Having, in the preceding chapter, detailed the doings of the General Conference at its last session, we will now proceed to notice the movements of the Church in her various departments of labor for the year 1824.

This year the Rev. Charles Elliot was appointed as an assistant to Mr.

Finley on the Wyandot mission. Through their united labors the work of God spread both among the adults and the children of the school.

The mission was visited this year by Bishops McKendree and Soule, who made a thorough examination of the premises, the state of the Missionchurch, and school; and the report of their interview with the converted chiefs gave a most gratifying view of the general aspect of things.

Through the influence of these labors, and that of the missionaries who had the immediate charge of the establishment, the number of Church members had increased this year to one hundred and sixty, and the school, now under the care of William Walker, the subagent, a man fully competent to his work, was in a prosperous condition. The farm also was improving, and yielding a partial supply for the consumption of the mission family. And what contributed mightily to the prosperity and stability of the work, while it gave irrefutable evidence of its depth and genuineness, spirituous liquors were, by a solemn decree, banished from the nation. Benevolent individuals, excited by reading the good news of this great work, as well as auxiliary missionary societies, poured forth their stores to aid the cause of Indian missions.

The mission among the Mohawks, in Upper Canada, was equally prosperous. The particulars, however, relating to this and other missions in that province, will come more properly under subsequent dates.

Since the commencement of the Missionary Society, most of the new ground which was brought under cultivation was through the medium of missionaries, as well in the older parts of the country as in the new settlements in the west and southwest, though in most instances but a partial support was received from the society.

This year the Rev. George Pickering was sent to form a new circuit in Newburyport and Gloucester, in Massachusetts, a region of country hitherto inaccessible to Methodist preachers, except flow and then to a transient visitor. His labors were accompanied with an outpouring of the divine Spirit, and about one hundred souls were brought to Christ in the course of the year; and thus a foundation was laid for continued preaching, the people soon contributing to their own support.

The Rev. John Lindsey was appointed as a missionary to South Hadley and Sunderland, Massachusetts, where he labored with such success that the following year the mission was taken into the regular work.

Piscataquis, in Maine, was occupied as missionary ground by the Rev.

Oliver Beale, and at the end of the second year it was included in the regular work, with a membership of eighty souls as the fruit of his labors.

The work of God in the various domestic missions mentioned under date of last year was in delightful progress, and was extending in various directions among the new and destitute settlements. Nor were the older parts of our work without the reviving influences of the Spirit of God. In various parts of Delaware state, in New Jersey, the Susquehannah and Ontario districts, in the bounds of the Genesee conference, the New Haven and Rhinebeck districts, New York conference, there were encouraging revivals of the work of God, begun generally through the agency of camp meetings, and then carried forward by a faithful attention to the means of grace in the circuits and stations.

In Telfair county, in the state of Georgia, where religion had been at a low ebb for several years, the work of God commenced at a camp meeting held near the fork of the Oconee and Oakmulgee rivers, and thence spread in various directions through the adjacent neighborhoods. The presiding elder, the Rev. John J. Triggs, relates the following anecdote respecting a Baptist preacher who attended the meeting and participated in its exercises: — “In the midst of the work he arose on the stand, and declared to the congregation that he had no doubt but this was the work of God; and warned the people, especially professors of other denominations, of the dangerous consequences of opposing God’s work and of fighting against him. He then told them that he felt as solemn as death, and, lifting up his eyes and hands toward heaven, prayed God to send holy fire among the people. An awful solemnity rested on the assembly, and the power of the Highest overshadowed them. Some fell to the ground, and others cried aloud for mercy.” The meeting resulted in the conversion of thirty-four, and a number returned to their homes under deep conviction for sin, resolved on a reformation of heart and life.

The cause of education was daily advancing from one annual conference to another, and exerting an enlightening influence both on the young and the old. This year an academy was established in Cazenovia, in the bounds of the Genesee conference, a portion of our country fast increasing in population, wealth, and civil and religious enterprise. It was incorporated by the state legislature, and opened its doors for the education of youth of both sexes; and such has been its prosperity, that it has continued, enlarging its dimensions and extending the sphere of its influence, from that day to this, much to the credit of its founders and patrons, and greatly to the advantage of the rising generation. This, as well as the others which have been named, was brought strictly under a religious influence, so that the principles of Christianity might be embodied in the heart, as far as practicable, simultaneously with the growth of literature and science. And the pious objects of its patrons have been in a good degree realized in the conversion, from time to time, of quite a number of the students.

In proportion to the increase of preachers the number of locations was diminished, there being this year only forty-eight; whereas, as might be expected, the number of supernumeraries and superannuated was gradually increasing in nearly all the annual conferences, there being this year of the former forty-three, and of the latter sixty-seven. Three had been expelled and nine had died during the past year. These last were, Charles Trescott, David Gray, John Wallace, Joseph Kinkaid, Peyton Anderson, Enoch Johnson, Richard McAllister, Mordecai Barry, Louis R. Fetchtig, and James Akins. It is no slight evidence of the truth and excellence of the gospel, that it enables its advocates to die in the full possession of its promised blessings. Of the above-mentioned brethren it is recorded that, having discharged their Christian and ministerial duties with fidelity, they all made a peaceful and triumphant exit from time to eternity, thus sealing the truths they had preached to others with their own lips in that most trying hour.

Of Peyton Anderson, particularly, excellent things are said. He was born February 9th, 1795, in Chesterfield county, Virginia. Favored with the advantages of a good education in his youth, and being brought under the influence of gospel truth, at an early age he was made a partaker of pardoning mercy by faith in Jesus Christ. In his nineteenth year he commenced the work of an itinerant minister, and gave early indications of those talents as a preacher, and of that zeal in the cause of God, which afterward distinguished him in his short career of usefulness. In his public exercises, as well as in his private intercourse, he was remarkable for the seriousness of his manner, arising, no doubt, from the sincerity of his heart, and his deep devotion to the cause of God.

He had a discriminating mind, and could therefore easily distinguish between truth and error, and nicely balance the relative claims of the several objects which were lawful for mankind to pursue. And his deep solemnity in the pulpit, his ready command of appropriate language, the fervor of his spirit, and evident sincerity of purpose, gave an impressiveness to all his discourses, which fastened the truths he uttered upon the hearts of his hearers. Though comparatively young in Christian experience and in the ministry of the word, yet he had learned much in the school of Christ, having passed through some severe struggles of mind, and wrestled in the strength of mighty faith and prayer against the violence of temptation, in which he was “more than a conqueror through Him who had loved him.” He was therefore able to administer spiritual consolation to those who were in trouble, and to admonish such of their danger who were “wrestling against principalities and powers,” as well as to point them to the only source whence their help was to be derived.

Having drunk deeply at the fountain of divine love, his heart expanded with benevolent feelings toward mankind generally, for whose salvation he longed and labored with all diligence. Hence the Missionary Society found in him a warm friend and zealous advocate, and he was instrumental in promoting its noble objects by the formation of branch societies, and by stirring up a spirit of liberality among the people of his charge. And what rendered his precepts more weighty and influential, they were constantly enforced by his own example, both as respects the piety of his heart, the uniformity of his life, and the burning charity with which he exemplified the living principle of his faith.

In his last sickness and death the graces of Christianity shone out with luster, and eclipsed in his view all the fading glories of this world. While his friends were standing around his dying bed, and watching with anxious hearts the issue of his conflict, and beheld the fitful ebbings and flowings of animal life, he said to them, in the language of faith and hope, “Farewell, brethren. When we meet again it will be in heaven.” He thus ended his mortal career August 27, 1823, in the twenty-ninth year of his age, and tenth of his public ministry.

Thus a bright light in the church militant became extinguished ere it had attained its meridian splendor. Mysterious are the ways of Providence!

Had our brother Anderson lived to the common age of man, and gone on improving as he had begun, under the smiles of his heavenly Father, he doubtless would have risen to eminence in the church of God, and been a great blessing to his fellow-men. But He who “sees the end from the beginning,” and whose “thoughts are not as our thoughts,” in thus fulfilling the original decree denounced upon fallen man, in calling his servant to his eternal reward in early life, manifested his sovereign right over the work of his hands, and challenged the pious submission of his people to the wisdom and goodness of his dispensations.

Numbers in the Church:

This Year Last Year Increase Whites 280,427 267,618 12,809 Colored 48,096 44,922 3,174 Total 328,523 312,540 15,983 Preachers 1,272 1,226 A work of grace commenced this year among the Mississauga Indians in Upper Canada. These were among the most degraded of all the Indian tribes in that country. From their habits of intercourse among the depraved whites, they had bartered away their land for intoxicating liquor, had debased themselves by intemperance, and were consequently lazy, idle, poor, and filthy to a most disgusting degree. They seemed, indeed, to be abandoned to a most cruel fate.

Among others who had embraced the Lord Jesus during the work among the Mohawks was Peter Jones, a half-breed, his mother being a Mississauga and his father an Englishman. Mr. Jones, Peter’s father, had been the king’s surveyor, and his occupation leading him much among the Indians, during the days of his vanity he formed an intimacy with two Indian women, the one a Mohawk princess and the other a Mississauga woman. About the year 1801, Mr. Jones, under the Methodist ministry, was awakened and converted to God. He then felt it his duty to repudiate one of his women, and he separated himself from the mother of Peter, the Mississauga, and married the other, who also embraced religion, and became a pious member of the Church. Peter followed his mother into the woods, and remained with his tribe until he was about twelve years of age, when his father brought him from the wilderness and sent him to an English school. While here, through the preaching of the gospel, he also was brought from darkness to light; and, understanding both languages, he was at first employed as an interpreter, and finally became eminently useful as a minister of the Lord Jesus.

Feeling, after his conversion, for the salvation of his wretched tribe, he hasted away to them, and told them what great things God had done for his soul. This had a powerful effect upon their minds, and led them to attend the meetings on the Grand river.

A relative of Peter Jones, one of their chiefs, while attending these meetings, was led to the Lord Jesus for salvation, and his family soon followed his steps. Others followed their example, and, through the pious exertions of this converted chief and Peter Jones, a reformation was effected this year among these degraded Mississaugas, of such a character, so thorough and genuine, that all who beheld it were astonished, and could not but acknowledge the hand of God. They abandoned the use of intoxicating liquor, forsook their heathenish and immoral practices, were baptized and received into the communion of the Church, and demonstrated, by their subsequent conduct, that the work was indeed the work of God. A white man, who had made his house the resort for drunken whites and Indians, seeing the visible change in the temper and conduct of these Indians, could but acknowledge the finger of God, was struck under conviction, became a sincere convert, banished from his house his drunken companions, became sober and industrious, and devoted both himself and his house to the service of God. The whole number converted at this time was fifty-four, seven of whom were whites.

About the same time that this good work was going on so gloriously among the Mississaugas, a similar work commenced among a branch of the Delawares and Chippeways, who were settled at Muncytown, on the river Thames. This work began through the instrumentality of a Mohawk by the name of Jacob, who had raised himself to respectability among them by his sober and industrious habits. Until he heard the truths of the gospel he thought himself a very good and happy man, and was so considered by his brethren; but when the light of divine truth shone upon his mind he saw himself a sinner against God, his fancied goodness and happiness fled, and he rested not until he found peace with God through faith in the Lord Jesus. No sooner did this great change take place in Jacob’s heart than he went among his brethren, who were wallowing in the mire of iniquity and heathenish practices, addressing them from one cabin to another, warning them, in the most affectionate manner, of the danger to which they were exposed, and beseeching them to be reconciled to God. “The Great Spirit,” said he, in imperfect English, “is angry. You must die.

Now consider where the wicked man must go. We must be born new men.

Our heart new. His Spirit make us new heart. Then, O! much peace, much joy.”

Another among the first converts was an Indian of a very different character, and therefore the change was the more apparent and convincing.

He was so given up to intoxication that he would barter any thing he had for vile whisky. At one time he offered his bullock for whisky, and, because his neighbors would not purchase it, in a violent rage he attempted to destroy the creature. At another time, having sold his clothes from his back for whisky, he stole from his wife the seed corn she had carefully preserved for planting, and offered it for the “fire waters,” but was prevented from thus robbing his wife of the means of future subsistence by one of our friends, who purchased it and returned it to the squaw, upon whose labor in the field the family chiefly depended for bread. But even this man, vile as he was, who, in his drunken fits, was one of the most quarrelsome wretches that could haunt a human habitation, became reformed by the power of the gospel. That his reformation was thorough, was evidenced by the soberness, piety, and industriousness of his subsequent life. The conversion of two such men had a most powerful effect upon the whole tribe. Many of them embraced the gospel, and a school was soon established for the education of their children and youth.

The labors of Peter Jones were highly useful in conducting these missions.

He interpreted for the missionaries, and often addressed his Indian brethren, from the fullness of his own heart, with great effect. Many were the objections which the pagan Indians raised against the gospel, some of them founded in truth, and some from false representations circulated among them by the enemies of Christianity. These objections were obviated by distinguishing between real and nominal Christians, and by showing that the latter disgraced themselves by abusing the holy doctrines and high privileges to which they were called, and in which they professed to believe. It was, indeed, painful to be obliged to concede the fact, that hitherto the Indians had been imposed upon by the cupidity of white men, under the garb of Christianity; but this conduct was disclaimed and condemned by the missionaries, and the example of those who now came among them, and of the new converts, was presented as an ample refutation of all the slanderous representations of their adversaries. This silenced the clamor, and gave confidence to the friends of the cause.

Several attempts had been made, but with little success hitherto, to establish Methodism in the city of New Orleans, a place which needed the reforming influence of the gospel as much, perhaps, as any on the continent.

This city, which is now equal in importance, in a commercial point of view, to any in the United States, was first settled by the French, toward the close of the seventeenth Century, and the Roman Catholic religion was incorporated with its civil regulations. The progress of the settlement, like all the others in that region of country, for a number of years was extremely slow, owing to a variety of causes, but chiefly to the wars between France and Spain, to the unhealthiness of the climate, and the want of industry and enterprise among the original settlers. In 1763, that part of Louisiana west of the Mississippi and Pearl rivers, of which New Orleans was the capital, was ceded to Spain, and so remained until 1801, when it passed into the hands of the French republic, from whom it was transferred, in 1804, by purchase, to the United States. At this time the population, chiefly French Roman Catholics, numbered about twelve thousand; but from that period the increase of its citizens was much more rapid, by emigrants from various parts of the Union, so that, at the time of which we now speak, there were probably not less than forty thousand.

These Anglo-Americans, mingling with the Creoles of the country, gradually introduced their habits and modes of living, as well as their religious tenets.

But though New Orleans was thus early settled, and possessed so many local advantages for commerce, as before said, its progress was slow, and the population were encumbered with all those embarrassments arising out of the peculiarities of the Roman Catholic religion. In 1815, three years after the memorable victory of the American army under General Jackson, the City contained about thirty-six thousand inhabitants, most of whom were descendants of the French and Spaniards. And until about the year 1820, when a Presbyterian church was erected, there was no place of worship besides the two Roman Catholic churches. It is said, indeed, that the sabbath was generally desecrated by profane sports and plays, the principles of morality exceedingly relaxed, pure religion little understood, and its precepts less exemplified in practical life.

Among others who were lured to New Orleans for the purposes of traffic from the other states were some members of our Church, who spent the winter months in the city, but, on account of the insalubrity of the climate, retreated to their former places of abode during the heat of summer. These, however, beholding the degraded state of society, and feeling the deleterious influence of such a general inattention to religion, called upon the authorities of the Church for help. Accordingly, in the year 1819, the Rev. Mark Moore was sent to New Orleans, and he preached, under many discouraging circumstances, to a few in a room which was hired for that purpose, and some ineffectual efforts were made to build a church. In the Rev. John Manifee was sent as a missionary to New Orleans, and in the same year the place was visited by the Rev. Ebenezer Brown, who, being disappointed in his attempts to gain access to the French population in Louisiana, assisted Mr. Manifee in preaching to an English congregation in t he city. From this time until 1824 New Orleans seems to have been forsaken by the Methodist preachers thinking probably that it was useless to spend their strength to so little purpose, for I find no returns of any members of the Church until the year 1825. In 1824 the Rev. Daniel Hall stands as a missionary for New Orleans, but the prospect was yet but gloomy.

This year, 1825, the Mississippi district was placed in charge of the Rev.

William Winans, whose eminent talents as a preacher, and indefatigable labors as a presiding elder in that part of the country, gave a more vigorous impulse to the work of God; and New Orleans was blessed with the labors of the Rev. Benjamin Drake, who was instrumental in reviving the hopes of the few pious souls who prayed and sighed for the salvation of Israel in that place; for we find that in 1826 there were returned on the Minutes of conference eighty-three members, twenty-three whites and sixty colored.

But still the work of God went on slowly, the preachers having to contend with a host of opposition from without and feebleness within the Church, with the unhealthiness of the climate, and the want of suitable accommodations for holding their meetings. The next year, however, the society had increased to one hundred in all. From this time the work has steadily advanced, and they have finally succeeded, by struggling bard with difficulties of various sorts, in erecting a large and elegant house of worship, so that in 1835 they numbered six hundred and twenty-five members, five hundred and seventy of whom were Colored, chiefly, I believe, slaves.

Mobile and Pensacola, about fifty miles apart, the former in Alabama and the latter in Florida, were supplied last year and this with the preaching of the gospel. Under the patronage of the Missionary Society, the Rev.

Henry P. Cook was sent to these places. His deep piety and faithful exertions in the cause of Christ soon gave him a commanding and salutary influence among the people of his charge.

Since Mobile has been connected with the United States, by the cession of Louisiana, it has filled up rapidly with inhabitants, has become an incorporated City, a port of entry, and a place of considerable trade; but, like most of the towns included in that tract of country, the people generally were quite neglectful of their spiritual and eternal interests until visited by the Methodist itinerants. Mr. Cook, however, was cordially received by a few, and he succeeded in raising a flourishing society, adopted measures for building a house of worship, which was finally completed, and the society has continued to flourish to the present time.

Nor will the name of Henry P. Cook be soon forgotten by the inhabitants of Mobile. He fell a martyr to his work in that place this year, leaving behind him the savor of a good name, and numerous evidences of his deep devotion to his work, and of his love to the souls of men.

Pensacola was also becoming a town of considerable importance in that part of Florida, and Mr. Cook was instrumental in raising a small society in that place, which, however, has fluctuated from time to time, struggling with various difficulties, until, in the year 1828, they succeeded in building a meeting-house, in which they assembled for the worship of God.

While attending to these two places, as the principal scene of his labors, in passing from one to the other, Mr. Cook preached to some scattered inhabitants along the Escambia river, in West Florida, which was afterward occupied as a separate mission field.

Tallahassee, in another part of Florida, was also provided with the means of grace this year. The Rev. John Slade was sent to this region of country as a missionary, and he succeeded in forming a society of seventy-three members, sixty whites and thirteen colored.

The Early mission, in a neighboring region of country, was so successfully cultivated by the Rev. Morgan C. Turrentine, who was sent to form the circuit, that he returned no less than one hundred and thirty-six members, eighteen of whom were people of color. This year was the commencement of a work which has continued to spread in that part of Florida until several circuits have been formed, on which are large and flourishing societies. Such were the blessed results of the missionary spirit pervading our ranks at that time, and which has continued to rise and diffuse its hallowing influences in every direction among the people.

In addition to those missions which included the more remote settlements in the exterior parts of our work, it was found, on examination, that there were many places in the older countries which had been overlooked by all denominations, being too remote from the center of population for the people to attend the stated places of worship. Such were the Highland and Hampshire missions, in the bounds of the New York conference; the former embracing a destitute population in the midst of the Highlands, a mountainous and rather poor region of country, about sixty miles north of the city of New York; the latter a district of country in the northwestern part of Massachusetts. The Rev. John J. Matthias was this year appointed to labor in the Highlands, and such was the success of his zealous efforts, that at the end of the first year he returned one hundred and thirty-four Church members, and at the termination of the second the people manifested a willingness and an ability to support themselves. It has accordingly since been included among the regular circuits.

The Rev. Parmele Chamberlin was sent to the Hampshire mission. This was found a more difficult place to plant the tree of Methodism. Success, however, finally crowned the persevering efforts of God’s servant, so that, at the end of four years, this was also taken into the regular work.

While the work was thus extending itself in new places, and causing “the wilderness and solitary places to be glad for” the coming of these heralds of salvation, the older circuits and stations were blessed with the reviving influences of God’s Spirit. Indeed, it was the vigorous action in the heart of the body which gave such a lively pulsation to the extremities. And what contributed not a little to diffuse this healthy action throughout the entire body was the publication of the Methodist Magazine, now arrived to the eighth volume, and which conveyed in its monthly numbers the news of what God was doing for the various tribes of men. Many testimonies to the salutary influence of this periodical on the interests of religion might be adduced from those preachers and others who were the most actively engaged in building up the walls of Zion. From the pages of the volume for this year, it appears evident that God was pouring out his Spirit on various parts of his vineyard, watering and reviving the souls of his people, and converting sinners from the error of their ways.

A glorious work of God commenced in the latter part of last year in Chillicothe, Ohio, which resulted in an addition to the Church in that place, by the month of February of this year, of two hundred and twentyeight members. From the time of the revival in this town in 1818 and 1819, there had been a diminution in their number, owing chiefly to removals still farther west; but this gracious work not only made up their loss, but also added new strength to the society, and increased their numbers very considerably.

Through the means of camp and quarterly meetings there was a great work of God on the Ontario district, then under the charge of the Rev. George Lane. This good work spread through all that region of country, so that the increase of members on that district for this year was upward of one thousand.

The Genesee district was also visited with showers of divine grace, and most of the circuits shared in their refreshing influences.

In Bridgetown, New Jersey, where religion had been languishing for some time, a gracious work of God commenced, which resulted in the conversion of about one hundred souls, most of whom became members of the Church.

In Newark, New Jersey also, there was a manifest display of the grace of God in the awakening and conversion of souls, under the labors of the Rev.

William Thacher. It began by urging upon believers the necessity of “going on unto perfection,” or the seeking after holiness of heart and life; and no sooner did they feel the enlivening influences of the Holy Spirit in their own souls, than the work spread among the unawakened part of the community, and very soon fifty souls were added to the Church, and great seriousness rested on the congregation generally.

On Coeyman’s circuit, New York state, there was a general revival of the work of God. This also commenced among the professors of religion, who were induced to seek after “perfect love” as the privilege of believers in this life. Having their own souls baptized from on high, they were fired with a loving zeal for the salvation of their neighbors; and the consequence was, that one hundred and seventy were brought to the knowledge of the truth and added to the Church.

In the city of Albany, where Methodism had struggled with many difficulties for a long time, God poured out his Spirit, and about fifty souls were brought into the fellowship of the Church.

On the Champlain district, then under the charge of the Rev. Buel Goodsell, the work of God prevailed very generally among the circuits, and the hopes of God’s people were greatly revived and their hearts strengthened. This good work was the result of a number of camp meetings which were held in different parts of the district. These were the means of the conversion of many sinners, and a general quickening among the professors of religion.

New Haven district also, under the superintendence. of the Rev. Samuel Luckey, was favored with some revivals, and the state of religion was generally flourishing through the district.

In this part of the country, as well as in some others, it had been found that we had labored to little purpose in the cities and principal villages, for want of convenient houses of worship, and because we had not a preacher constantly among the people. From these defects in our plans of procedure, our societies in New Haven, Middletown, and Hartford, and many other places, had been but feeble, and often the prospects were discouraging. About this time a remedy had been pro provided in some places, and was providing in others, by erecting churches, and stationing preachers in those cities and villages where the people were able to support them. The blessed effects of these movements were soon felt and seen, though in some instances, in building churches, the people felt themselves compelled, as they thought, to depart from our general usage, by selling or renting the slips, as they could not otherwise either build the houses, or induce the people to attend the preaching — parents pleading that they wished to seat their children and members of their household with them in places of public worship.

Whatever may be said against this policy in other parts of our work, it is certain that its adoption in many portions of the country in the eastern and northern states has had a beneficial influence upon the interests of our Church. By this means the people have been able to meet the expense of sustaining the worship of God, and also to secure permanent congregations; and the preachers could more fully and effectually discharge all the duties of pastors, in overseeing the temporal and spiritual affairs of the Church, such as visiting from house to house, attending upon the sick, burying the dead, meeting the classes, and regulating sabbath school, tract, and missionary societies. And who will say that these things are not as important to the well-being of the Church, or the prosperity of true religion, as it is “to preach so many sermons?”

A great and glorious work this year prevailed in the Susquehannah district, in the bounds of the Genesee conference, under the presidency of the Rev.

George Peck. Camp meetings were chiefly instrumental in kindling the sacred flame which spread among the circuits and stations of this region of country, and many sinners were happily converted to God, while the holy impulse was felt through the churches generally.

The Rev. Dan Barnes, in giving an account of the Black river district, in the same conference, speaks of a great work which commenced at a camp meeting and thence spread in various directions.

In the city of Baltimore the Rev. Samuel Merwin, who had charge of the church in that place this year, writes, that mighty works were wrought in the name of the Lord Jesus. He says that from fifty to one hundred and fifty were crying to God for mercy in the same meeting, and he presumed that from five hundred to six hundred were made partakers of pardoning mercy during the progress of the work.

About this time a lively feeling was awakened in the Christian community in behalf of seamen, a class of men hitherto almost entirely neglected by the church. Indeed, as early as 1816, a few benevolent individuals in the city of New York had directed their attention to the condition of this useful class of men, and they succeeded in forming a society for promoting the gospel among seamen in the port of New York, consisting of nearly all evangelical denominations, and its operations are conducted on the most catholic principles. Its affairs are managed by a board of directors, holding a corporate seal by an act of the legislature. Being patronized by the Christian public, they succeeded, in 1819, in purchasing ground and erecting a house of worship in Roosevelt Street, near the quays on the East river, quite convenient for the sailors to attend. At the dedication of this house, in accordance with the catholic principles on which it was built, the three sermons were preached by a Protestant Episcopalian, a Dutch Reformed, and a Methodist Episcopal minister. To insure the stated ministry of the word, the Rev. Ward Stafford, a Presbyterian minister, was first engaged to take charge of the congregation, who was occasionally assisted by ministers of other denominations.

After he left, the directors obtained a gratuitous supply by inviting ministers of various denominations, so as to keep up, as far as possible, the anti-sectarian character of the enterprise, that all might feel an interest in its promotion. It was soon found, however, that a congregation could not be collected and retained without the labors of a stated minister.

Accordingly, in 1821, they employed the Rev. Henry Chase, at that time a local preacher, and an assistant teacher in the Wesleyan seminary in the city of New York, to take charge of a weekly prayer meeting in the church, to distribute tracts among seamen, to visit their families, and to perform such pastoral duties as might not interfere with his engagements with the seminary. Being quite successful in these efforts, at the request of the directors, and in accordance with the advice of his brethren in the ministry in the city of New York, Mr. Chase resigned his place as teacher in the Wesleyan seminary, and on the first of January, 1823, devoted himself entirely to the service of seamen.

In 1825 brother Chase was admitted on trial in the New York conference, and, at the request of the directors of the seamen’s society, was stationed in the Mariner’s church, where, with the exception of eighteen months, when they had a minister of another denomination, he has continued ever since. In 1825, perceiving that great good resulted to seamen from his labors, and of those similarly employed in other places, and feeling the inconvenience of those changes which ordinarily take place in our Church, the General Conference made an exception in favor of those preachers who were laboring for the spiritual good of seamen, allowing the bishop to continue them in the same station for any length of time. Mr. Chase has accordingly been continued in the Mariner’s church to the present time, as a member and elder in the New York conference, and his ministrations have been greatly blessed. Hundreds of seamen have been soundly converted to God, and the church is generally filled with orderly and attentive hearers every sabbath, and regular prayer meetings are held every week. There is, indeed, a great improvement in the condition and general conduct of this useful and suffering class of men.

As the Mariner’s church is supported by the several denominations of Christians, no church organization has taken place there, but those who were brought to the knowledge of the truth were at liberty to unite with whatever church they pleased; but I believe most of them have united with the Methodist Episcopal Church; and their numbers have become so considerable, that they have recently organized themselves into a church, under the name of the Methodist Episcopal Seamen’s Church in the city of New York, have elected trustees, and are now (1840) making preparations to erect a house of worship for their accommodation and that of their seafaring brethren.

Similar efforts have been made in other places, and with equal success, which will be noticed under their appropriate dates.

On the whole, it would appear, notwithstanding some portions of our Church were agitated with discussions on the different modes of church government, that prosperity generally attended the labors of God’s servants, and that the spirit of revival pervaded the ranks of our Israel.

Some other churches also caught the flame in many places, and were therefore making delightful progress in the advancement of true religion.

Fifty-eight preachers were located this year, fifty-five returned supernumerary, and eighty-three superannuated; fourteen had died, and three had been expelled.

Among the dead was William Beauchamp, whose eminent talents fitted him for great usefulness in the church of God. And while the civil historian enriches his pages with memoirs of statesmen, poets, orators, philosophers, and men of military renown who have benefited their country, we may be allowed to preserve a record of those eminent ministers of the sanctuary who, by the depth and ardor of their piety, their genius, and their eloquence in the pulpit, have contributed to advance the best interests of their fellow-men. The characters of such men are a precious legacy which they have bequeathed to the Church, more valuable, indeed, than silver and gold.

William Beauchamp was born in Kent county, Delaware state, on the 26th day of April, 1772. He was a descendant of a pious Methodist preacher, who, about the year 1785, removed to the west and settled on the Monongahela river, and from thence, in about eight years, on the Little Kenhawa river, Wood county, Va. Here, in conjunction with Mr. Rees Wolf; another Methodist preacher, he was instrumental in establishing some Methodist societies. William was a subject of religious impressions when quite a youth, and at about sixteen years of age he was made a partaker of justifying faith, and became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1794 he joined the traveling ministry, and after discharging the duties of an itinerant preacher with great acceptance and usefulness west of the Allegheny mountains for three years, he was stationed, in 1797, in the city of New York, and a few of the people here still remember the able manner in which he fulfilled the duties of his station. In 1799 he was stationed in Provincetown, in Massachusetts, and from thence he was removed, in 1800, to the island of Nantucket.

In this place Methodism was scarcely known at that time. A local preacher by the name of Cannon had preached there with some success, and hence the conference was requested to send them a regular preacher, and Mr. Beauchamp was accordingly sent. Here his piety and talents soon gained him the confidence of the people, and he was instrumental in raising a society of eighty members, and before he left the place a large and commodious house of worship was erected. This laid the foundation of Methodism in the island of Nantucket, which has continued to enlarge its dimensions from time to time, so much so that the New England conference has held two of its sessions in that place, the first in 1820, and the second in 1836.

Unhappily for the Church, whose interests he served, in 1801 Mr.

Beauchamp located. In the same year he was united in matrimony to Mrs.

Frances Russell, the widow of Mr. A. Russell, who had been lost at sea.

Without stopping to notice the intervening periods of his life, it will be sufficient for the purposes of this short memoir to remark, that he remained in a located relation to the Church until 1822, when he re-entered the traveling connection, and continued therein until his death, which happened on the seventh day of October, 1824, in the fifty-third year of his age.

His piety was unquestionable, and his talents as a minister of Jesus Christ, as a writer, and as a man of business, were of the first order; and, had he continued in the itinerant ministry, no doubt he would have arisen to the first distinction in the Church. During his located relation he removed to the west, and settled first in his former place of residence, on the Little Kenhawa, and then, in 1816, in Chillicothe, and finally he took up his residence at Mount Carmel, Illinois. Of this latter place, he, in conjunction with his friend, Thomas S. Hinde, was the founder. In all the places where he resided he obtained the confidence, respect, and affection of the people, and was eminently useful as a minister of Jesus Christ, as well as a citizen among his neighbors. Indeed, such is said to have been the confidence of his neighbors in his wisdom and integrity, that often civil suits were withdrawn from courts of justice and submitted to his arbitrament. He also infused into the minds of the youth within the circle of his acquaintance a taste for literary acquirements, both by example and precept.

During this same period of his life he appeared before the public as a writer, and in 1811 he published an “Essay on the Truth of the Christian Religion,” which is said, by those who are capable of judging of its character, to be a work of sterling merit. In 1816, while residing at Chillicothe, he became the editor of a monthly periodical, called “The Western Christian Monitor,” for which he furnished some valuable pieces, written with spirit and much critical acumen. At this time we had no periodical publication; and feeling, in common with many others, the want of such a medium of instruction, he was led, aided by some of his literary friends in the west, to undertake this work. For the short time it existed its circulation was considerable, and its pages were enriched with articles, both original and selected, which did honor to the head and heart of its editor. Among others who contributed articles for the Western Christian Monitor was Thomas S. Hinde, better known under the signature of “Theophilus Arminius,” whose sketches of western Methodism afterward enriched the pages of the Methodist Magazine, and who became the biographer of his deceased friend, the Rev. William Beauchamp. The work, however, continued in existence only one year, but it contained evidence of the piety, industry, and talent of its editor.

After the commencement of the Methodist Magazine Mr. Beauchamp became an occasional contributor to that work, and all his pieces bear the stamp of genius, of an original thinker, and an accurate writer.

Having returned to the ranks of the itinerancy, he again entered upon his work with all that ardor, and in the display of those ministerial qualifications, by which he had been before distinguished. In the second year he was appointed a presiding elder of the Indiana district. While traveling this district he was seized with a complaint with which he had before been visited, namely, an affection of the liver. He lingered under the influence of this corroding disease for about six weeks, during which time he exhibited the patience, faith, and love of the Christian, and died in the in hope of eternal life.

Mr. Beauchamp was a close, a diligence, and a successful student, though in his youth he was deprived of the customary advantages of education.

While a lad his father removed to the Monongahela, where schools were not to be found. But as he had contracted a taste for books before his removal, he surmounted the difficulties of his situation, procured torchlights as a substitute for candles or lamps, and when the labors of the day were finished, and the family retired to rest, young Beauchamp would prostrate himself upon the floor, and examine his books by the light of his torch. In this way he treasured up a stock of useful information, of which he availed himself in after life. He became thoroughly acquainted with the principles of his vernacular language, studied the Latin and Greek, and in his riper years mastered the Hebrew tongue. In addition to these acquirements, he cultivated an acquaintance with some of the sciences, through the medium of the most accomplished authors. With this taste for literature and science, it seems strange that he should have neglected the study of history, as it is stated he did, this being of all others the most important to store the mind with useful knowledge, and especially for the minister of the gospel.

These qualifications, superadded to the depth and uniformity of his piety, his love of the Bible, and his acquaintance with its doctrines and precepts, fitted him in an eminent degree for usefulness in the Church; and had he devoted himself exclusively to the work of the gospel ministry, as before said, he might have risen to one of its highest offices: as it was, after his return to the itinerancy, at the General Conference of 1824, which he attended as a delegate from the Missouri conference, he was a candidate for the episcopacy, and lacked only two votes more to insure his election.

His style of preaching was remarkable for its chastity, plainness, and nervousness. No redundancy of words encumbered his sentences — no pomposity of style swelled his periods nor did there appear any effort to produce a momentary effect for the empty purpose of gaining the shout of applause. His attitude in the pulpit was solemn, his gestures easy and graceful, his arguments sound and conclusive, and his positions were all fortified by apposite appeals to the sacred Scripture. And though he made no artificial efforts at oratorical display, yet he exhibited the true eloquence of a gospel minister, by making his language reflect clearly the perceptions of his mind, by pouring the truths of Christianity upon his audience in the purest strains of a neat and energetic diction, and by enforcing the whole by the sincerity and earnestness of his manner. His delivery was deliberate, not loud and boisterous, but clear and distinct, leaving an impression upon the mind of the hearer that truth and duty were the object of his pursuit.

His biographer relates the following incident in proof of the power and conclusiveness of his arguments, when engaged in establishing a controverted point. His antagonist, who was listening attentively to the discourse, finding the arguments too powerful for him to answer, rose, apparently with an intention to leave the house, but was so overcome by the force of truth, and his whole frame so agitated, that, finding himself staggering, he caught hold of the railing, reeled, and dropped upon his seat, and there remained, overwhelmed and confounded, until the sermon was ended; he then silently withdrew, and left Mr. Beauchamp master of the field.

But he rests from his labors. And whatever of human infirmities he may have exhibited, they were lost sight of amid the many excellences which adorned his character, and may therefore be entombed beneath the same turf which hides his mortal remains in Paoli, until the last trumpet shall awake his sleeping dust to life and immortality. Acknowledging himself indebted to divine grace for present peace and future salvation, he hung upon the promises of the gospel for support and comfort, and finally resigned up his soul to God in the full hope of eternal life.

Another of the worthies who exchanged the itinerant race for the crown of reward was William Ross, of the New York conference. Though his race was comparatively short — for he died in the thirty-third year of his age — his course was steady, and his end glorious.

He was a native of Tyringham, Mass., and was born February 10,1792. In the seventeenth year of his age he was made a partaker of the justifying grace of God, became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, in his twentieth year, entered the ranks of the itinerancy. In the early periods of his ministry he labored chiefly in the state of Vermont, where, in consequence of the badness of the roads and coarseness of the fare, he sometimes suffered many privations, which gave him an opportunity of trying the strength of his resolutions, of his faith in Christ, his love to God and the souls of men. The faithfulness with which he discharged his duties in this rugged field of labor gave him favor in the eyes of the people, and commended him to the approbation of his brethren in the ministry.

After traveling various circuits, in which he acquitted himself as an able minister of the New Testament, in 1821 he was stationed in the city of New York, where he labored two years with great acceptance. For the last two years of his ministry he was stationed in Brooklyn, Long Island, where he ended his life and labors in the full triumph of faith and hope.

His last hours, indeed, were a brilliant comment upon the doctrines he had preached, and tended not a little to strengthen our faith in the divinity of their origin, and the efficacy of their application to the heart and conscience.

William Ross is not exhibited as a great man, nor yet as a learned man. He was neither the one nor the other, in the common acceptation of these terms. But he was a good man, a good preacher, and a good husband, father, and friend, and he was thus good because the grace of God in Christ Jesus had made him such. In one sense, indeed, he was great. He had a clear perception of the plan of redemption by Christ Jesus, well understood the sacred Scriptures, was indefatigable in his labors, was an eloquent and successful preacher of righteousness, and exemplified in his own life those pure precepts of Christianity which he recommended to others.

The high estimation in which he was held by his brethren, and by the Christian community generally, may be inferred from his being frequently called, in the course of his ministrations in New York and Brooklyn, to plead the cause of Bible, missionary, Sunday school, and tract societies.

Here, indeed, he sometimes spoke with a force and eloquence which astonished and delighted his friends, while it confounded the enemies of these benevolent exertions for the salvation of the world.

In the pulpit there was a peculiar solemnity in his manner, and dignity of expression — the grave, distinct, sonorous intonations of his voice giving force and impressiveness to the sentiments he uttered, and reminded the hearer that be was listening to a messenger who felt the weight and importance of his message. Being a decided friend to all our benevolent institutions, and particularly to the missionary and education causes, he often advocated them in public, and gave them the weight of his influence in his more private intercourse in the circles in which he moved. Some of his satirical thrusts — for he sometimes used this dangerous weapon to put error and folly to the blush — at ignorance and covetousness, cut with the keener edge because of the strength and appropriateness with which they were sent by his skillful hand. Nor was he deterred from exposing these common pests of human society merely because the wounds which he inflicted upon their votaries made them writhe and groan under the sensations of pain which they frequently suffered.

He was equally skillful and much more delighted in the pleasing task of portraying before his audience the glowing beauties of charity, the divine excellences of the other Christian graces, and the attractive charms with which Christianity invested him who clothed himself with its rich and lovely livery. When, therefore, William Ross “occupied that holy place, the pulpit,” no one was disgusted with a repetition of cant and unmeaning — unmeaning, I mean, to him who utters them — phrases, but he listened to the solemn realities of eternity, which fell from the speaker’s lips in accents of deep feeling, in language at once chaste, plain, and intelligible, uttered in a tone of voice which bespoke a soul filled with the subject on which he was discoursing.

I have made this short record as due to one who, had he lived and prospered in his race as lie began and ended it, would doubtless have ranked among the first ministers of our Church. There was, indeed, an amiability of disposition and courteousness, of demeanor about the movements of William Ross which drew forth the love of those who knew him, and at the same time a dignity of deportment which commanded their respect.

There is one fact respecting him, which happened near the close of his life, that goes most forcibly to set off the beauty and strength of his character.

When it was ascertained by the official members in the city of Brooklyn that he was to be stationed among them, some of them, perhaps the majority, remonstrated against the appointment, so strongly indeed that the bishop hesitated about insisting upon making it. Among others who may have been consulted, the writer’s opinion was asked. The reply was, “Send him; for such is the weight of his character, the urbanity and meekness of his manners, as well as his talents as a preacher, that he will soon overcome all opposition, and prove himself worthy of the affection and confidence of the people;” and then added, “A people who will reject such a man as William Ross are unworthy of any preacher.” This was said from an intimate acquaintance with the man, and likewise from a knowledge that the objections to him originated from a prejudice which had no foundation in truth and reality.

He was sent. It was not three months before every objection against him was removed, the work of God prospered, the church was filled with hearers, and never was a man more highly esteemed or affectionately loved than brother Ross was by the people of Brooklyn. So highly did they estimate his labors among them, that, immediately after his death, the society contributed about twelve hundred dollars for the support of his widow and orphan children.

Of the other twelve who had ended their labors during the past year, honorable mention is made of their fidelity in the cause of God and of their peaceful death.

Numbers in the Church:

This Year Last Year Increase Whites 298,658 280,427 18,231 Colored 49,537 48,096 1,441 Total 348,195 328,523 19,672 Preachers 1,314 1,272 The aboriginal missions which had been commenced and prosecuted under such favorable auspices continued to prosper, and to promise the most happy results. There was, however, no other aboriginal mission opened this year, and nothing worthy of special notice which happened among those which had been begun, except that their continued prosperity still attracted the attention of the Church, and led to those plans for the evangelization of other tribes which will be noticed hereafter.

The great change which had been wrought among the Mississauga Indians, heretofore related, was followed by the most blessed results on other fragments of the same tribe. An additional number of twenty-two, who professed faith in Christ, were baptized this year and formed into a class in Bellville, in Upper Canada. They were placed under the care of two of their principal men, Captain William Beaver and John Sunday, who had before given evidence of a sound conversion, and who now acted as class leaders. Nothing could furnish a more convincing evidence of the thorough change which had been effected in the hearts of these people, than was evinced by their forsaking entirely their the heathenish habits, and banishing from among them the use of all intoxicating liquors, becoming thereby sober and industrious. Infidelity itself was constrained to bow before the majesty of truth, and to confess, however reluctantly, that nothing short of divine power could produce a reformation so thorough and permanent.

Some new missions were commenced this year, embracing parts of Florida and Alabama, called the Holme’s Valley and Pea river missions, and were put under the charge of the presiding elder of the Tallahassee district, the Rev. George Evans. These countries were but thinly populated, the settlements sometimes being from twenty to forty miles distant from each other, separated by a wilderness. On this account it was difficult to collect congregations, or to pass from one settlement to another; but, notwithstanding these discouraging circumstances, the missionaries succeeded in their evangelical efforts in forming societies, so that, in 1827, there were returned on the Holme’s Valley mission one hundred and two white and thirty-five colored members, and on Pea river one hundred and four white and twenty-one colored; and the good work thus begun has steadily gone forward from that time to this, so that Tallahassee has since become the seat of the Alabama conference.

The Rev. S. Belton was sent to form a circuit in the newly settled townships between the Mississepa [sic] and Attawa rivers, in Upper Canada, places which had been seldom if ever visited by any minister of the gospel. The settlements had been formed chiefly by emigrants from Ireland, who were in very moderate circumstances, and therefore unable to do much for the support of religious institutions. They were, however, thankful for the care thus manifested for their spiritual welfare, generally listened with attention to the word of life, and did what they could to make the missionary comfortable. That the word took effect is manifest from the fact that the next year there were returned on the Minutes two hundred and seven members, and the work has continued to prosper, under the labors of God’s servants, from that to the present time.

There were several refreshing revivals of religion this year in some of the older circuits, more particularly in the south and west, where the principal increase of members was found. These revivals were accompanied by the same evidence of divine power and grace which had attended those heretofore related, and gave to the friends of religion irrefutable arguments in their favor. At a camp meeting held on Hanover circuit, in Virginia, there were not less than one hundred and twenty souls who professed to find the pearl of great price, and the good work spread with such rapidity that upward of three hundred were brought to God on this circuit. On the Bottetourt circuit similar results followed two camp meetings which were held there this year. In Anne Arundel county, Maryland, there were mighty displays of the power of God. The work commenced at a camp meeting held at a place called Rattlesnake Springs. It was believed that not less than two hundred and fifty persons were brought from darkness to light, and several professed to be filled with “perfect love,” while many departed from the place under deep conviction for sin, and groaning for redemption in the blood of the Lamb.

Though these and other instances of revival were witnessed during the year, yet the general increase of Church members was not so great as the year before.

The New England conference had succeeded in establishing an academy within its bounds, for the education of youth of both sexes, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and the one at Newmarket was merged in this. It was this year put under the charge of the Rev. Wilbur Fisk, by whose pious and judicious management it greatly prospered, and was soon filled with students, and has been instrumental in shedding the lights of literature and religion on the rising generation. Here young gentlemen are taught all those branches of li