^ 
 
 Class 3 JO,S 
 
 N4-4 
 
 Madison Ave. and 49th Street, New York. 
 Beside the main topic, this hook also treats of 
 Subject No. On page Subject No. On page 
 
prtfautfct (Retrtawwg flmvtitta. 
 
 A PHONOGRAPHIC REPORT 
 
 DEBATES AND ADDRESSES, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH THE 
 
 ESSAYS AND RESOLUTIONS 
 
 New England Methodist Centenary Convention, 
 
 BOSTON, JUNE 5-7, 1866. 
 
 Phonographlcally Reported by Reve. W. D. Bbidgk and L. A. Bosworth. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 B. B. RUSSELL Sc CO. 
 
 1866. 
 
53152 
 
 Errata. In Dr. Time's speech, he was reported to say that we could not 
 understand the " first four chapters of the Bible," instead of the following : 
 that " No one could explain the Book of Revelations from the first three to 
 near the last three chapters." 
 Page 161, fourth line, read 1684 instead of 518. 
 " " seventh line, read 3531 instead of 3198. 
 " " nineteenth line, read 1195 instead of 185. 
 
 " 162, twenty-ninth line, the sentence beginning with the word " Connec- 
 ticut " should be omitted. 
 " " thirty-fourth line, read 21 instead of 22. 
 " 163, second line, read three instead of these. 
 " " twenty-eighth line, read 21 instead of 22. 
 " " thirty-first line, read 3531 instead of 3198. 
 " " thirty-second line, read 1684 instead of 518. 
 " 164, first line, read 6814 instead of 6247. 
 " " second line, read 5034 instead of 5944. 
 
 " 167, in the third, sixteenth, and the twenty-ninth lines, read 21 instead 
 
 of 22 and 23. 
 
 It is due, also, to Rev. Mr. Twombly to say, that some errors in his Essay are 
 
 to be attributed to a misunderstanding of the Committee respecting the reading 
 
 of the proof; as the result of which the proof of his Essay was not read by 
 
 himself, nor with sufficient care by the Committee. 
 
 2? FEB 34 
 
 INNES AND NlLES, 
 
 Stereo tgperjs artti printer) 
 37 Cornhill, Boston. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Within a few years, a desire has been awakened 
 among the Methodists of New England for a more 
 general acquaintance and co-operation than was afforded 
 by any of the existing organizations of the Church. 
 This feeling first found public expression in a resolu- 
 tion of the New England Conference, in April, 1865, 
 which called on the Presiding Elders to inaugurate 
 " District Conventions," composed of an equal number 
 of ministers and laymen, " for the purpose of can- 
 vassing the wants of the churches within their dis- 
 tricts." In July, of the same year, Dr. Coggeshall, in 
 behalf of himself and Dr. Webber, suggested in " Zion's 
 Herald" the calling of a New England Convention. 
 The idea was favorably responded to by a number of 
 writers in the " Herald," and also by the Editor, who 
 suggested that the then approaching camp-meetings 
 would afford excellent opportunities for consultation and 
 action in the premises. The matter was accordingly 
 called up at the various camp-meetings, in August and 
 September, and committees were appointed by each, to 
 consult with similar committees from the others, to de- 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 termine upon the propriety of holding a Convention, 
 and with power to make all needful arrangements. The 
 members of these several committees were called to 
 meet in Boston, October 12. The interest was found 
 to be such as to warrant, in their opinion, the calling 
 of the Convention as proposed, and sub-committees were 
 appointed to complete the arrangements for the meet- 
 ing. But the season was now so far advanced, that 
 it was thought best to defer the time of meeting till 
 the ensuing summer, which would also bring it within 
 the Centenary Year. 
 
 Whatever may have been the anxieties of the friends 
 of the movement, or the fears of its opponents, both 
 were alike happily dispelled by the noble delegation 
 of ministers and laymen and the crowded auditory 
 present at the opening service at Grace Church, on 
 the morning of June 6. 
 
 Such was the number, character, and success of the 
 Convention, that before its close a general desire was 
 felt that its proceedings should be preserved in a per- 
 manent form. A Committee of Publication was ap- 
 pointed for that purpose. This design was made prac- 
 ticable by the thoughtfulness of the Committee of Ar- 
 rangements in engaging Messrs. Bridge and Bosworth, 
 skilled phonographic reporters, to take careful notes of 
 the proceedings. These notes were immediately written 
 out, and placed in the hands of the Publishing Com- 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 mittcc. Copies of tlio Essays have been kindly fur- 
 nished by the several writers; and all is full and com- 
 plete, save some of the speeches at the Festival, which 
 we are obliged to give in condensed form. A satis- 
 factory arrangement has been made with B. B. Russell, 
 to publish the proceedings at his own risk. We trust 
 Bro. B.'s public spirit will be properly appreciated 
 and rewarded. On the whole, the Committee are glad 
 to believe that as truthful and creditable an idea of the 
 Convention is given in the following pages as can be 
 conveyed to those not actually present. The cordial 
 personal greetings of such a multitude of Christian breth- 
 ren, — the soul-inspiring singing, — the visit to the "Big 
 Elm" on the Common, — the moving eloquence of Bishop 
 Simpson and others, — the remarkable spirit of love and 
 harmony which sanctified and beautified the whole, — 
 and, last, though not least, the precious morning prayer- 
 meetings, — all these characteristics will long be recalled 
 by those present as among the choicest remembrances 
 of the Centenary Year. 
 
 Of the impression made on the public mind by the 
 Convention, the Committee have little need to speak. 
 The religious and secular press have uniformly spoken 
 of it as one of the largest and most important unofficial 
 religious gatherings ever assembled in this country. 
 We simply note the facts, that from the impressive open- 
 ing service at Grace Church, through all the after meet- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 ings at the spacious Tremont Temple, and at the final 
 Festival in the immense Music Hall, the main floor and 
 galleries were entirely filled ; the most perfect order 
 prevailed ; and not a single word was uttered inconsistent 
 with the dignity, and purity, and peace of the gospel. 
 At least twelve hundred regular delegates were in at- 
 tendance, — the more remote Conferences being nearly 
 as well represented as those near at hand, and nearly 
 one half of the whole being laymen. 
 
 As is elsewhere intimated, the Convention was an 
 unofficial, almost an impromptu, gathering, without pre- 
 cedent, and without ecclesiastical authority ; the attend- 
 ance was unexpectedly large, the time limited, and the 
 business necessarily hurried. The proceedings have, 
 likewise, gone through the press while the Committee 
 have been scattered, and absorbed with other cares. 
 Under these circumstances it can hardly be hoped that 
 the book should be free from crudities and inaccuracies. 
 
 In conclusion, the Committee feel a peculiar pride and 
 pleasure in the fact, that this new measure to revive 
 and intensify the old connectional spirit of Methodism 
 has been so successfully inaugurated in New England. 
 Already other portions of the Church are preparing for 
 similar movements. May they receive like manifesta- 
 tions of the divine favor, and be equally harmonious 
 and useful. 
 
 THE PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. 
 
 Boston, July, 1866. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Addresses : 
 
 Lieut. Gov. Claflin, 10, 218. 
 
 Rev. Wm. McDonald, 14. 
 
 Bishop Simpson, 135, 194, 231. 
 
 Rev. Joseph Marsh, 146. 
 
 To the Methodists of New England, from Business Committee, 154. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Crooks, 85, 187. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Eddy, 59, 191. 
 
 C. C. North, 106, 193. 
 
 Rev. E. T. Taylor, 64. 
 
 Rev. R. S. Stubbs, 211. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Chickering, 214. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Mattison, 60. 
 
 Committees : 
 
 Nominating Committee, 11. Standing Committees: (1.) Religious Services, 
 12 ; (2.) Business, 12, 13 ; (3.) Statistics, 13 ; (4.) Finance, 13 ; (5.) Creden- 
 tials, 13 ; (6.) To Call another Convention, 217. 
 
 Discussions : 
 
 On Essay of Dr. Webber, 28-31. (Dr. Monroe, 28; Rev. J. W. Willet, 28; 
 
 Rev. J. Thurston, 29; John Blackmer, 30.) 
 On Rev. J. Thurston's Essay, 35-41. (Dr. Coggeshall, 35; Rev. N. Culver, 
 
 38; Rev. I. J. P. Collyer, 40; Rev. Joseph Enright, 41.) 
 On Dr. Vail's Essay, 49-51, and 72-90. (Mr. Josiah Hayden, 49 ; Rev. B. W. 
 
 Gorham, 72; Dr. True, 74; Dr. Coggeshall, 76; Rev. C. Noble, 78; Dr. 
 
 Cooke, 79; Rev. G. Prentice, 81 ; Dr. Cummings, 81 ; Rev. W. F. Mallalieu, 
 
 83 ; Dr. Crooks, 85 ; Dr. Pickard, 88.) 
 On Dr. Cummings' Essay, 59-67. (Dr. Eddy, 59; Dr. Mattison, 60; Dr. 
 
 Cooke, 64; Dr. Butler, 64; Father Taylor, 64.) 
 On Essay of Wm. C. Brown, Esq., 102-112. (Col. Dickey, 102; Hon. J. J. 
 
 Perry, 103 ; C. C. North, 106 ; Hon. Thos. Kniel, 108 ; Rev. S. Quimby, 
 
 110; Dr. Ladd, 111.) 
 On Dr. Barrows' Essay, 119-124. (Rev. A. F. Bailey, 119; Rev. J. W. 
 
 Willet, 122.) 
 
V1U CONTENTS. 
 
 Essays : 
 
 The importance of more systematic efforts to strengthen the weak places in 
 
 our Zion, reviving the Circuit system, etc., by Rev. Dr. Geo. "Webber, of 
 
 Maine, p. 19-27. 
 Home and Sabbath-school Instruction in the doctrines and usages of our 
 
 Church, by Rev. Jas. Thurston, of New Hampshire, p. 31-35. 
 Ministerial Education, by Rev. Prof. Vail, of the Concord Biblical Institute, 
 
 p. 41-48. 
 The Endowment of our Educational Institutions, by Rev. J. Cummings, 
 
 President Wesleyan University, Middlctown, Conn., p. 51-59. 
 The Support of Public Worship, by Wm. C. Brown, Esq., Chelsea, Mass., p. 
 
 90-100. 
 Ministerial Transfers, by Rev. Dr. Barrows, of New Hampshire, p. 112-119. 
 The Development of the Social Power of the Church, by Rev. J. H. Twom- 
 
 bly, of the NeAv England Conference, p. 124-135. 
 The Revival and Perpetuity of the Connectional Spirit of Methodism, by 
 
 Rev. A. Prince, of the East Maine Conference, 148-154. 
 What ought New England to do in the Centenary movement ? by Rev. Dr. 
 
 Patten, of the Concord Biblical Institute, p. 182-187. 
 
 Letters addressed to the Convention, 68, 70. 
 
 Organization of the Convention, 10-13. 
 
 Photographing of the Convention under the " old Elm," p. 100. 
 
 Reports : 
 
 Committee on Statistics, 159-181 ; on Publication of Proceedings of the Con- 
 vention, 217. 
 
 Resolutions : 
 
 Simplicity of Dress, 208 ; New England Historical and Statistical Board, 208 ; 
 Duty to Manners, 208; Election of Stewards, 209; Centenary Building in 
 Boston, 209 ; Re-union of the different branches of the Methodist family, 
 209; Sabbath-schools, 209, 210; State of the Country, 216; History of Con- 
 cord Biblical Institute, 218 ; Thanks, etc.. 218. 
 
 The Festival: 
 
 Opening Exercises, 223 ; Address of Rev. Dr. Peck, 224 : Address of Governor 
 Eullock, 225; Address of Rev. Dr. Hatfield, 229; Address of ex-Governor 
 Evans, 230; Closing Address of Bishop Simpson, 231. 
 
) 
 
 DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS 
 
 New England Methodist Centenary Convention. 
 
 O 3? E N I N G- SESSION". 
 
 A Convention of the M. E. Churches of New England, 
 called in accordance with a generally-expressed wish, and 
 as appropriate to this Centenary year of Methodism in 
 America, to consider subjects appertaining to the interests 
 of the denomination, assembled at Grace Church, Temple 
 Street, at 10 o'clock Tuesday morning, June 5th, 1866. 
 The body of the church was crowded with delegates, and 
 the galleries thronged with interested spectators. 
 
 The Convention was called to order by Liverus Hull 
 Esq., of Charlestown, Chairman of the Committee of Ar- 
 rangements for the Convention, who announced that Rev. 
 Wm. McDonald, the pastor of Grace Church, would con- 
 duct the preliminary religious exercises. The latter gave 
 out the 709th hymn. The Scriptures of the 48th Psalm 
 and the 1st chapter of 2d Peter were read by Rev. I. J. P. 
 Collyer, of East Cambridge, and a fervent and comprehen- 
 sive prayer was offered by Dr. C. K. True, of Boston, most 
 of those present kneeling and closing with the Lord's 
 Prayer in unison. 
 
 After singing the 699th hymn, on motion of Rev. J. H. 
 Twombly, of Charlestown, Hon. Wm. Claflin, Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor of Massachusetts, was unanimously chosen 
 
10 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 permanent President by acclamation. Rev. Dr. Cummings, 
 President of Middletown University, and Rev. Dr. Upham, 
 of Rhode Island, conducted the President to the chair, 
 and he addressed the Convention as follows : — 
 
 Brethren of the Convention, — I find myself in a some- 
 what new and unused position ; and it may be proper for me, 
 before proceeding further, to state the circumstances under 
 which I am placed here. 
 
 When the Convention was called, it was thought to be very 
 proper that Bishop Baker should preside over its deliberations ; 
 which opinion, I have no doubt, you will agree was correct. 
 But, true to his duty as a Methodist, and true to the interests 
 of the Methodist Church, he has gone to California, and 
 cannot be with you to-day to participate in these pleasant 
 exercises. 
 
 Again the Committee thought proper to call a distinguished 
 gentleman from another State, -Gov. Dillingham, and he was 
 with us j^esterday, and was expected to preside to-day ; but he 
 has suddenly been called away to the border, on account of the 
 Fenian troubles, and forced to leave ; so that, fifteen minutes 
 before the Convention, the Committee came to me in a desper- 
 ate case, and called me to the position in which your partiality 
 has placed me. I sincerely thank you for the great honor you 
 have conferred upon me, in calling me to preside over such a 
 distinguished assembly as this, — an honor which is conferred 
 on so few in like position in this country. 
 
 Taking a retrospect of the last one hundred years, indeed 
 " what hath God wrought ! " Commencing with a few persons 
 in a small chamber in New York, and going on from that to the 
 sail loft, and into the small building, the Church has each day 
 made its progress, has gone on in its improvements, until the 
 magnificent church which you see here adduces the power of 
 the policy which Methodism has brought into the world, and 
 the wisdom which has guided the fathers, and which, I trust, 
 will be continued to you. 
 
 How has the work been taken up each time as the necessi- 
 ties of the case have seemed to demand ! How has Methodism 
 adapted itself to the wants of the human race ! The Mission- 
 
ORGANIZATION. 1 1 
 
 ary Society will toll 3-011 ! The people have come up and sup- 
 ported it, until millions of contributions almost, each year, ale 
 necessary for its sustenance. 
 
 And also how have the great Christian institutions survived 
 and been strengthened ! IIow has a Fisk been raised up, to 
 inspire the Church by his eloquence and zeal to go forward in 
 the work of education ! And still further, how has a Dempster 
 gone forth to the threshold of death, to lead men to preach the 
 truth in all the world ! 
 
 But, as you will understand, brethren, I am not here to make 
 an address, under the circumstances. I cannot, however, 
 before sitting down, but refer to the course of the Church in the 
 great conflict which has passed. One of the first to receive the 
 great shock, and be divided by the advance of Christianity and 
 civilization, how has she, almost to a man, stood up in the hour 
 of darkness ! How our sons have gone forth to defend the 
 Church and the great principles on which the government 
 stands you well know. The great principles which they in- 
 herited 3'ou all well know, and this country ever has recog- 
 nized. And to-da}- does she stand surrounding the government 
 by men who are true to the principles of freedom. God grant 
 that in all the future of the work, in the ages yet to come, 
 there shall be no faltering in rallying round the cause of the 
 Master, and showing that the freedom of the gospel is the 
 freedom of man. [Applause.] 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, the President asked 
 the Convention to appoint a temporary Secretary, where- 
 upon Rev. E. A. Manning, of South Boston, was chosen. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Hull, of Charlestown, a Nominating 
 Committee was appointed to complete the organization-. 
 Rev. John H. Twombly and Mr. W. 0. Brown, of the New 
 England Conference; Rev. A. C. Manson and Mr. John 
 Trundy, of the New Hampshire Conference ; Rev. Dr. F. 
 Upliam and Mr. W. B. Lawton, of the Providence Confer- 
 ence ; Rev. C. F. Allen, and Mr. S. R. Leavitt, of the 
 Maine Conference; Rev. L. D. Wardwell and Mr. A. S. 
 Weed, of the East Maine Conference; Rev. IT. VKLWor 
 
12 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 then and Mr. Henry Nutt, of the Vermont Conference, 
 were appointed on this Committee. 
 
 It was a happy suggestion of the Chair, while the Nom- 
 inating Committee were out, that the Convention spend the 
 time in a recess for fraternizing with each other, which 
 was greatly enjoyed by all present. 
 
 On the return of the Committee, the following list of 
 officers was reported and adopted : — 
 
 Vice Presidents — Gov. Paul Dillingham, of Vermont ; 
 Hon. Jacob Sleeper and Isaac Rich, of Boston ; Lee 
 Claflin, of Hopkinton; Benj. Pitman, of New Bedford; 
 David Snow, of Boston ; Hon. J. J. Perry, of Oxford, Me. ; 
 Dr. Win. Prescott, of Concord, N. H. ; Dr. E. Clarke, of 
 Portland, Me. ; Judge "W. J. Hastings, of Craftsbury, Vt. ; 
 Rev. Dr. James Porter, of New York; Rev. Dr. Joseph 
 Cummings, of Middletown, Conn. ; Prof. Johnston, LL. D., 
 of Middletown, Conn.; Rev. Dr. J. W. Merrill, of Concord, 
 N. H. ; Rev. Dr. Nelson E. Cobleigh, of Boston ; Rev. Paul 
 Townsend, of Mansfield ; Rev. D. B. Randall, of Augusta, 
 Me. ; Rev. Elisha Adams, of Concord, N. H. ; Rev. A. D. Mer- 
 rill, of Cambridge ; Hon. Wm. McGilvery, of Searsport, Me. ; 
 Rev. Geo. Pratt, of Rockland, Me. ; Hon. M. J. Talbot, of 
 East Machias, Me. ; Rev. Hubbard Eastman, of Guilford, Vt. 
 
 Secretaries — Rev. E. A. Manning, of the New England 
 Conference ; Rev. M. J. Talbot, of the Providence; Rev. J. 
 W. Guernsey, of the New Hampshire ; Rev. Israel Luce, of 
 the Vermont ; Rev. Asahel Moore, of the Maine ; and Rev. 
 B. S. Arey, of the East Maine Conference — severally the 
 present Secretaries of Conferences — and Revs. J. G. Cary, 
 of Roxbury ; C. C. Mason, of Maine ; and Mr. J. P. Magee, 
 of Boston. 
 
 The following Standing Committees were appointed : — 
 
 On Religious Services — Revs. W. F. Mallalieu and 
 Wm. McDonald, of Boston, and Rev. I. J. P. Collyer, of 
 East Cambridge. 
 
 On Business — Rev. Dr. Lorenzo D. Barrows, of San- 
 
ORGANIZATION. 13 
 
 bornton Bridge, N. IT. ; Hon. T. L. Tullock, of Portsmouth, 
 N. IT.; Hon. Thomas Kniel, of Westfield; Rev. D. B. 
 McKenzie, of Waterbnry, Vt. ; Rev. James Pike, of Ports- 
 mouth, N. II.; Win. A. Burnett, of Rutland, Vt. ; Rev. Dr. 
 S. C. Brown, of Warren, R. I.; Rev. Dr. E. Cooke, of 
 Wilbraham; Rev. H. W. Warren, of Cambridge; Rev. 
 Charles Hunger, of Maine; Franklin Bend, of Roxbury; 
 Rev. Dr. David Patten, of Concord, N. H. 
 
 On Statistics — Revs. Daniel Dorchester, of the New 
 England Conference ; S. W. Coggeshall, of the Providence ; 
 Eleazer Smith, of the New Hampshire ; A. G. Button, of the 
 Vermont ; E. A. Helmershauscn, of the East Maine ; and A. 
 Moore, of the Maine. 
 
 On Finance — Liverus Hull, of Charlestown ; F. A. 
 Clapp, of Worcester; Lewis H. Taylor, of Springfield; 
 Carlos Pierce, of Boston; L. L. Tower, of Cambridge; T. 
 P. Richardson, of Lynn ; Wm. B. Lawton, of Warren, R. I. ; 
 Horace W. Gilman, of Nashua, N. H. 
 
 On Credentials — Revs. J. S. Barrows, C. C. Mason, 
 Geo. Whitaker, J. G. Cary, and Mr. James P. Hagee. 
 
 The hours of meeting were fixed as follows : — morning, 
 nine to twelve ; afternoon, half-past two to five ; evening, 
 half-past seven. 
 
 Rev. C. L. McCurdy, of the New England Conference, 
 moved that all business designed to be introduced for the 
 consideration of the Convention shall be committed to the 
 Business Committee, to be reported on by them at their 
 option. The motion prevailed. 
 
 Rev. C. N. Smith, of the New England Conference, also 
 moved a resolution that the time for reading and discuss- 
 ing any single essay be limited to fifty minutes. This mo- 
 tion was laid on the table in order to enable the Conven- 
 tion to listen to an Address of Welcome to the delegates. 
 
 In view of the crowded state of the church at this first 
 gathering of the Convention, Bro. Franklin Rand, of Rox- 
 bury, moved that when wo adjourn it be to meet this 
 
14 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 afternoon, and for the remainder of the session, in Tremont 
 Temple ; and the motion prevailed. 
 
 Rev. Wm. McDonald, the pastor of Grace Church, now 
 delivered an address of welcome to the Convention, as 
 follows : — 
 
 Fathers and brethren, representatives of Methodism from 
 the hills, valle} T s, and sea-coasts, from the cities, towns, and 
 rural districts of New England, from the forests of Maine, 
 from the Green Mountains of Vermont, from the Granite Hills 
 of New Hampshire, from the land of steady habits, from the 
 shores of the Narragansett, from every part of the land of the 
 Pilgrims, in behalf of the Methodists of Boston and vicinity, 
 I welcome 3-011 to this our glorious metropolis. 
 
 We bid 3 r ou a most hearty welcome to our homes and to our 
 Christian hospitalities. We pray that this may be pre-emi- 
 nently a family gathering. 
 
 In behalf of the trustees and members of this church, I wel- 
 come you to this first Free Methodist Church in Boston, — a 
 free church dedicated to free Grace. We will not conceal the 
 fact that we feel honored in having the privilege of opening the 
 doors of our church to the wisdom and piet} 7 of New England 
 Methodism. We esteem it no burden, but a favor. 
 
 We welcome you from fields which bear cheering evidences 
 of your unremitting toil. Your victories have not been won 
 but at the expense of long and earnest conflict. Where forests 
 of error, of ancient and rankest growth, yielded to the " axe 
 laid at the root of the tree " by the fathers, under } r our care and 
 culture, green fields and ripening vineyards give promise of a 
 rich and abundant harvest. Your labors have resulted in the 
 reconstruction of the practical theology of New England. 
 Even the prudential and providential measures employed so 
 successfully by the fathers, in winning souls to Christ, and 
 which met with the most violent opposition from the evangel- 
 ical churches of New England, are now successfully emploj'ed 
 by these same churches, in this central city of Puritanism. All 
 honor to the men employed by God for the accomplishment of 
 so divine a work ! 
 
EEV. ME. MACDOXALD'S ADDRESS. 15 
 
 Your coming is unlike the coming of the fathers. No one 
 extended to them a hand of Christian welcome. They came 
 unbidden and unwelcomed, seeking the souls of men, and the 
 people pra}*ed them to depart out of their coasts. 
 
 Had it been told the indomitable Lee, as he stood beneath the 
 bending branches of the venerable elm on j'onder Common, that 
 in seventy-six years from that time there would assemble, a lit- 
 tle more than a stone's throw from that spot, a convention of 
 preachers and laymen, from within the bounds of his New Eng- 
 land circuit, representing six Annual Conferences, with a mem- 
 bership of nearly 8G,000, a ministry of nearly 1,400, a Sunda}'- 
 school interest embracing 925 schools, 114,300 scholars, with a 
 corps of officers and teachers about 13,000 strong — that with- 
 in the limits of his circuit 750 church spires would be pointing 
 toward heaven — that there would be one first-class college, one 
 theological school, six seminaries, and two religious periodicals, 
 all in the interest of Methodism, — with all his faith in God, and 
 hope of future success, the intrepid evangelist would have ex^ 
 claimed, " I have not found such faith, no, not in Israel." But 
 these are the objects which greet us as we cast our eyes over 
 the field. 
 
 Standing, as we do to-da} T , at the close of our first century, 
 and comparing the past with the present, we are prepared to 
 exclaim, " What hath God wrought ! " 
 
 " When he first the work begun, 
 
 Small and feeble was his day ; 
 Now the word doth swiftly run, 
 
 Now it wins its widening way; 
 More and more it spreads and grows, 
 
 Ever mighty to prevail, 
 Sin's strongholds it now o'erthrows, 
 
 Shakes the trembling gates of hell." 
 
 • 
 
 " It looked but like a human hand; 
 
 Few welcomed it, none feared; 
 But as it opened o'er the land, 
 
 The hand of God appeared. 
 God gave the word, and great has been 
 
 The preachers' company. 
 What wonders have our fathers seen, — 
 
 What signs their children see ! " 
 
16 METHODIST CENTENARY CONTENTION. 
 
 Let us devoutly thank God that the opposers and early de- 
 famers of our religion have not realized their hopes. 
 
 It is fitting that this Convention of ministers and la}^men, 
 the first known to American Methodism, should assemble on 
 this first centennial of our American existence. 
 
 We are called upon to devise new plans for future conquests, 
 invoke (if need be) new agencies for the more successful prose- 
 cution of our glorious work, and give evidence to all that we 
 are thirsting to enter anew the great arena of spiritual conflict, 
 and battle manfully for the supremacy of our Redeemer on 
 earth. 
 
 A new era in our American history dawns upon us. New 
 fields, white for the harvest, invite laborers. Chains, which 
 have been forging in the hottest fires of hell, for ages, have 
 been broken in a day. Fields, which have long felt the blight 
 and curse of oppression, give evidence of richness and verdure ; 
 while millions of hearts, bruised, bleeding, and broken, under 
 burdens intolerable, stand up to bless God for their deliver- 
 ance, and give unmistakable evidence that what Law, falsely 
 so-called, denominates u Chattels" is capable of exercising the 
 rights of freemen. It is fitting, in view of these facts, that 
 New England Methodism, which has always been the vanguard 
 in this grand march of human freedom, should assemble, shake 
 hands, and shout lustily over these God-given triumphs. 
 
 We do not meet for the purpose of reaffirming our ancient 
 theological creed. We do not propose to assemble around the 
 old elm on yonder Common, the landing-place of our " Pilgrim 
 Father" — Jesse Lee, — and there declare that we still believe 
 in " free grace," " free will," and " full salvation." Thank 
 God, Methodism has never wandered from the " ancient land- 
 marks " of the fathers. She has never quarreled over her the- 
 ology. The experience and changes of a hundred j T ears have 
 confirmed her more and more that her theology is of God. 
 
 We are not met to attack and demolish our church economy. 
 Whatever ma}' have been the fears entertained, and the insin- 
 uations expressed in some quarters, with regard to the radical- 
 ism of New England and the probable results of this Conven- 
 tion, I think I am safe in saying that New England Methodism 
 
REV. MB. MACDOXALD'S ADDRESS. 17 
 
 is loyal to the core. And to this sentiment I have no doubt 
 there will be found an affirmative response from this Convention 
 of intelligent ministers and laymen. 
 
 We pledge ourselves to stand by the old ship as it is, 
 until Providence indicates,' unmistakably, that a change is de- 
 manded ; and then we hope New England Methodism will not 
 be so wedded to mere prudential arrangements as not to favor 
 such change. 
 
 But this Convention has no such object in view. We meet 
 that we may exchange Christian salutations, and become better 
 acquainted with each other. Our work has been so cut up, and 
 there has been so little intercommunication among us, that the 
 old connectional spirit has been dying out in our Church for 
 j-ears. It was thought that a meeting of ministers and laymen, 
 for the purpose of reviving the spirit of other days, would be 
 of incalculable advantage to our Zion. 
 
 The question has been repeatedly asked, "What is the ob- 
 ject of the Convention?" We answer, the first and prime 
 object is to revive and strengthen the old connectional bonds 
 of Methodism. All else is subordinate. It is not for division, 
 but harmoiry. It is not to widen, but lessen breaches. It is 
 that all may see that we are, as a Church, in practice what we 
 are in theory, — a unit. "It is peculiarly fitting " that such a 
 Convention should assemble in Boston, the "Athens of Amer- 
 ica," the " hub of the universe," around which revolves John 
 Wesley's parish. It was here that the apostle and founder of 
 New England Methodism opened his message of life to a fam- 
 ishing people, and here, too, one of the Wesleys proclaimed 
 the gospel according to the law. 
 
 This Convention, like most other good things, is a New Eng- 
 land idea (I will not say a Boston notion), to be imitated, I 
 have no doubt, b}^ every section of our broad Methodism. 
 
 Our action will be watched with much interest, and criticised 
 with unsparing freedom ; }*et, I trust, it will be such action as 
 shall commend itself to the intelligent religious convictions of 
 our broad Methodism. 
 
 Brethren from abroad, representative men in our American 
 Methodism, in behalf of this Convention of New England 
 
18 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Methodists, I extend to 3*011 a most cordial Christian greeting, 
 a hearty New England welcome. We are as glad to see you as 
 Yankees can be. We trust that when you shall have met face 
 to face, and communed for a few claj^s with some of the most 
 intelligent representatives of New England Methodism, you 
 will be able to report in the different sections from which j t ou 
 come, — in the Empire State, on tl\e broad prairies of the West, 
 and even in Her Majesty's dominions, — yea, everywhere, that 
 New England Methodism has a heart as well as a head ; that 
 she is warm as well as sharp ; that she has love for God as 
 well as for money ; that she can win souls as successfully as 
 she can get rich. 
 
 Allow me, finalty, to express the hope that this occasion may 
 be remembered as a green spot in our pilgrimage, marking a 
 new era in our religious history. 
 
 After the benediction from Rev. A. D. Merrill, of the 
 New England Conference, the Convention adjourned, to 
 meet at Tremont Temple, at half-past 2 p. m. 
 
 AFTERNOON OF FIRST DAY. 
 
 Agreeably to adjournment, the Convention reassembled 
 at half-past two o'clock p. M., in the spacious Tremont 
 Temple, the President in the chair, who requested the 
 audience to join in singing the 1st hymn of our collection, 
 and to unite with Rev. Dr. Cummings, of the New England 
 Conference, in prayer. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Barrows, from the Business Committee, moved 
 that all Methodist laymen and ministers present, and re- 
 siding out of the bounds of the six New England Confer- 
 ences, be invited to take seats in the Convention as corre- 
 sponding members, and participate in our deliberations. 
 The motion prevailed. 
 
 The same Committee, through Dr. Barrows, also recom-. 
 
in:v. DR. WEBBER'S essay. 19 
 
 mended that the order of essays agreed upon by the Com- 
 mittee of Arrangements for the Convention be observed 
 by us, which was agreed to, as was also the suggestion of 
 the same Committee, that the essay assigned to Dr. Cum- 
 mings, on the Endowment of our Literary Institutions, be 
 made the order of the day for this evening. 
 
 The President called up the resolution that was laid on 
 the table at the close of the morning session, which pro- 
 posed limiting the time allotted to the hearing and discus- 
 sion of essays to fifty minutes, which was, on motion, 
 adopted. 
 
 Rev. R. W. Allen, of the New England Conference, 
 offered a resolution limiting speeches to five minutes, in no 
 case exceeding ten minutes, except by vote of the Conven- 
 tion ; and also that no one be allowed to speak twice on 
 the same topic, till all who desire to do so have spoken. 
 The resolution prevailed. 
 
 Rev. George Webber, D. D., of Maine, read the first 
 essay, which was as follows : — 
 
 Mr. President and Brethren of the Convention, — It is 
 matter of mutual congratulation in meeting here at this time, 
 after our Methodism has had its trial of one hundred years on 
 American soil, to prove its adaptedness to Republican ideas 
 and institutions, and its wonderful efficiency in promoting the 
 great objects of Christianity in the land, that we are not called 
 upon to offer any apology for its introduction, or any argument 
 for the validity of its claims to be regarded as among the great 
 moral and spiritual forces in the nation. Nor has the indefi- 
 niteness or evasiveness of its utterances heretofore, in its pul- 
 pits or elsewhere, rendered it necessary that we should endorse 
 anew, or in any express and formal manner reaffirm, the doc- 
 trinal decisions and declarations of former synods, platforms, 
 or confessions of faith. 
 
 No evasive or ambiguous statements of doctrines, or Babel- 
 like confusion of tongues among us, has left the people attend- 
 ing on the ministrations of Methodism in any doubt as to the 
 
20 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 identity of the Methodism of to-day with that taught b}' our 
 fathers ; nor in opposition to any who, because of our refusing to 
 accept the peculiar dogmas of Augustine and Calvin, may refuse 
 to accord to us a position of " respectability" among the Chris- 
 tian denominations, will we make any further reply than to 
 point them to the triumphant success of Arminianism, and the 
 glorious results it has achieved in spreading scriptural holiness 
 over these lands, on many a warmly-contested field of polemic 
 strife, where it has been left confessedly the master of the sit- 
 uation. 
 
 To seek for the old paths, and to contend earnestly for the 
 faith which was once delivered to the saints, is the appropriate 
 work of all true Christians, and especially of all true Meth- 
 odists. 
 
 The voice that has called us together in a Convention of 
 New England Methodists is not the voice of faction or dis- 
 cord ; nor are we here assembled for any purpose foreign to the 
 interests of the whole Church. Methodism is one, and its in- 
 terests one, throughout the land. Matters, however, may arise 
 of a sectional or circumstantial character, requiring readjust- 
 ments and varied applications of old principles, in order, in the 
 different condition of things, to secure more vigorous and effec- 
 tive operations. To inquire whether this is not at present to 
 some extent the case with us as Methodists in New Eng- 
 land, and if so, to seek after the appropriate remedies, are 
 among the motives that led to the call and assembling of this 
 Convention of Methodist ministers and la3'men, for the pur- 
 pose of mutual and general consultation and advisement. 
 
 The Provisional Committee, appointed to make the needful 
 arrangements for the business of the Convention, in order to 
 give its deliberations and discussions a more definite form, 
 have assigned several topics to be brought before us. The first 
 in the series is in the following words : — 
 
 " The importance of more systematic efforts to strengthen 
 the weak places in our Zion, and to extend the gospel into new 
 fields among us. Would not a return to the circuit system in 
 some portions of the work, be beneficial both to the temporal 
 and spiritual interest of the Church ? " 
 
rev. dr. Webber's essay. 21 
 
 IMy own personal acquaintance with the condition of tilings 
 in New England, referred to here, is mostly limited to Maine 
 and to my own (the Maine) Conference. 
 
 Taking this as a sample of New England, which perhaps 
 would be hardly proper, the term " weak places in our Zion " 
 is a term of no feeble significance, either as regards numbers, 
 influence, or pecuniary resources, as a reference to our Confer- 
 ence statistics will, in part at least, clearly show. From the 
 Minutes of 1865, the latest published, it appears that of one 
 hundred and two charges, forty had less than one hundred mem- 
 bers each, including probationers ; thirt} T had less than seventy- 
 five each, and fourteen less than fifty^ each. As this showing, 
 however, does not necessarily determine the pecuniary strength, 
 we will look at this a little more directly. 
 
 Of the number of charges in the Conference for the same 
 year, reports were received from eighty-two. The average 
 paid the preachers on these charges was £493 ^r,- But of 
 these, twenty-two paid four hundred or less, and eight less than 
 three hundred. Beside these, there were twenty charges from 
 which no report appears, but which, if reported, would in no 
 respect present a more favorable view, being mostly those left 
 to be supplied. It should also be understood that these 
 amounts include all moneys paid for rent of houses, moving 
 expenses, and, in not a few instances, the keeping of a horse, 
 with all the incidental expenses of shoeing, repair of carriages, 
 harnesses, etc. Nor is the whole story told here. There are 
 large tracts of country in the interior and frontier portions of 
 our Conference and State w r here the population is sparse, and 
 where there are scattered over large territory members, and 
 worthy members, of our Church, enjoying almost no public 
 means of grace, not even those occasional services of a Chris- 
 tian ministry of their own denomination, or of any other (ex- 
 cept obtained at great inconvenience), often rendered so indis- 
 pensable in cases of sickness, affliction, and death, while the 
 people in general are left almost without the Sabbath, or any 
 other institutions or instrumentalities so needful not only to 
 their proper moral culture, but also to prevent their verging 
 to the condition of heathenism. 
 
22 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 The answer to the question. Why are these things so? will 
 be found by referring to facts in the condition of society in . 
 those regions ; partly on account of their divided religious 
 opinions, preventing harmony of action in supporting the gos- 
 pel, and partly for want of enterprise and pecuniary ability, 
 resulting from the tendency everywhere seen of wealth and en- 
 terprise to seek positions of more profitable investment and 
 effort ; and partly from the fact that in many localities the 
 people have been so long used to this order of things that they, 
 in many instances, have little desire for any thing different. To 
 this should be added also the deadly influence of political hate 
 and rancor, in some instances resulting in closing the churches 
 against the ministry, and, in others, a refusal either to support 
 or hear them. The foregoing statements will, so far as Maine 
 is concerned as a part of New England, justify the use by the 
 Committee of the term "the weak places in our Zion." How 
 far the picture holds true in regard to other portions of New 
 England, those better acquainted must judge. In addition to 
 the above, it should also be noted that in the more populous 
 portions of all New England there are constantly gathering 
 into and around our business centres populations and com- 
 munities to be supplied with gospel ministrations and the 
 institutions of Christianity, for which it is our duty in common 
 with other churches to provide. In most cases, in the infancy 
 of such communities at least, there is not sufficient pecuniary 
 strength in any one denomination at once to establish and 
 maintain gospel ministrations without foreign aid. On these 
 localities especially, the ever-vigilant eyes of our sister churches 
 are constantly set, and unless we, as Methodists, show also a 
 becoming vigilance and activity, we shall in many places we 
 now occupy be entirely supplanted, and in others be hindered 
 for years from taking the position which properly belongs to 
 us, and to which, by timely and appropriate effort, we might 
 easily attain. 
 
 It often occurs that where there are societies or churches in 
 the same community of different denominations, and one is 
 Methodist, and where both are in a pecuniary respect nearly 
 equal, such other church, in addition to their own resources, 
 
BEV. dr. "Webber's essay. 23 
 
 receive from one to three hundred dollars from foreign sources, 
 for the support of a minister, while our ministers, as needy and 
 as worthy, receive no such aid at all. 
 
 It is confidently believed that in this way not less than seven 
 thousand dollars were expended the last year, by one single 
 denomination, within the limits of the Maine Conference, while 
 among us the sum expended was less than sixteen hundred. 
 The great disadvantage, in comparison with some others, in 
 which we are thus placed, cannot fail to be apparent to even- 
 considerate mind. 
 
 One more remark in this connection. In all our cities there 
 is a numerous population who seldom or never attend religious 
 worship. In some cases, no doubt, this is the result of entire 
 religions indifference, and chargeable to nothing else ; while, in 
 not a few others, it is entirety the result of other causes. 
 
 In many of the cfty churches, the cost of seats for his family 
 is absolutely more than the poor man is able to pay ; and then 
 the gay and fashionable and costly style of clothing, worn gen- 
 erally at such churches, forbids the poor man, in his mean and 
 homely attire, to enter such churches, without a sense of degra- 
 dation which few will or ought to bear. The result is as we 
 see ; but where the chief responsibility lies, we ma} r not be as 
 ready to admit. That there is a responsibility somewhere, and 
 a fearful one, admits not of a .doubt. 
 
 It is among the most pregnant sayings of the great Master, 
 and one illustrating as fully as any other the true spirit of our 
 hoi}' religion, "The poor have the gospel preached to them." 
 These statements, and the conclusions necessarily to be drawn 
 from them, afford an answer, at least in one respect, to the 
 question, "How shall we strengthen the weak places in our 
 Zion?" The answer is, "Let the strong bear the infirmities 
 of the weak." The more wealthy members and communities 
 must be more largely drawn upon, to aid in this matter. In 
 what way this can be most effectively done, there may be large 
 difference of opinion. Several propositions may be taken un- 
 der consideration. 
 
 One is, to organize a New England Home Missionaiy Society, 
 with auxiliaries in each of the Conferences for joint co-opera- 
 
24 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 tion ; another, to establish Home Missionary Societies in each 
 of the Conferences, with auxiliaries in all the charges, to act 
 independently within its own borders ; another yet, to urge 
 upon the General Missionary Committee, and Board at New 
 York a more liberal distribution, especially to the feebler and 
 more needy Conferences and in some cases, a sum not less than 
 the amount contributed by said Conference to the general fund. 
 Or, if neither of these should be deemed feasible and accep- 
 table, then by giving a greater prominence to our " Preachers* 
 Aid Societies," before our people, make them to our preachers 
 a more effectual aid. 
 
 There is, at least, one point more of grave importance to be 
 considered. It is this : a more adequate supply of ministers. 
 Were our resources in other respects equal to all demands, the 
 weighty question would still press upon us, " How shall they 
 hear without a preacher ? " A reference to the Minutes of the 
 New England Conferences will show an alarming and constant- 
 ly increasing deficiency in the relation of demand and supply. 
 To ascertain the causes that have produced this state of things, 
 might perhaps suggest the remedy. While we maintain the 
 doctrine that no man is made a true and legitimate minister of 
 Jesus Christ but by divine designation, and admit that Christ, 
 as the Great Shepherd of his flock and the Merciful Savior of 
 mankind, can never be regardless of the necessities of his 
 creatures whom he came to save, and that a living ministry is, 
 in his economy, an indispensable necessity to the accomplish- 
 ment of the ends of his mediatorial work among men, it 
 must, then, follow that he will ever make appropriate and am- 
 ple provision for all the spiritual wants of his creatures. 
 
 The evil, then, does not lie here, but must be sought for else- 
 where. The call of God is upon hearts enough to-day for all 
 present demands for a gospel ministry for the whole world. 
 What, then, is the cause of the sad deficiency ? Can it be sup- 
 posed that men who profess to be the followers of him, who 
 though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, who are the 
 successors of those who took joyfully the spoiling of their 
 goods, and counted not their lives dear unto themselves, — can it 
 be supposed that such permit the unpromising pecuniary aspect 
 
rev. dr. Webber's essay. 25 
 
 of the case to lead them to disregard the voice divine within 
 them? I will not decide the question. To their own Master 
 
 they stand or fall. It is to be feared that here, also, in too 
 many cases, there is too much faith in Gold, as compared with 
 faith in Cod. 
 
 This however, I apprehend, does not in every case afford the 
 true solution. How far the want of religious vitality in the 
 Church may contribute to this result, it may not be amiss to 
 inquire. It is hardly good philosophy to expect that the young 
 men in the Church will be much in advance, in the degree of 
 their piety and religious devotion, of the older members ; while, 
 then, Zion is generally at ease, what are the influences around 
 our young men, to stimulate their zeal and inspire their moral 
 heroism to the degree needful to enable them to overcome their 
 diffidence and remaining love of the world, or to break away 
 from those associations that beget and foster such strong local 
 attachments ; or more still, to awaken in them the needful spir- 
 itual ardor to enable them to brave the trials, submit to the 
 toils, bear the reproaches, and endure the " hardness " neces- 
 sary to "a good soldier of Jesus Christ"? Is the charge 
 against the ancient Israel true in respect to Israel of to-day ? 
 " The children are come to the birth, and there is not strength 
 to bring forth ! " 
 
 One further suggestion I will venture on this topic. It does 
 not admit of a doubt, as the Christian ministry is an ordinance 
 of God, and each minister in particular is divinely designated 
 to this work, that the prerequisite qualifications, as well as the 
 time most proper to enter upon his work, should be left to di- 
 vine appointment and designation. It must necessarily result 
 that the policy in regard to this matter that most nearly ac- 
 cords with his must more surety meet his approval and insure 
 the best success. 
 
 Has he revealed this policy, especially as it regards ministe- 
 rial qualifications, prior to entering upon the work of the 
 Christian ministry? If so, what is it? Was an education re- 
 garded by him as a sine qua non to this office ? or did he call an 
 Amos, who was neither a "prophet nor a prophet's son," as 
 well as an Isaiah, to be a prophet of his people? Did he select 
 3 
 
26 METHODIST CENTENARY CONTENTION. 
 
 a John, a Peter, and a James, and place them among his apos- 
 tles, as well as a Paul? Let us hear his own declarations: 
 " For you see j T our calling, brethren, how that not many wise 
 men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are 
 called ; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world 
 to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of 
 the world to confound the things that are mighty, and base 
 things of the world, and things that are despised hath God 
 chosen, yea, and things that are not to bring to naught things 
 that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." " The fool- 
 ishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is 
 stronger than men." It is pertinent to inquire how far our 
 policy as a Church accords with God's, or has he changed his 
 policy since the above declarations were made ? Where is the 
 limiting or restricting clause, confining it to any one age of 
 the Church? And do not the reasons assigned apply with 
 equal force and propriety to the present as to the past ? And 
 if the same reasons exist, and in all their fulness and force, 
 then may we emphatically inquire, Why should not the same 
 policy continue ? Has not God vindicated this policy as well 
 in modern as in ancient times ? Let the history of Methodism 
 testify. 
 
 True, there has been no time in the history of the past when 
 we have not had educated men among us, adequate in both 
 numbers and ability to the absolute wants of the age ; nor, 
 while his policy is duly respected, will God ever fail to call, 
 from time to time, either from the feet of Gamaliel, or from the 
 fishing nets of the Sea of Galilee, as the needs of his work may 
 require, a learned Saul, or a less literate Cephas. I would by 
 no means be understood as depreciating the importance of edu- 
 cation in the ministry, or as inculcating an indifference to men- 
 tal culture in those now in the work, or about to enter it ; but 
 I would insist that all of this be held in entire subordination 
 to the call of God, and the directing finger of his providence. 
 In full view of all our responsibilities to the present as well as 
 the future generations ; in full view of the history of our past 
 success, and of God's own avowed policy, let us examine our 
 present position on this great question, seeking divine aid and 
 guidance for the future. 
 
REV. DR. WEBBEB'S ESSAY, 27 
 
 In closing the discussion on this topic, I would suggest the 
 inquiry. How far our Theological Seminaries, increased in 
 numbers and eificienc}' as much as we may reasonably hope to 
 see them for twenty years to come, will be able to supply a 
 ministry to the Church ? Can we reasonably hope for any- 
 thing more than barely a supply for the yearly wastes of the 
 Conferences, keeping them up to their present number, afford- 
 ing little additional for either the increase of the home or 
 foreign work? I must confess that, looking in that direction, 
 the prospect is not very hopeful. 
 
 One topic more remains to be discussed : Whether a return 
 to the circuit system would not in some localities be beneficial 
 both to the temporal and spiritual interests of the Church? 
 Probably there is a larger proportion of circuits in Maine 
 than in most other portions of the work in New England. We 
 have enough of each class at least to afford a basis of compar- 
 ison. The abandonment of the circuit S}'stem, so far as it has 
 gone, was at the demand of the people, rather than the work of 
 the preachers ; and the same causes that operated then to 
 bring about the change still continue in all their force. These 
 causes were the laudable desire to enjoy the constant means of 
 grace on the Sabbath, at distances convenient for the attend- 
 ance of their families, and also its supposed necessity, in 
 order to the maintenance of the Sabbath-schools in effective 
 operation. It not unfrequently also became a necessity, in 
 order to preserve worship at all, and even frequently, to main- 
 tain our Church organizations, especially in those localities 
 where religious services were constantly held by some other 
 denomination. In such cases, a disintegration would constant- 
 ly be going on, resulting soon in the entire loss of our position- 
 There are cases, nevertheless, where a return to the former- 
 order would no doubt be beneficial. It is, however, doubtful 
 whether it is now practicable to effect the change. It may, 
 notwithstanding, be desirable to call the attention of our people 
 to it, in those localities where it appears feasible, as a needful 
 measure both to give to feeble societies some Gospel means, 
 who otherwise must remain nearly destitute, and also, in many 
 cases, to afford a preacher a more adequate support. 
 
28 METHODIST CENTEX ART CONVENTION. 
 
 The discussion on this essay was opened by Rev. Dr. 
 Monroe, of New Jersey : — Dr. Barrows wishes me to re- 
 mark upon a single point in the essay, as to the question 
 of furnishing aid to the weak places in the support of the 
 ministry. Dr. Webber suggested several courses, — (1.) 
 The organization of a New England Home Missionary So- 
 ciety; (2.) The organization of a Missionary Society in 
 each of the Conferences ; and (3.) The increase of the ap- 
 propriations of the General Missionary Society to the Con- 
 ferences for this purpose. 
 
 Perhaps it is due to the General Missionary Society to 
 say that it inaugurated a movement in its last annual meet- 
 ing, increasing very largely its appropriations to the Con- 
 ferences. It took up an order in its appropriations to Mis- 
 sions, as it has never done before. That order was, Do- 
 mestic Missions as the first point to be considered, and the 
 wants of the several Conferences as the first demand, before 
 considering any part of the foreign work. While the last 
 year, it may be, only $1,600 was expended in the Maine Con- 
 ference, now about $1,000 more are appropriated to the 
 same work. And just so far as the Missionary Board can 
 go, so as to take care not to cultivate a spirit of dependence 
 upon the Missionary appropriations, just so far are they dis- 
 posed to go, and just so far will it be for the advantage of 
 the churches. And you will find that from year to year they 
 are increasing the appropriations according to your need. 
 
 Rev. J. W. Willett, of the Providence Conference : — 
 It seems to me, sir, that the question as to the propriety or 
 feasibility of returning to the circuit system is one too 
 largely important to be passed by without a word. 
 
 Now, sir, it is said by the essayist, and proved beyond 
 question, that the people will not submit to this circuit sys- 
 tem. Now, sir, it might be a question, it seems to me, 
 whether it is worth while to gratify the spirit that demands 
 and seeks to maintain these small charges. If the people 
 on those charges were practical Methodists, though there 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. WEBBER'S ESSAY. 29 
 
 be other churches maintaining services all day, they would 
 much prefer one half of the services and usages of their 
 own Church. And if it be true simply that they will not, 
 it is worth while to argue the question whether the ser- 
 vices of one half-day are not worth more than the services 
 obtained under the present system. The preachers cannot 
 be worth that to the Church that they would be if they 
 worked one half of the day. Is it worth while to destroy 
 our ministers when they are so scarce? I apprehend fur- 
 ther — in justice to the membership let me say it — that 
 they will not demand it among the laity, save a few here and 
 there in these churches. The great portion of the mem- 
 bers in these small charges will be willing to fall in with 
 this arrangement. 
 
 Unfortunately, the few who oppose it are very much like 
 the man a minister once had in his Sabbath-school class, who 
 was constantly asking about Paul's " thorn in the flesh," 
 and assailed him with the question, " What do you think 
 of it?" "Well, I have sometimes thought," said the 
 preacher, "that it might be an ungodly church-member, 
 whom you could not turn out of the Church, nor get him 
 converted." Let it be understood that every demand for 
 the ruin of the men is not to be for a moment heeded. 
 
 Rev. J. Thurston, of the New Hampshire Conference : — 
 I am very unwilling that this matter of circuits shall have 
 the go-by here. I simply want to set somebody talking. 
 This matter of returning to the circuit s) r stem is a vital 
 question with us. It would be a marvelous thing if a 
 New England Methodist Convention should finish up its 
 work and have hit upon nothing to say about returning to 
 the circuit system. That is a Methodist word, — circuit, 
 — and some of the old folks upon the hills have not 
 learned yet to speak the word station. These lay dele- 
 gates, I am glad to see them. I was a layman once, and 
 I guess it would have been as well if I had always con- 
 tinued to be such. [Laughter.] I have got that off, and 
 
30 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 no matter if I have. [Laughter.] I want some of these 
 wise men to speak. They think they cannot sustain them- 
 selves, if they go back to the circuit system. 
 
 Dr. Webber has certainly given us some wise counsels, 
 but I want the thing discussed. I want them to hear it, 
 and with a force I have not been able to give it. I am not 
 willing that this subject should have the go-by. We must 
 work the old circuit system, and set the whole country on 
 fire, until the light of life and light shall go all over the 
 hills and mountains, and through the valleys, and Method- 
 ism shall triumph throughout the land. We want the cir- 
 cuit system as we had it in the former days. Now we 
 are going back by cutting up the villages, etc., until they 
 want the circuit system. 
 
 3Ir.JoJm Blackmer, oftheN.E. Conference: — The brother 
 from New Hampshire said that he wished to hear from 
 some of the lay delegates, and to know how they re- 
 garded the question. 
 
 You are aware, sir, that in the early days of Methodism, 
 one of the excellences that we attributed to the circuit 
 system was, the variety of gifts the people were permitted 
 to enjoy by having circuits, and one following another 
 around ; so that one would not hear the same man oftener 
 than once in three or four weeks. But when the station- 
 ing system was introduced among us, there was more 
 complaint. We had been accustomed to hear men of dif- 
 ferent gifts ; we wanted a variety, for the man who would 
 have an influence upon one class would be powerless upon 
 another. By having the circuit system here, with a diver- 
 sity of gifts, the ministry was more effective and accom- 
 plished more. 
 
 It is a fact that there are many places in our New Eng- 
 land Conferences which are so weak that they hardly give 
 a young man support. They have to resort to shifts and 
 expedients to gain a bare support for the stationed minis- 
 ter. It makes hard work for them, becomes a degrading 
 
rev. mr. tiiurston's essay. 31 
 
 business for them, and is equally so for the man to be sent 
 there. It seems to me that if we should return to the cir- 
 cuit system, if we should combine two or three of them 
 together, if three places can support two preachers, let 
 them do so, and let the preachers alternate with each other. 
 I do not say that it would be best in all places, but in 
 these weak places I do not believe it would hurt them a 
 bit. I am afraid that our young preachers will become 
 rather effeminate. 
 
 One idea further. I think that the circuit system pro- 
 motes the social element. When I first associated myself 
 with the Methodist Church, it was not an infrequent thing 
 to go twenty or thirty miles to attend a quarterly meet- 
 ing. They expected a good time, and they had it. Now 
 the quarterly meeting is on Sunday, and the Presiding 
 Elder comes, calls the Board together, preaches a sermon 
 and goes, and there is no mark left behind it. It was not 
 so formerly. We never expected that the quarterly meeting 
 would pass without God converted souls. We expected 
 that when God reckoned up the people, it would be said 
 that this brother and that brother were born there. I 
 have been to quarterly meetings where there were scores 
 converted. 
 
 I hope that there will be action on this subject taken in 
 this Convention, and that the Holy Ghost shall come down 
 into our hearts, so that we shall be happier and better and 
 wiser, until, when the next century shall come, there shall 
 be scores and millions who shall be gathered in, better 
 Methodists than any of us here to-day. 
 
 The essay on Home and Sunday-School Instruction in 
 the Doctrines and Usages of the Church, was now read by 
 Rev. James Thurston, of the New Hampshire Conference, 
 as follows : — 
 
 The Methodist people, as a whole, are probably more inclined 
 to a healthy ecclesiasticism than any of the non-Episcopal de- 
 
32 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 nominations ; yet, in urging the duty of home and Sunday- 
 school instruction in the doctrines and usages of the Church, 
 we need be exercised by no horror of what a late distinguished 
 writer calls mere " Churchianitj^," as distinguished from vital 
 Christianity ; for there is evidently great laxness among us, 
 especially in New England, in this particular branch of Chris- 
 tian training. 
 
 The attempted revival of catechetical instruction a few 
 years since, and the more recent discussions by some earnest 
 minds among us, which have resulted in the new chapter in 
 our Discipline on the " Relation of Baptized Children to the 
 Church," were promising efforts in this direction, so far as 
 they proposed to go ; but we are inclined to think that, practi- 
 cally, they have amounted to but very little. Indeed, so far 
 as any thorough and systematic efforts are concerned, either in 
 our families or our Sunday-schools, we are doing almost noth- 
 ing by way of instruction in the doctrine and usages of the 
 Church, as such. There are probably very few families among 
 us, including those of our ministers, where the children, even 
 those of larger growth, can give any intelligible account of 
 what the Church believes, much less of the grounds of her 
 faith, or of the nature and designs of her distinctive usages. 
 
 This certainly ought not so to be. I propose, therefore, to 
 present some reasons which should prompt us, as a people, 
 to give more attention to this important work. 
 
 1. The Church is God's institution. We do not mean to 
 say that our Church is such in any invidious or exclusive sense, 
 but it certainly is a part of that divine organization which 
 Christ has established for the enfolding and guiding of his great 
 flock on the earth. If there are good reasons why adult per- 
 sons should understand and appreciate the principles and 
 operations of an institution of God, and if it is a just conclu- 
 sion that children should be taught divine things, as well as 
 grown-up people, then it is our duty to instruct the coming 
 generations in the doctrines and usages of that branch of the 
 " Holy Catholic Church" into which the providence of God has 
 led us. 
 
 2. There is a stronger, argument for the instruction of Meth- 
 
rev. mb. tiiurston's essay. 33 
 
 odist children in the doctrines and usages of the Methodist 
 
 Church than that which arises from mere consistency and the 
 fitness of things. It is fitting and consistent that each Church 
 should take care of its own children, and Methodists should not 
 be indifferent to this demand. But we honestly believe that our 
 doctrines and usages should be made the subjects of home and 
 Sunday-school instruction, because they are better than those 
 of any other Church, because the principles and methods of 
 the true Church of Christ find here their fullest significance and 
 highest development. 
 
 A semi-liberal doctor has told us that we " cannot fasten the 
 soul of the child to Christ with the spikes of dogma." That is 
 true when the dogma is wrought into spikes and driven through 
 the soul of the child, crushing its reason and freedom ; but 
 when the doctrines of the gospel are so presented and illus- 
 trated as to appear in their native simplicity and consistency, 
 they will commend themselves to even the soul of the child. 
 Then the " words of the wise shall be as goads, and as nails 
 fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given by one 
 Shepherd." 
 
 3. If our children are allowed to grow up ignorant of, and 
 consequently indifferent to, these things, they will finally get 
 perverted, false, and injurious views of them. This is true, 
 wmether we consider it as relating to the Church of Christ in 
 general, or the Methodist Church in particular. Many thou- 
 sands of the children of the Church of Christ have become 
 alienated from her simply from the lack of such instruction. 
 To-day they revile her doctrines, curse her communion, and 
 blaspheme the name of her divine Head, and rank themselves 
 with her open enemies or willing neglecters, because they were 
 never taught the truth as it is, or because the practical in- 
 structions they received, in the examples of their teachers, gave 
 the lie to the lessons imparted. 
 
 It is to be expected, and perhaps not much regretted, that 
 there should be, to some extent, in all the churches a mingling 
 of persons of different ecclesiastical and family antecedents. 
 But if we are Methodists from conviction and affection, and 
 not merely from the accidents of association and locality, we 
 
34 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 cannot be indifferent to the undeniable fact that thousands of 
 men and women, who were bom in Methodist households and 
 converted at Methodist altars, owe and own allegiance to 
 communions whose doctrines and usages we believe to be less 
 adapted to promote a truly successful religious life. Of course 
 we grieve not for these as for the much larger number who ac- 
 knowledge allegiance only to the " god of this world." Yet 
 we cannot resist the conviction that vast numbers of such had 
 never gone out from us if they had been trained to understand, 
 and therefore to prefer, the doctrines and usages of the Church 
 of their fathers. It is not necessary that our children should 
 be trained bigots or mere Church partisans, but they can, and 
 ought, to be made to appreciate and love the Church they 
 should feel proud to call their own. 
 
 In regard to the best methods of doing this important' work, 
 we have time for only a few brief suggestions. 
 
 1. And, first of all, let the pulpit speak on this subject. 
 It is not enough to preach Sunda3 T -school sermons now and 
 then, nor to present the general subject of religious home 
 training ; but this specific topic of instruction in the faith and 
 practice of the Church, as such, should be brought prominently 
 before the people. We cannot expect them to move in this till 
 their pastors shall give the key-note. 
 
 2. Let Methodist parents make it a point to methodize their 
 children ; that is, make them Christians after the Methodist 
 pattern. And to this end, (1.) let them teach true Christian 
 Churchism — to believe in the sacredness and divinity of the 
 Church as an institution of God. (2.) Let them observe them- 
 selves the ordinances of the Church, and particularly let them 
 dedicate their children to God in baptism. Let them be Meth- 
 odists themselves in this thing. (3i) Then let them explain to 
 their children, in those familiar talks which children love so 
 well, the nature of the Church, her doctrines, ordinances, and 
 usages. What a delightful and promising work would this be ! 
 (4.) It would be a good plan for parents to give their children 
 lessons, to commit to memory, in the Articles of Religion and 
 the General Rules. (5.) The Catechism will be found of great 
 service in this work ; for, though it is designed to cover the 
 
REV. MR. TnURSTON'S ESSAY. 35 
 
 ■whole ground of the theory, experience, and practice of the 
 Christian religion, yet much of it can be applied specifically to 
 the teaching, illustrating, and proving the doctrine and usages 
 of the Church. 
 
 3. Let the Articles of Religion, General Rules, Baptismal 
 Covenant, Apostles' Creed, and the Catechism be committed to 
 memory in the Sunday-school, with brief lectures by superin- 
 tendent or pastor from time to time. 
 
 4. If some competent author would prepare a manual, for 
 home and Sunday-school instruction, embracing these matters, 
 with a brief sketch of general and Methodist Church history, 
 to be used by our people, he would do the cause of Christ 
 great service. 
 
 Finally, let us remember that these instructions must be illus- 
 trated by the true spirit and life ; without this, doctrines and 
 Church rites are but the letter that killeth. The spirit that giveth 
 life is a spirit of loyalty to the Church, of love to God and souls, 
 of faithful working and holy living. The soul of the child ma} 1 -, 
 in some sense, be fastened to Christ by these spikes of sound 
 doctrine, when first it is won by the ;c fragrance of a divine life 
 filling the house." 
 
 Dr. True, of the N. E. Conference: — I want to break 
 the ice. I understand that the Rev. Daniel Richards, of 
 the New England Conference, has something to say on this 
 essay. 
 
 (Mr. Richards w^as called for, but did not respond.) 
 Rev. Dr. Coggeshall, of the Providence Conference: — I feel, 
 sir, very much interested in this essay. I accord with the 
 writer ; I agree with him in opinion ; I have done so for a 
 long time. There is one thing, sir, that has deceived us 
 Methodists, one of the prominent phases of Methodism — 
 namely, ours has been a Revival Church. We com- 
 menced with a revival on the other side of the Atlantic 
 and on this side of the Atlantic, and that revival has con- 
 tinued until now; it has never ceased, at least, for any 
 length of time, and so far as the wdiole denomination is 
 concerned, has never ceased. Sometimes we have not only 
 
36 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 been permitted to raise up a class in a year, but, some- 
 times, a church in a year, and sometimes several hundred 
 churches in a year. And this work has gone on until we 
 have attained our present colossal proportions ; until in this 
 centennial year of Methodism we all rejoice over a million 
 of people in our communion ; and if we reckon all branches 
 of this Church, nearly double this number. 
 
 Now, Mr. President, these very successes have deceived 
 us. We may as well look at this point first as last, and 
 look at ourselves in this particular. 
 
 In the Acts of the Apostles we see all revivals. The 
 day of Pentecost was a great revival, and so all the way 
 through. But when we come to the twenty-one epistles, 
 revival is never mentioned. Look at that fact. But there 
 it is doctrine, discipline, dogma, culture. That is the thing, 
 sir, and there it is, bringing up our children in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord. 
 
 And in the Letters to the Seven Churches in Asia it is, 
 doctrine, discipline, holy living. It is not, repent and have 
 your first feeling, but, repent and do the first works ; and 
 that is a great difference. 
 
 The trouble is, now-a-days, to have our first feelings. 
 We wait until men die, and societies perish, and ministers 
 are driven from their fields of labor. When we get to 
 giving heed, then the thing will be done. 
 
 Now, sir, whoever has read the Old and New Testaments 
 will be satisfied that the great design of the Head of the 
 Church is that the Church shall grow rather from within 
 than from ivithout, because we cannot control the masses 
 without order. Ofttimes the masses have been far too 
 strong for the Church. But we can control our own chil- 
 dren and domestic relations. Thus it appears that the 
 promise made to Abraham that " In thee and in thy seed 
 shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," and " I will be 
 a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee," and that he 
 " should be. the father of many nations," was made to de- 
 
DISCUSSION OF MB. tiiurston's essat. 37 
 
 pend upon what, sir? A revival? Not exactly, sir, but 
 upon the religious culture of his children. And we see 
 this idea running- all through the Book of God. "I will 
 circumcise thy children, and they shall love the Lord thy 
 God ; " and " I will pour out of my spirit upon thy 
 seed," and " they shall spring up as willows by the water- 
 courses." 
 
 Some years ago, at a camp-meeting at the South, a 
 brother was put upon the stand to give a closing address. 
 Said he, " Now you have been here four or five days, and 
 souls have been blessed, saints have been sanctified, and 
 you have lived in heaven though on earth. Now you are 
 going home, and your religion is to be put to the test. It 
 is to come to the test on your farms and plantations, and in 
 your political life ; and I wish you to understand, brethren, 
 this one thing: Methodism is like a willow withe ; stick it 
 down either end first and it will grow. [Laughter.] And 
 you never can pull it up." Now, the very first sermon that 
 was preached on the clay of Pentecost, when Peter stood up 
 to inaugurate the kingdom of Heaven and open the doors 
 to the perishing multitude, and the cry came up from that 
 great family, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ? " here 
 the word came, " Repent and be baptized every one of 
 you," etc. ; " for the promise is unto you and to your chil- 
 dren." The children were not forgotten, neither were they 
 neglected. I am satisfied of this one thing, — that if the 
 simple advice of Bro. Thurston were heeded, if we trained 
 properly our children, we could speedily double ourselves 
 from within and double ourselves from without. And 
 when these United States are converted, and we in our 
 proper position, then it would not take a great time to 
 convert the rest of the world, for the rest of the world 
 must do as we bid them do ! Never mind whether they 
 dwell in Europe, Asia, or Africa, or in the Islands of the 
 Sea ; whether they be Papists, Mohammedans, or heathen, 
 for they must by and by do as we say ! I have no doubt 
 
38 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 but one hundred years from this time the whole world 
 must do as we say. Any Church that controls these 
 United States, in the course of the next century, will con- 
 trol the destinies of this world. I have no more doubt of 
 it than I have of the multiplication-table. And now for 
 this great work we must apply ourselves. I am a father, 
 and although I have not performed my work as earnestly 
 and faithfully as I should have done, I have received grace 
 from above so that I have satisfied myself that these prin- 
 ciples and facts are true. And if, therefore, our brethren 
 who are complaining of a want of revivals will now go 
 home and commence in their own families, they will soon 
 have one. 
 
 What is the Church of God? It is a congregation of 
 Christian families. If they are intelligent, pure, holy, de- 
 vout, and perfectly given to God, the Church will be so. 
 If these families are prayerless, the Church will be so like- 
 wise. Since the water cannot rise any higher than the 
 fountain, the Church can rise no higher than the families. 
 I rejoice in God that, at our General Conference of 1856, in 
 Indianapolis, Bro. Hibbard was led to introduce this sub- 
 ject, which led to the introduction of the thing into our 
 Discipline. I rejoice, also, in everything of this kind which 
 has been clone. I rejoice in this discussion. I rejoice in 
 the introduction of the thing into the " Quarterly," and the 
 books from the Book Room. We have made progress in 
 the right direction, and as we are upon the right track, I 
 trust we shall compass our purposes at last, and the time 
 come when it is said, " The Lord God shall cause right- 
 eousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." 
 (Isa. lxi. 11.) 
 
 Rev. N. Culver ', of the N. H. Conference : — I merely rise to 
 endorse the essay, and to add a word or two in order that 
 this Convention may feel the force of the sentiments there 
 presented. There is one thiDg that hinders us in our 
 particular efforts for the instruction of children. There 
 
DISCUSSION OF MR. TIlURSTOK's ESSAY. 39 
 
 18 a feeling among the preachers, to some extent, I know, 
 that they have not talent to instruct the children accord- 
 ing to the Discipline* And there is this same feeling 
 with the laity. It is sometimes difficult to find a superin- 
 tendent, and there is difficulty to find teachers adapted 
 to the Sabbath-school work. I have had ministers say to 
 me, " I cannot talk to children." 
 
 Now, my brethren, it seems to me that if I could not 
 talk to the children, I would go and pray to God until I 
 got baptized with the spirit of love for the children ; and 
 then I would pray for and preach to them, and get their 
 attention and their hearts. If I wanted to increase my 
 congregation, I would certainly go to work to get the 
 children blessed. And I would go outside of my church, 
 and to those who are non-attendants of any church, and if 
 I could get the children of that family, I could get the 
 parents too. As an illustration : There was an Irish family 
 of my acquaintance. The parents were profane, intemper- 
 ate, and, withal, inclined to Romanism. There were two 
 lovely children in that family, and I felt interested to get 
 them into the Sabbath-school. I went and urged that they 
 might attend the Sabbath-school. The parents said, " We 
 are poor, and cannot clothe them." I promised them 
 clothing, and they declined. But I went again, and, at 
 length, after repeated attempts, 1 secured a promise from 
 the parents that they might go to the school on the condi- 
 tion that I should clothe them. The man came to me as 
 early as half-past nine o'clock one Sabbath morning, and 
 said, " I present them to you, sir." I took them and put 
 them into good classes ; and, in a little while, the man came 
 to me and asked, " How do my little boy and girl get 
 along ? I must come and see them," said he. He did 
 come and see them, and soon he rented a pew, and soon 
 set up his family altar and sought after God. He came to 
 me a little time after, and said, " I want to pay for preach- 
 ing," and brought me the clothes, saying, " They have been 
 
40 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 kept nice, and I want you to give them to some one else, 
 for I can clothe them myself; and I want to go to church." 
 And the man came to church, and became a very respect- 
 able man. I know the family now. They live in a fine 
 house ; have property ; the children are grown up, and are 
 educated ; stand high in the community, and are respected. 
 The whole result is from taking these little ones and lead- 
 ing them to the Sabbath-school. I could speak of various 
 cases within my knowledge of the same or similar results. 
 I thank God that in the same Sabbath-school I know one 
 minister who was converted there, led to Christ, so that he 
 became a good minister of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Ministers in different Conferences have acknowledged to 
 me that they obtained their first impressions in the Sab- 
 bath-school. Now, I believe we must take hold of this 
 work, and go out after the children, and seek to bring them 
 to Christ and heaven. 
 
 Rev I. J. P. Collyer, of the JST. E. Conference : — I will 
 tell you a little fact to correspond with the one my brother 
 has just told. A little New England radicalism needs to 
 be thrown in to break up the restraint that seems to pre- 
 vail. If we are to give instruction to children, as we are 
 taught by that essay, which seems to be endorsed by these 
 brethren, we must have more time. And this acquisition 
 again refers to the subject-matter before you a little while 
 ago ; namely, the circuit system, — the having a pastor fill 
 two churches, and occupying one half-day in each, leaving 
 the other half for the Sabbath-school. If we will do this, we 
 shall have plenty of time to carry out the idea of the essay. 
 Many of our schools are held only three fourths of an hour. 
 Many of them are held just after the morning services, and 
 the children have no disposition to learn either the dry or 
 the more genial truths that are taught them. But if time 
 is taken, and plenty of it is taken, to impress their hearts 
 and minds, then we may lead them, sir, in the way to get 
 their souls, as well as in the truths that shall build them up 
 
REV. DR. FAIL'S E88AY. 41 
 
 in instruction. But, sir, the fact to which I referred is 
 tin's: An unconverted man, a man of strength, met me 
 
 the other day. Said I, " Why are you not more at 
 church?" "I am a watchman," said he. "I watch 
 nights, and have to sleep in the daytime; but I am ex- 
 ceedingly interested in your Sabbath-school. Uncle Cook 
 came to mu- Sabbath-school, and promised a Bible to the 
 person who should get an adult into the Sabbath-school, 
 particularly a father or mother. My little child came 
 home and tried to get her mother to go, but did not suc- 
 ceed, and then came to me. I have never been accus- 
 tomed to attend church. I did not go at all. But I 
 looked upon little Nellie, and thought of her desire for 
 the beautiful Bible, and finally, said I, ' She shall have 
 it.' And when the day came, I said to her, ' I will go, 
 Nellie. 7 ,; Nellie took his hand and walked into the room 
 where Uncle Cook was, introduced him to the superin- 
 tendent, and told her story ; and he entered the Sabbath- 
 school, and now, sir, he is going to be converted ! 
 
 Rev. Mr. Enrigkt, of the Vermont Conference, said that a 
 personal acquaintance with Methodism on both sides of the 
 Atlantic justified him in saying that the mother Church 
 exceeded her more thrifty daughter of this Western world 
 in attention to the children. 
 
 In the absence of Rev. Prof. Vail, of the Concord Bibli- 
 cal Institute, N. H., who was detained by sickness, the 
 essay assigned him, on the Education of the Ministry, was 
 now read by Dr. Cooke, of the New England Conference : — 
 
 " Speaking the truth in love," is an apostolic and divine 
 precept. But speaking the truth on many subjects is often un- 
 acceptable to the hearers. This we have found to be the case 
 in speaking the truth on the subject of Ministerial Education. 
 We have found that the men who boast of preaching with 
 plainness to others are most intolerant of plain preaching 
 when directed to themselves. Nevertheless, we must continue 
 preaching to the preachers, whether they will hear or whether 
 
42 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 they will forbear. Above all other men, they should be in- 
 structed and warned ; " for if the blind lead the blind, both 
 shall fall into the ditch." In 1848 the passage of our character 
 was arrested before our annual Conference, by our Presiding 
 Elder, because we dared to tell them that the}?- were " lament- 
 ably deficient in learning." Our brethren put the screws upon 
 us, and undertook to make us take the declaration back. But 
 through grace we held fast to it, and declared before them all 
 that it was true, and ice never ivouhl take back a syllable of it." 
 After keeping us suspended seven days, they took off the screws, 
 said we were a good fellow, that there teas no fault in us, and let 
 us go ! So we finally fared a great deal better than our Mas- 
 ter, who lost his life for his faithful witness to the truth. All 
 this was done by a Methodist Conference, less than twenty 
 years ago, in the cit}' of Burlington, in the recently enlightened 
 State of New Jersey, admitted a second time into the Union at 
 the November election, 1865. We protest, brethren (we speak 
 now more especially to the ministiy), that ice are not your ene- 
 my because ice tell you the truth, and that we never have been 
 your enemy, as we have steadily declared this fact, that the 
 Methodist ministry are too generally lamentably deficient in 
 learning. It is less true now than it was twenty } T ears ago, for 
 which God be praised ! But it is still too true. In learning 
 we are, too many of us, lamentably deficient, and what is even 
 more to be deplored, we have not grace enough (at least, this is 
 the case with some of us) to be told of the fact. Our vener- 
 able Missionary Secretary, whose little finger is bigger than the 
 loins of some of his junior brethren, was pleased to say, a 
 short time since, that the life of the Church is progressive, and 
 gives, as an instance of progression in our own history, our 
 advancement in education. Now, on this present week (May 
 10), the venerable Secretary is sharply called to account for 
 such temerity as uttering a " charge," and making " a slander 
 upon the mother that bore us." But, after all this little dust, 
 the venerable Secretary is right. The normal life of the Church 
 is progressive. It is so presented in Scripture. It is so exem- 
 plified in history. He is right on the question of " a lay repre- 
 sentation," too, else the constitution of this Convention is a 
 
REV. DB. VAIL 8 ESSAY. 43 
 
 great mistake, made up as it is equally of ministers and lay- 
 men. Yes, brethren, the life of Methodism is progressive. All 
 
 along in the century just closing it has been making progress 
 in knowledge, in grace, in influence, in respectability, in num- 
 bers, in education, in moral power, in Conferences, institutions 
 of learning, in churches and church architecture, in wealth, in 
 missions, in missionary labor, and in missionary funds; in 
 colleges, universities, and theological seminaries, and, above 
 all, in well-educated, able, successful, and godly ministers, and 
 in a pious, intelligent, liberal laity, until, as Chief Justice 
 Chase recently said in New York, " The Methodist Church has 
 become the Church of the country." Well did he add, "Its 
 beginnings, oh, how feeble ! Its present status, oh, how glo- 
 rious ! " 
 
 But we must not be self-adulatory. " Let another praise 
 thee, and not thine own mouth." AYe must speak the truth, 
 and not be blind to our remaining faults and short-comings. 
 Much yet remains to be clone. The first and greatest want of 
 the Methodist Church, in our estimation, is a well-qualified 
 ministry. " Like priest, like people," has passed into a proverb, 
 though the prophet puts the simile the other way, "Like peo- 
 ple, like priest," for the purpose of expressing the thought that 
 the priests of his day had fallen down to the same moral level 
 with the ignorant and sinful common herd. They should have 
 been its leaders, its guides, " pointing to brighter worlds, and 
 leading the way." It is clear, then, that the better and higher 
 the character of the ministry, the more elevated and happy will 
 be the people. 
 
 WHY SHOULD THE MINISTRY BE WELL EDUCATED? 
 
 Let us look at a few of the reasons why the ministry should 
 be well educated. 
 
 1. The ministerial vocation is pre-eminently a teaching vo- 
 cation. It is necessary that a bishop, says Paul, be didw/.zixo^ 
 — apt to teach — skillful in the work of teaching. But no man 
 can teach what he has not first learned. Hence there must be 
 teachers of the ministry, and schools are a necessary expedient 
 for the most profitable and ellicient communication of divine 
 knowledge. 
 
44 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 It is the business of the minister to teach especiaity the Holy 
 Scriptures. A knowledge of the original Scriptures, the Greek 
 of the New Testament and the Hebrew of the Old, is needful. 
 The English translation is not inspired ; no translation is 
 inspired. All are human. The divine originals alone are 
 inspired from heaven. No minister who aspires to be a true 
 and most efficient teacher of God's word will be content for a 
 moment to exercise his office without a knowledge of the divine 
 originals. It is a great work to expound the Scriptures. We 
 venture to say that there are very few men now living that can 
 correctly explain the first chapter of Genesis. Very few of the 
 living ministry, we judge, even of this day of light, can inter- 
 pret properly the prophecies of Daniel and Zechariah. No 
 man who is not a master of the divine originals can do it. 
 How few, also, are able properly to explain the Epistle to the 
 Romans ! and the number is still less of those who can open 
 to our astonished sight the mysteries of the Apocalypse. And 
 yet we cannot excuse the young man who, at this clay, enters 
 upon the sacred office without an ability to do all this ; and the 
 time is not far distant when the Church will not excuse him. 
 The Methodist people read their Bibles ; their children do 
 the same, and love to do it. The one and a half millions of our 
 Sunday-school children and Bible-class scholars are engaged 
 about this blessed work every Sabbath. In their difficulties, 
 to whom shall they go but to the pastor of the flock ? 
 
 It is absolutely necessary that our ministry be educated, 
 — well educated, — educated in the best possible manner, 
 in order to discharge their great duty to Christ and to their 
 congregations. Let the young man remember that the hosts of 
 our Sabbath-school children are already upon his heels, and let 
 him bestir himself in this matter of the attainment of sacred 
 knowledge ; for, if he cannot feed them, the}' will find another 
 shepherd. 
 
 2. A second reason why the ministry should be well edu- 
 cated is the fact that the churches and the people generally 
 look to the ministry to take a leading part in the great moral 
 enterprises of the day ; such as temperance, secular education, 
 the observance of the Sabbath, the promotion of equal rights 
 
RET. DR. vail's essay. 45 
 
 in opposition to caste and slavery, and the multitude of kindred 
 objects which have for their purpose the establishment of morals 
 and the Christian religion. In all these matters the pastors are 
 to take a leading interest. They are to advocate them upon 
 right principles; they are to show themselves consistent in 
 their teachings. When they teach morals, they are not to con- 
 tradict their teachings in religion. "When they preach temper- 
 ance, they are to put it upon Bible grounds. When they 
 preach equal rights, the proper distinctions must be made in 
 regard to the ruler and the subject. When called upon to ad- 
 vocate the importance of secular education, and to promote the 
 welfare and prosperity of the common schools, they must, on 
 such occasions, at least speak good English. And when they 
 examine a teacher, the certificate should be in all respects an 
 example of correctness, otherwise the minister suffers in his 
 reputation, and the Church suffers from his incompetency. His 
 want of learning brings upon it reproach, if not disgrace. 
 
 Now, such a minister must be a thoroughly-educated man. 
 He must be a man of learning, acquainted with the classic 
 writers of other languages besides his own. He must be a 
 good grammarian, a good theologian, and well versed in his- 
 tor} T , and, above all, in the Scriptures. He must have all this 
 superadded to good, sound common sense, and a good degree 
 of health and physical energy. I must emphasize common 
 se?ise, for however much learning a minister has, if it is not laid 
 in a good substratum of common sense, it is of but little prac- 
 tical account. Many of our fathers in the ministry were men 
 of limited learning, but they abounded in good common sense, 
 and in piety towards God. But our fathers, who were men of 
 learning, superadded to good sense and deep devotion, were the 
 men who gave character and influence to the Church. Such 
 were Iledding and Ruter, Fisk and Olin, Mudge and Merritt, 
 Pickering and Lindsey. These, with many others who might 
 be named, were men of respectable learning, superadded to 
 great common sense, and piety, and powerful pulpit talents. 
 Such are the true fathers, under God, of New England Meth- 
 odism, whose names will be held in everlasting remembrance. 
 
 There is the best reason to believe that the knowledge of let- 
 
46 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 ters was originally given to man by the divine hand. However 
 this may have been, it is certain that God has made letters the 
 depository of his oracles. It is in vain, therefore, for any man 
 to properly attempt the duties of a minister of the Christian re" 
 ligion without a knowledge of these. Besides, they are a 
 necessity of civilization, and of all human progress and happi- 
 ness. The absurdity of a want of understanding in these is 
 therefore apparent. 
 
 Hence the prophets and apostles were men of letters, as their 
 writings clearly attest. So the Lord Jesus himself did not de- 
 spise letters ; for the people, wondering at his learning, said, 
 " How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? " And 
 again it is said, " Having stooped down, he wrote on the 
 ground." It is true there was no need of his going to school, 
 and 3'et he honored the slow process of teaching b}^ keeping his 
 disciples under his own personal teaching for three years, in a 
 thorough theological course, superadded to their literary course 
 which the} r had already received in the schools of the country ; 
 and then, finally, after his resurrection, he gave them a grand 
 review of the previous three years' course. It is true there 
 were certain persons who " took them to be ignorant and un- 
 learned men," but in this thej' were greatl} r mistaken. Their 
 writings, — I appeal to their writings, — these show beyond con- 
 troversy that the prophets and apostles were men of letters, or 
 of learning. It is vain, therefore, to plead for ignorance of 
 letters from any scriptural authority. 
 
 It is agreed, then, on all hands, that an educated or well-in- 
 structed ministry is highly needful. In fact, we must have such 
 a ministry. The leaders especially must be men of that char- 
 acter, and it were well that learning should be the rule, and not 
 the exception, for the great body of our ministers. 
 
 Hence arises the question, Precisely how far should ice aim to 
 have a learned ministry? Here, doubtless, there is some differ- 
 ence of opinion among us. Still, we are agreed upon the main 
 points. (1.) We are agreed that a minister should be well 
 versed in the common and higher branches of English, and in a 
 thorough knowledge of the English language, — the language 
 in which he is to preach. But it should be remembered that a 
 
REV. DK. VAir/s ESSAY. 47 
 
 thorough knowledge of English implies a previous knowledge 
 of Latin, from which the English tongue is largely derived. 
 A knowledge of Latin, therefore, becomes necessary to the min- 
 ister. In this we are generally agreed. 
 
 (2.) We are generally agreed, further, in the view that a 
 knowledge of the two sacred languages — the Greek and the 
 Hebrew — is highly important, — the languages which God has 
 chosen out of all others by which to communicate his word to 
 the world. We are now prepared to answer the question how 
 far our 3'oung ministers are to study before entering fully upon 
 the discharge of the duties of the sacred office. They are first 
 to know the sciences of their mother tongue, and the Latin, 
 and, finally, an ability to read the Scriptures in their divine 
 originals. The best way for the young minister to do this is 
 to accomplish faithfully the academical course of study first at 
 the Conference seminary and the college, or university ; and 
 secondly, the professional course at the theological school. 
 This is precisely the rule and practice adopted by the churches of 
 other Protestant Evangelical denominations, — such as the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal, the Presbyterians (old school and new), the 
 Baptists, and the Congregationalists of New England and of the 
 country generally. Now the Methodist churches cannot allow of 
 any lower standard. We must have an equally trained ministry 
 with other denominations ; first, because it is right and proper 
 in itself; second, because our churches demand it. Our people 
 prefer it ; they do not want an inferior ministry as to learning. 
 
 To this rule for the education of the ministry among us there 
 would be many exceptions, as there are many exceptions to it 
 in the practice of other denominations. The rule is good, never- 
 theless, and should be sacredly adhered to in all possible cases. 
 
 To this view of ministerial preparation there are two classes 
 of objectors. The first class is the lazy, superficial stude?its. 
 Unfortunately, we have some such young men, who aspire to the 
 office of the ministry. They generally wish to get into the 
 ministry in the least possible time, and with the least possible 
 Study. They dread, above all things, the hard study and the 
 labor of years implied in our rule. The ministerial life of such 
 men is usually short. The people soon find them out, and they 
 
48 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 pass into, obscurity and forgetfulness. The second class of ob- 
 jectors is made up of those ministers who have been introduced 
 into our ministry at too early a stage of their studies, or before 
 the establishment of our colleges and theological schools. 
 These brethren are ever saying to the young men, " See how I 
 have done" — if not in words, yet in fact. They admire the 
 old plan of going from the workshop to the pulpit, and profess 
 that schools and learning are of small account in making a 
 Methodist minister. Both of these classes are interested ob- 
 jectors, and hence are poor judges in this case. The first class 
 do not relish the labor of study, and the second class take our 
 mode of ministerial preparation as a reflection upon them. 
 Both are in the wrong. The gift of learning, as well as the 
 gift of grace, is necessary to constitute a proper minister of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 In conclusion, we would render thanks to Almighty God, who 
 has at length brought the Church of our choice into the right 
 position on the subject of the " education of the ministry.'" This 
 centenary year, we doubt not, will show to the world that 
 Methodism is fully up to the line with our sister Protestant 
 churches in the work of raising up a learned and godly ministry 
 for the cause of Christ. 
 
 May God abundantly bless this Convention, bless all its 
 members, bless all the churches represented therein, and make 
 it a powerful instrumentality for the advancement of Messiah's 
 kingdom in the earth ! 
 
 The time of adjournment having arrived, at the conclu- 
 sion of the paper, various notices were given, and the 
 Convention adjourned with the benediction by Rev. Dr. 
 Webber, of the Maine Conference. 
 
 TUESDAY EVENING SESSION. 
 
 The services were commenced in the evening with the 
 singing of the 570th hymn, and prayer by Rev. John 
 Howson, of the Providence Conference. 
 
MR. J. IIAYDEN'S BEMABK8. 40 
 
 Rev. Dr. Barrows, from the business Committee, moved 
 that the discussion of Dr. Tail's essay be made the order 
 of the day for to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock, which was 
 agreed to. 
 
 The announcement was made that an artist of this city 
 proposed to take a photographic picture of the members of 
 the Convention at 2 o'clock p. m., Wednesday, grouped 
 under the old historic elm on the Common ; and, on motion, 
 the proposition was accepted. 
 
 Mr. Josiah Hay den, of the N. E. Conference : — I wisli to 
 speak to every man who is here as a delegate or a layman, 
 and I wish that it might be distinctly understood that he 
 is a lay delegate. This will unembarrass him. [Laughter.] 
 We want to encourage you to speak, for, in fact, we know 
 some things the ministers never did know. I want to 
 encourage our lay brethren, and I want to say to them 
 that we have been invited here, and we have been invited 
 here by ministers whom we love as we do our eyes. I can 
 say that I love Methodist ministers as well as I love any 
 beings on earth. But I do not say that I love all their bad 
 qualities ; but I do love their good ones, and I am trying 
 to cover up their bad qualities. 
 
 Never mind, brethren; we who hear you are of the con- 
 gregation. And in reference to education, I thought, as 
 the essay was read, some of my young brethren began 
 to quail. You began to quail because you did not come 
 up to that standard we have been hearing about. Now, 
 my brethren, if you w r ill come up with your Bibles in your 
 hands; if you will come to us from your knees, from your 
 closets, with tears in your eyes ; if you will come to us, 
 learning from that blessed book, the Bible, and preach the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ, and preach the word of God, we 
 will receive it, by the grace of God, into good and honest 
 hearts, and it will bring forth fruit, I trust. 
 
 Now, then, I am an old Methodist layman, so old that 
 when I first came here into New England, some forty-five 
 
50 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 years ago, there was scarce a Methodist here, sir. I was 
 passing through one of these towns and I was asked, 
 "Are you a Methodist? What kind of folks are they? 
 Do they marry ? " [Laughter.] 
 
 Those of us who have lived a great many years know 
 some things. I only speak of these things to say to my 
 lay brethren that the ministers invited you here, and that 
 they did it in good faith. They felt as though they 
 wanted our help, brethren, and, by the grace of God, we 
 will give it to them. We will speak as freely as if there 
 was not a minister here. [Laughter.] 
 
 When the subject of circuits was up, as it came up 
 this afternoon two or three times, I felt as though I wanted 
 to say something. I was waiting for other brethren to 
 speak. 
 
 One thing more I want to say just before I sit down, 
 and that is this : in reference to the ministers I want to 
 say this, that we do know something more about some 
 things than they do. [Laughter.] 
 
 The subject has come up whether it is best to increase 
 our number of ministers or to increase the number of 
 places in which they are to preach. Now I know a Meth- 
 odist minister does not know all subjects as well as we 
 can and do. When we reduce our circuits or reduce our 
 districts, what is the consequence ? 
 
 The preachers are reduced perhaps twenty. The con- 
 sequence is that we do not have a very fair representation 
 then. The Presiding Elder says in reply to our petition 
 for a man, " I have not got such a man on my district." 
 Well, can't you go out of your district ? Can't we have a 
 variety ? 
 
 Now I want to say that a Methodist minister is not any 
 ivorse than anybody else. I am acquainted with a Con- 
 gregationalist preacher. He is a good man, an educated 
 man. But his people did not like him, and some of them 
 came to me and said, " Mr. Hayden, how shall we get rid 
 
REV. DR. CUMMIXGS' E8SAT. 51 
 
 of our minister? Wo are tired of our minister." And 
 they asked me to go and talk with the Congregationalist 
 
 minister and get him to go away. I went and talked with 
 him. And he said, "I have had a chance to go as chap- 
 lain in the army." "Well," said I, "I'd- go." [Laughter 
 and applause.] Said I, " You can go and bo a chaplain 
 
 two years, and come back to your congregation, and they 
 will all take you into their arms and think that you preach 
 better than they ever heard you preach before." " But," 
 said he, "my people could not bear to have me go and 
 leave them. They love me so dearly that I cannot bear 
 to leave them, for they love me to an individual; they all 
 like me. and I cannot bear to leave them." 
 
 But when he was told afterwards, by a committee ap- 
 pointed to tell him, that they did not want him any longer, 
 he would not believe it. [Laughter.] With all his learn- 
 ing, he did not have good common sense. [Prolonged 
 applause and laughter.] 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cummings, of the New England Conference, 
 and President of the Wesleyan University at Middletown, 
 Conn., now presented and read his essay on the Endow- 
 ment of our Educational Institutions. 
 
 It is evident that the discussion of this subject in the time 
 assigned is impracticable, and that only a few general remarks 
 are expected from me as introductory to its consideration by 
 others. 
 
 As one mode of expressing its duty, it may be said the 
 Church should strive to secure the highest form of manhood. 
 This term, used in a general sense as relating to the race, is 
 the true Christian civilization. This implies that the human 
 faculties are to the highest degree developed and rightly di- 
 rected. The process of securing this development and direc- 
 tion involves the true idea of education. 
 
 God creates the mind, bestows its faculties, surrounds it 
 with objects for investigation, and gives the motives that shall 
 urge to exertion. He has so constituted man that, in search 
 
52 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 of the truth, he finds a higher joy than in its possession. He 
 stimulates man to action, in which is contained the existence, 
 happiness, and perfection of our being. Knowledge is chiefly 
 valuable as it affords a stimulus to the exercise of our powers, 
 and the condition for more complete activity. The great ob- 
 jects man should seek are his perfection and happiness. 
 These coincide and constitute but a single end. Pleasure is 
 the concomitant of right activit}-, and the full development of 
 the human faculties is in proportion to their capacity of free 
 and continued action. Knowledge is not to be sought as a 
 means of external good and increase of power in society, but 
 as a means of mental exercise, through which the soul is im- 
 proved and brought nearer to God. 
 
 It is in the work of cultivation and development, in accord- 
 ance with the plan of God, the teacher appears. He is the 
 most direct co-worker with God, and his agency is absolutely 
 essential to secure to the race that power and culture which 
 are to God especially pleasing as a part of his plan. 
 
 The strange sentiment, that " Ignorance is the mother of 
 devotion," was once received with sufficient favor to pass into 
 a proverb, when it must appear to an}? reflecting mind that it 
 is simply absurd to suppose that ignorance can be pleasing to 
 God, or that the development of the powers he has commanded 
 us to improve can be unfavorable to godliness. It is true that 
 development and right direction have not always gone together, 
 and that knowledge, ever a mighty power, has often been the 
 instrument of evil. But such in no case or degree is its natu- 
 ral tendency, which, from the very nature of the case, must be 
 favorable to piety. Some degree of intelligence is absolutely 
 essential to virtue ; for, without it, no man can know the will 
 of God, or perform right actions. It is only in proportion to 
 the extent of his knowledge that man becomes capable of meet- 
 ing the claims of God's love, and of rising to that degree of 
 moral perfection which constitutes his chief glory and secures his 
 rank in the universe. There has ever been a close connection 
 between the Church and the highest institutions of learning. 
 Nearly all the oldest and most influential colleges and univer- 
 sities were founded by the Church, and they have been re- 
 
REV. DR. CI M Mixes' ESSAY. 53 
 
 garded as though established for the promotion of her objects. 
 It is in this view that in time past the most earnest and suc- 
 cessful pleas were made for their support. 
 
 Our fathers built colleges " pro Christo et eccleshe." They 
 piously said. " After God had carried us safe to New England, 
 and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our live- 
 lihood, reared convenient places for God's worship, and settled 
 the civil government, one of the next things we longed for, 
 and looked after, was to advance learning, and perpetuate it to 
 posterity." 
 
 The most successful colleges of the country are, to a great 
 extent, really religious institutions. Their instruction and 
 discipline are under the care, of pious men, who aim to secure 
 the consecration of the souls of their pupils to God, and to 
 impress on them that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
 wisdom. In every other age, and in every other country, by 
 legislation, not subject to the popular will, the instruction 
 of the people has been committed to the Church ; but in our 
 country this result has been secured by a tacit and general 
 consent. Nothing but religious principle has been able to 
 overcome the difficulties in the way of establishing and render- 
 ing strong the higher institutions of learning. Such are the 
 circumstances of our country, the peculiarity of its institu- 
 tions, and the ascendancy of religion in education, that it may 
 be considered as settled that between the Romanist and the 
 Protestant churches the education given in the highest insti- 
 tutions will be divided. 
 
 But while admitting that the Church should secure a Chris- 
 tian civilization, which can only be founded on general 
 popular education, many will deny that the endowment and 
 support of colleges is the best means of securing this result. 
 But the whole history of colleges shows that they have been 
 the most ellicient instrumentalities for the promotion of popular 
 education. It is an error to suppose that in education the law 
 of influence is from beneath upward. It is directly the reverse. 
 Colleges have taught the dignity and worth of mind, and ever 
 furnished a stimulus to intellectual improvement. They create 
 a necessity for classical and higher English schools, and these 
 
64 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 call for institutions of a lower grade. They place a high 
 standard of culture before 3 T outh, which they would not other- 
 wise seek. Where academies and colleges are cared for, these 
 common schools nourish best. Our country furnishes abun- 
 dant illustration of this truth. The colleges educate the minds 
 that educate the people. All educated men are interested in 
 popular improvement and refinement, and their influence, both 
 unconscious and voluntaiy, is in favor of education. The best 
 elementary books, and those that give us the laws of the lan- 
 guage, as well as the more difficult and abstruse works, have 
 been prepared by graduates of colleges. 
 
 As lovers of their country, educated men, knowing that re- 
 publican prosperity must depend on knowledge and virtue, are 
 led to use their utmost skill, as accredited standards of truth, 
 to diffuse them through the community. They will be found 
 to be the open and fearless champions of all legislation in aid 
 of science and art and literature. 
 
 There are in the United States more than fifty thousand 
 graduates of our colleges ; the aggregate of their influence in the 
 learned professions, and in the various departments of social 
 influence, is beyond all calculation. Take from any period of 
 our history — from the time of the first congresses and conven- 
 tions that put forth the Declaration of Independence, carried our 
 country through the war of the Revolution, and framed the Con- 
 stitution — the men educated in our colleges, and } T ou will have 
 removed the chief source of power and of good to the State. 
 If colleges were removed, the whole fabric of our social, politi- 
 cal, and religious history would be destined ; education, 
 politics, and religion would be left without competent guides ; 
 and the school, the Church, and the State would be without a 
 suitable head. College education forms the leading minds of 
 the community, who, by their talents and attainments, will ex- 
 ert a controlling influence over the State. The young men 
 who go forth from these institutions are but a small part of 
 the youth of the countiy, but they will soon fill the larger part 
 of the posts of honor and power in the Church and the State. 
 Next to home influences, the college does most to shape the 
 character of those who will be the ruling spirits in every de- 
 
KEV. DR. CUMMIXCS' ESSAY. 55 
 
 partment of social and public life. One of the most important 
 facts connected with the power of colleges is its permanency. 
 It perpetuates the magistracy, the ministry, and the teachers 
 in the inferior departments of education. 
 
 The Church has been greatly indebted to colleges. Ministers 
 founded them, and they in turn have sent forth able and faith- 
 ful ministers. The many able and successful ministers who 
 are not graduates are, nevertheless, benefited by colleges. 
 Educated men have furnished the helps to a better under- 
 standing of the Scriptures. They have clearly presented sj t s- 
 tems of doctrine, and brought within the reach of the people 
 the results of the learning of centuries. It should ever be 
 remembered that the translation of the Bible into the English 
 language was the work of men trained in colleges. This has 
 been a glory and a strength to the nations that speak the 
 English language. In the early history of our country, no 
 class more powerfully advanced the cause of freedom than the 
 ministers who were educated in the universities of the Old 
 World and founded the first colleges in this land. 
 
 This fact stands forth conspicuously in our history. It was 
 the general, mighty, and widely-diffused influence of the Prot- 
 estant clergy that settled those policies in Church and State 
 which, at this hour, give strength and permanency to our 
 united country. In the Colonial and Revolutionary periods of 
 our history, it was the clear sound of the trumpet which these 
 men gave that united and inspirited the colonies in their 
 struggle for freedom against so overwhelming a power as was 
 arrayed against them. 
 
 There can be no doubt but that educated men have exerted, 
 and will continue to exert, a controlling influence over the in- 
 terests and the destiny of our country. The Christian college 
 has been and will be the source of a Christian civilization. 
 
 It is an important question what part our Church will per- 
 form in developing and directing this power. The children of 
 our church-members will be educated. Will the Church provide 
 for them, or shall they seek education elsewhere? It is true 
 that other churches will gladly educate our children ; so, also, 
 will they provide for them religious teachers, and receive them 
 
56 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 into Christian communion. As we deem the individuality of 
 our Church, as a branch of the General Church of Christ, essen- 
 tial to secure in the highest degree the glory of God and the 
 welfare of men, we ought to sustain the agencies that will in- 
 crease its power and extend its influence. Of such agencies, 
 none is more important than the higher institutions of learning. 
 Inasmuch as these institutions are generally under the control 
 and patronage of religious denominations, considering the 
 position, the wealth, and numbers of our Church, her sense of 
 duty, indeed, her self-respect, will not permit a necessity for 
 her children to seek from other churches the privileges denied 
 at home. 
 
 No associations, influences, and attachments have more power 
 over the future of young men than those under whose control 
 the} r come in these institutions. As a general rule, every one 
 who expects to take an active part in sustaining the interests 
 of his Church should be educated in her institutions. By 
 pursuing another course, and obtaining his education in a col- 
 lege under the control of another Church, he will be called to 
 make a great sacrifice, either in his religious convictions, as 
 has been too often the case, or in those literaiy associations so 
 highly prized by all educated men. A loss in one respect or 
 the other is inevitable. It is well known that many promising 
 3-oung men have been drawn away from our Church by their 
 literary associations and the influences connected with their 
 education. 
 
 The members of our Church make no sacrifice when they 
 educate their children in her institutions. Our academies are 
 more numerous and powerful than others, and in the objects 
 they profess to accomplish have no superiors. Our theological 
 schools will soon be in a condition to furnish to young men 
 desiring full preparation for the ministry all the advantages 
 that young men of other churches derive from the oldest and 
 most favored institutions of the land. 
 
 We have a sufficient number of colleges to meet all the wants 
 of the Church for many years to come ; indeed, great benefit 
 would result could their number be lessened and their endow- 
 ments concentrated. 
 
REV. DR. CUMMINGS' ESSAY. 57 
 
 Wc have one college so situated as to accommodate all New 
 England, and parts of New York and of the other Middle 
 States. The course of study adopted by the oldest and best 
 colleges is pursued in this, with equal rigidness and benefit, 
 while in moral and Christian influences it is superior to any 
 other. The Alumni of no college are relatively more influen- 
 tial than those who have gone forth from this institution. 
 
 With an addition to its endowment of a comparatively small 
 part of the funds requisite to found a new college, it will ac- 
 commodate double its present number of students. The growth 
 of the Wesleyan University has been unusually rapid. "While 
 its number of students has not been greatly increased, it should 
 be remembered that several colleges have been founded in 
 what was at first its patronizing territory. 
 
 The property of the University now amounts to more than 
 Three Hundred Thousand Dollars, and is ample to secure 
 its permanency and the safety of all funds that may be in- 
 trusted to it. It is probable that its present endowment is 
 larger than its founders anticipated would be realized at the 
 present time. Such an endowment at the period and in the 
 circumstances in which they laid their plans, would have been 
 considered as an ample provision for a college. But in the 
 time that has elapsed changes have occurred that have very 
 greatly increased the expenses of maintaining a college, and 
 the great increase in the funds of other colleges, with the con- 
 sequent increase in the number of departments and facilities 
 for instruction, has created a necessity for similar advantages 
 in our college. Its resources, through the confidence and 
 generosity of its friends, have been largel}' increased within a 
 few years past. During this period it has received $130,000. 
 A fund has already been commenced, with a good prospect of 
 its early completion, for the erection of a Memorial Chapel to 
 commemorate the deeds and heroism of those of the Alumni 
 and students who sacrificed their lives in the service of our 
 country. This object is especially commended to the attention 
 of the friends of the college. Several of the leading colleges 
 have made arrangements to erect chapels or other buildings 
 for a similar purpose. An unusually large proportion of those 
 5 
 
58 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 who have been connected with this institution entered the array 
 or the navy, and exhibited a degree of patriotism and valor 
 not inferior to that of any other class of citizens. This enter- 
 prise is especially pleasing to the Alumni, and has been re- 
 ceived with great favor at the annual Conferences and by the 
 friends of the institution generally. Such accommodations 
 as this building will furnish are greatly needed by the Univer- 
 sity. This chapel, and the library building to be erected this 
 year, will make a most important and pleasing change in the 
 appearance of the college grounds. 
 
 During this, the centenary year, we trust that this institu- 
 tion, which has hitherto made so large a return for the gifts 
 bestowed, will be remembered in the gifts of the lovers of the 
 cause of sound learning and religion. From the Church at 
 large, for several years, it has received but comparatively a 
 small sum, as the greater portion of its gifts has come from 
 a few friends. We trust it will not seem presumptuous if we 
 ask with confidence for Two Hundred and Fift}^ Thousand Dol- 
 lars. The college needs this amount, and the honor and the 
 best interests of the Church earnestly demand it. It would be 
 a shame if this, the oldest college of the Church, should 
 be left to suffer from want of funds. Surrounded, as it is, 
 by powerful colleges of other denominations, its resources 
 should equal theirs, and meet the expectation founded on the 
 well-known energy of the Church and its previous interest in 
 the cause of education. Too often, we fear, the college seems 
 at a distance from the sjmipathies of the Church at large. 
 This should not be thus, as it is closely connected with its vital 
 interests. Hundreds of its Alumni are in the ministry, and 
 others are scattered through the land in positions of honor and 
 usefulness. 
 
 There is, we are confident, no other object on which money 
 can be bestowed that will secure so permanent and widely-dif- 
 fused influence for good. The men whose names are connected 
 with our colleges have gained a fame that otherwise they could 
 not have received. He who connects his name by his gifts to 
 the cause of education with a well-established college, or with 
 a department of instruction therein, opens a fountain from 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. CUMMINGS' ESSAY. 59 
 
 which will flow perpetually a stream of good influences for the 
 right and for the improvement of the race. Successive gener- 
 ations will pronounce blessings on his name, and eternity alone 
 can reveal the results of his noble gifts. 
 
 Our University has accomplished a noble work. The record 
 is before the Church, and the names of those dearly beloved 
 are connected with it. It remains for the Church to say 
 whether she shall receive that increase of resources that will 
 enable her to secure greater good to man and higher glory to 
 God. 
 
 Bev. Dr. Eddy, of Chicago, was called for and re- 
 sponded : — Mr. Chairman, this call is most unexpected. 
 I have no speech upon this topic. It would not be modest 
 for me to come here and attempt to make one. I can en- 
 dorse all that has been said with reference to the claims of 
 your great and noble college upon the warm-hearted liber- 
 ality of Xew England Methodism. I have met its Alumni 
 far out in the West. By the way, when I get on this side 
 of Ohio, they always inflict upon me this song : — 
 
 Far out upon the prairie, 
 Where many children dwell," etc. 
 
 I suppose it was intended to represent our country in the 
 West as an unbroken religious desolation, but in that 
 broad prairie land I meet the Alumni of your University. 
 My own pastor and a member of your family is an Alum- 
 nus of that institution. While I can endorse all that has 
 been said in reference to its claims, and hope that they 
 may be heeded by its Alumni, yet, sir, I can but turn my 
 thoughts for a moment to that wonderful nct-iuork of our 
 seminaries, which is covering the land in the work of edu- 
 cation. The masses are having their eyes turned towards 
 the possibilities before them. I believe before God this 
 day, sir, that one of the most responsible duties resting 
 upon the Church this centenary year is to place that great 
 net-work of seminaries above the beggarly and precarious 
 
60 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 position of dependence. [Applause.] They are doing a 
 great work for the people that our higher institutions can- 
 not do. They are taking hold of the boys and girls of the 
 country, and they are turning their eyes towards the 
 higher institutions of the land. Oh, how God's blessing 
 is upon them! How their halls are crowded, not only 
 with youth seeking education, but how they are blessed 
 with the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in the work of sal- 
 vation ! [A voice, saying " Amen ! "] Dr. E. replied, 
 " Amen ! " You ought to have said it louder, whoever you 
 are. [A voice behind the speaker responded " AMEN " 
 in stentorian tones ! Turning towards him, the doctor 
 continued,] That brother was out West once, and he was 
 under my training four weeks ! [Laughter.] 
 
 I have been hearing a great deal about the demands of 
 our people for a ministry of higher culture, for a ministry 
 of thorough culture. I say to our people in the North- 
 West, if you demand brick, you must provide straw. If 
 you demand this higher ministerial culture, then you must 
 see to it that the means to provide it come out of your own 
 pockets, or else cease this clamor. And here in this cen- 
 tennial year has the cause of ministerial education been 
 distinctly and prominently presented to the pockets of the 
 laymen throughout the whole Church. And they are 
 answering it sublimely. God's blessing be upon them. 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, I will not detain this audience 
 longer. Let us hear from practical educators. I have 
 never been one, sir, save by taking my place some six 
 weeks in teaching a district school. It will be only a 
 calamity for this centennial year to pass over without the 
 endowment of our literary institutions. Let us make them 
 not merely respectable, but powerful. Let us not merely 
 keep them alive, but, with God's blessing, let us clothe 
 them with semi-omnipotence. 
 
 Rev. Dr. H. Mattison, of N. J., was then called for, and 
 responded : — Mr. Chairman, I was not present to-day when 
 
DISCUSSION OF DK. CUMMIXGS' ESSAY. 01 
 
 an invitation was extended to visiting brethren to partici- 
 pate in your deliberations, and I am not sure that but for 
 this especial invitation that general one would not have 
 reached inc. I think it was to clergymen of the Methodist 
 Church, whereas I am only a probationer on trial. [Laugh- 
 ter.] As to this question of practical collegiate education, 
 I ought frankly to say I know nothing about it one way or 
 the other, only what I have hoard. [Laughter.] I think, 
 however, from what I have heard, that education is a good 
 thing, and that it can do no man more good than a minis- 
 ter of the Lord Jesus Christ ! I have not quite got up to 
 the point, however, the New England point, — taking the 
 essay of this afternoon as the index of the time of day 
 here, — that no man can preach the gospel effectually 
 without he can expound the Apocalypse. That is a pretty 
 hard book, Mr. President. I am not sure that all the 
 Greek and Hebrew that Dr. Clarke and all other Hebraists 
 ever knew would enable a man to explain the Apocalypse 
 and make it perfectly clear. Now, if we cannot under- 
 stand the Queen's English without having the Latin first, 
 because that is down among the " roots," we shall have to 
 go beyond the Latin to get at other roots, — to the Hebrew 
 for its roots, and I do not know but to the Syriac, Arabic, 
 and what not, down to the cuneiform letters and the other 
 languages to get at other roots, to explain the English 
 language. I am discouraged, sir, if it is required. I 
 would say two or three plain things, however, to these 
 brethren of New England, these ministers of Christ, — 
 Methodist ministers. I have great faith, not only in col- 
 leges and seminaries, but in types and printing-presses. 
 I believe that the hosts of error are forming an alliance 
 on this soil, offensive and defensive, against evangelical 
 Christianity. I believe they are not only intending to fly 
 a Christian banner, and preach down Jesus Christ from an 
 open Bible and in the name of the Lord, but to do it also 
 through the natural sciences and through the literature of 
 
62 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 the land ; to do it mainly by printer's ink in our republic. 
 I conclude that we want plenty of educated ministers in 
 the next generation, because I think there will be work 
 for them. I believe the ministry of this land should do as 
 the ministry of former ages has done. I go into your 
 libraries and take out of these libraries the works of those 
 men, and the rest would hardly be worth putting under 
 the care of a librarian. I find that a great part of them 
 are written by the ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 And this is not only true in theology, but it is true in the 
 sciences, and it is true in the general literature. Ministers 
 have generally written the language, made the dictionary 
 and the spelling-book, and translated the Bible. But this 
 is a little aside from what I was about to say, being sur- 
 prised, as I was, by the call for me. I thought of Father 
 Taylor, a few years ago, when he sprang upon the stage 
 in answer to a call for him, and said, " What do you want 
 of me ? " and I thought I ought to say something. 
 
 I think the ministry should' be cultivated to do their 
 part in furnishing the literature of this country for the 
 next one hundred years, in writing the books which the 
 people read, — not merely the general literature, but 
 the ministers and the professors should furnish the text- 
 books. They should write these books, and, when there is 
 a good chance, should put God into the books, — yes, into 
 the text-books, until the very stars would flash the light of 
 divinity and truth. [Applause.] Men should write these 
 books who would put God right in with the lessons to be 
 heard in the recitation-room. I wish I could say that 
 Methodism hitherto has done its full share of this work. 
 She has done something. Your noble institution [turning 
 to Dr. Cummings] has given to this world two or three 
 text-books on philosophy, chemistry, logic, and a work on 
 mathematics. (Voices saying, " Mattison's Astronomy, 
 Smith's Mechanics, and Crooks' books."] Now, since you 
 have named it, I will advertise it, Yankee-like, here in 
 
DISCUSSION OF DIl. OUMMINGS' ESSAY. G3 
 
 Boston. These are a few, but what are these among so 
 many? I doubt if you can number up a dozen; and a 
 Church with a ministry seven thousand strong ought to be 
 able to furnish more than a dozen books alter we have 
 been here bo many years. I think we ought to furnish 
 the best books ; make the books that the people cannot do 
 without, and then they will have them. Well, that is 
 about all I have to say ; but I will throw out one idea more. 
 Every Methodist preacher ought to put it into his plan of 
 life — surely, every educated man — to write at least one 
 good book to leave behind him to preach when his tongue 
 has crumbled into dust. One good book ! I know it has 
 been said in reply to this hint, "What good will it do? 
 Nine tenths of them will never be read." Oh, yes ! it will 
 be reproduced. Some things will blend into other lives 
 and live on, as the Pope said that John Huss did, — that he 
 lived again in .Martin Luther. I was recently in the house 
 of a friend, and saw on his table a book of three hundred 
 and fifty years ago, written soon after the time of the in- 
 vention of printing. ' One might wonder of what value so 
 old a book to a learned man. But said my friend, " That 
 is one of the choicest books in my library." That man, 
 who had been dead three and one half centuries, was 
 preaching to this man glorious theological truths, and he 
 was throwing them out to his American audience. Write 
 a good book. If nine should die and one lives, there is 
 one good book left behind to do its work through the 
 years. It is said that one half of the children die before 
 they are five years of age; but what of that? Write a 
 goo'd book. [Great applause.] 
 
 I want to add this one thing more, though it will not 
 make quite such a good place to stop as that was. I made 
 this remark at the Newark Conference, and when I got 
 through, a young man came up, a fine young man, and he 
 said, "I was in Germany, and heard Professor Tholuck; 
 and, among the things he said, he requested that every 
 
64 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 man should write one good book." That was the young 
 man who wrote the History of Rationalism, and I would 
 advise you all to buy and read it. [Applause.] 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cooke, of the N. E. Conference, was called for, 
 and spoke as follows : — Mr. Chairman, I heard my name 
 called. The gentlemen are under a mistake ; I am Dr. 
 Vail this afternoon. I read Dr. VaiPs essay. I do not 
 know as I could endorse all the views in that essay, but I 
 freely and earnestly endorse most of them. A man may 
 be very useful — our fathers have been — who has not 
 classical attainments. But that such men, if we had no 
 others, could meet all the demands of the age I do not be- 
 lieve. I do not believe that Dr. Mattison or any other doc- 
 tor believes it. There are departments in theology where 
 the} 7 are needed. You know that Dr. Mattison has been 
 writing a work on the Resurrection, and I apprehend that 
 in writing his work he had to avail himself of the labors 
 of other men who were more thorough scholars than him- 
 self. I do not believe that Dr. Vail intended to say that 
 no man can be a good minister unless he understands the 
 classics. Dr. Vail meant to say that a man would be a 
 better minister by having a classical education. Now, sir, 
 Dr. Vail having said so much, it is undoubtedly the mean- 
 ing he intended in the essay, and I do not know as he 
 intended anything further. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Butler, of the N. E. Conference, was called for, 
 and replied : — Mr. President, my line of duty has been 
 in a very different direction from the halls of colleges. I 
 should consider it an act of presumption for me to speak 
 upon the question before the house. As to the reference 
 to this great and important question of a collegiate edu- 
 cation, I feel myself entirely inadequate to discuss it. 
 
 Father Taylor, of the N. E. Conference, was called 
 for, and responded : — I am glad you have hit the mark 
 once ! I do not know how you could have seen my coun- 
 tenance. I do not know how you could have seen that 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. CUMMIXGS' ESSAY. 65 
 
 something excellent was coming! [Laughter.] But, Mr. 
 President, after all the sport infidels have made about 
 experience, it is a good thing, after all. I have had great 
 pleasure in hearing these learned men, because they are 
 stating their experience. They are the mighty lights of 
 the day. God bless them ! and where there is room for 
 them may they be multiplied more and more. I happened, 
 fortunately, to have experience once. I came to this 
 place a little boy. I came from a Spanish man-of-war ; 
 never saw Yankee land ; was a Southerner, a Virginian by 
 birth, and the sea has been my cradle and the ocean has 
 rocked it. With the care of my brethren (for I happened 
 to be an unfortunate one) I did not get the experience that 
 a great many do, for some men are covered with difficul- 
 ties and sores, and things are wrong, and everything going 
 to destruction. That is not my experience. I never had 
 much trouble in my life. No one injured me, Arabs or 
 Egyptians, for the four quarters of the globe have been 
 my place. I came to Boston, — Yankee land, — and I was 
 too busy in my life and had too much to do (together with 
 some little want of opportunities) to pay any attention to 
 that common thing which has got now to be so cheap, — 
 education ; so much time spent at schools, so many pre- 
 cious clays and nights rubbed away. But when I got here, 
 I found a good friend, and he thought, in his sagacity, that 
 the little fiddle did want some tuning to put it in order, 
 and got me the privilege of going to an academy to get an 
 academic education. Well, that was a new thing, and I 
 went to studying. I believe that when the messenger 
 came for me I was working at four languages ! I set at it 
 in earnest. I devoted twenty hours out of twenty-four ; 
 I slept but two, and in the other two had to attend to all 
 the other concerns of life to keep the blood moving. And 
 I graduated. The principal had sometimes to take me all 
 alone to hear my lessons, and he always spoke well of me ! 
 I spent three long, tedious months getting my education, 
 
66 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 having a little book which had some languages in it, and 
 which I got to liking ! And at the close of the three 
 months there seemed to be some little difficulty in the gal- 
 lery [placing significantly his finger on his forehead], and 
 it became necessary that I should wander out a little and 
 get some air. . I spent my time among the tombstones in 
 the graveyards. At the close of the three months, I was 
 called from the institution to go to Marblehead, as old 
 Father Pickering sent for me to come and go to that sta- 
 tion ; there was some difficulty in the church. But I was 
 to have liberty to go to the academy again at Newmarket. 
 The authorities called for me, and I laid aside my books 
 and looked wishfully at the boys and girls of my class and 
 went away, and was to see them directly after Conference. 
 But when Conference came, there was a difficulty. My 
 gospel father said, " Well, we must send Edward, for 
 he will either kill or cure ! " and I went mournfully from 
 my books. The Conference sent me away down to Cape 
 Cod and the islands of the sea, Nantucket and Martha's 
 Vineyard. They promised me time to go back to the 
 school. . . . Two years ago I went back to the 
 place, expecting to find my books, the boys and girls. 
 When I got there, the academy was gone, and they had 
 built another, and that was gone ; and there was another 
 one built, and there was some talk of that one's going. It 
 was just forty years from the time I went to the time I re- 
 turned to that academy. It is natural for these things to 
 remain in the mind. Of course I had nothing else in my 
 mind but to meet my old classmates, and I arrived there 
 in just forty years to see the old place again. And the 
 news got out, and some of my old schoolmates and play- 
 mates got the news, and they came to meet me. They 
 came together, but, bless me ! wdiat a disappointment ! 
 They came, gray-headed, if they had any hair at all. They 
 came, some of them, toothless and wrinkled. I hadn't the 
 least idea of them. And they said, "How do you do?" 
 
DISCUSSION OF DK. CUMMINGS* ESSAY. 67 
 
 and I said, "Who arc you? I didn't come to see you; I 
 came to meet the boys and girls ! For mercy's sake, 
 7 don't look as old as this!" 
 
 I cannot go to my people and travel as I could once. 
 Then I cued not for storms or fatigue. I knew little 
 about it ; not a day, year in and year out,. but I was able 
 to go ; nothing shook me. But now, to be miserable, not 
 able to manage my own brain ! But never mind, I got the 
 experience and must cleave unto it.* 
 
 Now, Mr. President, I have got to the end of the history 
 of my remarkable travels up the hill of science. Farewell ! 
 Peace be with you. And if we cannot meet eventually 
 here, there is a place up yonder. I have a home, and a 
 family, and a babe there now. We'll meet in that goodly 
 country. God bless our colleges ; and, if I was only 
 worth millions, I'd run my hands in my pockets up to the 
 elbows ! I want you to go through five millions, hit or 
 miss ! [Great applause.] God bless you and your schools 
 and your mighty men. Peace be with you. I will meet 
 you on the other side. [Long-continued applause.] 
 . It was voted to make Dr. Cummings' essay the order of 
 discussion at 10 o'clock to-morrow. 
 
 Adjourned with singing the Doxology, and the bene- 
 diction was pronounced by Dr. Cummings, of the New 
 England Conference. , 
 
 WEDNESDAY MORNING. 
 
 The President took the chair at a little past 9 o'clock, 
 and, after singing, | Dr. Butler, recently from the new 
 India ( onference of the M. E. Church, and now of the 
 New Emjland Conference, led the devotions in a most fer- 
 vent prayer. 
 
 The journal of yesterday's proceedings was then read, 
 corrected, and approved. 
 
68 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 The following letter from Bishop Baker, in response to 
 an invitation from the Committee of Arrangements, was 
 read to the Convention : — 
 
 Concord, N. H., June 2, 1866. 
 F. Rand, Esq. : 
 
 Bear Brother, — Your kind invitation has been received. 
 It would afford me sincere pleasure to join in the deliberations 
 of the Convention, but my official duties will prevent it. I 
 shall look, however, with deep interest to the results of your 
 body. The centenary of American Methodism suggests various 
 practical measures which should be adopted to render the de- 
 nomination more effective as a religious agency. And while 
 the successes of the past call for devout acknowledgment to 
 Almighty God, it furnishes no occasion for remissness and in- 
 action. The mission of Methodism does not require, essen- 
 tially, new appliances for the accomplishment of its work, but 
 a hoi}'' enthusiasm and an entire consecration to the service of 
 God. Methodism religiously is a spiritual power, earnest, 
 living, and self-sacrificing, and this spirit should pervade all her 
 institutions. The centenary year finds our various institutions 
 in a state of comparative prosperity. Contrasted with the 
 past, our progress seems marvelous ; but, measured by the 
 demands of the future, our present position is far from 
 meeting our full responsibility. Our educational institutions 
 especially need the fostering care of the Church. They are 
 already accepted as approved instrumentalities for carrying 
 forward our work, but they need a heartier sympathy and more 
 earnest co-operation. Our institutions, by their innate forces, 
 will never elevate themselves to strong commanding positions. 
 They are what we make them. There are piet} T , wealth, and 
 enterprise enough in New England, if the} 7 " could properly be 
 directed, to meet the full demands of the age and denomina- 
 tion, and the centenary year should not only see them in a 
 financially safe condition j but endowed with ample means for 
 the accomplishment of their great work. 
 
 It seems to me that the great object now before us is to 
 arouse our people to the tremendous responsibilities which rest 
 upon them. Our class-leaders should feel that they are the 
 
BISHOP baker's letter. G9 
 
 sub-pastors of the flock ; our stewards that they are mainly 
 responsible for the material resources demanded to sustain the 
 home-pastorate with respectability. The children should not 
 only be provided with all the means necessary to a high Chris- 
 tian education, but early introduced into the circle of religious 
 influence, where they will begin to feel for others, and act for 
 the evangelization of the world. The female portion of our 
 Church, who have always been distinguished as furnishing 
 some of the brightest ornaments of Christian piety and zeal, 
 should also be enlisted in those Christian activities suited to 
 their condition. 
 
 "With a Church alive to every responsibility, and prepared to 
 respond to every demand upon her sympathy and aid, we may 
 anticipate much for our beloved Methodism. 
 
 With hearty sympathy for the work in which you are en- 
 gaged, 
 
 I am yours affectionately, 
 
 Osmon C. Baker. 
 
 At the conclusion of the communication, the following 
 resolution was offered by F. Rand, of the New England 
 Conference, and adopted : — 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply regret the necessary absence of our 
 beloved Bishop Baker, and that we take this occasion to assure 
 him of our increasing esteem and affection, and that our 
 pra}-ers will attend him on his far and toilsome journey in the 
 work of the Church. "We also beg him to tender in our name 
 an affectionate greeting to our brethren on the Pacific slope. 
 
 The chair presented the following communication from 
 two of our New England representatives, now laboring in 
 South Carolina — namely, Rev. T. W. Lewis, of the New 
 England, and Rev. A. Webster, of the Vermont Confer- 
 ence, which was read and listened to with much satisfac- 
 tion by the Convention, hearty responses being elicited 
 from the delegates to the noble sentiments it con- 
 tained: — 
 
70 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Charleston, S. C, May 24, 1866. 
 To the New England Methodist Convention : 
 
 Dear Brethren, — It was with pleasure that we noticed the 
 call for the meeting of your Convention, and with regret that 
 the pressing nature of our work here will not allow either of 
 us the pleasure of complying with the invitation, gratefully 
 received, of attending as delegates at large. We must be 
 allowed still to feel that we are of New England. We have 
 an affection for those " cloud-capped granite hills" that threw 
 their shadows over the homes of our childhood, those fountains 
 of living waters, fertile vales, and flowing streams ; but, above 
 all, for those unfettered thoughts, unbending patriotism, civil 
 and religious liberty ; its faith in God, noble vindication of 
 equal rights, and earnest efforts for the elevation and progress 
 of our common humanity, that render the memory of New 
 England so dear to us. 
 
 It is with pleasure that we refer to the record of New Eng- 
 land Methodism in the great struggle for human freedom, 
 which has resulted in the emancipation of millions recently 
 in bondage in our own country, that now stands confessedly 
 approved of God and the enlightened judgment of the world. 
 In the light of human progress, and the indelible records of 
 history, those anti-slavery sentiments will no longer be re- 
 garded as the freaks of wild fanaticism, but the vindication of 
 the principles of eternal truth and justice. But, in the position 
 we occupy here, we see the elements in motion for an approach- 
 ing moral conflict, on the great question of equal rights, that 
 will shake the world with the magnitude of its throes, and we 
 are looking hopefully to New England to lead the van in this 
 onward march of human progress, with the same unflinching 
 fidelity to the right that has given her so proud a record in 
 other great conflicts for God and humanity. 
 
 In our view, the course to be pursued in the work with which 
 we are intrusted here is clearly indicated b}' the providence 
 of God, and the immutable principles of our common Christi- 
 anity, as well as by the genius of our beloved Methodism ; and 
 God forbid that we, or an angel from heaven, should preach 
 any other gospel, save that which offers salvation, and the 
 
LETTER OF MESSES. LEWIS AND WEBSTEB. 71 
 
 cherished privileges of the Christian Chv/rch to all without di*- 
 tion of color. The great work of spreading scriptural holi- 
 ness over the lace of the earth should know no sectional dis- 
 tinctions of North or South, and no personal ones of white or 
 black, but all should be considered as one in Christ Jesus. 
 
 The great mass of the truly loyal people of this section 
 approve of our position in this regard, and wherever we can 
 reach them with church, organizations and privileges, they 
 flock under the old banner of "NVesleyan Methodism, as un- 
 furled by the old Methodist Episcopal Church. Our theolog- 
 ical school prospers beyond our most sanguine expectations. 
 The students, some twenty in number, are making fine progress 
 in their studies, and we have fields opening for them where 
 they might all be immediately emploj'ed, if only now fitted for 
 the work. Many of them have been looking forward to the 
 great work of preaching Christ, and praying for the time 
 when the}' should be free from the disabilities of slavery, and 
 allowed to follow the promptings of God's Spirit and the 
 earnest desires of their hearts for more extensive fields of 
 usefulness. 
 
 In our work here we wish to feel that we are in sympathy 
 with New England Methodism, and feel the beatings of her 
 great heart throbbing in harmony with the pulsations of our 
 denominational Life and labors here. We are greatly needing, 
 at this time, the publication of a paper here that fearlessly 
 vindicates the right. If in the approaching autumn such a 
 paper can be started in the interests of our cause, may we not 
 hope that our brethren in New England will give us the aid 
 and patronage that may be needful to render the enterprise 
 efficient and permanent? We wish, by some means, to have 
 South Carolina attached to New England, and then we should 
 be more hopeful for her future development and progress. 
 The denominational strength and unity of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church renders it more powerful to effect this than any 
 other organization in our country, and that is one reason why 
 the enemies of national Union and the friends of sectional iso- 
 lation and State sovereignty are so much opposed to what they 
 call our encroachments upon this Southern domain. All of 
 
72 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 the so-called independent churches can readily be sectionalized 
 here. 
 
 You have our sympathy and best wishes in the great inter- 
 ests 3 T our deliberations are designed to serve, and be assured 
 we are with }-ou. 
 
 " Amid the scenes where spirits blend, 
 Where friend holds fellowship with friend; 
 Though sundered far, by faith we meet 
 Around one common mercy-seat." 
 
 Under the present management of our national affairs, we 
 are conscious of a growing intensity of hatred against our 
 cause here. The Southern people are as jealous of their 
 supreme control over their servants of to-day as their slaves 
 of yesterday. The only redemption for the South is free men, 
 free labor, free schools, free speech, free press, and a free gos- 
 pel ; and the change to be thereby produced will, of course, dis- 
 turb these pro-slavery elements, and cause no little commotion ; 
 but " by reason of breakings they shall be purified." We re- 
 gard the Reconstruction Report of the New England Confer- 
 ence, and the resolutions of the South Carolina Mission 
 Conference, as defining our only tenable position, and the one 
 that God approves ; and " we are resolved to fight it out on this 
 line" with weapons not carnal, but mighty through God, to 
 the pulling down of strongholds ; and, by the help of God and 
 the friends of down-trodden humanity, the civil ?nd religious 
 interests of the truly loyal here must never be made the help- 
 less victims of the lust and avarice of those who would sacri- 
 fice country and humanity at the shrine of their political and 
 
 personal ambition. 
 
 Yours fraternally, 
 
 T. Willard Lewis, 
 Supt. of M. E. Churches in South Carolina. 
 
 Alonzo Webster, 
 Pastor of M. E. Churches, Charleston, S. C. 
 
 The Chair announced as the order of the hour the dis- 
 cussion of the essay read yesterday from Dr. Vail. 
 Rev. B. W. Gorham, of the N. E. Conference : — I went 
 
DISCUSSION OF 1)17. VAH/8 ESSAY. 73 
 
 Lome at the close of the reading of that essay on minis- 
 terial education and pat down a few thoughts. I want to 
 say that there are several embarrassments which 1 feel 
 very much in saying what I am about to say on this sub- 
 ject. I feel that we ought to say something at the conclu- 
 sion of the reading of that address. Courtesy to the 
 author of the essay requires as much as that. I feel that 
 the- dignity of the essayist and the dignity and importance 
 of his theme demand it. It seems to me, also, that if there 
 is anything to be said in the way of noticing the essay, 
 the speaker should utter his opinion plainly and honestly, 
 pro or con. And yet there is another embarrassment, and 
 that is that the author of the essay is not here, except as 
 he is supposed to be personified by Dr. Cooke. It is em- 
 barrassing to note what we may deem the faults or follies 
 in a production, when that production advocates a cause 
 we are really in favor of, because the speaker is very likely 
 to be misunderstood. Nevertheless, I want to say these 
 following things : I doubt the position that it is necessary 
 that a man should be able to give a satisfactory and con- 
 clusive exegesis of the first chapter of Genesis, and the 
 book of Daniel, and of the Apocalypse, before he is fitted 
 to be a successful minister of the Church of God. I 
 doubt if there are a dozen men in this Convention to-day 
 who can satisfy their own minds, to say nothing about 
 others, in any exegesis on either one of these books. I 
 doubt again if the intercourse between Christ's disciples 
 and himself for three years of his public ministry amounted 
 to a theological training of those men according to the 
 idea of the essayist, and of a theological school as defined 
 in that paper. I doubt again if the day of Pentecost can 
 be called a review of those three years' studies without a 
 most childish play upon words. I reckon that " pentecost " 
 has another meaning, is capable of another and a graver 
 interpretation. Would to God we might have it repeated 
 here. [" Amen ! " was responded in various parts of the 
 
74 METHODIST CENTENARY CONTENTION. 
 
 house.] I doubt if the English language is incapable o 
 being thoroughly mastered and effectively used by any 
 man until that man has made himself acquainted with the 
 Latin. I doubt that. I doubt the statement that the 
 great want of the ministry to-day is a higher style of edu- 
 cation ; that the great want of the ministry to-day is a 
 higher style of education. I want you to understand the 
 word " the ; " that " the " great want of the ministry is a 
 higher style of education. I doubt that a higher style of 
 education is a pressing want of the ministry. But I be- 
 lieve in my soul that the great, the crying want to-day is 
 a deeper baptism of love, of pure love to God and every 
 soul of man. It cannot be pleaded, Mr. President, be- 
 loved fathers and brethren, that New England, to-day, is 
 behind any other section of the country in the style and 
 measure of the education and culture of her ministry. 
 And yet we must submit to the saddening truth, that while 
 other sections of the country are being refreshed and wa- 
 tered around us, New England, like Gideon's fleece, is com- 
 paratively dry. We wait an inauguration of the great re- 
 vival in New England. It seems to me that there is a fact 
 here, a providential fact here, at which we ought rever- 
 ently to pause, — a fact that should bring us to our knees, 
 and to our faces, and should help us, while we study more, 
 to pray more, — a great deal more. 
 
 Bev. Dr. True, of the N. E. Conference: — As Dr. Vail 
 is not here to speak for himself, I think that it ought to 
 be said that we certainly could not understand a thought- 
 ful man and a learned man like Dr. Tail to say that a man 
 in the ministry, however learned, should be able to give a 
 perfect interpretation of the prophecy of Daniel or the 
 Apocalypse of St. John. We must understand him merely 
 as indicating that we ought to know how to render the 
 words used into our own tongue. For we must all know 
 that prophecy, in regard to many things future, is not to 
 be understood precisely. Its design is to lead the Church 
 
DISCUSSION OF DK. VAIL'S ESSAY. 75 
 
 to the expectation of something; to be on the look-out, 
 and when the event transpires, then we see the com- 
 plete correspondence of the event with the mystical 
 figures, and there stands out a bright manifestation of the 
 divinity of our holy religion. Now the prophets them- 
 selves did not understand what the spirit that was in them 
 meant. They did not understand this ; and prophecy, in 
 this respect, is very much like metaphysics, and ought to 
 be so understood everywhere, if we accept the Scotch- 
 man's definition of metaphysics, which was that meta- 
 physics is when " the hearers dinna understand what the 
 man means, and he dinna understand himself." I hope the 
 Church will be able to understand that they cannot under- 
 stand the three first and the last chapters of the Bible. I 
 think it is time for us to understand that ive cannot under- 
 stand it. Pardon me if I give you a slight illustration. 
 When I was a boy, I preached at Salem. I preached on 
 this text: " And the great day of His wrath is come ; " and 
 God was with me, though I misunderstood my text, and 
 sinners were converted. I preached on the opening of the 
 sixth seal, and I, in my simplicity, supposed that it meant 
 the end of the world, whereas we all see that it was the 
 opening of the sixth seal, and after that comes the seventh 
 seal, with the trumpets and the vials in the hands of I 
 know not how many angels; and after that comes the 
 great final day, when, in the apocalyptic vision, he saw the 
 great white throne and Him who sat thereon, before whose 
 face the heavens and the earth fled away. It was but the 
 opening of the sixth seal ; and I would that I might im- 
 press it on every mind this morning that we are to take 
 this mysterious view of the greater part of Revelation, for 
 out of that I see men are getting all sorts of superstitions 
 and absurdities respecting the end of the world and the 
 doom .>f mankind. I defend Dr. Yail on this point. Wo 
 might as well understand that we, to be properly qualified 
 for ministers, should so far understand the original Scrip- 
 
76 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 tures as to be able to tell what a word signifies ; if a 
 trumpet, a trumpet ; if an angel, an angel ; if a wheel, a 
 wheel, and still to render it in the proper words. 
 
 [Rev. Pliny Wood, of the JST. E. Conference, here called 
 for the reading of the exact words of the essay on this 
 point, which were read by the Secretary.] 
 
 Rev. Dr. Coggeshall, of the Providence Conference : — 
 Mr. President, I listened to that essay yesterday very care- 
 fully and with profound interest, and although I am an ad- 
 vocate of ministerial education, and have recently said 
 some very hard and severe things, which have rather made 
 my brethren wince, yet I will say that, although I accept 
 of the general scope and design of that essay, I do not 
 accept of all its statements. They are not correct, they 
 are not true, and the trouble is that the facts are against 
 them. Now, sir, Dr. Tail is an enthusiast in his depart- 
 ment, a man of great learning, comprehensive knowledge, 
 and has devoted himself to this one work. But if, like 
 some of us, he was called to take the rough-and-tumble of 
 the itinerancy, hold class-meetings, and take part in the 
 conflict, he would not think as he does. Now, sir, he re- 
 minds me of another thing. The elder Sheridan really 
 was a great enthusiast in the matter of oratory. Hence 
 he was always incessantly lecturing the whole English 
 nation, down to the substratum, on the neglect of oratory. 
 "Now," says Dr. Samuel Johnson, "I really believe that if 
 the crops should fail for three years in succession, Sheridan 
 would insist that it was owing to the neglect of oratory ! ,J 
 [Great laughter.] Now, when I have been in Concord, I 
 have been interested to see his kindling eye and pleasing 
 smile as somewhere he sat down to the Hebrew Bible 
 and showed you how his classes had been through the 
 prophecies of Daniel and Zechariah, and I have been inter- 
 ested to see how perfect he is in this matter. I hope, Mr. 
 Chairman, to be present next week, and further assist him 
 in that particular business. 
 
DISCUSSION OF DK. VAIl/S ESSAY. 77 
 
 What are some of the facts in the case? As we look 
 back, we sec that, although Methodism took up its sublime 
 march from the gates of the university, still there were co- 
 laborers who came from another class in society. And 
 those co-laborers were among the most profound theolo- 
 gians, the ablest preachers, and most successful evangelists 
 that the world ever has seen. But they were not educat- 
 ed in the schools. Look at Thomas Olivers, a man who 
 was extremely deficient in his early advantages, but who 
 so far educated himself as to be among the best preachers 
 that Great Britain saw in the last century. He was for 
 years curator of Mr. Wesley's press in London, and a man 
 who was the author of that admirable hymn, — 
 
 " The God of Abraham praise," etc., 
 
 — such a lyric as even Watts, Newton, Cowper, or Mont- 
 gomery could never equal. Look at another, Thomas 
 Walsh, born and bred an Irish Papist, who, after a long in- 
 ternal struggle, at last emerged into the glorious liberty of 
 the gospel. He became a preacher of the Wesleyan 
 society, and without an academic education could converse 
 alike in English or Irish in the crowded congregations in 
 London or Dublin, and was so profoundly read in the 
 originals of the Old and New Testaments that Mr. Wes- 
 ley says, if he mentioned a word in either of them, Thomas 
 Walsh could tell him where it was to be found, and how 
 many times it occurred, and its particular meaning in every 
 place in the Bible ; and such a profound master in biblical 
 learning he never knew, and never expected to know 
 again ! I believe there has not risen since such a man as 
 Thomas Walsh. Other learned men carry their learning 
 largely in their books, — he carried his in his head. 
 
 Speaking of Thomas Walsh, it seems to me that the 
 Irish mind is especially adapted for the acquisition and 
 mastering of the languages ; and the Church of Rome, in 
 her ministry, turns this to account, and I hope we shall do 
 
78 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 the same. And further, when we get to our American 
 ministry, we find it the same. Look at Jesse Lee, who, for 
 five years, was chaplain of both Houses of Congress, during 
 the most critical portion of our history, — a man who was the 
 first historian of American Methodism, and whose peculiar 
 glory is that he was the founder of New England Meth- 
 odism, one of the best ministers our country ever saw, 
 and yet certainly without this kind of training that Dr. 
 Vail tells us is indispensable. Where is the man amongst 
 us who will dare to stand up and say, " I am equal to Jesse 
 Lee"? 
 
 In 1791, Bishop Asbury sent the Rev. George Roberts 
 into New England. On a certain occasion he was present 
 in the court-house, in New London, to listen to a preacher 
 of universal redemption. At the close of the sermon, Mr. 
 Roberts rose up, as having something to say in reference to 
 the subject put forth ; and while he was answering that 
 preacher of heresy, seventeen persons were converted, one 
 of whom was Rev. Epaphras Kibbe, a resident in that city, 
 who died a few years ago, in Chelsea, at eighty years of age. 
 Now, I will say that, although I have endeavored not only 
 to make myself the master of the first chapter of Genesis, 
 but also of all that Moses ever wrote, and David's lyrics, 
 etc., yet I will say that I would give all my learning to ac- 
 complish such a thing as that. 
 
 Rev. Charles Noble, of the N. E. Conference : — With all 
 that has been said in the discussion, still, to my comprehen- 
 sion, the most important point in the essay has not been 
 touched ; and that is the clause in regard to the inspiration 
 of the Scriptures. I think the sentence in relation to that 
 matter in the essay implies clearly this statement : that the 
 inspired Scriptures are to be found only in the original 
 Greek and Hebrew. [The words of the essay on this point 
 were called for and read.] I think, then, that the plain in- 
 ference from that statement is, that the inspired Word of 
 God is to be found only in the original Hebrew and Greek 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. VAIL's E8SAT. 79 
 
 in which the Scriptures were written. Then, if this is the 
 fact, we are all in the dark up to the present hour, — the 
 world is involved in a greater than Egyptian darkness; be- 
 cause when we open the Bible in our present translation, 
 and meditate upon its instructions, we think all the time 
 that we are reading the Book of Cod's inspiration, and our 
 trust and confidence are in the teachings of this book, be- 
 cause it is the inspired Word of God. 
 
 But if the statement of the essay be true, that the in- 
 spiration is to be found only in the Hebrew and Greek, we 
 are laboring under a -great mistake, and the work in which 
 the American Bible Society and the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society are engaged is a work of supererogation. 
 Yes, worse than this, because they are blinding the thou- 
 sands and millions of the human family that receive, with- 
 out note or comment, this book as the Book of God's in- 
 spiration, as the revealed oracle of divine power. This 
 objection I had to the essay, because it teaches what I con- 
 ceive to be a great heresy. And if the people generally 
 believe this fact, that there is no inspiration in our present 
 version, nor in any translation of the Bible, we have no 
 sure and certain guide. Instead of raising up ministers to 
 preach the gospel, as they preach now and are instructed 
 to preach, I consider it the bounden duty of Dr. Vail, and 
 others equal to him in the knowledge of the Hebrew and 
 Greek, to raise up men who are qualified to teach these 
 languages ; and they ought to go abroad and teach the peo- 
 ple the Hebrew and Greek languages, in order that they 
 may read the Book of God's inspiration correctly. And 
 all the people all over the world, wherever the Bible 
 is taught, ought to be taught the Hebrew and Greek lan- 
 guages, because the Word of God is of infinitely more 
 importance to every human soul than any comment or 
 explanation. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cooke, of the N. E. Conference : — Mr. Chairman, 
 I desire simply to say a word in defence of my friend, 
 
80 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Dr. Yail. And I am very glad that Dr. Coggeshall is going 
 up to help him on, as he said, " in his enthusiasm." But I 
 am very sorry he has backslidden in one year. A year 
 ago I had the pleasure of being present, at Concord, with 
 Dr. Coggeshall, and after Dr. Yail had explained a passage 
 in the Scriptures, concerning the looking out of the lattice 
 in the window, the doctor, thinking that Professor Yail had 
 not put it quite strong enough, got up and illustrated with 
 a translation of David Brainerd, who rendered it, in the In- 
 dian language, " looking through the eel-pots." [Laughter.] 
 I hope he will go and kindle up the enthusiasm of the Pro- 
 fessor of Languages. 
 
 I did not understand the essayist as the others did. All 
 I have understood him to say was, that a knowledge of the 
 ancient languages greatly aided the minister, and that he 
 would be successful in difficult questions just in proportion 
 to his knowledge of the ancient languages. 
 
 But now, in a word, I would briefly refer to the objec- 
 tions made by the first speaker, — Bro. Gorham. He ob- 
 jected to the essayist's view of the Latin. While the intent 
 was given by the Professor in too general terms, the idea 
 was correct. I believe the Professor made a statement 
 that will hardly bear criticism in that particular. If I 
 recollect rightly, about four fifths of the English language 
 is from the Anglo-Saxon, while the other fifth is made up 
 of other modern languages, and more than 20,000 words 
 are combinations of several prefixes that have been added 
 to these original elements. 
 
 But, if I remember rightly, there was a brother, a few 
 years ago, buying works at the Book Room, and he as- 
 signed this as the reason for his choice of books : that a 
 man could not correctly understand his own mother- 
 tongue until he had studied the language in its original; 
 and that brother was Dr. Coggeshall. [Laughter.] And 
 who does not see that a man labors under great disad- 
 vantages, as most of us have done, by not having the key 
 put into our hands? 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. YAIl/s ESSAY. * 81 
 
 A lawyer once called upon me for the translation of a 
 law-phrase. lie said that he undertook to follow the popu- 
 lar current of the time, and was introduced into the prac- 
 tice of the law without studying the dead languages, and 
 
 that he had spent more time with classical dictionaries, in 
 trying to translate law-phrases, than boys UOW spend in the 
 colleges in their studies of the ancient languages. And 
 though many of us have done the best we could, yet, it 
 must be confessed, we have been laboring under disadvan- 
 tages all our lives, because we were not better disciplined 
 and better trained before we began. 
 
 Rev. Georye Prentice, of the N. E. Conference: — If it 
 should be as difficult to understand the Apocalypse as it 
 seems to be to comprehend this essay, I think Ave shall be 
 in great difficulty ; for it seems to me that every one has 
 failed to appreciate the essayist's precise position. Dr. 
 Vail does not intend to claim that the body of a translation 
 is inspired. For you will see at once that, if all the trans- 
 lations are inspired, the translator must be inspired for his 
 work. We shall then have to return to the old times, when 
 prophets declared the truth on every side, and no man 
 walked in darkness, since he had the intent of the Divine 
 Mind. 
 
 Now, you will see that Dr. Vail took the right position 
 — that no translation is inspired. So far as the translator 
 succeeds in giving the Word of God to the people, by so 
 much will he aid in the diffusion of the meaning of the 
 Word of God. 
 
 It seems to me that we should not berate Dr. Vail, as if 
 he meant that all the work of the Church has been simply 
 a perfect error from the first to the last. He claimed that 
 if the translations were inspired, then all the translators 
 must be inspired. But since there was no such thing as 
 this, their work is that of a translation of the Inspired 
 Word. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cunimings, of the N. E. Conference: — I have 
 
82 * METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 an especial reason for speaking, and that is to say a good 
 word for that good man, Dr. Vail. It was intimated that 
 Dr. Vail would not have written things which were in the 
 essay, if he were possessed of a certain kind of expe- 
 rience. I knew Dr. Vail in other years. I knew him when 
 he was engaged in the ordinary work of the ministry. I 
 have seen him when he has gone to his work. He has 
 had, sir, experience in all departments of this work as a 
 Methodist minister. And he left his position as such, not 
 because he was not pleased with it, but because he was 
 called from it by the Church. 
 
 Now on the general question. Dr. VaiPs sentiments, as 
 to all classes of the ministry, are undoubtedly correct. 
 I think the difficulty is in urging as a general truth that 
 which can have only an exceptional application. Dr. 
 Vail's sentiments as to the classes of the ministry are 
 undoubtedly correct. He feels no unkind sentiment to- 
 wards those who have not had the advantages of a clas- 
 sical training. Such a class of men is needed; they always 
 have been needed, and are needed now. If the doctor 
 were questioned himself, I doubt if the full meaning which 
 has been put upon his essay would be what he himself 
 would endorse. The kindness of his heart, the intelli- 
 gence of that brother, would not allow him to say that the 
 great proportion of the ministers in all the churches, who 
 cannot come up to the standard, as he has indicated it, 
 could not be good ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. As 
 is well known, the facts are against the supposition. 
 
 One word respecting the languages. If it were true that 
 God dictated only the words you find in your Scriptures, 
 yet not one man in fifty who reads those words is in any 
 way independent of his dictionary, and the dictionary is 
 no more inspired than the commentary. 
 
 And further, that order of the ministry will be most 
 successful, selected from a given class of the people, who 
 will look understandingly into their eyes and use their 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. VAILS ESSAY. 83 
 
 figures, yet who are not sufficiently removed in habits of 
 thought to become distasteful to them. And it is this very 
 point of adaptation of which we wish to speak. Men taken 
 out of a given class speak in it naturally, powerfully, — 
 men of piety and good judgment, and who are able to stand 
 before the assembly, — these are the men who are the best 
 preachers. If you take the Faculty of Old Harvard and 
 put them into the same number of the grammar schools 
 in this city, you cannot select a class of school-mistresses 
 who would not beat them. [Laughter.] Now I believe 
 in the highest qualifications for the ministry ; but it seems 
 to me that I do not believe that the same order of acquire- 
 ments is demanded of all. We are all brothers of one 
 Church, divers parts, but we ought not to be pointing at 
 each other, and one class that has especial qualifications 
 pointing to others and saying, "You are not a preacher 
 because you are not like me." We are all called of God to 
 tli is work, and each will be equally successful if each is 
 alike faithful to his work. 
 
 The time allotted to this discussion having expired, the 
 essay of llev. Dr. Cummings, on endowing our literary in- 
 stitutions, came up as the order of the day. 
 
 Rev. W. F. Mallalieu, of the N. E. Conference: — I am 
 aware that there are scores of older and better men than 
 me in this Convention; but my heart is interested in the 
 subject that is before us at the present time, — the endow- 
 ment of the educational institutions of our Church. My 
 interest was aroused while hearing the essay by Dr. Vail. 
 It would be very far from me to say anything, even the re- 
 motest word, that would convey any possibility of the 
 thought that there is in my heart an iota of criticism in re- 
 gard to the position which the Methodist Church and the 
 ministry of the Methodist Church to-day occupy in regard 
 to edueation. 
 
 It was my pleasure, ten years ago, to listen to these 
 words, never to be forgotten : that " whatever Methodism 
 
84 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 may have done in the past, for the last thirty years (then 
 preceding) no Christian denomination could parallel the 
 Methodist in its activity in, and advancement of, the cause of 
 education." These words came from the lips of Edward 
 Everett; and the ten years that have passed since then 
 have in no way diminished the glory due to us as a people, 
 or to the claims of the Methodist Church. 
 
 I am satisfied we can go further back than that, and the 
 man who ventures to say that the Methodist Church has 
 been behindhand in the interest of education makes an as* 
 sertion which the facts of history will completely and for- 
 ever disprove. 
 
 From the days that Wesley started forth from the college 
 in England where he graduated until this hour, we have 
 been able to match the choicest scholars in the world of 
 science, literature, and theology. You were hearing, last 
 night, in regard to the matter of our text-books, and the 
 works of our brethren in the ministry and of our Professors. 
 When others have gone forth as pioneers of the gospel, and 
 have done as much for the salvation of men, and to clear 
 away and make plain the paths of civilization, then they 
 may criticise the Methodist Church for the want of text- 
 books and literary productions. 
 
 There are three of the Professors at Middletown ranking 
 high as authors to-day. Van Vleck is preparing a work on 
 geometry, — and there is not his superior in the United 
 States in the branch which he teaches ; Professor Van 
 Benschoten has a work on Greek, and he is the only one, 
 since the death of Professor Felton, who can converse in 
 Greek. Professor Harrington has another work on Latin 
 prepared ; and the day is coming when we shall stand as 
 well in regard to these things as we have in other depart- 
 ments of the work. Show me the man who is equal to Wm. 
 F. Warren to-day in theology ; I will guarantee that he 
 stands head and shoulders above the men of his years, or 
 twice his years. 
 
LTTEEABT INSTITUTIONS. 85 
 
 These arc tlic men wlio are towering np and follow- 
 ing in the steps of Adam Clarke, Watson, Walsh, and 
 Olivers. These are but a Few names that I might mention. 
 A glorious galaxy of them are crowding np, — such men as 
 John and Charles Wesley, famous in the walks of literature 
 and science. Now, what is the need of discussion on this 
 point? Professor Johnston here [turning towards him on 
 the platform], who need not be ashamed to have me say 
 that there are not three greater living chemists in this 
 country. I am going further than that, and say that, with 
 his attainments, but give him the means, and he will stand 
 equal with those who are in the front rank of his depart- 
 ment. But what is there at Middletown ? If you will pass 
 through the middle buildings, you will find one somewhat 
 like a barn or wood-shed, and that is the Chemical Labora- 
 tory. He ought to have a palace — a majestic freestone 
 building, and all the appliances that art or wealth can fur- 
 nish him, ought to be at his disposal. He ought to sit there 
 like a king, and direct the studies of those attending upon 
 his lectures. But how are we going to get the money 
 needed for this? Are Methodist ministers going to do 
 this? No, we have not got it. If you will devote your 
 money to the service of God ; if you will endow his de- 
 partment with one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and 
 on the top of this, if you will devote five hundred thousand 
 dollars more, we then shall have a suitable endowment to 
 the College at Middletown. 
 
 I recollect the words of the talented Channing : " There 
 is nothing to express the cruelty and folly of that economy 
 which starves the intellect of the child." That economy of 
 rich men that holds back from devoting their wealth for the 
 benefit of the rising generation is not only cruelty but folly. 
 The wealth of the Church, like water, ought to be poured 
 out, so that intellectual culture shall be found even in the 
 humblest ones in the service of God. 
 
 Bev. Dr. Crooks, Editor of " The Methodist," JVew York : 
 
86 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 — I do not think I can add much to the very eloquent 
 words you have just heard. There has always been great 
 pleasure to me in looking at the programme of this cen- 
 tenary year, as developed both by the General Committee 
 and by the Conference Committees, that it has been made 
 a year of dedication to the work of promoting the interests 
 of the cause of general education. I shall be glad, Mr. 
 Chairman, to see the time when we can have our educa- 
 tional system combined into one unity, so that Methodism 
 in this field of labor can be as powerful as it is in the fields 
 of Evangelism. What pains me, as a Methodist, is to see 
 so many of oar institutions of learning struggling with in- 
 adequate means, — the professors living on limited salaries 
 and smaller supplies than are accorded even to the pastors 
 of our churches, — colleges cramped for the want of suffi- 
 cient apparatus, and for the want of the large and extended 
 resources necessary for the use of professors and students. 
 
 I have said, in the course of one or two years pa^t, some 
 things which have been thought to be too sharp upon 
 Methodist education, — too depreciating of what Methodist 
 education has accomplished ; and I am very glad of the op- 
 portunity of being able to say a few words in explanation 
 of my position. Sir, it was because I loved Methodist edu- 
 cation that I spoke words which, though apparently words 
 of rebuke, were intended to be only words of loving 
 criticism. My heart was saddened when I saw earnestness, 
 and zeal, and devotion left all barren and fruitless, because 
 the Church stood aloof and left the menAvho had dedicated 
 their lives to this work of education to fight out the battle 
 alone. I wanted to bring Methodist laymen to rally 
 strongly and energetically around our schools of learning, 
 so that they might furnish them from top to bottom with 
 all the means they might reasonably ask for the accomplish- 
 ment of that great work. 
 
 And I think I shall see the time when, not only in New 
 England, but all over our land, we shall have a complete 
 
LITERARY INSTITUTIONS. 87 
 
 system of educational forces; and at the head of them not 
 merely one great Methodist university, hut in every great 
 congeries of States, one Methodist institution, the crown of 
 all the institutions of that part of our wide domain. And I 
 hope to see, too, as accompaniments, schools of law, theol- 
 ogy, medicine, and the arts, — all the schools needed to fit 
 men in this nineteenth century for the work which the 
 nineteenth century requires of us. 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, if you would allow me, I would like, 
 as ministerial culture is the general topic before the Con- 
 vention, to say one word thereon. I have always thought 
 that the subject of general education was injured and 
 harmed by our claiming too much when we have urged 
 upon the Church the need of ministerial education. Min- 
 isterial education does immensely for the ministry, as a 
 protective agency of the Church. Ministerial education 
 cannot make a man a preacher. God makes the preachers, 
 and he will ever make them; and he makes them by en- 
 dowing them with the " power from on high." Xo man 
 can be a preacher unless he speaks with the unction of the 
 Holy One from heaven. But, sir, when I look at the fact 
 that the great movements in the Church have been led by 
 the cultured men who have carried the Church forward, — 
 that it was Augustine, the scholar and rhetorician, that 
 laid the foundations of theology, — that it was Martin 
 Luther who shook the world and led it from the iron and 
 galling embrace of the Papacy, — that it was John Wesley, 
 fresh from Oxford, and all fragrant with its learning, who 
 led the world out into the movement which we call Meth- 
 odism, — surely, sir, it is not for me, as a Methodist, to 
 depreciate learning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of 
 my mouth first. Methodism has been living for one hun- 
 dred and thirty years on the brains of John Wesley. [Ap- 
 plause.] And these were so powerful that the world will 
 live on them for another age, and live well too ! [Ap- 
 plause.] But, sir, learning has that guarding, protecting 
 
88 METHODIST CEXTENARY CONVENTION, 
 
 power which saves the Church from the delusions to which 
 our human nature is subject. Who can be protected so 
 well as those Christian congregations who are well trained 
 in the meaning of the Scriptures by a well-cultured and 
 thoughtful ministry, whose learning is continually guarding 
 the Church, keeping it from error, building the bulwarks of 
 truth around the Church, and holding her steady to her 
 course ? And without this great regulating power of cul- 
 ture, the Church would be a wreck in less than a genera- 
 tion. And, sir, for that reason, because ministerial culture 
 is necessary, do I desire it, — not to elevate our ministry to 
 lord it over the Church. Never, never ! The trouble is, 
 our membership is getting up so fast in education that we 
 ministers have to work with all our might to keep ourselves 
 in advance of them. 
 
 I am delighted with the privilege of speaking these 
 words to the representatives of New England Methodism. 
 God bless you, brethren. It is twenty-three years since I 
 have had the privilege of visiting the city of Boston. 
 Those were the days when the Bromfield Street Church 
 invited the people to enter, and there it was my privilege 
 to worship with you. And now, though I have looked on 
 New England Methodism from the distance, and sometimes 
 have said to myself, " What a singular development New 
 England Methodism is ! I wonder if it is like the rest of the 
 Methodism of the United States ? " yet, when I heard you 
 sing a few moments ago that grand old lyric which has 
 been sung to the tune we all so well know all over this 
 continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I felt with you, 
 indeed, that the Methodist power abides with us as it does 
 elsewhere. God give us a double portion of it, [Great 
 applause.] 
 
 Rev. Dr. Pickard, of New Brunswick : — I very unex- 
 pectedly occupy this position. When the invitation was 
 kindly extended to me by the President of the Convention, 
 I shrunk from accepting it. It is now going on towards 
 
LITERARY INSTITUTION-. 89 
 
 forty years since, in 1829, it was my privilege to enter the 
 Academy at Wilbraham, and there I was allowed to asso- 
 ciate with that sainted man of God, Dr. Fisk, who led on 
 this enterprise. It was my privilege to have the desire for 
 education beyond what was given there, and I accompanied 
 him to Middletown. During my course there I received 
 instruction from our venerable father, Dr. Johnston, and 
 Dr. Whedon, and other men I might mention. I returned 
 to my native land, and there and thence I have watched 
 New England Methodism, especially in regard to this enter- 
 prise of education. Upwards of twenty years ago I re- 
 luctantly left the field of the itinerancy, being called to 
 take charge of an institution that had been founded by the 
 liberality of an individual, whose donation to the cause of 
 Christian education, I believe, in 1840, was the largest that 
 had been given by any one person to the work of Metho- 
 dist education. It seems quite small now, as 1 hear of a 
 half-million dollars for that work ; however, the contribution 
 of that individual who laid the foundation of the institution 
 with which I am connected was twenty-five thousand dol- 
 lars. We have been visited with affliction, to some extent, 
 recently, but our effort is onward ; and we believe that, 
 under the leading of the God of providence, the Church 
 will take hold of this enterprise more strongly in this cen- 
 tenary year of American Methodism. And we believe the 
 Church in these United States will labor side by side with 
 us ; and in addition to the liberality of the laymen in all sec- 
 tions of the Church militant, New England will continue to 
 be a light to the world, and a blessing to the whole human 
 race. 
 
 I shall not occupy the time of this Convention any 
 farther than to say that I am delighted to be here. I was 
 delighted with the reference of Dr. Crooks to the singing 
 of that good old tune of Lenox. A few years ago, whilo 
 n attendance at one of the British Conferences in Corn- 
 wall, I went down into the mines, some fifteen hundred or 
 
 7 
 
90 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 eighteen hundred feet below the surface of the ground, 
 with quite a company, including one of your American 
 Methodists, and it was suggested that we should have a 
 meeting away down there among the miners, and they 
 were invited to sing, and united in singing that good old 
 hymn, " Arise, my soul, arise ! ; ' in that good old tune of 
 Lenox. My spirit exults in the thought that I shall meet, 
 when all our conflicts are over, with all New England 
 Methodists in that world where parting is unknown. 
 
 Mr. Wm. C. Brown, of the New England Conference, 
 now read the following essay on the Support of Public 
 Worship : — 
 
 I have made, what I suppose to be, a thorough search for 
 some book, pamphlet, or tract on the subject of Ministerial 
 support, but have not been able to find anything, by any de- 
 nomination, on this highly-interesting and important topic, ex- 
 cept a sermon b}^ Rev. Dr. Bennett, President of Rotherhain 
 College, England, and a sermon by Rev. Zechariah Paddock, 
 delivered before the Oneida Conference, in 1842. Both of these 
 are published as tracts, and are excellent treatises on the sub- 
 ject, as far as the} r go. The argument, however, is entirely 
 confined to the obligation on the part of the laity to support the 
 ministry. The idea that the laity are most benefited b} T the 
 preaching of the gospel seems not to have occurred to them. 
 Perhaps I ought to say that the excellent volume, published at 
 our Book Room, entitled " Systematic Beneficence," containing 
 three prize essa3~s, has, in each essaj^, a chapter on the personal 
 advantages which accrue to the giver; but all the arguments 
 here used have relation to general beneficence, while our topic is 
 Ministerial Support. Besides, the word beneficence is not a 
 suitable word to express the relation which the lajmian holds 
 toward his minister. 
 
 If the few considerations which I shall present to you at this 
 irne have any value, it will be mainly in these facts : — 
 
 First, That, in addition to the acknowledged claim, which 
 the ministry have upon the people for a suitable support, it is 
 for the highest spiritual interest of the people generously to sus- 
 tain the ministry. 
 
MB. BROWN'S ESSAY. 01 
 
 Second, That it is for the highest temporal cjood of the peo- 
 ple to do this ; and, 
 
 Third, That these arguments come from a layman. 
 
 Till' MINISTRY MUST BE SUPPORTED. 
 
 In the treatment of a subject so weighty as this, I cannot, 
 however, leave entirely out of account the solemn duty of all 
 Christians to sustain public worship, — a duty so emphatically 
 enjoined in the Scriptures of divine truth. 
 
 In accomplishing the great work of freeing mankind from the 
 bondage of sin. God is infinitely wise in adapting means to 
 ends ; and the means he has appointed for the salvation of 
 men are found, chiefly, in the support of public worship, and 
 the various instrumentalities which that sets and keeps at work. 
 On this, as its central point, nearly everything turns ; and, 
 without this, little would be done, or even attempted, for the 
 salvation of men, at home or abroad. The case is perfectly 
 clear. In order that the gospel may become to any extent ef- 
 fective, it must be brought home to the hearts and consciences 
 of men ; and it is the imperative duty of all Christians, not 
 ministers merely, to put into and keep in operation, such a sys- 
 tem of means as will bear upon all men within their reach. 
 The central agency for accomplishing this momentous work is 
 the pulpit, or public worship. Nor is it optional with men, 
 whether they will sustain this public worship or not, any more 
 than it is optional whether they will be honest, or sober, or 
 not. 
 
 Let us endeavor to realize how much all this means. It in- 
 volves, directly or incidentally, almost everything which can be 
 clone for the spiritual interests of a given community. If no 
 provision is made among them for public worship, little or 
 nothing will be done for their salvation. On the contrary, 
 where proper measures are adopted tor this purpose, we intro- 
 duce and establish a central mainspring, on the power of which 
 depends the whole circle of agencies and influences for the 
 growth of Christians in holiness, for the conversion of sinners, 
 and for the support of all the great Christian enterprises, which 
 seek to reform society and evangelize the world. 
 
92 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Nor is this obligation confined to any particular class of 
 Christians. It is universal. The poor cannot, in their contri- 
 butions, compete with the rich, but both have a relative responsi- 
 bilit} r . Let us be careful not to undervalue, in this work, the 
 aid of Christ's poor. May not their prayers and small contri- 
 butions be often of more avail than the largest liberality of the 
 rich? How touching the tribute paid by our Saviour to the 
 poor woman's two mites, so dear to God, because she cast in 
 her all ! Christ chose the poor ; and no plan for the support of 
 his cause at home, or its spread through the world, can safely 
 overlook or undervalue their agency. 
 
 Here, then, rest our chief hopes, under God, for the world's 
 salvation or general improvement. Nothing but the gospel, 
 uttered b}' a living ministry, can ever secure these results ; and 
 unless its institutions are preserved among ourselves in their 
 full vigor, through the sanctuary, the Church, and her ministry, 
 we shall look in vain for its spread, with all its matchless bless- 
 ings, over the whole earth. We must keep the sacred fires 
 burning fresh on our own altars at home, or we shall do but 
 little to save the benighted in heathen lands. Shut up our 
 sanctuaries, and how surely would all the enterprises of benevo- 
 lence and reform, which now constitute the chief hope and 
 glory of our age, cease their operations forever ! 
 
 I have said that this must be done b} T a living ministiy, 
 called by God himself to declare his truth to the children of 
 men. If the question should be asked, whether we could not 
 get along without the ministiy, if we retained the prayer- 
 meeting, the class-meeting, the Sunday-school, the Bible-class, 
 the love-feast, the missionary-meeting, and the entire personal 
 influence of 
 
 "The sacramental host of God's elect," 
 
 I should unhesitatingly answer, No ! The mandate is, " Go ye 
 into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." 
 The words all and every here are very comprehensive. 
 
 " God gives the word. The preachers throng around, 
 Catch the glad word, and spread the glorious sound; 
 That sound bespeaks salvation on the way, — 
 The trumpet of a life-restoring day." 
 
MR. brown's ESSAY. 93 
 
 I have said, also, that we must keep the sacred fires burning 
 on our own altars at home. Allow me to introduce here the 
 views of the late Rev. John A. James, of Birmingham, England, 
 
 a gentleman who felt a deep interest in the religious condition 
 of the United States, lie says : — 
 
 "The object of j*our zeal must be your own country, — to 
 supply her rapidly-increasing population with able, faithful 
 ministers. Your religious policy must be a home policy. Com- 
 pared with the claims of your own land, the claims of the 
 heathen are but secondary. If you cannot attend to both, you 
 must attend to your own destitute people. You must cultivate 
 the waste places of your own homestead. Think what your 
 country is, and especially what it must be, not only for the 
 magnitude of its territory and the multitude of its people, the 
 vastness of its wealth and the greatness of its power, but the 
 importance of its example. On your land hang, in a great 
 measure, the future interests of the globe. Hence the unspeak- 
 able importance that your churches should concentrate, in a 
 great measure, their religious efforts upon your own country. 
 If it were necessary (in order to supply your own people with 
 pastors) that one half of 3 r our male members should become 
 ministers, then let it be the chief business of the other half to 
 support them. These are my deliberate views of the duties of 
 American Christians." Such was the opinion of that eminent 
 English divine. 
 
 I might greatly enlarge here by speaking of the intrinsic 
 greatness of this country, of its prospective population, of 
 its agricultural capabilities, of its influence on the rest of the 
 world, that it must eventually supply to a great extent the 
 resources of foreign missions, etc., but I am restricted. Each 
 of these topics would afford material for a discourse. 
 
 CHRISTIANS SPIRITUALLY BENEFITED. 
 
 In addition to the acknowledged claim which the ministry 
 have upon the people for a suitable support, it is for the highest 
 spiritual interest of the people generously to sustain the 
 ministry. 
 
 Christians should be careful not to undervalue the privilege 
 
94 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 of aiding in the maintenance of public worship, which includes, 
 of course, a generous support of the ministry. It is a gracious 
 condescension in God to allow such co-operation with himself 
 in the world's recovery from sin and its woes. He might have 
 taken the whole work into his own hands ; or he might have 
 vouchsafed the honor only to angels ; but, for our sake, he em- 
 ploys our instrumentality, and thus confers on us what we 
 ought to regard as a high, inestimable privilege, — a privilege 
 of more real value to us, in our spiritual interests, than the 
 wealth of the Indies would be, or the sceptre of an empire. 
 This privilege God grants to every Christian, however humble 
 or poor, coupling with it a double blessing, — one to him who 
 gives and one to him who takes. 
 
 Were I possessed of a vindictive spirit, and had an enemy 
 whom I hated, and whom I wished to injure to the extent of my 
 ability, and were the power granted me to do this in any way I 
 pleased, I would not, as the most effectual way, la}' my hand 
 on his person, or traduce his character, or burn his premises, or 
 smite him with some deadly disease, or banish him from the 
 abodes of civilized man ; no, all I should need to do, fully to 
 accomplish my purpose, would be to make him supremely 
 selfish and covetous. 
 
 As to the ministiy, it is only a part, though confessedly an 
 essential part, of the system necessary for the maintenance of 
 public worship, and to be sustained, not for the personal bene- 
 fit of the preacher, but for the general good. On this point 
 some persons are so obtuse as never to have any idea of the 
 maintenance of public worship only as furnishing an oppor- 
 tunity to support a minister ; and they look, therefore, upon 
 what the}' contribute for that purpose as a gratuity. But the 
 same persons would readily see the absurdity of building 
 schoolhouses, and of going into all the trouble and expense of 
 school operations, for the exclusive benefit of the schoolmaster. 
 And yet the latter is no more absurd than the former. The 
 minister, then, is the servant of the Church, — one of her in- 
 struments in securing God's glory in the salvation of mankind ; 
 and hence, every society, if wise, will insure its preacher such 
 support as will save him from anxiety, and leave him free to 
 devote himself, without distraction, to his great work. 
 
Mli. BBOWN'S E88AT. 95 
 
 CHRISTIANS BENEFITED TEMPORALLY. 
 
 It is for the highest temporal good of the people to Bustain 
 their ministers. 
 
 No greater mistake can he made by Christians than to evade 
 the expense of public worship, or to cherish the idea that they 
 cannot afford the privileges of the gospel. On the contrary, 
 they cannot prosper without them ; and should they attempt to 
 do so, they would soon find themselves on the way to financial 
 as well as to spiritual ruin. The gospel, even in a pecuniar;! 
 view, is certain everywhere to pay its way more than ten times 
 over. Xo investment is so surely and so largely profitable. 
 Without the social, educational, intellectual, and political insti- 
 tutions and privileges dependent on its influence, there is hardly 
 a city, town, or village where all kinds of property would not 
 sink in value more than fifty per cent. And although this 
 argument is addressed to the lowest incentives of the human 
 heart, it is sufficiently strong of itself to justify the accomplish- 
 ment of all I have claimed. 
 
 Some years ago, I had some conversation, in relation to 
 property, with the largest real-estate owner in the city where I 
 reside. In the course of the conversation, I put this question 
 to him : " Suppose all the churches in this city were demol- 
 ished, and it was made certain that none would ever be erected 
 here again ; what would the effect of this be on the value of 
 real estate here?" His reply was. " It would immediately lose 
 one half its value. In short," said he, " I am not certain that 
 it would be worth anything at all." This declaration is very 
 significant, when the fact is taken into account that this man 
 had no sympathy with experimental religion. 
 
 It is a very common thing for large landowners and corpora- 
 tions to make a present of a lot of land to persons contem- 
 plating the erection of a church ; and they do this with a 
 distinct knowledge that they will thereby enhance the value of 
 all their other lands. Look, also, at the practice of real-estate 
 brokers and auctioneers, who conspicuously advertise the prox- 
 imity of churches to the property they extol. 
 
 The erection of every church in a city or town adds to the 
 value of real estate in that place. Some person having leisure, 
 
96 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 and at the same time statistical proclivities, might make a com- 
 putation of the millions of dollars every 3-ear added to the 
 wealth of sceptical and irreligious real-estate owners (through 
 the increase in value of such real estate by the erection and 
 occupation of churches in their midst), who do not contribute 
 and never have contributed anything toward the erection and 
 support of those churches. And, furthermore, there is not a 
 single good thing which these sceptical and practically infidel 
 men enjoy, for which they are not, directly or indirectly, in- 
 debted to the God they disown and the Book they neglect and 
 contemn. 
 
 The mere politician, also, is constantly deceiving himself 
 with the idea that the salvation of the country depends upon 
 him ; whereas the direct opposite of this is the truth. Take 
 away Christian ministers and Christian people, and everything 
 valuable in our midst could not be preserved for a single year, 
 only at the point of the sword and the ba}'onet. I quote a few 
 lines here from a modern writer, Bayne, author of " The Chris- 
 tian Life," and other valuable works. I quote from his essay 
 entitled " The Social Problem of the Age : " — 
 
 " Christianity pronounces men equal. All the protests 
 which, in the course of human history, have been uttered 
 against the oppression of the poor by the rich, and in behalf of 
 the native majesty of man, sink into insignificance when com- 
 pared with that uttered by and embodied in Christianit}'. In 
 express terms the Christian revelation pronounces all men 
 equally the subjects of one King ; it makes the value of a soul 
 infinite, and shows no difference between the worth of the soul 
 of a beggar and that of a prince. Look into the stable at 
 Bethlehem, on that night when crowned sage and humble shep- 
 herd knelt by the cradle of that Babe who was their common 
 King. Do you not see, in that spectacle, the bond of an essen- 
 tial equality, uniting all ranks, and making the regal purple and 
 the peasant's russet faint and temporaiy distinctions ? " 
 
 When I contemplate the indebtedness of the present gen- 
 eration to our fathers for eveiything valuable we enjoy, and es- 
 pecially for the institutions of our holy religion, I am over- 
 whelmed with the magnitude of our obligations to them. Now, 
 
MK. brown's essay. 97 
 
 as we cannot discharge these obligations to our ancestors, do 
 we not, by the moral law of reciprocity, owe to our posterity a 
 debt of equal magnitude? Let us, then, leave nothing undone 
 to transmit to them the precious inheritance we have in the 
 " pulpit undefiled." 
 
 I have said that public worship must be sustained, not for 
 the personal benefit of the preacher, but for the public good. 
 No calculation can be made of the indebtedness of society at 
 large to the ministry for their advocacy and defence of moral 
 truth. We look to them and depend upon them as the prin- 
 cipal conservators of morals. How nobly have they done this 
 in the late rebellion ! But I cannot enlarge here. "Well does a 
 distinguished poet say : — 
 
 " The pulpit 
 Must stand acknowledged while the world shall stand, 
 The most important and effectual guard, 
 Sui)port, and ornament of virtue's cause." 
 
 I thank God that the ministers of the denomination to which 
 I belong have, ever since my acquaintance with them, and, I be- 
 lieve, always have held the idea, that patriotism is a part of 
 their religion, and that they who truly love God will love their 
 country also. I have an impression, too, that they have been 
 governed b} T that noble maxim, that " what is wrong in morals 
 cannot be right in politics." O, my clerical brethren ! bind 
 this maxim to your brow, and, giving no heed to the senseless 
 clamors of political demagogues, but, 
 
 " Strong in the strength which God supplies 
 Through his eternal Son," . 
 
 carry it with you till triumphant victory has crowned the im- 
 perishable principle. 
 
 Two topics were assigned to me ; namely, Church Finances 
 and the Support of the Ministry. I have treated only of the 
 latter, which has exhausted all the time allotted to me. 
 Having, however, devoted much attention to the subject of 
 church finances for many years, it would have afforded me 
 much pleasure to present to this Convention my views on 
 this interesting topic. As it is, I cannot do it ; but if the 
 
98 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 congregation would bear with me, I should like to make a few 
 statements, occupying about five minutes. 
 
 It is well known to some of my friends here, that I have for 
 many years advocated, with all the ability I possess, the method 
 called the " Apportionment Plan," for raising all the principal 
 sums of money connected with public worship. It has worked 
 so pleasantly, so efficient^, and so successfully in the society 
 where I am, for twemty years past, that I am more and more 
 convinced of its perfect adaptation to all our societies ; and I 
 have never known it in any instance to fail where it has been 
 thoroughly and judiciously tried. 
 
 Our Book Room published, last year, a little tract of sixteen 
 pages, entitled " Church Financiering," prepared by Rev. J. B. 
 McCullough, of the Philadelphia Conference. He says the Ap- 
 portionment Plan prevails largely in the New England and 
 some other Conferences, and then states that he has seen this 
 plan more successfully worked than any other ; and further, 
 that he has known it to succeed when every other had failed. 
 
 That taxes are generally so willingly paid is to be attributed, 
 not so much to the compulsory power with which towns and 
 cities are invested, as to the fact that the burden is equally dis- 
 tributed, and that every payer knows what his fair proportion 
 is. Suppose, in future, in raising money for municipal pur- 
 poses, the employment of assessors should be dispensed with, 
 and the people should be notified to pay their taxes to the 
 Treasurer, paying as much as they could afford, or as much as 
 they considered their proper proportion. Would there be 
 much paid ? Would there be anything paid ? 
 
 And now I wish to ask this body of intelligent men if the 
 plan of raising money which generally prevails throughout our 
 denomination is much, if anything, better than that which I 
 have just described? Now, suppose towns and cities should go 
 one step further, and make a fair assessment of the taxes, but 
 still leave it optional with all persons to pay or not. Would 
 not the great body of the people pay ? I think they would. 
 Under these circumstances, a man would soon lose his reputa- 
 tion and standing in society, not to pay. But if he were not 
 assessed, he would not. 
 
MR. brown's E8SAT. 99 
 
 It is my sincere conviction that if all our societies would 
 adopt the Apportionment Plan, and good-naturedly, and ju- 
 diciously, and persistently execute it, every preacher throughout 
 our entire denomination would have an ample support, and 
 every benevolent enterprise among us would have all the money 
 it would ever need. Any lack from which any preacher now 
 sutlers, or by which any of our benevolent enterprises arc now 
 circumscribed, is not attributable to the want of means cm the 
 part of the people, hut to the want of a suitable and efficient 
 system of raising the means, — a system which will commend 
 itself to the best convictions of men. and open, at the same 
 time, to no objections. Who have paid the enormous expenses 
 of overthrowing the late rebellion? The people. And who are 
 able now to go through another just such contest, and come out 
 of it solvent? The people. And these same people, who have 
 readily contributed |3, 000,000,000 directly, and perhaps half 
 that amount indirectly, are competent to anything within the 
 bounds of possibility. Our resources are unbounded, — they 
 are absolutely incalculable. 
 
 Have you not witnessed, with inexpressible joy and devout 
 thanksgiving to God, the rapid strides we have made of bite 
 years in our missionary collections? May not this be fairly 
 attributed to the new arrangement, by the General Missionary 
 Committee, of apportioning the whole amount estimated by 
 them to the several annual conferences, and, in some confer- 
 ences, by them to the several districts and societies? 
 
 We need a cheap book, adapted to popular use, to be spread 
 throughout our entire denomination, treating upon the subjects 
 in this essay in a familiar and practical manner, and also upon 
 every other matter relating to the financial and prudential 
 affairs of our societies. Such a book, properly prepared, would 
 be an incalculable benefit to our denomination. 
 
 In conclusion, judging from the past, I believe God intends a 
 glorious future for us. I care nothing, however, about num- 
 bers, only as far as self-denial, zealous activity, heartfelt 
 humility, and vital piety keep pace with us. When we come 
 to depend upon numbers, the ecclesiastical historian may sit 
 down and complete our history by writing its last chapter. 
 
100 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 There is nothing we now need so much, next to the grace of 
 God, which is always ready, as to be made more deeply 
 conscious of our ability for the accomplishment of good. 
 Could we see this as God sees it, nothing we have ever wit- 
 nessed — no phenomenon in the progress of human events — 
 would startle us more, or fill us with greater amazement, as to 
 know as He knows, and to be conscious as He is, of our latent 
 capabilities " to wrestle against principalities, against powers, 
 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
 spiritual wickedness in high places." Our glorified Founder . 
 had something of this consciousness, and his entire life was in 
 accordance with his convictions. And what has been the result 
 of this ? Why, one man has made heaven and earth jubilant 
 with joy. " Now is come salvation, and strength, and the 
 kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ." 
 
 At the conclusion of the reading of this paper, by a 
 rising vote, the thanks of the Convention were presented 
 to Mr. B. for his essay. 
 
 The Business Committee, through Dr. Barrows, moved 
 that the essays of Rev. J. H. Twombly and Rev. A. Prince 
 be read this evening, and that Bishop Simpson be invited 
 to address the Convention in reference to the topics em- 
 braced in them at his discretion, which was agreed to. 
 
 The Convention then adjourned with singing the doxol- 
 ogy, and the benediction by Rev. Geo. Pratt, of the East 
 Maine Conference. 
 
 AFTERNOON OF SECOND DAY. 
 
 During the intermission, the Convention and a large 
 number of friends assembled on the Common for the pur- 
 pose of securing a photographic picture of the members, 
 grouped around the Old Elm under which, seventy-six years 
 ago, Rev. Jesse Lee preached his first sermon in Boston. 
 This noble tree has been preserved by the city government 
 of Boston with peculiar care, its massive trunk being 
 
VISIT TO THE COMMON. 101 
 
 literally laced with iron, and its huge, projecting brandies 
 suspended by numerous iron rods, rendered necessary by 
 the decayed condition of the tree. The query was sug- 
 gested, while surveying these kindly precautious, What if 
 the Methodistic vine had been as paternally .cared for by 
 the early magistrates ? Would its splendid colossal propor- 
 tions have been as well and substantially developed? Per- 
 haps so, perhaps not. 
 
 [We may be permitted to say here, that but a short time 
 subsequently to the eminently-successful attempt of the 
 artist in photographing the venerable old tree and the Con- 
 vention under its ample branches, a large portion of it 
 was prostrated to the ground by a gust of wind, destroying 
 much of the costly and beautiful iron fence enclosing it.] 
 
 At the conclusion of the artist's work, the large crowcj, 
 at the suggestion of President Claflin, surrounded the en- 
 closure and joined in singing the doxology, " Praise God 
 from whom," etc., led by that venerable representative of 
 early Methodism, Rev. Abraham D. Merrill, of the New 
 England Conference. 
 
 On re-assembling in the Temple, for the afternoon session, 
 the hymn commencing, 
 
 " Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone," 
 
 was sung, and prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Hulburd, of 
 the Vermont Conference. 
 
 Rev. A. Moore, of the Maine Conference, offered the 
 following resolution, which was adopted : — 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee on Publication, to consist of 
 seven, be appointed by the Chair, to whom all essays, reports, 
 resolutions, and doings of the Convention Bhall be referred, to 
 take into consideration the subject of publication, and report to 
 the Convention. 
 
 The Chair appointed Revs. A. Moore, of the Maine, E. 
 A. Manning, Geo. Prentice, and Dr. E. Cooke, of the New 
 
102 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 England, M. J. Talbot, of the Providence, and Brothers F. 
 F. Rand, J. P. Magee, of the New England Conference, as 
 the Committee. 
 
 The consideration of Mr. Brown's essay was resumed. 
 
 Colonel Dickey, of the Vermont Conference, was called 
 for, and responded : — Mr. President, I came down here, 
 sir, from Vermont, as a layman of less than three months' 
 standing. I came for the purpose of becoming better ac- 
 quainted with the customs and usages of the Methodists 
 generally. I did not come here expecting to make any 
 remarks upon the questions that might arise, but I praise 
 the name of God that I ever became acquainted with the 
 people called Methodists, and I hope that I may ever have 
 this sentiment of Methodism, the spirit of the Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, in my soul. 
 
 The subject under discussion, Mr. President, is one, of 
 course, that we all feel interested in. It is clear that every 
 layman takes upon himself the obligation when he becomes 
 a member that he will contribute of his substance towards 
 the support of preaching ; but it seems to me there are 
 many people, very many, scattered throughout the coun. 
 try, that are not members of the Church, that do not enjoy 
 the love of God in their hearts, but still feel that they are 
 reaping benefits from the preaching of the gospel, and feel 
 a deep interest in the success of the Word of God. If 
 they can feel that they have an interest in the preaching, 
 they will be glad to contribute to the support of God's 
 cause. They feel that their families are receiving benefits 
 from us, and are willing undoubtedly to do something 
 towards maintaining and supporting the preaching of the 
 gospel. And the thought has occurred to me that if the 
 Church would take the matter under consideration, and let 
 the people that feel that they like to see the preaching of 
 the gospel promoted feel that the Church is ready to co- 
 operate with them, they will gladly adopt some measures 
 for the support of preaching. If we have their voice in 
 
DISCUSSION OF MR. BROWN'S ESSAY. 103 
 
 the tiling, we have their interest, and they are more anxious 
 
 an«l ready to do something than it' they have no voice in 
 the matter. It is the practice, we believe, to leave the 
 matters of supporting the preaching of the gospel to the 
 stewards. They fix the salary for their preachers. The 
 people without, that don't worship, have no voice in it, 
 they know nothing of the arrangement, and don't under- 
 stand this ; but I have thought that if the churches would 
 adopt the plan of an auxiliary to the Church, form societies 
 composed of all those who feel an interest in the propaga- 
 tion of Methodist preaching, or those who feel that they 
 desire the upbuilding of the cause of Christ, let them have 
 a voice in it, and ask them to co-operate with you and join 
 your financial society, you could get their feelings inter- 
 ested ; and will they not be likely to contribute of their 
 means for the support of preaching ? And who knows but 
 that it might be the means of bringing many an individual 
 to see the glories of the gospel of Christ, and give their 
 hearts to God, by this means of grace ? I merely throw 
 out this simple thought, and there may be some benefit 
 derived from it. 
 
 Hon. J. J. Perry, of the Blaine Conference, on being 
 called for, remarked: — Mr. President, I came here to this 
 Convention as a layman, and although it is proper enough 
 that these laymen should be represented among the speak- 
 ers, yet it would have been much more gratifying to my 
 feelings could I have been permitted to sit and listen to 
 others. This subject of the support of the ministry is one 
 of the most important, in my estimation, that has come up 
 for the consideration of this Convention. One great reason, 
 Mr. President, why the preachers in our Church get no 
 better support, is the fact that our people never have been 
 educated up to this matter of giving and supporting the 
 ministry as they should have been. But when we com- 
 pare the statistics of former years, twenty or thirty years 
 ago, with what they are now, we shall find a great and a 
 
104 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 visible improvement in this direction. But still, sir, it is 
 very evident that we don't, at the present time, pay our 
 preachers a fair equivalent for their services. If we had 
 a little more system incorporated into our Church in this 
 particular, perhaps as was suggested by Mr. Brown, who 
 addressed us on this matter this forenoon, I think we should 
 see a very visible change for the better. But, Mr. Pres- 
 ident, whilst I am speaking upon this subject, I wish to say 
 a word or two upon the general matter of giving, — of the 
 duty of the Church to give, not only for the support of 
 the clergy, but for the other great benevolent operations 
 of the Church ; and this year, above all years, is the 
 year to which we want to call the attention of our people 
 to this subject. One great reason, Mr. President, in my 
 estimation, — and I must speak of the clergy just what I 
 think, as we laymen know some things that they don't 
 know, — we have had the responsibility upon ourselves of 
 giving them a fair support, and we know what it is to go 
 round among the brethren and among the people and get 
 up the support, and we know, too, better than they do what 
 objections we meet in this duty. Mr. President, the clergy 
 in this respect have not done their duty to the Church ; 
 they have not preached enough upon this great subject. 
 They have been too modest in this matter. The laity can 
 stand a great deal of this kind of preaching. [Laughter.] 
 And some of them you might preach to until the day of 
 judgment, and never get anything out of them. [Laughter.] 
 But they are exceptions to the general rule, thank God ! 
 
 Mr. President, another thing, the clergy don't preach 
 right. They don't present the most potent reasons that 
 can be presented to men to get the money out of them. 
 Now, how do you go to work to get money out of men ? 
 There is a certain class you can't get a cent out of their 
 pockets unless you can make them believe it will pay. 
 Now, Mr. President, I believe this : that the Almighty God 
 is as good a paymaster as man ; and that whatever he has 
 
DISCUSSION OF MB. BROWN'S ESSAY. 105 
 
 promised in this direction will be fulfilled. And I don't 
 believe, sir, what is Baid sometimes, for my experience tells 
 me that a man is never the poorer for giving what he is able 
 to give for benevolent objects. And therefore I say, if the 
 preachers will come up to the people, and tell them to give 
 according to their ability and God will pay them for it, and 
 make them believe it, you will make them give. Then, if 
 you get the people up to that idea, they wont feel so bad. 
 Now I know how I used to feel when I first began to give. 
 If I took a five-dollar bill to give to a benevolent object, 
 I used to think, That five-dollar bill is gone — gone. 
 [Merriment.] I shall never see you again ; good-by ! 
 [Laughter.] Well, that is the way a great many feel; but 
 I don't feel so now, Mr. President. When I give ten dol- 
 lars, God always pays me back twenty. Now I believe it. 
 And the promises of the Word of God are sure in this re- 
 spect; and the Bible says, "The liberal soul shall be made 
 lat, and they that water shall be watered again.'' " He 
 shall have measure, good measure, pressed down, and run- 
 ning over, and shaken together." Some of these ministers 
 can repeat it in better shape than that. Well now, then, 
 the promises of God are of the same import, but still I fear 
 that a great many of our clergymen don't believe it, be- 
 cause they never preach as though they did. I heard Dr. 
 Cobleigh preach upon this subject once, on the giving of 
 the " tithe," or one tenth, and he convinced me, and I go 
 on this principle, and it is good. I could give you a con- 
 siderable number of instances upon this matter. I have 
 been rewarded in so giving, even in a pecuniary point of 
 view. Now I believe that if our clergy would make the 
 people believe that it is a good thing to give, we should 
 have no difficulty at all to take up our benevolent contri- 
 butions ; and it would be done, too, cheerfully. Now, sir, I 
 have always contended that if this matter is properly pre- 
 sented to the people, the benevolent objects will be prop- 
 erly supported. 
 
 8 
 
106 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Loud calls were made for C. C. North, Esq., of New York, 
 who took the platform and spoke as follows: — This ap- 
 pears to me like a trap in which to catch the laymen, for I 
 have observed that in all the discussions that have taken 
 place to-day, this is the only question in which you have 
 allowed the laymen to take part ! I was very much inter- 
 ested in the question of "Ministerial Education/ 7 and we 
 laymen all are, for we think you need it badly. [Laughter.] 
 And I was very much interested in the subject of " Gen- 
 eral Education/' for we think the laymen need it badly; but 
 you don't ask the laymen to speak on that. But as soon 
 as it came to the subject of " Ministerial Support/' you 
 felt you needed your salaries increased, and called for the 
 laymen all over the house. 
 
 Well, brethren, I think the question of finances ought 
 to be discussed more and more ; and I believe in all that 
 the honorable gentleman said when he was speaking. But 
 I have a thought, and I will give you the benefit of it. 
 Poor preach and poor pay. I tell you the law of compen- 
 sation is a wonderful law, and if you will preach well, and 
 labor well, you will be very apt to get a comfortable 
 support. I suppose that if I was in my Conference, to 
 which I belong, I might say a great many things and be 
 understood, and I might say the same things here and 
 be misunderstood ; and I may as well premise by saying 
 that I have always worshipped the Methodist ministers. 
 You can't get up a collection of ministers anywhere unless 
 I want to be among them. So that if I say some things a 
 little hard, you wont take it for granted that I don't love 
 the ministers. Well now, the thought is just this : that the 
 ministers are all very much mistaken if they have thought 
 that they make the most sacrifices in the world. I think 
 they have the best times of any class in the community. 
 I hear a great deal about the self-denial, the sacrifices, of 
 the ministers ! They preach twice on Sunday, and have a 
 good time most of the rest of the week. I notice our New 
 
107 
 
 York preachers, and I reckon it is the same everywhere ; 
 they get through with two sermons, and Monday morning 
 they seem all lounging down easily towards the Methodist 
 
 book concern, go into the preachers' meeting, and have a 
 delightful time in discussion, and go home lazily. But then 
 they take it very leisurely during all the other days. 
 When I have all my responsibilities as a business man, 
 as a merchant, the incessant wear and tear upon me, I 
 sometimes long for the ministry, and wish I was in it. 
 [Continued laughter and applause.] I have seen one or 
 two staid-looking men get up and talk about the sacrifices 
 of the ministry, and I have thought to myself, " My dear 
 good friend, if it were not for the Methodist ministry, you 
 would be hammering at the anvil or planing at the bench. 
 You talk about sacrifices ! "Why, Methodism and the minis- 
 try has made you a gentleman." [Laughter.] Xo, my 
 brethren, it is an actual fact, you are all of the best class in 
 the world, because all your associations with each other 
 are the best ; the position you occupy of intercourse with 
 each other is always intelligent, courteous, Christianly ; 
 you enjoy and read all the " Quarterly Reviews," down 
 to the " Voice of the Old Brewery ; " and the best of it is, 
 you have the leisure to read them, and to rummage your 
 libraries, to visit good society, and get good dinners. I 
 tell you, you have a glorious life 1 [Laughter and ap- 
 plause.] I don't feel any particular sorrow for you, but I 
 feel very sorry for the minister's wife. I feel in my heart 
 of hearts a sorrow for the minister's wife, to be obliged to 
 bundle up, break up all associations, pack up the house 
 things, and go away to a new place among strangers, and 
 be examined, and have words said about her. I feel sorry 
 for the minister's wife, and yet, don't you know that you 
 move much less than "some of us do? Coming down now 
 to the sober facts in the case, for I think you occupy the 
 best position in the world, it is the best thing in the world 
 to be a minister, especially a Methodist minister. I should 
 
108 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 not like to be a minister of another denomination, for I 
 should not be sure of having an appointment ! [Laughter.] 
 But I tell you that we are informed that a man is never so 
 happy as when he has one, and I don't see why a Methodist 
 minister ought not to be always happy. And I go in for a 
 liberal support of the ministry if they do all their duty. 
 The subject of giving is having an advance. I believe 
 that the spirit of giving from conscientious principle is 
 pervading the Church. The great trouble is, that some of 
 our wealthy men are giving freely to satisfy their con- 
 sciences by their giving. That is the fault in the Church 
 now. We attempt to satisfy our consciences by our large 
 liberality, and the consequence is that a great many of our 
 talented men resign their positions as laborers, Sunday- 
 school and class-meeting men, and satisfy their consciences 
 by their liberal gifts ; whereas the talented should be 
 scattered about, giving their wealth and talent, until they 
 are able to work no longer. 
 
 But there will be a reaction, and you will find that men 
 are beginning to work this year as they have not worked 
 before, and we shall see the millennium when the labor and 
 wealth of the Church shall be consecrated to the cause of 
 Christ. 
 
 Hon. Thomas Kniel, of the N. E. Conference, appeared 
 after repeated calls, and said : — Mr. President, I hardly 
 know what subject is before the Convention, but I am 
 told that it is upon the subject of supporting the minis- 
 try. I am taken, of course, as everybody can see, quite 
 by surprise ; but yet this is not a subject upon which I 
 have never had any thought. It is a subject that I sup- 
 pose every layman has had his thought upon, more or 
 less. That our ministry need, and ought to receive, the 
 adequate support of the Church, no man of good sense, 
 endowed with the common instincts of humanity, can 
 deny. 
 
 The old saying of Scripture (I say old because it comes 
 
discussion of mii. brown's essay. 109 
 
 down to us from before the days of tlic Saviour himself) is 
 that the " laborer is worthy of his hire." If they have said 
 that "In our opinion the Great BeingfDU high has called 
 you into his vineyard; you must separate yourself from all 
 
 worldly pursuits/' then it is the duty of every man who 
 has assisted in calling these men, to aid in the support of 
 these men. If it is a duty to preach the gospel, it is a duty 
 to aid those who preach the gospel ; and if he is to be sup- 
 ported, he is to be supported by those calling him. If I 
 were to ask a man to become a laborer for me, and refuse 
 to pay him, what would you say of me ? I am not an 
 honest man. Then I say, upon the principles of common 
 honesty, the Church should give these men a sufficient 
 and adequate support. These men should never suffer for 
 the common wants and conveniences of life. If the min- 
 istry of the Church is to be able, if the ministry of the 
 Church is to be efficient, if the ministry of the Church is 
 to be successful, these men should give their entire ener- 
 gies to the great work before them. It is enough to fill 
 the heart of any man, and fill the brain of any man, to carry 
 on before the Church, and lead successfully, the great 
 institutions of men connected with the gospel of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 Perhaps we can apologize for the scanty support given 
 to our ministry in the past. Our Church has had a strain 
 from the earliest day of our birth to meet the demands 
 made upon her. We have had schools of learning to build, 
 and all the paraphernalia of the organization of the Chris- 
 tian Church to introduce and carry forward; but to-day, 
 standing as we do a hundred years from the birth of the 
 Church, taking a broad view of the resources of our 
 Church, we find that she is, in all respects, equal to every 
 emergency, financial as well as every other. Tell me that 
 the Methodist Church is stinted in any of her resources; 
 tell me that she has not the men and means to do anything 
 and everything that our great Father on high requires us 
 
110 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 to do ! Standing as Ave do at the end of the century, and 
 measuring our strength and surveying our fields, we 
 cannot be honest men, and successful as a Church, and 
 neglect the full and adequate support of the Christian min- 
 istry. I speak of what is necessary to carry forward in the 
 future the great enterprises pressing upon us, and in which 
 we expect that the ministers will take the lead. The day 
 is coming when the layman shall stand by the pastor, and 
 the pastor by the layman, in all the councils of the Church. 
 That day is coming speedily. It will come ! It will come 
 before you and I shall be called to go over the river, and 
 then, layman and pastor, preacher and people, standing in 
 the gap, pressing forward in all the great works of the 
 Christian ministry, the Christian religion, I ask you what 
 is going to impede the onward progress of such a Church 
 as we recognize to-day within the bounds of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church? [Applause.] 
 
 Mr. President, I rejoice in the future more than 
 I rejoice in the past. And when I survey the past, 
 when I look at the Church, what she is to-day, and 
 think what she was a hundred years ago, it is 
 marvelous, marvelous. Nothing but almighty power and 
 almighty grace could have accomplished what we see 
 to-day. But this is only the beginning. The Church is 
 simply throwing off her swaddling-bands, throwing off her 
 fetters. Let her go free in all her energies, [great ap- 
 plause] in all her resources ! When that day shall come, 
 we will take the world. We have the promise of Him who 
 cannot lie. We will take the world. [Continued applause 
 and " Amens."] 
 
 Bev. Mr. Quimby, of the N. H. Conference: — I was a 
 poor, ignorant child when the Church took me from the* 
 plough and put me into the ministry, thirty -five and a half 
 years since ; and, by the blessing of God, I have had health 
 to labor so that I have not lost five Sabbaths in all that 
 time. And my labors between the Sabbaths have not been 
 
DISCUSSION OF MR. BROWN'S ESSAY. Ill 
 
 as the brother represented. Monday lias been the hardest 
 day of the week, looking out for my finances, and the next 
 four days of the week have been taken up in the work of 
 the apostles, — visiting from house to house, talking and 
 praying with them. From fifteen to thirty families a day 
 I have called upon. Saturday I have devoted to my study. 
 I supposed, when I commenced, 1 should want, if I was a 
 Methodist traveling preacher ; but I have always had food 
 to eat and raiment to put on, have always had a family and 
 been in comfortable circumstances. True, my receipts 
 would not average $300 per year, but we have had enough 
 and to spare (" Amens " from many) ; and I render thanks 
 to God and the Church for what they have done for me. 
 
 Dr. N. G. Ladd, of the N. E. Conference : — I think, 
 brethren, that there were a few sentiments advanced by 
 one of the speakers that rather bore hard upon the lay- 
 men, carrying the idea that they were stingy. And I 
 want to tell you a little about these things. I have been 
 connected with the Methodist Church thirty-eight years, 
 and I have been acquainted with it fifty years, in three 
 different States. I have held a few little offices in the 
 Church, and it has been my duty to strive to raise sub- 
 scriptions for the support of the ministry ; and I will tell 
 you the greatest objection I meet in getting persons to 
 subscribe, — the want of ministerial attention. I appeal 
 to my brethren here, if this is not their experience. I 
 come to the people in what is called the u outside row," 
 and ask them to subscribe. " You have got your minister 
 in the village ; he never comes to me, and you must take 
 care of him." I appeal to my brethren, if this is not the 
 truth. And I think if the ministry would hoe the " outside 
 row " well, and attend to the poor, there would be no com- 
 plaint in this; matter. I am sorry to say it, that the poor, 
 in many instances, are neglected. There are a thousand 
 rich men who are noticed by the minister, but there are 
 many poor people who don't get a call from the minister 
 
112 METHODIST CENTENARY CONTENTION. 
 
 once in a year or in three years. Brethren in the min- 
 istry, when you come to the " outside row/' hoe the " out- 
 side row" well, and it will pay you well. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Hamilton, of the N. E. Conference, offered 
 a resolution touching the question of publishing Bro. 
 Brown's essay, which was referred to the Business Com- 
 mittee under the rules of the Convention. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Barrows, of the New Hampshire Conference, 
 now read the following essay on Ministerial Transfers : — 
 " Would a more extensive system of Ministerial Transfers 
 subserve the interests of the Church?" — 
 
 "When John Wesley said, "The world is my parish," he 
 spoke for more ministers, and uttered a broader truth prob- 
 ably, than he himself comprehended ; for these few words 
 embody the spirit, the true and noble spirit, of every one of 
 ten thousand itinerant ministers. Such a ministry is one 
 whose pastoral relations are changed at regular times, and by 
 regularly-constituted authorities, not recognizing either the 
 pastor or Church as contracting parties, their right having 
 been surrendered b} T mutual consent for the greater advantages 
 supposed to be gained thereby. The length of time for such 
 a pastoral service is a matter of conventional arrangement, 
 and has varied from six months to six years. The utility of 
 an itinerant ministry has its foundation in the philosophy of 
 the human mind. God has differently constituted human 
 minds, and he has called into his ministry a corresponding 
 variety of talent, — the powerful reasoner, the " son of conso- 
 lation," comforting the people of the Lord, the gentle and 
 tender teacher, and a Boanerges. One has a mission to break 
 up the fallow ground of sinful hearts ; another, to feed the 
 flock of Christ, skillful only in Christian nurture. This pleas- 
 ing ministerial variety in gift, however, is no greater than the 
 demands of the Church and diversities of tastes among the 
 people. Little argument is required to show that usefulness 
 in preaching the gospel to men is in exact proportion to the 
 adaptation of ministerial gifts to their precise demands among 
 the hearers. Non-adaptation results, first, in cold indifference, 
 
REV. DR. BARBOW'S ESSAY. 113 
 
 then revulsion. Small congregations, discouraged clergymen, 
 and general dilapidation and decay follow. But with happy 
 
 adaptations, the reverse of all this follows. The logical con- 
 clusion is, that when a pastor, for a suitahle length of time, 
 has use I his peculiar talent to the best advantage in a given 
 congregation, to the delight and profit of all such as are pleased 
 and profited by that sort of gilt, he should go to another peo- 
 ple and for two reasons: (1.) To give place, where he is, to 
 another and different gift to profit those of different capacity 
 and taste. ('2.) To find again, elsewhere, his own most ap- 
 propriate field ; possibly in that very congregation made vacant 
 by his successor. Thus, in turn, all are served. 
 
 Ten thousand ministers of Christ following each other, at 
 regular intervals, in this successive adaptation of gifts, with the 
 regularity of clock-work, other things being equal, one might 
 suppose would far exceed all settled pastorates in usefulness, 
 nor does history seem to contradict the supposition. This 
 glance at the nature and purposes of an itinerant ministry, as 
 well as its usefulness, has prepared our way to consider the 
 more specific subject of this essay ; namely, That when such 
 traveling ministers are organized into annual Conferences, a more 
 frequent transfer from Conference to Conference would augment 
 its usefulness. This question could be settled without much 
 circumlocution by asking another ; namely, Do those arbitrary 
 or imaginary lines, called " Conference boundaries," overthrow 
 this deep-laid philosophy or limit the truth of these fundamen- 
 tal principles? Does this kind of ministry work any better 
 one side of Conference lines than the other? Have the minis- 
 ters or the people an}' more rights or interests in it in one place 
 or locality than in another? Does God confine his approval of 
 it by geographical boundaries ? If not, our main question is 
 settled at once and forever. 
 
 But we are told that there are serious objections to frequent 
 transfers from one Conference to another. It is said to in- 
 volve heavy sacrifices to transferred men, — loss of home, 
 ministerial standing, and reputation. Let this be admitted; 
 but does that show it should not be practised? Then should 
 the itinerancy, as a whole, be abandoned ; for who does not 
 
114 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 knoio and feel this to be one of the universal consequences al- 
 ways attending it, — yes, an argument we use in its defence, 
 showing its unselfish character. It is this very going away 
 from one's home and friends, and among strangers, that gives 
 the increased power for doing good, as we have seen. One is 
 the exact complement of the other. 
 
 To accomplish great good, small sacrifices are always a si?ie 
 qua non. What involves no sacrifices never accomplishes any- 
 thing to save our race. A man who is not willing to suffer 
 reproach even, for being put into what are judged the most 
 useful fields for him, has not the spirit of his Master, nor of a 
 true itinerant. If he loses in reputation, he does not in char- 
 acter. 
 
 It is said the Conferences are not pleased to receive trans- 
 fers. Why not ? Who is injured ? Whose rights have been 
 taken away ? As stationed preachers, we have no rights in any 
 Church except during our pastoral term ; nor at its close have 
 we any rights in any one Church more than another, nor have 
 the people any exclusive rights in us. Why, then, should any 
 one set bounds and bars to the itinerancy, opposing transfers 
 when they are only carrying out the fundamental principle 
 which underlies it, — the best possible distribution of all our 
 available talent to its demands, and on the largest possible 
 scale. Do these opposing parties propose to keep out of their 
 Conferences and neighborhoods any pulpit supply judged to be 
 needed? This would exhibit a line of selfishness, no more 
 compatible with the Christian ministry than with the Christian 
 character. Can ministers so far forget trfeir calling as to at- 
 tempt to impose their unsought and undesired services to the 
 exclusion of men judged better suited to the people by all 
 parties but themselves? This is the spirit of the world, not of 
 Christ ; and, if fully carried out, would overthrow, ultimately* 
 the itinerancy, and enthrone the spirit of every man and every 
 Church for themselves, regardless of others' necessities. Let 
 it not be so much as once named among us. It is also asserted 
 that transferred men have no right to take the best appoint- 
 ments, built up by other ministers. Local churches do not be- 
 long to itinerant ministers, neither have they any vested rights 
 
REV. DR. BARROW'S ESSAY. 115 
 
 in them. If they have become strong and desirable, they have 
 grown to this under the labors of exchanging ministry, — pretty 
 good evidence they ma}' live and thrive by the same means. 
 Besides, God has had something to do with their upbuilding, 
 and they belong to him ! Were these transferred men imposing 
 themselves upon these churches, unsought by the people, and 
 unsolicited b}- the appointing power, this objection would be 
 forcible, showing the aspirant selfish, obtruding, and im- 
 modest. 
 
 It is further objected that these transfers are the result of 
 M negotiation and bargain in advance." This objection, like the 
 metallic image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, — part iron and part 
 cla}-, — is, no doubt, partly true and partly false. It is well 
 known that such transfers are supposed to require the consent 
 and desire of three parties ; namely, the minister, the Church, 
 and the Episcopacy. Either party declining, it fails. Now, 
 while we admit that a minister and society sometimes do enter 
 into prospective arrangements prematurely, and too decidedly, 
 in not submitting it wholly to the judgment of the stationing 
 authority, yet we insist it is no infraction of Methodism or 
 Christian propriety for churches to request, and ministers to 
 assent, on the above-named condition, to such arrangements in 
 advance of the Conference when all parties agree to abide the 
 official decision. No matter how legitimately and orderly 
 these transfers are made, in nineteen cases out of twenty the 
 cry is raised by certain parties on all occasions, " Negotia- 
 tions " — " Stationing themselves " — " Getting appointments 
 in advance." Much groundless suspicion and unkind talk at- 
 tend these transfers, greatly impeding them. It should be, 
 with all the lovers of Zion, occasion of joy and congratulation 
 that suitable men can be found anywhere whose labors are ap- 
 preciated and sought for ; and let us consent to live in hope it 
 may be so with us. If by death, sickness, location, or removal, 
 our ministry in any locality becomes depleted, so that the 
 churches sutler, cannot that deficiency be supplied from abroad 
 by the proper authorities, — the " universal pastors " set for that 
 very purpose, lifted above local attachments and neighborhood 
 prejudices, without all this ignoble suspicion? 
 
116 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 But we think we have a right to make this one demand of 
 the stationing authorities : namely, that all the transfers shall 
 not be in the direction of large appointments and large salaries, 
 but, when necessity requires, reverse the process. And if the 
 incumbents refuse to go, let them have the credit of following 
 for the loaves and fishes. Those pastors who have been for a 
 time among the large and lucrative stations can well afford, 
 for a season, to take their turn among the country appoint- 
 ments, which they also greatly need to recuperate their over- 
 taxed brains and nervous energies, — one of the happy features 
 of the S3 T stem. 
 
 But before a free and successful system of transfers can be 
 inaugurated, several modifications are needed. 'Aspiring men 
 must cease to push their own wa} T upward faster than the peo- 
 ple desire it, especially where the}^ are but imperfectly known. 
 And the people must cease to select their pastors in advance 
 and independently of the stationing authority, especially such 
 pastors as are not well known among them, otherwise they will 
 continue to embarrass themselves and injure their pastors, as 
 they often do now. When such transfers are made, and in a 
 proper way, the transferred men must not be ostracised by a 
 jealous Conference nor ignored by the Episcopac}', whose 
 wishes they have obeyed ; for these men, properly transferred, 
 are entitled to all and more than ordinary respect, if the}- have 
 yielded to the wishes of others at their own expense. Ex- 
 changing old friends and well-earned reputations and warm 
 sympathies for jealous looks, cold shoulders, and curt remarks, 
 all for the good of the cause even, is not the most agreeable. 
 
 Such being some of the seemingly necessaiy embarrassments 
 attending this feature of our econom}^ it should be abandoned, 
 unless it shows some marked advantages. 
 
 We come now to consider briefly the valuable results coming 
 of a free exchange of ministers from Conference to Conference. 
 In addition to those peculiar to the itinerancy as a whole, it is 
 a great source of social and moral improvement to the minis- 
 ters themselves. It gives them -broader views of society ; the 
 manners and habits of people generally revealing to them, per- 
 haps, their own previous contracted views and prejudiced feel- 
 
REV. DR. BARROW'S ESSAY. 117 
 
 ings. Long and exclusive confinement to one locality, and one 
 class of usages, habits;, and manners, is unfriendly to progress, 
 either mental, social, or moral. We arc slow to believe that 
 any improvement can be engrafted on us or our usages until 
 they are thrust upon us, or we are thrust Into their midst. 
 The well-read or thoroughly-travelled man is the only proves 
 sive man ; and if some fogyism does not pertain to all others, 
 they are quite fortunate. Conferences, like neighborhoods and 
 families, are inclined to fall into staid usages and routine 
 methods, which need to be broken in upon. It would add im- 
 mensely, not only to the accomplishment, but also to the use- 
 fulness, of a thousand Eastern ministers to live and labor two 
 years in the Western or Middle Conferences ; and not less so of 
 the Western or Middle Conference ministers to spend as long a 
 time in the East. These Eastern men, inferior to none in intel- 
 ligence and strength, would be greatly benefited by imbibing 
 something of the energy, vivacity, and enterprise of the West- 
 ern men. The Western men, inferior to none in the last-named 
 particulars, would be much improved by close contact for a 
 while with the thorough drill, systematic and persistent plod- 
 ding of the East. What is true respecting these reciprocal 
 advantages among the clergymen, would be just as true, and far 
 more extensively so, among the churches and congregations 
 East and West. How vastly their power would be increased, 
 could the}- impart to each other some of their own strongly- 
 marked peculiarities ! Many churches in the East are reposing 
 on a dead orthodox}', staid and regular, but non-progressive, 
 simply for lack of Western tire, energy, and enterprise. How 
 man}- western churches, embodying much numerical and pe- 
 cuniary strength, fail to make the most of their facilities 
 through lack of systematic, intelligent organizing, and execu- 
 tive ability, so essential to enlightened and growing piety in 
 the Church ! Great good has already come to our Church 
 through our limited transfers, which should lead us to a more 
 regular and systematic use of this means. 
 
 Other advantages quite as personal, but no less obvious, of 
 great moment, must be noticed. Under the exhaustive labors 
 and studies incident to an itinerant ministry, we Und the 
 
118 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 wear and tear on our ministry most fearful ! No clergymen are 
 so early worn out or dead as ours, especially since the general 
 abandonment of the circuit. Every year's experiment in 
 hygiene and medical practice is deepening the conviction that 
 frequent and decided changes of climate, especially with men 
 of study, business, or sedentary habits, is absolutely essential 
 for health and long life. Under this growing conviction, mil- 
 lions of dollars are spent every 3-ear by our own countrymen ! 
 What a glorious compensating providence we have in our own 
 itinerancy, with the great variety of our climate, combining 
 nearly every climate on the globe ! With us little is needed to 
 avail ourselves of what costs others millions, but a more ex- 
 tensive and systematic tfansfer, without the loss of one addi- 
 tional day's time or dollar of money, — carrying on, right on, all 
 the time our great work of usefulness ! Then we can fly to the 
 mountains, to the sea-coast, to the balmy South, or the open and 
 boundless West. A hundred clergymen to-day, along the sea- 
 coast and in the New England States, are either laid aside, suffer- 
 ing or threatened with lung or bronchial diseases, who might be, 
 or might have been, relieved and had years of usefulness added 
 to their lives by timely removals West and South, to climates 
 better adapted to their constitutions. Hundreds of our minis- 
 ters in the South and West, debilitated and enervated by long 
 residence in climates not adapted to them, might have years of 
 useful and happy lives added to them by the bracing atmos- 
 phere of our vigorous climate. All this desirable change, back 
 and forth, so far from operating at all against our regular 
 work as ministers, as we have shown, furnishes exactly the 
 needed gifts, both East and West, for the greatest possible 
 good. Verily, our itinerancy brings not toils and sacrifices 
 only, but some personal reliefs Not a few valuable lives have 
 already been saved among us by this happy process. Many, 
 however, are being lost to the Church every year for want of it. 
 More frequent and extensive transfers would give more gen- 
 erally our churches fresh ministerial and pastoral gifts, and the 
 ministers fresh fields, and then greatly prolong their terms of 
 acceptable and useful labor. In and around every considerable 
 city there is a class of men who, for fifteen or twenty years, 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. BARROW'S ESSAY. 110 
 
 have circulated only in that small compass, amounting almost 
 to settled pastorates, till both the ministers and people are now 
 each really needing, if not desiring, fresh supplies. If ten or 
 twenty men of this class should be found in the vicinity of 
 Boston, and as many more in New York, what a boon it would 
 be to them and the people, too, to transfer them into each 
 other's places ! In these new fields their labors, being fresh 
 and new to the people, would be just about so much added to 
 their effective ministry. Why is it not done ? Because of the 
 obstacles we have noticed being in the way ! Can we afford 
 to sustain such a loss to the Church and ministry as this every 
 year, with not one single valid reason or necessity for it, and a 
 score of reasons against it ? Our itinerancy is wrong from be- 
 ginning to end, or these restrictions on transfers are wrong, 
 for they confront each other at every step of our progress. 
 
 Rev. A. F. Bailey, of the N. E. Conference : — Confer- 
 ences are opposed to transfers, as it is said. Well, why ? 
 Because transfers are apt to hit Conferences on a sore 
 spot. There are sore spots in our Conferences, arising 
 out of the appointment of ministers, and those who have 
 been occupying stations in the rural districts know some- 
 thing about it that those working in cities don't. Now, 
 sir, we are perfectly willing to be Methodistic, but we 
 don't like this idea of foisting in upon us the idea of Con- 
 gregationalism. And when we see this system almost 
 adopted on the part of certain privileged ones, — priv- 
 ileged churches, privileged ministers, — by which the 
 whole thing pertaining to the itinerancy is laid aside, and 
 by which all the dough-cakes and cookies are given to the 
 few, — to those who happen to live in the cities, and have 
 large charges and plethoric pockets, — when the country 
 feels, as it does feel, that they would like to have some of 
 these good pickings, and they see that they are, from year 
 to year, just left out in the cold, and they must take this, 
 that, and the other brother, — must take him, or have 
 nobody, a sort of Hobson's choice, — why, it is natural 
 
120 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 enough, sir, when you come to the matter of special trans- 
 fers, and here is coming a popular man to the Tremont 
 Streets, and Bromfields, and Calvarys, and St. Pauls, and 
 the like, and when they, there in the " outside row," see 
 these kinds of processes going on from year to year, and 
 touching the sore spots all the time, I tell you, Mr. Presi- 
 dent, that it is natural enough for Conferences to feel a 
 little opposed to transfers after that sort. We have no 
 objection to transfers in general, provided you will give a 
 good man a position such as Sudbury, for instance, — a 
 good sort of place in the Conference, according to its size. 
 We feel that it is a little awkward, according to the old- 
 fashioned idea of the old concern. It puts me in mind of 
 the definition of a religious system by the negro preacher. 
 He said our Christian system is like a wheel; Jesus Christ 
 is the hub, Christians are the spokes, and the grace of God 
 is the rim that binds us all together. Now, it is a very 
 peculiar fact, as the negro said, that the nearer the 
 preacher gets to the hub, the better preacher he is ; and 
 we are apt to feel that the nearer we get to these " hubs," 
 the better preachers we are. We can gravitate that way 
 towards the " hub." [Laughter and applause.] But con- 
 cerning transfers and appointments, it is a matter of Dis- 
 cipline to me, and it is to others. I don't believe that my 
 Presiding Elders would say that I have quarreled about my 
 stations. It is natural enough that some of us, in such 
 Conferences as the New England Conference, should occa- 
 sionally think that some of us are just as competent to fill 
 some of your stations as well as some others. Perhaps 
 nature ought to be crucified ; and, as things are working 
 now, nature is crucified. It may work up a riper man, 
 and make him a better Christian, but, after all, we don't 
 like to be in the mortification ranks all the time. 
 
 Now, if we are going to have a system of transfers, let 
 us have it ; and when my station up in Palmer wants some 
 star from Trinity Church, New York, that they have heard 
 
DISCUSSION OF DB. BABBOWS' ESSAY. 121 
 
 of, then let thcin have him ; and if ho have the broad spirit 
 of Christ he will come. 1 don't know about these men 
 that go from Dan to Beersheba, — that go about looking 
 for the " golden fleece ; " the Lord will look out for them, 
 these men, by and by. Nor do I know about the good 
 man that so amusingly hugs the "hub," and has a pecu- 
 liar gravitation towards the "centre of things," so that if 
 the good Bishop should take him up and put him out in 
 the country, he would say, "I shan't have to stay only one 
 year." He will take a " supernumerary relation," and 
 perhaps he will turn up in some other "hub." [Great 
 merriment.] Queer things have happened, sir, and queer 
 things may happen again. And it is so when some 
 preachers get broken down and lose their health ; they 
 recover wonderfully when they get into certain places and 
 certain pulpits. Now, it is said that " Bailey, on the floor 
 of the New England Conference, for some fifteen minutes 
 found fault with his appointments." 'Twan't so ; I was 
 only finding fault for other people ; and if I was nettled 
 in the Conference, then, perhaps, some of us need to be 
 nettled. 1 believe in the general idea of the essay ; I 
 think we need a general system of transfers ; but let us 
 have fair play. [Applause.] 
 
 We need ministers ; and where do you get most of your 
 ministers from? Out of the "hub?" No, sir ; you get 
 them from the rural districts ; and why should we not send 
 there some of our best preachers ? I have known of men 
 who have been in the "hub" here, and have been turn- 
 ing over and over in a very short circumference, that 
 should be out at the end of the spokes. 
 
 Why, in the course we are pursuing, Mr. President, I 
 don't wonder that w r e are beginning, in the rural districts, 
 to feel that there is a good deal of humbug, after all, in 
 this talk about the "glorious itinerancy." Now, let us 
 break this thing all up. And if the good Bishop will put 
 us into a bag and shake us all up (and I will not object to 
 
 9 
 
122 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 a good shaking, but we do want fair play), and open the 
 bag and let us all out, I shall not care where I fall. Xow, 
 I believe that a great part of the difficulty of ministerial 
 support lies in the ministry. Who has builded up the 
 Church, made the General and Annual Conferences, but 
 the ministers? Brethren of the ministry, let us be fair 
 with one another ; let us be willing to take our chances, 
 and work where we ought ; and break up all this caste 
 among us, and have more social, Christian equality, and 
 where God in his providence would appoint us, there let 
 us be ready and willing to go. 
 
 Bev.J. W. Willet, of the Providence Conference: — There 
 is a thought in my mind that has sought expression in con- 
 nection with almost every topic introduced here yesterday 
 or to-day, and it seems to me that this is the most appro- 
 priate place to present it. And that thought is, that the 
 ultimate end of our doings in this world should be the 
 glory of our God ; and our lives here are to be spent in 
 devotion to the interests of our fellow-men. It is our 
 business, every one of us, to live more for others than for 
 ourselves, and only to seek our own advantage as, in so 
 doing, we may get greater blessings to those with whom 
 we come in contact. If we will take this broad, general 
 principle, we shall find a cure for many of our troubles, 
 and we shall find the spirit of the essay supported by the 
 faithful application of this principle. I think our troubles 
 come from the want of the benevolent spirit. We are 
 getting for too selfish. And we are getting to be selfish 
 to an extent in which we are liable to be deceived ; even 
 to think that our hearts, desires, and interests are for the 
 interests of others ; but if we dig down to the foundations, 
 we shall find that selfishness is at the bottom. I think our 
 Methodist economy is a capital one for every man and 
 every woman in the world who loves God with all the 
 heart, and their neighbor as themselves. But just as soon 
 as you abate anything from this, you will find that its 
 
DISCUSSION OF DR. BABBOW8 ESSAY. 123 
 
 nature is not adapted to the individuals. The Methodist 
 economy was wrought out at a white heat ; and when 
 men lose their piety, their love for God and Bonis, and 
 their spirit of self-sacrifice, the machinery, the economy of 
 Methodism is burdensome; but, when filled with that 
 spirit, the yoke is easy and the burden light. Now we 
 look at circumstances. Here is a complaint about a few 
 being in the larger churches, — the great men being in those 
 places. What is the cure for this ? The man who is in 
 one of the churches here should remember that human 
 power is doing God's work everywhere, and feel that the 
 interests of the Church to which he belongs is just as 
 much promoted in the station yonder as here ; and if our 
 devotion be to God and souls, as it should be, we should 
 see to it that we do not get the idea that " I must get my 
 man, and have him in my place, no matter what comes." 
 I think I may safely challenge any man to instance a case 
 of friction in the Methodist economy in which you will not 
 find selfishness at the bottom. Let there be the spirit of 
 sacrificing, and then there will be no danger. Let the 
 brethren feel perfectly willing that every man be disposed 
 of by the appointing power, as they all shall deem best for 
 the interests of the Church. 
 
 Do we not need more of the spirit of Christ in our souls, 
 and more devotion to the welfare of humanity? It seems 
 to me that we find all our troubles coming out of this 
 want. Wo have just this one trouble : we want more con- 
 secration to God and his service ; and we have not conse- 
 crated ourselves to God's service just when we contribute 
 our influence in the limited circle where we live. And I 
 would ask that we ponder upon this one thing. As one 
 evil after another has been presented, as one change after 
 another suggested, I have been thinking of these things. 
 What is the matter with our economy ? We as Methodists 
 have the grandest machinery under the heavens ; and it 
 will be long before anything shall be found to compare 
 
124 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 with it. Let us, then, in order to right these things, come 
 together with all our hearts ; let us come to God and pray ; 
 and, oh ! for the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire to 
 come clown from heaven, and burn up all our selfishness, 
 our prejudices, and extend our holy religion ! 
 
 The further consideration of the subject was postponed, 
 by vote, till to-morrow morning, and the Convention ad- 
 journed by singing the doxology and the pronouncing of 
 the benediction by Rev. Dr. Porter, of New York. 
 
 EVENING. 
 
 The Convention was called to order by the President, 
 at 7£ o'clock. The hymn, commencing 
 
 " I love thy kingdom, Lord," 
 
 was sung, and prayer offered by Rev. A. F. Baile} T , of the 
 New England Conference. 
 
 Rev. J. H. Tiuombly, of the New England Conference, 
 then read an essay on the following topic : How can the 
 social power of the Church be more fully developed, and, 
 by organization or otherwise, so directed as better to sub- 
 serve the interests of our cause ? 
 
 It will doubtless be received as an axiom, that, in working 
 out the salvation of the world, the ultimate reliance of the 
 Church must be upon the power of God. All power is indeed 
 of him ; but the manifestation and efficiency of that power, in 
 promoting the welfare of man, depend very largely upon the 
 intervention of second causes. 
 
 His power develops the bud into a rose, clothes the field 
 with verdure and fruits, drives the varied combinations of 
 mechanism, fans the white wings of commerce, and sends the 
 lightning on errands across the continent ; but the skill of man 
 directs and measures the exercise of that power. So it is the 
 
REV. MR. TWOMBLY'S ESSAY. 125 
 
 power of God which brings the soul up from the depths of 
 moral degradation, and plants within it the germs of eternal 
 life ; nevertheless the effectiveness of that power is largely 
 controlled by human effort. 
 
 When we consider the matchless scheme of redemption, re- 
 plete with helps for fallen man, the inquiry springs up, Why 
 has not the Church ere this planted her standard on every 
 mountain-top, and sung her paeans in every hamlet, and along 
 the streets of every populous town in the world ? It is not 
 because of any lack in the provisions of mercy, nor merely be- 
 cause the natural heart is rebellious ; the grand reason is found 
 in the failure of the Church to meet those conditions necessary to 
 make the power of God a controlliiKj force over the hearts and lives 
 of men. 
 
 We must, therefore, seek to learn what facilitates or impedes 
 the spread of religion. What secondary cause now retards its 
 progress, or what one can be employed to send the gospel of 
 Christ, like the light of da}-, flashing around the world? As 
 the husbandman breaks up and mellows the soil, and thus 
 makes it possible for God to beautify the earth with flowers and 
 fruits, so Christian laborers must prepare the hearts of men, 
 that he may reveal his loveliness and glory in human society. 
 
 Among the many means for the accomplishment of this e?id, a 
 rightly-developed social life is second only to vital personal piety. 
 It is a well-known fact that the social instincts are among the 
 strongest and most controlling of the heart. They lead to the 
 formation of families ; families grow into tribes, and tribes 
 into nations. Every true soul yearns for genial companion- 
 ship, and only perverted natures seek the cell of the hermit. 
 In a community of general intelligence and commercial ac- 
 tivity, social position is one of the highest objects of pursuit. 
 For its attainment, men sacrifice time, toil, treasure, and, fre- 
 quently, conscience. What will people think of me? How 
 common these words, and how might}', daily shaping the des- 
 tinies of immortal beings ! The social principle fashions the 
 wardrobe, regulates the toilet, prescribes the household 
 furniture, and in most cases elects the church for the family to 
 attend, and the pew for them to occupy. When young men 
 
126 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 move to a new town or city, they do not stop to review the 
 Wesle} T an Catechism nor the Sa} T brook Platform in order to 
 decide what church they shall attend. Their position is fixed 
 rather by their tastes than b} T their theology. They often 
 pass by the church of their fathers to one where their tastes 
 are more fully gratified. This fact is patent to every man of 
 ordinary observation. 
 
 The growing harmony of evangelical denominations has 
 thrown theological platforms quite into the background. Once 
 men flocked around the Methodist banner out of spite to the 
 Calvinists, others because the}' delighted in a free — that is, 
 financially-cheap — gospel, others because they desired a more 
 active religion than was preached b}' the old divines. But the 
 world has moved. The watchmen are beginning to see eye to 
 e}*e, evangelical pulpits utter very largely the same doctrines, 
 the cost of public worship is everywhere essentially the 
 same, and in some church any man may find Christ to the joy 
 and fullness of his heart, if he will. 
 
 In fact the public is well nigh disgusted with pulpit po- 
 lemics. The general inquiry is, What church shows the most 
 personal attention to its members, and the most brotherly 
 Christianity? Where can I find the church that will best suit 
 my tastes, and give me the highest social position? These 
 silent questions being positively answered, thitherward the in" 
 quirer wends his way. 
 
 Shall the Church, as a consequence of this tendency, lightly 
 regard the doctrines of the Bible, or hold her creed with a 
 nerveless grasp? By no means. But while she watches the 
 truth with vestal fidelit}^ let her be careful, lest, through the 
 lack of attention to the amenities of life, she paratyze the 
 power of the truth she holds. 
 
 Every church has a character, and, therefore, a social power, 
 and that power is perpetually active, building and beautifying 
 the living temple, or distorting its sj'mmetry, and marring its 
 ornamentation. 
 
 However numerous and diversified the families composing a 
 church, it has, as a result of leading individual forces within 
 its pale, a life of its own ; and this life, by the laws of nature, 
 
BEV. MR. TWOMBLY'S ESSAY. 127 
 
 is a potent, moulding force. If its tendency is chastening, 
 elevating, the members art' elevated, refined, perfected in charac- 
 ter; if it is uncultivated, low, the people are debased. We 
 may as well attempt to reverse the laws of heat and cold as to 
 escape these results. The youth, likewise, of every church re- 
 ceive its peculiar moulding. Though unaware of the forces 
 giving them shape, they are gradually transformed from grace 
 to grace, and from grace to glory ; or they are led down 
 through successive perversions of taste, affection, and faith, till 
 the t y doubt the reality of personal piety, and drop into the 
 swelling ranks of the neglecters of God and religion. This 
 result is inevitable. 
 
 The social life of every church is diffusive, ever permeating 
 the congregation and the community in which it is located. 
 ►Whatever its character it sends out an influence like itself, and 
 all who come within the radius of its power are transformed 
 into its own likeness. If that life be right, the community is 
 interested aiij.1 brought under the influence of the truth, and 
 thus the social life of the church becomes an efficient auxiliary 
 to the word and the spirit of God. 
 
 "We could point to churches of different evangelical denom- 
 inations which, though laboring among and for the poor and 
 the ignoble, constantly recruit from the ranks of the intelligent 
 and socially influential ; and it would be more than possible to 
 find some whose doors the more respectable classes of people 
 rarely enter; and what is the cause? We find it not in the 
 heretical doctrines and waning piety of those churches, nor in 
 the excessive fervor of their piety. The reason lies in the low 
 cast of their social life. If at any time they are favored with 
 a revival, the intelligent among the converts are likely to seek 
 a religious home that is more socially congenial. 
 
 The importance of this subject is made doubly interesting to 
 us by a consideration which demands our special thought. 
 Though in this country Methodism was first promulgated 
 among the common people, many of whom lightly esteemed 
 human refinements, our fathers and elder brethren had such an 
 appreciation of high intelligence, that the} r have bestudded the 
 continent with institutions of learning ; and there is not, at 
 
128 METHODIST CENTENAEY CONTENTION. 
 
 this time, a people in Christendom that is doing so much, in 
 its denominational capacity, for the spread of learning, and es- 
 pecially to promote the fine arts, as the Methodist Church. 
 Our schools, academies, and colleges, dotting the republic from 
 the distant East to the " golden gates of the West," are an- 
 nually sending forth, among the millions of our Israel, youth 
 of sound learning and refined culture, and though they are 
 mam', they are few, compared with the mass of our people, yet 
 enough to characterize the whole body, and, coming as they do 
 from scenes of refinement, and from the pursuits of taste, there, 
 is positive need of attention to social life in the churches, that 
 the}' may find strong attractions in the home of their fathers. 
 Is it said, if the}- do not wish to remain, let them go? I say, 
 never! The educated son- or daughter of a Methodist parent 
 may be worth to the world half a score of debased and ignorant 
 heathen ; } T et, to save the latter, we compass the globe, and 
 spend a quarter of a million of money. Let us save what ice 
 have, and bring to our sacred standard as man v more as God 
 shall give us power to reach. 
 
 There is one fact of broad and vital interest, a fact which 
 gives anxiet}- to all denominations in the country, — certainly 
 to all of an evangelical character. I refer to the loss of youth 
 who are so frequently passing away from the direct influences 
 of religion to join the growing column of non-church-goers, 
 which fills the background in the dark picture of American so- 
 ciety. We rejoice, as well we might, when one lost sheep is 
 brought into the fold, but think too little of the twain which 
 pass out on the other side. Count up the children of any 
 evangelical church, and you will find that a large proportion of 
 them have deserted the paths of piety, and severed their visi- 
 ble connection with religion. 
 
 I have studied this matter for a long time, and somewhat 
 closely, and I think I find the main cause of this defection in 
 the want of attractive social life in the Church. 
 
 While, as we have already intimated, the Church must place 
 her ultimate reliance, for the conversion of men, upon the 
 power of God, while it is of the utmost importance that holy 
 fire bums upon her altars, and the people possess a deep con- 
 
BBV, MR. TWOMBLY'S ESSAY. 120 
 
 BCiOUSDess of the divine presence, we are compelled to admit 
 that her social status regulates, to a great extent, the practical 
 efficiency both of the truth and of the spirit of the Lord. 
 
 How, then, shall we develop and direct the social power of 
 the Church so as better to promote the interests of religion? 
 
 In the first place, let this subject be properly treated in the 
 pulpit. Why should not a theme of such moment be allowed a 
 place in a sermon? The end of preaching is the salvation of 
 men, and whatever directly bears on that end demands the con- 
 sideration of the preacher. Casting his- eye over his customary 
 field of observation, he will find enough salient points, in the 
 life he daily meets, to illustrate the principles he would incul- 
 cate ; and should principles be forgotten, the home-like charac- 
 ter of the illustrations will give them a lodgment in the most 
 treacherous memories. 
 
 The literature current in a church is another means of devel- 
 oping its social life. , Much of the popular reading of the times 
 poisons the fountain of affection, and generates sordid selfish- 
 ness and misanthropy. But there is a literature which purifies 
 the heart, fills its fountains with generous s}mipathy, and re- 
 fines conversation, by presenting elevated topics of thought 
 and chaste figures of speech, and thus gives grace and elegance 
 to social life. This can be found abundantly in the produc- 
 tions of our own press ; yet, as the world is our parish, the 
 chaste literature of the world is ours, and we should select 
 from all sources that which is most replete with knowledge, 
 purity, and the inspiration of thought. Books once read never 
 leave us. We may burn the paper, but their thoughts enter 
 into our very life, clothing it with beauty or ugliness, and live 
 on with us through the ages. 
 
 From the days that Jubal played his simple harp to the time 
 when your delighted ears caught the full diapason from the 
 grand organ, — now the pride of New England, — music was 
 the charm of social life, and an inspiration to public worship. 
 Melody, flowing from the lips of Orpheus, moved stones and 
 trees ;• and the tide of harmony flowing from the devout assem- 
 bly, now moving softly onward, now rising into rapture or 
 swelling into bold anthem-strains, has electrified the wor- 
 shipping throng, and melted hearts of adamant.. 
 
130 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 The comparative merits of choir and congregational singing 
 it is not our province to discuss. Opera music is often a bur" 
 lesque on religious worship, and singing b} T the people no less 
 often an imposition upon the musical sense of mankind. In 
 one church, a quartette trills out the people's devotion ; in 
 another, an organist is hung up at one end, and a chorister 
 posted at the other, and between them half a hundred of un- 
 tutored singers run riot through the realm of music ; in a third, 
 covetousness rules the hour, and, in the absence of an organ 
 or trained leader, every man sings in time and tune to suit, 
 himself, and the harmoiry fairly rivals the opening performance 
 of a hail storm. 
 
 Is it not a wonder the millennium does not come, and that 
 gentlemen of refinement do not sit entranced in the sanctuary ? 
 What the churches need is genuine music, performed b} r all 
 who are competent to perform it well, whether few or many. 
 It is impossible to blink out of sight the fact, that music has 
 much to do with the social and religious life of a church, and 
 with its influence in society. The attendance or non- 
 attendance of people upon public worship is often settled by 
 the character of the music. If this is attractive, men of 
 culture are won to the house of the Lord ; if not, they are 
 repelled from its presence. 
 
 The church that, in this age, will foster friendship and 
 sociabilit3 T , and command public consideration, must sedulously 
 cultivate the muses, and transmute much of its wealth into 
 song. 
 
 Another force stronglv appealing to the oesthetical and 
 moral nature of man is architecture. He who kindled the 
 lights which gem the mighty heavens, who flung specimens of 
 his handiwork through the vaulted sky, that the} r might be- 
 come the study of his creatures, has given to man a capacity 
 to rise, by means of things visible and material, to things in- 
 visible and spiritual. Consistently with this relation of the 
 material to the resthetical and spiritual, the tabernacle and 
 ritual of God's chosen people were adapted to address the 
 senses, to fix the eye and awaken the soul. The white-robed 
 priests attending their richly-decorated chief, the living sacri- 
 
REV. 
 
 131 
 
 fices consecrated to holy purposes, the flaming altars, the 
 smoke of the incense wafted heaven-ward, the tabernacle walls 
 plated with gold and radiant with light, told them of purity, 
 and lifted their thoughts to the beautiful and the holy. 
 
 The Romanists, who have studied and fought for ages to 
 control the Christian world, know well the power of architec- 
 ture, not only, nor mainly, to elevate the spiritual conceptions 
 of the people, hut to unite them in social sympathy and wed 
 them to the creed of " the Church;" and their costly cathe- 
 drals, adorning the cities of two hemispheres, including the 
 Athens of America, and yonder sacred heights, where Liberty 
 throttled the British Lion, proclaim their purpose to rule the 
 popular heart. And when their idiom and manners shall have 
 become thoroughly Americanized, they will wield a power in 
 this Republic that may shake its very foundations. 
 
 Ornate and attractive houses of worship refine and inspirit a 
 people, and give them an influence in the community, enabling 
 them more effectually to mould the masses and lead them to 
 Christ. Rarely has one of our own societies passed from an 
 unattractive, ill-furnished house of worship to one whose style 
 met the demands of cultivated taste, without drawing to its 
 pale families of intelligence and high worth, which before were 
 not within its reach. Latterly many of our churches have been 
 adorned with the graces of architecture, and we can now point 
 to splendid monuments of the taste and liberality of our people. 
 But the work of reform is far from being completed. Our 
 social power is relatively declining, and our religious interests 
 are suffering in not a few places, because the claims of popular 
 taste are ignored in the erection and furnishing of churches. 
 
 History demonstrates the influence of architecture over the 
 hearts and faith of men. The splendid temples of Greece long 
 vitalized the mythology of her people ; and, for ages, the gor- 
 geous pagodas of India have given Strength to debasing super- 
 stitions. While, then, in the idolatrous Orient, architecture is 
 binding the people with wreaths of beaut}', to the errors of 
 Boodh, or the crescent of Islam ; it may be employed, in Chris- 
 tian America, to bind them, by the same force, to the truths of 
 the Bible and the cross of Jesus. To neolect this element of 
 
132 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 religious and social power, is palpable recreancy to the behests 
 of duty. 
 
 One of the most direct and positive means of reaching the 
 end which we seek is social visitation. The meeting of fami- 
 lies from house to house, to interchange friendly greetings, and 
 pass an hour together in cheerful conversation and singing fche 
 songs of Zion, cannot fail of the happiest results. Such visits, 
 if conducted on the basis of equalit} r , knit the hearts of the 
 people to each other, and to the Church ; but if the entertain- 
 ment is given in the patronizing and condescending style 
 which sometimes marks the intercourse of the wealthy with 
 humbler members of the parish, they produce estrangement 
 and animosity rather than brotherly love. Forgetting, at least 
 for the time, the inequalities in their social position, let the 
 wealthier members of every church open their doors, spread 
 their tables, and invite the members of the church and congre- 
 gation, — the poor with the affluent, — to partake of their hos- 
 pitality, and pass an evening in their pleasant homes. Let 
 there be no gross amusements, no frivolous sports, but genial, 
 Christian life, conversation, song, and prayer. In many a 
 church the social life is contracted to the narrow circle of 
 gentlemen and ladies who assume to manage its affairs. 
 
 Of the various organizations and festive scenes common 
 among us we need say but a word : preserve them from the 
 taint of popular amusements, and especially dancing and gam- 
 bling ; infuse into them a wholesome moral influence, and then 
 let them flourish. Their benefit is apparent from a single con- 
 sideration ; viz. : the strength of a church depends mainly 
 upon the interest cherished for it by the individual members. 
 No society is weak in which every hand labors, and every 
 heart believes and loves ; and that church which is largest and 
 wealthiest, and yet fails to enlist the personal activities of its 
 members, has in it the elements of decay. By a law of the 
 human soul, eveiy person loves that for which he labors ; and, 
 as the various festive scenes, which recur with the changing 
 seasons, give to each individual something to do for the church, 
 I commend them, even in the absence of financial necessities. 
 It is our misfortune that we do not find employ for but few of 
 
REV, MB. TWOMBLT'S ESSAY, 133 
 
 our members. In the early history of our Church, there was a 
 pressing demand for laborers, and men were not unfrequently 4 
 called to the duties of steward, class-leader, or extorter, while 
 
 in a state of probation. It is not so now. In many of our 
 societies, the older brethren hold the posts of honor, and young 
 men of thirty or thirty-live, though having many years of 
 religious experience, are not supposed to be Sufficiently mature 
 to be vested with official authority. I would not ignore the 
 fathers ; I venerate the tried and faithful men, who cherished 
 and guided the destinies of our cause in its infancy and weak- 
 ness, — may heaven's blessings crown their declining years, 
 and the grateful hands of the rising generation wreath their 
 brows with laurel ; but let those fathers, and the strong men, 
 who exercise a controlling influence, widen the sphere of effort, 
 multiply useful labors, and stimulate the younger brethren to 
 engage in the activities of the Church. This will be found one 
 effective means of retaining and blessing the rising generation. 
 Organizations of the youth are beginning to take their place 
 among us, and among other denominations, which deserve 
 specification. I refer to the literary organizations which are 
 springing up in various places among the young people. The 
 first Methodist church, of Boston, owes its continued existence 
 and prosperity mainly to the effective organization of its 
 youth. And there are, in this city, churches of other de- 
 nominations which are continually drawing to themselves per- 
 sons of intelligence, wealth, and influence, through the activity 
 of their associated young men. Let us encourage the forma- 
 tion of societies among our j'oung people, in which, ix the 
 vestries, or elsewhere, the} T shall have frequent meetings, and 
 engage in exercises of an elevated, intellectual, and moral char- 
 acter. They can have choice reading, original essays, and the 
 like; and thus, while cultivating and saying themselves, they 
 may win others from the waywardness of the world, and turn 
 them to Christ. Such societies, properly conducted, in our 
 7000 churches, would be of immense value to our cause, and 
 especially in the cities and populous centres ; and if connected 
 together, as they easih* could be, by correspondence or other 
 means, would bring into the field of moral effort half a million 
 of intelligent youth, who now have but little associated life. 
 
134 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 The youth are the jewels of the Church ; let them be pre- 
 ' served whatever the hazard. Satan, the grand arch-foe, knows 
 well the potency of the social principle as a controlling force ; 
 and nightly his saloons display their glittering ornaments and 
 sparkling cups, the air resounds with the strains of theatrical 
 music, with the echoes of the footsteps of the dancers, or the 
 sounds of the implements of gambling ; and his purveyors 
 stand at every street-corner, saying to the unwary, " Come in 
 hither ; " and together they walk into the burning pit. 
 
 The full and ardent souls of the young demand society, and 
 the wicked are more prompt than the virtuous in meeting this 
 demand. Where is the church that provides" a social resort for 
 the young? Where is there one that nightly, weekly, or even 
 monthly , opens for them a vestiy, or suitable hall, in which 
 they may spend a social hour ? Where is the Christian man- 
 sion, with its open doors and flaming chandeliers, and winning 
 watcher by the wayside, to say to the young of the city, or 
 even of the parish, Come in hither, and, in the circle of the 
 virtuous and the good, pass a pleasant hour ? 
 
 If we would save the world, we must address the ruling 
 forces which God has placed in the human soul ; and one of 
 the strongest of these is the social principle. 
 
 It would be a pleasure to pause here and delineate the zeal- 
 ous activities of Methodism, in behalf of the 3 r oung, and the 
 successes which have crowned her endeavors, and which have 
 conspired to place her in the van of the grand column of Chris- 
 tian laborers ; but my task, for the moment, was rather to 
 suggest means by which she may intensify her social power, 
 and multiply her trophies for Emanuel. 
 
 In this cursory essay, I have written no line in fear of re- 
 pulses to Christian truth, nor in skeptic doubt of the good old 
 ship in which we sail. Built of live oak, it has grown every 
 day, in its voyage of a century. All its beams, ribs, planks, 
 masts, and bolts, and the copper upon its keel, are sound as 
 when it first put to sea. 
 
 But, brethren of the Convention, the winds have changed on 
 the sea on which we sail, and our part, as good mariners, is, 
 to adjust the spars, and set the sails, so that, catching and 
 
BISHOP SIMrSON'S ADDRESS. 135 
 
 using the breezes of heaven, we may safely, triumphantly ride 
 into the upper harbor. 
 
 The Business Committee announced for the Financial 
 
 Committee the need of taking a collection to defray tlio 
 expenses of the Convention, at this time, and the collection 
 was ordered ; after which, on motion, the reading of Rev. 
 A. Prince's Essay was deferred till to-morrow morning. 
 After singing the hymn, 
 
 " Blow ye the trumpet, blow," etc., 
 
 Rev. Bishop Simpson addressed the very large audience 
 that had gathered, as follows : — 
 
 Mr. President : — It gives me unfeigned pleasure to meet, 
 on this centenary year, and in this beautiful temple, such a 
 vast assemblage of the members and friends of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church throughout New England. I am here be- 
 cause, by the Board of Management, I was kindly invited to 
 come. I am here because, having been in the region at three 
 Conferences during the spring, I was pleased to learn that 
 arrangements for this Convention were being made ; and I de- 
 sired to come that I might take by the hand and look in the 
 eye the true friends of Methodism who had borne the burdens, 
 in the heat of the day ; and to greet the young men, who are 
 preparing for earnest labor in the vineyard of the Master. 
 
 The topic (the social interests of the Church) to which at- 
 tention has just been called, is one of deep interest, and to 
 it my remarks will chiefly be directed, though possibly I may 
 wander somewhat from the precise limits of the essay ; and 
 yet I do not purpose to detain you very long, because others 
 are here whom I hope to hear speak, and because my voice, 
 affected by a recent cold, will not permit m}- speaking very 
 many minutes. 
 
 As we survey Methodism in the past, we perceive one great 
 fact: in its growth it has excelled all Christian denominations 
 in the land. It is not so merely in New England, where it 
 was of somewhat late introduction, but it is so throughout 
 the whole of the United States. 
 
136 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 A century ago six lowly individuals formed a little class, 
 and assembled for worship in a sail-loft in New York. Two 
 years later in a similar place a similar number assembled in 
 the city of Philadelphia. Twent} T years passed away with 
 comparatively a very slight, and } r et a constant, increase. If, 
 then, the curtain is supposed to fall a century ago, we see as 
 it falls a small Methodist class, but beside it stand large and 
 strong Episcopal and Presbyterian churches in the cities of 
 New York and Philadelphia ; strong Congregational Churches 
 in Boston, and in other places of New England ; and in the 
 Middle States large congregations of Lutherans and Baptists. 
 When the curtain rises again at the end of the century what 
 do we behold ? Other denominations have done a great work, 
 a glorious work. Other churches rise in number, and in mag- 
 nificence, to do honor to their zeal and enterprise. Their 
 colleges, academies, and seminaries, are opened to thousands 
 of students. Their religious press is circulating its vast issues 
 over the land, and I rejoice, yea, I will rejoice, in the success 
 of every Christian denomination throughout our land. [Ap- 
 plause.] God make them a thousand fold so many as they 
 are. [Applause.] But whilst I rejoice at the success of all 
 these denominations, I turn to Methodism, and ask, " Where 
 is its little class which was covered when the veil fell a century 
 ago ? " And as I look for it I behold in its place almost a 
 million of communicants ; and in the branches which, from 
 time to time, have left it, about two thirds of another million. 
 
 I turn my eye to the cities, towns, and villages, and I see 
 churches rising everywhere. The census of the United States, 
 both of 1850 and of 1860, shows that there are more Methodist 
 Churches in the United States than of any other denomination. 
 Its colleges, academies, and seminaries are open for the recep- 
 tion of thousands of }< outh ; and when I turn to the press, there 
 are far more issues of Methodist papers, than of any other de- 
 nomination. When I see this vast family extending from 
 Maine to California, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, I can 
 only exclaim, " What hath God wrought ! " 0,1 have thought 
 to-day, as we met, some of us on yonder beautiful Common, 
 and gathered round that old elm tree, had Jesse Lee been en- 
 
bishop Simpson's address. 137 
 
 abled to see Tremont Temple in Boston, and to see such an 
 audience gathered here, singing the old soul-stirring hymns, 
 as you have sung them, he would have shouted 'neath that old 
 elm tree at the glory of the coming century. [Great applause.] 
 His eyes did not see it ; ours see it, and we are glad. 
 
 \» hat has given us this success? God's hand, God's power 
 have been with us, and to him be all the glory. But when we 
 look, sir, for the secondary causes, we shall see that our suc- 
 cess has been occasioned by the doctrines which have been 
 taught, by the usages which were established by the fathers, 
 and by the economy under which we have labored ; all these 
 have been causes and sources of our success. I refer to thern 
 now, chiefly for the purpose of showing their bearing on the 
 social power. For I am free to assert that I believe Meth- 
 odism owes much of its success, under God, to the culti- 
 vation of this power. Formerly, as I think, we surpassed 
 all other denominations in our social efforts, but I am by no 
 means sure that others are not rapidly gaining upon us, if not 
 excelling us in this direction. 
 
 Our doctrines eminently favor social activit} f . Our Church 
 believes that Christ died for all men ; that there is one great 
 Father, — one common Brotherhood. This sweeps away all 
 distinctions of classes and ranks in the sight of God. It pro- 
 claims the same glorious truths, and offers the influences of the 
 same blessed Spirit, alike to the rich and to the poor, to the 
 learned and to the ignorant, the bond and the free. It utters 
 the same call, proffers the same privileges, announces the same 
 glad tidings to men of all races, climes, conditions, and colors. 
 Everywhere, from the frozen regions of the North to the torrid 
 lands of the tropics, it exultingly and triumphant^ declares 
 that Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every 
 man. It offers to every one the conscious testimony of the 
 Holy Spirit, sealing to all the blessings of adoption into the 
 family of God, the glorious privilege of being sons and heirs ; 
 and in the fulness of its affection proclaims that through the 
 blood of the Saviour the vilest sinner may be cleansed from all 
 iniquity, and fully as he has borne the image of the earthly, 
 so shall he bear the image of the heavenly. 
 10 
 
138 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Such a system inspires the heart with universal love. Such 
 a sj'stem invites us to take every man by the hancT of affection, 
 and to help him in struggles for a higher life. If true to our 
 doctrines, we must love all mankind. Methodism must ever 
 be, as in the past, a protest against bigotry. A true Meth- 
 odist not only loves a Methodist everywhere, but he also loves 
 every man who bears the Saviour's image. He sa} T s with 
 Wesley to men of all creeds, "If tlrv heart be as my heart, 
 give me thy hand." And though in its infancy Methodism had 
 its controversies, they were not of its own seeking. 
 
 Its usages also harmonize with its doctrines. When Meth- 
 odism arose, its surroundings were vastly different from those 
 of to-day. Then the people had few religious associations in 
 which they personally took part. Nearly all public services 
 were confined to the ministry. The other day I picked up a 
 volume I had once read, the " Life of Walker," one oi* those 
 evangelical men who labored in the great revival in which 
 Wesley was engaged, a minister of the Church of England. In 
 that work was given a number of letters, which he wrote to 
 Mr. Wesley and others who took part in the great movement. 
 He cheered them, urged them forward, and to a certain extent 
 co-operated. Yet he was so fearful of violating church order, 
 and of introducing fanaticism, that he never allowed a laj^man 
 to speak or lead in prayer when he was present. Against such 
 an exclusive spirit Methodism uttered its protest, and Mr. 
 Wesley taught the people everywhere to pray and sing, and he 
 called upon the old men and the }-oung men to raise songs of 
 devotion and true thanksgiving to God, and encouraged the 
 babes in Christ to lisp forth the glad tidings of what God had 
 done for them. He allowed women to speak in the social 
 meetings of the Church. [Applause.] And long before the 
 days of " Women's Rights," when no Conventions were being 
 held to assert the rights of women, Methodism took the moth- 
 ers, and the wives, and the sisters, and the daughters by the 
 hand, and gave them the right to tell what God had done for 
 them. And there are many of us standing here to-day, that 
 owe possibly all we are in the Church, and all that we can do 
 in the world, to those sainted mothers to whose prayers we 
 
Bisnor Simpson's address. 139 
 
 listened in childhood, and who taught us to clasp our little 
 hands together, and say, " Our Father who art in heaven." 
 
 Methodism cultivated the social principle. It called out all 
 the membership of the Church. At the class-meetings every 
 man must speak, and every woman must speak. At the gen- 
 eral class- meetings, at the love-feasts, at the old quarterly- 
 meetings, when they came from distances of perhaps thirty 
 miles, they came to tell what God did for them. They were 
 Bpeakers for Jesus. What was the effect of this? To draw 
 the hearts of the people together, and, as a result, Methodists 
 knew each other, Methodists loved each other, Methodists 
 worked for each other. 
 
 The economy of the Church had also the same tendency. 
 The minister was not the pastor merely of one church or con- 
 gregation. Under the grand system of itinerancy, he changed 
 from circuit to circuit, and thus served as a bond of union 
 among the churches. Old acquaintances visited him in his 
 new field of labor, and thus the membership learned to know 
 and to sympathize with each other. 
 
 Then again, the circuit system, by which ten or sometimes 
 twenty or thirty societies were united in one pastoral charge, 
 and the official members were brought together on quarterly- 
 meeting occasions, tended powerfully to promote the social 
 spirit, and to promote social effort. In progress of time, how- 
 ever, part of these social influences, I am Bony to say, have 
 been lost. When churches are small, the members recognize 
 each other. When they met in the sail-loft, they shook hands 
 with each other. When they met in the country cabins, they 
 never parted without inquiring for each other's welfare. When, 
 the churches are very small, the people will pass across and 
 become acquainted. As, churches grow, arid increase in mem- 
 bers, there necessarily arises a difficulty in this respect ; the. 
 congregations cannot all recognize each other ; and, from find- 
 ing out that the}' cannot do it, there grows up a carelessness 
 in reference to this matter. If we live in villages we know our 
 neighbors, and in very small towns we know every one, every 
 house, and its inhabitants. But in the city we cannot know 
 every one, and the result is, that we have but few neighbors 
 
140 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 whom we even learn to recognize. This feeling grows on the 
 human mind. It is so in our churches. I cannot tell how it 
 is in Boston, or in New England generally, but I am sony to 
 say, that, from my observation in other parts of the Church, 
 there is not that desire to recognize every member of the 
 Church that once existed in the bosom of the Church. I think 
 in this respect we are in error, and that we cannot fully ac- 
 complish the work it is our duty to accomplish, until every 
 member tries to become acquainted with every other member 
 of the Church, and we come back to the spirit of the ancient 
 times. 
 
 Then again, as stations take the place of circuits, another 
 difficulty arises. The circuit sj'stem, under the supervision of 
 the same minister, draws men from different appointments, two, 
 four, ten, or twenty miles ; but, when divided into separate 
 stations, all these appointments have learned to be independent. 
 Each labors for itself, seems to feel that it has as much to do 
 as it can accomplish, and all the labors of the society termi- 
 nate upon itself. There is no recognition of the societies in 
 the vicinity, and those good old days of the quarterly-meetings 
 have passed away. Then there was one circuit, one Church, one 
 religious body. The fathers know of the quarterly-meetings, 
 when men used to gather from far ; doors were thrown open, 
 and men were welcomed from the regions round about. Sweet 
 were the communings of heart ! The ordinary quarterly- 
 meeting now is not such a gathering. But here is a quarterly- 
 meeting in the true sense and spirit of it. Here you have met. 
 Here Maine shakes hands with Rhode Island ; Massachusetts 
 opens her arms to embrace New Hampshire, Vermont and Con- 
 necticut. I have marked the tears that started from your eyes, 
 and the ascriptions of praise since you have been together. 
 Your hearts have been communing with the blessed Saviour. 
 It is a revival of the old social feeling again ; and I thank God 
 your New England has set the example to the Church of such 
 a Convention as we see to-day. This spirit among us augurs 
 well. I am not afraid of this Convention tearing the Church 
 to pieces. I am not afraid of these old Methodist fathers 
 coming to shake hands together ; coming to ask, " What can 
 
bishop Simpson's addbess. 141 
 
 we do for Methodism?" These men of Christian hearts In- 
 tend, God helping them, to do something more for the Church, 
 before they are called on high. [Applause and " Aniens."] 
 God help them to do a great deal before their mission here is 
 ended. 
 
 In cultivating this social principle more fully, allow me to 
 say that the way to make men's hearts grow together, is to give 
 them some work. Man must have something to do to keep 
 lii in from doing the devil's work. If you want to keep a so- 
 ciety from quarrelling, keep it bus}-. Why, here is Father 
 Taylor, who knows how they keep the sailor-boys scrubbing 
 the decks, and cleaning down the masts and spars, even when 
 there is no need of it ; and it is even so with a religions so- 
 ciety, for there is ever necessity for discipline. If you would 
 have Christians happy, give them plenty of work to do. How 
 shall we do it? There was one excellent suggestion in the 
 essay we heard : " Let not the fathers undertake to do all the 
 work of the Church." They have done a great deal. God 
 bless them. The} r can do a great deal more. May God pre- 
 serve them to be four score and ten among us, if it be his will ; 
 but let these fathers call to their aid the young men. Culti- 
 vate their business talent. Appoint them to stand at the door 
 to seat strangers. Get the young merchants to stand there, 
 and invite joung men and others who are strangers, into the 
 church. Get your professional men to be active, and you will 
 do them a great kindness, and show them the blessedness of 
 being "doorkeepers in the house of the Lord." Let them 
 icork for Christ. 
 
 Let me say more. As men grow in means, and have some 
 professional business to do, and as they are called out into 
 public life, perhaps get some small oflice, let them be very 
 careful to redouble their diligence in these religious matters. 
 If a man has become a member of Congress, I would have him 
 lead two classes instead of one. [Applause.] If a man has 
 been made Lieutenant Governor, I would have him become 
 trustee, class-leader, and steward, all three. [Continued ap- 
 plause.] If a man is growing in wealth, let us not distrust 
 him ; but let him keep up his devotion to the cause of God. 
 
142 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Let Christian men have ever so many offices, the more the bet- 
 ter ; but let them add to their Christian graces while they en- 
 gage in these great public works. 
 
 Let me say, in this connection, lest I be misunderstood, as 
 to members of Congress and public functionaries, I have no 
 faith in religion that cannot stand the test of public life as well 
 as of private life. The kingdoms of this world are yet to be- 
 come the kingdoms of Christ. Ma}^ the day be hastened, that, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, good men of all Christian de- 
 nominations may fill the offices of the land. [Applause.] 
 And God grant that they may not only be " Moses " in name, 
 but in deed and in truth. [Tremendous applause.] 
 
 What I say as to public life, I apply to all things that may 
 be necessary to human elevation, whether you name music or 
 poetry, architecture or the fine arts, or all of them. Whatever 
 ennobles man, ought to be sanctified by Christianity. Chris- 
 tianity is yet to gather around her all the graces of civilization 
 and culture. Poetry, painting, the beautiful in art, as well as 
 the beautiful in nature, are all to gather round the cross of 
 Christ ; and all that God has made of the grand and the lovely 
 ought to be consecrated to the success of his cause on earth. 
 The province of the Church is, then, a very wide province. 
 Let her feel that God sends her to bless and instruct the high- 
 est as well as the lowest. But whilst thus looking out for the 
 high places of earth, let the Church never forget the poor, — 
 never, no, never. I would, if I could, have the wealth of the 
 world in the Church ; I would, if I could, have the learning of 
 the world in the Church ; but if I must give up the higher 
 class of societj' altogether, or give up the lower class of 
 society altogether, — if I must abandon one or the other, — 
 I tell you, in view of the future, both in time and eternity, I 
 would give up the rich, and cleave unto the poor. [Great ap- 
 plause.] The reason is this : The poor are more numerous ; 
 there are more souls among them. If I could save only one 
 class, I would save this most numerous class. They have not 
 the comforts of the gospel. Besides, the poor of this world 
 will yet become the rich. The solid men of Boston to-da}- 
 were poor bo3's. But there is no reason, there is no necessity 
 
bishop Simpson's address. 143 
 
 to abandon any. The gospel is a light for all. It can reach 
 the prince on his throne, the beggar on his dunghill ; it could 
 save a Moses and a David, an Isaiah and a Jeremiah, and 
 could save a Lazarus, and bear him to Abraham's bosom. 
 
 Brethren, in this centenary year, and on this occasion, let 
 me repeat, do all } r ou can to cultivate this social and this con- 
 nectional feeling. Draw the hearts of the people together. 
 Meet in your different districts. Devise ways and means to 
 edify the people. Give } T our members all to do that they can 
 do. Then will you see the pleasure of the Lord prospering 
 among }-ou. 
 
 I will take a step further, and say that, as far as nrry obser- 
 vation extends in other cities, there is more inter-com- 
 munion between the members of other churches than between 
 the members of Methodist churches. It may not be so in 
 Boston. Other denominations have long been in these great 
 centers. They have managed to get the control of the great 
 benevolent institutions. Is there a Christian Commission 
 started, a Bible Society, an institution for orphans, or any 
 work of benevolence, on the Boards which meet from week to 
 week, from month to month, or from year to year, Christian men 
 of various churches meet together in council, and, as a result, 
 they become acquainted with each other. We have very few 
 positions on these Boards, and consequently lose these oppor- 
 tunities. You have very few State associations of a Methodist 
 character. This Convention is the first one, I believe, of this 
 kind ; but I hope it is the precursor of those which shall meet 
 for Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and 
 Rhode Island ; and I hope to see in New York and Pennsyl- 
 vania great gatherings also, until the Methodists shall be ac- 
 quainted with their brethren in all parts of these States. 
 
 I am asked, what good can come from this Convention? 
 I Bay, much, every way. The social feeling is cultivated. 
 Here lnethren have come from the different States; here men 
 who had never spoken together have shaken hands with each 
 other, in the name of our common Christianity and common 
 Methodism, and they will go away stimulated with love and 
 zcai ; and when you hereafter hear that one of these men 
 
144 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 has done some great act, your hearts will be led to imitate 
 him. The Centenary contributions will be swelled by this 
 Convention at least fifty per cent. 
 
 In the West, where I am better acquainted, the Church is 
 devising liberal things. It is proposing a thank-offering of 
 ten dollars per member. It is setting the mark high, perhaps ; 
 but, I am glad to say, the people are coming up to it in many 
 places. Some little villages are giving from ten to twenty 
 thousand dollars, to endow the institutions of learning in 
 which the} T are interested. If the city of Boston and the vil- 
 lages of New England should set their mark at ten dollars per 
 member, what would be the result? Your great Biblical 
 School would rise in beauty and magnificence, and indeed be 
 the " School of the Prophets ; " your University would be a 
 glory and ornament to the land ; your academies would be full 
 of students, and a very bright day, a more glorious day, would 
 dawn upon New England Methodism. God grant that that day 
 ma}' speedily come ! [Applause.] 
 
 But, brethren, I will not detain you. We are standing now 
 at the close of the first century. I would but cast a glance, 
 ere I sit down, at the past and the future. The past century ! 
 How full — aye, full of hallowed thoughts ! What deeds of 
 the fathers, what noble heroism, what sacrifices, what priva- 
 tions, what toil ! The fathers — where are they? Gone home 
 to ^lory. You are their sons ; and to-night, while you gather 
 in this beautiful Temple, it seems to me the fathers gather 
 round you. Above these lights that shine upon us, above this 
 beautiful roof which spreads over us, they come down to meet 
 and cheer and welcome us. Could we see those who have 
 died in Jesus, those who have gone home triumphantly, the 
 fathers, mothers, and dear ones that have fallen from our 
 sight, our arms, and our influence, oh, what a host, in spirit, 
 would be here to rejoice in what Methodism has done for the 
 cause of Christianity and the world. Behold the triumph of 
 Methodism in the most glorious age of the world ! It has 
 gone hand in hand with the sciences and civilization ; and, by 
 the grace of God, has triumphed in your old New England 
 society, where, sir, every element was opposed to it, seventy 
 or eighty years ago. 
 
bishop Simpson's address.. 145 
 
 Now, what for the future? Let another centenary come, 
 and you and I will not be here ; or if we are here, it will be as 
 those blessed ones who have belt from the highest glory to 
 look upon us. But our children's children will be here. They 
 will Bing the same songs, join in the same worship ; and if our 
 increase be, in the next century, the same as in the past, from 
 mountain to mountain, from valle}' to valley, from ocean to 
 ocean, there shall one great song rise up of ''Alleluia, the 
 Lord God omnipotent reigneth ! " [Applause.] "What a day 
 shall we have, and what a shout in gloiy ! [Voices saying 
 u Amen."] A word, and I have done. You may call me en- 
 thusiast ; you may call me fanatic ; call me what you will, I 
 love responses. Yes, I would have a people to worship. I 
 would not have quiet, still, dull, and sleeping congregations. 
 If we are meeting like brethren, we rejoice over the interests of 
 the Church. Why should we not rejoice, when the heavens 
 are opened, and the angels come down to us? When the 
 songs of God are being sung, why should we not rejoice in the 
 house of God? I do not think that Methodism could have 
 ever sprung from the Congregational Church. It sprung out 
 of the Episcopal Church, where the people learned to say 
 "Amen" by rote. [Applause.] They had been used to say 
 it at the end of the prayers, in the set places ; they then said 
 it, sometimes, before the end of the pi^er. [Laughter.] 
 These responses of Methodism are nothing but the pra}-er- 
 book ignited and burnt into the hearts, and uttered by the 
 seraph-touched tongues of earnest worshippers. [Sensation.] 
 
 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God is for the in- 
 crease of Methodism, the strength of Methodism, because I 
 believe it to be Christianity. Now, wherever you go, labor as 
 brethren, saying, "God helping us, we will work for Method- 
 ism and Christ more than ever we have done." [Continued 
 applause.] 
 
 At the close of the Bishop's remarks, the Convention 
 adjourned with the singing of the doxology, and the ben- 
 ediction by Rev. Dr. Feck, of California. 
 
146 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 THURSDAY MORNING. 
 
 The Convention was called to order by Rev. Dr. Cum- 
 mings, of the New England Conference, one of the Vice 
 Presidents, in the absence of the Hon. President. The 
 hymn commencing, 
 
 " All hail the power of Jesus' name,'* 
 
 was sung, and prayer was offered by Rev. S. H. Beale, of 
 the East Maine Conference. 
 
 The minutes of yesterday's proceedings were read and 
 approved. 
 
 Rev. Joseph Marsh, a venerable local preacher of the 
 Providence Conference, was introduced as the representa- 
 tive of the New England Methodist Episcopal Local 
 Preachers' Association, and by invitation addressed the 
 Convention as follows : — 
 
 I was not aware until this morning that I should be called 
 upon to say anything in regard to the local preachers of New 
 England. When I came in this morning, I heard Brother 
 Sheffield speaking about stirring up the local preachers. And 
 in the address by Dr. Webber the question was asked, what 
 shall we do for, or with, the weak places of our Zion ? The local 
 preachers of the New England Conference, and other Confer- 
 ences, are men who have business and fortunes, and preach 
 without salaiw. They are helps to the itinerancy. They were 
 first created in order to fill up places in circuits ; but, as the work 
 is cut up into stations, there is no proper work for them. If work 
 is made by themselves, they interfere with the small stations in 
 the different places of New England, and in other parts of the 
 country. If the circuit sj'stem should be again introduced, 
 there would be no need of anybody stirring up the local preach- 
 ers to work. The Discipline provides, I believe, that the min- 
 isters of the Conferences shall provide work, or set to work, the 
 local preachers of their several charges. You have licensed 
 them to preach the gospel. You have said that they have 
 
REV. MB. marsh's address. 147 
 
 grace and gifts, and you have believed, from their testimony, 
 that they are called of God, called by the Holy Ghost, to 
 preach the gospel of the Son of God. And then many of the 
 people of the cities, even of our brethren, turn round and say 
 that they will not hear them in their pulpits. 
 
 If the local preachers are to work effectively, and to do 
 good, it must be in connection with the travelling preachers. 
 There must not be two classes, and two interests, but they 
 must labor with the itinerant ministers in the great work of 
 supplying the poor societies in the different parts of the great 
 work laid out for our hands. I have been consulted, frequent- 
 ly, in this city, on this matter, and I have protested, and still 
 protest, against separate interests. The local preacher and 
 the itinerant preacher should shake hands together, and work 
 together. If this can't be done, then nothing will be done. 
 
 We have formed an Association. I Bimply consented to it 
 because it is better to form an Association and do something, 
 than not have an Association and not do anything. For fifty 
 years I have been a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, and have taken care of myself. My salary has 
 amounted to just about $25 a year. The first sixteen years I 
 had a new hat, and a half bushel of apples. 
 
 I heard Brother North speak yesterday in regard to the 
 sacrifices or non-sacrifices of the ministry. Brother North was 
 not serious. I know Brother North, but he does not know me. 
 He lost two fortunes in the great war of anti-slavery, and al- 
 most his life ; but, after all, Brother North would be very sorry 
 to-day, as a merchant, to become a Methodist preacher, and 
 take up with the sacrifices which Methodist preachers are 
 necessitated to make, and I would like to send Brother North 
 South this morning. (Laughter.) 
 
 I do believe, for I am speaking of these local preachers that I 
 know, and with whose reputation I have been more acquainted, 
 that they are read}' to go out to the poor, and preach the gos- 
 pel to the poor, if it can be done, with the aid and support of 
 the ministers from the Conferences. We have pewed churches ; 
 pewed churches, the great nuisances of the land. [Laughter, 
 and voices saying " Amen ! "] I should like to know the man 
 
148 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 in whose heart first the idea was created of building boxes for 
 men to hear the gospel in. You may just as well bar your 
 doors with bolts of iron against the poor of the land, as to 
 have your pewed and rich churches ; they cannot enter — they 
 do not enter. 
 
 But what are we to do with the local preaching ? What has 
 this thing to do with it? If you have your circuit S3 T stem, the 
 local preachers can be employed, and the churches will be 
 free, as a matter of course, when the circuits are created. As 
 a matter of course ; for it would be an inconsistency to have 
 independent churches, with beautiful seats, with their con- 
 veniences, and the poor shut out. I have in my possession 
 now a Baltimore plan (and my name is on that plan) of thirty- 
 five 3'ears ago. They have free churches in Baltimore ; five 
 churches when I was there. They have built one pewed 
 church in the city of Baltimore, and the brethren will never, 
 never, never build another. The population of Baltimore is 
 about the same as that of Boston. Now there are there forty- 
 one Methodist churches, all free, where the poor can go ; and 
 in Boston 3-011 have the good number of nine. Let the cir- 
 cuit S3* stem be introduced, and carried out with the help of the 
 local preachers, who are ready to work, as in Maiyland, and 
 in twenty 3 T ears 3 T ou will have fifty^ churches in Boston ; and all 
 round the country, in Brighton, Quinc3 T , and ever3 T where, the 
 fires will be lighted up, the local preachers at work, God 
 glorified, and Methodism known all over New England and the 
 world, as the great power to save souls. I am sorry the clock 
 goes so fast, but m3 T time is up. 
 
 The Convention proceeded to listen to an essay from 
 Rev. A. Prince, of the East Maine Conference, on " How 
 can the old Connectional Spirit of Methodism be revived 
 and perpetuated ? " 
 
 Methodism, planted here in 1766, has, in a single centun', 
 overspread this country. It has even recrossed the ocean, and 
 established itself in eveiy quarter of the Old World. There is 
 substantial agreement among all the members that adhere to 
 
REV. MR. PRINCE'S ESSAY. 149 
 
 the original body. But the question implies that the old con- 
 nectional spirit has declined, and may expire. Whatever may 
 be the truth as to the past, there is ground for apprehension 
 touching the future. All now in the Church are, during the 
 next hundred years, to leave it, and millions of new members 
 are to take their places. These will come from different civil 
 and social conditions, and will represent numerous races and 
 religions. Over them the Church can have onlj r a moral influ- 
 ence, from them she can receive only a voluntary support. A 
 defect in her polity, an error in doctrine, a mistake in admin- 
 istration, may alienate thousands from her communion. But 
 another division of Methodism we deplore. It was almost co- 
 temporary in origin with the United States Government. The 
 history of these two commonwealths has been similar. Both 
 tolerated slavery, and the dark demon, having effected the dis- 
 ruption of one, undertook the overthrow of the other. Their 
 interests are identical. The State protects the Church, and 
 the Church supports the State. It concerns both that each 
 shall be united, extended, and enduring. 
 
 Not less essential to the cause of Christ is the union of his 
 people. We deprecate schism in the kingdom of God. Want 
 of concord among men who hold the same views of truth and 
 of duty, is a sad sight. Ancient Israel, gathered around 
 Mount Zion, agreeing in faith and united in worship, elicited 
 the inspired utterance, " Behold how good and how pleasant it 
 is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! " But want of har- 
 mony is the weakness as well as the reproach of the Christian 
 world. God's people are, in this age, called to heavy fighting 
 and hard work. There is as much need of large churches as 
 of huge engines or mammoth ships. The question of the union 
 of Methodism in sentiment and in form, underlies, or, at least, 
 involves, every other before this Convention. But this dis- 
 cussion of its conditions must be suggestive rather than ex- 
 haustive. The Church must, 
 
 1. Conserve certain interests. 
 
 In enumerating these, the integrity of her doctrines may be 
 first named. While we do not fear that scientific investigation 
 will unsettle her essential, or even her distinctive faith, we 
 
150 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 must avoid the error of confounding questions of physics or 
 metaphysics .with those of theology ; and thus identifying the 
 defence of an unimportant outwork with the security of the 
 central citadel. Evangelical experience must be maintained, 
 and the moral rectitude of members insisted on. Can two 
 walk together except they be agreed in these vital matters ? 
 We must continue to cultivate the social element, and also pre- 
 serve our ecclesiastical system. These complement and aid 
 each other. Above all, Methodism must retain her established 
 character of a revival church. Other conditions of union are 
 important, but this is vital. They are the machinery of man, 
 this is the inspiration of God. Human means may secure con- 
 ventional uniformity, but divine grace alone can produce the 
 unity of the Spirit. To revive and perpetuate the connectional 
 spirit, it will be necessarj 7 , 
 
 2. To expand and intensify certain agencies. 
 
 There are ligaments that unite, and forces that vitalize, the 
 ecclesiastical bod} 7 , and upon their strength and healthful ac- 
 tivity must depend its harmony and growth. Prominent 
 among these is liberal provision for education, and thorough 
 oversight and control of its institutions b} T the Church. Like 
 a great workshop, she contains machinery for building 
 churches and securing them to the body, for publishing books 
 and guaranteeing their character. By the regular operations 
 of the establishment, missions and Sabbath-schools are planted 
 and superintended, and ministers received, employed, and sup- 
 ported. But there is no wheel specificalty fitted and assigned 
 to found and maintain literary institutions. Endow and adopt 
 colleges and seminaries of such character, and in such numbers, 
 as will meet the wants of all of both sexes that are within the 
 Church, or under her influence. Then identify Methodism with 
 its schools, and identify its schools with Methodism, and they 
 will, every year, send out thousands of choice youth to 
 strengthen connectional bonds, and revive the connectional 
 spirit. 
 
 Money must be made to promote religious union to an ex- 
 tent that it has never yet done. God designs that it shall do 
 this work. Contributions to a central fund or monument will 
 
REV. MR. PRINCE'S ESSAY. 151 
 
 serve to unite those that make them. The judicious distribu- 
 tion of these common offerings to the cause of missions, edu- 
 cation, or church-extension, over all our work, will be still 
 more productive ol unity. This may be done in a way, and on 
 conditions, that will not only give new life to our educational 
 S3'stem, and make moral deserts as the garden of the Lord, 
 but, at the same time, bind our schools and our missions in in- 
 timate and enduring relationship to the Church. 
 
 Literature does for the denomination what the blood effects 
 for the animal economy : vitalizes and strengthens all the 
 parts. If the coining millions can be induced to read the 
 books that contain our history, doctrines, rules, and biogra- 
 phies, and also the periodicals that record our labof% and de- 
 fend our usages, we need have but few fears for the future. 
 But, in order to do this, the supply must be ample, and the 
 circulation active and regular. It is the rare prerogative, if 
 not the imperative duty, of Methodism, to make a sanctified 
 literature the cheapest in the land. Has not the time come, 
 when she should so Jower the price as to increase the sale of 
 her publications? Might she not, in a short time, double their 
 circulation, without diminishing her revenue? 
 
 But the most important circulating agent is the ministry. 
 The connectional spirit must largely depend in the future, as 
 it has depended in the past, on the frequent interchange, or 
 extensive diffusion, of ministerial gifts. Episcopal supervision 
 is, in its influence upon the preachers, invaluable for this end. 
 But the visits of the bishops are few and brief, and their con- 
 tact with the people slight and restricted. Why not double 
 their number, and thus increase an influence so salutary, and 
 so much in demand ? But stationed ministers associate inti- 
 mately, and for years, with those whom they serve, leaving 
 upon them a deeper impress. Hence the necessit}- for frequent 
 and extended removals. Such is the intrinsic importance of 
 itinerancy, and such its effect upon all other connecting liga- 
 ments, that, if seriously impaired, there must follow the di- 
 vision, if not the disintegration, of the Church. This institu- 
 tion must be preserved, and its operation should be extended. 
 A contracted itinerancy is open to all the objections, in kind, 
 
152 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 that lie against a settled pastorate. To enlarge the sphere is 
 to increase the utility of this institution. And such expansion 
 seems as legitimate as it would be useful. The genius of our 
 economy is understood to be this : every Conference is entitled 
 to a fair proportion of the effective men in the travelling minis- 
 try, and every charge has a claim, to be measured by its neces- 
 sities and the availability of a supply, upon every itinerant 
 minister in the Church. And the converse of this last state- 
 ment is also deemed to be true ; namely, every travelling- 
 preacher is eligible in law — not fitted in fact — to every cir- 
 cuit and station in the Connection. This measure of recipro- 
 cal right does not depend upon the relative importance of Con- 
 ferences and Charges, nor upon the relative abilities of minis- 
 ters, but upon their connectional relations and attitude. Under 
 our system, a surplus of ministers in one Conference, and a 
 scarcity in another, is as incongruous as it is hurtful and un- 
 just. If the frontier work lacks laborers, while the central 
 Conferences have more men than they can station, the con- 
 nectional spirit will not be apt to revive among the less favored. 
 Men become travelling ministers under the solemn pledge to go 
 not onty to those that want them, but to those that want them 
 most, and to do that part of the work which we advise, at those 
 times and places which we judge most for God's glory. Thus 
 did Boardman and Pilmoor, Asbury and Wright, Garretson 
 and Lee. The obligation to equalize the supply of men, and 
 impartially distribute the gifts that God confers upon his 
 Church, is deducible from the genius, the history, and the dis- 
 cipline of Methodism, and is also essential to the unity of the 
 body. 
 
 Another help to the connectional spirit will be, 
 3. To reclaim those that have left our communion. 
 To all who went out on merely economical issues, liberal ad- 
 vances should be made to secure their return. And those who 
 separated on moral grounds, may be received when they abjure 
 their errors, and renounce their wrongs. To restore a single 
 fragment that has been projected from the main body, is to 
 convert so much centrifugal force into centripetal attraction. 
 It is to bring back wandering children, — perhaps once victims 
 
REV. MB. PBINCB'S ESSAY. 158 
 
 of undue parental severity, — who, if they heartily return, 
 should be joyfully received. But we must not, to get them 
 back, relax family discipline, or rebuild our shattered home- 
 stead, like the legs of Nebuchadnezzar's image, part of iron 
 and part of clay. And if, subject to these conditions, the 
 scattered household is again gathered in the family mansion, 
 home will be prized more highly, and its inmates loved more 
 tenderly, than before the separation. With most-disturbing 
 issues settled, alienation will not easily ensue, nor secession be 
 repeated. 
 
 Methodism can do, and should do, for her members what no 
 other Church has ever done. She holds a scriptural theology, 
 and teaches a saintly experience. Her organic law sacredly 
 guards the rights of the humblest. She can meet the highest 
 educational and religious wants of her young people, distribute 
 wisely and widely her ministerial gifts, and supply her socie- 
 ties with the cheapest, if not the choicest, literature in the 
 land. She may recover to her communion most who have left 
 it that are worth}' to re-enter, and she may enjo}^ frequent 
 visitations from on high. Such a Church would be the noblest 
 institution upon the footstool ; and Methodism may attain this 
 eminence, and sustain this character. And when she does, 
 there will be little temptation to leave her fellowship, but the 
 strongest inducement to enter and remain in it. And the con- 
 ditions are very simple. They contain nothing visional nor 
 impracticable. Slight modifications of economy, and simple 
 changes of administration, may be needed. But our work is 
 rather to conserve than to change, to expand instead of to in- 
 novate. The practical working of the system for a century has 
 demonstrated its power and general adaptation. But it should 
 be amplified to such dimensions as will fit it for the field it is 
 to occupy, the age in which it is to work, and the mission it is 
 called to discharge. As to men, there must be firmness and 
 fidelity on the part of those that make the appointments, and 
 the flexibility that comes of self-negation in the case of those 
 that receive them. But all these are involved in personal con- 
 secration, imposed by ordination vows, and inspired by the 
 most sacred traditions of the Church. 
 U 
 
154 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 The time is suggestive of stronger devotion and of higher 
 advancement. The Church is closing the first, and entering 
 upon the second, grand epoch in her history. The past has 
 been instructive, the future will be eventful. The experience 
 of one will help to meet the emergencies of the other. And as 
 we enter upon a new era, let the device upon the national ban- 
 ner — vindicated at such cost, — become a motto of the 
 Church. We are one. 
 
 The sanctions are weighty. Under the tree planted by our 
 fathers we have found shelter and sustenance. We are soon 
 to pass from beneath its shadow, and join them in the skies. 
 Our children will gather here, to eat of its fruit, and be pro- 
 tected by its branches. May they, in 1966, behold its off- 
 shoots in every land, and all sustaining normal relations to the 
 central trunk ! 
 
 Rev. Dr. Barrows read the following Address to the 
 Methodists of New England, w 7 hick was adopted : — 
 
 Though this Convention is somewhat anomalous, and with- 
 out precedent in our denomination, claiming no ecclesiastical 
 authority, yet it seems proper that we should put on record a 
 few declarations which animate and inspire us at this aus- 
 picious moment. 
 
 No former period of our history could have offered such a 
 happy combination of circumstances, under which we could 
 have assembled to take counsel together, give thanks to God, 
 and unite ourselves in prayer and stronger bonds of union for 
 our great and ominous future. The successful war to crush re- 
 bellion and treason has just been closed ; peace, industry, and 
 thrift have returned to our lately-distracted and bleeding 
 country ; the long agony of spiritual death, which, during the 
 war, rested like a moral nightmare on the Church, is now hap- 
 pily terminated. Now, life and spiritual prosperity have re- 
 turned to the Church ; the singing of birds has come ; and our 
 Zion is rejoicing in the songs of happy converts by thousands. 
 To God be all the glory. 
 
 Our glorious centenary year dawns upon us, also, while we 
 
THE ADDRESS. 155 
 
 are at work reconstructing and readjusting our government to 
 a wholly new and improved state of tilings in this nation. 
 
 The powerful influence of Christianity was never more 
 obvious in our country than now ; though sin is strong and 
 bold, and iniquity struggles for the ascendancy in all places, 
 high and low, it is everywhere confronted by the vital energies 
 of gospel truth, now so generally influencing the whole people, 
 and especially the higher and more educated classes. 
 
 We recognize the doctrines of Christianity, and its pure 
 morality, as held and promulgated by all truly Christian 
 churches, not only as constituting the basis of civil liberty and 
 good government, but, also, as the powerful reformatory 
 agency, now separating the chaff from the wheat, opening in 
 our national history a new epoch, improving our government, 
 bringing it into harmony with Christianity; so that, under it, 
 we can go everywhere and preach Christ. 
 
 We rejoice that, in these great reforms now culminating, our 
 own Church has awarded to her a leading agenc}" — the only 
 or best atonement she can offer for her wrong in years past, in 
 stepping over these sins of the country, while she had it in her 
 power to check them. 
 
 The preaching of the gospel by our itinerant ministry, in its 
 simplieit}' and earnestness, is essentially the same everywhere, 
 which God has greatly honored, in the salvation of souls, and 
 building up of our Zion. And, under the gracious smiles of 
 Providence, it has become numerous, wealthy, and influential, 
 in every part of the country which has been open to its pure 
 doctrines. 
 
 But we especially congratulate our New England Methodism 
 in its early and successful efforts to inaugurate a denomina- 
 tional system of education. It is pleasant to know that in our 
 own New England, our first seminary, university, and theo- 
 logical seminary were projected ; and have till now worked 
 vigorously on, — stronger to-day than ever before. If we are 
 not, in New England, equal to some other portions of the 
 Church, in wealth and numbers, we are thankful that, from 
 our infancy, we have been able to send forth a steady stream 
 of educated and accomplished men and women, found now 
 
156 METHODIST CENTENABY CONVENTION. 
 
 almost everywhere in our ministry, institutions of learning, 
 and in the learned professions, as well as posts of honor and 
 trust. Not a few of them are in foreign missionary fields, and 
 others are authors and writers of no little distinction. 
 
 In periodical literature, and first-class writers, we think New 
 England has not been surpassed, in point of time or ability. 
 While we rejoice, most of all, in the success of our ministry in 
 leading sinners to Christ, and building up believers in Chris- 
 tian nurture, to a state of Christian experience, somewhat in 
 advance of the theories, at least, of sister Churches, resulting 
 in a steady and permanent growth of the Church at home, not- 
 withstanding our continued contribution of numbers and learn- 
 ing to Western churches, we feel called upon especially to con- 
 gratulate our New England Church, for her leading influence in 
 all those moral and civil reforms now ripening into maturity in 
 the nation. Not man} T persons now are unwilling to be recog- 
 nized as having been leaders in the Temperance and Anti- 
 Slaver}^ reforms, and the general purification of our national 
 politics, and in restoring the government to all, and more than 
 it had lost, of its original purity. Tardy as we were in coming 
 to these duties, we were not behind any portion of our own, or 
 other Churches. 
 
 These New England Conferences were in advance, even, of 
 these New England States (which were in advance of all other 
 States), in putting on record their protest against intemperance 
 and slavery, as well as their warning against the decline and 
 dereliction of the government and its administration. So have 
 the} r been among the first to sustain the government against 
 treason, and in its timely overthrow of slavery, and slavery's 
 rebellion, as well as in clothing, feeding, and instructing the 
 freedmen. 
 
 Though we congratulate ourselves that our support of the 
 missionary cause, and other Christian charities, has" been 
 regular and gi-oicing, jet we acknowledge that in amount some 
 other portions of our Church far exceed us ; and we do and 
 will rejoice that they are doing so nobly, regretting that we 
 are not doing as much. 
 
 The fact that Methodism was introduced into these New 
 
TIIE ADDRESS. 157 
 
 England States later than in other portions of the country, 
 and after oilier and older denominations had become strong, 
 has contributed to our slow though permanent growth. 
 
 In the present position of our New England Church, -while 
 we find much occasion for humiliation and reform, there is, 
 also, much occasion for thanksgiving. Providence has 
 strangely led and prospered our way ; and great and numerous 
 have been the blessings which have come to us, our families, 
 and our sister churches, through the instrumentality of 
 Methodism. 
 
 If, with the few means of success at our command, in the 
 past, Clod has used our Church in New England for such great 
 achievements, what responsibilities will he hold us to in the 
 future ! With our efficient Conference seminaries, oldest uni- 
 versity, and theological school, in our whole Church, and with 
 the oldest weekly journal, — all thoroughly manned, and vigor- 
 ously sustained (though mostly without endowments), — what 
 vast amounts of usefulness are reasonably expected of us ! 
 Yet, the efficiency of all these means for good depends on the 
 Divine blessing, which can reasonably be hoped for only when 
 we are true to our trusts and high profession, in a growing 
 piety and holiness in the Church. Such piety can be main- 
 tained only by undiminished and increasing efforts to save 
 souls from death, and bring glory to God by spreading scrip- 
 tural holiness over these lands. 
 
 Looking forward, what are the indications of Providence 
 touching our future work? The call to-day is louder than ever 
 for an earnest and holy ministry, lest the preaching of the 
 gospel become an empty and idle ceremony, leaving the 
 churches to repose on a dead formality. That spiritual and 
 powerful ministers are now being raised up in other churches, 
 winning souls with marked success, is occasion for rejoicing ; 
 but it has not excused the Methodist ministry, nor changed its 
 call. Never was there a greater demand for deeply spiritual 
 and holy churches, for their prospective work. The future of 
 the whole Church, and of the country, under God, is now in the 
 hands of the masses of good people. The administration of 
 the government, and all its officers, from the President down 
 
158 METHODIST CEXTEXAEY CONVENTION. 
 
 to the common-school teacher, are to take shape and character 
 from the people ! The voice of the people prevailed on the 
 battle-field ; so it will in reconstruction. If the people are true 
 to God, humanity, and universal freedom, such unalloyed 
 patriotism and religion will soon become crystalized with the 
 permanent forms of our government. Then no root of bitter- 
 ness will be implanted, as when the Constitution was framed, 
 to spring up and bring forth its legitimate fruit after three 
 fourths of a century, and again deluge the land with blood. 
 God spake to nations, as well as persons, when he said, " The 
 soul that sinneth, it shall die." 
 
 That popular sentiment, first prevalent in New England, and 
 only lately local here, — universal freedom, — is now national! 
 But this offspring of ours needs further parental care, or poli- 
 ticians will slaughter it in reconstruction I But if our noble 
 Congress is sustained by an equally noble people, it is safe. 
 
 Standing, as we do just now, on the boundaiy-line between 
 the first and second century of our denominational history, 
 clergymen and laymen in Christian counsel, as never before, 
 the legitimate representatives of all New England Methodism, 
 let us in conclusion, briefly glance at a few points claiming 
 special attention in our future : — 
 
 1. Our home missionary or evangelization work. Such as 
 pressing into all destitute communities ; organizing Sabbath- 
 schools, and establishing lecture appointments ; and founding 
 new societies, calling to our aid the vast talent and piety of 
 local preachers and laymen ; vigorously sustaining class and 
 prayer-meetings in all possible places, as the only means of 
 spiritual growth among ourselves, and of saving the lost. 
 
 2. The present great Temperance movement claims our atten- 
 tion. Almost the whole Christian Church seems to have be- 
 come aroused of late to the truth, that the temperance work is 
 the regular ivork of the Church; the Church is a temperance 
 society, and the ministers are temperance agents and lecturers. 
 This cause should have its place side by side with the mission- 
 ary and Bible cause, for regular attention and contribution, or 
 we lose what we gain in our spasmodic efforts. We must give 
 the people more preaching and reading on this subject, 
 
RESORT ON STATISTICS. 159 
 
 especially our youth. Never before were there such prospects 
 lor success in this cause. 
 
 o. Increased attention is due all our regular religion* clari- 
 ties. Let these — all of them — come before our people — 
 all of our people — every year, with proper presentation. 
 Regularity and sysU m is what we most need here ; so, if pos- 
 sible, all our people shall regularly give something to all of 
 them, be it little or much. Let everybody look after it! Then 
 our churches are a living power. The increasing demands at 
 home and abroad, North and South, on our Missionary and 
 Church-extension Society, especially require this. 
 
 4. Our literary institutions stand to-day at our doors, with 
 outstretched hands, with a bewildering amount of responsible 
 work to do, with over-taxed teachers, and poorly compensated, 
 — more poorly than the pastors. We have located institu- 
 tions, and erected buildings, liberally, but have endowed next 
 to none. Hence our difficulty to sustain our own schools, un- 
 endowed, by the side of those which are endowed. This cen- 
 tenary }*ear must bring relief to these institutions, or the}* are 
 doomed to go gradually into the shade. While some of our 
 people show the most princely liberality toward our schools, 
 the masses of them are less informed and less liberal on this 
 subject than on other charities. The fault, however, is largely 
 with the ministers, in not presenting often and fully the great 
 work they are doing for the Church and the country, with their 
 limited means and pressing wants. Give the people the in- 
 formation, and they will do their duty. 
 
 Rev. D. Dorchester, of the New England Conference, 
 Chairman of the Committee on Statistics, made the follow- 
 ing report, which was adopted : — 
 
 The task which your Committee have undertaken to per- 
 form has been one of great difficulty and labor, but we have 
 patiently toiled on, and now submit the results of our investi- 
 gations. A great variety of statistical* tables has been pre- 
 pared, but it is not our intention to take the time of the Con- 
 
 * See the end of the Report. 
 
160 METHODIST CENTENARY CONTENTION. 
 
 vention in reading them. We shall present only the results, 
 and some of the inferences, in as brief a manner as possible, 
 without extended comments. 
 
 Your Committee have confined their investigations to Meth- 
 odism in New England, including all the societies within the 
 bounds of every Conference of eveiy New England State ;* 
 and have labored to present, 
 
 First, — Its present numerical condition ; and, 
 
 Secondly, — Its relative position: 1st, to the past; 2d, to 
 the population ; and 3d, to other denominations. 
 
 Firstly. Its present numerical condition. According to the 
 returns this spring,f we find within the bounds of the New 
 England States, 103,472 Methodists, including members,. pro- 
 bationers, and local preachers. 
 
 There are, also, 100,231 Sunday-school scholars, and 347,085 
 volumes in the Sunda} T -school libraries ; being an average of 
 about one scholar for each church member, and 3f volumes to 
 each scholar. The largest average number of volumes to each 
 scholar is in the States of Ehode Island and Connecticut, 
 where there are 4 T V volumes to each scholar. The largest 
 proportion of Sunday-school scholars to each church member is 
 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 
 
 The latest returns show that the Methodists of New England 
 hold 892 churches and 432 parsonages, valued at $4,402,660, 
 or $42.55 to each member. The largest average church prop- 
 erty to each member is in Rhode Island, where it reaches the 
 sum of §80.88. 
 
 There are, also, 13 educational institutions in New England, 
 under the influence and patronage of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, having 113 instructors, 3,368 pupils, and $672,261 
 worth of propeily, and 30,000 volumes in libraries. This 
 large sum of church property, of $5,074,921, has been accumu- 
 lated within a very few }*ears, — less than fifty }'ears, and most 
 of it in less than twenty-five j'ears. 
 
 We will next consider our position, 
 
 * See Table I. 
 
 t A few slight changes have been made in the figures, as given in the Con- 
 vention, and more definite statements are given in a few instances, more 
 perfect data having been received. D. D. 
 
RErORT OX STATISTICS. 161 
 
 Second. Relatively. 
 
 1. To the past. A comparison of 18GG with 18C0 shows 
 that we have about maintained our numbers. The returns of 
 18G5 showed a falling otf, sinee 1-sOO, of 518 members. This, 
 however, is smaller than the decrease of other denominations ; 
 the Congregationalists having diminished, during the same 
 period, 1,714, and the Baptists 3,198 ; in both cases a larger 
 per-eentage, even, of decrease than ours. No time need be 
 spent in accounting for this state of things. It is patent to all 
 as the result of the distraction of the public mind by the ex- 
 citement of our late civil war. Since one year ago, however, 
 we have nearly recovered our loss, which is also probably true 
 of the other denominations. 
 
 But, during this period, every other interest has advanced. 
 The number of Sunda3'-school scholars has increased about 
 13,004, and the volumes in the Sunday-school libraries about 
 37,993, and the church property nearly $1,000,000, or about 
 5S churches and 50 parsonages. And yet, maj^ we not proper- 
 ly suggest that an increase of only 185 members during the 
 last year in all New England, not quite making up for our loss 
 from I860 to 1865, is a very small advance for us to make. In 
 several New England Conferences there has been a decline, 
 even during the past year. Certainly we have abundant reason 
 for humiliation before God, and earnest prayer for the outpour- 
 ing of the Holy Spirit upon our Zion. 
 
 But we turn for a moment to a more remote past. Jesse 
 Lee, the apostle of New England Methodism, commenced his 
 labors within our bounds in the year 1789. In the year 1800, 
 there were 5,829 Methodists reported within the New England 
 States. Now there are 103,472, or an increase of eighteen 
 fold. A careful examination of a table which we have pre- 
 pared will show that there has been no decade since that time 
 in which we have actually decreased ; although the ratio of in- 
 crease has been smaller since 1840 than before. From 1820 
 to 1840, our increase was about 9 per cent, annually ; but from 
 1840 to 18G0, it was only 1^- percent.,, or only one sixth as 
 great. This, however, may be accounted for by the fact that 
 the proportion of the population to the Methodists is smaller. 
 
162 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 We have a smaller non-Methodistic population to operate upon. 
 From 1820 to 1840, there was one Methodist to 57 inhabitants ; 
 since 1840, about one for 27 inhabitants. Hence, a less rapid 
 growth may be expected. And this is a tendency in all bodies 
 as they grow larger. Besides, from 1840 to 1850 was a period 
 of unusual trial in our ecclesiastical history. The causes were 
 these : the reaction and deadness w T hich followed the Millerite 
 excitement, the losses by the Weslej^an secession, and the vio- 
 lent controversies connected with the secession of the Church 
 South, occupying the attention of the Church, and filling our 
 religious newspapers for several years. 
 
 But, during the decade prior to our late civil war, we had 
 measurably recovered, having a rate of progress of 2£fper 
 cent, annually, instead of h per cent, annually, as from 1840 
 to 1850. 
 
 2. We come next to consider the growth of Methodism rel- 
 atively to the population. 
 
 In the year 1800 there was only one Methodist for 211 in- 
 habitants in New England. In 1830 there was one for 44 
 inhabitants. Now there is one for 31 inhabitants. The New 
 England State in which we are the most numerous in propor- 
 tion to the population/' is Vermont, where there is one Meth- 
 odist for 20 inhabitants. The State in which we are the least 
 numerous in proportion to the population, is Rhode Island, 
 where we are one for 57 inhabitants. 
 
 Through every successive decade, except one, we have 
 gained upon the population, and that was from 1840 to 1850. 
 During this period our progress was only 5 per cent., while the 
 population increased 22 per cent. Connecticut is the only 
 New England State where, during the reaction from 1840 to 
 1850, our numbers kept in advance of the growth of the popu- 
 lation. But, since then, we have measurably recovered our 
 momentum throughout New England, and from 1850 to 1860 
 we increased 22 per cent., while the population increased only 
 14 per cent. 
 
 This fact will be seen to be worthy of special notice when 
 we consider that, during this period, we have realized a very 
 large increase of foreign population. In 1850, our foreign- 
 
REPORT ON STATISTICS. 163 
 
 born citizens were } of New England population. In 1860, in 
 these New England States, they had become & of the whole 
 number; having increased 52 per cent. In Massachusetts and 
 
 Rhode Island, from 1850 to 18G0, the foreign-born population 
 increased oS per cent., while the whole population increased 
 only 28 per cent., or less than one half as fast. And yet, 
 even during this period, with this rapidly increasing heteroge- 
 neous element in our midst, in these two States, Methodism 
 has increased 33 per cent., or 9 per cent faster than the popu- 
 lation. 
 
 In these calculations we have made no account of the chil- 
 dren of our foreign-born citizens, which, according to a recent 
 census, have been found to be about f- as many more. 
 
 3. Relatively to other denominations. We would make n,o 
 invidious comparisons. Our object is to understand our rel- 
 ative position in the sisterhood of churches, and be led to 
 comprehend more fulty our responsibilities. We have been 
 unable to obtain the statistics of- other denominations, with 
 few exceptions, of an earlier elate than 1840. We shall confine 
 ourselves to the statistics of the Congregational and Baptist 
 Churches in New England, as they most nearly compare with 
 us in numbers. Our figures have been taken from their own 
 published minutes. 
 
 From 1840 to 1850 these two bodies, like ourselves, fell be- 
 hind the growth of the population — probably from similar 
 causes. But from 1850 to 18G0, while the population increased 
 14 per cent., the Baptists increased only 10 per cent., the Con- 
 gregationalists 18 per cent., and the Methodists 22 per cent., 
 our own Church far outrunning all the others, and the popula- 
 tion also, in rate of progress. And from 18G0 to 1865, while 
 the Congregationalists decreased 4,714, and the Baptists 3,198, 
 the Methodists decreased 518, which is a smaller per cent. 
 
 It should, however, be added, that the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in New England has increased in a larger ratio, during 
 the past twenty-five years, than even our own, although even 
 now its numbers are only one-third as many as ours. 
 
 Methodism is now the second denomination in point of num- 
 bers in New England. The Congregationalists largely excel 
 
164 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 us ; and, fifteen years ago, the Baptists were 6.247 more than 
 we. In 1865 we were 5,944 more than the Baptists. Con 
 sidered by States, in Maine the Methodists are the first de- 
 nomination in point of numbers, in New Hampshire the 
 second, in Vermont the second, in Massachusetts the third, in 
 Rhode Island the fourth, and in Connecticut the second. 
 
 We have also prepared a table to show the comparative 
 progress of Methodism in cities and the rural districts. Taking 
 the State of Massachusetts, because the necessaiy data can be 
 more accurately obtained, and deducting the population of the 
 cities or places of 10,000 inhabitants and upwards, we divide 
 the State into two parts — the cities and the rural towns. The 
 results of the investigation, extending back over the period of 
 twenty-five } T ears, show that Methodism and Congregational- 
 ism both have increased more rapidly in the cities than in the 
 country, and that Methodism has ever grown relatively with 
 the more rapidly increasing population. The cities are, there- 
 fore, most important fields of labor, because their population 
 is growing more rapidly, and because the probabilities of suc- 
 cess are greater than in the rural towns. 
 
 Your Committee have also had their attention called to the 
 number of places left " to be supplied " during the last sixteen 
 years in New England. These are places usually supplied by 
 local preachers, under the Presiding Elder. 
 
 In 1850 there were 84 charges left to be supplied. In 
 18G6 there are 184. This seems very alarming. But as 
 the number of the stations or appointments has increased 
 during the same period 179, we have reduced the tables to a 
 per centage, which shows the relative amount of ministerial 
 supply. In 1850, 14 per cent, of the appointments were left 
 to be supplied. In 1866, there were 24 percent, left to be sup- 
 plied, or £ of the whole. Now we might endeavor to content 
 ourselves with the reflection that, in this regard, we are as well 
 off as other denominations, 36 per cent, of the Congregational, 
 and 25 per cent, of the Baptist churches in Massachusetts 
 being without settled ministers. The " stated supplies " of 
 those denominations correspond to our supplies bj- local 
 preachers under the Presiding Elder. But this ought not to 
 
REPORT OX STATISTICS. 1G5 
 
 satisfy us, whose boast it often is that our itinerant system is 
 peculiarly adapted to nourish weak places, and especially to 
 famish a permanent pastoral supply. Let us, therefore, raise 
 our hearts in prayer that the Lord of the harvest may send 
 forth more laborers into his vineyard, and, at the same time, let 
 us stimulate the churches to bestow salaries which shall better 
 compare with the increased expenses of the tin 
 
 The statistics of ministerial support have also engaged our 
 attention, and we find that the average salaries of all the places 
 in the New England Conferences reporting in 1860 was $4G8. 
 In 18GG the average salary was SG10, or an average increase 
 of only 30 per cent, in six years, while, according to careful 
 calculations, the expense of living has advanced 12G per cent. 
 The largest per centage of increase in. salaries is in the Provi- 
 dence Conference, or 3G per cent. The East Maine stands 
 next, and the New Hampshire Conference has advanced only 
 13 per cent. 
 
 Another topic is our Benevolent Contributions. The sums 
 reported in the Minutes of the six New England Conferences 
 this spring amount to $92,9G9.85. This sum does not embrace 
 ordinary home charity nor special donations. This is an in- 
 crease of $G0,1G1.39 over the amount raised in 1860, or an 
 increase of 18-4 per cent. Thus it is seen that our benevolent 
 collections have advanced six times as much as our salaries ; 
 which fact is pregnant with suggestions, and especially indi- 
 cates the self-sacrificing spirit of the Methodist preachers in 
 New England, through whose active influence this advance in 
 these collections has been made, while suffering from the scan- 
 tiness of their own support. The East Maine Conference has 
 the largest percentage of increase, it being 252 per cent, ad- 
 vance. The Maine Conference stands next, and the Provi- 
 dence Conference is the lowest in its rate of increase. 
 
 At this point I had intended to close this report, but, at the 
 suggestion of other members of the Committee, I have con- 
 cluded to add the results of a few other tables which I had 
 prepared. You will be anxious to know whether the " Hub," 
 of which we have heard so much during this Convention, is 
 sound — what are our relative condition and prospects in Los- 
 
166 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 ton, the centre of New England influence ; for, as goes Boston, 
 so goes New England. 
 
 A carefully prepared table, embracing the numbers of the 
 Congregational, Baptist, and Methodist Churches of Boston in 
 1850, 1860, and 1865, shows the following results, comparing 
 1850 with 1865: — 
 
 Increase of population .... 40 per cent. 
 " " Congregationalists . . 7 " . " 
 
 " " Baptists . . . . 12 " " 
 
 " " Methodists . . . . 43 " " 
 
 But it is said to be unfair to take the city only, inasmuch as 
 within the last fifteen years a large number of the members of 
 all denominations, doing business in the city, have moved 
 with their families out into the adjacent towns. To meet this 
 point another table has been prepared, embracing the member- 
 ship of those denominations in Boston and the suburban towns 
 within a definite radius, and the population of those towns in 
 1850 and 1865. The following are the results : — 
 
 Increase of the population 
 
 58 per cent, 
 
 " " Congregationalists 
 
 39 " " 
 
 " " Baptists 
 
 29 " " 
 
 " " Methodists . 
 
 68 " " 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 1. Methodism compared with the Baptists. 
 
 Boston. 
 
 Increase of Baptists from 1850 to 1865, 
 " «« Methodists " ■« 
 
 Boston and vicinity. 
 Increase of Baptists from 1850 to 1865, 
 " " Methodists ■« " 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 Increase of Baptists from 1850 to 1865, 
 " " Methodists »« +* 
 
 12 
 
 per 
 
 cent, 
 
 43 
 
 a 
 
 (< 
 
 29 
 
 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 68 
 
 u 
 
 (« 
 
 14 
 
 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 36 
 
 " 
 
 a 
 
REPORT ON STATISTICS. 162 
 
 New England. 
 Increase of Baptists from 1850 to 1865, . 7 per cent. 
 
 " " Methodists " " . 22 " u 
 
 2. Methodism compared with Congregationalists. 
 
 Boston. 
 
 Increase of Congregationalists from 1850 to 1865, 7 per cent. 
 
 " " Methodists u " 43 " " 
 
 Boston and vicinity. 
 
 Increase of Congregationalists from 1850 to 1865, 39 per cent. 
 
 " " Methodists " " 68 " " 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 Increase of Congregationalists from 1850 to 1865, 16 per cent. 
 
 " " Methodists " " 36 " " 
 
 New England. 
 
 Increase of Congregationalists from 1850 to 1865, 15 per cent. 
 
 u " Methodists " u 22 " u 
 
 3. Methodism compared with the population. 
 
 Boston. 
 Increase of population from 1850 to 1865, . 
 " " Methodists " " 
 
 Boston and vicinity. 
 Increase of population from 1850 to 1865, . 
 " " Methodists " " 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 Increase of population from 1850 to 1865, . 
 " " Methodists " " 
 
 New England. 
 Increase of population from 1850 to I860,* . 
 •« " Methodists " " 
 
 In conclusion, " May the Lord God of our fathers make ns 
 a thousand times as many more as we are, and bless us accord- 
 ing as he has promised." " And let all the people say, Amen." 
 
 * No census later for all the States. 
 
 40 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 43 " 
 
 i« 
 
 58 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 68 " 
 
 t( 
 
 27 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 36 " 
 
 i« 
 
 14 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 23 " 
 
 i« 
 
168 
 
 METHODIST CENTENAEY CONVENTION. 
 
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REPORT ON STATISTICS. 
 
 171 
 
 Table IV. — Averages. — 18GG. 
 
 Conferences. 
 
 S. S. Scholars 
 to each church 
 member. 
 
 Maine 
 
 lvist Maine 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 Vermont 
 
 New England 
 
 Providence 
 
 Part of Troy 
 
 " " New York 
 
 " " New York, East 
 German Missions 
 
 States. 
 
 Maine 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 Rhode [aland 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 Total average.. 
 
 Vols, in Libra- 
 ries to each 
 
 B. S. Scholar. 
 
 0.80- 
 0.72- 
 0.98- 
 
 1.00- 
 
 1.11- 
 
 1.11- 
 
 0.96- 
 0.80- 
 
 0.78 
 1.75- 
 
 3.5+ 
 3.6-- 
 3.1-- 
 3.5-- 
 2.9-- 
 3 9-- 
 2.7— 
 4.3— 
 4.1-- 
 1.9- - 
 
 Church pro- 
 perty to each 
 member. 
 
 525 78- 
 23 93+ 
 28 10- 
 30 97- 
 66 96 — 
 55 37-- 
 30 90-- 
 34 86-- 
 46 80+ 
 17 i 
 
 0.764- 
 
 0.98 — 
 
 1.01- 
 
 1.14- 
 
 1.29+ 
 
 0.82- 
 
 0.97 
 
 3.5- 
 3.2- 
 3.5- 
 
 3.14- 
 
 4. 
 
 4.1+ 
 
 3.4+ 
 
 24 91- 
 
 26 57- 
 31 62- 
 59 47- 
 80 88 
 45 94+ 
 
 $'42 55+ 
 
 NOTK.— [n our entire church in this country, the ratio of S. 8. Scholars to the mem- 
 bers and probationers is .98+. In the entire church, the average of church property 
 to each member and probationer is §33.63. 
 
 Table V. — Financial Exhibit. 
 
 Conferences. 
 
 Average Salaries 
 of Pastors.* 
 
 Benevolent Collections.! 
 
 
 1860. 
 
 1866. 
 
 Increase. 
 
 I860. 
 
 1866. | Increase. 
 
 1 
 
 
 $363 
 376 
 439 
 387 
 629 
 481 
 
 $486 
 
 491 
 500 
 462 
 809 
 653 
 
 .27p.ct. 
 .30 " 
 .13 " 
 .19 " 
 
 .28 " 
 .36 " 
 
 $3,599 76 
 1,539 55 
 3,394 48 
 2,361 63 
 
 14,615 11 
 7,291 61 
 
 $10,692 44 i 1.97 p. ct. 
 
 East Maine 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 Vermont 
 
 New England. . . 
 Providence 
 
 5,423 69 2.52 " 
 
 9,209 77 1.71 " 
 
 10,756 31 J3.55 " 
 
 38,866 26 1.65 " 
 
 18,016 38 I 1.47 " 
 
 Total 
 
 $468 
 
 $610 
 
 .30 " 
 
 $32,802 46 
 
 $92,964 85 
 
 1.84 " 
 
 * In some instances a part of a year's salary has been reckoned as a whole year's 
 salary, it being impracticable to ascertain in all cases. Each sum reported has been 
 considered as one salary. 
 
 t Local and occasional charities have not been included in this table, but only regu- 
 lar collections. 
 
 t This large increase is in part owing to the addition of a part of the Troy Confer- 
 ence since the returns of 1SU0 were made. 
 
172 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Table VI. — Membership in 1865.* 
 
 Conferences. 
 
 Maine 
 
 East Maine • 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 Vermont 
 
 New England 
 
 Providence 
 
 Part of Troy 
 
 " " New York 
 
 " " New York, East. 
 German Missions 
 
 Total 
 
 States. 
 
 Maine 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 Total 
 
 Members. 
 
 10,303 
 
 8,715 
 
 10,577 
 
 11,777 
 
 17,895 
 
 14,353 
 
 2,121 
 
 1,368 
 
 11,645 
 
 153 
 
 88,907 
 
 19,018 
 9,556 
 
 12,650 
 
 27,733 
 3,012 
 
 16,938 
 
 88,907 
 
 Proba- 
 tioners. 
 
 1,710 
 
 1,907 
 
 2,550 
 
 1,454 
 
 2,081 
 
 1,573 
 
 181 
 
 127 
 
 1,123 
 
 28 
 
 12,734 
 
 3,617 
 2,387 
 1,575 
 3,242 
 197 
 1,716 
 
 12,734 
 
 83 
 79 
 93 
 89 
 101 
 87 
 11 
 
 4 
 88 
 
 1 
 
 636 
 
 162 
 81 
 94 
 
 160 
 15 
 
 124 
 
 636 
 
 Total. 
 
 12,096 
 
 10,701 
 
 13,220 
 
 13,320 
 
 20,077 
 
 16,013 
 
 2,313 
 
 1,499 
 
 12,856 
 
 182 
 
 102,277 
 
 22,797 
 12,024 
 14,319 
 31,135 
 3,224 
 18,778 
 
 102,277 
 
 * This table was prepared for the purpose of a comparison with other denomina- 
 tions, whose statistics for 1S66 have not been collected. 
 
 Table VII. — A Summary of Methodism in New England.* 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gain per 
 
 Gain per. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Members, t 
 
 Population. 
 
 a*s 
 
 cent, of 
 
 cent, of 
 
 
 
 
 
 Members. 
 
 population 
 
 1800 . 
 
 5,829 
 16,518 
 
 1,233,315 
 1,471,891 
 
 211 
 
 
 
 1810.... 
 
 89 
 
 1.8S-] 
 
 
 .19-] 
 
 
 1820.... 
 
 23,606 
 
 1,662,808 
 
 70 
 
 .41- 
 
 
 .06- 
 
 
 1830 .... 
 
 44,366 
 
 1,954,717 
 
 44 
 
 .87- 
 
 
 .17- 
 
 
 1840.... 
 
 80,895 
 
 2,234,822 
 
 27 
 
 .81- 
 
 
 .14- 
 
 
 1850.... 
 
 81,097 
 
 2,728,116 
 
 32 
 
 .04- 
 
 
 .22^ 
 
 
 I860.... 
 
 103,961 
 
 3,135,283 
 
 31 
 
 .21- 
 
 
 .14- 
 
 
 1865 .. 
 
 102,277 
 103,472 
 
 
 
 
 
 1866... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * Table I. will show the territory embraced in this table. 
 
 t Tables I. and II. will explain who are comprised under the term members. 
 
REPORT OX STATISTICS. 
 
 173 
 
 Table VIII. — Growth of Methodism in New England, by 
 States, 1800 to 1866. 
 
 Methodism was introduced into New England in 1789. 
 
 .maim:.- 
 
 Year. 
 
 1800 
 1810 
 1820 
 1830 
 1840 
 
 1S50 
 
 18(30 
 
 is,:, 
 1866 
 
 Members. 
 
 1,197 
 
 3,464 
 
 6,017 
 
 11,06*2 
 
 22,359 
 
 21,954 
 
 24,066 
 22,797 
 
 22,962 
 
 Population. 
 
 151,719 
 228,705 
 298,335 
 399,455 
 
 501,793 
 
 583,169 
 
 628,279 
 
 Inhabi- 
 tants to 
 each 
 
 member. 
 
 126 
 63 
 49 
 36 
 22 
 
 27 
 25 
 
 Gain percent. 
 
 of 
 
 members. 
 
 Gain per cent. 
 
 of 
 
 population. 
 
 1.89+ 
 .73+ 
 
 .33+ 
 
 1.02+ 
 
 Decreaee. 
 
 1105 
 
 .15+ 
 
 .50+ 
 .31-- 
 
 .33-- 
 .24-- 
 
 !07+ 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 Year. 
 
 1800. 
 1810. 
 1820 . 
 1830. 
 1840. 
 
 1850. 
 1860. 
 1865. 
 
 1866. 
 
 Members. 
 
 171 
 
 1,953 
 
 2,819 
 
 5,485 
 
 10,519 
 
 8,911 
 11,160 
 12,024 
 11,034 
 
 Population. 
 
 183,762 
 214,360 
 244,161 
 269,328 
 
 284,574 
 
 317,976 
 326,073 
 
 Inhabi- 
 tants to 
 
 each 
 member 
 
 Gain per cent. 
 
 of 
 
 members. 
 
 1,074 
 115 
 
 86 
 49 
 27 
 
 35 
 
 29 
 
 10.42— 
 .44— 
 .94-- 
 .91+ 
 Decrease. 
 1,618 
 .25+ 
 
 Gain percent. 
 
 of 
 
 population. 
 
 *See reference uuder Table I. 
 
 VERMONT. 
 
 Tear. 
 
 1800. 
 1810. 
 1820. 
 1830. 
 1840. 
 
 1850. 
 1860. 
 1865. 
 1866 
 
 Members. 
 
 1,096 
 4,607 
 4,380 
 9,796 
 14,705 
 
 13,906 
 15,563 
 14,319 
 14,150 
 
 Population. 
 
 154,465 
 
 217,713 
 235,764 
 280,652 
 
 291,948 
 
 314,120 
 315,0y8 
 
 tints to ( -' ain P e F cent - Gain P e J cent 
 
 each 
 member, 
 
 141 
 47 
 53 
 28 
 19 
 
 22 
 20 
 
 of 
 members. 
 
 3.20+ 
 
 f227, Dec. 
 
 1.23+ 
 
 .50+ 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 799 
 
 .11+ 
 
 of 
 
 population. 
 
 .39- 
 .08- 
 .18— 
 .04-- 
 
 .07+ 
 .003+ 
 
 t Owing to changes in Circuit lines extending into other States. 
 
174 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Table VIII. — Continued. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Members. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Inhabi- 
 tants to 
 
 each 
 member. 
 
 Gain percent. 
 
 of 
 
 members. 
 
 Gain percent. 
 
 of 
 
 population. 
 
 1800. 
 1810. 
 1820. 
 1S30. 
 1840 
 1850. 
 I860. 
 1865. 
 1866. 
 
 1,567 
 
 3,027 
 
 4,828 
 
 9,788 
 
 18,843 
 
 22,830 
 
 30,367 
 
 31,135 
 
 32,542 
 
 423,245 
 47*,04Q 
 523,287 
 610,408 
 737,699 
 994,514 
 231,066 
 
 1,267,329 
 
 270 
 
 155 
 
 108 
 
 62 
 
 39 
 
 43 
 
 40£ 
 
 40 1-15 
 
 .93- 
 
 .58+ 
 1.02- 
 .90+ 
 .21- 
 .33+ 
 .0252- 
 
 .11+ 
 
 .10-- 
 .16-- 
 .18— 
 .34-- 
 
 .23— 
 .0294+ 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Members. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Inhabi- 
 tants to 
 
 Gain percent, 
 of 
 
 Gain per cent, 
 of 
 
 
 
 
 member. 
 
 members. 
 
 population. 
 
 1800 
 
 227 
 733 
 942 
 
 69,122 
 77,031 
 86,059 
 
 304 
 
 105 
 
 91 
 
 2.1*7+ 
 
 .28+ 
 
 
 1810 
 
 .11+ 
 
 1820 
 
 .11+ 
 
 1830 
 
 1,338 
 
 97,199 
 
 72 
 
 .42+ 
 
 .12+ 
 
 1840 
 
 1,971 
 
 108,830 
 
 55 
 
 .47+ 
 
 .12+ 
 
 1850 
 
 2,444 
 
 147,545 
 
 60 
 
 .24+ 
 
 .35+ 
 
 1860 
 
 3,289 
 
 174,620 
 
 53 
 
 .33+ 
 Decrease. 
 
 .14+ 
 
 1865 
 
 3,224 
 
 184,953 
 
 57 
 
 65 
 
 .05+ 
 
 1866 
 
 3,273 
 
 
 •• 
 
 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Members. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Inhabi- 
 tants to 
 
 each 
 member. 
 
 159 
 95 
 59 
 42 
 26 
 25 
 24 
 
 Gain percent. 
 
 of 
 
 members. 
 
 Gain per cent. 
 
 of 
 
 population. 
 
 1800 
 
 1,571 
 
 2,734 
 
 4,620 
 
 6,947 
 
 12,498 
 
 14,754 
 
 19,017 
 
 18,778 
 19,511 
 
 251,002 
 262.042 
 275,202 
 297,675 
 309,978 
 370,792 
 460,147 
 
 .74+ 
 .68+ 
 .50+ 
 .72+ 
 .18+ 
 .27+ 
 Decrease. 
 239 
 .039+ 
 
 
 1810 
 
 .004+ 
 
 1820 
 
 1830 
 
 1840 
 
 1850 
 
 1860 
 
 1865 
 
 1866 
 
 .05+ 
 .08+ 
 .04+ 
 .22+ 
 .24+ 
 
 
 
 Note. — The Census for 1865 has been taken only in the States of Massachusetts 
 and Rhode Island. 
 
REPORT ON STATISTICS. 
 
 175 
 
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 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION, 
 
 
 
 
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178 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Table XIII. — Ratio of Ministerial Supplies to tiie Number 
 or Stations, or Societies. 
 
 Societies left "to be Supplied. 
 
 Conferences. 
 
 Maine 
 
 East Maine 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 Vermont 
 
 New England... 
 Providence 
 
 Total... 
 
 1850. 
 
 84 
 
 1855. 
 
 17 
 16 
 27 
 10 
 25 
 35 
 
 130 
 
 1860. 
 
 1865. 
 
 121 
 
 180 
 
 1866. 
 
 20 
 30 
 29 
 35 
 
 23 
 47 
 
 184 
 
 Number of Stations, or Appointments. 
 
 Maine 
 
 East Maine 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 New England . . . 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Providence 
 
 Total... 
 
 87 
 
 88 
 
 102 
 
 103 
 
 72 
 
 83 
 
 106 
 
 91 
 
 86 
 
 95 
 
 113 
 
 109 
 
 127 
 
 144 
 
 168 
 
 161 
 
 08 
 
 63 
 
 79 
 
 *136 
 
 126 
 
 143 
 
 141 
 
 144 
 
 566 
 
 616 
 
 709 
 
 744 
 
 106 
 92 
 108 
 160 
 136 
 143 
 
 745 
 
 Per cent, of Places left to be Supplied. 
 
 Maine 
 
 East Maine 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 New^jhn gland.. . 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Providence 
 
 Total... 
 
 .08+ 
 
 .16- 
 
 .14- 
 
 .22-- 
 
 .08-- 
 
 .15- 
 
 .14+ 
 
 .19+ 
 
 .19- 
 
 .28+ 
 
 .17- 
 
 .15- 
 
 .24- 
 
 .21+ 
 
 .07- 
 .18- 
 .18- 
 .18- 
 .16- 
 .20- 
 
 .17+ 
 
 .21-- 
 .26 — 
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 .32-- 
 
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ItErORT ON STATISTICS. 
 
 17!) 
 
 Table XIV. — Local Preachers. 
 
 Or the Prospective Supply of the Ministerial Ranks. 
 
 Conferences. 
 
 Maine 
 
 East Maine 
 
 New Sampshire 
 
 Vermont 
 
 New England 
 
 Providence 
 
 Total . . 
 
 1850. 
 
 457 
 
 1860. 
 
 99 
 
 75 
 103 
 
 68 
 110 
 
 96 
 
 551 
 
 1865. 
 
 542 
 
 ISO'.. 
 
 76 
 77 
 96 
 85 
 111 
 
 531 
 
 Table XV. — Churches of Four Denominations which are 
 without Settled Pastors. — 18G5. 
 
 Denominations. 
 
 Number of 
 Churches. 
 
 Without 
 settled 
 Pastors. 
 
 Percentage 
 without 
 settled 
 Pastors. 
 
 
 489 
 
 264 
 
 78 
 
 745 
 
 176 
 
 67 
 
 8 
 
 184 
 
 .36 per ct 
 .25 " 
 
 
 
 .10 " 
 
 
 .24 " 
 
 
 
 For explanation see Ueport. 
 
180 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 
 
 
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REMARKS OX THE TABLES. 181 
 
 REMARKS ON THE TABLES. 
 
 1. Close observers will notice some variations from the re- 
 port as given in the Convention. This is in consequence of 
 incomplete data at that time, which has since been obtained, 
 and the tables thoroughly revised. 
 
 2. Some will notice some discrepancies in comparing some 
 items with their Conference Minutes. We can only say, we 
 have for the most part used the General Minutes. 
 
 3. Great pains have been taken to have every item impar- 
 tially correct. The work has been patiently and prayerfully 
 performed, under a conviction that it was the duty of spiritual 
 watchmen to scrutinize the condition and prospects of our 
 Zion. They are now submitted to the prayerful consideration 
 of the Church. May the lessons which they teach be duly 
 heeded. 
 
182 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 After singing the hymn, 
 
 "There is a fountain," etc., 
 
 Bev. Dr. Patten, of the Providence Conference, read the 
 following Essay on " What ought New England to do in 
 the Centenary movement ? " : — 
 
 The intent of the question doubtless is, What ought New 
 England Methodists to do? 
 
 The wisdom and piety of the Church, as represented in the 
 General Conference, has already answered the inquiry. We 
 may not pretend to be wise above what is written.* 
 
 1. First, then, it is our dut} T , as New England Methodists, 
 to render perfect our consecration to God. Without this, our 
 expressions of gratitude for the blessings of the century past 
 will be but an empt}^ sound — a solemn mockery ; our offerings 
 of gratitude but an unmeaning ceremony, which, though they 
 may call forth the approval of men, will not win the approba- 
 tion of God. 
 
 This consecration should be immediate, unreserved, and pre- 
 sented with faith in Him who demands the offering, and " merits 
 all our love." What sight on earth more lovely ! What, that 
 will more attract the attention of angels, or the smile of 
 heaven, than that of a favored church rejoicing in its blessings, 
 and conscious of its sacred obligations, intelligently and earn- 
 estly yielding itself to the claims of God ! If this reasonable 
 consecration is withheld, our sacred temples, however numer- 
 ous and costly, will, spiritually, be full of " dead men's bones," 
 and these " very dry ; " our educational institutions will be- 
 come the retreats of irreligion, scepticism, and sin ; our 
 agencies for doing good be shorn of their strength ; and our 
 beautiful Zion, despoiled of her glory, become a reproach 
 among the churches. 
 
 Who, then, in view of the momentous interests involved, 
 will not hasten to " present himself a living sacrifice, holy and 
 acceptable, unto God? " 
 
 * See Report of the General Conference of 1864 on the Centenary. 
 
KEY. DE. patten's essay. 183 
 
 2. It is our duty, as New England Methodists, to cultivate 
 feelimjs of yratitade ; " especially by reviewing the ureal things 
 God hath wrought for us through the agency of Methodism." 
 
 In arging this duty, the General Conference recognizes the 
 fact thai feelings of gratitude are susceptible of cultivation, 
 and that this cultivation comes b} T effort. Hence we are ad- 
 monished t; to review the great things God hath wrought for 
 us." This simple review will remind us of our indebtedness, 
 and stir the heart with grateful emotions. What great things, 
 then, hath God wrought for us? Their number is as incalcu- 
 lable, as their value is inconceivable. The "Wesleyan Reforma- 
 tion, through whose influence the spirit of piety has been 
 revived in all the evangelical churches, and millions of souls now 
 on earth, and millions in heaven, have "been brought to Christ, 
 is a divine work, compared with which the subduing of a nation, 
 or the founding of a kingdom, is as " dust in the balance." 
 The providential organization of this Church, with its sublime 
 code of doctrines, its inimitable polit}', its world-embracing 
 itinerancy, its deep-toned spiritualit}- and aggressive polic} T , is 
 a work over the results of which the songs of the redeemed 
 will never cease. The recollection of our own conversion, 
 through the ministry of Methodism, must awaken emotions too 
 sacred and intense for expression in language. But I will not 
 pause to unroll the grand panorama of the past. The faithful 
 review of the great things God hath done for our fathers and 
 their children through three generations, for evangelical Chris- 
 tendom, and the benighted nations, will enkindle in our hearts 
 grateful affections corresponding in some measure, at least, 
 with our high and ever-increasing obligations. 
 
 3. As the gratitude of the heart ever seeks expression in 
 outward acts, it is our duty, as New England Methodists, to 
 offer to Almighty God, " each according as God hath pros- 
 pered him," pecuniary contributions, to be so appropriated as 
 to render more efficient in the century to come, those institu- 
 tions and agencies to which the Church has been so deeply 
 indebted in the century past. 
 
 Mere expressions of gratitude, unembodied in overt acts of 
 love, will not only be unacceptable to God, but must affect 
 
184 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 unfavorably our moral health. We are so constituted that 
 whenever the emotion of gratitude is excited, there springs up 
 a corresponding desire to gratify this feeling, by blessing our 
 benefactor, or those around us. If this desire is gratified, a 
 joy kindred to that of angels swells the heart. You see it in 
 the beaming e} T e, the radiant smile ; } T ou hear it in the out- 
 burst of deepest satisfaction. If it is not gratified, an influ- 
 ence like the frosts of autumn steals upon us. Chilled in the 
 heart is the flow of jo}^ and withered the sensibilities of our 
 tender nature. These neglects repeated, and the kindly affec- 
 tions are soon blighted and destroyed. The humiliating result 
 is, that he who should stand forth in the Church a living em- 
 blem of the benevolence of the Deit}-, stands forth a cold and 
 heartless thing — a moving iceberg in the bosom of society. 
 
 Hence the General Conference, understanding well the phil- 
 osophy of the human heart, as well as the duties growing out 
 of our social and public relations, urges that each member of 
 the Church should contribute according to his ability, to aid in 
 liberally endowing those institutions and agencies to which the 
 Church is already so deeply indebted, and without which she 
 is unfurnished for the responsible work committed to her, of 
 enlightening and regenerating the nations. 
 
 The duty of the Church to endow and patronize our literary 
 institutions, has already been discussed by the President of the 
 Wesley an University. 
 
 It remains for me simply to allude, somewhat in language 
 used upon another occasion, to a new department of education, 
 to which the attention of the Church has recently been called 
 — that of the professional education of the rising ministry. New, 
 did I say? The first annual Conference in England, and the 
 first in this country, legislated directly for this object ; and 
 would have carried out their wishes but for providential hin- 
 drances. The theological schools in the Wesleyan Church in 
 England, are but the realization of Mr. Wesley's first and 
 cherished conception. Dr. Fisk earl} T recorded his opinion 
 that theological schools are not only desirable, but essential to 
 the future prosperity of Methodism. Dr. Olix, in a letter 
 from Liverpool, dated 1839, says : " I will not allow this op- 
 
REV. DR. PATTEN'S ESSAY. 185 
 
 portunity to pass without expressing my most deliberate con- 
 viction that the establishment of theological schools is indis- 
 pensable to our future progress." Bishop HeddFNG also 
 
 publicly recorded his belief in the Methodistic character and 
 denominational need of such schools, by accepting the Pres- 
 idency of the one organized in Concord, N. H., the first-born 
 of an increasing family of such institutions. This he did when 
 many looked coldly upon the enterprise. A few violentry op- 
 posed it, and some high in office regarded it as of doubtful 
 expediency. He nobby showed his faith by his works, visiting 
 the school, delivering lectures to its students, and, dying, be- 
 queathing to it liis library and a thousand dollars of his estate. 
 All honor to the clear-headed, large-hearted Bishop, to whose 
 varied labors American Methodism owes so much, and whose 
 memory will ever be " like ointment poured forth." 
 
 Schools of the Prophets ! Does the Church need them ? This 
 is no longer an open question. She demands in her pulpits, 
 with deep-toned piety, a breadth of intelligence and culture 
 equal, at least, to that in the pulpits of sister denominations. 
 "Without it she is not fully armed for the fearful struggle with 
 infidelity, anti-Christ, and sin. Her children demand it. So 
 do the myriads who receive the law from her mouth ; and the 
 benighted nations for whose enlightenment and salvation she is 
 responsible. So do our ascended fathers. So does the God 
 of our fathers. And it requires not the vision of a far-seeing 
 prophet to behold the day when " lchabod " shall be written 
 upon her walls, and the withering curse of Heaven fall upon 
 her altars if she neglects to furnish the means of securing it. 
 
 Can she, with wealth flowing into her coffers, and the voice 
 of God calling to duty, consent to fall behind other churches in 
 her educational enterprises ? Can she afford to lose from her 
 communion some of the most promising of her sons? Let her 
 disregard this plain duty, and, as the history of the past pain- 
 fully proves, her sons, resorting to the schools of other denom- 
 inations for their ministerial education, will, too many of them, 
 and by the workings of an inevitable law, become alienated 
 from her fellowship, and be found employing their talent- in 
 the service of those who befriended them. Can she — 1 ask it 
 13 
 
186 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 seriously, and as a lover of the Church — can she afford the 
 sacrifice, a sacrifice as needless as it is humiliating ! Can she? 
 Let her prayers to Almighty God, and a generous portion of 
 her centenary thank-offerings consecrated to this sacred work, 
 forbid. 
 
 Already measures are initiated for the adequate endowment 
 and appropriate building up of a " school of the prophets" in 
 Xew England, which shall afford facilities for professional cul- 
 ture not inferior to any in the land. Will these measures be 
 successful? A} T e, and more than successful, if the ministry 
 and laity, through the patronizing Conferences, shall respond 
 to the generous offers of such princes in our Israel as Lee 
 Claflin, and Isaac Eich, whose munificent gifts to our edu- 
 cational institutions will embalm them in the warm affections 
 of the Church through coming 3-ears, and swell their rapture in 
 the courts of heaven. 
 
 What enterprise can be more worthy of the attention of the 
 Church this centenaiy } T ear? What can lie nearer her heart; 
 or, if successful, bring upon herself, her children, or the world, 
 richer blessings? What mone} T s, brought to God, can be bet- 
 ter or more safety invested, yield a richer dividend of good, or 
 be an occasion of purer bliss, when from heaven the donor 
 shall look back to earth, and trace the results of any little he 
 may have clone for the world's welfare ? What can bring upon 
 him more the blessing of coming generations, or the smile of 
 God? 
 
 Who, then, mrinister or layman, parent or Sund.ay-school 
 child, will not hasten to present his mite for the building up of 
 our cente?inial-connectional, monumental institution, which 
 shall ever remain a memorial of his gratitude to God for " the 
 benefits received through the agency of Methodism," and con- 
 tribute " to render more efficient, in the century to come, those 
 institutions and agencies to which the Church has been so 
 deeply indebted in the century past." 
 
 The Essayist, knowing that Bishop Simpson and others 
 were expecting to speak this morning, and that the session 
 was now far advanced, omitted the further reading of his 
 
REV. Dli. PATTEN'S ESSAY. 187 
 
 paper, and closed by saying, extemporaneously , that be 
 trusted, while other objects recommended for centenary 
 benefactions would he generously remembered, thai thi8 } an 
 object in which the Church has a peculiar interest, and up- 
 on the success of which her future so largely depends, 
 would not be forgotten. He urged that each member of 
 every church and congregation should appropriate a por- 
 tion of his centenary offering to place beyond contingency 
 the success of this enterprise ; that each child in every 
 family, and each member in every Sabbath-school, con- 
 tribute enough to place a brick, at least, in the rising mon. 
 ument. By this simple act he will not only gratify his 
 benevolent impulses, and cultivate an interest in the great 
 enterprises of the Church, but will grow up warmly at- 
 tached to her institutions, aye, feel himself identified with 
 them, and, other things being equal, will the more early 
 consecrate his heart to Christ. Not to afford him this op- 
 portunity of cultivating his religious affections, would be 
 unwise and unkind. 
 
 He reminded the Convention, that our Wcsleyan brethren 
 in England distinguished their Centennial Jubilee by en- 
 dowing two theological schools, which have each year sent 
 forth a class of pious and educated young men, who have 
 exerted an elevating and saving influence through the 
 pulpits and press at home, and swelled the ranks of those 
 who toil in heathen lands. He earnestly prayed that the 
 New England Methodist Church may render her centennial 
 memorable, by liberally endowing and generously furnish- 
 ing one School of the Prophets, whose influence, during 
 centuries to come, should be more deeply and widely felt 
 in subduing the world to the reign of Christ. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Crooks, Editor of" The Methodist," New York: 
 — Mr. President and Brethren, — J have been asked sev- 
 eral times, yesterday and to-day, how I enjoy this gather- 
 ing of representative men of New England Methodism, 
 and I have fallen so happily into the spirit of the Conven- 
 
188 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 tion, that I said, tins morning, I was very sorry that I was 
 not a New Englander myself. But you know that is some- 
 thing which cannot be helped. I am glad to say, however, 
 that, if not a New Englander, I am, in my Methodist work, 
 a sort of second-cousin, for the New York East Conference 
 has the pleasure and honor of cultivating a part of your 
 New England soil, and your own University is within our 
 bounds. Brethren, you can't quite take from us New 
 Yorkers the pleasure and satisfaction of contributing 
 something, at least, to the triumphs of New England Meth- 
 odism. [Applause.] We will share in them, and as your 
 eyes kindle, ours kindle, too. As your hearts glory, ouri 
 glory with them, for we are bound with that same common 
 connectional tie, and recognize the forces and obligations 
 of that common Methodism whose centenary we are com- 
 memorating this year.- 
 
 I have the pleasure of being present in company with 
 two members of the Central Centenary Committee, Bros. 
 Oliver Hoyt, and C. C. North, one of whom addressed you 
 yesterday afternoon. The Committee are here to repre- 
 sent some of the interests which are in their keeping, and 
 to speak a few words relative to the connectional cente- 
 nary work. It gave me great pleasure, this morning, in 
 looking over your programme of topics, to observe this 
 one : " How can the old Connectional Spirit of Methodism 
 be revived and perpetuated ? " I hailed with delight and 
 intense satisfaction the thoughts so well presented to you 
 by the brother whose 'duty it was to read you the essay 
 upon this theme. I could not help remembering that your 
 own Jesse Lee came from Virginia, the gift of the old Bal- 
 timore to the New England Conference. As I stood be- 
 neath that old elm, yesterday, where he preached his first 
 sermon in Boston, and sung, with you, as it was a pleasure 
 to do, one of the grand old Methodist hymns, my heart 
 swelled with gratitude, and I thought, surely the fathers 
 might well be bending over us, with satisfaction and joy, 
 from their seats in heaven. 
 
DISCUSSION ON DR. TATTEX'S ESSAY. 180 
 
 And now, Bir, how can we revive and perpetuate the old 
 connectional spirit? Is there any other answer to the 
 question than this : We can best perpetuate the connec- 
 tional spirit by entering into connectional work ; by car- 
 rying forward connectional enterprises; by strengthening 
 the connectional bond, and making all Methodists feel that, 
 while they belong to New England, the West, the Centre, 
 or the Border, they are still, by the power of Methodism, 
 one and indivisible ; and, as we often say it, eternally one ! 
 One of your Boston literary men has said, and given it as 
 his adviee to every man who would accomplish something 
 in this world, that he should 
 
 " Hitch his wagon to a star." 
 
 He meant that every man should link himself with some 
 one of the great forces in -the universe, and should. 
 through the power of these forces, be carried forward. 
 And it is a grand conception to connect and link ourselves 
 with some one of the great principles, interests, move- 
 ments, by which this world is carried forward. When a 
 man builds a ship, he does not build it to sail upon the 
 pond before his house, but upon the ocean, and carries its 
 blessings to all the inhabitants that dwell upon its fair 
 face. And if he can find some warm and beneficent gulf, 
 stream, which carries a genial temperature, and endless 
 good to all lands, why, he floats himself joyously in that ; 
 and so shall we, and so do we, when we enter into the 
 work of connectional Methodism. We launch into that 
 great gulf-stream of philanthropy, which is, at this hour, 
 visiting all shores of the globe, and carrying the warmth 
 of a Christian atmosphere to its populations ; for our 
 Methodism, though it be planted in America, stretches out 
 its arms to the ends of the earth. Your Warren, whose 
 name it is so pleasant to you to mention, is doing his work 
 on the soil of Germany, even at this hour, an illustration 
 of the progressing, expanding, and irrepressible energy of 
 American Methodism. 
 
190 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 The Central Centenary Committee are an executive 
 committee. They devise nothing, — they simply execute. 
 They have no right to hold the funds that come into their 
 hands ; they are passed over to the Treasurers. And the 
 plan, which has been given them to execute, embraces nu- 
 merous particulars, some of which are already familiar to 
 you; but it has occurred to me, in looking over the 
 ground, that, in offering the connectional plan, the General 
 Committee have provided for the full satisfaction of local 
 feeling. Thus, here in New England, you have the Bibli- 
 cal School, which you are about to locate near the city of 
 Boston, or therein. In the centre, at New York, we have 
 committed to our care a Missionary Home and a Biblical 
 Institute ; and I am glad to be able to say, that the latter 
 of these institutions has been wholly assumed by one of 
 our great-hearted and liberal laymen, Daniel Drew. The 
 other of these has been taken in hand by the ladies. We 
 are certain that they will accomplish what they undertake, 
 for, whenever they lay their hands upon any enterprise, 
 they are certain to carry it forward to a successful issue . 
 Another of these institutions is the Biblical Institute, at 
 Evanston, near Chicago. Here, too, connectional and local 
 feeling are alike satisfied, and, in the same manner, the 
 privilege of founding a Biblical Institute was given to the 
 people of Ohio, to be located near Cincinnati ; and the 
 privilege of locating still another, on the Pacific coast, was 
 given to the citizens of San Francisco. And I want to 
 say, to the honor of the memory of one of your own New 
 England men, the pioneer of you all, that it was the cher- 
 ished purpose of the heart of Dr. Dempster to go and end 
 his life upon the sea-coast of the Pacific, and give the last 
 of the energies of that long and useful existence to the 
 founding and building up of an institution of learning for 
 the education of ministers, on that far-off coast. While 
 meditating and preparing for this last work of his life, it 
 pleased Providence to finish all his work. 
 
DISCUSSION OX DR. PATTEN'S ESSAY. 101 
 
 I have to say, brethren, moreover, that while the local 
 institutions of the Church, and as connected with the cen- 
 tenary of Methodism, are dear to us, yet we cannot answer 
 the question fully, — " What shall we do to revive and per- 
 petuate the connectional spirit?" — without looking at 
 some of the broad connectional enterprises which, in Di- 
 vine Providence, are placed under our care. It has been 
 contemplated, therefore, and proposed, that we found, as 
 a memorial, a Connectional Educational Fund. Let us 
 look at this. To what purposes is it to be applied? First, 
 to the preparation of young men who design and desire to 
 enter the missionary work ; secondly, to the aiding the 
 education of young men who intend to enter the ministry 
 at home ; third, to the support (mark this) and mainten- 
 ance of the Biblical Schools now in existence, or which 
 shall hereafter be created with the sanction of the Church. 
 
 [Time for the speaker being up, it was extended by 
 motion of Dr. Cummings.] 
 
 I was on the point of saying that, in the third place, the 
 fund il to be appropriated to the support of the Biblical 
 Institutes ; and, in the last place, to the support of the 
 academies and colleges existing, or which may be founded 
 on conditions specified. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Chicago : — I was requested a few 
 moments ago by our friend, Dr. Patten, to say a few 
 words with especial reference to the work of our Biblical 
 Institute in the West. Sufficient to say, in reference to it, 
 that the hand of God hath strangely been manifested in 
 that work. Some time in 1839, a lady in the city of Chi- 
 cago came forward and bowed at the altar of prayer as a 
 «eeker of salvation, to become partaker with the faith of 
 the gospel, and was blessed with a Christian experience. 
 When, in the providence of God, she came into the posses- 
 sion of a large fortune, she determined, before she passed 
 away, to endow a school for the instruction of young men, 
 candidates for the Christian ministry. That school was 
 
192 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 planted upon the shores of Lake Michigan. There came 
 to it one of your own men, — the indomitable, brave, iron- 
 hearted, determined, pure-minded John Dempster. [Great 
 applause.] And I may say, Mr. President, that it is one 
 of the most vivid remembrances of my life, that that de- 
 voted man of God breathed his last in my arms. A little 
 while before he died, he was told that he must soon pass 
 over the river ; and when I said these words, there was 
 not a tremor passed over his countenance, not a blanch of 
 the cheek. He received the announcement in the same 
 manner that he would have received anything of the most 
 common character. 
 
 God has strangely blessed that institution. The endow- 
 ment which it received from that " elect lady " is princi- 
 pally near or in Chicago city proper ; and it is worthy of 
 notice, perhaps, that the great building which was erected 
 for the Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for 
 the first time President of the United States, was erected 
 upon the lands owned by the Garrett Biblical Institute, of 
 the North West. That building is still in our possession, 
 and is still preserved as one of the landmarks of the North 
 West. That property is destined to sustain one of the best 
 institutions of our country, for such, with God's blessing, 
 we mean to make it. I want to say, sir, it is our purpose 
 to rear the building, of which you have heard in New Eng- 
 land, the Memorial Heck Hall, and the foundation-stone is 
 to be laid in a few weeks. 
 
 We have gone out to our people, saying, "You are 
 clamoring for this ministry of highest culture. Thus far, 
 the Biblical Institute (the only one in the West) has not 
 cost the Church a single dollar. Now, we ask you to fur- 
 nish the means for the buildings, or stop your clamor." 
 And they are doing it. It is the purpose of the trustees, 
 that not one of the dollars of the fund for the endowment 
 shall be put into the brick and mortar. We will wait 
 till the Church will rear these buildings. We will not ex- 
 
DISCUSSION OX DR. PATTEN'S E6SAT. 193 
 
 pend these trust-funds, but will send, if need be, to all tho 
 it "West, appeal after appeal, till the Church will pro- 
 vide them; but not one dollar of these trust-funds do wo 
 purpose to expend. God's blessing has been upon it. 
 Young as the institution is, its representatives have been 
 heard upon the other side of the globe. The mission in 
 India has been strengthened by it. And now we are 
 waiting to hear what New England says in reference to 
 the cause of Biblical institutions. We shake hands with 
 you, in this great work, from the prairies of the great 
 West. I will delay you no longer. 
 
 C. C. North, Esq., of New York: — I stand here as 
 the representative of a million of children. I have come 
 here in these five minutes to advocate the interests and 
 well-being of a million of children. I cannot do much in 
 the five minutes. I see them, all through the ranks of 
 Methodism, wondering how I will make out in this short 
 time. I am here to represent the " Children's Fund r? as a 
 part of the great centennial plan. Now, there comes an 
 opportunity, a golden and glorious opportunity, in this 
 centenary year, to give the children a chance to work for 
 themselves. Now, what do we hear ? Here is Bro. Pat- 
 ten, wanting all these little children to come and sustain 
 the Theological Institute. We want them to be em- 
 ployed, through all the ranks of Methodism, in building up 
 a monument of not less than a million dollars for the espe- 
 cial benefit of the children ; a fund by which the intelli- 
 gent children of the Sabbath-school — [a voice, saying, 
 " Bro. North, the children can do both, if you will let 
 them."] Yes, I know it, but shall they be allowed to do 
 it? We want a dollar for every scholar throughout 
 Methodism, for a grand centennial monument, as an ex- 
 pression of the gratitude of the children, which shall re- 
 dound through all time to come, and be a source of com- 
 fort, and a source of joy. Brethren of New England, I 
 beg of you to remember the children, the ignorant and 
 
194 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 poor children, who ought to be educated by this fund ; 
 and now let us have a fund worthy of the children 
 throughout the connection. Why, sir, I look over this 
 vast assembly of men and women, and on this platform, 
 and I see all these finished and educated men, and these 
 noble women, are the result of our Sunday-school enter- 
 prise. 
 
 What would be nobler than to remember the Children's 
 Fund, and roll out a portion of your means, and roll up 
 such a fund as will be of vast benefit to the youth of our 
 country ? 
 
 I remember a little boy, sitting on his mother's door- 
 step, bare-footed and bare-headed, and a kind and intelli- 
 gent teacher came along, and he took him and brought 
 him into his Sabbath-school, and educated and trained him. 
 All he knew he owed to the Sabbath-school, and here he 
 stands before you to-day. [Sensation and applause.] Do 
 you suppose that I am willing to take my centenary offer- 
 ing of this centenary year, and give part of it to the Theo- 
 logical Institutes, and Central Educational Funds, and 
 missionary buildings in New York, and part of it here, and 
 part there, and nothing to the Sabbath-school, which has 
 done so much for me ? I will give a part to the Theologi- 
 cal Institute, and, so far as there is any Irish in me, part 
 to the Irish Fund ; and, so far as there is any German in 
 me, part to the German Fund ; but I tell you that at least 
 one thousand dollars shall go out of my pocket for the 
 Children's Fund. [Great applause.] Now, solid men and 
 women of Boston, you of New England, come forward 
 and do likewise. [Long-continued applause.] 
 
 Bishop Simpson, being called on, responded as follows : 
 — I have neither strength, brethren, nor will time permit 
 me to spend but a moment or two. I rose simply to say 
 that this great enterprise of yours, in building a Centen- 
 nial Theological Institute for New England, meets my 
 warmest sympathy, and most cordial approbation. There 
 
DISCUSSION ON DB. PATTEN'S ESSAY. 195 
 
 are enterprises of vast moment, and you will have, in dif- 
 ferent parts of it, your seminaries to sustain and endow; 
 but it seems to me that, in addition to your local work in 
 your Conferences, it is the duty of the Church throughout 
 all New England to give something to this central insti- 
 tute, which shall be as a fountain from which, I trust, riv- 
 ers of water shall flow for centuries to come. 
 
 When you consider the amount required, it will not be 
 a very large sum, and yet I know of very liberal-minded 
 brethren who will make very large contributions; but, 
 after the matter is carried to all your churches, if you who 
 arc here will but carry away the proper spirit, and urge 
 your men of means to contribute something to this cause, 
 you will see arising here in Boston or vicinity an institu- 
 tion of which you will be proud. 
 
 Your children will come here for an education, for I 
 know you have a desire to have sons in the ministry. 
 Young men to be educated, some of them out of the 
 streets, as one of these has spoken of, will arise to be the 
 men of eloquence, and the men who shall lead all Israel 
 along for you. I hope that New England ivill secure an 
 ample endowment for the School of the Prophets. 
 
 Br. Peck, being called on, said : — Not at this moment, 
 if you please, Mr. President. I thank the brethren, but 
 desire them to consider precisely the stage of our affairs, 
 and excuse me to a later period. I am in such a condition 
 of restraint with regard to the different topics that are up, 
 that I beg you not to increase the influence which tends 
 to utterance, did I attempt an expression. I am busy with 
 all my might in suppressing myself. Now, you help me. 
 [Applause and laughter.] 
 
 The Convention adjourned, with singing the doxology, 
 and the benediction. 
 
196 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 
 
 The services were opened with singing 
 
 " Jesus, the name high over all," 
 
 and prayer by Rev. A. C. Manson, of the New Hampshire 
 Conference. 
 
 Hon. J. J. Perry, of Maine, read the following essay on 
 the Duty of New England Methodism to the South : — ■ 
 
 Mr. President : — Ever since the Pilgrims planted their feet 
 upon Plymouth Rock, New England has occupied a conspicu- 
 ous position in the history of this country. Strike out her 
 record from its pages, and you disfigure every page upon 
 which is written the triumphs of American genius, the valor 
 of American arms, and the gigantic progress of the human 
 mind in the fields of literature, science, and the arts. 
 
 New England struck the ke} T -note of the Revolution, and so 
 long as the fiery, glowing, eloquent words which shook old 
 Faneuil Hall and the world — from the lips of Otis, of Adams, 
 and Warren — are ringing in our ears, liberty will never die. 
 
 When treason culminated into open rebellion, and armed 
 resistance to the general government ; when the life of the 
 nation was suspended in the balance, and the capital of the 
 country was beleagured by the barbarians of slavery, — old 
 Massachusetts was the first State in the Union to send for- 
 ward her troops to its defence. The first blood that was shed 
 in defence of American liberty, flowed from the veins of Mas- 
 sachusetts soldiers at Lexington ; and the first martyrs in 
 the cause of human rights, in the war of the rebellion, were 
 Massachusetts soldiers, who fell on their way to the national 
 capital, before the fury of a pro-slavery mob in the streets of 
 Baltimore. 
 
 When the highway to Washington was hedged up, and the 
 devil of secession sat " grinning ghastly smiles " in the monu- 
 mental city, boasting that no more Yankee troops could pass 
 over Maryland soil, and that the Federal capital would be an 
 
MB. terry's essay. 197 
 
 easy prey to the rebels, it was the inventive genius, the heroic 
 courage, an<l indomitable perseverance of a Massachusetts 
 General, in the person of Benjamin F. Butler, that cleared the 
 track, and taught the people of " My Maryland " that what 
 could not be got over could be got round. 
 
 With a soil less fertile, and natural advantages inferior to 
 her sister States in the South, the West, and the Middle Coun- 
 try, New England, in the great race of high intellectual cul- 
 ture, moral reform, works of benevolence, and intensified 
 patriotism, has outran them all. New England has always 
 been great, but the historical events of the last live years have 
 elevated her still higher in the scale. 
 
 And here, in passing along, I am forcibly reminded of the 
 stale old cry that has been coming up from the South and the 
 "West for years, " Slough her off, and leave New England 
 out in the cold." The Union, without New England, would be 
 like the play of Hamlet without Hamlet. Dismember her 
 from the Union, and it would not be like the severing of a foot 
 or a hand, but it would be a decapitation of the body politic, 
 followed by all the disastrous consequences that naturally re- 
 sult from such an act. 
 
 When we speak of New England, we mean something besides 
 her cloud-capt mountains, verdurous hills, fertile, sunny vales, 
 glassy lakes, majestic rivers, and sounding woodlands, — some- 
 thing besides her splendid cities, beautiful villages, industrial 
 workshops, humming factories, and neat, commodious farm- 
 houses. We mean her men and women, — her hard}, intelli- 
 gent, industrious population. 
 
 Again, when we speak of the people of New England we 
 cannot forget that we are addressing one hundred thousand 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, representing four 
 million dollars in church property, with an army of Sabbath- 
 school scholars numbering over ninety thousand. I believe 
 a fair estimate of those connected with our churches, societies, 
 and congregations — of those who tacitly agree with us in our 
 doctrines, and modes of worship, and who either directly or 
 indirectly ally themselves to us as a religious denomination, 
 will add one fifth to our membership, making a total of Jive 
 
198 METHODIST OENTENAEY CONVENTION. 
 
 hundred thousand who look to the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 in New England as their great religious teacher and instructor. 
 The six New England States in 18G0 contained a population 
 of 3,135,285. They probably now number 3,500,000. From 
 this it will be seen that one seventh part of the whole popu- 
 lation may be classed as Methodists. 
 
 Without stopping to give the statistics of other religious 
 denominations, or to make a comparison between them and 
 our own, I may be fully justified in the remark that Methodism 
 is a power in New England. 
 
 This brings us to the question for discussion, " The duty of 
 New England Methodism to the South." 
 
 First. In doing our duty to the South, we have a great 
 and important work to perform at home. Armed rebellion in 
 the South has been subdued by military power. In this great 
 work New England has acted a prominent part. She furnished 
 men and money without stint. The rebels have laid down their 
 arms, but the contest is not ended. It is no longer a war of 
 bristling bayonets, and booming cannon, but a war of opinions. 
 Rebellion is not dead. There is dark, deep, and damning 
 treason yet firing the Southern heart. The South say to us, 
 11 We want to come back into the Union." We reply, " Very 
 well, we want j t ou to come back." Thus far both parties 
 agree in the abstract. But there is a conflict, and it is right 
 here. We say to the South, " We want you to come back 
 into the Union truly loyal ?ne?i, so that we can have guaran- 
 ties for the future." They reply, " No, sir ; we do not 
 admit that secession and rebellion were wrong ; we only sub- 
 mitted to Federal authority because we were obliged to by supe- 
 rior military force ; in other words, we are just as good rebels 
 now, as we ever were, and we claim the right to send back 
 into Congress the very same class of men who, in 1861, left 
 the House and Senate to inaugurate the rebellion." Here, then, 
 is the great issue that must be met and settled, not by bullets, 
 but by ballots. The remark is sometimes made that it is wrong 
 to cany religion into politics. 
 
 This, in plain English, means that a Christian man should 
 take off his Christian coat and ignore his religious character to 
 
MB. pebbt's essay. 199 
 
 qualify him to exercise the elective franchise. God deliver 
 us {Void ever belonging to a party whose platform and prin- 
 ciples hide themselves away from the teachings of truth and 
 righteousness ! 
 
 Two parties may start on apolitical campaign and fight it 
 out where there really is no principle involved. Sometimes 
 abstract questions of party policy may be all that divide 
 parties. ;ind at other times it may be narrowed down to the 
 simple question, Who shall enjoy the patronage and receive the 
 loaves and (ishes. Since the inauguration of the rebellion, 
 voting has become a more serious business. New and weighty 
 responsibilities have attached themselves to every man who 
 goes to the ballot-box. 
 
 What will hereafter protect the Union men of the South, 
 either black or white, but the votes of the loyal men of the 
 North? Our armies are being withdrawn, and the Freedmen's 
 Bureau will be trammelled or destroyed by the policy of 
 Andrew Johnson, and who will save them from the brutal 
 ferocity of President Johnson's reconstructed rebels ? Let the 
 Memphis riot and other like scenes answer the question. 
 
 I therefore lay it down as a plain logical conclusion, grow- 
 ing out of the premises, that the sixty or seventy thousand 
 Methodist voters in New England should so bestow their 
 suffrages as to secure to the Union men of the South the full 
 enjoyment of all their civil, religious, and political rights under 
 the Constitution of the United States, as amended, and the 
 laws of Congress. This is among the very first great duties 
 that Methodism owes the South. New England Methodists 
 should, by their votes, aid in keeping in Congress a class of 
 men who never can be drawn away from the straight line of duty 
 by the corrupting inlluences of executive patronage, and who 
 will stand linn against any and every reconstruction policy 
 that will not secure to the nation a permanent peace, and at 
 the same time secure to the freedmen and the loyal element in 
 the South full and ample protection, now and hereafter. They 
 should aid in electing such men as will bar the doors of 
 Congress against the entrance of the leading traitors in the 
 rebellion. And if 3-011 inquire how long the Jell'. Davises, 
 
200 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 the Benjamins, the Lees, the Toombses, the Hunters, and the 
 Masons should be excluded, I answer, Forever. 
 
 For years before the rebellion, a northern man had no 
 country south of Mason and Dixon's line. The old flag 
 was no protection to him there, unless he was shingled all 
 over with certificates of character from some pro-slavery 
 demagogue in the North. Citizens of the North who had 
 committed no offence, while travelling in the South, 
 were waited upon by vigilance committees, waylaid by 
 drunken, howling mobs ; insulted, maimed, tarred and feath- 
 ered, ridden upon rails, imprisoned, hung, and butchered in 
 cold blood, upon mere suspicion of being what the barbarians 
 sneeringly called abolitionists. Let us vote squarely against 
 any policy of reconstruction that does not blot out from 
 American soil that old s}*stem of atrocious despotism which 
 so long cursed and disgraced the American name. 
 
 I ask your pardon while I indulge in a single digression from 
 the line of my argument. An eminent Methodist divine in a 
 public address a few weeks since, made this remark : — that the 
 Methodists were a modest kind of a people, and had never in- 
 dulged to any great extent in self praise ; but this year being 
 centenary } T ear, they had a general license to say what they 
 pleased, — and I desire to say a few words under this section. 
 
 I raise the inquiry, How has it happened that a great re- 
 ligious order, outnumbering by hundreds of thousands any 
 other religious denomination in the country, and holding the 
 balance of power in every state in the Union, has had compara- 
 tively so few representatives in the councils of the state and 
 nation ? With your Methodist population of one hundred and 
 fifty thousand in Massachusetts, how many men of our order 
 have been placed in the gubernatorial chair, and how many 
 Methodists have ever represented the old Bay State in Con- 
 gress? I might propound the same interrogatory to every 
 other New England State. Is not the answer found in the 
 fact that other orders have taken better care of their own 
 friends than have the Methodists ? Let me be not misunder- 
 stood. I do not contend that the Methodists, as a body, 
 should set themselves up as a political party, that the machin- 
 
MB. PEBRT'S ESSAY. 2<)1 
 
 oiy of her church should be brought to bear In any such direc- 
 tion. Such a proposition would savor too much of "Church 
 and Stale." What I do maintain is this, that, in selecting 
 
 candidates for office, the Methodists should see to it that her 
 denominational rights and interests are not ignored by poli- 
 tical parties. Our order should have a fair representation 
 among other religious orders, other things being equal. Metho- 
 dists should take care of their own friends. Not a single 
 election takes place. where political parties do not need Metho- 
 dist votes. Let us say to them, give us fair and equal represen- 
 tation ; if not, ive will make ijou ; and the work will be done. If 
 in times past we have Buffered in this regard, the fault lays at 
 our own doors ; we have been too generous to others and too 
 unmindful of our own interests and our friends. I speak as 
 to wise men ; judge } r e what I say. 
 
 Second. Another duty New England Methodists owe the 
 South is to aid in planting New England institutions upon her 
 soil. I use the term in its broadest, most comprehensive 
 sense ; and, in the first place, we can do this by laboring to 
 extend to them our superior educational advantages. New 
 England, in an educational point of view, is the garden of 
 the world. Our universities, colleges, graded seminaries, 
 academies, and common schools challenge the admiration of 
 the world. 
 
 If the sunny South had been dotted over with New Eng- 
 land School-houses, there never would have been any rebellion. 
 Had the advantages of a common School education, which we 
 enjoy, been extended to the masses south of Mason and 
 Dixon's line, their conservative influences would have held 
 the demon of secession in chains, and the rebel leaders would 
 have failed in " firing the southern heart "and plunging the 
 country into civil war. 
 
 Not only the freedmen but the poor whites must be raised 
 up from the pits of ignorance and moral degradation into which 
 they have fallen under the degrading influences of slavery, and 
 they must be taught something more elevating than the old 
 traditional southern training of hating the Yankees, and curs- 
 ing the abolitionists. I know that the masses in the South 
 14 
 
202 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 have been for years taught b} T the "chivalry" that Yankee 
 school-masters, and Yankee school-mistresses are monsters ; 
 but notwithstanding this, it is our duty to send them down there, 
 and if we do it, we shall in the end " conquer their prejudices" 
 and reconstruct public sentiment in the South upon this 
 question. 
 
 The rebellion and the abolition of slavery have left southern 
 Society in a transition state, and now is the favored time 
 for New England Methodists to join hands with their brethren, 
 of all other sects and orders, to take the field and carry for- 
 ward the standard of education until it waves in triumph over 
 eveiy southern field. 
 
 It may cost us something, but what of that? We may 
 as well make books, as manufacture guns, and powder, and 
 balls ; we may as well educate men at Harvard, at Middle- 
 town, at Yale, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, and our other colleges, 
 seminaries, and schools, to fight our battles in the civilian's 
 dress, as send them to West Point, and Annapolis, to learn 
 to fight in gilded uniforms and shoulder-straps. 
 
 In the next place it is our dut} r as Methodists to perform 
 our share of the work in carrj'ing into the South New 
 England industry. It rnaj^ be called boasting to allege that 
 the men and women of New England have clone more than 
 the people of any other section of the Union to infuse a spirit 
 of enterprise into the masses, but it is the truth ; and the 
 same ma} T be said when we assert that New England indus- 
 try has become proverbial all over the country. How have 
 New England emigrants fashioned and moulded society in 
 the Middle States, and in the great West, carrying with 
 them their churches, their school-houses, their high-toned 
 morals, their excellent systems of manual labor, their un- 
 tiring industry, and thrifty enterprise. 
 
 Had not the vile system of slavery, dividing off Southern 
 territory into large landed estates, creating caste and de- 
 grading free labor, shut out from the South New Eng- 
 land enterprise and industry, instead of the desolation that 
 wasteth at noon-day, instead of deserted churches, barren 
 fields, cities in ashes, and the wide spread ruin of war on 
 
MR, perry's essay. 203 
 
 every hand, the whole South would have been to-day as the 
 '♦garden of the Lord." Yes, Sir; for the want of the life- 
 giving, electrifying energy that New England enterprise; and 
 industry would have infused into it, that whole section of 
 country stands to-day chained up to the dead past. Slavery 
 is dead. Thank God. The black man no longer toils in 
 the chain gang, and under the lash. When he labors, the 
 law says he shall have his pay. Free labor for both races 
 hereafter is to be the order of the day in all the South. 
 Tliis will make a tremenduous overturn in their whole social 
 system. To successfully bring about this great revolution the 
 South will need help, and the Yankees are just the men to tell 
 them how to do it. And strange as it may seem, I believe 
 the time is not far distant when our southern brethren' will be 
 glad to avail themselves of Yankee skill, and industry. Before 
 the war the southern chivalry said we were a set of cowards, 
 that we dare not fight, a,nd that one southron could whip ten 
 Yankees. Somehow or other, the events of the last four or 
 five years, have taught them that the3 T labored under a 
 mistake in this particular; so by the time they get fairly recon- 
 structed they will (hid they have been mistaken about some 
 other thin 
 
 Third. The closing of the rebellion opens in the South one 
 of the greatest fields for missionary work that is anywhere 
 presented to the Church, and it is the duty of New England 
 Methodism to go in and help to occupy it. " Say not four 
 months, and then cometh the harvest. I say unto you, the 
 fields are white already to harvest." Not only Ethiopia 
 stretcheth forth her hands unto God, but a cry conies up from 
 the loyal men and women of the whole South, " Come over 
 and help us." Here is one of the grandest fields for Christian 
 enterprise that ever has or ever can come up, making demands 
 upon the liberality and enterprise of the Church. If we don't 
 '• carry the war into Africa," in this moral contest, let us for- 
 ever blot out this old Roman maxim, not only from our books, 
 but our very memories. 
 
 The reasons for the positions here assumed are numerous 
 and weighty, a very few of which I have time to notice. 
 
204 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 1. The Methodist Church owes it to her own character and 
 standing as a Church, to occupy this ground. Our Church is 
 emphatically a missionary Church. "Wherever man goes, the 
 self-sacrificing Methodist itinerant finds his way, carrying upon 
 his lips the last great command of his Master, " Preach the 
 gospel to every creature." He follows the resounding echoes 
 of the pioneer's axe, as he advances into the Western wilds ; 
 and, when nightfall closes his daily toils, he sits down with 
 him in his log cabin, and preaches Jesus to him there. Oh ! 
 there is a moral sublimity, a halo of glory, as if from the 
 Eternal Throne, settling upon the heads of these heroes of 
 Methodism as they carry the banners of the Cross, not only 
 across continents, but into foreign lands and the isles of the 
 sea, everywhere proclaiming the everlasting gospel and the final 
 conquest of the kingdoms of this world to the kingdom of our 
 Lord and his Christ. 
 
 Can such a Church, with such agencies for spreading the 
 truth, look on with indifference with such a field before it as 
 exists in the South ? Why, sir, it would be a reproach to the 
 Methodist name to do it, and the world would look on in won- 
 der, and cry out, fallen ! fallen ! 
 
 2. We owe it to the kyval Methodists in the rebel States, 
 formerly connected with the Church South, to occupy this 
 ground. Many of them are tired of this pro-slavery church 
 organization ; they desire to get back with their brethren to 
 the old fold. It is our duty to extend to them the helping 
 hand. But our duty does not stop when we send them the 
 preached Word ; we should send them means to build up the 
 walls of their spiritual Jerusalem, to repair up old churches, 
 and, wherever practicable, build new ones. More than this, we 
 should gather them together into churches and societies, and 
 extend to them the ordinances of the Church. And, when this 
 is done, it is our duty to stand by them until they can take care 
 of themselves. It is a great gratification to know that this 
 good work is already begun by our Church authorities. Let it 
 go on, until all true Methodists, North and South, shall see eye 
 to eye, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one country. 
 
 3. The freedmen of the South have special claims upon us 
 
MB. perry's essat. 205 
 
 .is a Church to aid them in the terrible ordeal through which 
 they are now passing. Their loyalty to the Government, their 
 bravery upon the battle-field, their fidelity to our half-starved 
 prisoners, need no eulogy from me. They arc known and read 
 of all men. Thousands of these freedmen are Methodists, but 
 being in a transition stale, from slavery to freedom, they need 
 help. Our Church authorities should have the means put into 
 their hands to meet the spiritual wants and necessities of these 
 men. They never again can need assistance so much as now. 
 Let Xew England Methodists see to it that the}' discharge their 
 whole duty in this direction. 
 
 4. If we do not occupy the missionary ground now opened 
 to us in the South, other denominations trill, and we shall lose it 
 forever. Our brethren of other orders understand this thing, 
 and the}' are moving with a commendable vigor and en< 
 They concede to us the front rank in the great army of our 
 God, and we shall be compelled to march forward in this order 
 from victory to victory. As a denomination of Christians we 
 have great and vital interests at stake in this matter. Respon- 
 sibilities crowd up from eveiy direction, and we shall prove 
 ourselves degenerate sons of noble sires if we fail to meet 
 them as Christian men. 
 
 5. The last general point that I shall have time to notice 
 in the discussion of the question, is this : In discharging our 
 duty to the South, we should adopt such a polic^v as will have 
 a tendency to bring back the Church South to loyality, and re- 
 unite both branches in one body. And here let no one start back, 
 for I shall base my whole argument upon the hypothesis that 
 we never shall be called to go to them; but they, in the end, 
 will come back to us. When it became, known as a fixed fact, 
 that the Methodist Episcopal Church was to be divided into 
 two great divisions — separated by a geographical line between 
 the North and the South — that distinguished Statesman, 
 Henry Clay, in great sorrow, remarked, that "it would cer- 
 tainly lead to a division of the Union." What was prophecy 
 then, is history now. Mr. Clay saw at a glance that when the 
 most numerous, influential denomination of Christians in the 
 country, representing a population of live or six millions, 
 
206 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 divided into two great antagonistic bodies, one representing 
 the North and the other the South, with slavery as the rock 
 upon which they split, it must of necessity intensify the hos- 
 ting then existing between the two sections of the country. 
 And so it proved. After breaking away from the main body, 
 the Church South made pro-slavery ism, with all its atrocities, 
 its great hobby, and with a phrenzied zeal continued to fan the 
 embers of secession, until they burst out into open, armed re- 
 bellion. During the war the Church North and South were 
 equally pitted against each other. The Methodist Episcopal 
 Church furnished more men for the Federal army than any 
 other denomination in the country to put down the rebellion. 
 The Church South led all other orders in supplying the army 
 of the rebellion with men. Methodist Chaplains North used 
 to pray for Abraham Lincoln and the success of the Union 
 armies, while Methodist Chaplains South were praying with all 
 their might for Jeff. Davis and the armed rebels. 
 
 How stands the case now between the two Churches? 
 The great procuring cause of the division is removed. 
 Slavery divided the Church, and slavery is dead. It is per- 
 fectly logical to say, that when the cause of division is removed, 
 division should cease and harmony be restored. Judging from 
 the action of the Church South, both in her general and an- 
 nual conferences, we see but little hope of a reunion of the two 
 churches. But what else could we expect, when we consider 
 that the men who composed these conferences are rebels, burn- 
 ing with all their old hate to the Church North, intensified by 
 four years' fighting? There are two things that will greatly 
 modify the ' asperity of the Church South in its relations with 
 the old Church, and that within comparatively few 3'ears. 1. 
 The reorganization of society in the South will do much in 
 this direction. The tide of emigration from the North will 
 gradually flow into all the Southern States. The whole social 
 condition of the people, under the new order of things, will be 
 changed, and with it will gradually die out southern hate. 
 It may be a process of years, but it will come. 2. If the rebel 
 leaders in Church and State manage to keep their necks out of 
 the halter, under the unwise policy of Andrew Johnson, they 
 
MR. ferry's essay. 207 
 
 will soon pass off the stage under the omnipotent decree of the 
 Great Ruler of the Universe, and their .successors will grow up 
 with opinions greatly modified under the new order of things. 
 Starting with these premises, I maintain that a reunion of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, North and South, is not only pos- 
 sible, but probable, at no very distant day ; for time works out 
 wonderful changes sometimes in a few years. As New Eng- 
 land Methodists, let us be firm, decided, and unwavering in our 
 fidelity to the church of our choice. Let us support her in 
 maintaining the high position she has assumed, that if con- 
 cessions are hereafter made, they must come from, and not be 
 made to, conquered rebels, either in Church or State. 
 
 Mr. President, it is truly wonderful to look back over the 
 past five years and see how kindly God has dealt with us as a 
 nation ; how, in the gloomiest, darkest hours of the rebellion, 
 when we were willing to do right, he would stretch out his om- 
 nipotent arm and turn the tide of battle in our favor. He who 
 cannot see God in history, during the terrible conflict from 
 which we are just emerging, must be worse than an infidel. 
 The war is over, but, as a nation, we are not 3-et out of danger. 
 Things sometimes look gloomy and forbidding, but I have faith 
 in God that all will come out right. This mighty people has 
 not yet worked out its manifest destiny on the earth. I see 
 in the dim future a people's empire, stretching from ocean to 
 ocean, and from the Gulf to the inland seas of the North. I 
 listen, and from not a single foot of this broad, expansive ter- 
 ritory do I hear the clanking chains of slavery, or the sharp 
 crack of the slave-driver's whip. It is all — 
 
 " The land of the free, 
 And the home of the brave." 
 
 Rev. W. D. Malcom, of the Vermont Conference, was, at 
 his request, excused from reading the essay that had been 
 assigned to him. 
 
 At the conclusion of the Essay, President Claflix an- 
 nounced that it had just been decided by the Joint Com- 
 mittee having that matter in charge, to locate the Concord 
 Biblical Institute in the city of Boston, or within three 
 
208 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 miles of the State House ; and also that the Rev. Wi£. F. 
 Warren, now in Germany, had definitely accepted his ap- 
 pointment as one of its Professors. The announcement 
 was received with many earnest expressions of enthusiasm 
 by the Convention. 
 
 The Business Committee offered the following resolu- 
 tions, as their report, in part, which were adopted : — 
 
 Resolved, 1. That in the great prosperity' of the Church, nu- 
 merically and financially, there is a natural danger of our depart- 
 ure from the meekness and simplicit}' of the gospel, and we no- 
 tice with pain a growing tendency among us in that direction : 
 Therefore, we urge upon our ministry and laity the most vigor- 
 ous and prayerful effort to return to the modesty and simplicity 
 of dress and personal equipage enjoined by St. Paul. 
 
 2. That a kind, but firm and vigorous discipline is absolutely 
 necessary to preserve the Church from worldliness and decay ; 
 and never more so than now. All ecclesiastical history shows 
 that here begin church backsliding and corruption. Therefore 
 it becomes us as a Church to watch with sleepless vigilance our 
 own driftings in this direction. 
 
 3. That in view of the importance of the timely collection 
 and proper arrangement of historical facts and data, we recom- 
 mend the establishment for that purpose of a permanent His- 
 torical and Statistical Board for New England ; that Rev. 
 Daniel Dorchester, Wm. C. Brown, Esq., Rev. S. W. Cogges- 
 hall, D. D., Benjamin Pitman, Esq., Rev. Eleazer Smith, Dr. 
 Wm. Prescott, Rev. A. G. Button, A. J. Willard, Esq., Rev. 
 Asahel Moore, Dr. E. Clark, Rev. E. A. Helmershausen, and 
 Hon. Charles Beale, be invited to serve in that capacity until 
 the next meeting of the Conferences ; and that at their next 
 ensuing session each of the New England Conferences be re- 
 quested to annually appoint one minister and one layman to 
 serve on such Board, — which bod} T , so constituted, shall ap- 
 point its own officers and make its own bj'-laws. 
 
 4. That this Convention commend the claims of our noble 
 marine to the prayerful consideration of American Methodists, 
 and especially ask her ministry and episcopacy to devise lib- 
 eral things for their s."^\ttion. 
 
RESOLUTIONS. 209 
 
 5. That without at all weakening or embarrassing our con- 
 nectional principle, it is our opinion that much more might be 
 done to organize and develop the individuality and strength of 
 the local societies. We think it would be well to have occa- 
 sional business meetings of the whole church, and thai Buch 
 gatherings of the whole society could act, directly or through 
 appropriate committees, efficiently on the financial and other 
 interests of the church. "We also think it would be well for the 
 General Conference to provide that the Stewards of the several 
 societies shall be elected by the whole church, instead of the 
 present method. 
 
 G. That we are highly pleased with the manner in which our 
 Book and Periodical business is conducted in New England. 
 We are glad to learn that the Boston Wesleyan Association 
 have obtained an act of incorporation, and commenced the ac- 
 cumulation of a fund for the purpose of providing a suitable 
 building in the city of Boston for the occupancy of the Book 
 Depositoiy and *'Zion's Herald" office, and as a denomina- 
 tional headquarters. To such an object we pledge our hearty 
 co-operation, and we hope the project will be consummated in 
 season to properly designate it the a Centenary Building." 
 
 7. That we heartily welcome the movement of our last Gen- 
 eral Conference, the subsequent invitation given by the Central 
 (or General) Centenary Committee, and the Erie resolutions of 
 the Episcopal Board, which contemplate the co-operation and 
 ultimate reunion of all branches of the Methodist family in 
 America, upon the loyal and anti-slavery platform of the Dis- 
 cipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church. And Ave hail with 
 pleasure the response given to these initiative movements from 
 the late Cincinnati Convention of United Methodists, by the 
 appointment of a Committee to address our bishops on the sub- 
 ject of a general Methodist unity, — a consummation most de- 
 voutly to be wished for, and a result eminently in harmony 
 with this grand memorial year. 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 
 
 Whereas, It is obvious to this Convention that the religious 
 instruction of children by their parents is, to an alarming extent, 
 neglected within our borders ; and 
 
210 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Whereas, The Sabbath-schools of the Church are not so far 
 succeeding as to give our youth a permanent and sufficient 
 knowledge of the doctrines and duties of the gospel. There- 
 fore 
 
 Resolved, 1. That we regard the instruction of the .young in 
 the doctrines of the gospel, and by the use of "sound words" 
 to be treasured in the memory, — such as the Lord's Prayer, the 
 Ten Commandments, 'the Apostles' Creed, the Catechisms of 
 the Church, etc., — as indispensable to the salvation of our chil- 
 dren, and the future growth and permanenc}< of Methodism in 
 this land ; and that valuable as the Sabbath-school may be for 
 the instruction of the children of the unconverted, and an aid 
 to parental teaching, it was never designed to supersede family 
 instruction in the things of Christ ; and to abandon the latter 
 for the former is fraught with the most disastrous conse- 
 quences. 
 
 2. That we respectfully request our Tract Society to secure, 
 either by offering a prize or otherwise, a powerful appeal to our 
 people upon this subject, to be printed in tract form for gratui- 
 tous circulation ; and we believe that pastors of churches should 
 preach especially upon this subject, and urge upon our people 
 the importance of personally instructing their children in divine 
 things, and in the doctrines and usages of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church'. 
 
 3. That a more perfect acquaintance with the Lord's Praj'er, 
 the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, and our Church 
 Catechism should be sought in our Sabbath-schools, rather than 
 social entertainments. 
 
 4. That the importance of the Sabbath-school work demands 
 more time than is usually given to it in our New England 
 churches. 
 
 5. That such a change of our Sabbath services as shall secure 
 this result is plainly indicated by the general conviction of Sab- 
 bath-school laborers as the best and wisest polic}* in fact, and 
 that we should endeavor to educate the people to this result. 
 
 6. That, in the judgment of this Convention, the regular at- 
 tendance of the members of our Sabbath-schools upon the pub- 
 lic services of the sanctuary is so vital to the welfare of our 
 
REV. BIB. 8TUBB8' 8PEE0H. 211 
 
 children, and the present and prospective interests of the 
 
 Church, thai we cannot too strongly urge this Bubjecl upon the 
 Immediate practiced attention of all our ministers and laymen 
 in New England. 
 
 Pending the adoption of the foregoing resolutions, on 
 motion of F. Rand, Esq., Rev. R. S. Stubbs, of the New 
 Hampshire Conference., was called upon to oiler some 
 remarks on the fourth resolution. Bro. S. proceeded to 
 address the Convention as follows : — 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Convention, and Friends, — 
 I deeply feel 1113' personal insignificance at this time ; I can but ap- 
 peal, therefore, to the magnitude and grandeur of the interest I ad- 
 vocate to commend my words to your favorable consideration. 
 
 Nearly three fourths of the earth's surface is covered with water, 
 apparently an arid waste, — to barbaric eyes, a formidable barrier 
 to all outside intercourse ; to the ancient Egyptians, " an unclean 
 thing ; " according to Plato, " the schoolmate of all vice and dis- 
 honesty ; " to the elegant Greek, u an abyss ; " but in the esteem 
 of Jehovah, " very good." Science teaches that " the sea is the 
 great fertilizer of the land, the equalizer of heat, and the regulator 
 of climate," and Inspiration teaches that which History confirms, 
 namely, that the world's evangelization must be accelerated 
 or impeded in the ratio that the world's marine is or is not 
 sanctified ; so that the purport of this resolution cannot cease 
 to claim the serious consideration of the Church of God. The 
 earliest records of the Church teach us that the sea rendered 
 her efficient service, and afforded her a refuge when the anger 
 of the Lord swept the earth with its desolating breath. Noah, 
 " a preacher of righteousness," the only surviving shipmaster of 
 his times, was the divinely-appointed custodian of morals, the- 
 ology, and religion, — the only visible head and high-priest of the 
 Church of God ; in this instance, navigator and priest were 
 
 dentical, sailor and Christian were synonymous. AY hen God 
 endued Solomon with the wisdom requisite to build him a 
 temple, and. through an alliance with the King of Tyre, secured 
 for him the co-operation of cunning artificers and craftsmen, the 
 
212 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 materials prepared by their skill in the forests of Lebanon, and 
 in the quarries of Zaredatha, must forever have remained there 
 but for the service rendered by " Hiram's shipmen." 
 
 In laying the foundations of the Christian Church, the 
 Messiah exhibited a kind of divine predilection for the men of 
 the sea as peculiarly choice instruments for that great work, — 
 and " the}' immediately left the ship and their father and fol- 
 lowed him." Of " the twelve " chosen by him, seven of the first 
 eight named were fishermen ; Peter, Andrew, James, John, and 
 Philip were of the tribe of Naphthali, and Nathaniel and Mat- 
 thew were of the tribe of Zebulon (see Matt. iv. 12-22 ; comp. 
 Gen. xlix. 13 and 21, and Isa. lx. 5). And in this selection 
 there was not only a remarkable fulfilment of some of the most 
 ancient and most sublime prophecies, but there was also a sug- 
 gestion to the Church in all ages to look well to the men of the 
 sea ; for, in the language of Isaiah, " When the multitude of 
 the sea is converted to God, then the forces of the Gentiles 
 shall come unto Thee." 
 
 The question, Who gave this American continent to civiliza- 
 tion and Christianity ? admits of but one answer, — The men of 
 the sea. By whom was the continental army sustained when the 
 colonies were wrested from kingly usurpation and secured to 
 constitutional freedom? The men of the sea. T>y whom was 
 Jeff. Davis' slaveholding, woman-whipping, child-selling, man- 
 enslaving, liberty-hating Confederacy cut in two, and its 
 Atlantic broadside crushed in? Echo replies, The men of the 
 sea, under the lead of such naval heroes as Commodores Foote, 
 Porter, Farragut ; Admirals Dupont and Stringham ; Captains 
 Worden and Winslow, and Lieutenants Cushing and Boggs, — 
 these men vindicated the righteousness of our cause, and every- 
 where maintained the honor of our flag. 
 
 At this point the inquiry is pertinent, What is being done for 
 the men of the sea by the American churches ? 
 
 Of the world's marine, consisting of nearly 3,000,000 souls, 
 300,000 belong to the United States. Of seamen from all parts 
 of the globe, it is computed that 100,000 enter the harbor of 
 New York annually. Six thousand of this number constitute 
 the seafaring portion of the floating population of New York 
 
BET. MB. STUBBS' SPEECH. 213 
 
 and Brooklyn, and for their particular accommodation there 
 arc, of mission stations and bethels, fifteen places that invite 
 the sailor to hear the Word of God. 
 
 B} r all the religious bodies in the United States, about 
 $150,(K)0 are contributed for the religious culture of seamen. 
 To this amount we will add $100,000, which will probably cover 
 
 all donations for the same purpose, not mentioned in the pub- 
 lished reports ; yet even then we have less than a dollar per 
 annum for the religious culture of each American sailor! 
 
 Of this amount, probably one sixth ($250,000) is furnished 
 by our own denomination, }-et not one tenth of the bethels in 
 America sail under Methodist bunting ! In other words, about 
 one half of the money contributed by Methodists for bethel 
 purposes is invested annually in Calvinistic theology, Calvin- 
 istic bethels, and Calvinistic chaplains ! 
 
 Now, it is a fact that, in the providence of God, bethel labors 
 were inaugurated by Zebulon Rogers, a member of the Metho- 
 dist Church, and were carried forward b}' Methodists for nearly 
 three years before any other Church entered this field of 
 Christian endeavor. Another fact is equally a matter of his- 
 toric interest to us as a denomination ; the bethel flag, that 
 now floats in eveiy clime, and greets the storm-tossed Christian 
 mariner in man}- a foreign port, — that blessed flag was devised 
 by Zebulon Rogers, and the first bethel flag ever kissed by the 
 breath of a propitious heaven was made by his sister. On 
 the 2od of March, 1817, a little company of Methodists, assem- 
 bled on board the "Zephyr," of South Shields, Captain Ilind- 
 hulph, on the river Thames, hoisted this first bethel flag to the 
 mast-head. Thus, as a denomination, we are identified, by the 
 openings of Providence, and by the records of history, with 
 bethel labors ; and why we should have deserted this interest- 
 ing field, to be tilled by other hands, is beyond my comprehen- 
 sion. The sociability, spirituality, and flexibility of Methodism 
 peculiarl}' adapts it for and commends it to the affection and 
 necessities of seamen. 
 
 With many thanks to the Convention for this indulgence, I 
 earnestly beseech you to take home to your hearts the religious 
 welfare of the sailor. Before I take niy seat, I must express 
 
214 METHODIST CENTENARY CONTENTION. 
 
 my regret that our venerable Father Taylor, the eloquent friend 
 of seamen, whose loving, melting gospel-appeals have led thou- 
 sands of seafaring men to Christ, — I say I can but regret that 
 the infirmities of age compel him to retire from active work, 
 and make it imprudent for him to be present at this hour, to 
 electrify our souls by his thrilling appeals in behalf of this large 
 and interesting class of men. May the great Head of the Church 
 cheer his declining hours, and bless his estimable wife, — a true 
 mother to the sons of the ocean, — and raise up many laborers 
 as devoted and indefatigable as they have been ; then will the 
 halcyon days come when the sailor shall no longer utter the mel- 
 ancholy wail, " Refuge faileth me ; no man careth for my soul." 
 
 Rev. Dr. John W. Chickering, Agent of the Suffolk Tem- 
 peraace Alliance, being on the platform, and invited to ad- 
 dress the Convention, arose and spoke as follows : — 
 
 I am very sensible, Mr. Chairman, of the kindness shown 
 me, and the honor done me, in allowing me to stand on this 
 platform, and sa}^ " Amen " to that clause of the Address you 
 have adopted, which relates to Temperance, — Christian tem- 
 perance, religious temperance. 
 
 Temperance is a matter of duty to God, because God made 
 humanity. I felt that I did wish to represent a Christian tem- 
 perance organization here, and having the delightful satisfac- 
 tion of working with Methodist brethren in the management, 
 and in the services of the Suffolk Temperance Union, and as- 
 sisting them in their pulpits, I felt that I should be very glad 
 to thank them for the kind sympathy which the3 T have shown, 
 not to the cause merely, but to me, as representative of that 
 cause. I told my Congregational brethren, the other day, in 
 the closing meeting of the great " Anniversary Week," that I 
 had had these special opportunities of being with brethren of 
 other denominations, and found them emphatically of one 
 heart ; and I come to } t ou with the same interest. We are 
 getting more and more religious, more and more Christian ; 
 therefore, less and less sectarian. I don't think that these 
 bars are getting any lower ; perhaps we are putting on a rail 
 
. REV. DB. OmOKBBING'fi SPEECH. 215 
 
 now and then ; but we are getting taller, and our hearts are up 
 nearer our heads. Hope 3*011 won't entirely annihilate as, fur 
 I am of a family of five generations of ministers. 
 
 It won't do to puff you now. You are taking a position, and 
 becoming a power in the land very fast. Now, the truth is, as 
 to welcoming you, there is not much use to say that, for you 
 will come, whether or no ! [Laughter.] I think we preach a 
 good deal alike. I don't hear anything that I call heresy. I 
 have preached for the Methodists a good deal, and they have 
 not told me that they have discovered anything in my preach- 
 ing that is heterodox. But there is one thing sure : we pray 
 alike, and it is so in regard to the singing ; and I think that 
 when we get up there, we shall shout alike. [" Aniens."] 
 
 And as to the tenure of the ministry, we arc getting very 
 near alike ; as we are getting so short, and you are getting so 
 long in that matter. [Applause.] I remained thirty years 
 with one people, and I have spoiled them, so that they can't 
 get another minister ; and I sometimes wish I was a bishop, 
 and then I could give them a minister. [Laughter.] In re- 
 gard to the bishops, I must allow myself to say one word : 
 that I gave you a little extra credit, and more than you de- 
 serve. I sat here last evening, just as I arrived in the meet- 
 ing, and didn't know who you had here. And I heard a gen- 
 tleman introduced as your " beloved Bishop." And when the 
 gentleman was almost finishing, I said to myself, " Well, 
 really, I don't know about that great orator. Bishop Simpson, 
 I've heard of; if he beats this man, I'd like to see him." 
 [Tremendous applause.] 
 
 I will just say, I have brought here a thousand copies of the 
 report of the organization, in which your dear brother-, Mr. 
 Sleeper, and Mr. Dunn, are official managers and auxiliary la- 
 borers in our Christian Temperance movement, which we are 
 trying to carry on in the Church, and out of the Church, and 
 with the divine help of the Lord. I sat here, a week ago to- 
 night, and saw a dear, excellent brother sitting in front. I 
 retired into an ante-room for business ; and soon after, that 
 brother's bod}' was carried into another ante-room, and his 
 spirit had gone to God who gave it. 
 
216 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 May God grant that, if we be not living at the second Con- 
 vention yon have been speaking of, whilst they shall come with 
 glad rejoicings on that day, we who have gone may be looking 
 down, smiling to hear it, yet feeling so thankful that we were 
 not spared, but gone up higher to be with the Lord. 
 
 Rev. H. W. Warren, of the New England Conference, 
 from the Business Committee, read the following resolu- 
 tions, which were adopted : — 
 
 STATE OF THE COUNTRY AND THE CHURCH. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That since the righteous judgments of a just 
 God have purged us from the fact of slavery, the most solemn 
 duty of the Church and State is to extirpate the last vestige of 
 its deadly virus from its midst. 
 
 2. That this demands that the State make its citizens of 
 tried loyalty, the sole depository of its powers ; that the ballot, 
 as the chief support of the State, be granted to those only who 
 will maintain the constitutional government, regardless of any 
 contingency, and that it is our profound conviction that Con- 
 gress should allow no State that has been in rebellion to be 
 again represented in its councils, till such State gives its ballot 
 impartially to loyal men, regardless of color or race. 
 
 3. That all schemes of reconstruction, not based on the 
 principles of eternal justice and equal rights, are delusions 
 dangerous, and may be fatal ; and for the support of Congress 
 in the exercise of its high perogatives, we pledge the earnest 
 prayers and the whole moral influence of the seven hundred 
 and fifty churches we represent. 
 
 4. That the spirit and practical working of caste is detri- 
 mental to men, and abhorrent to God, and therefore our 
 Church should instantly and forever abolish all distinctions 
 based thereon, and never allow their introduction into any or- 
 ganizations or movements in the Southern field. 
 
 5. That we regret the late untimely movements looking to a 
 re-union with the Southern Methodist Church, except in so far 
 as the}' revealed the animus of the parties, and that we com- 
 mend the course, in this respect, of the editor of our own 
 
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION. 217 
 
 organ, the " Zion's Herald," and that of the editor of the chief 
 official journal of the Church, as eminently wise ; as agreeable 
 
 to the convictions of New England ; as consistent with the oft- 
 repeated declarations of the Church in General Conference as- 
 sembled ; which declarations we believe she will 3'et more em- 
 phatically assert at her next session. 
 
 G. That we endorse the South Carolina Conference, because, 
 faithful among the faithless, it has, first of all, successfully 
 vindicated the only Christian policy of no invidious distinctions 
 among brethren. 
 
 7. That we hereby tender our hearty thanks to Bros. T. AVil- 
 lard Lewis and A. Webster, because, as members of the Con- 
 ferences of New England, in the midst of great difficulties and 
 dangers, they have been true to these principles of their fathers 
 and their God. 
 
 8. That we approve of the establishment of the Baker Insti- 
 tute, and hope that a seminary may be specdiry established, 
 equally open to every one desirous of knowledge, and be the 
 nucleus of a university based on the same broad Christian 
 foundation. 
 
 9. That we especially approve of the establishment, as soon 
 as practicable, of a paper under the auspices of that Confer- 
 ence, which shall advocate equal rights in Church and State, 
 and be the organ of a pure and perfect civilization and 
 religion. 
 
 The Committee on Publication presented their report. 
 The Convention, on motion, authorized the Committee to 
 publish the proceedings of the Convention in a bound 
 volume — and a Committee to superintend the printing 
 was appointed, consisting of Revs. E. A. Manning and 
 George Prentice, and Messrs. J. P. Magee and P. Rand, of 
 the New England Conference. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cooke, of the Business Committee, moved that, 
 inasmuch as a Convention similar to this may be desired at 
 some future time, the following committee be appointed to 
 decide on some basis of representation, and to call said 
 Convention. The motion prevailed. 
 
218 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Providence Conference, Rev. Dr. Patten, TV. B. Lawton; 
 New England Conference, Rev. L. R. Thayer, G. M. But- 
 trick ; Maine Conference, Rev. C. E. Allen, J. J. Perry ; 
 East Maine Conference, Rev. E. A. Helinershausen, A. S. 
 Weed ; New Hampshire Conference, Rev. A. C. Manson, 
 J. B. Chapman ; Vermont Conference, Rev. D. P. Hul- 
 burd, TV. A. Burnett; New York East Conference, Rev. 
 Dr. Crooks ; New York Conference, C. C. North j Troy 
 Conference, Rev. I. G. Bid well. 
 
 The following supplementary resolutions were adopted : 
 
 Resolved. That while we regret the absence of Bishop Baker, 
 we heartily rejoice in the presence of Bishop Simpson, and we 
 hereb3 T extend to him our best thanks for the able and deeply 
 interesting address of last evening. 
 
 Resolved, That Dr. True, of Boston, be, and hereby is, re- 
 spectfully requested to prepare a history of the Biblical Insti- 
 tute at Concord, especially in reference to its origin ; and 
 further, that he be requested to have it ready and read it at 
 the second Convention of the Methodist ministers and laymen 
 of New England. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention be offered to 
 the Hon. J. J. Perry, for the able and interesting essay read 
 by him this afternoon, on the Duty of New England to the 
 South. 
 
 Resolved, That our thanks are due to the Committee of Ar- 
 rangements for the excellent provisions for our meeting ; to 
 our honored President and other officers of the Convention, for 
 their assiduous services ; to the Essayists for their able papers ; 
 to the people of Boston and vicinity for their cordial entertain- 
 ment of the delegates ; and to the railroad corporations and 
 steamboat companies who have reduced their fares to our 
 meeting. 
 
 The business of the Convention being complete, the 
 President arose and addressed the body as follows : — 
 
 Brethren of the Convention, before we separate I wish to 
 return you my thanks for the very distinguished honor you 
 
219 
 
 have done me, in calling me to preside over 3-011 in this Con- 
 vention ; and to say to 3*011 that, in the vote of thanks you 
 have passed to the able Committee, and the thanks you have 
 ottered to the Secretaries of this meeting, 3*011 have dour them 
 no more than justice. Now, as we are about to separate, to 
 meet as a Convention no more on earth ; as we have spent so 
 pleasant a time in the review of the past, and seeing what 
 great things God has clone for us, how wonderfully the polity 
 we represent has shown its power in the salvation of men ; and 
 as we take our places among the great churches of our land, 
 let us look forward in imagination to that great meeting which 
 will be held, not in this hall, but in some appropriate and mag- 
 nificent place one hundred 3*ears hence, when our children's 
 children will there assemble, and commemorate the great ad- 
 vance and the glories which will attend them on that occasion. 
 
 And as we look forward to that time, and see the multitude 
 gathered there, and the great advances in prosperity of the 
 county, now so happily united, no more to be divided 03* the 
 hand of traitors or treason, looking forward upon a hundred 
 millions of men, gathered from eveiy nation under heaven, 
 without any distinction on account of race or color, there to 
 assemble and mingle their praises to God that they are accorded 
 freedom to worship him, with no one to molest or make afraid ; 
 I say, as we look forward to this, and the3', too, look back to 
 our work of to-day and wonder, perhaps, at our simpleness of 
 conception, at the various questions that divided us to-da3 r , we 
 may look forward with joy and a feeling that, to some extent, 
 we have done our duty. 
 
 At the same time we can feel that, while other themes may 
 be considered by them, yet they will not be more fervent ; that, 
 as the3 r sing the old songs which we have sung to-da3*, they 
 will not be sung with a more spiritual devotion, with a fuller 
 purpose to serve the Great God, our Master, nor will the3* have 
 a more earnest desire to press forward the work committed to 
 their hands. 
 
 May we hope that in that great day there will be no more of 
 dissonance or want of harmony in that Convention than there 
 has been in this ; and they see that we have met here to-day 
 
220 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 without one unkind thought, or one unpleasant action, as I 
 trust, nor one unholy motive ; that we, too, were animated with 
 that desire which openeth every Christian heart, and which is 
 the great principle of our gospel. 
 
 And now, my friends, as I take leave of j t ou, as j'ou go to 
 your various homes, I tender } 7 ou my sincere hopes, my most 
 sincere prayer, that prosperity may attend you in both spiritual 
 and in temporal things. I bid you all, in behalf of the Con- 
 vention, adieu. 
 
 We will sing, before the benediction is pronounced, the Mis- 
 sionary Hynm, " From Greenland's Icy Mountain." 
 
 Two verses were sung, and the benediction was pro- 
 nounced by Rev. A. D. Sargent, of the New England Con- 
 ference, and the Convention adjourned sine die. 
 
CENTENNIAL FESTIVAL. 
 
CENTENNIAL FESTIVAL IN MUSIC HALL. 
 
 The New England Methodist Episcopal Convention, 
 which, for the last three days, had been in session at Tre- 
 mont Temple, having concluded its deliberations, the Cen- 
 tenary Festival took place, as a grand finale, Thursday 
 evening, June 7th, at the Music Hall. The Festival was a 
 social gathering, and not designed to devise means. and 
 raise funds to promote the great enterprises of the 
 churches, which have been determined on to mark the 
 one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of Meth- 
 odism in America. It was, in point of numbers, by far 
 the greatest event of the kind ever witnessed in the city 
 of Boston, while, in social pleasures and eloquent ad- 
 dresses, it was an occasion long to be remembered by 
 those who were so fortunate as to participate. 
 
 After listening to an exhibition of the powers of the 
 Great Organ, by J. H. Wilcox, the collation was served at 
 6 o'clock by J. B. Smith, after a blessing had been asked 
 by Rev. A. D. Merrill. 
 
 The intellectual feast began at 74 o'clock. The Chair- 
 man, Hon. Wm. Claflin, Lieutenant Governor of Massa- 
 chusetts, called the meeting to order, and, after another 
 organ performance, the following hymn, written for the 
 occasion by Rev. George Lansing Taylor 1 , was sung, to 
 the tune of " Duke Street " : — 
 
 Great God of Israel, Lo, to thee 
 Adoring millions bow the knee, 
 And bless with rapturous shouts and tears, 
 Thy goodness through a hundred years ! 
 
224 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Since first our sires this New World trod, 
 What wonders hast thou wrought, God ! 
 A nation vast from sea to sea ; 
 A church whose myriads worship thee ! 
 
 God of Elijah, flash thy fire 
 Responsive, while our prayers aspire, 
 Till hearts and holocausts shall flame 
 A sacrifice to Jesus' name. 
 
 Pour forth thy spirit from on high ! 
 Convert, illumine, sanctify ! 
 Till millions more, with Israel's host, 
 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ! 
 
 Prayer was then made by Rev. L. R. Thayer, D. D., of 
 Boston. 
 
 The Chairman pleasantly alluded to the fact that Meth- 
 odists usually held a watch meeting once a year, and he 
 hoped they would be willing to stay late once iu a hundred 
 years. 
 
 Letters were now read, by Rev. W. F. Mallalieu, from 
 several distinguished men who could not attend, including 
 Hon. Chief Justice Chase, Lieut.-Gen. Grant, Hon. James 
 Harlan, Secretary of the Interior, Gov. Dillingham, of Ver- 
 mont, Senator Willey, of West Virginia, Hon. L. Shella- 
 barger, M. C, etc. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Jesse T. Peck, of California, was now intro- 
 duced. 
 
 He was received with applause. He said that there was but 
 one place in the world where he would rather be than here ; 
 that was on the deck of one of those magnificent Pacific steam- 
 ers, with her prow turned toward the Golden City. My heart 
 is in California, and yet it is here, too. Methodism is at pres- 
 ent a subject or profound study. Her history has raised prob- 
 lems which the greatest philosophers have unsuccessfully en- 
 deavored to solve. But it is a matter of great importance 
 that we understand ourselves. The great triumphs of Meth- 
 odism have come from inspiration. Not like the inspiration 
 of Moses, when he received the table of stones ; rather like that 
 
THE FESTIVAL. 225 
 
 when he brake them, or when lie delivered his valedictory, his 
 
 grand farewell charge, to the children of Israel, when he led 
 them through the wilderness, but must leave them. Our theo- 
 logical system is one of the inspirations. Our idea of the 
 fallen state of man was not only a feeling but an inspiration, 
 — an experience, — so with our belief in the power of the 
 atonement. 
 
 It would not be surprising, then, that this spirit should ap- 
 pear. Methodism sings in its heart. The words don't make 
 much difference. I am almost amused sometimes at the evi- 
 dent contradiction between the words of the songs and feelings 
 of Christians. So in regard to praying. The telegraph is an 
 excellent and wonderful invention, but our people had an elec- 
 tric current running between their hearts and God several 
 3'ears before it was discovered. 
 
 It is time now for us to pause a little. We have spent a 
 great part of our history in negative work, and. are now just 
 beginning to work positively. Slavery was a tremendous ob- 
 stacle in our wa}'. We tried the logical method, but it failed. 
 We now are trying inspiration, which says " Go ! " and we are 
 now on our way to the Gulf, and shall achieve success. 
 
 Isn't it clear that it is the power of truth, sent through the 
 heart by religion, that has built churches? Now, suppose we 
 reverse the work, build the churches and colleges first. This 
 method has eveiywhere failed. Go down on your knees first, 
 and let the churches and schools come from spiritual power. 
 
 After singing the 727th hymn, to the tune of " Laban," 
 His Excellency Gov. Bullock was introduced, and greet- 
 ed with prolonged applause. 
 
 ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR BULLOCK. 
 
 Mr. President: — I have availed myself of the cordiality 
 and courtesy of your invitation to partake of this Christian 
 Festival, and to unite with you in welcoming these many 
 friends to our capital. Though not myself entitled to be 
 ranked as one of }'Our number, unless by a little ecclesiastical 
 strain and historical labor we go back altogether to the day of 
 
226 METHODIST CENTENARY CONTENTION. 
 
 the Wesle}-s, John and Charles, and the heavenl} 7 Susanna, 
 and there chip out a tie of common descent from the tree of 
 your episcopacy, which I believe you do not discard — still I 
 should be unmindful of the grand spirit of liberality which has 
 sheltered so many Christian sects here in the last three weeks, 
 if it were not a grateful pleasure to me to make one heart and 
 one cause with you this evening. Many are the notions of 
 this Boston of ours, but it is one of the best of them all, in the 
 fragrant season of May and June, to swing open its doors, 
 public and private, to Christians of eveiy name, countrymen, 
 brothers and sisters. 
 
 But laying aside the sentiments of personal attraction which 
 would command my devout respect for your assembly, I catch 
 from the history 30U bear on your banner, and from the 
 identity you sustain with American national life, abundant 
 reason that, as a patriotic citizen and magistrate, I should feel 
 honored in the opportunity of this presence. In its origin 
 here, in its members, and in its conduct, as a lay and clerical 
 bod}', this Church has claims for veneration and gratitude. It 
 has proved to be the representative bod} T of the Commons of 
 the United States in the cause of gospel promulgation of Re- 
 publican liberty. As a Church, never at rest, and at no time 
 militant save against the principalities and powers of darkness, 
 it has had for the period of a century a republican national 
 identit}', drawing its first breath in America simultaneously 
 with that of her liberty, and placing the beat of its heart side 
 by side to hers until now. 
 
 I do not forget that the Methodist Episcopal life in this hem- 
 isphere began with the independence of the country, — that 
 you made your first exultant progress contemporaneously with 
 the advance of the arms of the Revolution, scarcely ten years 
 after the arrival of your earliest missionary pioneers from 
 Great Britain, — that 3-our shining guidon moved eveiwwhere 
 conspicuouly among the people, and cheered on the columns of 
 our fathers as the} T marched through that great war. The 
 period of the Revolution was the field on which the sect first 
 unfurled its colors and united them with the colors of the great 
 teachers and leaders of a new faith and a new liberty in the 
 
THE FESTIVAL. 227 
 
 West. An ecclesiastical organization like yours could not as- 
 pire to a higher claim for public respect, than that which comes 
 from having broken forth upon the country in companionship 
 
 with the inauguration of an unwonted civil era which was to 
 change the prospects of mankind. Out of all that has come 
 down to us from that epoch of organic change, I perceive the 
 identities and relations of a common renown and glory to your 
 denomination and the liberties of the country. It was a great 
 time in which a new church might commence ; it was equally 
 great for a new-born administration of civil empire, having the 
 co-operation and fraternity of a new church. It was, political- 
 ly and ecclesiastically, equally a novelty of histoiy and a di- 
 vinity of coincidence ; it was not, as often happens, a prelimi- 
 nary dawn, introductory and preparatory to something that 
 might follow, but it was the breaking out in the splendor of 
 noon of a free Church and a free republic, starting together on 
 the same errand of human destiny and human beneficence. 
 American Methodism and American Independence started hand 
 in hand to the ridges of the battle, and have never since parted 
 company. 
 
 Thus } T our organization in this country began, and thus it 
 has continued. And so it has been a representative organiza- 
 tion of the national unity and life. And it was not till its own 
 unity had become dissevered by wicked hands, that the friends 
 of national disunion took courage. When the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church became divided by geographical lines, Northern 
 and Southern, and not till then, Mr. Calhoun declared in the 
 Senate Chamber that the nation itself must fall with it. That 
 was the great mistake of his phrenzied reasoning. The denom- 
 ination, so pervading as to number nearly eight millions of our 
 people in its ranks, might become nominally and temporarily 
 divided ; but the Union of States never ! You accepted, under 
 the necessities of the case, the division of the funds ; but your 
 better and greater part remained steadfast to the fathers of 
 Israel and to the prophets of humanity. And I have the pub- 
 lic testimony of the late President, uttered not long before the 
 night of his martyrdom, that through the blood}' trials and 
 sacrilices of the war the Methodist Episcopal Church sent more 
 
228 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more 
 prayers to heaven, than any other. I think it only fair to say, 
 however, that this is a tribute to your members as well as to 
 your zeal. Honest testinKnryfrom one of the noblest of mankind ! 
 How fit and becoming, and religiously graceful it was, that, 
 nearly fifty years after he had in his bo3'hood sent a message 
 over broad forest spaces to a Methodist minister to come and 
 preach the funeral sermon over his mother's grave, one of }'Our 
 own bishops, Mr. Simpson, should be invited to pronounce the 
 eulogy over his grave at Springfield, when the long, weary ova- 
 tion of death was over ! 
 
 And now it is, I judge, the power and the duty of your 
 Church, more than of any other, to help cement the American 
 Union, which has not been lost, by ecclesiastical divisions, but 
 has been saved by arms. Your opportunities and 3'our facili- 
 ties for that sublime service, are very great and peculiar. You 
 can reach the general mind and heart of all this wide dominion 
 better than airy other power, civil or religious. Your banner 
 floats over the commingled ranks of life, in all sections, more 
 freely than any other. Your jurisdiction has scarcely any lim- 
 itations, and I beseech 3*011 to exercise it, for truth, and free- 
 dom, and pacification, over the living masses which your 
 Church controls almost equally in the North and in the South. 
 I do not ask 3'ou to help us to the alliance of the colored race ; 
 their instincts make them our allies. I only ask that, with the 
 middle interest of the whites, whom 3-ou most of all can influ- 
 ence and control, 3*ou will make the glorious liberty of the 
 Methodism of 1776 the benignant equality and triumph of 
 1866. 
 
 Pardon me if I sa3 T that out of the adaptations of the Amer- 
 ican Methodist Church we may derive its responsibilities. 
 This religious organization has had an historical adaptation for 
 the life and necessities of Western growth. It has shown itself 
 to be the greatest character in the performance of the last act 
 of the world's drama, as described by Bishop Berkley — the 
 completion of the history of the world in the nation of the 
 West. It appreciates and appropriates the characteristics of 
 the country. It is diffusive, aggressive, and kindly. It is 
 
THE FESTIVAL. 220 
 
 sympathetic in nature and in societ}\ It has at all times in- 
 voked and employed the simplicities of a new country, and has 
 erected its temples and canopies amid her pines and oaks. Its 
 ecclesiastical machinery has all the harmonies of a religious re* 
 publicanism. It is a modern American church, and can do 
 more for our present America than any other. I bid you joy 
 over your present denominational successes j and I hold you 
 largely responsible to restore our country to the ancient ways, 
 and to plant her standard upon everlasting truth and justice. 
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. MR. HATFIELD. 
 
 The next speaker, Rev. Robert M. Hatfield, of Chicago, 
 in considering the period, the era which the denomination had 
 reached, referred to the wide-spread influences of Methodism, 
 stating that in the army and among the men who did the fight- 
 ing, he found as many Methodists as *of all other denomina- 
 tions put together. It might seem astonishing at first, but the 
 philosophy of the fact w r as that our Church always dealt with 
 the masses. The war for justice, for humanity, for liberty, for 
 God, took hold of God-fearing men, and that was the reason 
 why, from that class, men, by thousands, turned their faces 
 towards the battle-field, and, by thousands, sealed their devo- 
 tion to the old flag with their blood. The country, he said, 
 cannot spare us. AVe have finished this work, but we are not 
 done with the struggle. He was not about to make a plea for 
 their right to exist as a denomination, but to sa} r a few words 
 on the importance of maintaining their denominational pecu- 
 liarities. Apologizing to members of other denominations who 
 might be present, for urging his belief in the superiority of 
 Methodism, on the ground that the meeting was a family gather- 
 ing, and that if they had any right to exist as a denomination, 
 the)' had a right to maintain their peculiarities. Ho believed 
 the success of Methodism, under God, to have depended very 
 largely on its distinctive doctrines, and on the force, zeal, and 
 frequenc}- with which those doctrines had been presented. 
 There really were but four platforms of religious belief. Pass- 
 ing by the Church of England, which had no well-digested sys- 
 
230 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 tern of pliilososhy, and the Greek Church, which had nothing 
 to distinguish it particularly from the Romish Church, the first 
 of these beliefs was the Roman Catholic. The doctrine of that 
 church was that salvation came only through this infallible 
 church. The channel of salvation was near the church, — obey 
 the priests, believe in the ghostly fathers, and believing what 
 was ordered. The speaker next considered the doctrine of the 
 Lutheran Church, and, as the third, the Calvinistic doctrine, 
 which maintained that the salvation of any man turned exclu- 
 sively on the purpose or will of God. This was the doctrine ; 
 but he did not know how it was subscribed to by those who 
 represented it. The fourth platform was that of Arminianism, 
 which carried home to man the sense of individual responsi- 
 bility, and the speaker believed it to be the very marrow and 
 fatness of the gospel. The speaker then proceeded to con- 
 sider the peculiarities of Methodist piet}-, which had been of a 
 marked type, and to refute the criticisms of those of other de- 
 nominations, in regard to their lack of refinement and culture. 
 Methodism had been an earnest and thorough-going religion, 
 and it must continue to be so. He rejoiced in the improved 
 facilities for education in the Church. Methodism had been a 
 joyful type of piety, and he believed in a religion that not 
 only told the people what to do, but made them happy. The 
 speaker concluded his remarks by depicting some of the sacri- 
 fices of the pioneer preachers at the West, in carrying civiliza- 
 tion and the gospel forward with our advancing tide of popula- 
 tion, and declaring that the word must be onward, as God had 
 devolved upon them a very great responsibility. 
 
 ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR EVANS. 
 
 Ex-Gov. Evans, of Colorado, and Senator elect, was next 
 introduced, and said that the remarks of the speakers who had 
 preceded him, in reference to the substantial basis of the 
 Church with which he had been connected for twenty-three 
 years, had met with an agreeable response in his heart. After 
 remarks upon denominational topics, the speaker turned his 
 remarks to Colorado, mentioning the noble part she had borne 
 
Tin: FESTIVAL. 231 
 
 in aiding to subdue the rebellion. She made application for 
 admission to the Union, and a law inviting them, as it were, 
 passed both houses of Congress ; but Moses [great laughter], 
 the President of the United States, said "No." 
 
 The speaker criticized the veto message very severely. After 
 winning- glorious laurels, in supporting the army of the Union, 
 and even sending colored troops to Massachusetts to help till 
 her quota, after organizing a government, the President says 
 that it is not best that Colorado should be admitted until the 
 representatives from the eleven seceded States should be con- 
 sulted in regard to it. [A voice, " God have mercy on him ! " 
 and " Amen ! " from all over the hall.] Gov. Evans had no 
 doubt, he said, that if the delegation from Colorado had sup- 
 ported " my policy," the State would have been in the Union 
 as the latest, if not one of the brightest, stars in the galaxy. 
 
 Gov. Evans next spoke of the pioneer work the Methodist 
 Church was doing in Colorado. It goes ahead with the pioneer 
 settlements, and plants the foundations while the communities 
 are young. With the growth of the community it grows up to 
 have permanent, controlling religious influence ; and this is one 
 of the most important reasons why our Church should be fostered. 
 It now had two ministers in the field to one of other denomina- 
 tions, and in the fact that they were building up what is des- 
 tined soon to become a great empire, they were entitled to the 
 sympathy and encouragement of the Church throughout the 
 land. 
 
 The audience again united in singing the 237th hymn, 
 following which, Bishop Simpson was presented. As the 
 Bishop came forward, the audience seemed almost carried 
 away with enthusiasm. 
 
 address of bishop simpson. 
 
 Mr. President, Methodists of Boston, and of all New 
 
 England: — The evening hours are far spent. The closing 
 moments of j-our Convention are at hand, and I rise, not to dis- 
 cuss great questions, but to congratulate you on the success 
 which has attended your assembling together. From the time 
 
232 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 of my arrival here, I have watched with great interest the pro- 
 ceedings of the Convention. I have listened to able essays as 
 well as to clear discussions ; and I am glad to say that I have 
 not discovered the slightest lack of harmony, nor have I heard 
 one discordant note. The Convention has grown better and 
 better. The brotherly feeling has risen to a higher and higher 
 strain. The walls of Tremont Temple have echoed with your 
 songs of praise, and you have felt within those walls not only 
 the hallowed influence of fraternal communion, but, as I trust, 
 the presence of the great Head of the Church. Here, to-night, 
 you come to close the Convention in this hall of Music, where 
 sweet strains are so often heard ; and we have been delighted 
 with the tones of this grand organ, uniting with the voices of 
 harmony and love in Christian song to the praise of our Em- 
 manuel God. You are having a fitting conclusion of this 
 Convention. And yet it seems to me that the managers of 
 •this meeting anticipated that we might have some difficulties, 
 or that there might have been some animosities engendered by 
 our discussions ; for I think you can testify with me that, in 
 the arrangements of the evening, they made ample provision 
 to berry them all, and certainly this evening has been to us the 
 cream of the whole Convention. 
 
 Ere we separate, however, a few words ma} r yet be spoken. 
 Men possibly may ask, Why this Convention? Why this 
 meeting together? They may ask, What has been accom- 
 plished by it ? We cannot alwa} T s measure the forces which 
 work upon mind. We cannot tell the impulses which may 
 have been received, the intellectual power which has gone out 
 from this meeting ; for, like light, heat, electricity and mag- 
 netism, all these can be much more easily felt and experienced 
 than they can be measured and weighed. I have no doubt 
 that great good has resulted. We have taken each other by 
 the hand. We have looked in each other's e} r es. We have 
 recognized each other as brother and friend ; and 3-ou go back 
 to Maine and to Rhode Island, to Vermont, to New Hamp- 
 shire, and to Connecticut, feeling that you are members of one 
 great brotherhood, cemented together by the strongest ties, 
 and going forth to work in harmony among yourselves, and in 
 
TTIE FESTIVAL. 233 
 
 harmony with the great Christian denominations of the land, 
 in bringing this world nearer to Christ. This is the great 
 
 work; and, in accomplishing this, brethren, let me repeat 
 some suggestions that have been made. First, as ministers, 
 let us preach the grand and glorious doctrines of the gospel as 
 set forth by our fathers; We have nothing to take back, and 
 we have nothing to abate. We shall not enter upon this sub- 
 ject in a controversial spirit ; but, wherever we go, let us pro- 
 claim the glad tidings of great J03' to every son and daughter 
 of our fallen parents. 
 
 I will criticize the admirable speech of my brother from the 
 West — the minister who discussed our doctrine — in one res- 
 pect, and in one onty. It is in this : he said that Methodism 
 directed itself to the masses, looking neither to the scum on 
 one side nor to the sediment on the other. Brethren, this sen- 
 timent, uttered in the excitement of extemporaneous speaking, 
 I cannot fully endorse. We should go down to the sediment, 
 we should go down to the lowest of the low. If there be a 
 poor beggar in the land, we should take him by the hand. 
 [Applause.] We have a right to stand where our Master stood 
 before us. The blessed Saviour, who came from the courts of 
 glory to be the babe in Bethlehem and in the manger, stooped 
 so low to lay the arms of his mercy around us, and to raise us 
 up toward heaven ; and if we have any of his spirit, we shall 
 stoop down to the deepest haunts of poverty, and to the very 
 verge of hell, to save one poor, lost soul. Yet if there be the 
 princes of the land, if there be men of might and power, if 
 there be men whose eyes are open to see thoughts that com- 
 mon men never see, if there be poets and orators, if there be 
 masterminds in the community, — we would speak to them, 
 too, and say, Come and consecrate your all to Him who is 
 worthy to be crowned Lord of all. This is our mission ; and 
 let us not only go preaching, brethren, but, more than this, let 
 us go practising. This is our great mission, — let us exem- 
 plify the Christian religion in our walk and in our lives. Let 
 us be cheerful Christians. Let us be happy Christians. We 
 have a right to be happy. The consciousness of God's love is 
 within us ; the arms of redeeming mercy are around us ; the 
 16 
 
234 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 promises and inspirations of the gospel are given to us, and as 
 we go forth, let us be joyful Christians. Receive the apostolic 
 commission again, " Rejoice evermore ; and again I sa}^, re- 
 ." Let the world see that the religion of Jesus Christ can 
 calm all tumults, assauge all sorrows, cheer all despondencies ; 
 and that the hope of heaven, like a star that shines out amidst 
 the breaking clouds, ever cheers and directs us in the pilgrim- 
 age of life. 
 
 Whatever other results may flow from this Convention, I 
 think I see this : that we shall go away resolved to build up 
 with more earnestness than ever the institutions of Methodism, 
 and to feel that we are one bocby, and that we must work to- 
 gether. You have, this evening, heard high compliments 
 passed upon Methodism Irv a distinguished speaker. I wish 
 they were all deserved to the full extent in which they were ut- 
 tered. I think Methodism has done much, and I rejoice ; but 
 there is a great deal which is not accomplished, that I want to 
 see accomplished ; and for myself, I would infuse the spirit, if 
 I could, into the Church, of counting nothing accomplished 
 while anything remains to be done. Though rejoicing in the 
 past, let us gird ourselves afresh, and consecrate ourselves to 
 the work before us, for this world is waiting to be evangelized. 
 There are many churches in your city, and I rejoice in their 
 number in all denominations. There are many churches 
 through the country, and I rejoice in their increase ; but to-day 
 the terrible fact stares us in the face, that nearly half the popu- 
 lation of our entire country are living without the means of 
 grace, and are going down to ruin. Christian men and women, 
 stir yourselves. [Voices, " Amen ! "] Gather around the 
 cross of Christ ; feel the full power that flows out of that cross, 
 and then go on your mission of mercy to bring all mankind to 
 experience the saving love of the Redeemer. 
 
 Your educational institutions have been commended to you 
 during this Convention. Endow a school for the prophets, 
 that 3'our ministry may be thoroughly educated ; and all the 
 time you are giving, pray that God may endow them and bap- 
 tize them from on high. Endow your universities, and your 
 seminaries, that they may be nurseries of learning, and of 
 
THE FESTIVAL. 235 
 
 piety, that shall bless the land. Erect your churches and your 
 parsonages ; attend to all the social influences. Go away de- 
 termined to educate every son and every daughter for Christ — 
 to give the highest possible culture, so that as the year rolls 
 around, you shall be a living power that shall dwell upon the 
 laud. And, be assured of this one fact, that, other things 
 being equal, the educated mind will govern the country — will 
 govern the world. It is our duty to educate our children, and 
 it will be a shame for us, as members of the Methodist Church, 
 after what God has done for us, if we neglect to train, polish, 
 and educate them to the highest possible degree. Let them be 
 prepared to be legislators, to be attornies, to be physicians, to 
 be men who shall lead the country in all departments ; for, if 
 not true to ourselves and our country, we are unworthy of 
 the name of members of the Methodist Church. 
 
 And here let me pause but for a moment to say, that a 
 strange misconception has, by some means, long prevailed in 
 the country, — a strange misconception that Methodism does 
 not favor the highest possible culture. Methodism ! Where 
 did it arise but in a university? Who was its leader but a man 
 of the most cultured mind? Methodism ! The first Methodist 
 club ever formed was a club of 3 r oung men in the university to 
 read the Greek Testament together on every Sunday afternoon, 
 and to criticise thoroughly what might be found there by their 
 knowledge of the original language. Methodism has ever 
 been the friend of education. Mr. Wesley began his career 
 by erecting schools. In the rise of Methodism in this country, 
 strange to say, the very year our church was organized, in 
 1784, a Methodist college was founded between Philadelphia 
 and Baltimore. The edifice was erected, its halls were opened, 
 its instructors began their labors ; but the torch of the incen- 
 diary consumed it in an hour. It was removed to the city of 
 Baltimore. There, in a building prepared for the purpose, the 
 college was again opened, and again a fire destroyed the edifice, 
 and our fathers, despondent, gave up the work in this direc- 
 tion, believing that God had required them to devote all their 
 energies and all their time to the single work of publishing the 
 story of the cross. 
 
236 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Thus we continued for some twenty-fire or thirty years, un- 
 til the increasing numbers of our young people made it an 
 imperative duty to found schools and seminaries and universi- 
 ties. Though thus delayed, I rejoice in what has been accom- 
 plished. The day was that the walls of other colleges were 
 almost closed against us. Some of us well know the taunts, 
 sneers, and abuse inflicted upon our youth. I shall never for- 
 get my own academic training, when I was but a little boy. 
 Though not a member of the Church, I scarcely ever left the 
 academic grounds, or was out of the reach of my teachers, but 
 the boys would gather around me, as I was the onty student 
 of a Methodist family, and assail me with, " Glory to God ! " 
 " Pray on, brother ! " " Amen ! " and every word of that kind 
 which they could fancy had a Methodistic reproach. Since 
 that da}', I have known young men in colleges, and seminaries, 
 called every Monday morning before the Faculty because 
 they had attended, on Sabbath, the church of their fathers, 
 and the church of which they were members. Such was the 
 course pursued toward us. We were obliged to build colleges 
 for ourselves ; and we have built them. And now, I am glad 
 to say, the doors of all are open, they treat us kindly, take us 
 by the hand, and we hear no more of persecutions of this 
 character. But, brethren, stand by your own institutions. 
 [Loud applause, and " Amen."] Endow them liberally. Teach 
 your young men and young women they may have the highest 
 advantages among 3 r ourselves ; and the very opposition of 
 those who ought to have been our friends, shall only work for 
 our higher advancement, and our greater glory. I speak 
 plainly upon this t subject, brethren, because it is a family 
 gathering, and I think that we ought to join heart and hand to- 
 gether. Let me say one thing more : After you go home, 
 take care not only of your children — take care of the }~oung 
 men of the country. Find places for them ; encourage profes- 
 sional talent ; let it not be thrown away from you, as it often- 
 times is. I was touched by the remark one of my brethren 
 made about the late war, when he said that among the men 
 that bore the musket, the rank and file of the army, we had 
 more than any other people. It is the universal testimony. 
 
TIITC FESTIVAL. 237 
 
 But whore wore the men that bad the epaulettes on their 
 shoulders ? Whore were they to be found — of what churches, 
 and in what proportions? Brethren, we have cared for none of 
 these things. We have seen our young men enticed from us, 
 — we have been careless in regard to our position. While I 
 would not say, Do anything for a Methodist because he is a 
 Methodist, I say this : Take care of your children so that they 
 will not be ignored in society, and deprived of their equal 
 rights because they are your children. For myself, I am free 
 to say I have no faith in bringing up my sons or my daughters 
 to be hewers of wood or drawers of water for any other de- 
 nomination in the land. [Great applause.] 
 
 Brethren, the scenes and the duties of a centenary year are 
 upon us. I am glad that you and I have met together. 
 We shall never so meet on earth again. As the fathers and 
 mothers are not with us, so none of us will live to see 
 another centenary. We shall all have gone to the spirit 
 land. How glad I am that this year comes under such favor- 
 able circumstances. [Amen.] This year of 1866 — this } r oar 
 of our jubilee — w r hat a glorious 3-ear ! Why, the old prophets 
 looked towards it in the ages past. The host of commentators 
 along the centuries predicted that the } r ear of 1866 was to be a 
 wonderful year. They counted the twelve hundred and sixty 
 years, from the rise of Papal power, and told us that in 1866 
 the Papal power would be destroyed, and the Mohammedan 
 power would be destroyed, and millennial gloiy would begin 
 to dawn on our earth. I recollect when a little boy I used to 
 listen to the reading and rendering of these prophecies, and 
 often did I think, Shall I ever live to see the wonderful year of 
 1866? Sometimes I felt like saying, 0, if I could live to see 
 1866, and behold the first glimmer of light of the millennial 
 gloiy as it ushers in the dawn and gilds the mountains, 1 would 
 say, " Let now thy servant depart in peace." Well, we have 
 seen the year 1866 beam upon us, — the year of jubilee. 1 do 
 not know that the Papal power will be abolished this year. 
 But, all Italy is in motion. The Pope has found himself penned 
 up in very narrow borders. He scarcely knows whether he has 
 any temporal kingdom or not. He is on the verge of a vol- 
 
238 METHODIST CENTENAKT CONTENTION. 
 
 cano, whose fires are burning beneath his feet. The Moham- 
 medan power, sick a long time, is lying very near to its death- 
 bed ; and, for myself, I am ready to administer extreme unction 
 almost at an}' time. [Laughter.] Whether this year shall see 
 the downfall of Papal power and Mohammedan power or not, 
 it is a glorious year. The Papal power will fall, and the Mo- 
 hammedan power will fall, and millennial glory will come. I 
 recollect a few years ago standing in the great mosque of St. 
 Sophia, in Constantinople. Some" friends were with me, and 
 as we looked upon the Mohammedan worshippers, they said to 
 me, " Do you expect ever to revisit this place? " " It is not 
 likely," I said, " that I shall be here again (for my health was 
 very poor), but," said I, " there is one condition on which I 
 should be happy to live to cross the great ocean, and visit this 
 city again. When the mosque of St. Sophia is to be re-dedi- 
 cated, as a Christian church, if I should be invited to attend 
 the re-dedication I will go, if it be half across the world." 
 [Applause.] I may not be there ; but the mosque will be re- 
 dedicated, the Mohammedan and the heathen temples shall 
 become temples for the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God shall 
 be preached over mountain tops and over valleys, and all 
 nations shall rejoice together. 
 
 Then, again, I am glad that this year of our jubilee has come 
 in this connection with our national history. How sad I would 
 have been if this centenary year had been three or four years 
 ago, when the nation was aroused, and armies were marshaled, 
 and the voice of war was heard, and the ground was being 
 covered with the blood of our sons and our friends. How 
 sadly would I have felt to have been then obliged to celebrate 
 this centenary year ! But now God has brought us through 
 the struggle. The war has closed, and every slave in the land 
 has gone free. [Great applause.] Universal emancipation, 
 and universal freedom, now reign throughout our coimtiy. 
 God has blessed us in this respect with a great victory. And 
 to-night I am glad that, in this 1866, as we celebrate the cen- 
 tenary 3'ear of Methodism, and come and sing together here of 
 jubilee, our flag is in the heavens, thank God ! with not one 
 star dimmed, nor one stripe erased. [Great applause.] We 
 
THE FESTIVAL. 239 
 
 are a groat nation yet, and God smiles upon us. "While we 
 are reconstructing the nation, let us reconstruct society, and 
 bring the world to the foot of the cross of Christ. This is our 
 great mission, and God help us to perform it. Work as you 
 never have worked. Work, knowing that time is but short. 
 So work that when you render your account } t ou may hear the 
 Master say, " Well done, good and faithful servant ! " [Great 
 applause.] 
 
 This speech was the most glorious thing of the whole 
 jubilee, and a fitting close. Once more the congregation 
 lifted up its voice, and, with the great organ sending forth 
 its grand and glorious music, made the walls ring with 
 that soul-stirring tune, " Old Hundred." The meeting was 
 then brought to a close. 
 
LIST OF DELEGATES 
 
 [The following list was prepared from the Report of the Committee on Cre- 
 dentials. It is known to be very imperfect, but we have no means of making it 
 any more accurate.] 
 
 A. 
 
 Conference. 
 
 
 Conference. 
 
 Abbott, T. J. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Atwood, E. H. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Adams, 0. W. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Atwood, Warren 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Adams, Elisha Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Austin, David Rev. 
 
 vt. 
 
 Adams, N. D. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Austin, H. F. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Adams, John W. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Austin, James 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Adams, John F. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Ayer, R. J. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Adams, Oliver 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Ay res, W. M. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Adams, Orison 
 
 N. E. 
 
 
 
 Aiken, A. P. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 B. 
 
 
 Alcott, Wni. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Babcock, D. C. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Allen, N. J. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Babcock, E. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Allen, John, Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Bagnall, Thomas 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Allen, J. 0. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bailey, A. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Allen, Daniel G. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bailey, N. M. Rev. 
 
 N.H. 
 
 Allen, Ralph W. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bailey, A. F. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Allen, C. F. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Bailey, J. M. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Allan, John 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bailev, Ucal 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Almy, J. F. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bailey, L. D. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Amee, Samuel 
 
 Me. 
 
 Baker, Henry Rev. . 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Ames, J. A. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Baker, Martin 
 
 N.H. 
 
 Andrews, Chas. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Baker, Chester 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Andrews, E. A. Rev. D. 
 
 D. Conn. 
 
 Ballou, G. W.Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Anderson, A. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bancroft, Geo. C. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Anthony, E. M. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bancroft, Samuel 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Anthony, Edmund 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bartlett, W. B. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Applebee, W. C. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Barnard, A. F. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Arey, B. S. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Barker, John L. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Armstrong;, James Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Barber, Danl. W. Rev. 
 
 N.H. 
 
 Arnold, Wm. H. 
 
 
 Barrows, L. D. Rev. D. 
 
 D. N.H. 
 
 Aspinwall, N. "VV. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Barnes, J. W. F. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Atherton, Shubael 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Barber, Geo. W. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Atkins, Daniel Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Barney, George 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Atkins, Isaiah 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Barber, Rufus C. 
 
 N.H. 
 
 Atkinson, Kinsman Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Barrows, J. S. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Atkinson, Kinsman Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Bass, E. C. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Atkinson, George 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bassett, John F. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
LIST OF DELEGATES. 
 
 241 
 
 Bassett, Henry 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Brewster, G. "W. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Batcomb, Chas. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Brewster, L. R. S. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bates, Otia 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Brick, David C. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bates, L. B. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bridge, W. D. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Batchelder, N. II. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Bridge, G. W. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Baylies, Andrew Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Brigham, Elijah 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Beal, David 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Brookins, K. M. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Beale, Seth Rev. 
 
 B. Me. 
 
 Brown, Saml. C. Rev. D. 
 
 D. Prov. 
 
 Beale, Charles 
 
 B. Me. 
 
 Brown, S. 0. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Beal, Chandler 
 
 Me. 
 
 Brown, Sanborn 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Bean, Jas. M. Rev. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Brown, Wm. L. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Beedle, John 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Brown, II. E. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Beedle, Samuel Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Brown, Wm. C. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Beedle, Jas. B. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Brownell, Joseph 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Beeching, Richard 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bryant, Wm. A. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Bemis, Nathaniel Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bryant, Geo. N. Rev. 
 
 N. If. 
 
 Bent, G. R. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bryant, Amasa 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Bent, John 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bugbee, Alonzo 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Bent, Charles 
 
 
 Bullard, Ward Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Bentley, G. R. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bullard, A. T. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Berry, N. 8. Hon. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bullard, M. 
 
 vt. 
 
 Beet, E. 8. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Burbank, Abel 
 
 Vt. 
 
 v, A. B. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Hurdick, Clark 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Biekford, G. II . Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Burnett, W. A. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Bid well, I. M. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Burn ham, W. R. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bigelow, I. B. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Busvvell, C S. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Billings, Martin 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Butts, T. W. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bishop, Samuel 
 
 Me. 
 
 Butler, Wm. Rev. D. D. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Blakemore, Wrn. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Butler, J. D. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Blackmer, W. P. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Buttrick, Geo. M. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Blackruer, John 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Button, A. G. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Blethen, Isaiah 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Butts, Geo. W. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Blood, Henry P. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 
 
 Blood, L. W. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 C. 
 
 
 Bodfish, Asa X. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Cad well, John Rev. 
 
 N. E- 
 
 Booth, H. S. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cady, Lawton Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bosworth, B. K. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Call well, F. P. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Bosworth, L. A. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Call, 0. II. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Bourne, G. L. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Capen, John Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bourne, Oliver 
 
 Me. 
 
 Carr, Geo. W. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Bowdish, Leonard Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Carter, Truman Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Borden, Lunian Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cary John G. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Bradford, Wm. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Case, George 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Brackett, E. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Chase, B. W. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Brackett, Henry M. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Chase, N. L. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Brackett, Josiah 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Chase. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Bradbury, Wymond 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Chase, George 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bradley, Henry 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Chase, S. B. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Bray, H. L. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Chase, Amos 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Bray, W. M< Ivendree Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 - , Charles, jr. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Brewer, II. B. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Chandler, Henry Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Breed, Joseph 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Chandler, John B. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Brewster, Albert 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Chapin, Solomon Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
242 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Chapin, M. C. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cousens, 0. M. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Chapin, A. P. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cox, Smith C. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Chamberlain, Nathaniel 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cox, G. F. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Chapman, Geo. E. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cox, Daniel 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Chapman, J. B. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Coxe, J. C. Watson Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Chapman, J. A. M. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Crawford, J. B. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Charles, Goliath 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Crawford, E. A. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Church, A. J. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Crafts, F. A. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Cilley, Moses T. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Craine, John P. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Clark, Jason 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Crocker, Loring 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Clark Jonas M. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Crowell, T. P. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Clark, Hiram 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Crowell, Loranus Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Clark, Franklin 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Crowell, T. C. 
 
 Pnv. 
 
 Clark, G. W. H. Rev. 
 
 N. H 
 
 Crowl, J. F. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Clark, Wm. R. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cross, Chas. H. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Clark, Sterling 
 
 Me. 
 
 Crosby, Edwin 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Clarke, Elisha 
 
 Me. 
 
 Crooks, Geo. R. Rev. D. D 
 
 . N. Y. 
 
 Clarke, F. P. A. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Culver, Newell Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Clapp, J. S. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Cummings, S. S. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Clapp, Chas. A. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Cummings, M. B. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Clapp, Fred. A. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cummings, J. Rev. D. D. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Claflin, Lee 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Currier, John Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Claflin, Wm. Hon. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Currier, S. B. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cobb, H. K. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cushing, C. W. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cobb, John Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Cushing, S. A. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cobb, Amos E. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Cushing, Stephen Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cobb, G. F. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Cushman, L. P. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cobleigh, N. E. Rev. D. D. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 
 
 Cobleigh, Alonzo 
 
 Vt. 
 
 D. 
 
 
 Coggeshall, S. W. Rev. D.D. P ov. 
 
 Dadmun, J. W. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cogswell, L. D. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Dailey, John 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cole, Warren 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Davis, Geo. H. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Cole, Andrew 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Davis, James 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Colburn, W. W. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Davis, John A. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Colburn, S. H. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Davis, L. D. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Colby, Joseph Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Davies, Edward Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Collier, J. N. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Dayton, D. W. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Collyer, I. J. P. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Day, J. W. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Collins, John Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Day, Edward Dr. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Cone, C. C. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Day, John S. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Conant, H. W. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Dean, J. A. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Cooper, V. A. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Dean, John 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cooper, A. L. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Dearth, Leander L. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Cooper, J. B. 
 Cook, S. A. Dr. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Dexter, A. S. 
 
 Me. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Dickinson, L. C. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cook, Geo. L. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Dickey, A. M. Col. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cooke, Edward Rev. D. D. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Dinsmore, C. M. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Copp, Henry B. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Dixon, R. S. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Copeland, A. J. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Dodge, Wm. S. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Copeland, Israel 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Dodge, W. J. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Corbin, C. C. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Donaldson, Sylvester Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Cornish, Elbridge 
 
 Me. 
 
 Donkersley, Richard Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Coult, A. C. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Dorchester, Daniel Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
LIST OF DELEGATES. 
 
 243 
 
 Doton, James 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Douglass, Asa 
 
 \. 11. 
 
 Douglass, Thos. W. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Downs, I). W. llcv. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Dow, Sewall \V. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Draper, Lorenzo Rev. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Draper, Wilson 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Drake, Samuel 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Drew, T. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Duffy, John 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Dunn, Chas. B. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Dunn, James 
 
 Me. 
 
 Dunn, Edward H. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Dunning, Chas. U. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Dunham, II. C. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Durgin, Luther T. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Dtirkee, Paine 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Dwight, Mosely Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Dyer, F. M. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 E. 
 
 
 Eastman, L. L. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Eastman, Hubbard Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Eastman, A. W. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Eastman, C. L. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Eaton, Geo. F. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Eaton, Bennett Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Eaton, Washington 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Eddy, T. M. Rev. D. D. 
 
 Chicago. 
 
 Edson, Edward Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Ela, Walter Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Ela, D. II. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Eldridge, Atkins 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Eldredge, Aaron J. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Ellis, 0. S. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Ellis, Albert 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Emerson, S. M. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Enright, J. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Evans, Ex-Gov. 
 
 Colorado 
 
 Everett, A. M. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Everdean, Joseph 
 
 N.E. 
 
 F. 
 Fabyan, George Dr. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Farrar, Chas. B. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Farrington, Win. F. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Fellows, John 
 
 Me. 
 
 Fellows, N. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Ferrin, Seth 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Field, Alanson 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Fisl), J.S. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Fish, Linus Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Fisk, Franklin Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Fisk, Abner 
 
 X. B. 
 
 Fletcher, Josiah Rev. 
 
 
 Flood, Theodore L. llev. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Ford, William Rev. 
 
 Vt, 
 
 Foster, Wm. 11. Rev. 
 
 
 Foster, Josiafa 
 
 Pr iv. 
 
 Fox, Presbey E. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Frankle, Rev. 
 
 X B. 
 
 French, L. P. Rev. 
 
 J'.. Me. 
 
 French, Moses 
 
 Me. 
 
 Freeman, Benj. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Freeman, N. 0. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Frost, L. P. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Fuller, S. A. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Fuller, Geo. E. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Fuller, John 
 
 ]•;. Me. 
 
 Furber, Franklin Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gardner, R. J. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Garvin, C. F. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Gardner, Thomas 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Gavitt, Franklin Rev, 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Gavitt, Geo. F. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Gay lord, J. H. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Gay, Benjamin 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Geginheimer, G. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 George, N. D. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Gerry, Geo. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Gifford, Thos. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Gifford, J. E. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Gill, Joshua Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Gill, Jason 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Gilman, II. W. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Gilman, A. G. 
 
 
 Glynn, James 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Godfrey, A. C. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Goff, D. N. AVolcottville, Conn. 
 
 Goldtbwaite, J. L. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Goodale, David 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Goodell, H. B. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Gorham, B. W. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Gordon, Wm. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 < ionld, Joseph 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Gould, Albert Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Gould, J. B. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Gould, S. S. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Gower, Davis N. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Granger, N. M. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Granger, Noah 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Grant, John S. 
 
 X. F. 
 
 Green, Nelson Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Greely, Geo. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
244 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Grinnell, Wra. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Gross, David 
 
 JMe. 
 
 Guernsey, J. W. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 H. 
 Haff, E. B. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Hagar, Amos 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Haines, Jas. H. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Hallett, H. W. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hall, Allen J. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Hall, Chas. E. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Hall, Linville J. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Hall, W. B. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Hall, Ralph 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Hale, Henry R. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Hanilen, Geo. M. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Hamilton, Joseph Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Hamilton, A. 0. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hammond, Chas. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Hammond, Chas. W. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Hambleton, W. J. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hanaford, C. H. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hanaford, J. L. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Harding, C. R. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Harding, R. G. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Karris, C. W. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Harlow, R. W. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Hascall, Jefferson Rev. D 
 
 D.N.E. 
 
 Hardy, Simeon 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hathaway, Hiram 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Hatch, A. P. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Hatch, Alvra Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Hatch, W. H. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hathaway, G. W. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Hatfield, R. M.Rev. D.D. 
 
 Chicago. 
 
 Haven, Gilbert Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hawks, Jos. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Hawkins, J. E. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Haynes, James 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Haynes, Z. S. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Hayden, Josiah 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Heath, M. N. 
 
 Vt 
 
 Heath, S. P. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Helmershausen E. A. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Herrick, A. F. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Herrick, Benj. J. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Hewes, Geo. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Higgins, Phineas Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 High, Win. C. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Hill, J. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Hillman, John H. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Hinckley, Chas. N. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Hitchcock, Alonzo Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 N. E- 
 
 Me. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 E. Me. 
 N. E. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Vt. 
 Prov. 
 
 Vt. 
 N. E. 
 N. H. 
 N. E. 
 Prov. 
 N. H. 
 
 Vt. 
 Prov. 
 Stamford, Conn. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Hitchcock, Wm. L. 
 
 Hodsdon, F. W. 
 
 Holman, Calvin Rev. 
 
 Holman, Sullivan Rev. 
 
 Hoi way, W. 0. Rev. 
 
 Holden, Daniel 
 
 Hopkins, E. D. Rev. 
 
 Hopkins, Daniel 
 
 Hopkins, E. B. Dr. 
 
 Houghton, Wm. P. 
 
 Howard, E. P. Dr. 
 
 Howard, A. K.Rev. 
 
 Howard, R. H. Rev. 
 
 Howard, Mellen Rev. 
 
 Howard, Lewis Rev. 
 
 Howard, W. B. Rev. 
 
 Howson, John Rev. 
 
 Hoyt, Oliver 
 
 Hoyt, II. P. 
 
 Hubbard, Wm. M. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Hulburd, D. P. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Hull, Liverus N. E. 
 
 Humphriss, R. W. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Husted, J. B. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Hutchinson, E. W. Rev. E. JMe. 
 
 Hyde, Wm. H. Vt. 
 
 Hyde, Wm. Penn Rev. Prov. 
 
 Hyde, Edmund S. Prov. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ingalls, A. J. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Ingraham, C. D. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Ingalls, Samuel Dr. N. E. 
 
 Jackson, Saml. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Jacobs, LP. N. E. 
 
 James, Jos. II. Rev. Prov. 
 
 James, C. W. Vt. 
 
 Jaquith, Charles E. Me. 
 
 Jasper, 0. H. Rev. N. H. 
 
 Jennison, Isaac Rev. N. E. 
 
 Jewell, W. T. Rev. E. Me. 
 
 Johnson, P. N. E. 
 
 Johnson, Chas. T. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Johnson, L. D. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Johnson, R. B. Prov. 
 Johnston, John, L.L. D., Wes. (Jn. 
 
 Jones, W. H. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Jones, Ephraim N. E. 
 
 Jones, W. S. Rev. Me. 
 
 Jones, Homer T. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Jordan, J. W. P. Rev. N. E. 
 
LIST OF DELEGATES. 
 
 245 
 
 K. 
 
 
 Lufkin, Benj. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Kellogg, S. Q. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 I, yon, Chas. M. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Kellen, W m. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Lyon Edward A. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Kelley, Samuel Rev. 
 
 N. B. 
 
 
 
 Kenney, 1*. T. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 M. 
 
 
 Kendrick, John 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Mack, D. A. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Kidder, Wm. J. Rev. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Mack, CD. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Kimball, R. 11. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Magee, Jas. P. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Kimball, C. E. 
 
 N. B. 
 
 Magoun, 0. S. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Kim:, B. F. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Mallalieu, TV. F. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 King, C. A. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Maloom, W. D.Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 King, J. L). Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Manson, A. C. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Kniel, Thoe. Hon. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Mansfield, John II. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Knight, Moses 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Mansfield, Joseph II. Rev. 
 
 N. B. 
 
 Knight, E. II. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Manning, E. A. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Knowles, J. 0. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Mansur, G. W, 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Knowles, 11. W. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Marsh, Joseph Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Knott, J. 11. Rev. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Martin, N. 11. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Kyle, W. S. 
 
 N.B. 
 
 Martin, Ezekiel, Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 
 
 Martin, Jonathan 
 
 Vt. 
 
 L. 
 
 
 Martin, II. H. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Lacount, TV. F. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Martin, W. P. M. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Ladd, A. S. Rev. 
 
 Rev. 
 
 Marcy, Thos. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Ladd, N. G. Dr. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Marcy, Ichabod Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Ladd, Cyrus K. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Marston, Moulton 11. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Ladd, Mark P. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Marks, Wm. Hon. Burlington, Ct. 
 
 Lansing, John A. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Mason, C. C. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Lansing, W. U. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Masterman, J. R. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Lane, Geo. W. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Mather, James Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Lapham, J. B. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Matthews, M. D. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Law ton, TV. B. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Mattison, Hiram Rev. 
 
 Newark. 
 
 Leavitt, S. R. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Matteson, H. A. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Leavitt, D. P. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 MoCurdy, C. L. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Learned, N. M. Rev. 
 
 VI. 
 
 McKay, John Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 LeBaron, Ira Rev. 
 
 VI. 
 
 MrKcnzie, D. B. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Leonard, TV. G. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 McDonald, Wm. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Lewis, Daniel Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 McAnn, Isaac Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Lewis, Joseph % 
 Lewis, J. W. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Mcllroy, Robert 
 
 N. H. 
 
 N. B. 
 
 McKay, Uriah 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Lewis, W. G. W. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Mclntire, Daniel 
 
 Me. 
 
 Lewis, Wm. B. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Mclndoe, George 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Linnell, E. Jr. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 McGilvray, Wm. Hon. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Lippett, N. G. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 McKim, J. W. Capt. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Little, J. S. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Merrill, Peter Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Little, Henry, 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Merrill, C. A. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Livesey, Win. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Merrill, A. D. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Livesey, John Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Merrill, Amos Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Livingston, B. F. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Merrill, Jas. A. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Looniis, F. A. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Merrill, C. II. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Lougee, S. F. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Merrill, D. K. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Lovejoy, John Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Merrill, J. TV. Rev. D. D. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Lovell, H. C. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Merrill, Stephen 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Luce, Israel Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Merrill, Jacob S. 
 
 N. E. 
 
246 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Merrick, John M. 
 
 N.E 
 
 Millen, C. W. Rev. 
 
 N. H 
 
 Mil liken, So well 
 
 Me. 
 
 Miner, A. J. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Mitchell, Andrew 
 
 Me. 
 
 Mitchell, John Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Mitchell, H.B. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Mitchell, Randall Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Montgomery, Hugh Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Moore, J. R. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Mooar, Joseph Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Moore, E. J. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Morse, F. C. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Morgan, R. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Morrison, W. V. Rev. 
 
 Pro v. 
 
 Morris, F. G. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Morrill, D. C. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Morse, S. S. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Moulton, L. D. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Munger, Charles Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Munger, H. N. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Munroe, S. Y. Rev. D. D. 
 
 Phil. Pa. 
 
 Murdock, A. K. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 N. 
 
 
 Nason, Chas. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Newhall, Josiah H. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Newhall, Fales 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Newhall, Harrison 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Newell, C. H. Rev. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Nickerson, Obed 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Nickerson, J. H. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Nickerson, Pliny 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Noble, Charles Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Noon, John Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Noon, Saml. H. 
 
 N.E. 
 
 Norris, J. AY. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Norris, Saml. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 North, C. C. New York 
 
 Nottage, Wm. A. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Noyes, James 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Noyes, J. C. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Noyes, Israel C. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Noyes, Geo. N. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Nutt, Henry 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Nye, Eben F. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Otheman, Bartholomew Rev. N. E. 
 Otheman, Edward Rev. N. E. 
 
 Packard, Manly 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Paige, A. W. Rev. 
 Palmer, Anthony Rev. 
 Palmer, M. G. 
 Parsons, Robert Rev. 
 Parmenter, Horace, 
 Parrott, I. H. 
 Patten, David Rev. D. D. 
 Pease, Benj. F. 
 Pease, R. A. 
 Peck, J. 0. Rev. 
 Peckham, A. 
 
 Peck, Jesse T. Rev. D. D. 
 Pentecost, Wm. Rev. 
 Perry, J. J. Hon. 
 Perry, Osborn 
 Per ham, E. G. 
 Pettingill, L. B. Rev. 
 Pettingill, Cutting 
 Peterson , John Rev. 
 Phelps, E. A. 
 Phinney, Lot 
 Phinney, Levi 
 Phinney, Lot 
 Piercy, Henry C. 
 Pike, James Rev. 
 Pilsbury, Wm. H. Rev. 
 Pitman, Benj. 
 Plaisted, John 
 Plumer, C. A. Rev. 
 Plummer, Henry 
 Poland, D. E. 
 Pomfret, W. J. Rev. 
 Pond, L. W. Hon. 
 Porter, James Rev. D. D. 
 Porter, Edward F. Hon. 
 Potter, T. C. Rev. 
 Powers, L. C. Rev. 
 Pratt, Geo. Rev. 
 Pratt, A. L. Rev. 
 Prescott, L. W. Rev. 
 Prescott, Wm. Dr. 
 Presbrey, Alfred A. Rev. 
 Prentice, George Rev. 
 Prince, Ammi Rev. 
 Prince, E. K. 
 Puffer, J. M. Rev. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quimby, Silas Rev. 
 Quimby, Silas E. Rev. 
 
 B. 
 Randall, D. B. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 Prov. 
 Me. 
 Prov. 
 N.E. 
 N.E. 
 Prov. 
 Prov. 
 Prov. 
 N.E. 
 N. E. 
 N. Y. 
 N. E. 
 Me. 
 Prov. 
 N. II. 
 Vt. 
 N.E. 
 N.E. 
 N. H. 
 Vt. 
 Vt. 
 Prov. 
 N. H. 
 N. H. 
 E. Me. 
 Prov. 
 Me. 
 E. Me. 
 Me. 
 N. E. 
 N. E. 
 N. E. 
 Prov. 
 N.E. 
 N.E. 
 Vt. 
 E. Me. 
 Vt. 
 N. H. 
 N. H. 
 Prov. 
 N.E. 
 E. Me. 
 Me. 
 Vt. 
 
 N. H. 
 Vt. 
 
 Me. 
 
LIST OF DELEGATES. 
 
 247 
 
 Ransom, M. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Band, Franklin N. E. 
 
 Ray, Edwin N. E. 
 
 Ray, Wm. B. N. H. 
 
 Ray, P. P. Rev. \ t. 
 
 B dford, B. Rev. Conn. 
 
 Reed, Seth Rev. Prov. 
 
 Remington, Joel Vt. 
 
 Remington, Joshua Prov. 
 
 Richards, L. Dr. Me. 
 
 Richards, Wm. II. Rev. Prov 
 
 Richards, Daniel Rev. N. E. 
 
 Richardson, Thus. B. N. E. 
 
 Richardson, T. P. Hon. N. E. 
 
 Richardson, Ira Vt. 
 
 Rich, Isaac N. E. 
 
 Risky, J. E. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Robinson, Wm. J. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Robinson, II. D. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Robinson, Ezekiel Rev. Me. 
 
 Robinson, Dana G. Prov. 
 
 Robinson, Daniel Prov. 
 
 Roberts, F. H. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Roby, W. C. Vt. 
 
 Rodliff, Ferdinand N. E. 
 
 Rogers, Chas. S. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Rogers, Chas. E. Rev. N. II. 
 
 Rogers, G. W. T. Rev. N. II. 
 
 Rogers, Bethuel N. E. 
 
 Rogers, Charles M. E. Me. 
 
 Rowell, Paris Rev. E. Me. 
 
 Roy, Samuel Rev. IS*. II. 
 
 Rumerv, Stephen Me. 
 
 Russell, Amos B. Rev. N. 11. 
 
 Ryder, Freeman Rev. Prov. 
 
 Sanderson, Roscoe Rev. Me. 
 
 Sanderson, Alonzo Rev. N. E. 
 
 Sanderson, Aaron Rev. Me. 
 
 Sanford, C. S. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Sanborn, Plumer W. N. II. 
 
 Sanborn, J, N. N. II. 
 
 Sargeant, A. D. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Sargent, Wm. R. N. E. 
 
 Satchwell, II. P. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Savage, T. W. N. E. 
 
 Sawyer, John M. N. II. 
 
 Sawyer, J. E. C. Rev. Me. 
 
 Sawyer, Wesley C. Rev. N. £. 
 
 ild, I). II. Prov. 
 
 Scott, Joseph Rev. IS*. B. 
 
 Scott, N. W. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Soott, J. C. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Sears, Franklin, Rev. 
 
 
 . -1 IB. M. 
 
 
 eld, J. F. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Sherburne, J. A. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Sherman, David Rev. 
 
 N. B. 
 
 Si. is, Wm. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Silfverstein, G. A. Rev. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Silverthorn, Wm. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Simmons, Oliver P. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Skinner, Jonathan 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Sleeper, Jacob Hon. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Small, M. W. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Smith, B. M. 
 
 N. 11. 
 
 Smith, Horace 
 
 N. B. 
 
 Smith, D. S. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Smith, Pliny B. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Smith, H. H. Rev. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Smith, Geo. M. 
 
 N. J'. 
 
 Smith, Eleazer Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 Smith, E. A. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Smith, Sydney K. Rev. 
 
 Conn. 
 
 Smith, B. F. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Smith, C. N. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Smith, E. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Snow, E. S. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Snow, Harvey 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Snow, David 
 
 N. B. 
 
 Spaulding, B. P. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Spaulding, Erastus 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Speare, Alden 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Spencer, Moses Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Spencer, II. A. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Spinney, Jas. S. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Spooner, 11. I. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Starr, Wm. 11. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Stanley, J. J. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 Steele, Joel A. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Stevens, N. F. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Stevens, C. A. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Stevens, J. II. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Stevens, Thurston W. 
 
 Me. 
 
 us, A. C. Rev. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Stebbins, L. D. Rev. 
 
 N. B. 
 
 n, W. II. Rev. 
 
 r iv. 
 
 Stocker, 0. E. 
 
 Vt. 
 
 Stover, J. G. 
 
 E. Me. 
 
 Stout. Wm. Rev. 
 
 Me. 
 
 St .well, L. II. 
 
 VI 
 
 Stratton, M. W. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Stratton, Frank Tv. Rev. 
 
 N. II. 
 
 Sturtevant, Cvrus 
 
 Me. 
 
 Stubbs, R. S. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
248 
 
 METHODIST CENTENARY CONVENTION. 
 
 Stutson, Nelson Rev. 
 Sweetser, Geo. II. 
 Sweatt, Ira 
 Sylvester, A. R. Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 N. H, 
 
 Me, 
 
 T. 
 
 Tabor, Church Rev. Vt. 
 
 Taggart, Irad Rev. N. H. 
 
 Talbot, M. J. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Talbot, M. J. Hon. E. Me. 
 
 Taplin, C. P. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Tavior, L. H. N. E. 
 
 Taylor, 0. T. N. E. 
 
 Tenill, H. D. jr. * Prov. 
 Thayer, L. R. Rev. D. D. N. E. 
 
 Thomas, E. A. N. E. 
 
 Thomas, W. H. Rev. N. H. 
 Thomas, T. Snowden Rev. Prov. 
 
 Thomas, James S. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Thompson, Wm. N. E. 
 
 Thurston, James Rev. N. H. 
 
 Tiffany, Comfort Prov. 
 
 Tift, A. C. Prov. 
 
 Tilton, RufusRev. N. H. 
 
 Tinker, H. D. N. E. 
 
 Titus, C. H. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Titos, E. A. Rev. Vt. 
 Tooke, M. M. Rev. Dixon, 111. 
 
 Townsend, Paul Rev. Prov. 
 
 Townsend, L. T. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Towle, Jos. A. N. H. 
 
 Trafton, A. C. Rev. Me. 
 
 Treadwell, T. B. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Tripp, Abiel N. H. 
 
 True, C. K. Rev. D. D. N. E. 
 
 Tuck, Stephen C. Me. 
 
 Turner, T. A. N. E. 
 
 Tupper, T. B. Rev. E. Me. 
 
 Tupper, Saml. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Twombly, J. H. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Twombly, Wm. Vt. 
 
 U. 
 Upham, Fredk. Rev. D. D. Prov. 
 
 Vincent, Hebron Rev. Prov. 
 
 Vinton, C. H. Rev. Me. 
 
 Virgin, E. W. Rev. N. E. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wagner, Jesse Rev. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Wagner, F. J. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Wait, A. D. N. E. 
 
 Walker, Ezra Vt. 
 
 Walker, L. S. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Wallingford, Philander N. H. 
 
 Wallace, S. Y. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Wardwell, L. D. Rev. E. Me. 
 
 Warren, H. W. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Ward, J. D. Vt. 
 
 Ward, Josiah Vt. 
 
 Warren, Washington N. E. 
 
 Wardwell, Wm. A. Prov. 
 
 Waterhouse, Daniel Rev. Me. 
 
 Watkins, G. E. N. E. 
 
 Webber, Geo. Rev. D. D. Me. 
 
 Webb, Josiah N. E. 
 
 Wedgworth, Clark Rev. Vt. 
 
 Weed, Alonzo S. E. Me. 
 
 Wentworth, C. W. N. H. 
 
 Weston, S. H. Vt. 
 
 Weston, H. S. Vt. 
 
 Westgate, Geo. L. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Wetherbee, Nahum N. E. 
 
 Wheeler, Chas. H. Vt. 
 
 Whedon, D. A. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Whidden, S. F. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Whitney, Chas. A. N. H. 
 
 Whitaker, Geo. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Whitcomb, R. Rev. N. H. 
 
 Whiting, John K. Vt. 
 
 Wight, W. H. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Wight, Wesley Me. 
 
 Wiggins, Silas Rev. Vt. 
 
 Williams, Truman Rev. Vt. 
 
 Williston, Alanson Prov. 
 
 Wilder, N. W. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Willett, J. W. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Wingate, Geo. Rev. Me. 
 
 Winsor, S. A. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Winslow,E. D. Rev. N. E. 
 
 Winchester, G. H. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Withers, P. C. E. Me. 
 
 Woodbury, John M. Rev. Me. 
 
 Woodbury, Charles N. E. 
 
 Wood, Pliny Rev. N. E. 
 Wooster, L. T. Wolcotville, Ct. 
 
 Woodcock, Wm. L. N. E. 
 
 Worthen, H. W. Rev. Vt. 
 
 Wright, A. A. Rev. Prov. 
 
 Wyman, W. Rev. Me. 
 
 Young, Chas. Rev. 
 
 N. H. 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 0035521546