Bishop Simpson 473 II. President Simpson's Inaugural Address, Greencastle, Ind., Sept. 16, 1840 474 III. The Centenary of American Methodism 505 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Bishop Simpson in Middle Life Frontispiece. The Simpson Home in Cadiz, Ohio .... 4 The Old Court-House at Cadiz 51 Mrs. Sarah Simpson, the Bishop's Mother. . Facing p. 58 Uncle Matthew Simpson " 104 The Old School -house First Used by the Asbury University 147 The Academy Building Used till 1840. . . 149 Old or West College, Greencastle. Opened IN 184 Facing p. 170 Bishop Edward R. Ames " 134 Bishop Simpson's Skeleton op His Sermon on 2 Corinth, iv. 18 " 296 Commission of Rev. William Butler as Su- perintendent of Methodist Missions in India « 33 President Lincoln's Reply to the Deputa- tion from the General Conference of 1864 « 394 Bishop Simpson in Later Years " 432 The Garfield Memorial Meeting at Exe- ter Hall, London " 453 LIFE OF MATTHEW SIMPSON. LNTKODUCTION. Bishop Simpson was born in the town of Cadiz, Ohio, of which his father, James Simpson, was one of the first set- tlers. Cadiz is now the county-seat of Harrison County, and was usually reached from the Ohio Kiver, in the days of the bishop's boyhood, by the way of Steubenville or Wheeling. The site of the town, and the region round- about, are underlaid with coal ; the soil is fertile, and the farms are rich in wool and grain, their chief products. Of the first settlement the following account is given in Howe's history of Ohio : " Cadiz was laid out in 1803-4 by Messrs. Briggs and Beatty. Its site was then, like most of the surrounding country, a forest, and its location was induced by the junction there of the road from Pittsburgh by Steubenville, with the road from Washington, Pennsyl- vania, by Wellsburg, Virginia, from whence the two united by Cambridge to Zanesville ; and previous to the construc- tion of the national road through Ohio was travelled more than any other road northwest of the Ohio Kiver. In April, 1809, it contained the following-named persons with their families : Jacob Arnold, inn-keeper, Andrew MeNeely, hatter, and justice of the peace ; Joseph Harris, merchant ; John 1 2 LIFE OF MATTHEW SIMPSON. Jamison, tanner ; John McRea, wheelwright ; Robert Wil- kens, brickmaker; Connell Abdill, shoemaker; Jacob Myers, carpenter; Nathan Pritchard, blacksmith; Nathan Adams, tailor ; James Simpson, reedmaker ; William Ting- ley, school-teacher, and old Granny Young, midwife and baker, who was subsequently elected justice of the peace by the citizens, in a fit of hilarity, but, women not being eligible to office in Ohio, was obliged to forego the pleasure of serving her constituents." The town has been, in former days, and no doubt is still, noted for the brilliant talents of the members of its bar. Here Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's secretary of war, and John A. Bingham, the prosecutor of Lincoln's murderers (still living in a green old age), practised their profession. Here, too, Bishop Simpson's maternal uncle, William Ting- ley, was clerk of the county court for the long period of thirty years. His minute handwriting, as exact and as finished as copper-plate engraving, is still to be found in the records of the court, and of itself is enough to silence the su££estion that the first settlers of Cadiz were rude border- men. From this town, too, the bishop's paternal uncle, Matthew Simpson, was sent to the Ohio legislature, where, in the state senate, he took high rank as a clear-sighted and logical debater. Of the old times in Ohio, fifty or sixty } T ears ago, the recollections are passing away, chiefly from the lack in the local historians of the pictorial power which can produce a clear image of the past out of the materials which it has left us. We catch some glimpses of the state of society in that period from the recent life of Ben Wade.* The supreme judges were of high quality ; justice travelled with them on wheels, visiting every county-seat in a twelve- month. " Judge Peter Hitchcock," says Riddle, " used to drive a sorrel horse in a wooden-springed light wagon, painted yellow, annually over the state for many years." * " Life of Benjamin F. Wade." By A. G. Riddle, Cleveland, 1886. INTRODUCTION. 3 When "Wade went to the county-seat of Ashtabula, he found " a muddy, sodden little town, largely of log build- ings. The woods were very near walling it in all round. They still covered the whole country, with stumpy and muddy roads through them leading to it ; the wide swampy lands were traversed on log- ways of sections of trees, twelve or eighteen inches through, laid side by side, sometimes for miles in extent." Like all pioneers, these Ohio people were litigious ; " to go to a law-suit between others was a great thing. To be called as a juror gave a man impor- tance ; he not only heard the lawyers, they talked to him. He was a part of the tribunal ; ever after a man of note in the neighborhood." * Not only were these borderers litig- ious, they were acute polemics in theology. In no part of the land was theological debate so rife as in the valley of the Ohio from 1800 to 1840. Thought was free. New religious sects, unknown to former times, had sprung up on the soil; the historic churches had chosen what ap- peared to be eligible positions, and were competing for as- cendency. I doubt if the Bible was ever more used for de- bating purposes than in the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illi- nois during this period. The traveller on horseback might often stop on a Saturday, at a log school-house, and find the rustic combatants battling with each other on "the five points," the divinity of Christ, or baptism, with all the energy of Luther and Eck at Leipsic. Into the midst of such a community Bishop Simpson was born, in the early part of this century. It was a virtuous community ; religious feeling was intense, and religious zeal active. The public-school system of Ohio did not then ex- ist, and the schools taught by his uncle Matthew, of which we shall hear, were maintained by subscriptions. The house in which the bishop was born is no longer standing ; its site is now occupied by a hotel and other business buildings. * " Life of B. F. Wade," pp. 75, 76. LIFE OF MATTHEW SIMPSON. 3§B®3|?lis233gS — _ THE SIMPSON HOME IN CADIZ, OHIO. The house in which the family lived, for some years after his fathers death, is still to be found, though now removed from its original place. It was a plain one story and a half structure, and most likely of the style of the majority of the homes of his native town. " It was," says Professor Joseph Tingley, the bishop's cousin, " a small, unpainted plain frame house, of four or five rooms, one of which was used for a schoolroom b} 7 Uncle Matthew. This last was an addition, probably built for the purpose." Born and reared under these conditions, Bishop Simpson, laying hold of such helps as he could find, acquired as much knowledge of the Latin and Greek classics as was attainable in Ohio in that gen- eration, studied and practised medicine, became a college professor and then a college president, administered the office of a bishop for thirty-two years, was, during the civil war, a recognized power in national affairs, and left a fame for pulpit eloquence throughout the English-speaking world. It will be our task to trace the successive steps of this progress, and to show the means by which it was accomplished ; and we first offer to the reader his own brief narrative of his early life. I. LIFE IN CADIZ. AUTOBIOGRAPHIC. Autobiography. — Birth in Cadiz, Ohio. — The Simpsons Migrate from Eng- land to Ireland, and thence to the United States. — Settlement in Ohio and Pennsylvania. — James Simpson, the Father. —His Failing Health and Death in 1812. — The Simpsons, from Presbyterians, became Metho- dists. — Sarah Tingley, the Bishop's Mother. — Childhood of Matthew Simpson. — Early Schooling. — Advantages and Disadvantages. — Learns to Set Type. — Works at Reed-making. — Receives Permission to Enter a Classical School. — Works Energetically on Latin and Greek. — Health Injured by Close Application. — Walks to Madison College, Uniontown. — Kind Reception from Doctor Elliott. — The Faculty. — After Two Months Decides to Return Home. — Dedicates himself to a Christian Life. — Activity in the Church.— Begins the Study of Medicine. — Is Licensed to Preach. BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. I was born in Cadiz, Harrison County, Ohio, June 21, 1811. Of my paternal ancestry I know comparatively little. My grandfather by the father's side was Thomas Simpson, who was from England, and had been in the service of the government as a horse dragoon for a few years, then emigrated to Ireland and settled in Tyrone County. Of his people I have had little information. He died in middle life of a strain received in attempting to raise a huge pole upon a building, and left a family of five sons and one daughter. The sons were Andrew, John, William, Matthew, and James, and the daughter was Mary, who was married to a Mr. Eagleson. In 1793 the family, including my father's mother, em- igrated to the United States, sailing from Londonderry to Baltimore. On their way, not far from the American coast, they were taken by a French vessel — France being then at war with England — and stripped of nearly everything they had. Landing at Baltimore, they removed to Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, and afterwards to Western Pennsyl- vania and Ohio. Andrew Simpson settled near Chillicothe, and has left a large family. John settled on Stillwater Creek, in Harrison County, Ohio, when the population was small, raised a large family of sons and daughters, the most of whom are now in Illinois. William settled near Water- ford, Erie County, Pennsylvania, and died in the prime of life, leaving several sons. Mary Eagleson settled in Har- rison County, Ohio, and brought up a large family of sons and daughters, all of whom, except two daughters, died without children. 8 LIFE OF MATTHEW SIMPSON. James, my father, the youngest of the family, was a man of great personal energy, and unusual business tact. From exposure to the weather he caught a severe cold, which produced a sciatic affection and made him lame for several years, and finally ended in an affection of the lungs. In consequence of his enfeebled health, he entered a store in Pittsburgh as a clerk. Afterwards he began the business of manufacturing weavers' reeds, and, with my uncle Matthew, who had no family, but lived with him, set up this business in Cadiz, and connected with it a store, in which they were in partnership with Mr. Wrenshall, of Pittsburgh. He was married, in 1806, to Sarah Tingley, with whom he had formed an acquaintance when living, for a short time, at Short Creek, Jefferson County, Ohio. They removed to Cadiz immediately after marriage. He bought property in the centre of the town, and was very successful in busi- ness until, his health failing, in 1811, he moved to Pitts- burgh for medical advice, and there died, at his home on Fourth Street, between Market and Ferry, June 15, 1812. Being of Scotch Presbyterian descent, my grandmother Simpson educated her family very strictly in the faith of the Irish Presbyterian Church, but shortly after being left a widow, she heard Mr. Wesley preach, on one of his visits to Ireland. Her heart was touched ; she attended class and joined the Methodist Society, and from that time forward her children attended Methodist meetings, and, at an early age, all of them united with the Methodist Church. She was a woman of more than ordinary intellect. Left a wid- ow in narrow circumstances, she trained a large family in habits of industry and economy, and had the satisfaction of living to see every one of them occupying a respectable position in life. She had a wonderful memory. Often. when a boy, did I listen to her reminiscences of Scotch and Irish life, the persecution of Protestants by the Catholics ; and often have I, in the long winter evenings, listened to stories of fairy and elf and ghost, the common traditions of THE SIMPSONS AND TUE TINGLETS. 9 the North of Ireland, until I found my hair standing on end, and I was almost afraid to leave the little circle in which I sat enchanted. She was happy at ninety, with her old-fash- ioned spinning-wheel and her hymn-book, singing the hymns she loved, and was a devout and constant attendant at the church as long as she was able to visit it. My mother, Sarah Tingley, was born in New Jersey, some twenty miles from South Amboy, near Stony Brook ; but in her childhood was taken to the neighborhood of Amboy. Her father's name was Jeremiah Tingley. Dur- ing the war of the Be volution he was drafted and served a term in the army, and then, as the war continued, he en- listed for an additional term, and was present at several battles, though, not actively engaged. At the close of the war he received a soldier's claim for lands in Western Vir- ginia, and purposed to move west, but the agent who pre- tended to locate his land deceived him, and he never re- covered it. On his way west, in 1790, he was taken ill at Winchester, Virginia, and, after recovering, remained a number of years in that region. He was brought up, as was my mother's mother, a Baptist, but on removing to Winchester, there being no Baptist church near them, my mother attended Methodist preaching, and was awakened and converted. In 1801 the family removed to Ohio and settled on Short Creek, near Hopewell, where Grandfather Tingley died, and where, June 10, 1806, my mother was married. She was the first member of the family who joined the Methodists, but the entire family followed her example. My mother was born May 23, 1781. In our family there were three children : Hettie, the eldest, was born April 3, 1807, and was married, in 1829, to Mr. George McCullough, for many years a merchant in Cincinnati. My second sister, Elizabeth, was born February 2, 1809. She was of delicate health, but a woman of clear intellect and more than or- dinary genius. She was married to a physician named 10 LIFE OF MATTHEW SIMPSON. Scoles, who became a Methodist minister. She gave birth to one son, a very promising boy, who lived to be about five years of age. In 1833 she died, a devoted and lovely Christian. Never shall I forget how calmly and peacefully she passed away near sunset one summer evening. She now rests in the cemetery of Cadiz. I was the third child, and was born, as already stated, June 21, 1811. From the time of the marriage of my father and mother and of their beginning housekeeping, both of them being members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, their house was a home for travelling preachers, and, in the lack of church accommodations, the place of class-meetings and oc- casional preaching. At the time of my birth my father was in feeble health. Both he and my mother consecrated me to God, and their prayer was that if he should see fit to call me, I might be made a minister of the gospel. Pass- ing westward in 1811, Bishop Asbury stopped at my father's house, and Father Boehm, in his reminiscences, states that he remembers Bishop Asbury's baptizing the little boy, though I remember to have heard my mother say that she was not clear who had baptized me. She was in such trouble on account of my father's sufferings and approach- ing death that these things passed from her mind. She remained in Pittsburgh only a short time after my father's decease, and then the family returned to their former home in Cadiz, where I was brought up. Of my early childhood I have heard but little. My mother thought me exceedingly active, and hence, unusual- ly troublesome ; and during my father's illness, when I was not yet a year old, and when she was harassed with cares, at every opportunity I would make for the open door or stairway and go tumbling down the stairs or the stone door-steps, and was often' picked up with scarcely breath remaining in me. She one day said to a friend, who after- wards playfully twitted her about it, that it would be a mercy if I should die, as she did not believe, if spared, I LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE. H would ever have any sense. She often spoke of one pecu- liarity — my delight in noise and excitement ; in the fiercest storm I was anxious to have the door open, and would laugh with childish glee at the thunder and lightning. I was not sent to school, but, seeing my sisters with their books, I was anxious to read also ; and beginning of my own accord, I learned the alphabet and some spelling, and at three years of age could read. My memory, which extends to about that period, finds no trace of the time when I could not read. I can well remember when from four to six years of age, if ministers staying at the house asked me if I could read, how astonished I was at such questions. In the same way I learned early the elements of arithmetic, and I recollect, on a removal of the family from one house to another, when I was between four and five years of age, finding an old copy of the multiplication table which had once been set for me, and my running it over as a remi- niscence of a matter which seemed long past. There were then a few places in the table that were a little difficult for me, and at which I hesitated, and in after-life I have occa- sionally found myself hesitating at the same places that troubled me then. In my early years I was rather restrained from than urged to my books, for my health was delicate. When about seven years of age, I attended school for a few months, learning arithmetic and the elements of grammar. Between nine and ten I attended a select school for two short pe- riods, studying grammar and geography; this was all the time spent in school until I attended an academy to learn the classic languages. From my earliest childhood I had an intense desire to read. In Cadiz a public library had been opened, to which I had access, and between five and ten years of age I had read a large number of its volumes of travels, history, and biography. As a boy, while I disliked writing, I had a still stronger repugnance to declamation, which was one of the duties en- 12 LIFE OF MATTHEW SIMPSON. joined while studying grammar. I could easily commit to memory, but I disliked exceedingly to stand up and repeat some other person's thoughts ; and this repugnance, joined with a feeble voice and an entire indifference to the study of elocution, made my schoolmates say that I could study, but that I could not speak. At that time the practice in all the schools was to recite in classes and to trap, and in all exercises which were of that character my ambition made me eager to be at the head, a place which I very gen- erally succeeded in keeping ; or, if I was not first, I was very near first. This imparted an interest to spelling ; and there were occasionally given by the teacher spelling-schools, as they were called, or evenings when the young people, meet- ing, would choose sides, and beginning with comparatively easy words, would go on until, finally, one by one, they were spelled down, and one side or the other was declared victor. I think that partly from an attachment to these exercises I acquired a great accuracy in spelling at a very early age. From the earliest period of my memory religious ideas were deeply impressed upon my mind. The instructions I received from my mother and from my uncle, and the re- ligious services at which I was present, so influenced my heart that I had a deep reverence for God ; and often, if I was conscious of any error or act of impropriety, did I in early childhood pass through seasons of severe mental suf- fering. Many times have I lain awake at night thinking of divine truths, and especially of that question which all hearts will turn over, " What must I do to be saved ?" "And how to come to Jesus?" What I was to believe, and how I was to believe, were questions that deeply moved me. The habit of prayer, which my mother taught me, I never forsook; and while guilty of many childish indiscretions and youthful follies, such was the influence of parental in- struction and of God's holy word (which I read regularly from my childhood up), and such the influence of God's house, which I attended, that I can say, to the praise of God's grace. PLEASURE IN MATHEMATICS. 13 I seldom, if ever, committed any outward act which would have brought censure upon me as a member of the Chris- tian Church. "With a heart as prone to evil as any other, I was restrained from every word or act of either profanity or licentiousness, and never engaged in what are termed by Christians sinful amusements, though exceedingly fond of all boyish sports. In running, jumping, wrestling, shooting with a bow and arrow, flying kites, and all exercises which, boys in town or in country then engaged in, I tried to excel, and as these tended to develop my body or to occupy my mind, I was encouraged in most of them by my friends. My taste for arithmetic was very decided. At school I felt it to be a drudgery to write down in a book, as was then the custom, what are termed the " sums," in order to preserve them for reference. It seemed to me that work- ing a problem or finding the solution of a question once, I was able to master it again. But while I disliked the labor of writing, I was fond of working out the longest, the most intricate and perplexing problems, and often, at home, I spent all my leisure time for days in working at them, rather than ask for the slightest assistance from those who were more skilled. In this way I mastered perfectly the entire arithmetical course, and laid the foundation for whatever accuracy and skill in computations I afterwards gained. A work on surveying, embracing the elements of geometry and trigonometry, was put into my hands when quite a boy, and gave me special delight, and was mastered without a teacher except occasional suggestions from my uncle, who was a superior mathematician, and from whom, at home, I could receive all the benefits to be expected from the most capable instructor in college. When about eight years of age, at that time being pretty well acquainted with English grammar, I wished to study German. My uncle had a Ger- man Bible and an old German grammar, and without the aid of a dictionary, but by comparing the English Bible with the German, I managed to read the German Bible 14 LIFE OF MATTHEW SIMPSON. through and to gain a knowledge of the elements of that language. In family worship every morning I was ex- pected to read the German copy, while my uncle, or, in his absence, my mother, read in the English, and, after the close of worship, to note whatever differences I might find in the texts. This was continued for several years. My father, at his death, had left a little property finely situated in the town, but the maintenance and education of a young family had exhausted a part of his resources. Dili- gent industry and strict economy were required of each member of the family. I enjoyed, in addition to our library, which was not of large dimensions, but well selected, the advantages of the public library to which I have referred, and access to the libraries of several friends who had collec- tions of choice works. To ministers of our church, lodging at my mother's, I early listened, not only for the news af- fecting the Church, but for information upon general literary and theological topics ; sometimes I had the privilege of hear- ing discussions between them and my uncle. Some of them were men of very superior minds and of much general in- formation, though, in that day, few of them had enjoyed the advantages of exact scientific or literary culture. In addition to this my uncle, under whose care I was educated, was somewhat in political life, having been for a number of years one of the judges of the county court, and, for some ten years, a member of the Senate of the State of Ohio ; while another uncle, in the same town, my mother's brother, was clerk of the court for thirty years, and in constant associa- tion with the members of the bar. Still another brother of my mother was for several years the editor and publisher of our county paper. These associations gave me unusual opportunities for coming into contact with the best minds of that part of the country. When but a little boy I usual- ly attended the sessions of the court, and closely Avatched the order of business and listened to the pleadings of the lawyers. Such men as Tappan, Wright, Hammond, Good- AMBITIOUS TO LEARN LATIN. 15 enough were in their prime, and I have never, in any part of the country, seen a court, I think, whose attorneys were equal orators. In listening to the judges, I acquired a knowl- edge of the general principles of law upon almost all points, a knowledge which I have since found to be of great service to myself, though I scarcely knew how I had acquired it. "With the fondness of boyhood for trying everything new, I familiarized myself with all the details of printing, learned to set type and to perform all parts of the work as then practised in a small office, until I gained an expertness that led to my being called upon for help when any emergency arose. This, too, came to my assistance when, in later life, I was called to conduct one of our Church periodicals. In reading works of history and literature, I found quotations from the Latin and Greek, and I longed to understand these languages. But my friends thought these were need- ful only for the few who have wealth and time for study, or who wish to enter a profession, but that for one in hum- ble circumstances and with ordinary prospects a purely busi- ness education was enough. There was an academy in our town, and I often looked upon the boys who went to and from it with envy, wishing I could enjoy advantages like theirs. When between eleven and twelve years of a