not tarry. Go on, my brother; it is a glorious cause. If we die in the siege, the crown is just before us: and the devil is at the heels of thousands, driving them down to ruin. O what need of courage! May the Lord, Jehovah, be thy strength, &c, &c. Thine, in love, RICHARD WHATCOAT.' The second is dated Camden, S. C., January 8th, 1801. 'MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,--My desire is that God may give you health, peace, long life, and multitudes of spiritual children. Surely the Lord will comfort Zion. After we have been tried, we shall "come forth as gold, meet for the Master's use." He "that believeth shall not make haste." "The Lord sitteth on the water floods." Thine, as ever, RICHARD WHATCOAT.' I The third bears date, Richmond, N. C., 20th January, 1801. 'DEAR BROTHER,-At present I am oppressed with a considerable cold, but all things shall work for good to the Lord's people; it is enough if we stand fast in the will and work of the Lord. hope you find the kind Physician able to heal and support you, in body and soul, for the work he has appointed you to do. We must do what we can,-not always what we would: the Lord knows what is best for us. As far as I know my own heart, I want to be, and do, what the Lord would have me. My soul is on stretch for immortality. If I live to return, I hope to see Zion in prosperity in your part of the Lord's vineyard. God has blessed your labours, and I hope your faith will grow exceedingly, and your love abound more and more toward the Christian cause and all mankind. Accept my love and prayers for you, and for Zion's prosperity, &c, &c. RICHARD WHATCOAT. To the Rev. Stith Mead, presiding elder, The fourth bears date New-York, May 31st, 1802. 'DEAR BROTHER,-I received yours of the 7th inst., and rejoice to hear of your success in the Lord's vineyard: may one become a thousand! What is too hard for the Captain of our salvation to accomplish if he should exert his mighty voice? He has wrought wonders among us; glory to his great name! O that we may live up to our privilege, abounding in the work of the Lord, as knowing that in due time we shall reap, if we faint not. May the good Lord crown your latter labours with greater success than your former. So prays your sincere brother, RICHARD WHATCOAT.' The fifth is dated Cambridge, N. Y., June 27th, 1803.'DEAR BROTHER,-My earthly house totters and shakes under the weight of sixty-seven years of travel and labour, so that I can do but little; but our gracious God, whom we serve, can do whatever he pleaseth. A little while, and Heaven will crown our best wishes. I rejoice to hear of Zion's prosperity. "Be thou faithful unto death," and I hope we shall join to sing redeeming love in yon bright world. God bless you, and crown your labours with great success. Thine in love, RICHARD WHATCOAT.' All the above were received from that holy man of God, by Your affectionate friend and brother, STITH MEAD. METHODISM ON ALLEGHANY CIRCUIT, MARYLAND. A RETROSPECTIVE view of those by-gone days when Methodism was first introduced into this country, has a natural tendency to impress the mind with solemnity, inasmuch as so many touching scenes and incidents are necessarily interwoven in the subject; and it is so diversified with lights and shades, that alternate joys and sorrows must rest upon the mind of the narrator, especially if personally acquainted with, and identified in, those scenes and incidents. I think the honor of pioneers to this work, in Alleghany circuit, ought to be divided between our venerable Bishop Asbury, John Hagerty, and Richard Owings; the latter a local preacher of Baltimore county, Maryland; but which of these was first in point of time, neither tradition nor memory furnishes sufficient data to determine. It is however my impression that they all came in the year 1782. They laid the foundation, and others have built thereon. The seed was sown, and some few believed their report, and became members of the then infant society. These venerable brethren were succeeded in 1783 by Francis Poytheress and Benjamin Roberts; in 1784 by Wilson Lee and Thomas Jackson; in 1785 by Lemuel Green, William Jessop, and John Paup. This was the year of my personal emigration from spiritual Egypt to the land of promise; and after this time, being no longer a stranger and foreigner,' I can speak with more certainty of succeeding times. But, perhaps, before I proceed farther, I ought to remark that our Baptist brethren were, I think, a little earlier in the work, in this section of the country, than we were. They made some proselytes, but gradually declined, and removed away; so that but few remain at this day. From the year 1785, being myself personally and actively engaged, I saw with much pleasure the work spreading and prospering in every direction; and no doubt the occasional visits of Bishop Asbury had a strong tendency to cement and establish Methodism in this country. The Church was much enlarged, and gained a very considerable accession of numbers and stability soon after this period, viz. in 1786, through the labours of Enoch Matson. The societies were also much increased, and a great revival followed the labours of Philip Bruce, in 1788; but from this period to 1802-3 the work languished, and gradually sunk into so low a state, that the few who remained faithful hung their harps upon the willows. But thanks to our good God, who looked upon us in our low estate. Toward the close of the year 1802, Bishop Whatcoat passed through these parts, blew up the old sparks, and rekindled the holy fire in some degree. The author of this narrative followed the bishop through Winchester, Leesburgh, and down to Fairfax, in Virginia, near to the city of Washington; a distance of about one hundred and thirty miles. He sought and ardently longed for a revival and resuscitation in his own soul, which he found, and returned home about Christmas; and with the aid of brother L. Martin, a local preacher from Montgomery county, Maryland, immediately went to work, preaching and holding prayer meetings; and these were the halcyon days of his pilgrimage. Something over one hundred souls were added to the Church in this winter, 1803. This blessed work, although it subsided for a season, was renewed with accumulated strength and vigour in 1805, through the powerful preaching of the great and good James Ward. We had some good times and sweet seasons after that period also, under the labours of that living flame, Louis R. Fechtig; and especially in the year 1820, when brother James Taylor rode Alleghany circuit. I am informed, too, by the preacher now in charge of this circuit, that there is at present a considerable revival in the west end of the circuit, in the Alleghany mountains; and that he thinks about one hundred have been added to the Church. May I be permitted to add, that in reviewing past scenes and ancient days, on which seems to rest a dark cloud of almost oblivion, I seem to converse with the spirits of the venerable dead, and to revive the joys of the happy seasons, the delicious hours, spent by my own fireside with those great and good men, Bishops Asbury, Whatcoat, and George; and my dear brothers Matson, Ward, Hitt, Fechtig, &c, &c, &c. O, I hope, I trust, to be received by some of those happy spirits, and my dear sainted wife, and welcomed at last into those happy regions where parting, and sickness, and death itself shall never come! December 3, 1831. JOHN J. JACOB. P. S. It is possible the subject matter of the foregoing narrative might have been rendered more pleasing, if it had been interspersed with some interesting anecdotes; but, knowing that you have many other subjects, and much matter more valuable, the author has aimed at brevity. THE NEXT GENERAL CONFERENCE. THE history of American Methodism may be advantageously considered under four distinct and peculiarly marked periods. The first embraces that portion of it which extends from the year 1766, when Methodist preaching was introduced into this country and the first Methodist Society was formed, to the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the close of the year 1784; being a space of somewhat more than eighteen years. The second extends from the organization of the Church in 1784, to the time of the first regular general conference, under this organization, in 1792;-a period of something less than eight years. The third, from that general conference to the adoption of the plan of delegated general conferences in 1808;-a period of sixteen years. And the fourth, from that time to the present ;--a period of nearly twenty-four years. A brief review of these several divisions, as it will serve to show, on one hand, the providential care by which this form of Christianity was originally adapted to the circumstances in which it took its rise, so will it show, on the other, how, in its order and polity, it has been gradually accommodated to the changes of circumstances in which it has been placed; and how, in both hemispheres, it has attained at length a state of maturity which leads us to believe that Providence now throws upon its friends the solemn responsibility of settling its institutions upon a basis of permanent stability. It will be seen that our brethren in Europe have already, in a great measure, effected this most important object on their part, though in a manner somewhat different from that which seems to present itself to us, and to which, in view of the approaching general conference, it is the design of this article specially to invite the attention of our readers, and particularly of the preachers. The conclusion which we shall ultimately submit for their consideration is one which, in our own minds, is the result of deep solicitude for the perpetuity and the highest efficiency of this great system for the evangelization of the world, and one to which we have been led by a closely connected chain of reading, observation, and reflection, especially within the last few years. The principal views which have influenced us will be developed in the progress of this article.. Methodism in America, during the first period of its history, was identified with Methodism in England. In doctrine, and moral discipline, and ultimate object, it is so still. In these respects, Wesleyan Methodism is one, throughout the world. During that period, however, it was one also in its external form and government. Its government was then strictly patriarchal. The Rev. John Wesley was acknowledged and obeyed as, under God, its father and founder, as well in America as, in Europe. To understand then its peculiar organization and the distinguishing features of its polity throughout that portion of its history, it is indisVOL. III.-April, 1832. 19 pensably necessary to look back to the rock whence it was hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence it was digged; just as, in order to a thorough knowledge of the constitutional peculiarities and characteristics of the man, it is of essential importance to know from whom he derived his birth; by what breasts he was nourished in infancy; what discipline contributed to the formation and development of his bodily and mental powers; in what schools he was taught; and by what associations and connections his thoughts, and feelings, and habits, were influenced, and moulded, as he grew up to youth and manhood. A very respectable English writer, the Rev. John Beecham, of the British Wesleyan connection, has endeavoured, in a work published in 1829, to make it appear that in the earliest constitution of Methodism, even so early as at the first conference in 1744, the supreme authority in the connection was vested in the conference, composed of Mr. Wesley as an integrant part, and of other ministers and preachers: and that, whatever deference was paid to Mr. Wesley as the father of the connection, the ultimate decision of such points as came before them rested with the conference, by a majority of its votes. In support of this position Mr. Beecham has adduced, we acknowledge, several very plausible arguments. Yet, after all, the whole of them, it seems to us, are entirely overthrown by Mr. Wesley's own account of the matter, as stated in the minutes of one of the conversations held in conference, in the year 1747. In that account he says:- 'In 1744 I wrote to several clergymen, and to all who then served me as sons in the Gospel, desiring them to meet me in London, and to give me their advice concerning the best method of carrying on the work of God. And when their number increased, so that it was not convenient to invite them all, for several years I wrote to those with whom I desired to confer, and they only met me at London, or elsewhere; till at length I gave a general permission, which I afterward saw cause to retract. Observe: I myself sent for these of my own free choice. And I sent for them to advise, not govern me.-(Wesley's Works, vol. v, pp. 220, 221.) Again :- I 'But some of our helpers say, "This is shackling free-born Englishmen;" and demand a free conference, that is, a meeting of all the preachers, wherein all things shall be determined by most votes. answer, it is possible, after my death, something of this kind may take place; but not while I live. To me the preachers have engaged themselves to submit, to serve me as sons in the Gospel; but they are not thus engaged to any man or number of men beside. To me the people in general will submit; but they will not thus submit to any other. It is nonsense, then, to call my using this power "shackling free-born Englishmen." None needs to submit to it unless he will; so that there is no shackling in the case. Every preacher and every member may leave me when he pleases. But while he chooses to stay, it is on the same terms that he joined me at first. |